situation

The secret guards of Bailu Terrace, people from the Ye family and the Yu family, the three groups of people couldn't find Grandma Qin San anywhere. This was too unusual.

Baili Hongyuan suspected that the Sang family was behind this, so he sent people to Yangcheng to investigate. Upon investigation, they found that Qin Sang had been detained.

"The secret guards wanted to rescue her, but she was in very poor health. As a precaution, they didn't dare to act rashly."

Qin Yousi clenched his fists.

Sang family, oh Sang family, she had never intended to settle accounts with them so early, this is what they brought upon themselves!

"My mother has no relationship with the Sang family after the divorce. Why do they detain her? I will go to Yangcheng immediately to bring my mother back!" Qin Yousi made a decisive decision.

It's not impossible to be so direct. Baili Hongyuan raised an eyebrow and thought, "The Sang family is very powerful in Yangcheng. They won't listen to reason with you. If you go alone, I'm afraid you won't even be able to see your mother."

Qin Yousi said bluntly: "I don't intend to reason with them. I will find someone to help, and you don't have to worry about it."

If it was when he first met Sang Youzhi, Baili Hongyuan would have thought she was a little arrogant, but at this moment, he was very much looking forward to seeing what kind of helpers she would find.

Is he Qin Yousi's friend from the past, or the person she helped and who followed her wholeheartedly?

Did Qin Yousi, in exile, entrust all his skills and connections to Sang Youzhi? But how could Sang Youzhi, fleeing south, reunite with Qin Yousi, exiled north? How much could a ten-year-old, gravely ill Sang Youzhi possibly remember?

These excuses that Baili Hongyuan could think of were full of loopholes.

But he was not prepared to ask further questions, as he already had the answers to some of the questions in his mind.

The only person who can do this is her.

Just think he's crazy.

He lowered his head to look at the thin but determined girl, secretly regretting that he had been too hypocritical to her in the past, so she refused to believe him and he did not dare to meet her in his true identity.

If her brother were still alive, why would she have to endure all this alone?

The two returned to Qingshan Lane, each with their own thoughts, and Baili Hongyuan invited her to the tea room.

"I'll give you some things you'll need when you go to Yangcheng."

Even though he had a firm answer and knew that she was not a weak woman without any resources or means, Baili Hongyuan could not let her go alone.

He ordered Xin Chen to go to Bailu Terrace to retrieve something, which was the evidence of the Sang family's crimes in his hands.

At the same time, Baili Hongyuan said, "Regardless of your mother's matter, I also plan to take action against the Sang family in the near future. There are some arrangements you need to know..."

The aristocratic families and nobles of the prosperous country have had frequent exchanges over the course of a hundred years, and have long been intertwined with each other.

The Qin, Sang and Duan families were old friends. After the Duan family and the Qin family turned against each other, the Sang family gave up all their relationships with the Qin family in order to protect themselves and asked the Duan family for help.

Qin Yousi and Baili Hongyuan want to seek revenge on Xichang Hou Duan Weiming, and the Sang family would be a good starting point.

The two talked late into the night, making thorough arrangements. Finally, Qin Yousi warned, "The plan has been laid. My Lord, please stay in the capital and observe the overall situation. You don't need to go to Yangcheng in person. If there are any mistakes, it will arouse the emperor's suspicion of you."

Baili Hongyuan agreed hesitantly.

Qin Yousi still had a few things to do before leaving Beijing.

The first thing to do is to make an appointment with Yan Rong.

At that time, Yan Rong's father, Lord Yan, the Jingzhao Yin, had just been suspended for three months by the emperor for his poor management of public security in the capital due to Duan Yao's death.

Yan Rong was extremely scared.

First, he was afraid that the Yan family would lose power and no longer have a foothold; second, he was afraid that Xichang Hou would come back and vent his anger for Duan Yao's death on the Yan family, making them an innocent scapegoat.

So when she received Sang Youzhi's message saying that she could help the Yan family, she believed it for some unknown reason, and took advantage of the Marquis's wife's lunch break to go out of the house to meet Qin Yousi at Liuji Rouge Shop.

Yan Rong wanted to show off her status as the Crown Prince's wife, but Qin Yousi said straight out that she wanted to join forces with the Yan family and take over the Sang family.

Hearing such arrogant words, Yan Rong raised her butt and wanted to leave.

"That's ridiculous! Why would I do something like this with you? Besides, you can just copy the Sang family. That's sheer nonsense!"

Qin Yousi shook her head: "As the wife of the prince, you know nothing about the affairs of the Xichang Marquis' Mansion. Yan Rong, you are so pathetic."

Yan Rong didn't want to hear her talk about this irrelevant cooperation, but these words hurt her deeply.

She stopped and looked at "Sang Youzhi" with wide eyes. The arrogant tone and condescending attitude of the person in front of her were very similar to Qin Yousi, which made her hate him very much!

She shrieked, "What do you know?!"

Qin Yousi spoke slowly, "From what I've heard, the Duan and Sang families have been friends for many years. The Duan family handles military affairs, while the Sang family handles commerce. They support each other and complement each other. But last autumn, the Marquis of Xichang forcibly seized a pasture in the northwest for military use."

Qin Yousi glanced at Yan Rong and said with a smile, "Madam, that ranch belongs to the Sang family..."

Yan Rong's eyes were shocked.

She couldn't control the external affairs of the Marquisate, but she was in charge of the internal finances. In the past two years, the Marquisate had been very short of money. On the one hand, most of the money earned was sent to the northwest, and on the other hand, the business with the Sang family had run into problems.

The Marquis actually stole things from the Sang family?

Qin Yousi continued, "With the loss of this pasture, the Sang family's cotton and wool weaving business suffered a 30% loss. Two months later, Prince Bao challenged the Marquis of Xichang over the issue of military funds in the northwest, demanding a 50% cut in the court's western front supplies. He claimed that he could support himself by raising his troops through pasture. Do you think this is a coincidence?"

It is obvious that the Sang family could not stand the exploitation of the Xichang Marquisate and turned against it to join another master.

Seeing Yan Rong's clueless expression, Qin Yousi knew for sure that her status as the Crown Prince's wife was meaningless.

"The Sang family betrayed the Marquis of Xichang and defected to Prince Bao. Don't you want to help the Marquis of Xichang solve this serious problem?"

As early as when Qin Yousi was releasing the Qin family's secret code on the street to contact her old subordinates, she noticed that a shop called "Ningxi Weaving" also released a crimson gauze lantern, but Uncle Zhou, Master Deng, Manager Yang and others said that they were not from the Qin family.

Qin Yousi asked several people to make inquiries and found out that Ningxi Weaving was originally a joint venture between the Qin and Sang families, but was later completely taken over by the Sang family during the chaos. The person who is now in charge of this business is Sang Youzhi's father.

It's not surprising that there were old servants at Ningxi Weaving who knew the Qin family's code. What's strange is why the Sang family took the initiative to respond to the Qin family's code? What do they want to do by contacting the Qin family?

This puzzled Qin Yousi, so he asked Manager Yang to investigate further. Manager Yang was very capable. He not only checked the records of his own bank, but also found reliable colleagues to thoroughly investigate the Sang family's funds.

According to the bank records, the Sang family had been paying tribute to the Xichang Marquisate for several years, and the amount was staggering. However, in the past two years, the tribute suddenly stopped and was instead paid to the Bao Prince's Palace.

No wonder the Sang family’s daughter was sent to Prince Bao’s mansion.

Since the Sang family has turned against the Duan family, they are probably trying to use the old members of the Qin family to deal with the Xichang Marquis Mansion!

After hearing this, all of Yan Rong's bravado seemed to vanish into thin air. She couldn't even utter a word of rebuttal and could only ask dryly, "After all, your last name is Sang. How can I trust you?"

Qin Yousi said, "You must be aware of what the Sang family did to me and my mother in the past. Now they're forcing me to curry favor with Prince Bao. I refused, so they took my mother hostage. So let's cooperate and each get what we need, okay?"

Yan Rong didn't have any reliable information and didn't dare to agree.

Qin Yousi didn't force her, but instead offered enough temptation: "I have evidence of the Sang family's crimes. You only need to use your connections with the Yan family to get the Yangcheng prefect to take over the case and, on the grounds that it's serious, transfer it to the Dali Temple for investigation. When the time comes, once the Sang family falls, all their assets in the northwest will be easily swallowed up by the Marquis of Xichang. This is a great gift, what do you think? Consider it first, and if you find it credible, meet me in Yangcheng."

Yan Rong's status in Xichang Marquis' Mansion is getting lower and lower, and she must use some chips to show her merit in the Marquis' Mansion.

Although he did not receive an immediate reply, Qin Yousi felt that Yan Rong would definitely not be able to resist such temptation.

After doing all this, Qin Yousi took Yu Huan and two guards from Jiufeng Bank on the road that night, heading southeast.

Her first destination was not Yangcheng, but Liuquan Mountain, which was eighty miles away from Yangcheng.

There is a Taoist sect on Liuquan Mountain called Liuquan Temple. It is not large, with only more than 30 Taoists, but it is a Taoist treasure land, and Taoist masters from all over the world come here to study and seek advice.

Qin Yousi dragged his frail body and climbed to the top of the mountain alone and handed a visiting card to Liuquan Temple.

The young Taoist priest guarding the gate read the note and returned it with embarrassment, saying, "My dear Taoist friend, Uncle Xiwei is not seeing guests."

Qin Yousi pushed the visiting card over and said, "Just say that I'm an old friend of the Qin family, and she will definitely see me."

The young Taoist priest looked her over and muttered, "Qin family?"

Everyone in the temple had heard something about Uncle Xiwei's friendship with the Qin family, but ever since the Qin family was exterminated five years ago, Uncle Xiwei had not appeared in the world and had not left the mountain for five years.

"Please wait a moment." The little Taoist priest ran to the back hall.

Qin Yousi turned around and squatted in front of the mountain gate, looking at the floating clouds below the mountain. His mind was as undecided as the clouds, but the past events were still vivid in his mind.

Although Qin Yousi was the favored daughter of the Duke of Jiguo's Mansion in the past, she also had regrets in her life.

The most regretful thing for her was that her biological mother did not like her.

Qin Yousi has never been like a girl since she was a child. She loves to develop unconventional medicines, learn to wield swords like boys, and hang out with servants.

She didn't learn anything that a noble lady should learn, and she didn't look like a lady from a noble family at all.

Her mother came from a prominent family with a long history of scholarship. She was a very dignified and upright person and had never thought that she would give birth to a rebellious daughter.

She was not afraid of being beaten or scolded, and acted like a naughty monkey. Madam Qin was so angry that she didn't want to see her at all. She only begged her not to do anything that would bring disgrace to the reputation of the Duke of Ji's Mansion.

But what Mrs. Qin did not expect was that such a naughty daughter would make such a name for herself.

She was loved by the poor, had many friends in the capital, even court officials praised her for inheriting the legacy of her ancestors, and the concubines in the harem vied to win her over.

Her daughter's achievement seemed to be a slap in Mrs. Qin's face, making it impossible for her to enforce her rules and teachings.

The relationship between mother and daughter became increasingly cold.