Almost at the same time Han Zhi received this news—or perhaps even a bit earlier—Song Chuyi also received the news. She felt that the breath stuck in her throat because of Song Yan had eased considerably. Beckoning, she summoned Ziyun to her side: “Go to the outer courtyard study and see if First Master is there. If he is, ask First Master to make a trip to Guanju Courtyard.”
Song Jue wasn’t in the outer courtyard study. The young servant following him said he had gone out yesterday evening and still hadn’t had time to return home, but he had sent word back saying he would definitely be home for dinner tonight.
This meant this matter had truly blown up. As a Yulin Guard chiliarch, Song Jue naturally had to be responsible for formulating new defense deployment maps and helping to investigate the batch of people planted in the Yulin Guard by Xu Liang and Jia Yingxin—he himself was the top military examination scholar and had entered the Yulin Guard by His Majesty’s personal appointment. No matter who was suspected, suspicion couldn’t fall on him. So now when the Yulin Guard had been infiltrated and lost face, he naturally became even more valued. Being busy beyond measure was to be expected.
Song Chuyi nodded, closed the book in her hands, stood up, and instructed Qing Ying: “Go tell Luo Gui to find Commander Lai Chenglong. Tonight I’ll still wait for him at that courtyard near Lion Tower in north city.”
But just as Qing Ying went out, someone came from Ningde Courtyard saying Old Madam and Old Master were looking for her. Song Chuyi furrowed her brows in thought for a moment, changed her clothes, and went to Ningde Courtyard. Sure enough, both Old Master Song and Old Madam Song were there, but Xiang Mingzi was nowhere to be seen.
“Xiaoyi, has Ayan told you what he’s been running outside to do lately?” Old Madam Song rarely had such a stern face. Looking at her solemnly with worry written all over her face, she said: “Your eldest aunt says he withdrew three thousand taels of silver from the accounting office this morning.”
Song Chuyi’s eyes immediately widened. She felt her palms break out in sweat, and for a moment felt her head go dizzy. It took a long while before she came back to her senses.
Seeing her reaction, Old Master Song and Old Madam Song knew she didn’t know. Sighing, he said: “Since his return this time, he’s received quite a bit of spending money—just your two aunts alone each gave him a thousand taels in banknotes. These funds have always been accounted for and kept by Yulan. When I learned he went to the accounting office to withdraw silver, I summoned Yushu. Who knew that when Yushu went back to check, the box holding the banknotes had vanished without a trace…”
What exactly was Song Yan doing outside that required so much silver?! Adding it all together—six or seven thousand taels of silver—that was the total of all the household’s expenses for an entire quarter. He was only a ten-year-old child—what did he need such a large sum of silver for?
Song Chuyi hadn’t expected that just yesterday she had earnestly admonished Song Yan, yet today he still dared to be so bold as to withdraw such a large sum from the accounting office. After all, he was still a child who didn’t know that the money in the accounting office couldn’t be moved casually. Every single transaction would have someone keeping specialized accounts. Large expenditures also had to be reported to the First Madam, and the First Madam would then report to Old Madam.
Compared to Old Madam Song, Old Master Song was much calmer. He looked at Song Chuyi thoughtfully: “It seems that starting about half a month ago, Ayan began running outside trip after trip. At the time I found it strange and called him over to ask. He said he was visiting his former senior brothers. I didn’t pay much attention. The Ministry of Personnel’s year-end capital assessment has me with a huge pile of matters on hand, and your eldest brother has been incredibly busy investigating the defense deployment map matter. But you’ve always been meticulous and attentive, especially caring for Ayan in every detail. There’s no reason you wouldn’t have noticed his abnormality. Xiaoyi, tell me honestly—do you know something?”
Song Chuyi thought it over and finally told Old Master Song and Old Madam Song everything. At the end, she said somewhat helplessly: “I only discovered something was wrong a few days ago. Recently I’ve been busy dealing with the Ninth Princess and busy establishing relations with Madam Fang. It truly was my negligence.”
Hearing it was related to Han Zhi, Old Madam Song tensed immediately, sat up straight, and asked in a grave voice: “What exactly does he want to do?”
In this world, generally the soft fear the tough, and the tough fear the reckless. Han Zhi happened to be that reckless one. Not only did this person not value his life, he was also extraordinarily cautious and cunning—whatever he did, he would never leave any incriminating evidence for others.
This was also why Song Chuyi had kept him until now. He was simply too difficult to deal with. Although Song Chuning’s schemes back then were indeed deep and frightening, she was ultimately a young lady from the inner quarters—there were many things she fundamentally couldn’t accomplish herself. But Han Zhi was different. He was the heir of Marquis Jinxiang’s manor. He had plenty of people and wealth at his disposal. As long as he was willing, there was nothing he couldn’t do.
Old Master Song asked Song Chuyi: “Do you know what Ayan has been lured into doing?”
Song Chuyi shook her head: “I had Ma Changjiang and the others follow him. They came back to report that Ayan’s whereabouts are unpredictable—often he’ll enter a tavern, sit for less than a quarter hour, then switch carriages from the back door to the next place. Going round and round, sometimes even leaving the city. If Ma Changjiang’s eyes weren’t sharp, he wouldn’t have discovered Guan Shan. Otherwise I wouldn’t have suspected Han Zhi either.”
A cunning rabbit has three burrows—this was indeed something Han Zhi would do. In the northwestern affair this time, the Han family emerged completely unscathed. Han Zhi’s contributions were behind this. Though one couldn’t say it was entirely his doing, at least he provided a direction—correctly guessing that Elder Chen wouldn’t let Zhang Tianhe speak, he decisively bribed the Imperial Guard. Old Master Song smiled: “This young fellow has truly been taught to become a fox. He seems able to calculate everything accurately. I heard that on the very day Zhang Tianhe entered the capital, he approached the Imperial Guard and even went to the Ministry of Justice prison to fish out Zhang Tianhe’s legitimate son and daughter, playing a substitution trick.”
That meant the people from the Zhang family who were confiscated, had property seized, and were exiled as slaves weren’t truly Zhang Tianhe’s children, but people Han Zhi had substituted in.
This was an extremely major piece of incriminating evidence. Old Madam Song’s eyes brightened: “If not, why don’t we simply go all out and expose this matter… The Zhang family has extensive social connections. Whether or not they’re the Zhang family’s young master and miss—just call them out for identification and everything will be clear, won’t it?”
Song Chuyi saw Old Master Song looking over and shook her head: “He’s always cunning in his dealings and won’t leave incriminating evidence. The people have probably long since been sent who knows where. That batch of Zhang family people have long since been sold off and had property confiscated. With Han Zhi’s nature, he definitely found an excuse the very next day to dispose of all those people. We can’t find anything now. Moreover, his stepmother directly fished people from the Ministry of Justice prison—the documents and household registrations were definitely all thoroughly prepared.”