Chapter 6: Improper The other party did come for other reasons, but...

In fact, Madam should have had a coherent guess when she saw the mark.

Now it's all come true.

Why does she look much more relaxed than before, as if this result is good for her?

Everyone was confused.

"The big thing has been settled. There's no need to be surprised. This is fine now."

Yan Siqing was indeed in a good mood.

The managers believed it because they had been in contact with her for a long time and knew that she didn't need to lie or pretend at this time.

The elder breathed a sigh of relief and subconsciously asked, "Madam, how should we deal with these people..."

The words are like you turning around, with your sleeves fluttering.

"Send off to the official."

"According to the law, those who should be beaten should be beaten, and those who should be exiled should be exiled."

"However, if he reveals more facts and evidence that are favorable to the case, his sentence might be reduced."

Given the value of that ship, if it were to be found out, it would be enough to commit such a serious crime.

Besides, shipping is not just a private matter, it also involves some administrative performance evaluations of the government. If something goes wrong, it must be a big deal, otherwise He Zhihong would not have cooperated so well in interrogating Chen Tongqing.

Unfortunately, this is a capital crime, and Chen Tongqing and the others have not yet revealed the truth about it.

"As for whether you want to expel them from the clan, that is your branch's business."

The lady's tone of voice was still gentle, her figure was as beautiful as jade, her expression had not changed, but her eyes were much colder.

The elders of the clan were frightened, and the people from the side branches were stunned for a moment, and many of them even showed ferocious expressions. They all looked down at Shen Linfeng. It was a pity that when this man was about to die, he only remembered Yan Siqing's last words in his mind - confess more and the sentence will be reduced.

Liu'er knew that this person would definitely betray many people from the side branches, and through this person's mouth she could get rid of the most troublesome young and middle-aged people in the side branches.

Now that they have lost both money and young people, one can imagine what will become of these people in the future.

Zhang suddenly woke up, her face turned pale. After Yan Siqing walked out of the door, she staggered and ran out of the door in a hurry, almost sliding to her knees to block Yan Siqing.

"Madam, Madam, I have something to say. I know that the evil creature was often out some time ago. I thought he was going out to have fun with his new lover, and I was furious. I even arranged for people to follow him and monitor him... I know many places. If you want to investigate, you will definitely find something. Please spare my son's life. He is not even a month old yet. Please..."

Seeing this, other branches wanted to gather together to pull Yan Siqing away, but they were stopped by the intimidation of the well-trained guards. They were very disrespectful and kicked many people to the ground.

But Yan Siqing did not treat Zhang cruelly. Inside the house, Shen Linfeng and others saw this and thought there was a little hope...

Yan Siqing had been very nice to them before, maybe she would be soft-hearted this time and let them go for the sake of her reputation!

But Yan Siqing just waved his wrist.

The guards understood and took away all the relevant people in front of the relatives from other branches of the clan and everyone present.

Send official.

Only Zhang and her children were watched.

——————

On the way, holding the paper with Zhang's confession, Liu'er didn't dare to ask Yan Siqing.

She could understand why her wife felt that the ship being intercepted and stolen was a settled matter. The next step was to catch the thieves and recover the merchandise. This was better than waiting in vain for two months. If the ship was still at sea, it would be impossible to find it. If it capsized in the sea, it would be a loss borne by God, and there would be no room for maneuver.

Nowadays, there is always a direction to work towards.

It doesn't matter if something goes wrong, as long as there is a solution.

Let it be as it is.

This has always been his wife's method and style for many years, but Liu'er doesn't understand another thing.

——Madam changed her kind and gentle ways of many years and acted decisively, using such fierce and cruel methods to deal with people like Shen Linfeng. You know, if it gets out, it will probably cause some dirty, corrupt old stubborn people who have nothing to do with them to accuse and gossip.

He talks a lot about morality and ethics, and puts blood ties above all else.

In the huge Yancheng, there are many old things like this.

Whenever his family lost a penny, he would want to fall out with his brothers and sisters.

In fact, she could understand the lady's plan. She might have fattened him up and then killed him with evidence. But it was still a little sudden, and her reputation was not stable enough.

There will still be people talking about responsibilities.

Yan Siqing would not give Liu'er an answer, but just sat in the carriage with his eyes closed to rest.

At the Shen family, Zhou frowned for a moment after learning the information the guard had returned with. After a while, she understood and sent her men away. Only when Madam Qin was around did she speak: "If I had been as decisive as you are now, and had known the risks, I would have dealt with some of the so-called relatives in the clan who might have harmed my children. I would have left home at the moment of hesitation, giving them the opportunity to retaliate against me."

Back then, she was kind and righteous for a while because of her family's reputation, but for these people, their conspiracy was exposed and they lost all the benefits they gained. Seeing her prospering, they used the so-called shame of these gentlemen to plead guilty on the surface, but actually hid it and waited for the opportunity to take revenge.

Zhou's eldest son and his wife, Chen Cangyu's parents, died tragically as a result.

Although she later killed the entire family of the culprit, the hatred in her heart still couldn't be dispelled after so many years, and it turned into regret.

Yan Siqing is obviously more ruthless and decisive than her.

He is young but very visionary.

"The current crisis, whether it's the missing ship, the conspiracy between insiders and outsiders, or the unknown identity of Mr. Jiang, has made her predict that the risk has arrived. Given this, she absolutely cannot leave any hidden dangers in the clan."

It needs to be strangled. It is not enough to just kill the chicken to scare the monkey. Now we have to uproot it.

The bottom line is this: I have a lovely daughter who is still young. As a mother, I am strong. All the hard work I have put into building a reputation can be thrown into ashes. Fame and fortune are not worth mentioning.

"Besides, outsiders used to be harsh to women like me and Siqing who head the household, but they weren't necessarily kind to these side branches. Siqing used to be so lenient and generous, and everyone outside knew that. Some people receive too much favor, and others are jealous. If someone were to fall, the onlookers would be even more indignant than the victims, and they'd be eager to take their place..."

"Just wait and see. These side branches will have a bad ending. They already have a lot of order debts chasing after them. People will come here to collect them frantically. Under pressure, they can only sell their properties and land to Siqing at a low price."

Other merchants in the city would not take on this hot potato, which would only drastically accelerate the decline and collapse of their branch businesses.

Zhou's judgment is still not accurate enough.

Not most, all of them were cancelled.

The side branches suffered heavy losses and had a bad reputation. It would be difficult for them to make a living in Yancheng in the future. The elders were forced to find Shen Siqing and mortgaged the property they got when they divided the family to pay off debts or sold it at a low price to make up for the deficit. The group of people fled in all directions with the little money they had.

It only takes one day and one night.

The Shen family's movements had not yet become widely known in Yancheng, but within half an hour Jiang Hui knew about it.

Ruo Zhao once again sighed at Yan Siqing's prowess, "It's such a pity that he's in a small place like Yancheng."

Jiang Hui, however, was a little skeptical. He said slowly, "I heard that before a storm hits, far-sighted people won't rely on the old tree next to the roof to provide shelter. Instead, they'll cut down its branches first, fearing the strong wind will break the tree and crack the roof."

So the question is, did this young Madam Yan Shao already predict who would be her storm? Was it this unknown outsider, or someone else?

Ruozhao was stunned, but saw that his own prince took out one of the trump cards of the imperial court's Ministry of Natural Resources: the Beidou Dark Crossbow.

With a snap, Jiang Hui buckled it around his wrist.

——————

Although Zhang confessed some places that could be investigated, time was pressing and the other party still had people outside. Whenever there was an arrest, there would be movement, whether it was the search of the Shen family's branch or something else, the other party would not have no reaction.

Yan Siqing was afraid that the other party would have transferred the goods or destroyed the evidence before he found him.

This is troublesome.

When the guards returned to the Shen Mansion to report to Zhou, Yan Siqing had already arrived at the long street of shops along the city gate's grain route.

Most of the farmers here sell grain to shops at low prices. The shops then sell it to the people in the city or other merchants, mostly at wholesale prices. The prices are not high due to the large volume, but the purchase price is not low either. This street has such stable prices and the households do not compete with each other, mainly because most of the shops belong to the Shen family. The Shen family is the leader and they do not raise prices. If others do, not only will they not be able to compete, they will also be scolded and may even be criticized by the government. Therefore, they can only make small profits but also sell in large quantities.

But as a result, merchants from other places also come here to trade and buy in large quantities, which is quite profitable. The most important thing is that compared with the goods from nearby cities, their competitiveness is very strong.

Due to the flourishing business, Yancheng has also been prospering year by year. This is why small and medium-sized cities now have prosperous businesses and strong economies comparable to big cities.

The Shen family's ups and downs over the past decades, every tiny detail, lies here.

As they passed the archways of the inner courtyard of the largest grain store in Zhucheng, the small door of the conference hall was already open, the curtain swayed, and the guards stepped forward and lifted the curtain first.

When Yan Siqing walked in, more than 20 managers from counters all over the city stood up in unison and bowed to greet him.

Very grand.

Even if the people in the city continued to slander her, there were still more people who envied and admired her.

The curtain and jewels were still behind him, and they were slowly lowered. Yan Siqing raised her eyes and looked silently at the male and female stewards in front of her.

These people can feed hundreds or even thousands of people with just a wave of their hands.

"Everyone, you've already learned all the details along the way. Now I just need your help to quickly identify the most likely hiding place."

Yan Siqing gave them time to discuss, and did not want to stay in the same room for too long with a group of subordinates who were much older than her. She went to the small inner hall to drink tea.

As soon as Liu Er came in, she made tea for her, while observing her wife's expression, "Is the lady tired?"

Yan Siqing leaned against the cushion, her slender fingers resting on her forehead, her brows drooping, and her backlit velvet-colored appearance in the light that filtered in from the window was quiet and peaceful, but quite different from her usual demeanor.

Like, worried.

But Liu'er had been with her since she was a child, and she felt that the crises she had encountered in the past were at least more severe than the losses and risks of this incident. Even if a whole ship of merchant goods was lost, it would not be this serious.

After all, the culprit has been identified, and all that remains is to find the person. Didn't Madam say before that the loss of property would be remedied sooner or later? The difficulty lies in the hidden danger of the man-made disaster where the connection between the two sides is unclear. Now that the connection is out, Madam is an expert at this, why is she still...

Liu Er began to list them one by one, and before Yan Siqing could answer, she suddenly asked, "Is it that Mr. Jiang, the unruly and strange-looking one? Is this the man Madam is worried about?"

Not very decent looking.

Yan Siqing had originally closed his eyes to rest, thinking about the incident of the lost ship. Upon hearing this, he opened his eyes with a somewhat puzzled expression.

How do you mention that person?

Liu Er: "I always feel that although this person has helped Madam through his words and deeds, he is really unfathomable and has the potential of a tiger or a wolf."

She was embarrassed to say that the way that man looked at the lady was really not decent and he looked very flamboyant.

Yan Siqing didn't think about this at first, but she knew it.

Mr. Jiang's appearance was indeed very attractive, and it really fit her memory that the elders of the Yan family who had seen the world in the court and her uncle mentioned him as "a bright jade embedded in a famous sword."

He is not a young master, but a powerful person who holds a precious jade sword and can kill people without guilt.

At first glance, she felt that the other person was this kind of person.

And he comes with bad intentions.

She didn't say so. "The source of this incident should have nothing to do with him. After all, the theft of the hull must have been planned two months ago. For someone like him, there is no need to spend so much time and energy to deal with merchants like us. It's really a waste of time."

The other members of the Shen family still miss their former official positions, but she doesn't.

She felt that she and the Shen family's current merchant status were completely unworthy of the other party's care.

The other party came for other things and just happened to come here.

However, Yan Siqing remembered that his subordinate had just come to report - mentioning that the other party had suddenly changed his reservation at Yunbai Inn.

That inn is neither good nor bad, and is not worthy of the other party's grandeur.

But it is the closest to the Chen residence, and it is also an industry in which he invested money.

It's just across the alley from the street.

She thought again: The other party did come for other things, but he also came for her.

Yan Siqing's lips were slightly pursed, becoming rosy and bright red, as red as blood, and there was silence in her eyes.

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