Jiang Songyi clutched the business decree in her sleeve. This hot potato, which she had taken from Gu Zheyuan that night, now became a bone of meat that two wolves were fighting over. She took a half step back, her waist bumping into the Duobao Pavilion, causing the jade Pixiu to sway.
"Master Shengfeng." Gu Zheyuan suddenly chuckled, and the silver needle between his fingers suddenly pierced the tea tray. "This governor and my benefactor want to discuss business."
The red tassel at the end of the needle was still trembling, but Sheng Fengmo had already retreated to the door. He suddenly lifted Jiang Songyi's skirt with the rib of his fan, his fox eyes curved into crescents. "Sister, do you know how I saw through you that day?" Without waiting for an answer, he lightly tapped her waist with the tip of his fan. "Even three layers of cotton can't hide your slender waist."
The mask suddenly slammed against the doorframe, and Gu Zheyuan's wide sleeves billowed, stirring up a gust of wind. Sheng Fengmo dodged, his laughter echoing through the carved door: "The factory owner's figure would be unbearable if he hadn't taken that blow."
With a click, the silver needle pierced through the door. Jiang Songyi looked at the end of the needle embedded in the cracks in the bricks and finally understood why it was said that the East Depot Supervisor hated "a girl with a masculine appearance" the most.
"Sit down, benefactor." Gu Zheyuan brushed off his python robe, as if his sinister expression was an illusion. As he poured tea, the Buddhist beads on his wrist tinkled softly, and the scent of sandalwood mingled with the stench of blood. "Who do you want to kill?"
"Yue Qingyang, the hostage from Dongling." Jiang Songyi lifted the veil, revealing his bearded face. "He's in the imperial prison."
The teacup clanked against the table. Gu Zheyuan picked up a piece of almond pastry, and the crust fell into a small pile. "This is Jinyiwei territory. I can't reach that far." He suddenly scattered the crumbs out the window, startling the sparrows under the eaves. "Unless..."
"Ten thousand taels." Jiang Songyi held out the banknote, which was stamped with Jiang Shu's personal seal. "Cash."
Gu Zheyuan's nail-stained fingertips brushed across the bill, and he suddenly chuckled, "Miss Jiang's dowry?" He dipped his finger in tea and wrote the word "Cheng" on the table. "Isn't the commander's jade pendant more useful than mine?"
Jiang Songyi felt a cold sweat trickle down her back. She'd clearly been masked when she'd rescued Ji Cheng that night, yet the East Factory's spies had even managed to find out. She reached for the sword at her waist, only to see Gu Zheyuan folding a banknote into a paper crane. "Three days from now, at midnight, collect the bodies from the mass grave."
Suddenly, there was a fluttering sound outside the window, and a gray pigeon landed on the window frame. Gu Zheyuan removed the secret letter from the pigeon's leg. When the candlelight licked the letter paper, Jiang Songyi caught a glimpse of the words "Yue Qingyang is poisoned".
"Add another five thousand taels." She suddenly grabbed his wrist. "I want to see the body with my own eyes."
The Buddhist beads pricked his palms, causing them to ache. Gu Zheyuan lowered his eyes to look at his folded hands, then suddenly clasped them back. "My benefactor, this is your pulse." His fingertips slid along the meridians to the base of his palm. "It would be best if you eat less cold food these days."
Jiang Songyi abruptly pulled her hand back, the hidden dart in her sleeve already poised against his throat. Gu Zheyuan leaned forward, his lips almost touching her earlobe. "How about an additional three thousand taels, plus a piece of news?" A warm breath brushed against her ear. "Yue Qingyang is holding half a mandarin duck pendant in his arms, engraved with the Jiang Mansion emblem."
The sound of a night watch drum echoed outside the window, and Jiang Songyi backed toward the door. Gu Zheyuan remained seated, playing with a paper crane, his crimson nails tearing at its wings. "My benefactor, do you know who the Shengfeng Commercial Order was originally created for?"
She paused slightly.
"Twenty years ago, the late emperor bestowed this betrothal gift on Concubine Shu." The paper crane sank into the incense burner with a puff. "Concubine Shu's surname is Gu, and her maiden name is Hanzhang."
The moment the door closed, Jiang Songyi saw Gu Zheyuan remove his Buddhist beads. The candlelight cast a silhouette on the window paper, revealing a somewhat female figure. She suddenly remembered Sheng Fengmo's teasing and hurried down the corridor, the sandalwood scent of the beads still lingering on her fingertips.
In the back alley of the casino, Jiang Yuyao was clutching Jiang Bochuan, crying. Jiang Songyi pressed her hand against the fence, the banknotes rustling in her sleeve. Tonight, she seemed to have the upper hand, but in reality, every move she made was a step on someone else's chessboard.
Suddenly, a white-robed figure flashed around the corner. Sheng Fengmo leaned against the wall, tossing and catching jade dice. "Sister, would you like to borrow another thirty thousand taels?" He held a land deed between his fingers. "Zhenxiu Pavilion has been mortgaged to the bank."
Jiang Songyi took out the last banknote and slapped it against the wall: "The interest will be 90% of the cost and 13% of the return."
"Wrong." Sheng Fengmo pressed the banknote with the dice. "I want the hundred-year-old red plum tree in the Jiang family's ancestral home." He suddenly leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Let's make some wine in the spring, just in time to commemorate the deceased."
Gu Zheyuan's fingertips traced the gilded dragon pattern on the teacup, his nails glinting coldly against the celadon. "The life of Dongling's eldest son is worth less than half a cent of the casino's profit? Miss Jiang has a pretty clever plan."
"His life is worth less than an abacus bead." Jiang Songyi lifted the white veil, revealing the hideous scar on her neck. "It's true that Shengfeng Casino is making a fortune, and it's also true that Yue Qingyang is a consumptive. If the factory owner lets him 'die of illness' in the imperial prison, it will not only save the dignity of both countries, but also pass this mess on to the Jinyiwei—" She suddenly leaned forward, and the beads of her golden hairpin brushed across the back of Gu Zheyuan's hand. "A deal that kills three birds with one stone, factory owner, are you really not going to do it?"
Ripples formed in the tea. Gu Zheyuan stared at the unhealed whip wound on her collarbone and suddenly remembered the secret report from the East Depot's undercover agent three days ago: the third daughter of the Yongding Marquis's mansion had been attacked in the other courtyard, and the assailants had used the scimitars of the Yue family's assassins.
"I'm curious." He picked up a piece of osmanthus cake and crushed it into crumbs. "How did Yue Zhizi offend the young lady to the point of making him suffer a fate worse than death for a hundred thousand taels?"
Jiang Songyi brushed the banknotes in his sleeve against the sandalwood table and pushed them over. "Fifty thousand taels as a deposit." The red envelope, stamped with the Ling Family Bank's red seal, still carried the scent of ink. "When the factory owner hangs the man on the flagpole in the West Market, the remaining fifty thousand taels will be delivered to the mouth of the stone lion at the back door of the East Factory."
A sudden gust of wind blew outside the window, the bamboo curtains flapping against the window lattice. Gu Zheyuan's pale fingers pressed down the flying banknotes, his python pattern sweeping the osmanthus petals scattered all over the floor. "Miss, do you know how much the head of the Minister of Revenue was worth last month?" He suddenly chuckled, "Three thousand taels."
Jiang Songyi took a sip of tea, the scent of rain-soaked Longjing tea mingling with the scent of blood. "That's why I say the factory owner is losing money." The dagger in his sleeve slipped out a half-inch. "But how about adding another fifty thousand taels and asking the commander to stand by and watch?"
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