Tiger Owl

Chapter 36 The Two Qiaos Enter the Mansion
Gan Ning has two official residences, one in the military camp, which is his military office as a colonel.

The other was the Chaisang County government office, where he was the county magistrate.

Currently, Gansu and Ningxia control three counties: Chaisang County, Xunyang County, and Liling County.

Liling County is located south of Mount Lu. Gan Ning ordered Zhang Xi to lead 500 men to garrison there. If Taishi Ci led his army to attack, Zhang Xi would abandon his northward retreat. However, interestingly, Taishi Ci never attacked Liling County, which was tantamount to tacitly acquiescing to Gan Ning's occupation of Liling County.

As for Xunyang County, after Sun Ce was injured, he did not send any officials to Xunyang County, seemingly forgetting about this small county in Lujiang Commandery, which is located in the far west.

Of course, this doesn't mean Jiangdong has forgotten about it; it's just that they can't attend to it for the time being.

Although he wounded Sun Ce, forcing Jiangdong to withdraw its troops and temporarily resolving the crisis at Chaisang, Gan Ning was not very happy these past two days.

The main problem was that a very unpleasant incident occurred: Yuan Shu's subordinate Zhang Xun ran away with his family, or more accurately, abandoned his post and fled. Gan Ning had previously appointed Zhang Xun as the assistant magistrate of Liling County, with Gan Ning concurrently serving as the county magistrate. Zhang Xun was effectively the county magistrate of Liling, and Gan Ning had treated him quite well.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Xun felt that the official position Gan Ning had given him was too low, and the day before yesterday he actually abandoned his post and fled to Jiangdong with his family.

This infuriated Gan Ning, who immediately ordered Lu Su to investigate.

At this moment, Gan Ning was listening to Lu Su's investigation report.

"Reporting to my lord, I have investigated and found out that it was someone from Jiangdong who persuaded Zhang Xun, promising him high-ranking official positions and generous salaries. Zhang Xun could not resist the temptation and left without saying goodbye."

Gan Ning stood by the window with his hands behind his back, his face extremely grim. This was the first time he had been betrayed by his subordinates.

Lu Su advised, “My lord, there is no need to worry about this matter. Even birds know to choose a good tree to perch on, let alone people. Zhang Xun was originally Yuan Shu’s subordinate, and his loyalty to my lord is still lacking. It is only natural for him to want to climb a higher branch. The key is that we must become strong and take over the entire territory of Yuzhang. Then, good ministers will naturally come to join us. So my lord, there is no need to worry about not having good strategists.”

Gan Ning sighed softly, "Sir is right. The key is that I am not strong enough. Oh well, let them be! But I estimate that the people from Jiangdong are still in Chaisang. We must capture them and not let them poach my people so recklessly."

"Your subordinate obeys. I will immediately arrange for people to search for spies in Jiangdong."

Lu Su bowed and left in a hurry.

Gan Ning then asked Han Gui, a personal guard standing in the courtyard, "What happened?"

Han Gui hurriedly replied, "Reporting to my lord, this afternoon a merchant visited the Yang family. I don't know what they talked about, but I saw the merchant leave and throw a silver ingot into the courtyard."

To appease the Qiao family, Gan Ning specially appointed Qiao An as the county magistrate of Xunyang County, and found a small house covering an area of ​​one mu for Yang and her daughter, and gave them five strings of cash a month for their living expenses. It was for this reason that Yang and her daughter were able to settle down and live there with peace of mind.

The main reason was that the two Qiao sisters were still young, and Gan Ning wanted to wait until they were older before taking them into his household. At the same time, Gan Ning arranged for his personal guard Han Gui to protect them in the general store opposite the Qiao sisters' house to prevent them from being harassed.

Gan Ning was secretly alarmed. This must be because Sun Ce still had designs on Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao. He had been careless. No! He couldn't leave them outside.

Gan Ning immediately ordered his personal guards, "Go and invite Chief Clerk Yang here!"

Yang Jing's official residence was also inside the county government office, very close by. Before long, a guard at the door reported, "General, Chief Clerk Yang has arrived!"

"Invite him in!"

Yang Jing entered the official residence, bowed, and said, "This humble servant greets Your Majesty!"

"What has Chief Clerk Yang been busy with lately?" Gan Ning asked with a smile.

"Reporting to my lord, the end of the year is the season for collecting taxes, and I have recently been assisting Chief Clerk Lu in verifying household registrations."

"You've worked hard during this time, Chief Clerk Yang."

Gan Ning smiled, then pondered for a moment and asked, "Someone came to see your sister today. Who was he?"

Yang Jing dared not hide anything and quickly said, "My sister doesn't know the person who came. He claims to be a subordinate of the Marquis of Wu and wants to take her and her daughter to Wu County."

As expected, it was sent by Sun Ce. Gan Ning then asked, "Is this the first time this person has met your sister?" "It is the first time. My sister is a little scared, so she came to me to discuss it."

Gan Ning said slowly, "Recently, many spies from Jiangdong have come to Chaisang. They are up to no good. It is not safe for them, a widow and her child, to live outside. How about this? The west courtyard of my mansion is empty. Let them move in, and I can protect them."

"My lord, why don't we let Da Qiao enter the palace first?"

How could Gan Ning possibly leave Xiao Qiao outside, only to have her kidnapped in the blink of an eye?

Gan Ning shook his head. "I didn't mean anything by it. These sisters are still young and not yet of marriageable age. They don't have a father to protect them, so they are easily bullied. Let them move in today!"

Yang Jing had no choice but to agree, "I'll go tell them right away!"

.........

Gan Ning treated her with courtesy, but that did not mean his will could be resisted. That afternoon, Yang moved into Gan Ning's mansion with her two daughters.

Gan Ning's residence was the rear residence of the county government, covering an area of ​​about five acres. It was divided into three sections: front, middle, and rear. The west courtyard was part of the rear residence and was actually a place for his concubines to live.

However, Gan Ning is now single. He has no wives or concubines, not even maids or servants. He lives alone in the empty five-acre house.

Yang was rather timid. Her brother, Yang Jing, threatened her, saying that the businessman who came to see her that afternoon was of unknown identity and had accomplices, and might even be a human trafficker.

The other party gave her money, threatening that if she didn't leave, they would come to her door at night and take her two daughters away. This terrified Yang, who didn't dare wait until tomorrow. She hastily packed her things and moved into the county house with her two daughters.

While Madam Yang tidied up inside the house, Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao walked hand in hand around the back courtyard. They were both surprised to find that such a large house was completely deserted.

Soon, they arrived at the back garden. The back garden was not large, but it was very elegantly decorated. There was a small bamboo grove, next to which was an octagonal pavilion with flying eaves. The small fish pond was right next to the pavilion, where you could sit and feed the fish. Two artificial hills stood beside the fish pond, and there were also nurseries and flower beds not far away.

Although it was November, which is December in the Gregorian calendar, it wasn't very cold. The fishpond wasn't frozen, and there were still more than a dozen carp swimming in the water.

"Sister, look! There's a red carp over there!" Xiao Qiao exclaimed excitedly, pointing to the water.

"Oh dear! We forgot to bring some fish food," Da Qiao said regretfully.

"I have some here!" a man's voice came from behind.

The sisters turned around in fright, and behind them stood a tall, young man, none other than Gan Ning.

He held a bag of fish food in his hand and handed it to the two sisters with a smile, saying, "I just came by to feed the fish, so please do it for me!"

After a month apart, the two beauties looked much better and were no longer as thin as before. They were radiant and their skin was fair and rosy, clear and delicate. Although they were dressed rather simply, their stunning beauty was already showing.

Da Qiao took the fish food bag with embarrassment and handed it to her sister. Da Qiao gave a curtsy and said, "Thank you, young master, for bringing us here and protecting us from being kidnapped by bad guys."

The two sisters were very naive and completely believed their uncle's words; they had been targeted by human traffickers.

Gan Ning smiled and said, "The Xunyang Restaurant will deliver the food later. Two cooks will arrive tomorrow. I've also hired a housekeeper who will bring you daily necessities. Just let him know if you need anything."

"Thank you for your kindness, young master!"

Gan Ning said softly, "I have some things to do and will be back later. You guys eat by yourselves, don't wait for me!"

"I see!"

Da Qiao was more sensible, bowing as she saw Gan Ning off, while Xiao Qiao was enthusiastically feeding the fish; she was not yet old enough to be sensible.

Da Qiao watched Gan Ning's retreating figure, and gently bit her lip. He eats and lives for free, and even gives her five strings of cash every month. This won't do. As the older sister, she has to do something.
(End of this chapter)