Chapter 101 Troubled Times

Duke Ningguo seemed to have thought of this as well, and he called a woman in a jade-white dress who was accompanying him to his side. "From now on, you will stay by the young master's side and ensure his safety. You must not slack off even in the slightest."

Upon hearing this, the woman responded respectfully and then stood silently behind Ning Jie.

Su Shengsheng and Qing Ning both turned their gazes towards the woman.

The woman looked like a snow lotus on a steep cliff, extremely pure and cold, unafraid of the severe cold, standing proudly on the top of the snow-capped mountain.

It looks a little extraordinary.

Ning Jie seemed a little impatient with her and waved his hand for her to step aside.

Soon, County Magistrate Sang and his entourage hurried back with worried looks on their faces. It was obvious that things were not going well.

As everyone expected, the gamblers who had gambled with the arrested person even remembered the details of yesterday's dispute clearly.

County Magistrate Sang thought that he could complete his mission smoothly after catching the man, but he did not expect that things would become even more confusing, which made him so worried that even his beard seemed to be twisted off.

He turned to Su Shengsheng and asked tentatively, "Miss Su, have you offended anyone recently?"

This question left Su Shengsheng speechless for a moment.

Speaking of offending people, she has indeed offended quite a few recently...

The clues were interrupted here. Not only was Su Shengsheng unwilling to give up, but Duke Ningguo was also determined not to give up easily.

The other party's layout is so meticulous that it is shocking. If the truth is not found out in time, there will probably be even greater trouble in the future.

Su Shengsheng pondered for a moment and said, "I have a plan. Although it's a bit risky, it might be worth a try."

Faced with such a difficult case, closely watched by both Duke Ningguo and King Xuanming, County Magistrate Sang was at a loss as to what to do. Upon hearing that Su Shengsheng had a solution, he immediately asked, "What's the plan?"

Although commercial competition in previous lives was more civilized than this, it was also varied.

Generally speaking, it is not advisable to confront an opponent who is too strong to be matched with you.

There are usually three ways. One is to show weakness and retreat in order to advance.

The second is to form cliques, gather a team of allies, and fight against the opponents.

The third is to intensify the conflict and let more capable people resolve it.

At present, the third method is the most suitable because they don’t even know who their opponent is.

"As the saying goes, it's easy to dodge an open attack but hard to guard against an arrow from the dark. As long as my business doesn't fail, my competitors might strike again because their interests are damaged."

It was obvious that the other party was coming for her business.

It's either Pinglai Street or Changhua Street. In short, they are jealous of her booming business.

And the words of the two men that she would never be able to make a comeback also proved that they wanted to remove her from the business world.

"As long as I do the opposite, I can always lure out the person behind the scenes," she continued.

Upon hearing this, County Magistrate Sang frowned and said worriedly, "Although this plan is feasible, the risks are too great."

Even the portrait has been released. If he still can't catch the person and someone dies again, he will have to give up his position as county magistrate.

Su Shengsheng raised her head and said, "Let's live in the mountains. They have recruited a group of soldiers who were laid off earlier. We can let them patrol."

County Magistrate Sang thought to himself that the person behind this matter didn't even take Duke Ning seriously. If any accidents happened in the future, he, a minor official of the ninth rank, would be implicated.

After hearing Su Shengsheng offer to be the bait, he no longer objected.

After all, if anything unexpected happens, it can't all be blamed on him in the future.

Although Duke Ningguo was also worried about the safety of several people, he was more worried that the person behind the scenes would disappear and become impossible to guard against in the future.

He immediately agreed and said, "I'll send a few more people over in a few days."

Seeing that it was already dawn, Su Shengsheng was worried that her family would go to Shixianglou to look for her after knowing what had happened, so she decided not to delay any longer.

After verifying that the two men were simply framed, the county magistrate released them on the spot, which also served as a warning to the person behind the scenes.

Don't think that they don't have loopholes.

Although doing so would put Ning Jie in certain danger, Duke Ning had no intention of backing down and vowed to find out the mastermind behind the incident.

After agreeing on the plan with Duke Ningguo and Magistrate Sang, she was about to inform Ji Yanli and turn back, but saw her grandparents rushing over.

Su Shengsheng hurried forward and asked, "Grandpa and grandma, why are you all here?"

"Such a big thing happened, but they kept it secret from us." Grandmother just pulled her to watch.

After confirming that she was alright, he pulled Ning Jie over to check on her, "I'm glad everything is alright."

Li's eyes were red with tears, and she clutched Su Shengsheng's hand tightly. "What kind of deep hatred could possibly lead to someone's death?"

When Yanshu came to report the news, they were all frightened.

At this moment, Duke Ningguo and Magistrate Sang had left to arrange related matters. There were many people talking in the hall, so Su Shengsheng wanted to find a quiet place.

When Old Master Su heard that the young master of the Ji family was seriously injured, he decided to go upstairs to visit him.

In the upstairs room of the inn

After Ji Yanli exchanged greetings with everyone in the Su family, he said softly, "Yanli is fine. Please don't worry, elders."

"How can there be nothing?" Li was immediately anxious when she heard that she would have to recuperate for three months before she could move. "Doesn't that mean she can't go to the imperial capital..."

Jiao didn't want to see both sides worried about this matter, so she suggested, "I think this is a good thing. Sheng's life was saved, and the two of them can get married happily. Isn't that a good thing?"

When Su Shengsheng heard this, she couldn't help but feel a headache.

Is this what they call "misfortunes never come singly"?

In fact, Jiao was also worried that the third wife would blame herself too much, so she wanted to turn a bad thing into a good thing and promote the marriage first.

When Li heard this, she stopped crying.

Seeing this, Su Shengsheng was afraid that her confused mother would really make such a decision, so she quickly said, "The doctor has already instructed that Master Ji's injuries require him to remain stationary for at least three months."

She deliberately made the situation sound more serious.

The second wife was also concerned about Su Shengsheng's marriage, fearing that the young master of the Ji family would become successful in the future and that the marriage would change again.

Then he said, "What's so difficult about this? Young Master Ji just needs to recuperate, and we'll take care of the wedding. When he recovers, it'll be just before the New Year, so it'll be more lively!"

Seeing that the conversation was getting closer and closer, as if it was really about to come to a conclusion, Su Shengsheng hurriedly said, "Master Ji can't catch up with the imperial examination, and he has suffered such a serious injury. He should be given some time."

Seeing that her family was really moved, she could only delay for a while.

Once she gets a car to take people to the exam, there will be nothing to worry about.

Upon hearing this, Jiao and Zhong had to stop talking. "Look at me, I'm so inconsiderate. It's still Miss Sheng who knows how to care for others."

Su Shengsheng was speechless after hearing this, but she couldn't refute it, so she could only lower her head and remain silent.

Ji Yanli looked at her and asked, "Why is the street so noisy?"

"Civil unrest has broken out in Baishang Kingdom, and refugees have flocked to the outer reaches of the Great Wall." Old Master Su sighed softly. "While some of these refugees are from our dynasty, they live in a war-torn region with complex backgrounds, making it difficult to distinguish between loyalty and treachery."

Although Old Master Su lived in the mansion, he was very concerned about the affairs of the border.

I originally thought that once the war in the north stopped, Baishang Kingdom would take the opportunity to stir up trouble.

Unexpectedly, news of civil unrest in Baishang country came in the past few days.

"The ruler of Baishang State requested aid from our dynasty. When Queen Dowager Xia learned of this, she imprisoned the ruler. Furthermore, our traitor Heng Hongbo openly turned against Queen Dowager Xia, accusing her of being presumptuous, imprisoning the ruler, and sending troops to support the king, all in an attempt to usurp the throne."

However, Empress Dowager Xia had been in power for many years and was not a good person either.

The two sides fought to the death, but in the end they were evenly matched and could only draw a border to mark the boundary and rule the country separately.

Outside the Great Wall, at the border with Baishang Kingdom, apart from the vast snow-capped mountains, in that desolate wilderness, there still live people who have been displaced due to war or the destruction of their country.

Of course, there were also those people who believed that Nanling could not withstand the attack from both Beirong and Baishang Kingdom and defected to Baishang Kingdom.

This time, civil unrest broke out in Baishang, splitting the country into two. Seeing that Nanling and Beirong had made peace and Baishang was in dire straits, they flocked to join them.

These people gathered outside the border city walls, clamoring to enter the country, and their number reached tens of thousands.

But all of them were turned away by the Nanling defenders.

However, it is not difficult to see from this incident that Baishang Kingdom has indeed fallen into civil strife.