As night fell, the sky turned pitch black, and a torrential downpour began, sounding like the roar of thousands of ferocious beasts, deafeningly loud.
Fan Yuejia, accompanied by her maid, hurried through the covered corridor. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of someone diagonally opposite her, who was walking towards her.
She quickly pulled the maid to the corner of the corridor, covered the maid's mouth with one hand to make her shush, and then slowly released her hand.
If you get closer, you can hear singing mixed in with the sound of the downpour.
That voice sounds familiar!
Fan Yuejia recognized Yu Xunmei's voice.
What is she doing here so late at night?
Fan Yuejia was flustered. One hand, tightly clutching her clothes, trembled slightly, while the other hand subconsciously tidied her somewhat disheveled hair.
It's getting closer!
Footsteps could already be heard, and the person was getting closer and closer. Fan Yuejia's heart was in her throat, and she dared not breathe.
A fragrant breeze wafted by, and Yu Xunmei, humming a cheerful tune, walked briskly past the two of them, quickly disappearing at the end of the covered corridor.
"Madam, Madam!"
The maid called out several times before Fan Yuejia came to her senses.
She asked in a low voice, "Have they left?"
"The young lady has gone back."
Fan Yuejia breathed a sigh of relief, composed herself, and said, "Let's go back and rest early too."
The two walked in the opposite direction from Yu Xunmei and disappeared into the rainy night.
The next day was another sunny day.
Yu Xunmei and the housekeeper helped the head of the Yu family to visit Yu Shida, who was recuperating from his injuries.
In the courtyard in front, the steward was directing the servants to clean.
The head of the Yu family asked in confusion, "Huh, isn't that Young Master Xinming's guest room? What is the steward doing?"
The butler glanced at Yu Xunmei discreetly, then lowered his head.
“Go home, Lord. This house is too dirty. The sun is shining brightly today, so it will be good to air out the bad luck inside.”
“Indeed, we must not neglect Young Master Xinming; we must ensure he is comfortable.” The head of the Yu family said, his beard trembling.
Yu Xunmei smiled, "Father, don't worry, he'll definitely like where he lives now, because I've already killed him!"
"What?"
Her words were like a thunderclap, and the head of the Yu family could hardly believe his ears.
"He deserves to die. He even dared to covet my daughter, harassing me time and time again." Yu Xunmei said casually, without any sadness or distress on her face.
The head of the Yu family looked deeply at his daughter before him, then said with a hint of helplessness, "Kill her if you will."
"I knew my father loved his daughter the most."
The head of the Yu family frowned slightly, but said nothing.
After treatment and the use of excellent wound medicine, Yu Shida's wounds began to scab over, and he was no longer in danger of dying.
At this moment, several soldiers and Yu family advisors were sitting in his room.
When the head of the Yu family entered, he quickly stood up and bowed.
"Greetings, Patriarch!"
"Greetings, Miss!"
After the head of the Yu family took his seat, he waved his hand to signal them to sit down one by one.
He glanced around at everyone, his gaze finally settling on Yu Shida's face, and slowly said, "Regarding this matter, does anyone have any good suggestions?"
The soldiers and staff all looked at Yu Shida at the same time.
Yu Shida cleared his throat and said, "Patriarch, we have just come up with a few ideas. Your arrival is just in time."
Tell me about it.
One of the aides said with his hands clasped, "We all agree that the West River Iron Mine must not fall into the hands of those people. What we cannot have, they can never have either."
"So, what do you plan to do?" Patriarch Yu frowned slightly; he understood this perfectly well.
Yu Shida said, "Master, we are preparing to write a memorial to the court for a decision."
"I've heard that the imperial court is currently preparing to move the capital, but it's unclear when the court will make a decision."
The head of the Yu family was not optimistic about this. The emperor had been seriously ill last year and had been bedridden ever since, with the crown prince acting as regent.
After Grand Secretary Wang retired to his hometown, all affairs of state, large and small, are now controlled by the Prime Minister's faction. The Crown Prince is nominally in charge of the country, but in reality, he is just a puppet.
What troubled him was that they had no connections in the court, and memorials had to go through the Office of Transmission and the Grand Secretariat before reaching the emperor, so it would be difficult to deliver them smoothly.
The Xihe Iron Mine is not large, making it even more difficult to reclaim it smoothly.
"Let's give it a try."
Next, the head of the Yu family led everyone in drafting the memorial, which was then written by the chief scribe, and the memorial was completed.
Even after one matter was resolved, the Yu family head was still not at ease.
“Longtan’s actions are so arrogant that he has already seized the profits of our Yu family’s salt monopoly. If we continue to tolerate and indulge him, how will our Yu family survive?”
Yu Xunmei looked at Yu Shida, who was half-lying on the bed, her gaze lingering on his firm and muscular chest. The corners of her mouth slowly curved up, and her eyes were full of tenderness.
“Father, this matter cannot be borne by our Yu family alone. Rather than waiting for the court’s reply, we should unite the strength of the various aristocratic families.”
A staff member hesitated before speaking, "I heard that all the aristocratic families in Nanman Prefecture attended a business conference held in Longtan a while ago."
"Did the Ye family and the Zhong family go too?" the Yu family head asked.
"I went there, and I heard they even bought a few shops in Longtan."
"Outrageous! This ungrateful wretch is impossible to tame."
The head of the Yu family slammed his fist on the table in anger.
Yu Xunmei quickly tried to soothe him, "Father, don't be angry. Aren't there many families with marriage ties in our Nanzhou Prefecture?"
“Yes, the Fan family and the Li family are both larger than any other aristocratic family in the Southern Barbarian Prefecture,” a steward immediately chimed in.
Yu Shida thought of the troops held by the various aristocratic families. With the loss of soldiers and generals this time, if the troops held by the aristocratic families were united, their strength would not be underestimated.
A glint of light flashed in the cloudy eyes of the Yu family head. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "I will personally write a letter and you can deliver it to each family head."
The group discussed the matter until noon before dispersing.
The chief secretary, carrying the handwritten memorial, went to find the attendant in charge of transporting it. An inconspicuous junior staff member approached him.
"My lord, there's a show at Haitang Pavilion tonight. I managed to snag two tickets. Shall we go together?"
"Let's do it another day, I have important matters to attend to," the chief secretary waved his hand regretfully.
"Sir, what are you busy with?"
Seeing that he had such a good relationship with him, the chief clerk did not hide anything from him. He patted his chest and put down the memorial, saying, "I need to find the servants who are transporting the memorial. General Yu has written a memorial that needs to be sent out immediately."
"How about I make the trip for you? I'm young and quick on my feet, and I can take you to the Begonia Pavilion to watch the opera when I get back," the junior advisor tentatively asked.
The chief secretary pondered for a moment, then took out the memorial and instructed, "Keep it safe and don't lose it."
"Don't worry, sir, I will handle it perfectly for you."
The junior staff member carefully took the memorial and put it in his pocket. He turned to leave, but the chief clerk, worried, grabbed him again.
"You'd better take it carefully!"
"Don't worry! It won't get lost."
As the junior staff member walked onto the bustling main street, a carriage passed right by him.
By the time the carriage had passed, the young advisor was nowhere to be seen on the road.
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