Qing Zhuo was startled by Ye Jingchuan’s manner of jumping three feet high with excitement. Coming to his senses, he scratched his head and looked at Ye Jingchuan. “Everything was fine along the way. We did encounter some trouble on the road, but it was all resolved. I sent back reports on all this in a timely manner—Second Young Master Ye knows about it, right?” He was beginning to worry for his own master. Any perceptive person could see just how devoted Second Young Master Ye was to Sixth Miss Song. Look how early he had become enlightened, and how skilled he was at wooing young ladies! Having previously been by Song Chuyi’s side, he’d witnessed Second Young Master Ye’s attentiveness—not only following Song Jue and Song Yan around every day offering his assistance, but being especially considerate toward Song Chuyi’s side as well. Under the pretext of giving gifts to the sisters, he constantly sent ingeniously crafted trinkets to Song Chuyi’s side. Moreover, he was much cleverer, even bringing his family elders into play. Prince Zhennan personally visited to chat and drink tea with Old Master Song, Prince Consort also cultivated connections with Young Master Song, and needless to say, Princess Zhennan was at the Song residence every few days chatting and building relationships with Old Madam Song and Madam Cui.

Yet his own master was like a block of wood. If you said he was oblivious, well, he did show some human qualities when facing Sixth Miss Song. But if you said he was enlightened, he was so wooden and dull—apart from helping out, he never said anything pleasant. The Empress intended to help him win over the Song family and deliberately summoned Sixth Miss Song to the palace to test her intentions, yet he had gotten angry about it.

Truly worrying. He looked at Ye Jingchuan with difficulty, thinking that if his own master had even half the cleverness and understanding of this Second Young Master Ye, the Crown Princess position would have been decided long ago.

Ye Jingchuan was somewhat anxious, and in his anxiety, words naturally rushed out from his lips. “I’m asking about Sixth Miss’s illness. Didn’t your previous letter say that Sixth Miss had seasickness and fell ill? Is she better now?”

Behind him, Ye Jingkuan could only shake his head. The older he got, the more like a child he became. Previously he at least knew to say polite things like being sincerely devoted and willing to treat her with honesty. Now, encountering news of her illness, he practically wanted to tear out his entire heart and give it to her. His own foolish younger brother was so devoted, yet by comparison, Sixth Miss Song seemed far too indifferent. Combined with how Ye Jingchuan truly obeyed her every word, if the two of them really ended up together in the future, Ye Jingchuan would probably be completely under her control. He didn’t know whether this was fortune or misfortune. He watched with furrowed brows as Ye Jingchuan stopped Qing Zhuo to ask anxious questions, then shook his head and headed to Zhou Weizhao’s quarters himself.

Zhou Weizhao was examining a map. Though he had supposedly come to quell the rebellion, the people he could currently use were just those few. In Jinzhong, there was Commander Kong who counted as an acquaintance he could employ. As for the others, he still needed to reassess them.

Hearing the commotion, he showed no reaction. Only after a while did he lift his head from the map to look at Ye Jingkuan. “Uncle, we need to first send someone to make a trip to Yangquan County.”

No matter what, they had to first clearly ascertain Yangquan County’s current situation before they could take action.

Ye Jingkuan shared this intention and nodded in agreement. “I’ll send someone to infiltrate and gather information tomorrow.”

This matter wasn’t quite that simple, however. The person sent should ideally be a native of Jin Province, familiar with the local customs and culture. Now that news of the court dispatching an imperial commissioner to quell the rebellion had spread, if someone’s accent was different, they could easily give themselves away.

Moreover, they needed to be clever and perceptive, knowing how to act according to circumstances. They not only had to thoroughly investigate Yangquan’s current situation and where the leaders were stationed, but also ascertain the circumstances of the two surrounding counties. If the two counties around Yangquan also harbored rebellious intentions, they would essentially be Yangquan’s most natural barrier and protection, making their rebellion suppression only more difficult at every step.

Zhou Weizhao shook his head. “We can’t select candidates from among the people we brought with us. It would be best to use locals from here. We still need to deliberate more carefully before deciding.”

Ye Jingkuan immediately thought along the same lines as Zhou Weizhao, knowing his reasoning was sound. After pondering, he said, “Your Highness, besides this, we also need to thoroughly investigate these Jin Province officials. Before we came, we already discussed how the Yangquan situation couldn’t have grown so quickly and easily unless the county magistrate was colluding with the rebels. What’s worrisome is that the Yangquan magistrate might not be the only one colluding with them. There are also the magistrates of the two nearby counties who have maintained a wait-and-see attitude, and even potentially the Prefect of Jinzhong where we’re currently staying.”

Wherever mining, salt, textile manufacturing, or smuggling were involved, behind them lay an enormous web of interests. One small move could affect the entire situation—they couldn’t help but maintain the utmost vigilance and caution.

“Isn’t Old Madam Cui’s birthday banquet in a few days?” Zhou Weizhao looked toward Ye Jingkuan. “Since news of our arrival in Jinzhong has already spread, why don’t we simply go and have a look? Back in the day, the founding emperor personally attended the Cui family to observe Princess Qingcheng’s marriage ceremony to the Cui family’s eldest master. If we go, it would be perfectly appropriate.”

The Cui clan in Jinzhong could be said to be second to none. This was originally their ancestral seat. When the founding emperor of this dynasty was still scratching a living from the soil before establishing the dynasty, the Cui family had already been among the top-tier aristocracy. Later, when the founding emperor raised his arms and hoisted the banner of righteous uprising, the Cui family was the first among all the noble families to respond. Only after that did others gradually pledge their allegiance. The Cui family gave the founding emperor their full support, enabling him to recuperate in Jin Province before marching southward all the way. Therefore, the founding emperor granted them extremely high honors, even conferring upon Old Master Cui the title of Duke Zhongguo. However, Old Master Cui firmly declined, and only then did the Emperor relent, merely bestowing Jinzhong upon them as the Cui clan’s ancestral seat. Half of Jinzhong’s tax revenue went to the Cui family.

Ye Jingkuan’s eyes couldn’t help but light up. Recently, Old Madam Cui’s birthday celebration had become the number one festive event in Jinzhong. Anyone of importance and influence was coming to join the festivities. If news spread that Zhou Weizhao would also attend, even more people would come. And the more people there were, the better the opportunity to probe these people’s backgrounds and see exactly how many would deliberately come to fish for information.

The Crown Prince had given him urgent matters to attend to. Being questioned by Ye Jingchuan made Qing Zhuo somewhat anxious. He wasn’t particularly keen on telling Ye Jingchuan this information—though Second Young Master Ye was also quite a good person, after all, he himself was Zhou Weizhao’s man, wasn’t he? Naturally, he should think on Zhou Weizhao’s behalf.

He thought for a moment then told Ye Jingchuan, “Sixth Miss only had a minor illness and quickly recovered. There’s nothing serious. Now that she’s arrived in Jinzhong with Cui family members looking after her, she’s presumably recovering even faster. Second Young Master needn’t worry.”

Ye Jingchuan remained somewhat concerned. After all, Qing Zhuo and Han Feng were young Daoist priests and both male. Given the separation between men and women, even if Song Chuyi truly had some problem, those people wouldn’t tell them. He should have asked Mother Consort for two clever maids or nannies—at least they could have been helpful at a time like this.