Song Chuyi clapped her hands expressionlessly toward the air. The sound of footsteps immediately echoed from the staircase. A group of people turned the corner and came up—all wearing flying fish robes paired with Embroidered Spring Knives, their faces calm and undisturbed as they stood before the Cui family members.
Cui Yu immediately rushed forward and grabbed one person’s leg. With a grin that exposed his rotten teeth again, fresh blood also gushing from his nostrils, he clutched that person and pointed at Old Madam Cui and Cui Shaoying, laughing maniacally: “Quick, quick, quick! Arrest them! I’m the one who reported this to you. The Cui family is doing copper mine business—I’ll tell you where it is!”
Before he could finish speaking, that Imperial Guard Experience Officer kicked him squarely in the chest. His entire body rolled out like a broken kickball, crashing into the railing and passing out dizzy and disoriented.
Cui Shaoying watched dumbfounded, an indescribable terror surging in his heart. He instinctively retreated several steps to stand beside Old Madam Cui.
“Uncle, go with them.” Song Chuyi turned to look at Cui Shaoying, her gaze clear and unflinching. “Say whatever there is to say—don’t conceal a single word. Whatever you did, you must tell Commander Lai everything in meticulous and honest detail. The escort agency’s chief escort, the medicine shop’s manager, and everyone from the second branch who ran errands have all already been arrested. Whether you speak or not makes no difference. But speaking is always better than not speaking. The Cui family nearly fell completely into your hands. If not for others’ sake, then for the sake of the Cui clan’s ancestors and to preserve the Cui family, you should know what words to say.”
So it wasn’t true that everyone in the entire Cui family would be arrested—they had only come to arrest the second branch? Cui Shaoying’s mind couldn’t process this. Looking at Song Chuyi, he wanted to rebuke her for childish ignorance, but seeing the solemn and motionless Imperial Guards, he completely lost the courage to open his mouth. This little girl stood before the imposing Imperial Guards with their fearsome reputation, completely unintimidated, and even dared to speak such nearly naked words of suggestion. He suddenly thought of today’s inexplicable fire—this was more like a trap to lure their second branch into speaking and allow the first branch to sever all connections.
Song Chuyi nodded toward Hong Fa: “Experience Officer Shen, I trouble you with this.”
Lai Chenglong arrived afterward. He had gained much from the escort agency—not only finding the location where they manufactured copper coins but also learning under whose protection they had been acting so tyrannically.
As soon as he saw Song Chuyi, he smiled, and the chilling aura about him diminished considerably. After drinking a mouthful of milk bird’s nest soup, he couldn’t help frowning: “Why do you all love drinking this stuff?”
Song Chuyi glared at him irritably: “You should be grateful to have anything to drink at all—and you’re still picky!”
The little girl’s temper has grown considerably—she’s no longer that stone-like figure who wouldn’t budge even if her eyebrows were on fire. Lai Chenglong raised his eyebrows to look at her, his face carrying some amusement: “Right now you’re still asking me to cover things up, yet you’re offending me so quickly—that doesn’t seem like your character, does it?”
Song Chuyi had never been one to discard the donkey after it had ground the mill, but this time she truly had been forced into a corner. Earlier she had been so frightened by Lai Chenglong’s words that she trembled directly, her face turning white. As soon as she returned, she had inquired everywhere for information. Later, after turning it over in her mind, she finally understood—if Lai Chenglong truly wanted to move against the entire Cui family, with this secret report alone he could torment them to his heart’s content. He wasn’t a saint, nor did he share parents with Cui Shaoting—how could he truly disobey imperial orders for Cui Shaoting’s sake?! Cui Shaoting didn’t have that much face.
Lai Chenglong had clearly exaggerated the facts. What about Emperor Jianzhang sending him with another purpose, to investigate the Cui family’s affairs—that was probably all nonsense. He clearly was truly just sent by Emperor Jianzhang to help Zhou Weizhao quell the rebellion. Pressing so urgently was merely to break through from inside the Cui family and carve out a path for Zhou Weizhao.
Nearly deceived by this old fox to the point of mental exhaustion, after Song Chuyi figured it out she truly wanted to bite Lai Chenglong.
Seeing her like this, Lai Chenglong knew that though the little girl had been under extreme mental tension handling this matter for him, she had also recovered her senses during this time. He couldn’t help but chuckle: “Your reaction is still much faster than I anticipated. How is your brain constructed?” He paused, then his words took another turn: “Alright, if I hadn’t exposed this secret report matter, the way the Cui family was developing would have truly been finished. Even with two uncles serving as Supreme Commanders of the Three Borders, you couldn’t have saved them! So don’t be angry.”
Song Chuyi wasn’t truly throwing a tantrum. She was very good at reading people’s expressions—in her previous life there were many places where she had to read expressions. In this area she felt she had cultivated herself almost to perfection. She glanced sideways at Lai Chenglong, picked up the milk bird’s nest soup, took a sip, then set down the bowl: “Since this matter hasn’t alarmed His Majesty, how do you think this should be handled?”
Letters from Cui Yingshu and Cui Shaoting would take at least another month to arrive. Song Chuyi couldn’t quite figure out what should be done with the second branch.
Lai Chenglong bypassed that bowl of bird’s nest soup to pick up tea instead. Frowning thoughtfully for a while, he turned the question back to her: “If it were you, what would you want to do? His Highness needs to quell the rebellion, so these Jinzhong officials definitely all need to be investigated. Though I haven’t interrogated your uncle yet, I can guess pretty close. How could it be possible to operate mines right under the prefect’s nose? At the very least, Jinzhong Prefect Lu Anyu can’t escape involvement. Layer upon layer—it’s not very possible for your uncle to clear himself.”
Song Chuyi had also thought of this point herself. Trying to clear himself was impossible no matter what. The fortunate thing was that it hadn’t alarmed Emperor Jianzhang. Now if Cui Shaoying laid everything bare to help Zhou Weizhao cut through the tangled mess of Yangquan affairs swiftly and cleanly, then died in this war to quell the rebellion in Yangquan County—this would probably be the best outcome.
She nodded and stood up, leaning against the railing to look at the myriad lights of homes, sighing listlessly. Truth be told, they really should thank Cui Yu for that denunciation letter. If not for this fool being so impatient to see the Cui family die, if it had been later with even worse consequences, no one could have contained it. At that time, even if Lai Chenglong wanted to help them, he probably wouldn’t have the courage to take such a great risk.
She saw Lai Chenglong off, only feeling her entire neck aching terribly. She turned first to tell Old Madam Cui of Lai Chenglong’s meaning, then said: “Cui Yu won’t speak again. As for Uncle Ying—”
Old Madam Cui understood her meaning. She patted her hand to reassure her: “I’ll have Second Sister-in-law go see him. If he’s still a person of the Cui family, he’ll know what to do.”