The Tartar soldiers at Dingfu Estate should all have been gathered here, but though they’d been cleaned out here, those elsewhere might not necessarily have been.

When Ye Jingchuan mentioned this topic, his gaze was somewhat cold. “All of this is my fault. Actually, even if I were executed by a thousand cuts, I wouldn’t be wronged.”

These Tartar violent soldiers completely did not treat Great Zhou people as human. They burned, killed, and plundered, committing every evil. Just at Dougezhuang and Dingfu Estate alone, at least forty to fifty people had died.

Song Chuyi nodded.

These people originally didn’t need to die. If not for Ye Jingchuan’s youthful nature, his newborn calf unafraid of tigers thinking himself number one under heaven, this calamity could have been avoided.

However, because she herself had been reborn, fortunately in this life it wouldn’t brew into the catastrophe of the previous life.

Of course, the truly damned person who should be dragged out couldn’t be spared either. He should come out to atone for these dead commoners.

Ye Jingchuan hadn’t expected Song Chuyi to directly nod without saying a single word of comfort, and he couldn’t help but choke with anger. But he immediately sighed. No one would think he was without fault, much less when he had originally made such a grave error.

“Alright, Young Master need not sigh endlessly here. The mistake has already been made—we can only try our best to remedy it.” Song Chuyi saw through his thoughts, closed the window, and calmly stared at him. “Now we should discuss our transaction.”

Ye Jingchuan nodded, looked at the people in the room, and raised his eyebrows at Song Chuyi. “Can all these people listen?”

“Mine all can.” Song Chuyi looked over the people, then turned her head to look at him. “Yours had better not.”

What bold words—yet Ye Jingchuan just happened to respond to this approach. He opened his mouth, then waved his hand to have all his people withdraw.

“Young Master, the first matter is to trouble you to help me kidnap someone.” Song Chuyi stated the location of Li Shi’s estate, then repeatedly emphasized, “There absolutely cannot be any mistakes, and you absolutely cannot harm her. It would be best to act tonight.”

Long nights breed many dreams. Since she herself had come to Tongzhou, there was no guarantee that people as suspicious as Li Shi and Old Madam Li wouldn’t have another whim to investigate her estate.

With everyone else sold to Guizhou, Lianyi was her only evidence and witness. She absolutely could not lose her.

Ye Jingchuan hadn’t expected Song Chuyi would have him help her snatch someone. His mind couldn’t quite make the turn. “No, little sister, aren’t you being a bit superfluous? Would it be difficult for your Earl Manor to snatch someone?”

“There are additional conditions.” Song Chuyi ignored his teasing. “I cannot let my family know—not a single word.”

Ye Jingchuan looked at the room full of servants and laughed somewhat exaggeratedly twice.

Can’t let her family know—doesn’t that mean can’t let the Earl Manor know? But wouldn’t these servants go tell the elders?

After he finished laughing, he sensed something was wrong. These people should have long since been won over by Song Chuyi as her own people. Looking at them one by one, eyes unmoving, observing their noses and noses observing their hearts like puppets. This little girl was not only clever, she also had a knack for controlling people.

“Fine, I agree to the first condition. I’ll send people shortly and guarantee to bring her back for you without losing a single hair.” Ye Jingchuan touched his nose as he looked at her. “And the second condition?”

“Lend me a dozen or so people for about a month. I need them to accompany my person on a trip to Jinzhong.” Song Chuyi specifically emphasized, “They must be trusted confidants you can rely on, their martial skills must be good, and their mouths must be tight.”

Wasn’t Jinzhong where the Boling Cui clan’s current commandery seat was? Was the little girl going to her maternal family to find outside support?

Ye Jingchuan knew asking would be useless. He thought about it—both conditions were very simple—and immediately agreed.

“But now you should rack your brains thinking about how to help me escape blame.” Ye Jingchuan reminded her. “Otherwise I can reverse my decision at any time.”

The door was suddenly knocked on. Uncle Zhang’s sweat-drenched face appeared before them, saying breathlessly, “Young Master Ye, Miss, the Prince Consort and our First Master have arrived.”

Ye Jingkuan and Song Yi.

“Someone who can make decisions has come.” Song Chuyi smiled, looking toward Ye Jingchuan with a rather cunning smile. “I will tell my idea to your elder brother and guarantee you’ll be fine. You should quickly go help me handle matters now, otherwise when your elder brother keeps close watch, it won’t be easy for you to act.”

Little fox!

Only then did Ye Jingchuan realize that Song Chuyi had never intended to deal with him directly—she just wanted to borrow him to help with a favor. Anger at being looked down upon immediately surged up, but turning it over in his mind, he knew Song Chuyi’s considerations made sense.

The one who could truly make decisions really was his elder brother.

However, thinking of how Song Chuyi kept urging him last night to go back and find an adult, his eyes darkened somewhat. Had this little girl already made this plan yesterday? Since she guessed so early that the calamity was caused by him…

Song Yi hurriedly entered the door, first looking Song Chuyi up and down once, and only breathed a sigh of relief after seeing she was perfectly fine.

“You weren’t frightened, were you?” He couldn’t be bothered to drink a sip of tea and said, “After receiving the news, I wanted to leave the city, but was detained. I didn’t set out until the afternoon, rushing urgently to just arrive now. Your eldest brother went outside to count people.”

Song Jue had also come?

Song Chengru, or rather the Song family now, truly regarded her quite seriously.

Song Chuyi’s heart was like an overturned five-flavor bottle, but she quickly adjusted, answering Song Yi’s questions one by one. At the end she was somewhat worried. “We’re fine here, but at nearby Dougezhuang I heard people are dying again. I don’t know if the Ministry of War has come up with countermeasures?”

There were some—the Minister of War decided that very day to dispatch the Divine Engine Camp, but it was vetoed by Xing Fu, who suggested His Majesty transfer the garrison troops from Hebei instead.

This was simply taking the far route instead of the near one!

Song Yi was quite angry. “Your grandfather and several Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet have all agreed, but Xing Fu…”

It was indeed so.

After all, Xing Fu had received quite a lot of money from others—how could he have the nerve to wipe them out completely?

Outside the room another commotion arose. Song Yi was just about to send someone out to inquire when he saw Song Jue entering while wiping sweat, his face alternating between red and white as he looked at Song Yi and Song Chuyi. “The Grand Prince has arrived.”

Song Yi froze on the spot.

With so many Tartar people in Tongzhou, just when the situation was unstable, why did this ancestor have to come precisely now?!

This Grand Prince was truly a wonderful person, going wherever there was an opportunity!

Ye Jingkuan was in the middle of lecturing Ye Jingchuan when he heard the Grand Prince had arrived. He immediately had no time to continue lecturing his younger brother. He waved his hand to tell him to scram, then adjusted his attire and came to find Song Yi to discuss matters.

Ye Jingchuan was actually quite happy. He only got scolded halfway before not having to continue—still very worth being happy about. Although Ye Jingkuan said he would deal with him later, anyway for now there were no losses. Thinking it over, he felt it was fine, patted his bottom, and went to run errands for Song Chuyi. In any case, after the matter was handled well, Ye Jingkuan might not truly deal with him.