When some people ask what to do, they already have an idea in their mind. They don't ask you to give them any advice, but just to express your support for them.
Cheng Qi knew it very well, because he had suffered from not being able to read people's expressions. Later, he paid special attention to this point. After feeling the pulse, he told Hong Xinyuan with certainty: "Sir, even the manager noticed that the robbers had Shanxi accents, but why didn't any of these escorts, who are also from Shanxi, tell us about this? Don't they know that this is an extremely important clue? Forgive me for being frank, I'm afraid my previous guess has unfortunately come true."
This is also what Hong Xinyuan is thinking now.
After he had doubts in his heart, he felt that the behavior of these escorts was extremely strange and suspicious. He paused and nodded: "Well, this matter is left to you. Go and check the origins of these escorts for me. Also, write to Shanxi and find out everything about Ping An Escort Agency for me!"
It was the first time that Cheng Qi was assigned such an assignment, but he was not at all flustered. Hearing what he said, he immediately agreed and nodded in agreement: "Don't worry, sir, I will do my best and live up to your trust!"
Hong Xinyuan waved his hand and sat in the study for a while before calling the butler in: "Keep an eye on these escorts and see who they are interacting with and where they are going next. Don't miss a single word or action!"
The housekeeper couldn't help but be surprised. He looked up at Hong Xinyuan and asked in disbelief, "Master, are you saying that these escorts are traitors and are the ones who kidnapped the girl?!"
This housekeeper is an old man in Hong Xinyuan's family. He has grown up with Hong Xinyuan since he was a child. Hong Xinyuan trusts him very much and has always called him grandpa. Now when he heard the housekeeper ask such a question, he had nothing to hide and nodded with a gloomy face: "Otherwise, it would be too coincidental. I never believe in things that are too coincidental."
The butler understood and cursed with gnashing teeth: "If these people are really so bold as to do such an unforgivable thing, even if they die a hundred times, it will not relieve their hatred!"
Hong Xinyuan sneered: "Don't talk about this for now. Go and have someone keep an eye on them. Keep a close eye on them. Also, keep an eye out for any letters from Jinling. The most important thing now is to find the girl."
The housekeeper quickly agreed and went down to make arrangements immediately.
Cheng Qi, who had left earlier, followed the clerk to find several guards in the mansion, and then called their names and ordered: "Go to Ping'an Escort Agency. Such a big thing happened, and no one from their escort agency came to the mansion. Isn't this too suspicious?"
The personal guards were all Hong Xinyuan's confidants. When they heard that it was Hong Xinyuan's order, they did not delay and just picked people and went.
Cheng Qi went to Tongfulou first. Without waiting for the waiter to come and greet him, he went up to the second floor quietly and chose a room facing the street to sit down.
Soon the door was pushed open, and a man in a green gown came in and sat opposite him, panting nervously and asking, "No one noticed, did they?"
Cheng Qi raised his eyebrows, drank a sip of tea slowly, and smiled slightly: "I have already informed you in advance. If you are still discovered, it is your own fault."
The man scratched his head in embarrassment, and seemed to have no confidence in front of him. After a while, he stammered, "Sir... What should we do after this?"
Cheng Qi looked at the simple snacks on the table without reaching out to touch them. He looked up at him and responded coldly, "You've done such a big thing, why are you showing this expression now? You are so brave. This is Xu Anying's granddaughter, the daughter of the weaving factory, and you dare to kidnap her..."
The man didn't speak.
After a while, Cheng Qi snorted, "Now that Lord Hong has become arrogant, it goes without saying that the capital has already sent a letter. Even Lord Hong has specially gone to Eunuch Yan's house to ask for help, and has written a letter to Yingtian Prefecture to ask for a thorough investigation. Aren't you people afraid of death?"
The man opposite laughed, then rolled up his hands and coughed for a while before asking slowly, "Why do you say that, sir? What are we afraid of? We didn't do anything. If anything goes wrong, it won't be us. Don't you think so?"
Cheng Qi was too lazy to talk nonsense with him. He threw a silver ingot on the table and asked impatiently, "Now that we have found out about the Ping An Escort Agency, you have to tell me what's going to happen next. Otherwise, I'll ruin your business, which won't be good, don't you think?"
The man laughed, stroked his beard in a simple and honest manner, and took out a stack of silver notes wrapped in red paper from his pocket and handed it over carefully: "This is what we agreed on a long time ago. You count it, no more, no less, exactly ten thousand taels."
Money. What Cheng Qi lacks most now is money.
He always felt that he was a child of destiny. He was famous and everyone in Yangzhou knew that he was a talented person, but he always failed the exams.
In his opinion, it was not that he failed the exam, but that the examiners were all snobs.
He didn't have the money to build connections, nor did he have the money to attend literary gatherings like them, so he always failed to get into the competition.
His family couldn't afford the cost of his exams...
He no longer wanted to see the cold eyes of those uncles.
Even though he later joined the Weaving Bureau and worked as an aide under the weaving director, his life was still difficult. He didn't want to live this kind of life always, depending on other people's wishes. He didn't want to let his widowed mother be dragged down by him and be pointed at by uncles and aunts for spoiling their son but not being able to raise a good son.
He couldn't refuse such a large sum of money that was delivered to his door.
He reached out his hand and numbly held the banknote in his hand. After a while, he asked, "What's next?"
There was a lot of noise outside. Yangzhou was full of salt merchants and silk merchants, and rich people. They often came to places like Tongfulou, and everywhere was crowded.
The man lowered his voice, and spoke word by word in Cheng Qi's ear at a volume that was loud enough for him to hear clearly: "Go back and tell the Master of Weaving that he couldn't find me and the head of the escort agency ran away. That's it, that's it. The Master of Weaving will investigate the next matter himself, and it has nothing to do with you. Don't worry, we are very reliable and will never implicate you..."