A Clash of Gods - Chapter 43

Chapter 43 Destroyed Escort Carriages and Dead People
Duan Canghai was surprised and said, “Didn’t the Marquis of Loyalty come here?”

Gu Qinghan shook her head and said, “When the general was alive, our mansion was on friendly terms with the Mansion of the Marquis of Loyalty. I thought that the Marquis of Loyalty could immediately come when he knew the death of the general. But…the Mansion of the Marquis of Loyalty only sent an ordinary person who left right away after worshipping our general. Since then, no one has come again.”

Yang Ning asked, “Maybe the Marquis of Loyalty thinks that our mansion no longer has a backer because my father is gone… So he…”

“Ning, don’t speak carelessly.” Gu Qinghan glared at Yang Ning, but there was a trace of surprise in her eyes, “Why do you have this thought?”

Yang Ning just spoke casually. When he saw that Gu Qinghan was blaming him, he said, “I… I’m talking nonsense. I won’t say it again.” He thought that the two strongest members of the Qi Family both passed away and there was no such person in this mansion who could really find his feet. It was inevitable that the Mansion of the Marquis of Honor would degenerate day by day. He was afraid that many people were aware of this. Therefore, it was possible that some people might look down on and even keep a distance with the Qi Family.

Duan Canghai looked solemn and shook his head, “The Marquis of Loyalty is not likely to be a snobbish person. No matter what he thinks in his heart, he never let others find his faults on a superficial level.” After a pause, he lowered his voice, “Third Lady, is it possible that…something happened in the imperial court.”

“Something happened in the imperial court?” Gu Qinghan was stunned. Then her eyes rolled, and she said softly, “You remind me of a coincidence. When the general’s remains were secretly sent to the capital, this news has already been reported to the imperial court. But the imperial court didn’t send people to our mansion. And the Marquis of Loyalty did not come to our mansion either. Is it…” Her arched eyebrows were squeezed and she did not continue.

Gu Qinghan and Duan Canghai didn’t talk much about the imperial court. After all, this kind of thing should not be discussed in private.

Yang Ning came to the Mansion of the Marquis of Honor only for half a day, but he got quite a lot of information, so he had a general idea of what had happened in this mansion.

There was no doubt that the Mansion of the Marquis of Honor had its day and was even the pillar of the army in the Southern Chu State. However, with the death of the Marquis of Honor Qi Jing, the situation had undergone extremely subtle changes.

And this mansion didn’t seem be as ostentatious as he thought. People here actually worried about thousands of pieces of silver, and even needed to pawn their pawnshop to borrow money.

However, from their conversations, Yang Ning knew that the mansion also had a lot of income sources. But he did not understand why Jiangling needed to send silver to the mansion.

He knew that he couldn’t collect information in a hurry, and could only extract further information slowly. It was okay for him to casually ask some questions occasionally. But if he kept asking about a lot of things, people in this mansion would definitely notice his strange behaviors. He still needed to use the power of the mansion to find Xiaodie, so he did not want to let the people in this mansion find the truth too early.

They mentioned the imperial court several times, which naturally was the imperial court of the Southern Chu State.

Yang Ning was clear about the status and contribution of Qi Jing in the Southern Chu State. Qi Jing died for the state, so the King could not possibly make no response to his death.

Such a senior official passed away. Even if the King didn’t come to offer comfort in person, he should send a prince or a member of the royal family to mourn. At the worst he needed to send a eunuch to announce an imperial decree, mourning and praising the Marquis. It was a must. Usually, the King should also give a reward.

But up to now, the imperial court hadn’t sent any people. It was really abnormal.

However, Yang Ning didn’t care too much about these things at present. He was thinking how he could let Duan Canghai help him explore those escort agencies.

If he wanted to harvest, he must pay.

Yang Ning returned to the mourning hall and rightfully held the post of the official filial son. The Marquis of Honor was a famous general of the Southern Chu State and an able and virtuous person. So Yang Ning thought that it didn’t matter much for him to kneel down.

Almost no one came to worship at night, but there were people inside and outside the mourning hall. Duan Canghai and others just returned to the mansion, so they accompanied Yang Ning to guard the spirit this night.

Of course, Yang Night didn’t kneel down all the time when he was guarding the spirit at night. Some people even served midnight snack to them. Qi Yu came to the mourning hall in the second half of the night, but Yang Ning didn’t talk too much with him. He left Qi Yu in the mourning hall, and went back to sleep.

In the next two days, there were not a few people who came to the offer comfort. They were all officials in the capital. The news of the death of the Marquis of Honor was not widely publicized. Only few officials in other cities who were on friendly terms with the Marquis were informed. These people hurried to the capital all the way, but their food and accommodation were all arranged by the Mansion of the Marquis of Honor.

Everything was arranged according to the instructions of Gu Qinghan. Qi Yu was not qualified to meet with the officials who came to worship. As long as there were guests, Yang Ning would show up to receive. Fortunately, Yang Ning did not have to talk too much, and Steward Qiu was always around to help him. Of course, Yang Ning was not familiar with those officials. Although sometimes Steward Qiu introduced them to him, Yang Ning soon forgot their names.

The clan members of the Qi Family also came to help every day. Third Elder Lord also appeared twice, but he did not enter the mourning hall or cast a glance at Yang Ning. Obviously, he was still angry with Yang Ning. As for Fifth Lord and Sixth Lord, neither of them had appeared.

The day for burying was approaching, but the imperial court still hadn’t sent anyone to the mansion. It seemed that the King had forgotten the General Wei who had made great contributions to the empire.

In the afternoon of a day, Yang Ning was sitting in the mourning hall, bored and dull. Suddenly, Duan Canghai entered the mourning hall, approached Yang Ning, and whispered, “Your Excellency, do you still remember the escort agency you mentioned that day?”

Yang Ning was refreshed. He secretly praised Duan Canghai for being observant. He didn’t have a chance to let Duan Canghai inquire about the escort agencies. So he didn’t expect that Duan Canghai would investigate this thing after he mentioned it last time. It seemed that Duan Canghai was really considerate and meticulous, so he must have a bright future. Yang Ning quickly asked, “Have you inquired about it?”

Duan Canghai shook his head and said, “We don’t need to inquire about it. Qi Feng heard that the escort agencies had encountered accidents.”

“Accidents?” Yang Ning asked, “What happened?”

Duan Canghai said in a low voice, “Your Excellency, you must remember that there are three major escort agencies in the capital.”

“The Four Seas Escort Agency, the Peace Escort Agency and the Rising Sun Escort Agency.” Yang Ning had a good memory. Besides, he was particularly attentive to the escort agencies, so he kept these names in mind when Duan Canghai told him last time.

Duan Canghai nodded and said, “Yes, the accident is of serious nature. The escort carriages of the Four Seas Escort Agency and the Rising Sun Escort Agency were all ruined and their people were all dead.”

“Ruined and dead?” Yang Ning felt nervous and asked urgently, “What the hell is going on?”

“The escort carriages were gone, and the escorts and horses were all dead,” Duan Canghai said in a deep voice, “This is quite unusual. And both accidents happened on the northern route.”

Yang Ning frowned. He knew that the escort team of the Four Seas Escort Agency could hardly hold on after being attacked by the Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas in the tavern. When he left, there were still a few escorts. But now it seemed that the whole team was wiped out.

Duan Canghai thought that Yang Ning could not understand his meaning, so he explained, “Among the three major escort agencies in the capital, the Peace Escort Agency chooses the southern route, the Four Seas Escort Agency chooses the western route, and the Rising Sun Escort Agency chooses the northern route. But our army has been fighting with the people in the Northern Han State by the Huaishui River these two years, so the northern areas are not quite peaceful. Therefore, the Four Seas Escort Agency also chooses the northern route sometime.

“Uncle Duan, what do you think of the Rising Sun Escort Agency compared with the Four Seas Escort Agency?” Yang Ning asked, “Which one is stronger?”

In fact, he had speculations in his mind now. Since the Peace Escort Agency chose the southern route, it could be excluded. The escort agency which took away Xiaodie was the Rising Sun Escort Agency or the Four Seas Escort Agency.

He met an escort team of the Four Seas Escort Agency on the way and didn’t find Xiaodie. Although the suspicion on this escort agency was much smaller, he couldn’t guarantee that it was not the Four Seas Escort Agency. Since it was a top-notch escort agency in the capital, it must have many escort teams.

“It’s hard to say.” Duan Canghai thought for a while, and then said, “These two escort agencies are both related to the nobles in the capital. Most escorts in the Four Seas Escort Agency come from the society, and their kung fu is not bad. Many escorts in the Rising Sun Escort Agency were soldiers before, so they have learned some skills. The Four Seas Escort Agency has a wider range of contacts in the west, and both official world and underworld there show more respect to it. So it gains the upper hand on the western route. Conversely, on the northern route, the Rising Sun Escort Agency is more popular.”

Yang Ning nodded slightly, but he was actually thinking about the information Duan Canghai offered. If the Rising Sun Escort Agency had a wider range of contacts on the northern route, then the suspicion on it was naturally greater.

“Two escort teams from these two escort agencies were robbed and killed halfway,” Duan Canghai said, “I heard that the escort team of the Four Seas Escort Agency was robbed in a tavern on the side of an official road. All the escort carriages were gone, and all escorts and pathfinders were all killed in the tavern. When they were found, none of them were alive.”

“Did those killers leave any clues?” Yang Ning asked. In fact, he knew very clearly that since the killers were those Mysterious Flying Cicada Ninjas, they naturally would not leave any clues.

Sure enough, Duan Canghai shook his head, “I don’t know exactly what happened. Every year, there are escort teams which are robbed. But it is rare that all escorts were killed in a robbery. Escorts in the escort teams have a sense of propriety. If they can protect the goods, they will try their best. But if their opponents are too strong and they can’t win the fight, they will not confront their enemies recklessly. They will ensure their safety first, and then find the goods. In these two cases, those killers didn’t seem to rob the escort teams but to take vengeance.”

Yang Ning thought that it was indeed not a vengeance. They were just implicated by a person. If it hadn’t been for Xiao Guang, those men from the Four Seas Escort Agency would not have died for such unexpected misfortune.

When he recalled Xiao Guang, he thought that this guy still owed him five hundred pieces of gold. If he could really get five hundred pieces of gold, Gu Qinghan would not worry about money.

Then he thought that Xiao Guang let him find him in the capital. But Xiao Guang didn’t even leave him an address, how could he find a person in this sea-like capital?

He also knew that even if he really got five hundred pieces of gold, he could not give it to Gu Qinghan. After all, the earl he pretended to be was not a great figure. How could he get five hundred pieces of gold? If he really took it out, Gu Qinghan would definitely get to bottom. That would be counterproductive. Besides, once Xiao Guang appeared, he must recognize him, and the truth that he was just an imposter must be exposed. Yang Ning thought that he’d better not meet that guy before finding Xiaodie.

“What happened to the Rising Sun Escort Team?” Yang Ning asked.

Duan Canghai said, “Although escort carriages of the Rising Sun Escort Agency were also gone and their escorts were also dead. Some details were different from those of the Four Seas Escort Agency.”