Er Ya shone brightly this time, instantly winning the favor of many girls. No one thought that her rural background was bad; they all acted like her fans.
The sisters' initial nervousness and anxiety upon arriving at the Kuang family home had completely vanished, replaced by confident smiles.
At this moment, Er Ya seemed to understand something as well.
When they arrived at the Star Gazing Tower and met Cen Xiao and Qiuqiu, Sanya chattered excitedly as she told them what had happened, her face beaming with excitement.
"Master, Meng Jiu is here."
Suddenly, Dao Ba led in a burly man.
"Meng Jiu, this is Madam," Dao Ba introduced.
"Meng Jiu greets Madam."
Cen Xiao said to Yuan Qiu, "Take Er Ya and San Ya out to play."
The children knew the adults were going to talk, so they obediently went out and closed the door behind them.
Cen Xiao then asked, "What's going on?"
"Lin Shih-kang is getting married soon."
Yang Cui nearly spat out her tea upon hearing this: "What did you say?"
"After our assassination attempt failed halfway through, we didn't make any more moves. Yuan Yajing, the daughter of the county magistrate, liked him very much and sent many experts to protect him..." Meng Jiu told Lin Shikang and Yuan Yajing about how they met in detail.
Yang Cui exclaimed, "She really is so charming that everyone loves her and flowers bloom for her; wherever she goes, women are drawn to her."
"Ahem." Upon hearing this, someone felt a pang of sadness and coughed twice in protest.
With a smile in her eyes, Yang Cui immediately turned around to coax this man who had grown up in a jealous pot: "But I think my husband is the best, the most handsome and the most capable, no one can compare to him."
Cen Xiao's lips curled up slightly, his eyes saying, "That's more like it."
Meng Jiu: "...??" He wondered if he was hallucinating.
Yang Cui gently pinched him, then got back to the point and said, "So what kind of person is Yuan Yajing? I heard things aren't very peaceful over there, but the county magistrate has been doing well. This county magistrate must be someone special."
“Madam is absolutely right. Yuan Weimin has been operating in Ganning for many years and has gathered a group of desperados under his command. The people there are terrified of Yuan. Furthermore, Yuan Weimin is also in cahoots with Heifenggang in Ganning County. We have only been in Ganning for a short time, so we haven’t found out enough yet.”
"Black Peak Ridge? A bandit's den?"
"That's right."
"No wonder he wanted to marry Yuan Yajing; he probably had ulterior motives." Yang Cui felt that Lin Shikang, as the male protagonist of the original novel, could not possibly be willing to be a puppet.
"His confidante, Meng Ruyan, went by the alias Kang Shiling and frequented brothels between Bingzhou Prefecture and Ganning County to gather intelligence for him and provide him with financial assistance."
Yang Cui sometimes really admired Lin Shikang; it's not something an ordinary man could do to have so many women help him.
But he's really a scumbag. He spends money earned from women selling their bodies. Doesn't he have any conscience?
Oh no, he has no conscience, otherwise he wouldn't have wanted to divorce the original owner.
"Have you found any trace of Lin Mingcai in Ganning County?" Cen Xiao asked. Yang Cui was afraid of this man, so Cen Xiao was very concerned.
"No findings have been made yet."
Yang Cui: "If the person at Foguang Temple last time really was him, then he must have known we were looking for him, so he was probably hiding."
Cen Xiao said to Meng Jiu, "If he's not dead, he'll definitely contact Lin Shikang or someone close to Lin Shikang. Keep a close eye on him."
"Understood, sir." After saying that, Meng Jiu took out a portrait. "This is a woman that Meng Ruyan arranged to be by the side of the prefect of Bingzhou. She was brought there from Wan'an. Her name is Qiu Xin'er, but I suspect that she is using an alias."
Yang Cui and Cen Xiao took a closer look and immediately recognized the person in the painting!
"Lin Chunmei!" Yang Cui exclaimed in shock. "She's Lin Shikang's cousin and Lin Mingcai's daughter. If she's in Bingzhou, then Lin Mingcai is very likely in Bingzhou too!"
"You mean she was someone Meng Ruyan placed by the side of the prefect of Bingzhou?" Cen Xiao caught the key point.
"Indeed, this person is deeply favored by Zhu Baogui. Zhu Baogui has more than a dozen daughters, but no sons. She boasted that as long as she gives birth to a son, Zhu Baogui will make her his concubine."
"Lin Chunmei was actually willing to give herself to a man old enough to be her father. This must have been at Lin Shikang's behest. He's probably planning something big."
Yang Cui felt a sense of crisis. Lin Shikang was the male protagonist of the original novel, and he wasn't brainless. He had already started making plans, and he might actually be able to carve out a bloody path in Gan Ning!
Cen Xiao noticed Yang Cui's emotional change and reassured her, "Don't worry, I won't let him get away with this, but now is not the best time to kill him."
Originally, Cen Xiao was prepared to kill him, but after hearing this news, he changed his mind.
Yang Cui wasn't stupid; she immediately understood Cen Xiao's meaning: "You want to use him to deal with Gan Ning?"
Cen Xiao nodded. Killing Lin Shikang was easy; his power base was weak. But reforming Ganning County wouldn't be so easy. This was a good opportunity, a chance to kill two birds with one stone...
——
The next day, the Kuang sisters, Song Jiarong, and Song Jiarong's cousin Song Jiali came to Anjia Village together.
Er Ya and San Ya started preparing early to welcome their new friend.
After exchanging greetings with Yang Cui, the little girls huddled together. Er Ya took on the role of teacher, imitating Yang Cui's teaching style back then, and surprisingly, she did it quite convincingly.
Meanwhile, Yang Cui and Kuang Meiyun sat in the living room chatting.
At this moment, Wan Qing opened the carved wooden box in his hand and placed it in front of Yang Cui. Kuang Meiyun said, "It was my fault that the two young ladies suffered yesterday. These two sets of jewelry are for them to add to their dowry when they get married in the future."
The two sets of bright yellow gold jewelry were exquisitely crafted and clearly worth a lot of money; Kwong Mei-wan was truly generous.
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