Qiu Yuanming had his hair cut while sleeping, which already scared him out of his wits.

The Qiu family was heavily guarded, yet someone could still break in. If this trend wasn’t corrected, wouldn’t they not even know if their heads were severed while sleeping in the future?

And then there were his wife and two daughters-in-law.

For women to become bald now, how could they face people? He wished he could directly declare to the outside world that these three women wanted to convert to Buddhism and just send them to the family temple.

Now that he had fallen so painfully, and before he could even get up was being mocked, losing face both inside and out, his complexion turned the color of pig’s liver. Qiu Yuanming glared furiously at the people upstairs and roared:

“Charge! Charge up there for me! These are the arsonists, the masterminds who infiltrated the Qiu family attempting theft. Take them down! Anyone who can capture that demon woman will be heavily rewarded!”

“Yes, Master!”

The guards and martial arts masters, having received orders and thinking of heavy rewards, got up like they’d been injected with stimulants and howled as they charged upward. Their angry roars frightened all the “spectators” downstairs.

However, the stairway was narrow, and the Elite Tiger Guards were all capable of fighting ten opponents each, extremely brave and skilled in combat. Standing guard at the stairway entrance, these martial arts masters truly couldn’t break through for the moment. Unless they could get firearms from the Divine Engine Battalion, trying to capture Qin Yining like this was simply wishful thinking.

Qiu Yuanming also saw that continuing this way wouldn’t work, so he turned and gave a few instructions to the attendants beside him.

At this moment, there was another commotion at the inn’s entrance.

Governor Wú, whom they’d met yesterday, along with Qiu Yuanqing dressed in a sapphire blue round-collared wide long robe, came together with their subordinate officials and Qiu family guards. As they walked, the two were whispering about something, appearing to have a very close relationship.

Qin Yining’s expression had originally been relaxed, watching Qiu Yuanming’s antics as if watching a clown.

But seeing Qiu Yuanqing and Governor Wú come together, and carefully observing their demeanor while talking, she discovered that Governor Wú’s attitude toward Qiu Yuanqing was quite respectful and cautious, completely unlike how a court-appointed official should treat a common citizen, but rather like a servant treating his master.

Seeing this, Qin Yining’s heart turned half cold.

In this place, the Qiu family held great power. If even the local government didn’t dare step forward to uphold justice, then anyone would only have to suffer losses. Unless she could lower herself to curry favor with the Qiu family.

But Qin Yining was precisely someone who wouldn’t yield.

Governor Wú and Qiu Yuanqing saw that the stairway had become such a mess, and both frowned.

“Stop.” Qiu Yuanqing sternly shouted, glancing at the attendant beside him.

The attendant immediately understood and stepped forward to help support the still-pointing and cursing Qiu Yuanming down.

“Cousin Ming, what are you doing? Since you were frightened yesterday, you should rest and recuperate properly. With so many people here, if not for anything else, you should at least consider the Qiu family’s reputation. Making such a fuss will give people cause for gossip.”

Qiu Yuanqing’s voice was very low, only audible to those nearby.

But Qiu Yuanming was still in a rage, spitting toward Qiu Yuanqing’s face: “Bah! You bastard with ill intentions! Your nephew was crippled, and I, your cousin-in-law, and two nephew-daughters-in-law all had our heads shaved overnight and nearly burned to death. You don’t care at all and even make sarcastic remarks! Are you even human!”

Qiu Yuanqing, splattered with saliva all over his face, disgustedly took the wet cloth handed by his attendant to wipe his face, his patience already exhausted.

“Cousin Ming is confused with anger. Even if Prince Zhongshun’s consort ordered the arson, the matter should be handled by Governor Wú. How could it be your turn to cause trouble in the city? By doing this, aren’t you adding chaos for Governor Wú?”

Governor Wú, hearing this, immediately understood Qiu Yuanqing’s intention and stepped forward, cupping his hands: “Princess Consort, having done such things, this humble official can only take you back for thorough investigation.”

“Princess Consort, what should we do?”

The people around her were already burning with anger, quietly asking for Qin Yining’s instructions. It seemed that with just her nod, the masked secret agents and Elite Tiger Guards would transform into hungry tigers and wolves, pouncing on the sheep below.

Qin Yining’s mind was racing.

In the current situation, Governor Wú had already taken the Qiu family’s side without distinguishing right from wrong.

Setting aside that grass bag Qiu Yuanming, who couldn’t represent the entire Qiu family’s intentions, just looking at Qiu Yuanqing, it seemed he wanted to arrest them all.

Yesterday he had been polite and courteous, but overnight he’d changed his mind. Qin Yining didn’t know why Qiu Yuanqing had suddenly changed his attitude, but she knew they now faced Jianchuan’s most powerful family and the local government official.

Looking at the anxious and angry faces around her, Qin Yining pressed her lips together but didn’t immediately give orders.

Although Qiu Yuanqing had brought limited people to the inn, with the Qiu family’s powerful influence, wouldn’t they have as many hands as they wanted?

A strong dragon couldn’t suppress a local snake. In direct confrontation, even if everyone around her was a peerless master, they would probably still suffer losses in the end.

Qin Yining wasn’t impulsive by nature. Even with backbone and dignity, this backbone and dignity weren’t achieved at the cost of sacrificing the lives of those around her. If it were just herself, she could disregard consequences, but the people around her were innocent – she couldn’t drag them down.

Thinking of this, Qin Yining said quietly: “Where there’s life, there’s hope. Don’t act impulsively, listen to my instructions.”

Everyone understood Qin Yining’s meaning. Though they felt stifled, this was indeed the wisest choice under the circumstances.

Qin Yining said: “Governor Wú, I took you for an upright and honest good official, always maintaining hope in the government. Was that my mistake? Last night’s fire in the inn’s courtyard across – I believe Governor Wú, living not far away, must have seen it? But why, at such a close distance, from the fire’s start to successful extinguishing, did I never see Governor Wú appear at the fire scene?

“You can say all that was coincidence, but what about now? Someone brings people to commit violence in broad daylight, slandering me without any basis. You, as a court-appointed official, refuse to investigate thoroughly but bring people to arrest me. What, does Governor Wú plan to extract confessions through torture?”

Governor Wú was struck speechless by Qin Yining’s words, which hit right at his heart. He hadn’t expected this princess consort to be so sharp-tongued, each sentence so reasonable that he had no way to refute.

Even as a puppet, he didn’t want to lose his dignity before the common people. Fearing Qin Yining might say more, Governor Wú immediately said: “Princess Consort, don’t twist words! Since ancient times there’s been the saying that even the Son of Heaven, if he breaks the law, is punished like a commoner. Now that you’re suspected of both arson and ordering servants to commit violence, you must follow this official to the government office for trial. Are your grand principles only for constraining others, while they don’t apply to you?”

Qin Yining laughed coldly: “How interesting. Since Governor Wú invites me to tour the government office, naturally I can’t refuse your face. But you should also think clearly – everything has cause and effect, doesn’t it?”

This sentence was equivalent to telling Governor Wú that if anything happened to her, or if anything happened to the people she brought, Governor Wú would face the most frenzied revenge from Prince Zhongshun’s faction.

Governor Wú shivered upon hearing this.

Pang Xiao’s fierce reputation hadn’t been built in a day or two, and his various methods weren’t something a small governor could withstand. But when under someone’s roof, one had to bow one’s head. To preserve his life and wealth, in this small territory of Jianchuan, he could only rely on the Qiu family.

Qiu Yuanqing was very likely to be the Qiu family’s next family head. He didn’t know how many more years he’d have to stay in Jianchuan. If he offended Qiu Yuanqing, what would happen to his future days? What about his wife and children?

Governor Wú shook his head, feeling helpless and bitter. The only consolation was that Prince Zhongshun hadn’t come to Jianchuan, and Jianchuan Pass was extremely dangerous – truly a place where one man could hold the pass against ten thousand. No matter how godlike Prince Zhongshun was at using troops, he probably couldn’t lead an army to attack in, right?

Then what he had to rely on was still the Qiu family.

Thinking of this, Governor Wú had made up his mind, instructing people to arrest Qin Yining’s group.

Qin Yining gave Mu Jinghu a look, indicating he should stay calm and not act rashly. The others also listened to instructions and didn’t resist.

However, when no one noticed, Jingzhe and Xiaoxue had quietly retreated, using the Elite Tiger Guards’ tall bodies as cover, carefully observed the situation outside from the street-facing window, then like two unnoticeable shadows, quietly slipped out.

Everyone present was focused on the verbal confrontation between Qin Yining and Governor Wú, paying no attention to the fact that two people had quietly disappeared from beside the group of burly Elite Tiger Guards.

Qin Yining led her people downstairs and, without resistance, followed Governor Wú and the Qiu brothers Yuanming and Yuanqing out of the inn.

Qin Yining asked: “How many days does Governor Wú plan to solve the case? Though I’m gentle-hearted and easy to talk to, I’m not completely without temper. You groundlessly pin the charge of arson and violence on me, daring to frame people without even evidence – I can understand this as your being overworked and temporarily misspoken due to excessive worry. However, I’m cooperating with you, so don’t push your luck!”

Governor Wú’s face turned red with embarrassment. He was already guilty to begin with, having come to arrest people purely to cooperate with Qiu Yuanqing. Being spoken to like this by Qin Yining made Governor Wú even more ashamed to face people.

Qiu Yuanqing timely broke Governor Wú’s embarrassment, saying: “The princess consort is of noble birth. Even if she’s done wrong, she can’t be imprisoned in the governor’s office jail. Could Governor Wú give me a small favor and allow the princess consort to stay in the Qiu family’s guest courtyard? This way, it would be more convenient for you to conduct interrogations, and the princess consort wouldn’t suffer grievances.”

Governor Wú joyfully nodded repeatedly. He didn’t want to serve such a sharp-tongued person. Wouldn’t it be better if she went to stay at the Qiu family’s?

Hearing this, Qin Yining’s internal guard increased several fold. She now saw that Qiu Yuanqing’s purpose might not be to vent anger for Qiu Feizhen, nor for the sixth branch’s Qiu Yuanming.

His purpose might simply be to confine her to the Qiu family!