Chapter Sixty: Who Sent You Here?
Qin Wenzheng responded and turned to look at the sharp-faced young man, "Brother, this is our first time working together, so please bear with me, whether it's good or bad."
These few words made Qin Zhining like him even more.
It seems that not all petty thugs are completely bad; with proper guidance and development, they can certainly achieve great things.
The sharp-faced boy lowered his head and looked obediently at Wenzheng, saying, "My name is Li Sen, and this is my younger brother, Li Mu. From now on, we two brothers will follow Brother Wenzheng's orders."
Seeing that Li Sen was quite sensible, Qin Wenzheng felt a sense of goodwill towards him and said, "Then let's go. As long as you follow Miss well from now on, you will surely live a good life."
Li Sen and Li Mu agreed and followed Qin Wenzheng to find Jinqiu, entering the city together.
Qin Zhining gave them five taels of silver, which, according to the market price of grain in the Great Qi Dynasty, could roughly buy five thousand catties of grain. "Buy whatever you think is appropriate, don't be stingy with the money."
It's early spring now, and there are still ten days until spring planting. Let's buy enough grain for the next six months to avoid panic.
Li Sen and Li Mu exchanged a glance, quite shocked by the young lady's generous gesture. They immediately abandoned their ulterior motives and followed Qin Wenzheng.
Qin Zhining sat down and drank a cup of tea to calm herself down before looking at Zhou Fuquan, who looked terrified, and said in a calm tone.
"Manager Zhou, why are last year's accounts unclear? Where are the receipts for repairing the estate? You'd better tell me the truth, or don't blame me for being impolite."
Although the current accounts belong to Grand Secretary Zhang, since he gifted the estate to me, those previous accounts, along with the estate, also belong to me. You should understand this, right?
Zhou Fuquan's face turned pale, and he hurriedly said, "Miss Qin, this old servant... this old servant can't remember, I may have lost the voucher."
As for the unclear accounts, it's because the previous accountant left in a hurry and didn't have time for a proper handover.
"Yeah?"
Qin Zhining raised an eyebrow. "But I heard that you fired the previous accountant. How could he have left in such a hurry that he didn't hand over the duties properly?"
Zhou Fuquan's face turned deathly pale. He hadn't expected Qin Zhining to know about this. His heart pounded, and he opened his mouth to explain, but he couldn't utter a single word.
Seeing his flustered appearance, Qin Zhining already knew what was going on.
This week, Fuquan not only embezzled grain money, but also pocketed the silver in the estate. There might be other shady dealings involved.
Just as she was about to ask further questions, a young man ran in from outside, his face showing a hint of panic. "Miss Qin, something terrible has happened. We've found several strangers' footprints at the gap in the west wall, and the footprints are heading towards the manor."
Qin Zhining's heart tightened. It seemed that her guess was correct; someone really had their eyes on this manor.
She hurriedly said, "Xiaoxiao, quickly take people to search the estate, especially the granary and the accounting office."
Qin Xiaoxiao responded and ran out.
Zhou Fuquan stood to the side, his face even more unsightly, but a barely perceptible smug glint flashed in his eyes.
He had already made contact with people outside; as long as he could get rid of Qin Zhining, the estate would still be his.
Qin Zhining glanced at Zhou Fuquan, taking in the smugness in his eyes. She sneered inwardly. Did Zhou Fuquan think he could get rid of her by bringing a few people? He was far too naive.
She turned to one of her younger, slender-faced henchmen and said, "Go and gather all the women in the manor to the inner courtyard. Tell them to keep an eye on their children and not let them go out unnecessarily."
The young man agreed and hurried away.
Qin Zhining then looked at Zhou Fuquan, her tone icy, "Manager Zhou, you'd better pray this has nothing to do with you."
Otherwise, I will not only kick you out of the estate, but I will also report you to the authorities for embezzling grain and money, and send you to jail.”
Zhou Fuquan trembled, feigning innocence, and said, "Miss Qin, this old servant... this old servant really doesn't know anything about this, it has nothing to do with this old servant."
Qin Zhining ignored him and turned to walk towards the west wall.
Just as they reached the moon gate, Li Sen and his group of boys ran over, their faces showing some urgency. "Miss Qin, we found two people near the granary. They're carrying knives and they're running this way."
No sooner had he finished speaking than two men dressed in black ran out from the west corridor, carrying knives and with menacing expressions on their faces.
Qin Zhining hurriedly said, "You few can't stop them. Quickly go and meet up with the other villagers to hide. Don't hurt anyone."
The boys looked at each other, none of them expecting that Miss Qin would let them hide at this critical moment. They were all deeply moved.
"Miss, we don't need to hide. Leave these bandits to us." With that, she rushed forward and started fighting with the two men in black.
The two men in black were wielding knives, their movements seemingly chaotic, but they were actually quite skilled.
However, Li Sen's henchmen were no pushovers either. Although they weren't very skilled in hand-to-hand combat, they were agile and strong, and they didn't suffer any losses in the fight against the men in black.
Qin Zhining was unwilling to waste energy and time on this trivial matter. She twisted her body and lunged forward, using her left fist and right palm, spinning and kicking, and in just a few moves she knocked the two men in black to the ground, where they were pinned down by several young men.
"Who are you? Why are you barging in?" Qin Zhining walked up to a tall, burly thug, kicked him a few times, and shouted coldly.
The tall man in black kept his eyes closed, pretending to be dead, and didn't utter a word, as if to say, "What can you do to me if I don't say anything?"
Seeing his companion's reaction, the other man in black also stiffened his neck, glared with wide eyes, and refused to speak, looking fierce.
Another man glanced in Zhou Fuquan's direction, his eyes flickering.
Qin Zhining followed his gaze and saw Zhou Fuquan standing behind a pillar, his face pale and his hands clenched into fists.
"It seems someone sent you here."
Qin Zhining said, "If you tell the truth, I can let you go. If you don't, I will take you to the yamen and accuse you of trespassing and injuring people with a knife."
"At that time, even if you're not sentenced to death or exile, a single beating will leave you half-dead. What's the point of all this?"
The three men in black exchanged glances, a hint of hesitation on their faces.
Seeing this, Zhou Fuquan quickly said, "Miss Qin, don't listen to their nonsense. They're definitely here to steal things, and it has nothing to do with the people in our village."
Qin Zhining ignored him and continued to look at the two men in black. "If you speak now, it's not too late."
One of the men in black finally couldn't help but speak up, "It was...it was Steward Zhou who sent us. He said that as long as we drive you away, he will give us fifty taels of silver!"
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