Mr. Songshan looked at Lord Gu and clapped his hands, saying, "That's right, Young Master Nantang saw this point. Indeed, it's excellent."
Lord Gu nodded repeatedly.
Qin Yuan humbly inquired, "Does the master mean something deeper?"
Mr. Matsuyama smiled and said, "That's for sure."
Qin Yuan thought for a moment and smiled, "I'm afraid this isn't the right time to say."
Mr. Songshan nodded.
"This matter depends on whether there are any coincidences. It would be better to reveal it too early, and whether to do it or not depends on how things develop."
Qin Yuan stopped talking and lowered her head to drink her tea.
The Gu brothers watched them play riddles from the sidelines, genuinely finding it despicable that scholars could be so wicked!
After a while.
Qin Yuan put down her teacup and asked, "Didn't you say you invited me here to discuss something? Why are you not saying anything now that I'm here?"
Mr. Songshan said, "We can only discuss this if you've seen this level of understanding; otherwise, what are we going to discuss?"
Qin Yuan laughed.
Cuiming came over and served tea to everyone.
Qin Yuan asked, "May I ask if it's possible to discuss this now?"
Mr. Songshan said leisurely, "Although it is not a secret, I believe that the secret should not be passed on to six people, and things are accomplished by secrecy."
The implication was that Sixth Master Gu and Cuiming were in the way.
Sixth Master Gu was speechless, and stood up in a huff, saying, "Since that's the case, I won't disturb your private conversation any longer."
Anyway, we can't understand it here, so let's leave this good fortune to Third Brother.
Sixth Master Gu gave Third Brother a deep look.
Qin Yuan quickly said, "Cui Ming is guarding outside. We have important matters to discuss, but Sixth Master, you don't need to leave. I have something here that also concerns you."
Cui Ming responded and walked out gracefully.
Sixth Master Gu paused, but did not sit down immediately. He looked at Mr. Songshan with a half-sitting posture.
Seeing that Mr. Songshan did not object, he then sat down.
Mr. Songshan asked curiously, "What important matter concerns Sixth Master?"
Qin Yuan said, "I suppose Mr. Songshan is aware of the Zhao family's affairs, and this matter is somewhat related to him."
"oh?"
Mr. Matsuyama was even more surprised.
Lord Gu waited quietly for his young wife to speak.
Qin Yuan said solemnly, "The two children of the Zhao family have been adopted by Brother Cheng from the clan and now live in the next courtyard. Last time, the Marquis also took them to have a meal with you."
Mr. Matsuyama nodded, indicating that he remembered the matter.
Qin Yuan continued, "We haven't hired a tutor for the two children yet, and Sixth Master's child has returned from the Imperial Academy to observe mourning at home. We can't let them neglect their studies. I was thinking, if Mr. Songshan has the time, would you be willing to help tutor a few children?"
Mr. Songshan squinted and thought for a moment before saying, “Since I am going to take Sixth Master as my disciple, I can also teach his children. However, there is a connection between people. If we don’t get along, we can’t delay the children’s education. We will have to find another teacher who is compatible with us.”
Master Gu quickly smiled and said, "Thank you, Master, of course."
Mr. Songshan glanced at Lord Gu again and said, "As for Pang Cheng and Pang Yu, I have no way to teach them. I noticed this when we dined together last time. These two children are a bit wild and I'm afraid they will have difficulty accepting my guidance. Pang Cheng should focus on martial arts. As for Pang Yu, he can follow him to read and write, but further studies are unnecessary."
Qin Yuan waited for a while, and seeing that Gu Jinghui had nothing to say, she said, "Then please ask my father to recommend a few teachers to come over."
Gu Jinghui said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Madam and Lord Taishan."
Qin Yuan said, "Sister-in-law Cheng owes me a debt of gratitude for this matter."
Sixth Master Gu looked at Marquis Gu and smiled.
Lord Gu said, "Madam did this because of me, and I am grateful."
Mr. Matsuyama nodded with a smile.
"Is that all?"
Qin Yuan continued, "Sister-in-law Cheng came to our house today and told us something. The Emperor is going to hold a grand birthday celebration for the Empress Dowager, so the Five Cities Garrison is going to strictly check household and merchant records. Brother Cheng asked her to pass on a message, asking if we could use this opportunity to find out the whereabouts of Zhao Shi and Xu Zhen."
Sixth Master Gu immediately said, "Of course we need to. Our Marquis's Mansion will cover whatever it costs. If Xu Zhen can be found, the feud between the Xu family and the Gu family will be resolved."
Lord Gu pressed his thumb, making a clicking sound, clearly indicating that he was not at peace.
Mr. Songshan pondered for a moment and said, "It is too easy to hide people in the capital. Even some places in the Five Cities Garrison are off-limits."
Master Gu then asked, "What place is that?"
Mr. Songshan said, "That's why it's said that reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. This is something you, young master, don't know. I'm afraid you'll never even imagine it in your life."
Sixth Master Gu laughed and said, "No matter what, I grew up in the capital. What place haven't I been to and had fun?"
Because Qin Yuan was present, he couldn't say it out loud.
He had also frequented many brothels and other places of extravagance.
Mr. Songshan rolled his eyes at him and said, "If I hadn't been asking around along the way, I wouldn't have known that the drainage system in the capital was so deep and wide, with many homeless people living there. Moreover, there were also gangs of ruffians who used it as their hideout. And all of this could have been investigated by the Five City Garrison and the Ministry of Works with a little effort."
Master Gu exclaimed in surprise, "The drainage ditch? It's filthy and smelly there, how could someone hide there?"
Qin Yuan said, "I once heard someone say that thieves once sneaked into the national treasury through the drainage system to steal things."
"And then what?"
"Later... because the thief was so thin from hunger, he climbed in, carried out the gold bricks, and when he was going through the pipe, he was exhausted, hit his head, and died inside."
Sixth Master Gu sighed for a long time.
Gu Jinghui glanced at Qin Yuan, picked up his teacup and took a sip, and said, "This can be solved. Please ask the Ministry of Works' Ditch and Canal Division to lead people to dredge and clear the silt. My camp can send soldiers to help with the search."
Qin Yuan nodded: "Yes, there must be guilds of beggars and porters in the capital who are responsible for cleaning up the filth on the streets, or societies formed by street cleaners who are responsible for maintaining the ditches. They should know quite a lot."
Gu Jinghui nodded, secretly marveling at the achievement.
His young wife knew more about these things than he did; she didn't seem like a young lady raised in a sheltered environment at all.
Master Gu clicked his tongue in amazement.
Mr. Songshan said quietly, "There are also places we can't go to. For example, some traffickers have powerful backers. Brothels, theaters, and entertainment venues are all dens for selling goods. Without intelligence, searching them is a waste of time. If powerful people are hiding someone in their mansions, even checking their household registration won't help."
Everyone fell silent.
After a short while, Sixth Master Gu said, "We absolutely have to go look for it... otherwise... otherwise..."
Gu Jinghui said, "Of course we should look for them."
Sixth Master Gu strained his ears to hear the next half of the sentence, but he heard nothing.
Qin Yuan suddenly said, "What Mr. Songshan just said is right. It's hard to find the hiding places of kidnappers and powerful people, but it's much easier once we have intelligence."
Sixth Master Gu sat up straight and asked, "Then where can we find intelligence?"
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