"And who is this Aunt Xiang?"
"General Wu's residence is in such disarray. With such a troubled household, how can he possibly concentrate on fighting on the battlefield?"
Wu Guangping's stroke of genius, the sudden revelation of the news, sparked a flurry of discussion among those present.
Several of the men offered insightful analyses.
The man in white said, "I have never heard of such an absurd thing in the inner quarters of the Wu family before."
However, this Aunt Xiang is no ordinary person; she is the aunt and niece of the Princess of Kangle Township, whom His Majesty specially dispatched to the military camp to treat the soldiers' illnesses.
The man in gray said excitedly, "I've heard about that too. The Chief Physician of Kangle Township is a skilled physician and has a close relationship with the Prince of Libei."
A few days ago, the young master also presented a royal pearl to Consort Xiang of General Wu's mansion.
Along with the gifts sent to the mansion, there were also six large gifts carried in large quantities.
Those surrounding them gasped in shock upon hearing the words "imperial decree."
The same thought flashed through their minds at the same time: the young master's actions were always extravagant.
A tall, thin man dressed in black squeezed through the crowd and approached the two people talking, saying excitedly, "I also heard that General Wu's ancestors had few descendants, and by his generation, he was the only son."
General Wu, desiring many offspring, treated his wife and children well, especially his concubines and illegitimate children. He even recently held a full-month celebration for his illegitimate daughter.
Upon hearing this, everyone looked as if they had suddenly realized something.
Some even said indignantly, "So, isn't this Aunt Xiang an ingrate? Why didn't General Wu betray this ungrateful person?"
Seeing that someone had taken the bait, the man in black continued, "He must have a powerful backer who ran off with the money in the mansion."
At this point, public opinion reached its peak.
Someone was the first to realize, "Doesn't that mean that the Crown Prince of Libei has embezzled a large amount of silver?"
This is a border region, and he holds the command of an army of 70,000.
Is he amassing wealth in an attempt to rebel?
The moment the word "rebellion" was uttered, everyone fell silent, as if someone had choked them.
And by sheer coincidence, their words all fell into the ears of the ladies.
Mrs. Zhang was a worldly woman, but she was still taken aback by what the onlookers said.
The implications of the word "rebellion" are self-evident.
She never imagined that these silver coins would involve such a wide range of people.
If these silver coins really fall into the hands of the Prince of Libei, and His Majesty finds out about it later, will he think that they also contributed to the effort?
Thinking of this, Madam Zhang felt a pang of regret, regretting that she shouldn't have acted so impulsively and gone to the Wu residence to demand money.
Wouldn't this tell the world that Zhang's Pharmacy contributed to the money used by the Prince of Libei to rebel?
This is not something that can be resolved by simply going bankrupt; it is a heinous crime that could implicate nine generations of one's family!
Madam Zhang's face suddenly turned deathly pale. Seeing this, Madam Qiao quickly went to her side, supported her waist, and was afraid that she would fall to the ground.
Mrs. Qiao asked, "Sister Zhang, are you feeling unwell somewhere?"
Madam Zhang felt as if she had a fishbone stuck in her throat, not knowing where to begin. She had brought disaster upon her family, and even her sisters' families were not spared from the same fate.
Meanwhile, the news also reached the private rooms of the teahouse.
Lu Qiqi looked down at Wu Guangping and said, "A traitorous thief dares to cry wolf!"
She knew that Wu Guangping had figured out that An Shi had hired someone to cause trouble, so she decided to go all the way and let the trouble flow eastward.
Not only did they blame Lu Xiangxiang for the missing silver, but they also misled the people into suspecting that Song Yanqing wanted to rebel.
This also made the aggrieved party realize the difficulty and back down, so they dared not cause any more trouble.
This can be described as killing three birds with one stone.
But it doesn't matter. Having lived two lives, Lu Qiqi has seen plenty of this kind of thing, where people try to stir up trouble.
Since Wu Guangping hired someone to stir up trouble, she would naturally retaliate.
Just as she was about to lead her men off the field, she heard Song Yanqing say, "This matter can be handled by the Shadow Guards. You can just sit here in peace."
Lu Qiqi didn't intend to squeeze into the crowd, but since Song Yanqing said so, she whispered a few words to Shijiu and gave him some instructions.
When the onlookers heard the word "rebellion," they began to get agitated.
In the past two years, the Great Jin Dynasty has been plagued by natural disasters, and now the Tartars outside the border city are eyeing it covetously.
If the Crown Prince of Libei were to rebel, the Great Jin Dynasty would likely be thrown into chaos.
These people are terrified of living a life of displacement, destitution, and hunger.
Many of those standing in the outer circle ran away, fearing they would get caught in the crossfire.
The four old women that An Shi had invited were inexperienced and had never seen much of the world. Upon hearing the news, they immediately lost their footing.
Unfortunately, the area was so crowded that they couldn't squeeze through the human wall.
The situation remained deadlocked until a sudden voice broke the silence.
“It is impossible for the Crown Prince of Libei to rebel. A year ago, the Crown Prince led his personal guards and drove the Tartars out of the border city.”
If it weren't for the Crown Prince, we'd still be living a precarious life!
It's perfectly normal for onlookers to be terrified upon hearing the word "rebellion."
But then they thought again, if the Northern King became emperor, it would be legitimate.
It's not a rebellion at all; seizing power would be a more appropriate term.
But with the Empress Dowager still alive, this would certainly not happen now.
Therefore, everyone's hearts, which had been hanging in suspense, were immediately put back into their stomachs.
The people Ye Lin had arranged were furious as they watched Song Yanqing's reputation being reversed.
Just as he was thinking of his companion and about saying a few more words,
More unfavorable voices came from the southwest.
"Wasn't it said that Consort Ning was in charge of the Wu household? Why are you bringing up Consort Xiang now?"
It's absurd that a concubine with no management authority could take away money.
"The steward of the Wu residence is so lax that he didn't even know a large sum of silver had left the residence. I hope the situation at the east gate of the city isn't the same!"
This blatant criticism points out the laxity of the Wu family's stewards and also implies that the east gate is poorly guarded.
If Wu Guangping wasn't stupid, he would know that this person was arranged by Song Yanqing.
When the Wu family steward was mentioned as being lax, everyone tacitly put the rebellion out of their minds, as if it had never happened, and returned to the matter at hand.
"Yes! Where would a concubine without any management authority get the storeroom key, or find someone to secretly transport away a large sum of silver without the servants' knowledge?"
This statement was met with immediate and widespread approval.
They began to whisper amongst themselves.
Madam Zhang was in turmoil, but she quickly realized what was happening and said, "General, this silver was lost from the Wu residence after all."
"I wonder if this silver can be returned to us poor souls?"
Wu Guangping squinted at Madam Zhang, whose back was straight.
The situation took such a swift turn that he had not anticipated it.
No matter how things turned out, he never expected that these seemingly weak and incompetent foolish women would dare to ask for money again.
But now, it's a done deal.
He said, “I will certainly not shortchange you all. After I have my servants tally up the amount, I will send it to your residences.”
Even so, when the time came, he sent someone to deliver the silver.
Whether the leaders of these women will dare to accept it at that time is hard to say.
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