After lunch, the sun shone brightly on the earth, and the courtyard was bathed in sunlight. In the right corner of the courtyard, there was a grape trellis, which was already laden with bunches of green grapes. Later that evening, the grapes here would be ready to be picked.
Qingyan lay languidly under the grape trellis, dressed in a light purple casual dress embroidered with bunches of grape vines. Her hair was adorned with two small buns, each with a grape-shaped gold hairpin made of purple gemstones, and a round grape tassel was pinned to her temple, swaying in the air with the movement of the grape-embroidered fan in her hand.
"Little darling, aren't you going out today?" Yin Genjue Luo Shi accompanied Qing Yan to bask in the sun. The two grown men hadn't been home during the day for the past few days, while the women stayed home to wait for them.
Qingyan closed his eyes and nodded, saying, "Yes, things haven't been peaceful outside these past few days, so it's best not to go out."
Last night, Erlu brought news that the shopkeeper had been taken away by Yin. The scholar they were going to help had ultimately betrayed his master and joined the Suo'etu faction.
Fortunately, Yin reacted quickly; otherwise, a corner of Yuelai Inn would have been torn open, allowing outsiders to discover its secrets. Every inn's dishes are carefully selected, some even being the supplier's secrets, which competitors would secretly bribe.
As Qingyan recalled the events of last night, the manager's words kept replaying in her mind: over the years, everyone, regardless of age, had worked hard, yet now, because of these things, they were being disposed of directly.
“Little darling, if the servants have disloyal thoughts, they absolutely cannot be kept. Otherwise, no matter how good you are to them, they will think that what you do is what is right.” The problems that Yin Genjue Luo Shi faced in Qingyan were nothing compared to the problems she had suffered in official duties.
Qingyan didn't want to say much, she just wanted to calm down quietly. The fact that the other party was able to accurately target Yiken'e must be because of the news of his surrender to Suo'etu. Back then, when the children were in danger, everyone felt that something was wrong.
"Sister-in-law, I understand all of this. I'm more worried than anyone else if something happens to the children." Qingyan always wanted to keep the children by her side, but Kangxi always controlled them, which made everyone feel restricted in their actions.
Yin Genjue Luo Shi smiled. Mothers naturally care about their children, and Yin was no exception. As long as Songkelierha was there, he would never rebel.
When they arrived in Shandong, the three children were sitting together with wine, led by them. Now, they don't have a single child left.
Before sunset, they planned to leisurely enjoy tea in the garden, ignoring the turmoil outside.
"Master, the manager of Linglong Pavilion has sent a note." Su Lan quickly came in, as the manager informed her via secret message.
Qingyan opened the scroll, which contained their rules for transmitting messages in this way during the most critical times. It stated that Linglong Pavilion's shops in Yangzhou had suffered a significant blow, and that, according to some officials' relatives, the raw materials used by Linglong Pavilion were defective.
Linglong Pavilion focuses on high-quality products; if problems arise with the raw materials, its reputation will undoubtedly be damaged.
Later, Linglong Pavilion invited several retired appraisers from the inner workshops to come over. They even used the same headdresses from Linglong Pavilion as samples, which turned out to be a false alarm. The headdresses of those people were not made by Linglong Pavilion.
After the crisis was over, the shopkeeper, unaware of who had sabotaged things, used a secret message to prevent his masters from being attacked from both sides.
In addition, the shopkeeper mentioned something else: the family of the clay figurine's child was connected to the scholar who took the imperial examination this year, and that scholar had already hanged himself.
After reading the note, Qingyan felt increasingly uneasy. Erlu had personally gone there and found that some of the scholars had hanged themselves. The first few who appeared to have hanged themselves actually had two marks on their necks, indicating that they had been murdered.
She had been paying close attention to this matter, and the shopkeepers all sent their children into officialdom, partly to support Qingyan, and partly for the sake of their families.
For the time being, Qingyan was unable to discern their loyalty. After the manager's betrayal, Qingyan immediately began to investigate, fearing that there might be the slightest oversight.
"What's wrong?!" Yin Genjue Luo asked, looking at Qing Yan.
Qingyan nodded. The commotion over the clay figurines had kept Songkelierha from going out to play, which was a bit of a disappointment for them.
"The children who were made into clay figurines were all relatives of the scholars who later hanged themselves," Qingyan added.
Yin Genjueluo shuddered. They had oversimplified things. Who came up with this multi-pronged approach? They had been keeping their three children under control, and even Emperor Kangxi was somewhat surprised.
Qingyan breathed a sigh of relief, waiting for Yin's return.
Before dinner, Qingyan bid farewell to Yingenjueluo and went straight back to her study to wait for Yin. He returned close to midnight. Seeing her expression, he took the letter she handed him. He frowned and, without finishing reading it, lit the letter with a candle, turning it to ashes.
"I mentioned it briefly to my sister-in-law, about the scholar who hanged himself, but I didn't say anything more." She leaned wearily against him. The turmoil outside had already affected the child, and Qingyan wouldn't allow that.
"Don't worry, I'll handle it. Little darling, don't overthink it for now. The number of victims of the clay figures is still increasing," Yin whispered in her ear.
ah?!
She looked up at Yin in surprise. Wasn't the clay figure something about the twins?
"The warning we received is only one aspect; it should be aimed at the cover-up case in the south." Yin rubbed his temples. In the past few days, Yin and he had been secretly making visits. They had changed into the clothes of scholars, saying that they were preparing for the imperial examination three years later.
The families they selected were all those who had passed the provincial examination this year. After seeing the purse they were given, those people talked about how they had gotten to the officials' attention. They said that their scores were written by others, and that the officials had investigated those people who had no background.
Yin was almost furious when he heard this, but he managed to suppress his anger. They were on someone else's turf, so they had to be more restrained.
On the way back, Yin drank several bottles of wine. The manager was replaced by someone from the Sticky Rod Office. Yin put this person in the open so that he could keep an eye on the Shandong Examination Hall.
"Brother is back and in a bad mood, so don't go to see your sister-in-law for the next few days!" Yin said in a low voice.
Qingyan nestled in his arms, and he closed his eyes slightly, feeling the warmth emanating from her.
To others, Qingyan seemed to enjoy being pampered and was cherished by him. In reality, however, she was always there for him when he needed comfort.
"Sisi, if we go back, will the children really be safe?" Qingyan was worried about the children. After not seeing them for so many days, Qingyan felt that it was a mistake not to bring them out.
"With Mother here, nothing will happen. Father is just helping to take care of the children." Yin was somewhat aware of Kangxi's thoughts and worried that Yin wouldn't tell him the truth.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
