Chapter 23 Warehouse Fire
“I’ve already sent people to investigate,” Ye Wanning said. “I’ve also had people investigate Zhou’s hometown and the imperial physician who treated Mother back then.”
Minister Ye looked at her and suddenly felt a little guilty: "Ningning, these are things that I should be investigating..."
“Father, we are family,” Ye Wanning interrupted him. “We will avenge Mother together.”
Minister Ye's eyes reddened slightly, and he patted her shoulder heavily: "Alright, let's report together!"
In the past few days, Ye Wanning and Minister Ye have been acting separately. Minister Ye is using his influence in the court to investigate the details surrounding his birth mother's death, as well as the connection between Zhou and the Third Prince. Ye Wanning, on the other hand, has sent people to Zhou's hometown to investigate her background and the midwife who gave birth to his birth mother, hoping to find other clues.
The message came back quickly.
Zhou's hometown was indeed extraordinary. Her father was a distant relative of the Third Prince's mother. Later, the family fell into decline, and she was sent to the Ye family to work as a maid.
The imperial physician who treated my birth mother back then has long since resigned and returned to his hometown. It is said that he was threatened and dared not stay in the capital.
Most importantly, the people who went to the Zhou family's old house found a letter written to her by the Third Prince, which said, "After the matter is accomplished, you will definitely receive your share of the benefits," and there was also a strange symbol, which looked like some kind of mark.
"This symbol..." Minister Ye frowned as he looked at the symbol on the letter. "I feel like I've seen it somewhere before."
Ye Wanning also felt that the face looked familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen it before.
"Whatever it is, it at least proves that the Zhou family and the Third Prince have been colluding for a long time," Ye Wanning said. "Their killing of Mother must be related to that military tally!"
"The military tally..." Minister Ye suddenly remembered something. "I remember now! This symbol is the insignia on the military tally of the General Who Guards the North, who once stood guard at the border!"
General Zhenbei? Ye Wanning's heart sank.
In my past life, the General of the North was executed along with his entire family for the crime of "treason and collusion with the enemy." The person who exposed him was none other than the Third Prince! Is there any connection between these events?
"Father, does the General of Zhenbei have a grudge against the Third Prince?" Ye Wanning asked.
"It's more than just hatred," Minister Ye sighed. "The General Who Guards the North is the Crown Prince's maternal uncle and has always supported him. The Third Prince has long wanted to get rid of him."
Ye Wanning suddenly realized.
So that's how it is. The Zhou family colluded with the Third Prince to kill their birth mother, most likely to obtain the military seal of the General of the North, or to extract a confession from her about framing the General. Their birth mother must have discovered their plot, which is why she was silenced.
"That's too ruthless!" Ye Wanning gritted her teeth. "They won't even spare a human life for power!"
“I will settle this score.” A ruthless glint flashed in Minister Ye’s eyes. “Not only for your mother, but also for the Crown Prince, and for the sake of the Great Qi dynasty.”
Seeing the murderous intent in her father's eyes, Ye Wanning nodded secretly. "Third Prince, Zhou Shi, what you owe my mother and me, I will take back every single penny, with interest!"
Just then, Ye Chengjing rushed in, his face pale: "Father, sister, something terrible has happened! Zhou Shi... Zhou Shi committed suicide in the woodshed!"
Zhou's death was like a pebble thrown into a shallow river, creating ripples that were neither large nor small.
Minister Ye sent people to investigate and said that Zhou knew she was guilty of a grave crime, so she used her hairpin to slit her throat and died, with a sinister smile on her face.
Ye Wanning, however, disagreed. How could a cowardly woman like Zhou Shi easily commit suicide? She must have been silenced. And the murderer was most likely the Third Prince.
"Sister, I think Zhou might really have committed suicide," Ye Chengjing asked hesitantly. "She killed Mother; she should have known she wouldn't have a good end..."
“No, she wouldn’t,” Ye Wanning said firmly. “If she had any backbone, she wouldn’t do something so heinous.”
She walked to the window, looking at the falling leaves outside, her eyes icy: "The Third Prince killed her, afraid she would say something she shouldn't have."
Ye Chengjing's expression changed: "Then we..."
"There's nothing we can do," Ye Wanning interrupted him. "Without evidence, even if we say the Third Prince killed him, no one will believe us. Besides, the Third Prince daring to kill someone in the Marquis's woodshed is clearly a warning to them."
"That mother's revenge..." Ye Chengjing clenched his fists unwillingly.
“I will report it,” Ye Wanning said, her eyes resolute, “but not now.”
She knew that since the Third Prince dared to make a move, he must have been fully prepared. A direct confrontation now would only result in losses. They had to wait, wait for an opportunity.
But the Third Prince clearly didn't want to give her a chance to catch her breath.
A few days later, Ye Wanning's shops suffered a series of misfortunes. First, the rouge shop's warehouse caught fire in the middle of the night, burning down most of its inventory. Fortunately, it was discovered early, and no one was injured. Next, the clothing shop was accused of selling counterfeit goods, and the city patrol soldiers came several times, making customers afraid to come. The most serious incident was at the bookstore, where someone had released several poisonous snakes, which bit two of the shop assistants, and now no one dared to go to the bookstore.
"This is outrageous!" Chun Tao exclaimed, jumping up and down in anger. "It must have been the Third Prince! That bastard is utterly despicable!"
Ye Wanning sat in the chair, her face calm, but her hands trembled slightly involuntarily. She had expected the Third Prince to retaliate, but she hadn't anticipated that he would dare to be so blatant.
"Miss, what should we do?" Chun Tao paced anxiously, "If this continues, the shop will go bankrupt!"
"Go bankrupt? Not so easy." Ye Wanning raised her eyes, a ruthless glint in them. "He wants to play, I'll play along."
She stood up: "Chuntao, call all the shopkeepers here."
Before long, the owners of the rouge shop, the clothing shop, and the bookstore arrived, each with a worried expression.
"Miss, you have to think of something!" Manager Wang of the rouge shop said anxiously. "The inventory in the warehouse has burned, and we can't complete so many orders. Those important people are practically wearing down our doorstep!"
“Yes, miss,” said Manager Li of the clothing shop, “the city patrol soldiers come every day, saying they’re doing some rectification, but we only sell clothes made of genuine fabric, where would we get counterfeit goods…”
Ye Wanning waited until they finished speaking before slowly saying, "I know it's difficult for everyone, but now is not the time to panic."
She looked at Manager Wang: "The warehouse caught fire, so we can take this opportunity to renovate and launch a few new rouge products. Let's call them the 'Rebirth from the Ashes' series, limited editions, to whet the appetites of those important people."
Shopkeeper Wang's eyes lit up: "Miss, that's a great idea!"
Ye Wanning then looked at Manager Li: "They say we sell counterfeit goods, so we'll invite the best embroiderers and tailors from the capital to the shop to embroider and tailor clothes on the spot, so everyone will know that Ningji's clothes are absolutely genuine!"
Manager Li nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, Miss really has a way!"
Finally, she looked at Zhang, the bookstore owner, and said, "Regarding the snake incident, just say someone is deliberately causing trouble; we've already reported it to the authorities. Publish a few more storybooks, tales of heroes fighting bandits and bringing peace to the people, to attract customers."
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