In the courtyard of the old princess of the Su residence.

The cries were deafening.

The old princess cried so much that her head was splitting open.

"Alright, alright, you're all fine now, what else do you want to cause trouble for?"

Su Rong'an, clutching a handkerchief and with red eyes, knelt and prostrated herself beside the old princess's legs.

“Mother, how can you say this is nothing? The Sun family is going to exterminate my entire clan! How am I supposed to live after this?”

Su Qinghe also knelt down.

“Grandmother, Shaojun was the most promising prince, but now he has become a son of a concubine. My marriage is off, and the Sun family has been wiped out. Who in the capital will dare to marry me in the future? How am I supposed to face this? Su Yulan will definitely laugh me to death.”

The old princess irritably turned her prayer beads.

"If you cause any more trouble, you'll die along with the Sun family."

The two stopped crying, but continued to sob.

She sat slumped on the ground, looking pitiful, with not a trace of the demeanor of a noble lady from the capital.

The old princess sighed.

Ultimately, this is someone I've cherished and pampered for so many years; all I can do is offer comfort.

“This time, the Chen family has also been implicated, and I really have no other choice. You should feel very fortunate that your grandfather is able to protect you from being implicated because you are of the Su family bloodline. Your eldest brother should return to the capital soon. I will do my best to help your grandfather keep his position, so that you will still have someone to rely on in the future.”

Su Rong'an was furious.

"Mother, what is Father doing? Why is he so ruthless in eliminating Sun Ke? Is it just to protect himself? Our Su family hasn't been driven to the brink of destruction yet, has it?"

Su Qinghe echoed in agreement.

"Yes, Grandmother, you should really ask Grandfather if he still cares about the reputation of the Su family. How could he be defeated by the Ninth Prince like this? How will the powerful and influential people in the capital be suspicious of the Su family? Will the Su family still be able to stand in the capital in the future?"

Upon hearing this, the old princess gave a self-deprecating bitter laugh.

"In his heart, there was never any mention of the Su family."

Su Rong'an and Su Qinghe were both taken aback. When they pressed for more information, the old princess said nothing more, only instructing them to behave themselves and not cause any more trouble. Then, she took the hand of the old nanny and went inside to rest.

...

After a night's rest, Jiang Qingwan took Qinghui out to find Luo Jiu.

She wanted to find out from Ghost Face about the Sui people's manufacture of mechanical weapons.

Although the second senior brother was flamboyant and unruly, killing so many people at once was really against the rules of the Zhuge Clan.

Moreover, how could he have happened to appear in Xiahe Village by such a coincidence? Did he go with her and Mo Yunhan, or with Mo Shaojun?

Was the fire in Stone Village related to him?

In a daze, she felt as if she no longer knew this senior brother she had grown up with.

Luo Jiu was overjoyed to see her.

After bowing, he led her inside.

“Your Highness, I have mass-produced the mechanical weapon blueprints you gave me before and distributed them all to the Prince to equip the Dark Guard. The Prince intends to equip a mechanical army to guard the border and protect the people there from foreign invasion. The Prince said that this matter cannot be informed to the Ministry of War. Fortunately, when Qingfeng Village was chasing the rebels, they found an iron mine. The Prince has sent people to mine and station troops there. I want to take Ghost Face there to work hard on forging weapons, but there are still some problems with the mechanical blueprints that have not been solved. If you hadn’t come, I would have asked the Prince to come to the Prince’s residence to find you.”

As they spoke, they arrived at the main hall.

The sound of chains sliding was slightly jarring.

Among a pile of parts, Ghost Face is struggling irritably with a round mechanical ball.

The hideous scars on his face were exceptionally horrifying in the light and shadow, yet he no longer wore a mask.

"Stop with that. You've been trying for so long and still haven't succeeded. The princess is here. If you have any questions, ask her directly. I guarantee you'll benefit greatly."

Although Ghost Face verbally expressed his disdain for Jiang Qingwan being a woman.

But I have also witnessed Jiang Qingwan's abilities.

Reluctantly, they moved over.

"This thing was made by Banlu. Can you open it?"

Jiang Qingwan looked at it and saw that the mechanical ball was indeed made by her second senior brother, but judging from the wear and tear, it was already many years old.

She picked it up and tossed it around, her gaze falling on the ghost mask.

"Where did you get this from? Do you know Banruco?"

Ghost Face carefully snatched the item back.

"Don't break it. I don't know Banlu, but many years ago, when I was wandering the martial arts world, I obtained a Banlu manual. However, it was an incomplete copy, and many things were missing. Otherwise, how could I have been defeated by Luo Jiu?"

Jiang Qingwan raised her hand and opened the mechanism ball in no time.

Ghost Face was overjoyed.

Jiang Qingwan sat to the side and began to ask questions.

After several attempts, they did manage to obtain some clues.

The Ban Lu that Ghost Face knew and the second senior brother in Zhuge Sect did not seem to be the same person.

While appearance and age can be misrepresented, the time and place of occurrence simply don't match up.

Could it be that before the Second Senior Brother, there was another Ban Lu?

She answered several more of Luo Jiu's questions and left some blueprints for the mechanisms.

Before leaving, I couldn't help but ask one more question.

"Ghost Face, Ban Lu, are you from the Sui Dynasty?"

"How could that be! The most powerful mechanical art that the Great Zhou used to destroy the Great Sui was given to him by Ban Lu. How could he destroy his own country?"

The ghost-faced man didn't even raise his head, yet his answer was resolute.

Jiang Qingwan stood there stunned for a long time before she came to her senses.

Watching the two engage in a heated discussion about the blueprints, he quietly left.

Her emotions were in turmoil.

If he wasn't a member of the Sui Dynasty, then who was Second Senior Brother working for and what was he doing at Qingfeng Village?

Unable to understand, she told the driver to leave first and took Qing Sui for a aimless stroll through the streets.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!