After watching Xie Changshi leave, Gu Yuzhi slowly began to wash up and have breakfast. Then, he ruffled Xueye's fur and said in a tone of tragic determination, "Xueye, Chen Dianyi is still teaching me today. Do you want to come with me?"
With a howl, Xueye quickly fled from Gu Yuzhi's side, glancing back at him with eyes full of reproach, as if to say, "Young Prince, do you even listen to yourself? Are you speaking human language?"
As for Chief Secretary Xie, Qi Chenglang and Zhang Yuankai were already waiting outside when he went out. The three of them mounted their horses together, and Zhang Yuankai said in a somewhat nonchalant tone, "I haven't interrogated a prisoner in a long time. Today, I'm going to have my fill of it."
Just as Xie Changshi was about to speak, Qi Chenglang said in a low voice, "So, were you interrogating a ghost the other night?"
The chieftain is already on the verge of losing his mind before he's even interrogated the prisoner!
"You!" Zhang Yuankai pointed at Qi Chenglang, his anger rising, and spat at him fiercely, "I've already built up this atmosphere, what are you doing ruining it!"
The two walked and cursed at each other, making the quiet street noisy. Xie Changshi smiled and ignored it.
When they arrived at the prefectural government office, Prefect Qi had not yet arrived. Two constables were standing at the door and recognized Qi Chenglang at a glance. After all, on the day of the bandit suppression, they, the constables, had all listened to Guard Qi.
The constables quickly descended the steps and stepped forward: "Chief Guard Qi, do you have business with the Prefect? The Prefect hasn't arrived yet, please come in and wait."
With outsiders present, Qi Chenglang reverted to his expressionless face, nodded slightly, and followed them inside. The constable had three pots of tea brewed, then left and quickly sent someone to fetch Prefect Qi.
A quarter of an hour later, Prefect Qi rushed in: "Thank you, Chief Secretary Xie, Guard Qi, Guard Zhang, I'm so sorry, something came up and I'm a little late."
In the past two days, in order to interrogate those bandits, Prefect Qi has practically lived in the yamen. This morning, he went to the prison again. As a result, even after being hungry for two days, these bandits still haven't told a single truth.
Prefect Qi had been at odds with the bandits for so many years, and he had always dreamed of capturing them. Now that he finally had them in his hands, he had no intention of being polite. Just as he was about to have them tortured, a servant came to report that Chief Secretary Xie had arrived. He had no choice but to quickly pack up and hurry back to the yamen.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Chief Secretary Xie got straight to the point: "I have come today for two matters. First, as you know, Your Highness is currently in a difficult situation. Although the Emperor's rewards have been recovered, the fiefdom is entirely wasteland that needs to be cultivated, and Your Highness's residence still needs to be built. These rewards are merely a drop in the ocean..."
Prefect Qi nodded repeatedly, but inwardly he became more vigilant. He glanced at Chief Secretary Xie, then at Chief Secretary Xie again. Although it was just a drop in the ocean, they hadn't left us anything they brought back from suppressing the bandits!
Why is Chief Clerk Xie complaining about being poor? Does he expect these prefects to pay him?
These prefects are very poor, okay!
Chief Secretary Xie noticed that Prefect Qi's expression was a little strange, but didn't think much of it. "So we were thinking of opening a security escort agency. Prefect Qi, do you have any security escort agencies you know that are for sale? If not, do you have any suitable land to sell to us?"
"There are suitable ones, there are suitable ones." Prefect Qi said subconsciously, then realized something was wrong. He turned to look at Chief Secretary Xie, who was smiling and looked harmless. "What did Chief Secretary Xie say? A security escort agency?"
He wasn't stupid either; his gaze quickly fell on Qi Chenglang and Zhang Yuankai. He slowly swallowed, his pupils gradually dilating.
No way, really?
Could it really be what he thinks?
Chief Secretary Xie, however, had no intention of letting him off the hook: "What Prefect Qi is referring to as a suitable security escort agency or land? Of course, His Highness hopes to find a suitable security escort agency that can start operating immediately."
Prefect Qi was practically in tears. What were Qi Chenglang and Zhang Yuankai's identities? They were actually going to become镖头 (bodyguards/escorts)!
Although such a security escort agency is very trustworthy, why should I tell him about this?
Prefect Qi looked at the sky and the ground, but avoided looking at the three people: "Well, I seem to have vaguely heard that a small security escort agency in the south of the city is for sale. They lost money on three deals recently and can't continue operating, so they're desperate. I also heard a couple of days ago that Li's Trading Company in the south of the city wanted to buy it, but they couldn't agree on a price."
He explained briefly: "The Li Family Business in the south of the city also owns a security escort agency, which is considered the largest security escort agency in the northern desert. It has branches in many places."
Having lost three deals in a short period of time, coupled with the fact that Li's Trading Company was out acquiring other businesses, Xie Changshi couldn't help but wonder if this small escort agency had gotten in Li's Trading Company's way.
After thinking for a moment, Xie Changshi said, "How small is the escort agency that Prefect Qi mentioned? We don't know much about the situation in the northern desert. If this escort agency is so small that it doesn't even have the most basic facilities, then we might as well just buy a piece of land."
Prefect Qi then laughed heartily: "It's called a small escort agency, but it actually occupies quite a lot of space and is fully equipped with everything. It's called a small escort agency because of the limited manpower. Longchang Escort Agency was the largest escort agency in the northern desert more than ten years ago, but at that time, bandits were rampant, and Longchang Escort Agency lost several shipments in a row, losing money and damaging its reputation."
News of the Longchang Escort Agency's repeated failures quickly spread throughout the northern desert. Wealthy families would never dare to hire them again. For many years, they had only been able to make a living by carrying small escorts.
After losing money on three business deals recently, he couldn't make a living anymore and had to find a way to sell the security escort agency to pay off his debts.
Chief Secretary Xie stroked his beard and thought for a while before saying, "Later, I'll trouble Prefect Qi to take us to that escort agency."
Generally speaking, the head of a security escort agency travels all over the country and knows many heroes of the outlaw world. They value loyalty and righteousness. The fact that the manager of this security escort agency is selling the agency to get his money back shows that he is at least not a bad person.
If he found the location suitable after visiting it, he thought he could directly tell His Highness that he wanted to buy the escort agency.
Prefect Qi nodded repeatedly: "Of course, of course."
It was as if he was completely unaware of the purpose behind Xie Changshi's summons.
Then Chief Secretary Xie smiled and said, "As for the second matter, which concerns the mountain bandits, we still have many doubts. I wonder if Prefect Qi has managed to find out anything related to this in the past two days?"
Prefect Qi's face flushed red, and his voice became stammering: "Forgive my incompetence, but I haven't been able to get any useful clues. Just like what I told Chief Guard Qi before, I have already sent someone to Quanzhou to check the household registration records."
He said with some difficulty, "However, Chief Secretary Xie, if these people are not lying, the chances of finding the household registration are very small. The Quanzhou government office was suddenly destroyed by fire a few years ago, and hundreds of people, including the prefect, perished in the fire. The current prefect of Quanzhou has only been in office for a few years, and it is said that the household registration is newly compiled."
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