"How is it? Have you found out anything in the past few days?"
Yan Wei pulled out two pamphlets from his sleeve. "In Huayang County, the Cui and Meng families are two equally powerful families, but the Meng family is showing signs of decline. Next is the Si family. While no one serves in the court anymore, they hold great prestige in Huayang County. These two pamphlets record the Cui and Meng families' marriages with other families in Huayang County."
Xiao Lingyu casually opened a booklet, which recorded the situation of the Cui family.
After flipping through a few pages, he looked up at the two of them in disbelief. The content was so detailed that it even recorded the number of concubines that each master of the Cui family had.
Yan Wei said hurriedly, "The Cui family has already inquired about this, so we need more details. This year, four young masters of the Cui family will take the autumn examination. Among them, Cui Xun, the eldest grandson of the Cui family's eldest branch, has outstanding knowledge at Tianhong Academy and has a high reputation among this class of students. Of the young masters of the Meng family, only the second young master of the eldest branch will take the exam."
Xiao Lingyu quickly opened another booklet. The Meng family now had two young masters, Meng Zilu and Meng Zihe, both of whom were scholars.
Meng Zilu was married and had a son. His wife, Ms. Song, had passed away, and they had a son, Meng Yunqian.
The other families all gave birth to girls. No wonder the Meng family showed signs of decline.
"Why didn't the eldest young master of the Meng family participate in the autumn examination this year? Do you know the reason?"
Yan Wei said, "It is said that because Meng Yunqian is too young, I have to stay with him for three more years."
Xiao Lingyu was speechless. Even if he passed the autumn examination and went to the capital to take the imperial examination and became a Jinshi, he could still bring Meng Yunqian with him when he became an official in the court, right?
But even though he was with his son, he still couldn't educate his son well!
Xiao Lingyu shook his head helplessly, "The descendants of the Meng family this generation are not very good."
"Madam," Zhu Xu said, "We've learned that the Lu family's second branch also has close ties with the Cui family."
"I know about this. The second and fourth wives of the Lu family are the murderers behind the persecution of my brother Jie. They will receive the punishment they deserve after the Mid-Autumn Festival."
Zhu Xu said, "I suspect that the Lu family's eldest wife's fate is not simple, and it may be related to the Lu family's second wife's master. So I tracked Lu Zeyi's whereabouts and discovered that the Lu family has an iron mine outside the city."
"iron ore?"
"My subordinates have learned that the Lu family's iron mine is jointly mined by the government and the people. Most of the mined iron ore is sent by the county government to the Ministry of Works in the capital to be forged into weapons. A small portion is used by the Lu family to make iron pots, shovels, kitchen knives, daggers and other related ironware for daily use by the people. After being forged, they are all transported to the Lu Jiang Pavilion in the east of the city for sale."
Xiao Lingyu frowned, "What's wrong with Lu Zeyi?"
"I discovered that he went to the Cui family after leaving the iron mine. I suspect the Cui family may have smuggled iron ore to secretly forge weapons."
Xiao Lingyu said, "Don't talk about possibilities. I want concrete evidence. The Second Prince is behind the Cui family. Zhu Xu, you will be responsible for finding this clue."
"yes."
Xiao Lingyu looked at Yan Wei and said, "Whether the Cui family is suspected of cheating in the imperial examination, you will be responsible for this clue. Find out as soon as possible who the chief examiner is who came to Huayang County this time, who the other examiners are, and whether any of them have close ties with the Cui family."
"Yes, ma'am."
"If it's discovered that the Cui family is secretly forging weapons," Yan Wei warned, "the entire Lu family will be implicated because of the Second House Master."
Xiao Lingyu frowned and was silent for a moment. "I have my own arrangements for the Lu family. Go and verify this matter first. Also, check whether the fourth master of the Lu family is involved in this."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Okay, it's getting late, you all should go down and rest."
Xiao Xier squatted in the flowers, hugging her short legs, looking at Su Xingyi at the gate in front with a resentful look on her face.
Daddy, why doesn't he come in?!
Daddy was standing at the door, so she couldn't run over and eavesdrop!
Alas, I should have known it would be more comfortable to lie in bed.
Xiao Xier glanced at the path next to her and imagined the possibility of avoiding her father's sight and going around to the back door of the main hall.
Every time her father looked at her, he would only look in the other direction for three breaths, and then look back at her again after another three breaths.
Xiao Xier thought it was worth a try.
Little did he know that Su Xingyi's eyes never left Xiao Xier's hiding place.
Xiao Xier seized the opportunity and ran towards the path next to her at the moment when Su Xingyi turned in another direction.
"ah--"
Xiao Xier had been squatting for a long time, and when she stood up suddenly her legs felt numb and she fell straight to the ground.
Xiao Xier instinctively covered her face. She could fall anywhere but not on her face.
Just as it was about to make close contact with the ground, the little body suddenly flew into the air and fell into a familiar embrace.
"Xiao Xi'er, why are you here?" Su Xingyi looked at Xiao Xi'er in his arms, whose face was red with fear, and asked with concern: "Are you scared?"
"Come into your mother's arms." Xiao Lingyu came over and took little Xi'er from Su Xingyi's arms. He touched her little head and said with a smile, "Pattern your head, you won't be scared."
With Xiao Lingyu's gentle comfort, Xiao Xier's pounding heart returned to normal.
He leaned close to Xiao Lingyu's ear and said, "Mother, I didn't stay in bed obediently. I saw you guys didn't come back from the room, so I came to look for you. Please don't punish me, okay? I promise there won't be a next time."
Xiao Lingyu said seriously, "You really won't come with me next time?"
Seeing Xiao Lingyu's stern face, Xiao Xier quickly reached out to hold Xiao Lingyu's face and kissed her eyes, then rubbed her neck, acting like a spoiled child.
"No, I won't do that again. Next time I will stay in bed and wait for you guys to come back. Mommy, please don't be angry, okay?"
The little girl has a soft body, a sweet voice, and a pleasant fragrance. Xiao Lingyu fell for Xiao Xier's tricks.
"Okay, mother is not angry and will not punish you, but there can't be a next time. Mother likes you to be well-behaved and sensible."
"Xiao Xi'er," Su Xingyi said, "there must not be a next time. If Daddy hadn't found you in time, you would have fallen to the ground. Your face, arms, and legs would have been broken and bleeding, and you wouldn't be cute anymore."
Xiao Xier felt a little scared after hearing that, "Daddy, Mommy, I promise there won't be a next time. Let's go back quickly, it's getting late." Xiao Xier yawned and looked very sleepy.
The next second, she fell asleep on Xiao Lingyu's shoulder.
Xiao Lingyu and Su Xingyi smiled at each other and said, "Let's go. We're going back."
Zhu Xu and Yan Wei only came to their senses when they saw them walking away.
"Awei, if I didn't know that the young lady wasn't the princess's child, I would have thought they were a family of three."
"Brother Xu, this has little to do with whether he is the princess' biological child or not. They are now a family, and a very happy one at that."
Zhu Xu nodded, "You're right."
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