Seeing that he had a chance, Xu Mingzhi started spouting nonsense again: "Now that Xu Yuehuai is in trouble and Qi Guze is in trouble, His Majesty has decided that Tianxiang Tower is a den of thieves in Mingyue Kingdom and is preparing to arrest you all."

San Niang frowned, deliberately feigning a tense expression, wanting to see what kind of trouble this person was up to.

Xu Mingzhi immediately became smug and said, "Third Sister, I'm doing this all for your own good. As long as you hand over everything in Tianxiang Tower to me, you can escape and then push all the blame onto me. That way, everything will be fine, and no one will bother you anymore."

"Really? Young Master Xu, I didn't expect you to be so kind." She was so fake that she felt like throwing up.

Just when Xu Mingzhi thought he was about to get everything, Third Sister spat on the ground and angrily said, "Get out of here! Talking nonsense so early in the morning! Don't you want me to hand over Tianxiang Tower to you? You'd better stop dreaming!"

Third Sister didn't believe his nonsense at all.

Xu Mingzhi never expected that his conspiracy would be exposed.

He immediately cursed, "You bitch! Do you really think you're so high and mighty? Your Tianxiang Pavilion isn't some hot commodity. I'm an official of the imperial court now. If you dare to offend me, you'll regret it!"

He harbored resentment, but he didn't continue to make a scene. He simply said, "You'll regret this," and then turned and disappeared into the street.

Third Sister didn't take it seriously at all. After all, Xu Mingzhi was such a hopeless case that he wouldn't amount to anything.

What kind of government officials are they? They've all gotten their positions through deception and fraud.

Xu Mingzhi became angrier the more he thought about it when he got back. On the way, he came up with another plan: "I'll teach you a lesson for not knowing what's good for you. Tomorrow I will be the new owner of Tianxiang Restaurant."

He couldn't help but laugh again as he thought about it. This time, Tianxiang Restaurant only had a few old, weak, sick, and disabled people left. He had to seize the opportunity.

He pondered for a moment, and suddenly an idea came to him.

If an adult doesn't believe in himself, he won't believe in himself either; a child wouldn't believe in himself!

He had an idea in mind, and early in the morning he waited at the entrance of Tianxiang Restaurant. As soon as Jiang Qianqian came out of the door, he put her in a sack and took her away.

He took the person away, tied them up, and hid them. Then he took out paper and pen and began to write a letter.

[If you want Qingqing to be safe, hand over the case to Tianxiang Tower immediately.]

Xu Mingzhi's letter is worse than that of a young child; not only is the handwriting crooked and messy, but it is also full of typos.

When he arrived at the entrance of Tianxiang Tower, he carefully checked the doorway and found that no one was paying attention to him, so he threw the letter in his hand directly at the entrance.

Then, he went back excitedly to wait for news.

However, Tianxiang Tower was always packed with people, and no one noticed the letter under their feet. By the time Zhao Ping discovered it, the letter had already been trampled by a thousand people.

Zhao Ping stepped forward and picked up the letter, muttering, "This guy actually threw his stuff at our doorstep."

He pursed his lips and prepared to throw away what he was holding.

Fortunately, he glanced at it and saw the two crooked characters 'San Niang' written on it, clearly the work of a child who had just learned to write.

However, just to be on the safe side, he handed the letter to Third Sister: "Third Sister, there's a letter at the door with your name on it. Take a look quickly, is it something urgent, or is someone playing a prank?"

Third Sister wiped her wet hands on her apron and took the letter.

She had lived in Chang'an for so many years, and who else but Xu Yuehuai would write to her? However, in theory, Xu Yuehuai's letters were kept at the post station, waiting to be picked up.

With curiosity, she opened the letter, looked at its contents, and hesitated for a long time before finally figuring out what it meant.

She casually handed it to Zhao Ping, who was standing to the side: "I think this is just a prank. I don't understand it at all."

"Alright, we've finished up to the point where we can go prepare our dinner." As she tidied up, Third Sister said, "Zhao Ping, go check if Qianqian has finished her homework. If she has, take her out to play. Staying cooped up in the house all the time will make her feel stifled."

Her words stunned Zhao Ping: "Qianqian hasn't come back yet."

"Hmm?" Third Sister immediately glanced at the sky outside. School should have ended long ago; how could they not be back yet? "Then hurry and go to the academy to look for them. Whatever you do, don't..."

Before she could finish speaking, she remembered the letter in her hand, picked it up immediately, and read it again.

She then realized what had happened and opened her mouth wide: "Qianqian has been taken away—Zhao Ping, where did this letter come from?"

San Niang's vision went black, and she almost lost her balance and fainted.

Xu Yuehuai and Zhou Wan are not at home right now. If something happens to Jiang Qianqian, she won't be able to explain it to them.

"It's right at the door. I don't know who gave it to me, Third Sister. There's no signature on it." Zhao Ping was also getting anxious.

Although Jiang Qianqian is a young woman, she acts gently and always helps them with their tasks. These guys genuinely like this girl, and if something were to happen to her because of it, they would all be heartbroken.

Third Sister shook her head, and the letter slipped from her hand.

Zhao Ping quickly picked up the letter, read it once, and immediately had a choice in mind: "Third Sister, the only people who can take Tianxiang Tower are Marquis Ningyuan and Xu Mingzhi."

"Yes! Yes!" Third Sister suddenly realized.

"Then let's report this to the authorities immediately," Zhao Ping suggested.

After all, if it involves government officials, it's beyond the control of ordinary people like them.

Third Sister nodded; she was willing but powerless, and could only rely on others.

But as soon as she took a step, a thought popped into her mind, and she quickly stopped and said, "No! We can't report this to the authorities!"

“Officials protect each other, they will never stand up for us. Besides, the Prefect of the Capital suffered at our hands last time, how could he possibly help us?” She became more and more anxious, and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead as she paced back and forth in the hall.

After a while, she finally came up with a candidate: "Right, Duke Zhenguo, let's go find the Duke quickly."

Although Xu Yuehuai sometimes didn't want to trouble the Duke of Zhenguo, now that things had come to this point, she couldn't solve the problem on her own and still needed the Duke of Zhenguo to support them.

Thinking of this, she immediately went to the gate of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion: "Young man, is the Duke in the mansion?"