"Go back quickly."

"Madam Xie is understanding."

"Of course."

Jiang Nuan didn't take it to heart.

If the skin is gone, where will the hair attach? The chaos in the Great Zhou Dynasty will not benefit her either.

Aristocratic families are truly a malignant tumor.

They so casually treat the Great Zhou as their own backyard, stirring up trouble and disregarding the consequences, like vultures absorbing nutrients from the flesh and blood of others.

It's really disliked.

Although she couldn't do anything about it for the time being, Jiang Nuan kept it in mind.

If possible, we must make them experience what it's like to be manipulated.

Liu An left that same day.

In order to get to the capital as quickly as possible, they traveled light, taking only a few personal servants with them.

The moment he left southern Henan, Grand Secretary An arrived in the capital.

As soon as Grand Secretary An returned to his residence, a group of people came looking for him.

"Qingyun, in just a few days, our An family has already suffered heavy losses. We can't let this continue."

“Grandpa, the Cui family has fallen so low that they can’t even produce a Minister, yet they dare to attack the An family. They clearly don’t respect you.”

"Father, the family has already donated most of its wealth, and now with these continuous losses, I'm afraid..."

"Are you blaming me?" Grand Secretary An looked at his illegitimate son, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

"Of course not, my son just feels that the family has suffered too much loss and its foundation has been damaged."

"Then shut up!"

A good-for-nothing who relies on his family's protection dares to have such thoughts; he really needs to be taught a lesson!

“Father,” An Liang quickly lowered his head and apologized, “I spoke inappropriately, please forgive me.”

"roll!"

If you want to curry favor with the clan, you need to have the ability yourself. How dare you use yourself as a scapegoat? An Qingyun's eyes were filled with turbulent gloom.

Lately, everything has been going wrong, and now my son has schemed against me like this. I'm about to explode with anger.

She also felt a complete aversion to this son who was already unlikable.

Upon hearing this, An Liang's face turned pale. "Yes!"

Concealing the fierceness in his eyes, he bowed and withdrew.

“Qingyun, Anliang is a good kid, you don’t need to be so harsh on him.”

"Second Uncle, don't worry about it, I know what I'm doing."

Why didn't you say anything just now, you bunch of old foxes?

An Liang, that idiot, actually tried to curry favor with these clansmen, little did he know they were all a bunch of heartless bastards.

If it weren't for his own support, those old foxes would have devoured him until there wasn't a bone left.

"Forget it, I can't interfere in your family affairs."

"Family matters can be dealt with at any time. Now we should think about how to make up for the losses. The Cui family hasn't stopped yet, and we are suffering heavy losses every day."

"Yes, Qingyun, you must think of a way."

"I understand," Elder An said with a headache. "Don't worry, I will definitely give you an explanation."

Clan is something that people both love and hate.

Admittedly, it can give you leverage, but you also have to pay a price.

He was already a veteran of three dynasties, but he still dared not be careless in this matter and could only deal with it carefully.

An Ge Lao's character was still reliable, and the crowd left shortly after hearing the promise.

When news of his return to the capital spread, the powerful families immediately became wary.

"An Qingyun is returning to Beijing? What does he want to do?"

"Would they want to retaliate? After all, our suppression of the An family has been quite severe."

"Why should we? If the An family hadn't acted so unfairly, would we be in this situation?"

"President Cui forgot, he is a veteran of three reigns and the current chief minister!"

Hearing Liu Ziyue say this, Cui Minghao's face turned green. "We should have had a Grand Secretary too."

The Liu family idiots messed it all up!

A group of people who seem shrewd and calculating are actually full of mush; they ruined a perfectly good hand of cards.

Upon hearing this, Liu Zixuan chuckled twice, "How about we try to win over Grand Secretary Zhong?"

"It's no use. Those three Grand Secretaries are all old foxes. Zhong Ping is especially cunning. He's too busy protecting himself to get involved."

"What should we do then? Grand Secretary An is not An Congfeng. If he retaliates, we may not be able to stop him."

“Then let’s find a way to stall him,” Cui Minghao said, a hint of anger flashing in his eyes. “Old man, once you’ve left, you shouldn’t have come back.”

This would only remind him of how he was being played like a monkey by the father and son.

"Brother Cui," Liu Ziyue was startled by these words, "You mean, we should attack him?"

As he spoke, he hurriedly stopped the man, "Brother Cui, don't be so reckless. An Qingyun is, after all, a veteran of three dynasties. He has seen all kinds of storms and his methods should not be underestimated. He has nearly a hundred guards, both overt and covert, and even his food is tested for poison by special personnel. He won't take any concubines now, so his honey trap won't work."

How difficult it would be to assassinate him!

The most likely outcome is that they will get into trouble for not getting to eat mutton, and if they are discovered, none of them will be able to escape.

The Cui family has been wealthy for hundreds of years and has a deep-rooted heritage, so they have nothing to fear. But the Liu family is different.

Although his situation is more difficult now, it is still much better than before. Climbing up the ladder is too hard, and he doesn't want to go through it again.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Cui Minghao trembled with anger at these words. "I'm not stupid, how could I possibly assassinate the Grand Secretary?"

Are we just making wedding dresses for others without any benefit to ourselves?

He doesn't know if other families are in trouble, but if he really does that, the Cui family will definitely be dealt with badly!

"Then," Liu Ziyue asked weakly, "what do you want?"

"Not so great, let's fight to the death." Cui Minghao sneered. "The current situation is already a fight to the death. An Qingyun was the one who was unrighteous first, so don't blame us for being unjust."

“This will only result in mutual destruction,” Liu Ziyue said hesitantly. “If we can make peace, it would be better to turn hostility into friendship.”

The Cui family paid tribute to An Qingyun, offering large sums of money every year, but the Liu family did not.

At least one Grand Secretary has emerged. No matter how embarrassing the conflict with Liu An is, we can't let outsiders laugh at us, and we certainly can't shamelessly grovel before the other two Grand Secretaries.

Therefore, the Liu family's resentment towards Grand Secretary An was not that great.

Deep down, he still wanted to reconcile.

Although the Liu family could bear these losses, they did not want to suffer losses for nothing. So far, they have not gained any substantial benefits.

Even the imperial court's attitude was ambiguous.

Despite impeachment memorials being submitted daily, the Emperor has yet to take any action against anyone.

Even though they bought up grain on a large scale, the imperial court did not react.

Under these unusual circumstances, Liu Ziyue became frightened and had thoughts of backing down.

"Turning dry silk into jade?" Cui Minghao sneered. "What are you dreaming about? We've been at each other's throats for a long time. You can swallow such a huge grudge, but I can't."

Anjia must not be let go, no matter what.

"But we don't have any solutions?"

“That’s not necessarily true,” Cui Minghao sneered. “If we can’t deal with him, we’ll just cause him as much trouble as possible and make enemies for him.”

What do you mean by that?

"Come closer!"