That night, the head of the Gong family sat in the courtyard with two cups of fine wine on the table, clearly waiting for someone to arrive.
"It seems that Brother Gong and I are of one mind; Brother Gong has already prepared the fine wine."
The head of the Gong family gestured an invitation, and the head of the Qin family smiled and sat down. "Tomorrow, we brothers will need to work together. To be honest, even we don't know your true strength, Brother Gong."
The Gong family is the most mysterious and noble among the major aristocratic families, and is famous for its porcelain.
The exquisite porcelain produced by the Gong family was so sought after that people all over the world flocked to it.
"I suppose the porcelain is very precious, and Brother Gong must have gone to great lengths to escort it."
The Qin family patriarch took a sip of the fine wine, which meant that the Gong family must be hiding many highly skilled martial artists.
Unlike the Sun family, the Gong family didn't make a fortune, so there must be other ways to make money behind the scenes.
This is also why the Qin family patriarch has always been somewhat wary of the Gong family.
"I will definitely assist Brother Qin tomorrow."
The head of the Gong family said no more. Under the moonlight, their cups clinked together, making a crisp sound.
"It's a pleasure to work with you."
"It's a pleasure to work with you."
......
Unlike the Qin family head and the Gong family head who drank and chatted happily, Gu Lin stayed with Jiang Yu at Lingyun Garden for the entire night.
"woke up."
Xie Zhiqing opened her eyes and saw Jiang Yu, her eyes narrowing sharply.
After realizing what had happened, Xie Zhiqing immediately struggled to her feet. "Your Majesty, I...I was rude."
"Alright, you should lie down properly." Jiang Yu held Xie Zhiqing's hand. "I was originally planning to summon you to the palace, but I never expected to see you in such a situation."
"Those students...are they alright?"
Xie Zhiqing seemed to suddenly realize something, and she looked somewhat anxious. "Your Majesty, they..."
"They're fine, they'll be waking up soon, just like you."
Xie Zhiqing's eyes reddened upon hearing this, "I failed to protect them. They trusted me so much."
"Don't worry, I will definitely find out the truth about this matter." Jiang Yu tucked the blanket around Xie Zhiqing. "What you should do now is take good care of yourself."
Xie Zhiqing nodded upon hearing this, and soon fell asleep again.
Seeing this, Jiang Yu's expression became even more serious.
"Gu Lin, what kind of poison is this?"
Jiang Yu walked out of Xie Zhiqing's room. "Some of the people here are destined to become the first batch of female officials in Dayu. If they have some kind of poison hidden in their bodies..."
Gu Lin's eyes darkened upon hearing this. "Even Mei Chu couldn't identify this poison, which is the most puzzling thing."
Nowadays, there are very few poisons in the world that even Mei Chu cannot distinguish.
"Don't worry, Ayu. Linghai and the others have already started investigating the people who entered and left Lingyun Garden in the past few days." Gu Lin patted Jiang Yu's shoulder. "You should also take care of yourself."
Jiang Yu forced a smile. "How can I be at ease when something like this happened at Lingyun Garden?"
"Then I'll stay here with Ayu."
Gu Lin pulled Jiang Yu into his arms, and where Jiang Yu couldn't see, a murderous glint appeared in Gu Lin's eyes.
Is it a poison that even Mei Chu couldn't identify?
If the source is indeed found, that person cannot stay long.
......
Just as dawn broke, the head of the Sun family handed the two porcelain bottles to the heads of the Qin and Gong families.
"Gentlemen, all you need to do is sprinkle the fragrant powder from this porcelain bottle on yourselves, and the wild beast will not be able to detect your scent."
"Thank you very much, Brother Sun."
The head of the Gong family smiled as he accepted the porcelain bottle, saying, "The Sun family's incense-making skills are indeed well-deserved."
"Then I'll wait here for your good news."
Suburbs of Beijing.
"It seems the people below are still useless; we have to come here ourselves," the Qin family head said with a light laugh. "I wish us a swift success on this trip."
Even so, the Qin family patriarch still deployed manpower in the outskirts of Beijing and made ample preparations.
The two chatted and laughed as they hurried toward the plum garden, their figures moving as fast as ghosts, disappearing in an instant.
“Brother Qin is right. The restrictions imposed on us by Dayu are too great now.” The head of the Gong family narrowed his eyes slightly. “It seems that there are some things we should put on our agenda.”
Soon, the two arrived near the plum garden.
Just as his confidant had predicted, the roars of wild beasts could be heard throughout the plum garden, though guards were stationed outside.
"It seems that Da Yu trusted wild beasts too much and did not set up heavy troops outside the plum garden." The head of the Gong family sneered silently. "I will take down a few guards for Brother Qin."
In an instant, several guards were hit by arrows and fell to the ground, without any chance to fight back.
"I only knew that the Yun family's mechanisms were superb, but seeing Brother Gong's hidden weapons today, I finally understand what truly exquisite means."
Although the Qin family patriarch said this, the deeper meaning in his eyes grew stronger.
The two poured the face powder on themselves and then quickly stepped into the plum garden.
"Yunmo has been here before, be careful of traps."
The two exchanged a glance, broke off peach branches, and cautiously moved forward step by step. It took them a full hour to reach the vicinity of the dark prison.
"If it weren't for these two peach branches, we would probably have fallen into the trap long ago."
Even the two highly skilled martial artists were sweating profusely at this moment.
"Brother Qin, the one that Da Yu went to such great lengths to keep locked up must be extraordinary."
The two became increasingly convinced that Yun Zhi was imprisoned in the dark cell, so they couldn't wait to open the iron door of the dark cell.
However, when the head of the Gong family inserted the silver needle into the lock of the iron gate, it triggered the switch of some kind of hidden weapon. The two immediately rolled aside to hide, but even so, they were still hit by the hidden weapon.
"Brother Qin, are you alright?"
The head of the Gong family clutched his arm, while the head of the Qin family had only suffered minor injuries. "It's nothing, just superficial wounds. Let's go in quickly and deal with Yun Zhi. We shouldn't stay here any longer."
The dark cell was filled with the stench of blood, yet it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
The two walked inside and arrived at the place where prisoners were held.
"Brother Yun, how have you been?"
The murderous intent in the eyes of the Qin family patriarch gradually intensified as he looked at the man chained to the iron chair with his head hanging down. "It's only been a short time since we last met, and Brother Yun has already fallen into such a sorry state?"
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
Seeing that Yun Zhi did not respond, the Qin family head and the Gong family head exchanged a glance and took a step back.
"Is he dead?" the head of the Gong family asked softly, and then tried to release the hidden weapon in his sleeve.
"I am not Brother Yun."
The man slowly raised his head, his face wicked, and he chuckled incessantly.
"I haven't seen a living person here for a long time. You two have come to rescue me?"
The two men's eyes widened in shock. Oh no!
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