Qi Ning knew that the gray crow had succumbed, smiled, and did not speak, just looked at the porcelain bottle in the gray crow's hand.

The gray crow naturally understood what Qi Ning meant, but it was simply open, opened the porcelain bottle, took out a pill from it, and without looking at it, he threw it into his mouth and swallowed it, and then reached out and put away the one thousand taels of silver tickets that Qi Ning threw over, and put it into his arms, and then said: "This time I entered Beijing, I thought about dying in the capital, it was nothing more than a gamble." ”

Qi Ning clapped his hands and smiled: "Then I can assure you that your current choice is right." His face sank suddenly, and he said, "Do you know Lu Shanghe?" ”

"Lu Shanghe?" The gray crow smiled disdainfully: "Naturally, I know that I heard that this person is plotting to be the leader of the beggar gang, and now it is in the hands of the beggar gang." Glancing at Bai Shenghao, he said, "This white helmsman should know better than me. ”

Bai Shenghao actually didn't know what Duan Qingchen had to do with Lu Shanghe, and when he heard Qi Ning suddenly mention Lu Shanghe, he suddenly came to his senses.

Lu Shanghe was exposed to his treacherous plot at the Aoki Conference and was imprisoned by the beggar gang, and naturally many people knew about it, but he was rescued later, but the beggar gang did not publicize it to the public, and not too many people know about it so far.

Qi Ning said: "Since you have abandoned the darkness and turned to the light, you might as well say something to you." Lu Shanghe has escaped, and now the beggar gang is secretly searching. ”

The gray crow was stunned for a moment, and Qi Ning continued: "As far as I know, Lu Shanghe and Duan Qingchen have an affair, and these two should be in collusion, so Duan Qingchen recruited you into Beijing this time, and Lu Shanghe is likely to be hiding in the capital." ”

"I see." The gray crow nodded slightly, glanced at Bai Shenghao, and then said: "The beggar gang wants to catch Lu Shanghe, but I don't know his whereabouts, do you want me to still go to the appointment, and then find the whereabouts of Duan Qingchen and Lu Shanghe, and then inform you of their whereabouts." ”

Qi Ning said with a smile: "It's very comfortable to talk to smart people. He added: "Of course, if we can find out who they are targeting this assassination, or if we know what their plot is, I will naturally have a heavy reward on my side." ”

The gray crow raised his hand and said, "Words are like mountains, and keeping promises is my rule." I have received a thousand taels of silver from you, and if you die, you should throw them into the water, and if you live, I will naturally try to find out, and afterwards you will give me the remaining two thousand taels of silver, as promised. ”

Qi Ning's lips smiled even more, and he bowed his head and said: "Keeping the promise is indeed admirable." ”

The grey crow asked, "If I find a clue, will I still be here?" ”

Qi Ning pointed at Bai Shenghao and said, "The White Helm Lord will contact you, and the White Helm Lord will help you arrange the rest of the matter." ”

The gray crow glanced at Bai Shenghao, said no more, walked straight to the door, walked to the door, glanced back, and said, "I hope you keep your promise." "Fly away.

When the gray crow's figure disappeared, Bai Shenghao said softly: "Master Hou really trusts him?" ”

"He's a smart guy." Qi Ning said with a smile: "Smart people's choices will be very practical. And he's already taken the pill, and no one really wants to die. ”

Bai Shenghao nodded slightly, and said in a low voice: "Why didn't Master Hou hand over this person to the Shenhou Mansion?" The Shenhou Mansion still knows nothing about this matter at the moment, and if it is handed over to the Shenhou Mansion, with their power in the capital, it should be easier to find out the truth behind it. ”

Qi Ning raised his hand and patted Bai Shenghao's arm, and said softly: "Brother Bai, do you know who recruited this group of shadow rats into Beijing?" ”

Bai Shenghao was stunned, knowing that Qi Ning's question would not be simple, and said softly: "Isn't it Duan Qingchen?" ”

"Duan Qingchen is just a lackey." Qi Ning said: "Even Lu Shanghe is just a lackey driven by others, and behind them, there must be another real master. ”

Bai Shenghao reacted very quickly, understood, and said in a low voice: "Master Hou, is it ...... Are Duan Qingchen and Lu Shanghe involved with officials in the DPRK and China? ”

"I can't affirm it, and I can't deny it." Qi Ning shook his head and said with a headache: "Because you can't be sure, you have to be careful every step." ”

Bai Shenghao had already understood what Qi Ning meant at this time.

If you tell the Shenhou Mansion about tonight's incident, with the experience and strength of the Shenhou Mansion, it will definitely be twice the result with half the effort to investigate this matter, and the Shenhou Mansion is fully capable of laying a net in the capital, waiting for the shadow rats to throw themselves into the net.

But Qi Ning obviously didn't trust the Shenhou Mansion.

Since the master behind Duan Qingchen may be a person from the court, then it is impossible to ensure that that person is not involved with the Shenhou Mansion, if this is the case, then telling the Shenhou Mansion about the entry of the shadow mouse into Beijing is a surprise to the snake, and these people are likely to cancel the plan and plan another action.

Of course, Qi Ning wanted to take this opportunity to find out the real culprit behind it, so he was naturally careful in everything.

Thinking that Qi Ning didn't even trust the Shenhou Mansion, but let himself be involved in this matter, it can also be seen that Qi Ning's trust in him, Bai Shenghao's heart was moved.

"I'll leave it to you first, and if there's any news, you can personally inform me." Qi Ning got up and said, "Be cautious in everything, don't startle the snake." ”

Bai Shenghao arched his hand and said: "Don't worry, Master Hou, I know what to do, but if there are any clues, report to Master Hou immediately." ”

Qi Ning subdued the gray crow, but knew that all this was just the beginning, left the house, before returning to the Hou Mansion, he first took off the human-skin mask, and then entered the mansion, it was already the dead of night, but he saw the lights on in the main hall, and walked over to take a look, only to see that Manager Han was sitting on a chair in the corner, with his hands firmly held on his chest, as if he was hiding some treasure in his arms, tilting his head and snoring.

Qi Ning was amused in his heart, coughed twice, and Manager Han was immediately awakened, and when he saw Qi Ning, he hurriedly got up and said, "Wait..... Master Hou, you're back. ”

"Why did you sleep here?" Qi Ning said gently: "Are you too tired? Sanniang has been recuperating in the past few days, and the things in the house are not easy to take care of, and they all rely on you. It's getting late, so let's go back to the house and rest. ”

Manager Han hurriedly said: "Master Hou, the old slave has been waiting for you to come back." He looked left and right, and then took out a thick stack of silver tickets from his arms, "Master Hou, after dark, someone continued to send silver tickets to the house, and after they entered the house, they didn't say much, only said that it was the silver ticket that their master sent them." Presented with both hands: "The old slave clicked, and the total was twenty-two thousand four hundred taels of silver." ”

Qi Ning smiled on his lips, it seems that those officials are also interesting, and they are worried that they will really come to the door to ask for debts, and it will not sound good to spread the word, so they all took the initiative to send them over.

"Master Hou, I asked them what kind of silver this was, and they didn't say anything, just turned around and left." Mr. Han said: "Originally, the old slave wanted to report to the third lady, but the third lady raised her body, and no one saw her, and she didn't know how to put the money into the account, so she didn't send it to the account room, so she could only wait here for the Hou Ye to come back." ”

Qi Ning smiled slightly, sat down on the chair, and asked, "How many years has the old boss been in the Jinyi Hou Mansion?" ”

Manager Han said with emotion: "The old marquis followed Emperor Taizong to quell the rebellion, and my father was the first to follow the old marquis, but unfortunately he died on the battlefield early. Later, when I was old, my mother told me to come to the capital to make cattle and horses for the old marquis, and repay the kindness of the old marquis. After thinking about it, he sighed: "It's been more than thirty years." ”

"So, you've been working in the Jinyi Marquis Mansion for more than thirty years?" Qi Ning asked.

Manager Han nodded and said: "The old marquis and the general have been taking care of this old slave, although the old slave is useless, he still works as an errand in the mansion. He sighed: "There are not many old people in the house now, and many people who came to the capital from Jiangling to work in the Hou Mansion many years ago have gone back to their hometown to care for the elderly." ”

Qi Ning thought to himself that Chief Manager Han had been in the mansion for more than thirty years, so many things that happened in the Hou Mansion of Jinyi, this old man must know some of them, Liu Suyi disappeared in the Hou Mansion inexplicably, this Chief Manager Han may not know the inside story, but he also knew that it was inconvenient to ask more at this time, and said with a smile: "Then where are all your family?" ”

"When the old marquis married the old slave and gave birth to two sons, the general took great care of our Han family and let us buy dozens of acres of land in Jiangling, and my two sons are now in Jiangling." Manager Han explained: "The child's mother passed away a few years ago, but fortunately, the old slave is still strong, and he can still serve the Hou Mansion for a few years, and he can't move after a few years. ”

Qi Ning groaned slightly, took five hundred taels of silver tickets and handed them over, Manager Han was stunned, but Qi Ning stuffed it into his hand and said: "You take this silver, whether you keep it for your own pension or buy land for your children, then it's up to you to decide." You have worked hard in the Hou Mansion for so many years, and now you have to take care of me, so naturally I can't treat you badly. ”

"Master Hou, don't ......!" Manager Han hurriedly pushed the silver ticket back: "The old slave family has been taken care of by the Hou Mansion for decades, and this generation can't repay it, this silver ......!" ”

"What, my words don't work?" Qi Ning frowned: "If you want to take it, just don't publicize it to the outside world, lest everyone say that I am biased towards you." ”

Manager Han's eyes showed gratitude, hesitated, and finally put it away, and said, "Master Hou is very kind, old slave..... The old slave can't be repaid in this life. ”

"It's late, you go and rest first." Qi Ning smiled and said: "You are also old, don't work too weekdays, even if you can let others share the burden, even if you send them to do it, you must also take care of yourself." ”

Manager Han's voice choked: "Master Hou..... The Hou Ye is the same as the old Hou Ye back then, right..... He takes good care of us people. The circles under his eyes were slightly red, and he suddenly thought of something, and hurriedly said: "Master Hou came back so late, and he hasn't eaten yet, right?" The third lady sent someone to instruct her before, if the Hou Ye came back too late, she would boil you a bowl of red date porridge to drink, and it would be easy to fall asleep after eating red date porridge. ”

Qi Ning felt a thrill in his heart, and immediately remembered that Gu Qinghan had told him before, if someone sent red date porridge, it would be a secret signal, and he would quietly go to Gu Qinghan's house that night, so Gu Qinghan let him sneak into her house tonight.