When Qin Kou'er returned to her villa, Lanting Garden, no one saw her.

When she walked out slowly, wearing a golden gauze dress and with her hair tied up high with purple-gold beads, she startled Jun Yannuo, who was arranging matters outside.

Qin Kou'er walked to the chair and sat down. Immediately, the maidservant brought over the teacup, small fan, and plain handkerchief and carefully arranged them.

Qin Kou'er picked up her teacup and took a small sip. "Have everything been arranged at the branch?"

"Everything is arranged! The burned-down houses are being repaired, and if all goes well, they should be finished by tomorrow afternoon!" Jun Yannuo said, looking down. Then he looked up, smiled, and slowly walked to the chair next to Qin Kou'er, sat down, picked up the small incense burner, and slowly lit it. "When did you return, Pavilion Master? Why didn't you say anything? I just sent Mo Hun out to look for you!"

Qin Kou'er smiled slightly, her eyes sparkling like water, and looked at Jun Yannuo with a smile, saying, "What do I have to look for? Arranging those things is the important thing!"

“Yes! There’s nothing to worry about in Yangzhou! But Lan Linxue’s identity is special, and so many things happened last night, so I’m still a little worried!” Jun Yannuo smiled gently and elegantly at Qin Kou’er, his concern evident.

"Thank you for your trouble!" Qin Kou'er nodded, but did not intend to continue talking about this matter. She turned to look at Jun Yannuo and asked seriously, "Did our ticket office move today? Our branch was shut down, and the most important thing is not to let those big customers have any doubts."

"It's alright!" Jun Yannuo nodded and said, "Although there have been many rumors circulating, there hasn't been any panic this morning. No big clients have come to our bank to withdraw large sums of silver! It seems that the 100,000 taels of gold last night has had an effect!"

Qin Kou'er nodded, "That's good! The most important thing for a bank is its strong financial strength. We absolutely cannot allow anyone to doubt our strength in the slightest. Yangzhou City has been quite turbulent these past few days. Have the Hai Tian and Hai Di brothers keep a close eye on the bank for me, and prepare one million taels of silver in advance just in case."

When you rebuild the destroyed shrines, double the size of the storefronts. Do it quickly and well, so that our customers see that each renovation brings us growth. Find an auspicious time in the next couple of days to reopen!

"Yes! I've already given the order. The affairs of the next few days cannot be delayed at all!"

Qin Kou'er nodded repeatedly, "Give me the bill when you're done. We can't let this money go to waste for someone else!"

Jun Yannuo raised an eyebrow. "Does Master mean that the Crown Prince should return the silver on our behalf?"

"Even if he doesn't pay me back, I'll still find someone to settle this score for me! Hmph, no one can make us suffer a loss in Yangzhou!"

Thinking about this, Qin Kou'er's mind raced. Although Lan Linxue hadn't explicitly said she would give Hu Feifan to her, she absolutely had to seize this opportunity to use Lan Linxue to incur a tremendous debt of gratitude from Hu Feifan. She believed that if she saved Hu Feifan's life, Hu Tianyong would definitely know he owed her a huge favor. And this favor would be her greatest advantage in the future.

"Sect Leader, what do you think should be done about our headquarters? Should we start repairs immediately?" Jun Yannuo asked, staring intently at Qin Kou'er.

Qin Kou'er glanced at him and smiled, "Do you have any good ideas?"

Qin Kou'er knew Jun Yannuo well. Usually, when he spoke like this, it meant he already had an idea in mind, but he was just asking for her opinion on the surface.

Jun Yannuo smiled, slowly unfolded his folding fan, and said unhurriedly, "I think it's perfectly acceptable to repair the branch offices, but we can't repair the headquarters. If we repair the headquarters quietly now, wouldn't that be like we're suffering a silent loss? Qin Tian Pavilion has never suffered such a loss since its inception. If we don't make a fuss, firstly, people will look down on us in the future. Secondly, it's hard to guarantee that no one will say we're putting on an act for others. Rumors, if repeated too much, can become the truth!"

What do you want to do?

Jun Yannuo's handsome face still held a faint smile, exuding nobility and elegance, yet he said, "Tell them a story!"

"Oh?" Qin Kou'er raised an eyebrow with interest, then raised her hand. "Tell me, how are you going to sue?"

"The yamen is too small; it can't handle our complaints. We have to start by suing the prefect of Yangzhou. Once we file a complaint, the prefect will have to take it on, and then we'll have a legitimate reason to find the real culprit. Of course, we can't catch the Crown Prince, the murderer, but it's hard to say about the others."

Recently, several of our banks in Nanjing have encountered some obstacles. Among them, Cui Kewei, the richest man in Nanjing, is colluding with the heads of several banks in Shanxi to try and make things difficult for us. As you know, our biggest competitors right now are those Shanxi people. How about we pin the blame on them this time? It'll kill two birds with one stone: the Crown Prince will be exonerated, and we can use the Governor-General of Liangjiang to eliminate Cui Kewei and the obstacles from Shanxi.”

As Qin Kou'er listened, she rubbed her chin with her hand, clearly considering the feasibility of the matter.

"It's feasible! However, I'm wondering if this is the most profitable approach. While it can promote our bank, making money isn't the primary concern right now!"

"Oh? Does Master have a better suggestion?" Jun Yannuo stared intently at Qin Kou'er.

Qin Kou'er turned her head and gave him a deep look. "Don't forget, Lan Linxue is here! Everything might change! It's hard to guarantee that things won't go as planned. I always feel that although he seems to be acting recklessly, he definitely has his own plans! We don't know him very well. If we make a wrong move, we might lose everything!"

"Then what should we do? We can't just leave the headquarters unattended, can we?" Jun Yannuo had no feelings for Lan Linxue.

"Go and file a complaint first, but don't give the officials any hints. Let me think about it some more before deciding on the next step!"

"yes!"

As the two were talking, Mo Hun walked in with a gloomy face.

"What happened?" Jun Yannuo stood up.

Mo Hun bowed to Qin Kou'er first, then stood up and said coldly, "The prefect of Yangzhou has sent someone to invite you, Pavilion Master. The Crown Prince's imperial carriage has arrived outside the city, and he specifically requested that you go to receive him. Moreover—"

"And what?" Jun Yannuo asked, frowning. There was no way to get rid of Lan Linxue, that evil spirit.

"And they specifically requested to stay at our Qintian Pavilion!"