But to say that the Cui family had become entangled once again with copper mines—something they absolutely should not touch—Song Chuyi utterly refused to believe. The Cui family was currently at the height of prosperity, like flowers blooming in brocade and oil boiling over flames. The principal wife of the main branch was none other than Princess Duanhui, who had been raised from childhood with a princess’s education and was deeply beloved by Emperor Jianzhang, and Cui Shaoting held the position of Supreme Commander of the Three Borders. It was said that scholars were poor while military men were wealthy. Though the saying was crude, it held some truth. Even if Cui Shaoting were the most upright official, he understood the principle that water too clear has no fish. To properly fulfill his role as Supreme Commander of the Three Borders, even if he wasn’t greedy for much, he would still accept the tributes offered from below. The Cui family had never lacked business acumen, and after so many years, what did half of Jinzhong’s annual tax revenue amount to? They had absolutely no need to become involved in such matters.
Lai Chenglong scoffed, rose to his feet, and stood by the window gazing at the layers upon layers of peach blossom forest outside that resembled burning clouds. Without turning his head, he shook it: “For such a matter to emerge at this juncture, if the Cui family is truly implicated, I’m afraid their ambitions are considerable.”
The four words “ambitions are considerable” were truly laden with meaning. Song Chuyi couldn’t help but shudder. She naturally understood what Lai Chenglong meant by those four words. The Cui family already enjoyed overwhelming wealth and honor. Cui Shaoting and Cui Yingshu both held high official positions—one civil, one military. The Cui family had many sons who had entered government service. With the Cui family’s capabilities, if they still insisted on clinging to copper mines, what else could they be pursuing? Connecting this to the Yangquan County rebellion, the terrifying speculation that the Cui family might even be colluding with the Yangquan County rebels caused Song Chuyi to break out in a cold sweat. Though she was extremely unwilling to believe it, now that the matter had emerged, it wouldn’t change based on whether she believed it or not. The pressing priority was to first investigate thoroughly whether there was truly something suspicious here.
“I found it wrong from the start that the Yangquan rebellion was suppressed for so long before being reported to the capital. Such a major matter should have been reported immediately, yet the Shanxi side forcibly delayed it for a full half year.” Lai Chenglong stared at Song Chuyi thoughtfully: “You know what could have happened in that half year. To speak plainly between us, without someone helping from behind the scenes, without a massive web of interests behind this, these rabble wouldn’t have developed to their current state.”
This was indeed the truth. They were nothing more than a group of unruly citizens gathered by wealthy households. Even if they had colluded with the Yangquan County magistrate, there wasn’t only a county magistrate in the Jin region—there were other counties nearby, there were prefects and garrison commanders. Without solid connections, these people wouldn’t all speak with the same tongue.
And the Cui clan, which had established itself and flourished in the Jin region, was obviously the prime suspect. Song Chuyi looked at Lai Chenglong and asked her previous question again: “How does Uncle Lai know all this? Your Imperial Guard isn’t without branch stations in Shanxi either. Could it be that your Shanxi Imperial Guards are all eating for free? If the Cui family has problems, wouldn’t they know?”
How could the local authorities compare to the capital’s acuity? Even if they had the capital’s acuity, they could easily be dazed by silver. Lai Chenglong didn’t want to continue beating around the bush with Song Chuyi—angering her would do no good: “If the Cui family has the ability to make all of Jinzhong’s officials speak with the same mouth, do you think the Imperial Guard stationed here would be of any use? This time we did indeed receive a secret report in the capital, saying that someone was colluding with Ma Yuantong and others from the Yangquan County rebellion, privately mining copper and exchanging intelligence…”
That was why Lai Chenglong had traveled all the way to Jinzhong.
Song Chuyi dared not harbor any wishful thinking. She looked at Lai Chenglong straightforwardly, her expression extremely calm: “Uncle Lai, give me one day. I need to return to the Cui family to investigate.”
Lai Chenglong should have already begun investigating. This was a matter concerning treason. With an imperial commissioner already present, Emperor Jianzhang had still specially dispatched Lai Chenglong, which indicated he had already believed the secret report—at least believed it to some extent. This degree of belief was enough to doom the Cui family completely. She clenched her fists, feeling immensely grateful in her heart that Lai Chenglong and Cui Shaoting were brothers who had shared life and death.
Lai Chenglong nodded with his back to her. Finally, as Song Chuyi was about to leave, he slowly added a word of warning: “This matter has passed from my mouth to your ears. At most, one other person knows…” After all, he had come to handle serious business—extraordinarily serious business. If this matter were leaked, he, as Commander of the Imperial Guard, would reach the end of his tenure. As Commander of the Imperial Guard, to actually reveal information to someone being investigated—even ten lives probably wouldn’t be enough to pay for that offense.
Song Chuyi herself didn’t know who she could tell about such an important matter. Old Madam Cui was an old titled lady who had long ceased managing external affairs. The household management was now entrusted to the second daughter-in-law, Xie Shi, while external affairs were handled by Second Master and Third Master.
She sat in the carriage, feeling her palms slippery with sweat in a way that made her uncomfortable. She wiped them with a handkerchief several times, but they still felt damp and unpleasant. The dizzy sensation that had frequently appeared on the boat recently assaulted her again. She had just begun to feel somewhat unwell when the carriage lurched with a loud bump, jolting her entire body backward.
Fortunately, the carriage was lined with thick felt blankets. Even so, she was jolted senseless for quite a while, falling back against the large pillow cushioned behind her. By the time Qing Luo and Qing Ying frantically helped her up, she heard the clamor outside that nearly broke through the sky.
“What’s happening?” Song Chuyi glanced at Qing Luo, who immediately understood, lifted the carriage curtain, and descended from the carriage. Shortly after, she and Qin Chuan squeezed out from the crowd one after the other and returned to the carriage, softly informing Song Chuyi: “The second branch of the Cui family is distributing medicine. People are crowding and scrambling, surrounding the area so tightly that water couldn’t leak through—three layers inside and three layers outside—so the road is completely blocked.”
As the most prestigious family in the Jin region, it was common for the Cui family to distribute medicine and porridge. Song Chuyi nodded and was about to order the carriage to continue when she glimpsed Zhou Weizhao and Ye Jingchuan through the gap in the curtain swaying in the wind, with Qing Zhuo and Han Feng at their side.
They were in a wine tower right next to where the Cui family was distributing medicine. He wore a sapphire blue straight-cut long robe with a beige wide waist sash, his hair gathered in a gold crown, making his jade-like face and crane-like bearing among chickens all the more prominent.
He seemed to be watching the Cui family’s medicine distribution. Song Chuyi didn’t know why such a thought arose in her mind. Her heart suddenly skipped a beat. She frowned and ultimately still instructed Qin Chuan to take a detour back to the Cui residence first. Whether it was true or not, she needed to return and think it through herself first. She couldn’t rely on Zhou Weizhao for everything, especially not for matters concerning the life and death of the entire Cui family.