At midnight, the night was dark and the wind was high. Patrols were increased in the villa. Before going to sleep, Yin specifically instructed Bayan that Silla must be extra careful tonight.
Qingyan felt uneasy and had been tossing and turning in bed for almost two hours.
"Be good, whatever happens outside doesn't concern you much. Be good and go to sleep quickly," Yin comforted Qingyan from the side.
Qingyan frowned slightly and shook her head: "If nothing were really wrong, I wouldn't have this feeling. It's obvious that something is wrong."
Fei Yanggu and his two sons even asked Qingyan through Su Lan that he absolutely could not go out today, which made Qingyan feel very bad.
In the past, Fei Yanggu would always inform her immediately if anything happened, but today, things have turned out differently.
"Fourth Brother, I have a bad feeling." Qingyan looked up at Yin. "Father actually sent a message telling us not to go out." Qingyan lowered her voice and told Yin about Fei Yanggu.
The children are resting in the side hall today, which is now surrounded by Yin's personal guards.
“Father-in-law is right. Salt merchants even have their own teams, their own servants. Salt transportation involves traveling all over the country, how could they only have servants?” Yin had heard that the salt merchants in the south were very domineering and arrogant, and when transporting smuggled salt, they might even be carrying firearms.
Qingyan was held in Yin's arms, and didn't say a word, just silently listened to the sounds outside.
An hour later, just as Qingyan was about to drift off to sleep, a loud gunshot rang out outside, jolting Qingyan awake.
"Good boy, there are hidden guards in the main courtyard, those people can't get in at all." Yin had replaced all the servants in the courtyard early in the morning.
Qingyan felt relieved, but Yin stayed up all night, calmly listening to the situation outside, in preparation for any unforeseen circumstances.
As soon as it was dawn, Yin got up and even dragged Qingyan up with him.
"Four... let me sleep a little longer." Qingyan felt completely drained. Last night's events had been too chaotic, with many people gathered at the entrance of Yin's courtyard.
The two got off the carriage and saw black gunpowder burn marks on the walls of Yin's courtyard, which had been cleaned very thoroughly.
The damaged corridors offer a clear indication of just how perilous the situation was last night.
"Fourth Brother, are the elder brothers alright?" Qingyan asked worriedly.
“It’s alright. When they encountered the intruders, my elder brother had already taken my sister-in-law and the children to the secret room. He left everything outside to Tu Lichen.” Yin nodded.
Qingyan felt slightly relieved, as long as everything was alright.
At the entrance of the second courtyard, Madam Yin Genjue Luo and her daughter stood waiting for their sisters-in-law to arrive.
Yesterday, Yin arranged for the children to sleep in the secret room early in the morning. As midnight approached, he heard that something was wrong outside, so he took Yin Genjue Luo Shi to the secret room.
"Sister-in-law, are you alright?" The first thing Qingyan did after arriving was to ask about Yingenjueluo.
"It's alright, you see, I'm fine, aren't I?" Yin Genjue Luo smiled, pursing her lips.
The two of them led Songkelierha into the hall. After they sat down, Qingyan smiled.
"Honey, is everything alright at your villa?" Madam Yin Genjue Luo was worried about Qingyan, after all, she still had three children with her.
Qingyan shook her head. Even Hafeng was fast asleep and hadn't heard a sound from outside.
"Sister-in-law, does Brother know where these people came from?" Qingyan asked curiously.
Later that evening, all the sisters-in-law gathered here, and the Ninth and Tenth Princes looked rather tired.
As soon as the Tenth Prince's wife entered, she immediately asked him what was going on. She said that yesterday, while Yinzhi was recuperating from his injuries, he heard the commotion outside and was about to rush out when he was escorted back to his room by the guards arranged by Yinzhi.
“It should be people from the salt merchants’ side. Your elder brother saw the seized firearms this morning. They were basically all sold within the Qing Dynasty’s territory, and they can all be traced. The Ministry of War will directly register them. Now, all the serial numbers have been sent to the capital for verification,” said Yin Genjueluo.
"Sister-in-law, are we going to leave Zhili this time?" The Tenth Princess felt that Zhili was really too dangerous.
"Not for now. There's still one last batch of smuggled salt that hasn't been brought here yet. The previous batches have all been escorted to the capital by special personnel," said Yin Genjue Luo Shi, shaking her head.
The sisters-in-law sighed. This time, they were risking their lives, facing all sorts of dangers, even more than when they came out to Qiu Mi.
"Tenth sister-in-law, are you feeling uncomfortable?" Qingyan only calmed down completely after hearing that Yinzhi had been escorted to his room and subdued by the Tenth Prince's wife.
"It's not that I'm not used to it, it's just that I feel like I'm facing more and more dangers. You know, my master is always the first to rush to the front lines when danger comes. So, now look what happened. Before the problem was solved, I heard that my elder brother was under attack, and I even got into an argument with the guards who were sent by my elder brother. They were the ones who delayed rescuing my elder brother." The Tenth Princess Consort told the truth.
"Master, His Majesty has asked you to bring several wives with you. Among those arrested this time, there are women." Shunxi, who was by Yin's side, came over and quickly said to Yin Genjueluo Shi.
"Alright, sisters, come with me now. Someone doesn't take us seriously." Yin Genjue Luo Shi sneered.
They had met the women of the salt merchants before; if they went to meet them, they would surely find out who was behind the arrangements.
Qingyan came out with Lady Yingenjueluo, while the Ninth and Tenth Princesses were arranged by Lady Yingenjueluo to stay behind and take care of the children.
The two entered the study one after the other, and saw that the Yin brothers were frowning and looking through the account books in their hands.
"Master, why did you send us here...?" Yin Genjue Luo asked, looking at Yin.
"Wait a minute, Fourth Prince, take Qingyan to see those two women. Make sure you can identify whose they are. Fujin, you stay here with me and help me look at the account books." Yin Genjueluo Shi's Aquarius is definitely better at looking at account books than he is. Yin really has a headache over these numbers.
Yin's table was piled high with account books, and he was still calculating them one by one. The other three princes' account books were significantly fewer in number than Yin's.
"Okay." Yin Genjue Luo Shi nodded.
Qingyan had no choice but to leave with Yin. As soon as the two entered the side hall of the courtyard, they saw three simply dressed women looking at the couple with fear in their eyes.
"Si Si, why are there women here?" Qingyan asked, puzzled.
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