Cuiji rudely interrupted: “So you’re saying Du Ruhui hasn’t been found?”

Pei Qiantong said helplessly: “Give me a few more days, and I’ll definitely find him.”

Cuiji said coldly: “I’m afraid even if I give the General more time, the General still won’t be able to find him.” With that, he said: “The General should hand Pei Qiancheng over to me. Rest assured, I’ll only ask about Du Ruhui’s whereabouts and absolutely won’t harm his life.”

Pei Qiantong’s gaze darkened as he said: “He’s my brother. Apart from me, no one else can deal with him.”

“So there’s nothing to discuss?” Seeing that Pei Qiantong remained silent, he said coldly: “Fine. I hope General Pei won’t regret this!” With that, he was about to leave. The steward knew he harbored ill intentions and quickly blocked his path: “Young Master Cui, please wait. It’s not that the General is reluctant to punish the Second Young Master. In fact, for these three days the Second Young Master hasn’t had a drop of water or food, but he still can’t tell us Du Ruhui’s whereabouts. Clearly, he truly doesn’t know.”

His words somewhat surprised Cuiji, who stopped and asked: “Truly three days without water or food?”

The steward nodded vigorously: “How would this servant dare deceive Young Master Cui? If you don’t believe it, you can go to the woodshed yourself. Then you’ll know this servant’s words are true.”

The captain also said: “Young Master Cui, please calm your anger. These past few days, the General has continuously ordered us to search Jiangdu City without rest. We’ve basically searched everywhere, but for some reason, we still haven’t found any trace of Du Ruhui. It’s truly puzzling.”

Cuiji said in a deep voice: “This person is deeply calculating. He must have found an extremely safe and hidden place to hide. He’s waiting for us to think he’s not in the city and reopen the city gates before attempting to escape.”

His words made Pei Qiantong’s expression shift as he said: “If that’s the case, why don’t we use his own plan against him?”

Cuiji pondered for a moment and said: “The General wants to lure the snake out of its hole, making him think we’ve given up the pursuit so he’ll go to the city gates?”

“Exactly.” Pei Qiantong nodded: “As long as he wants to leave the city, he’ll definitely fall into the net I’ve laid.”

Cuiji nodded: “This is indeed a good idea, but will the Chancellor and the others agree to lift the city lockdown order now?”

“This…” Pei Qiantong said with some difficulty: “Perhaps not now, but I believe it’ll only be a matter of days.”

Cuiji smiled slightly: “So we’d still be wasting time. In comparison, I have a better idea. I wonder if the General would be willing to listen?”

“Young Master Cui has always been resourceful, and the strategies you devise are often unexpected. I’m naturally interested in hearing it.” Seeing him say this, Cuiji lowered his head with a smile and whispered in his ear. Pei Qiantong’s expression changed repeatedly, and finally he said hesitantly: “Will this method work?”

Cuiji said confidently: “Compared to the General’s method, this approach is faster and more direct. Based on my understanding of Du Ruhui, he will definitely appear. The only problem is the Chancellor’s side, so I hope the General can enter the palace with me to persuade the Chancellor.”

Pei Qiantong felt guilty about letting Du Ruhui escape, so after thinking briefly, he nodded: “Fine, I’ll go see the Chancellor with you.”

In the Chengxiang Hall, Yuwen Huaji frowned as he stared at the two men standing below the steps: “You want to bring Princess Jinyang to the city tower?”

Cuiji bowed and said: “Correct. We hope the Chancellor will permit it.”

“Why bring her to the city tower for no reason?” Faced with Yuwen Huaji’s inquiry, Cuiji said: “In this nest-clearing operation, all others have been eliminated, but we missed Du Ruhui alone.”

“Du Ruhui…” Yuwen Huaji pondered for a long while, then said: “You mean the Court Gentleman Du Ruhui who married the daughter of the Wang family of Taiyuan?”

Cuiji nodded: “Correct. This person is full of schemes and extremely deep in cunning. Keeping him alive will surely become a great threat. Your subordinate believes he’s still in Jiangdu City at this moment, and he’s always had an excellent relationship with Princess Jinyang.”

Yuwen Huaji stroked his beard: “I understand. You want to use Princess Jinyang to force him to show himself.”

“The Chancellor is wise.” Faced with Cuiji’s response, Yuwen Huaji shook his head: “No, I promised…” Halfway through his words, he suddenly stopped and instead said: “Although Yang Guang is dead, Jinyang is still a princess of the Great Sui. If we do this, I’m afraid the people will be dissatisfied with us. For the matter of Du Ruhui, you should think of another way.”

Pei Qiantong stared at him coldly. What fear of the people’s dissatisfaction? He clearly had promised the Xiao clan, so he refused to agree to this matter. He suppressed his jealousy and bowed: “But if we don’t capture Du Ruhui, there will be endless future troubles.” He then added: “We subordinates only want to force Du Ruhui to show himself and won’t harm the Princess in the slightest. The Chancellor can rest assured.”

Cuiji also seized the opportunity to say: “As for the people’s side, the Chancellor can also rest assured. We eliminated Yang Guang, that tyrant, and opened the granaries to distribute grain. The people are grateful to us beyond measure. How could they be dissatisfied over such a small matter?” He then emphasized: “Chancellor, we’ve worked so hard to reach this point. We absolutely cannot let all our efforts go to waste.”

Yuwen Huaji’s expression shook as he leaned forward and stared at Cuiji: “Do you think Du Ruhui will ruin our great cause? When Yang Guang was still alive, he was merely a fifth-rank Court Gentleman. How could he have such capability?”

Cuiji said gravely: “I dare not speak of others, but Du Ruhui absolutely has this ability. Back then, Du Ruhui was just a poor scholar’s son with some modest family assets, but in just a few years, he became a favored person before Princess Jinyang and married a daughter of the Wang family. I nearly died at his hands. His methods and scheming absolutely cannot be underestimated.”

Yuwen Huaji was swayed by his words and nodded: “Hearing you put it this way, this person indeed cannot be left alive.”

Cuiji rejoiced in his heart and quickly said: “So the Chancellor agrees?”

Yuwen Huaji gritted his teeth: “Fine, I’ll let you take Princess Jinyang to the city tower. But remember what you’ve said—you cannot do anything to harm Princess Jinyang in the slightest, or I’ll hold you both accountable!”

“Your subordinate obeys!” After Pei Qiantong gladly agreed, he added: “There’s one more matter to report to the Chancellor. Although we’ve opened several granaries, there are too many starving people in the city. That grain still isn’t enough, so your subordinate wants to open two more granaries and distribute rice at the city gates.”

Yuwen Huaji said casually: “For such small matters, you can decide for yourselves. There’s no need to ask me. If there’s nothing else, you may withdraw.”

“Yes.” After leaving the Chengxiang Hall, Pei Qiantong said: “Let’s act separately.”

“Good.” After Pei Qiantong left, Cuiji immediately took people to the Feixiang Hall. When Ruyi and the other saw him appear, they were both extremely nervous: “What are you here for?”

Cuiji ignored them and grabbed Yunyi’s hand: “Come with me!”

Seeing this, Ruyi and the other quickly stepped forward to pry Cuiji’s hand away, saying: “Surname Cui, don’t be too presumptuous. Release the Princess immediately.”