Daheng searched around, and after much deliberation, he still felt that it would be best to take Shu Xiaoqing with him and go to one restaurant after another to meet people he met.
So Daheng took people to Ning'an Building and asked Manager Chu to help contact Mrs. Qu's subordinates.
Manager Chu was having some leisure time, soaking up the sunshine on the deck chair in the backyard, while thinking about which dishes to add to the feast.
After hearing about Da Heng's intention, Manager Chu summoned a clerk and asked him to immediately go to Mrs. Qu's Ziyang Pavilion to ask.
The guy took the order and left.
Manager Chu smiled at Da Heng and said: "Ziyang Pavilion is the musical instrument workshop that Mrs. Qu bought just last month. It is also our first musical instrument workshop in Hengxiang. It is on Tonglin Street, so it is very close."
"Lao Chu is in charge." Da Heng said.
"It's a show of hands, a raise of hands." Manager Chu said, and then asked the waiter to go to the kitchen to bring a few bowls of tonic soup.
Thinking of Miss Ali's coming, Manager Chu asked about it, Daheng was a little embarrassed. He had never met Xia Zhaoyi, let alone contacted her.
The two were chatting casually, when suddenly there was shouting and cursing from in front of them.
A waiter ran over quickly: "Manager Chu, something happened outside. Two to three hundred government guards came and covered the main gate!"
"Yamen guards?" Manager Chu said slowly, put down the mushrooms in his hands to make up the soup, stood up and brushed his robe, "Zhao Hui'en thinks that her life is too long."
Dozens of foreign shopkeepers and merchants sitting in the lobby of Ning'an Building were looking at the government guards who rushed in in horror.
Several waiters in the lobby of Ning'an Building kept asking the official what happened with smiling faces.
The leading yamen guard said nothing and looked up the hall.
This Ning'an Building is really rich. Even if you pry back a floor tile, with the craftsmanship and materials used, I'm afraid it will be worth several taels of silver.
Several foreign shopkeepers suddenly whispered: "Look, Manager Chu is here."
The leading yamen guard looked toward the back hall and saw Manager Chu coming from inside, followed by many people.
He was a steward of Ning'an Tower, and the silk and satin he wore was of the same quality as the official robes worn by Governor Zhao.
"Manager Chu!" The leading Yamen Guard stepped forward, holding the saber on his waist with one hand, and raised his head and said, "Where is Zhao Ning!"
"My wife is not here, she has gone to study the world and watch the excitement." Manager Chu said with a smile, neither humble nor arrogant, nor fearful.
Governor Zhao is not Governor Huang, but these yamen guards in the yamen have basically remained unchanged.
Before Zhao Hui'en became the governor, because Captain Qiu had a good relationship with Ning'an House, this group of government guards had a lot of dealings with Ning'an House when they were working for Lieutenant Qiu.
Now, the Yamen Guard said in a very rude voice: "Which restaurant is near Lianfeng Academy?"
"I don't know about this," Manager Chu looked at the other government guards who rushed in, "With so many people here, I dare to ask, what did I do in Ning'an Tower?"
"Zhao Ning colluded with Qiu Sanming and together with Qiu Sanming, they have been trading fish and meat for the people for five years. We were ordered to arrest him and ransack his home!"
"Search the house," Manager Chu said, "Oh, okay."
Manager Chu turned around and looked at the foreign merchants with different expressions. He raised his hands and said, "Fellow shopkeepers, you have also heard that I, Ning'an House, was told by this Yamen Guard officer that I had committed the crime of ransacking my house.
.So today, it is difficult for our Ning'an Building to entertain you all. Thank you for your respect for our Ning'an Building. It is really hard to travel thousands of miles to get here, but today, please come back first."
Everyone, you look at me, I look at you.
Several people came forward, cupped their hands and said, "Manager Chu has a good temper and is not afraid of danger. I hope that Ning'an Tower can survive this disaster safely. I will take my leave now."
Manager Chu saw off the guests one by one, and the leading yamen guard did not stop them.
Grain price
After all the guests had left, Manager Chu looked at the leading yamen guard with a smile: "My lord, what do you think you're going to do? Should you take us all away, or..."
Manager Chu's overly calm and unhurried appearance actually made the chief yamen guard feel anxious.
"What's your conspiracy?"
"Conspiracy?" Manager Chu said with an innocent face, "Master, this is unjust. I didn't know beforehand that the officials were coming to ransack the house. Didn't I just know about it?"
The head guard looked him up and down: "Then why aren't you afraid?"
"Well, even if I'm afraid, the officials won't let us go."
The leading yamen guard drew out the blade and pointed it at Manager Chu: "Tell me, what conspiracy do you have!"
"Master, you have unjustly accused me to death!" Manager Chu said.
"you!"
In fact, there are orders from above that anyone can be touched, but these stewards cannot be touched.
These stewards know best how much money Zhao Ning has.
In Hengxiang, Governor Zhao could collect them all, but outside of Hengxiang, Zhao Ning's banks, shops, villas, etc. all needed someone to coordinate them.
So no matter how suspicious the head yamen guard was at the moment, he really couldn't do anything to him.
Putting away his weapon, the leading yamen guard raised his hand: "Take it away!"
A group of government guards rushed up, grabbed Steward Chu and the maids, and left.
The servants and servants in the backyard were not spared and were all taken away.
More than two hundred government guards rushed upstairs and rummaged through boxes and cabinets. Although Governor Zhao ordered that things in Ning'an Tower not be touched, everyone could not help but take advantage of them.
Room after room was searched, and the government guards seemed to have stepped into a treasure house. Silks, jewels and jade that they had never seen before in their lives could be seen everywhere in Ning'an Building as if they were worthless.
They dug up and down the Ning'an Building and arrested everyone they could. When the guards returned downstairs, they found that many of the people had hidden treasures.
The head yamen guard saw through it but didn't say anything about it. He took his brothers out for a walk. It was not justified without some favors. Anyway, it was not him who paid for it, but he was just a favor, so the brothers would remember his good deeds.
However, this trip went really smoothly.
It went smoothly beyond imagination.
Until they left, the chief yamen guard felt it was unbelievable.
The yamen guard on the side said: "Your Excellency ordered us to make a surprise attack, but it's not surprising that they couldn't resist."
"This is Zhao Ning," the leading yamen guard said uneasily and glanced at the tall building behind him, "This is Ning'an Building."
"Isn't that how Captain Qiu disappeared? He looked majestic, but in reality he was just a paper tiger. We'd better go find out where Zhao Ning is and capture her first."
The head yamen guard thought about it and said, "Let's go, let's go to Lianfeng Academy."
At the same time, Qu Mansion was surrounded by a large number of soldiers and horses.
Compared with Ning'an Tower, Qu's Mansion is extremely vast, covering an area of more than 400 acres. Hengxiang Guard Station and the City Guards' Mansion in the South were almost fully mobilized. There were more than 6,000 people who could not even cover half of Qu's Mansion.
.
The steward of the Qu Mansion was not as easy to talk to as Steward Chu, and he led about two hundred guards to block the main gate.
Lieutenant Pan, who was guarding Hengxiang, was extremely irritable: "What the hell are you doing with this waste of time? Qu's house will be raided sooner or later, how can you disappear from Hengxiang out of thin air? Tell Qu Xiling to get out.
I really give you a shame on weekdays! You don’t know how much you weigh! This world is the world of officials!"
