Qu Linglong pouted and said, “Aunt, she’s so stupid. I only said one sentence to her, and she was so frightened that she never came out again.”

“How strange. What exactly happened?”

“Well, I went to Rongfu Courtyard, and when she saw me, she mocked me, saying I had no rules or manners, that the Qin family wasn’t my relatives, and that she didn’t welcome me coming to the Qin residence.”

“How did Linglong respond?”

Qu Linglong giggled delicately and said, “I only asked her, ‘Sister Wei, what are those red pimples on your face?’ And she immediately dove into her room and refused to come out!”

Qin Shuying’s eyes widened, then she couldn’t help but laugh unkindly.

At Qin Wei’s age, her face was in the prime time for sprouting pimples. Since Qin Wei didn’t watch her diet, quite a few small pimples had emerged on her face. Qin Wei loved beauty, so when Qu Linglong called this out so bluntly, how could she maintain her composure?

It seemed her worry about Qu Linglong was truly unnecessary.

Qin Shuying felt very comforted.

She had already suffered enough from those four words “virtuous and gentle” in her previous life. In this life, she didn’t want to be that virtuous and gentle person again, nor did she want to see people she cared about suffer from those four words.

Qu Linglong was still young and facing today’s situation. If she also learned to be virtuous and gentle, Qu Linglong would be doomed for life, destined to repeat Qin Yaoyao’s path to death.

Since she knew at such a young age how to subtly fight back, this was good.

Returning to Songtao Residence, Liang Zhe was actually home too.

Seeing Qin Shuying return, Liang Zhe immediately grabbed her hand and walked toward the bedroom. Lu Ye, Hong Juan and the others couldn’t help but giggle softly, and even Nanny Fu’s old face turned red.

Qin Shuying could tell they had misunderstood something and gently called out, “Ziyu!”

Liang Zhe paused, “Shuying?”

Qin Shuying nudged toward the outside with her mouth.

Liang Zhe watched the maids and Nanny Fu hurriedly walking outside, still not understanding, “They… is there something wrong?”

Seeing his wooden expression, Qin Shuying gently shook her arm, but Liang Zhe still didn’t notice anything amiss.

Shuying hadn’t yet reached the age of hairpin ceremony, so they hadn’t consummated their marriage. But even without consummation, she was still Liang Zhe’s wife, so holding his wife’s hand was fine, right?

He had held it so many times, for nearly half a year now.

Seeing he still didn’t understand, Qin Shuying was too lazy to explain further. These days, Liang Zhe had been very busy, rarely home during the day, and often not returning at night.

That day, it was Liang Yanjun who went to the garrison in the middle of the night to report Old Madam Liang’s secret to Liang Zhe, and Liang Zhe rushed back overnight to perform that act together.

To expose Old Madam Liang’s true face while also confusing Luo Meixiang and her son, Liang Zhe had spent considerable effort.

Today, being home in broad daylight, there must be something important. She wouldn’t be coy then, and would quickly listen to what he had to say.

Entering the bedroom, Liang Zhe eagerly whispered, “Father-in-law’s matter has more leads!”

“Really?”

Liang Zhe had been investigating this matter for several months, but since Qin Yongzhou’s incident occurred in the south, far from the capital where the emperor’s authority was distant, although Qin Shuying had seen some clues from Qin Yongzhou’s notes, they were written cryptically, leaving Qin Shuying with many unclear points.

Liang Zhe smiled beautifully, making Qin Shuying’s eyelid twitch involuntarily. She quickly looked away and poured him a cup of tea.

When he was still captain of guards, Emperor Delong had given him some secret personnel. He was ordered to thoroughly investigate the Blue Eagle matter, obtaining mostly information about Western State affairs and the Mu family’s dealings with Blue Eagle.

Information directly related to Qin Yongzhou wasn’t abundant.

Hearing Liang Zhe say this, Qin Shuying raised her eyebrows, her dark pupils looking at him expectantly.

Since she had borrowed her cousin’s body to live again, she naturally hoped to avenge her uncle and aunt.

“The Mu family has close dealings with a wealthy merchant named Jiao Yan. Jiao Yan is a citizen of Great Zhou, extremely wealthy. He opened Baozi Jewelry with branches in Great Zhou, Western State, and Northern State, conducting enormous business as a great tycoon. Besides this, he’s also involved in tea, silk, and grain. Jiao Yan’s tea business spans from south to north with all varieties, so he needs to travel constantly between north and south. But actually, while his business is indeed large and profitable, the fundamental windfall profit comes from black raw stones. The black raw stone mines are in South Sea, adjacent to Yue Prefecture. After black raw stones are produced, to obtain huge profits, he transports them by sea, then to Northern State, then from northern Northern State around to Western State.”

South Sea and Yue Prefecture were both coastal areas. South Sea was further south, where imperial authority was distant and court control difficult. Ships needed over twenty days to reach the capital from South Sea.

Yue Prefecture was where Qin Yongzhou served. Yue Prefecture was extremely prosperous, with over one-third of Great Zhou’s salt and iron located there, plus Great Zhou’s largest dock, making it economically flourishing. Qin Yongzhou served as third-rank Salt Transport Commissioner there, which was the most direct manifestation of Emperor Delong’s trust in him.

“Everyone knows the Mu family has shares in the Jiao family’s tea business—this isn’t secret. But through my extensive investigation, peeling back layer after layer, I finally learned that while the Mu family’s participation in tea business is real, they’re more directly involved in black raw stone mining. I remember at Princess Yongjia’s residence, Lu Ruyang helped Princess Fu’an try to push you into water. Do you know who her father is?”

Qin Shuying had a grudge against Lu Ruyang, so she had naturally investigated this clearly long ago. “Her father Lu Wangzhi is eldest aunt’s legitimate eldest son. You mean he’s related to this matter?”

“Mm. Lu Wangzhi is in the Ministry of Revenue, a third-rank Salt Transport Commissioner with considerable authority.”

This was natural. Lu Wangzhi was forty-eight this year, Salt and Iron Commissioner, and a third-rank official wielding great power, essentially directly managing mineral affairs throughout the country.

“Lu Wangzhi’s in-law, that is Lu Ruyang’s maternal grandfather Cao Qingyan, is the current South Sea Prefect. He’s served as South Sea Prefect for seven years. Before him was South Sea Prefect Liu Gongqing.”

Liu Gongqing?

Qin Shuying remembered—he was Liu Gongshan’s cousin, currently Minister of Revenue, second rank.

Liang Zhe wouldn’t mention these two people without reason; they must be related to Qin Yongzhou’s death.

“Four years ago, when father-in-law was in Yue Prefecture, Yue Prefecture dock was naturally an important object of his supervision. South Sea’s black raw stones had to take the water route, necessarily passing through Yue Prefecture dock. For South Sea’s black raw stones to be secretly mined, both Liu Gongqing and Cao Qingyan couldn’t escape involvement. With Lu Wangzhi and the Mu family in court, this business was very easy to conduct. There was just one difficult obstacle—if Yue Prefecture dock’s personnel were replaced with their own people, that would be even better.”

Qin Shuying immediately understood the key point.

The Liu family, Mu family, and Lu family (Cao family) jointly mined black raw stones. The biggest obstacle was at Yue Prefecture dock—the transfer from land route to water route.

But who managed Yue Prefecture dock at that time?

Qin Yongzhou.

If Qin Yongzhou discovered something amiss, with several families united against him, what chance of survival would Qin Yongzhou have?