"Your Highness, what should we do next?" Yu Hanyan asked cautiously.

Jiang Chengyou's face was gloomy, his eyes were downcast, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

Yu Hanyan was trembling with fear, and seeing that he did not reply, she dared not say another word.

She was so angry! How could that bitch Jiang Qinyu escape an attack by dozens of assassins?!

Yu Hanyan simply couldn't believe the result. So many assassins! They were all killed by Jiang Qinyu's men!

Why is Lu Yanzheng so good to that bitch?

Yu Hanyan's resentment towards Jiang Qinyu was almost tangible.

“Next time,” Jiang Chengyou suddenly said, “you go.”

Yu Hanyan looked up abruptly, "What did you say, Your Highness?"

"I said, go and lure her out!" Jiang Chengyou said coldly.

Yu Hanyan froze, "This..."

She fled the General's Mansion in such a sorry state back then, and now she's being asked to face Jiang Qinyu?

“If you hadn’t told me everything she brought to Lu Yanzheng, would I be here now? Everything started because of you, shouldn’t you do something?” Jiang Chengyou stared at her intently.

At that look, Yu Hanyan's entire back stiffened, and she stammered, "This servant...this servant will obey Your Highness..."

It's always better to face Jiang Qinyu than to face Jiang Chengyou.

Moreover, if Jiang Qinyu could really be lured here, wouldn't she then be under my control?

Thinking of this, Yu Hanyan was no longer flustered. She straightened her back and said, "Your Highness, rest assured, I will definitely find a way to lure her out. Please make full preparations."

Jiang Chengyou's expression softened slightly. "Remember your place. If I find out you've been disloyal in the slightest..."

"No! Your Highness must believe me. I will always be Your Highness's person!" Yu Hanyan quickly pledged her loyalty.

Jiang Chengyou gestured for her to leave, "Go and make preparations. In a couple of days, I will definitely 'invite' this general's wife back to Xiqiang!"

He still remembered the gunpowder weapons that Wang Bo brought back then. Although they were not as powerful as those of the border army, they had at least managed to breach the city walls of the border town.

If Jiang Qinyu can create something even more powerful, he is determined to keep such a person firmly in his grasp.

Yu Hanyan lowered her head and agreed, "This servant will obey Your Highness."

As long as that woman falls into Jiang Chengyou's hands, her chance for revenge will come!

...

Jiang Qinyu and Aping moved into Lu Yanzheng's courtyard in the county town, and all the affairs of Dingshui Village were proceeding in an orderly manner.

The only inconvenience is that no matter where she goes, A-Ping follows her everywhere.

On several occasions, people mistook A-Ping for her husband, which made both of them very embarrassed.

After Jiang Qinyu finished dealing with the matters that needed to be handled, she got up and stretched.

"Hiding like this isn't a solution!" she murmured.

You can't guard against thieves for a thousand days straight; we need to think of other ways to handle this.

Just as Jiang Qinyu was pondering, Aping announced from outside, "Madam, the magistrate requests your presence."

Lu Yanzheng's house is not far from the county government office; it takes about fifteen minutes to walk there.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Qinyu quickly tidied herself up and went over with Aping.

Wei Chengzong was so busy in his study that he barely had time to breathe. When he saw Jiang Qinyu and the others arrive, he only had time to greet them and tell them to wait a moment.

Another quarter of an hour passed before Wei Chengzong finally finished his work.

"I invited you here today, Madam, because there is something I want to tell you," Wei Chengzong said, taking a sip of tea.

Jiang Qinyu nodded, "Lord Wei, please speak freely."

“I sent someone to Tanzhou to investigate a few days ago, and the news has come back today. Madam, you can take a look first.” Wei Chengzhong handed over a small bamboo tube containing the information he had gathered.

Jiang Qinyu took it, glanced at it, and immediately exclaimed, "Huh? No one from the Jiang family of Tanzhou went to Yongshan County to do business?"

“That’s right,” Wei Chengzong nodded. “The man I sent is still in Tanzhou. He saw with his own eyes that neither the young master nor the young lady of the Jiang family in Tanzhou went out.”

As the year draws to a close, the offspring of any prominent family rush home, and very few would send their children out to gain experience.

Jiang Qinyu frowned, "Then who were the young master and young lady from the Jiang family who came to sell furs before?"

Why are they putting on such a grand low-price sale? Is it just for doing a good deed? And the fact that they don't even leave their names makes it all very intriguing.

“I had someone investigate their activities in the city these past few days, and found that apart from going out to do business, they have hardly gone anywhere else. It was only that Miss Jiang inquired about the Madam from someone else.”

"Inquiring about me?" Jiang Qinyu's tightly furrowed brows relaxed. "Then I roughly know who this Miss Jiang is."

She had some suspicions when she left the village, and now she was even more certain.

"Oh? Madam knows?" Wei Chengzong immediately perked up.

Jiang Qinyu nodded and said, "It should be Yu Hanyan. That young master Jiang is very likely a Western Qiang person."

Wei Chengzhong was completely confused. How did this get involved with the Western Qiang again?

Jiang Qinyu recounted the incident that Yu Hanyan had caused at the General's Mansion, and then said, "My general suspected at the time that she had most likely gone beyond the Great Wall."

“There’s more to the area beyond the Great Wall than just the Western Qiang.” Wei Chengzhong frowned.

Jiang Qinyu nodded, "Indeed, but Jiang is a common surname in Western Qiang, and it is even the imperial surname now. Although that young master Jiang looks kind, it is not impossible that his pride makes him disdain using other people's surnames."

She felt there was something wrong with that young master Jiang, but it wasn't the surname that was the problem. It was the way he looked at her. Occasionally, a look of determination would flash in his eyes, which made her very uncomfortable.

“Madam’s thinking is understandable. She didn’t want to use another surname casually, so she borrowed the name of the Jiang family of Tanzhou,” Wei Chengzong said, stroking his chin. “The Jiang family originally migrated from the border town, so perhaps…”

Jiang Qinyu shook her head, "The Jiang family of Tanzhou probably just happens to share the surname Jiang, and they probably have no connection with the Jiang family of Xiqiang."

"Just to be on the safe side, I'll have someone investigate the Jiang family of Tanzhou," Wei Chengzong said with a stern face.

After saying that, he ordered someone to do the job.

"Madam, now that we know it's Yu Hanyan who's behind this, let's find her!" Aping said anxiously.

He knew about Yu Hanyan's affair and thought the woman was mentally unstable. However, Yu Hanyan was no longer in the border town at that time, so he had never met her.

Jiang Qinyu said, "What we can confirm now is that this matter is related to Yu Hanyan, but the identity of that Young Master Jiang is still just our guess."

"So we're just going to wait for them to come knocking on our door?" Aping's brow furrowed into a deep frown.

Jiang Qinyu said calmly, "No, since they came for me, let's give them a chance."