Hi,
This is not a question on libmodbus, but more precisely on how to use other libraries in a Qt project, and even more precisely, using qtcreator.
There is probably some missing configuration on qtcreator, regarding default directories, the root directories where it will look for tools and the root directories where it will look for libraries.
I have never used qtcreator for an embedded project, but for desktop projects, for example, the default root directory for libraries header files in Linux systems use to be "/usr/include", and this is the default to qtcreator, too.
So, as you have used
#include "modbus/modbus.h"
you might have used
#include <modbus/modbus.h>
which means "/usr/include/modbus/modbus.h".
Try asking this same question to a Qt specific forum, there you will find much more help.
Good luck, and best regards.
Francisco