“Please don’t say such things.” Qin Yining hastily reached out to help him up. “We’re all family here. I understand your difficulties, and besides, I’m fine now, aren’t I?”

Mu Jinghu had originally been invited by Pang Xiao to help, and it wasn’t as if he owed her anything. Moreover, there were reasons for what happened—how could she blame him for it?

“Alright, alright. If you two continue being so polite, the tea will go cold.” Pang Xiao laughed as he personally poured a cup of tea for Mu Jinghu.

Qin Yining also handed the honey water to Qiu Feishan.

Once both sides were seated, Qiu Feishan looked around and asked with a smile, “Didn’t Master Uncle come back to the manor with you?”

Tianji Zi was Mu Jinghu’s elder. Even though Qiu Feishan harbored resentment over Tianji Zi’s past threats and schemes, politeness demanded she ask about him.

Qin Yining wasn’t sure how to respond for a moment. They had just resolved the awkwardness with Mu Jinghu, and now she was supposed to tell him that Tianji Zi had been locked up? Regardless of the reasons, it would be difficult for anyone to accept, wouldn’t it?

Pang Xiao, however, was quite straightforward. He spoke directly to Mu Jinghu: “Your master uncle was spreading seditious talk in the army and disturbing military morale, so I had her confined.”

Mu Jinghu was stunned. He scratched the back of his head and said after a long pause, “That does sound like something she’d do. Did you throw her in prison?”

“Given our relationship, I wouldn’t go that far. I simply confined her to a room and forbade her from moving about freely or speaking nonsense.”

“Oh, well then it’s fine. Lock her up if you must, as long as she has food and shelter.”

Qin Yining was momentarily speechless and took a large gulp of honey water from her cup.

It seemed Tianji Zi wasn’t very popular after all.

Mu Jinghu looked around to confirm there were no outsiders present, then coughed somewhat awkwardly and said, “Pang Fox, actually, I have something else to tell you.”

Pang Xiao understood Mu Jinghu too well. If it weren’t something serious, he wouldn’t show such an embarrassed expression. He knew this must be some important matter that Mu Jinghu had been hiding from him throughout their journey back.

“What is it?” Pang Xiao asked calmly.

Mu Jinghu sighed. “Actually, it’s like this. Back in Po’an Town, the incident at the Qiu family’s separate residence wasn’t as simple as I made it sound. At the time, it wasn’t that I secretly snuck out and set a fire. Rather, Master Uncle and I snuck out together and drugged the masters of that household.”

Pang Xiao raised an eyebrow. “Actually, I guessed as much.”

Mu Jinghu asked in surprise, “How did you…?”

“If they had truly died in the fire, an entire household of people couldn’t have died so quietly, nor so completely. Since not a single one survived, they must have lost the ability to move before being burned—either poisoned or killed and then their bodies burned.”

Mu Jinghu nodded somewhat awkwardly.

Having guessed all this, Pang Xiao still hadn’t questioned him about it—purely out of trust and respect for his friend. Thinking about it further, Pang Xiao’s intelligence meant that not just anyone could easily deceive him.

Pang Xiao said, “I meant nothing by it. Everyone has the right to maintain their privacy.”

“I know your character,” Mu Jinghu nodded and continued. “I wasn’t deliberately hiding this from you. It’s just that what I discovered in the Qiu family residence was suspicious, and I wasn’t certain about it myself, so I never mentioned it. That day, Master Uncle had me drug all the masters, and these people confessed all sorts of things. Among them was someone named Qiu Feijing, who claimed to be Qiu Yuanqing’s son.”

“Oh? If he was Qiu Yuanqing’s son, why wasn’t he staying properly in Jianchuan City? How did he end up in Po’an Circuit?”

“I’m not entirely clear on that either. But at first he claimed to be Qiu Yuanqing’s son and tried to threaten and bribe us. When that failed and Master Uncle gave him a particularly torturous drug, he couldn’t bear it anymore. Before dying, he handed over a letter.”

Mu Jinghu looked toward Qiu Feishan.

Qiu Feishan took an envelope from her sleeve.

Pang Xiao took the envelope and opened it, only to find that the letter contained nothing more than ordinary pleasantries—nothing suspicious could be seen.

Qiu Feishan smiled and said, “This letter appears harmless on the surface, but only important direct descendants of the Qiu family would know that this letter contains a secret code.”

“Secret code?”

“Yes. The Qiu family has been passed down for over a hundred years, so naturally we have our own methods. This code isn’t difficult—it corresponds to a reference book. I won’t go into the details of the method, but I’ll tell you what the letter says.” Qiu Feishan smiled, then glanced at Qin Yining. “Consider this my way of atoning for past wrongs.”

Mu Jinghu patted Qiu Feishan on the shoulder.

Both Pang Xiao and Qin Yining smiled. “Regardless, we must thank you.”

“No need to thank me. The general meaning of this letter is that it instructs Qiu Feijing to go to Dingsheng Restaurant in Danzhou City, Danzhou Prefecture on the tenth day of the tenth month, under the identity of the young master of Guangtong Trading House, to meet with people from the Lu family. The Qiu family intends to buy an imperial commissioner from the Lu family.”

“What?”

Qin Yining stared in shock. There was too much information in Qiu Feishan’s statement, especially that last sentence.

“The Lu family can actually sell official positions?”

“Since the Qiu family could find the Lu family as a connection, it means the Lu family indeed does this business.”

Qin Yining asked, “They want to buy an imperial commissioner… Could that commissioner be… for this region around the former capital?”

Qiu Feishan nodded. “That’s indeed what the letter implies. You might not know, but my Sitong Trading House was originally the Qiu family’s public business. All of the Qiu family’s public statements were made through Sitong Trading House, while the Qiu family naturally hid behind the scenes, unwilling to expose their identity.

“Now that Sitong Trading House has become independent, Qiu Yuanqing established another company called Guangtong Trading House and made Qiu Feijing the chief manager. This time, when buying the imperial commissioner, if the Lu family asked, the plan was to say that Guangtong Trading House wanted to develop business in the former capital region of Great Yan but lacked connections in court. Having an imperial commissioner as one of their own would make things much smoother.”

Pang Xiao was surprised. “But I haven’t heard that the court plans to dispatch an imperial commissioner to the former capital.”

Qiu Feishan smiled and took a sip of honey water.

Qin Yining was greatly alarmed. “Could it be that the Lu family now has the ability to influence His Majesty’s appointments? Not just court officials, but also the dispatch of imperial commissioners?”

“That’s why I said that since Qiu Yuanqing found a way to make this purchase, the Lu family must have this capability, and they’re definitely not doing this for the first time. Qiu Yuanqing is quite cautious in his dealings—if there weren’t many successful precedents, he would never have thought to borrow the Lu family’s power.”

Qin Yining lowered her eyes, her slender fingers turning the cup of honey water as her thoughts raced. Finally, she asked, “Could it be that the prominent families and the hidden families plan to cooperate in this generation?”

Qiu Feishan suddenly looked at Qin Yining, her eyes filled with complexity.

“I can’t be certain about this matter.” Qiu Feishan said bitterly. “The prominent families and hidden families haven’t alternated for a long time. We are a hidden family, so we remember this matter clearly and pass it down carefully. But as for the prominent families, they might have already treated what their ancestors passed down as mere legend.”

“So you’re saying the Lu family isn’t certain whether hidden families exist, or rather, the Lu family doesn’t know there’s a hidden family, while the Qiu family knows the Lu family is a prominent family?” Pang Xiao said.

Qiu Feishan nodded heavily. “Qiu Yuanqing will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. He could even kill his own father…”

At this point, Qiu Feishan’s voice suddenly caught.

That day when her grandfather rejected her and wanted to capture her to marry her off, she had still resented him for scorning her simply because she was female and refusing to value her abilities.

She never imagined that day would be their final meeting. Her fate changed that day as well. She was forced into marriage, and her grandfather died at the hands of his own son…

Qiu Feishan closed her eyes, tears nearly falling.

Mu Jinghu quickly put his arm around Qiu Feishan’s shoulders, coaxing her: “Shanshan, don’t cry, don’t be sad. Grandfather definitely wouldn’t want to see you so upset. Only if you’re well can grandfather rest in peace.”

Qiu Feishan sniffled and said sadly, “I know, it’s just… I never thought I’d never have another chance to see him.”

Taking a deep breath, Qiu Feishan forced herself to calm down.

Both Pang Xiao and Qin Yining felt somewhat melancholy, and the room fell extremely quiet for a while.

After a long time, Qiu Feishan continued: “What I mean is, Qiu Yuanqing is wildly ambitious. He might have even greater ambitions—perhaps wanting to rise to prominence and achieve the highest positions. If he truly has such thoughts, breaking ancestral rules and actually cooperating with the Lu family isn’t impossible.”

Pang Xiao said, “That’s certainly possible. But there’s another possibility—Qiu Yuanqing just wants to use the Lu family. After all, the Qiu family knows the Lu family inside and out, while the Lu family knows nothing about the Qiu family. Being able to exploit this resource would be quite advantageous.”

“Exactly.” Qin Yining also said, “The Qiu family wanting to buy an imperial commissioner to place near the former capital must be to deal with the Prince.”

Qiu Feishan said, “The current Governor Qi in the former capital—you should all be able to guess—was bought off by Qiu Yuanqing. However, this person is quite shrewd and learned from Governor Yang’s experience, so he’s never made any obvious moves. Therefore, Qiu Yuanqing might think that one governor isn’t enough, and adding an imperial commissioner might make things more manageable.”

As for what kind of things? Naturally, dealing with Pang Xiao and Qiu Feishan.

In Qiu Yuanqing’s eyes, Pang Xiao was the person chosen by Qiu Feishan, so naturally he was also an enemy.

“All of this is understandable. I just never imagined that hidden families would also use prominent families.” Qin Yining shook her head and, rather than continuing this topic, said, “I suspect that His Majesty’s intentions regarding the Prince may have already been confirmed by the Lu family. His Majesty might have wanted to arrange an imperial commissioner in the former capital long ago, and if the Lu family is truly selling positions, they should be manipulating the selection process.”

“It must be so.” Pang Xiao also nodded.

Listening to Qiu Feishan discuss such complex matters with Pang Xiao and Qin Yining, Mu Jinghu had maintained a blank expression throughout, unable to interject at all. Only when their conversation reached a pause did he say, “To extract so much content from an ordinary letter of greetings—no wonder I couldn’t understand it at the time.”

Hearing this, Pang Xiao couldn’t help but chuckle. He nodded, “Indeed. Without Boss Qiu being able to decipher the code, outsiders would never understand the crucial information within.”

Qin Yining also smiled. “Yes, we’re fortunate to have you both.”

“As Shanshan said, we’re just atoning for our past mistakes. We hope this incident won’t affect the friendship between us.”