"My master is right," Yan Hong said. "For the big families in our countryside, the more a family member dies, the more grand things must be done. If you don't do this, your creditors will definitely think that your family can't survive, and they will come to collect debts!"
"What nonsense are you talking about, Palmhead!" He Xiang scolded, scolding softly.
Only then did Yan Hong realize that words such as "the family is dead" are very unlucky at the end of the year, and also meant to curse the master. She suddenly panicked. She hit herself twice in the mouth, got up and
Kneel down.
"Forget it, forget it," Leng Ningyun shook his head and stopped, "What's the big deal with a few words? We don't pay attention to this. Let's eat together. After eating, we should quickly make a list of all the New Year's events and send people out one by one.
Go do it. It’s going to be hard tonight and you won’t have to sleep.”
"It doesn't matter if you don't have any sleep, just treat it as an early New Year's Eve." He Xiang said, "It's a pity that there are so many things this year. The appointment of the theater troupe and the appointment of the chief executive have been delayed. I don't know if it will be too late to invite more."
"If you can, please do it. The worst is to pay more." As Leng Ningyun spoke, his whole body gradually went limp. The two women were surprised and quickly helped him up, only to find that he had fallen asleep. They quickly helped him change clothes.
Go to bed and rest.
When I woke up, it was almost noon in my thirties. Leng Ningyun got up from the bed and felt energetic.
There are a lot of things to do right now, but it is the end of the year, whether it is meeting people or doing things, it has to be "broken five". As for the New Year's greetings on the first day of the first lunar month, wealthy families all send servants to visit the door, and everyone
Since he was not present, he naturally could not talk about the matter.
After thinking about it like this, there was nothing to do in the outfield. As for the infield, there was lotus fragrance and swallow red in the inner house, and there was a black and white land in Delong. They were all in good order, and there was nothing that I needed to interfere with.
As for the follow-up to the kidnapping case, he had already received a telegram from Guangzhou before he came back. He did not need to take care of the matter. He only needed to submit the relevant report and it would be over. The specific pursuit of the Shi Weng Group was left to the Foreign Intelligence Bureau.
After this calculation, the only thing left for me to do was to write a report.
He had already written a similar report after he was rescued, but at that time he was in a hurry and the writing was relatively simple. After returning to Delong, he could recall the situation of more than 20 days one by one, especially with "Mr. Le"
"The contents of several conversations have been sorted out. Any clues will be helpful to the Field Bureau in the follow-up investigation.
Thinking about it now, this mysterious Mr. Le did indeed have a lot to dig up, but one thing was very clear to him: Mr. Le kidnapped him and asked him to write a letter not for ransom, but for peace talks with the Senate.
This is very clear in the letters. He wrote three letters one after another, the contents of which are similar.
But the letter Delong received was not written by him first, and the second content was a ransom of one hundred thousand taels.
The token that came with the letter was also a personal belonging taken from him.
It doesn't take much wisdom, just look at this situation to know that the kidnapping gang is not on the same page.
The people at the top planned to use him as a hostage to force the Senate to negotiate a peace; the people at the bottom were a rare commodity and wanted to exchange him for one hundred thousand taels of silver.
Fortunately, Leng Ningyun thought to herself, the reward offered by the imperial court to the "Kung Thief Director" was only three thousand taels, which was really unattractive compared to the bank's "ten thousand" silver coins. If he hadn't been a "money banker"
", it was probably sold to the government a long time ago.
Thinking about it this way, this Shiweng Group seems mysterious and unpredictable, but in fact it is also very internally divided. Maybe this is a great opportunity to annihilate them!
He was thinking and writing at the same time, writing like the wind. In less than half an hour, he finished writing the report and put it into a secret bag. In the evening, he translated it into a code and sent it out.
After finishing this matter, he came out of the mansion and went to Delong for a walk.
Delon is also decorated with lights and decorations, and the waiters and busboys are rushing to work. The store is filled with a joyful New Year atmosphere. The original solemn gloom has been swept away.
It was time for lunch. Leng Ningyun went to have a look. Because it was New Year's Eve, even the lunch was very rich. There was a large hot pot on each Eight Immortals table. This so-called first-class hot pot was just a
Shredded cabbage is used as a base, and roasted meat, meatballs, chicken, duck, and pigeon eggs are placed on top... The pot is filled to the brim. Although there are no valuable ingredients, there are so many hungry people here, and dozens of people freeze on the streets every night.
It would be an understatement to say that a place where one dies of hunger is the most delicious place in the world.
As usual, there is a dinner on New Year's Eve. The bank's clerk followed Leng Ningyun's instructions and this year's New Year's Eve dinner was more sumptuous than in previous years.
"Big shopkeeper." Wu Kaidi suddenly came over and winked at him.
Leng Ningyun knew that there must be something important, so he immediately came to the closet and asked in a low voice: "What's the matter?"
"Eunuch Yang has sent someone here."
"Is it Eunuch Yang? Or..."
In Delong's daily dealings with Eunuch Yang, Yang Tianliang was the one who came forward, and Eunuch Yang rarely sent people in person.
"No, it's someone from Eunuch Yang's side. You've always seen him named Baoyu."
Baoyu was not an eunuch, but just a footman in Eunuch Yang's mansion. Generally speaking, most of the most trusted people around the great eunuch were the junior eunuchs, and few outsiders were used. As for why the junior eunuchs were re-employed, the reason was the same as the emperor's re-employment of eunuchs. I don't think so.
The disabled person has only himself to rely on, so he is more loyal in doing things.
Although Baoyu is Eunuch Yang's servant and one of his confidants, his trustworthiness is much worse. However, Leng Ningyun has the idea of burning incense when there is a Bodhisattva, and usually treats him quite perfunctory, because he does three things and then
Call him Brother Baosan.
Today is New Year's Eve. If there is nothing very important, Eunuch Yang will never send someone to find him.
"Invite him to serve tea in the outer study." Leng Ningyun said, "I'll come over right away."
The footman was about thirty years old, wearing an old sheepskin robe covered with fresh gray cloth, an armor, a small folding hat on his head, and a pair of horn boots. When he saw Leng Ningyun, he immediately made a greeting.
"Master Leng!"
"You and I are old acquaintances, so you don't have to be polite." Leng Ningyun was very polite, "Sit down."
Baoyu was a footman under Quan Supervisor. When he went out to do business, not to mention a merchant, even an ordinary Beijing official would have to treat them with pretense, so he didn't speculate, just bowed his hands and sat down in the guest seat.
There is no reason to visit guests on New Year's Eve, so arriving suddenly is very abrupt. Baoyu still understands this. After sitting down, he thought about it and said with a rather embarrassed expression: "Master Leng! Originally, I didn't come to visit on New Year's Eve.
The reason for disturbing me is that this matter is really heavy, so I have to do this, and I have to ask Master Leng to atone for my sins."
"Brother Bao San, what are you talking about? Even if there is an emergency, how can we allocate time!"
"Yes," Baofeng said, "Eunuch Yang said that originally, Master Leng should have come to congratulate him for being out of trouble, but there have been a lot of things in the palace recently and he couldn't get away. So he asked the younger one to come and congratulate him first. He is free.
I'll act as host again when I'm here, and I'll scare you."
"Thank you, Eunuch Yang, for your kindness." Leng Ningyun said with a smile.
"Eunuch Yang also said that although Delong has been sealed, he has asked someone to tell Yinguan of Zhongfu that it will be unsealed and unloaded for business around the end of the new year."
Leng Ningyun hurriedly pretended to be surprised and said: "Thank you for your trouble, Eunuch Yang! Originally I was worried about this matter, but this is really a timely help! Please go back and thank Eunuch Yang on my behalf, Brother Bao. I will definitely get a heavy reward someday."
.”
The next words got to the point. Baoyu swallowed his saliva. He probably found it difficult to say this, so he thought for a while before speaking.
"There is something urgent. Eunuch Yang wants me to do something about it."
"Oh, what's the matter? You're so anxious?" Leng Ningyun thought to himself that there was something wrong in what he said. In the past, whenever Eunuch Yang asked him to do something, he would send someone to tell him directly. This "do it" has brought a lot of trouble.
With the intention of discussing and requesting, his tone became much weaker.
"The one hundred thousand taels of silver that little Eunuch Yang deposited into Delong years ago..."
"Yes, this matter has been settled. I have also given the discount and commission to Little Eunuch Yang."
"Eunuch Yang means, can you raise it immediately? The situation in the palace has changed now, and he has an urgent need."
He expected that Eunuch Yang would send someone to pick up one hundred thousand taels of silver as soon as the boards were unloaded, but he didn't expect Eunuch Yang to be so anxious and send someone to do it on New Year's Eve.
The matter involved one hundred thousand taels of silver, so it was logical that Young Eunuch Yang should come forward. Even if Young Eunuch Yang was unavailable, at least he was the eunuch who was accompanying him. The person sent now was not only just a footman, but also had a flashy tone.
Something is very wrong here!
Leng Ningyun said: "Yes, yes, Eunuch Yang wants to withdraw money, of course there is no problem. But..." he said with a look of embarrassment, "Now there are Shuntian Mansion seals everywhere in Delong's bank and accounting room. This
Unless someone from the government is ordered to break the imperial seal, it would be a serious crime to open it without permission."
The bank has been sealed, so no money can be withdrawn, the accounting room has been sealed, and no bills can be issued. These are all high-status reasons. Even if the person coming is Dongchang Chief, Jinyi Weidutang, who comes to withdraw money, he must go through this procedure.
.
"However, as soon as the imperial seal is opened, I will immediately prepare money, whether it is cash or banknotes, and deliver it to your house immediately."
Baoyu seemed a little disappointed and whispered: "Master Leng, you don't have one hundred thousand taels of silver in your hand?"
"Brother Bao San!" Leng Ningyun made a helpless expression, "One hundred thousand taels! In my bank, the maximum amount of money deposited is less than 130,000 to 40,000 taels. How can I have one hundred thousand taels in private!"
"But..." Baoyu said with difficulty, "I heard that when you were always in trouble, in order to collect the ransom, you specially transported 100,000 taels of silver from Delong..."
Leng Ningyun was shocked, how did Eunuch Yang know about this?! However, this matter must not be admitted, because it is a huge crime to secretly reveal the title of emperor, and even rumors will have endless consequences.
At that moment, he said in a very sincere tone: "This is a rumor! If I have so much private property, I can just give it to the kidnappers to redeem myself. Why should I suffer now?"
Baoyu had no way to answer, so he could only say: "Well, this matter is difficult for others to do!"