Chapter 35: The Maternal Uncle Who Pocketed the New Year's Money (Requesting Monthly Tickets)

Upon returning to the Marquis's manor, the Marquis of Guangling saw Du Yu approaching and, in a fit of rage, struck him across the face.

"Look at the mess you've made!"

Stunned by the blow, Du Yu did not dare speak. He followed his father inside to demand an explanation, only to be equally dumbfounded.

In the past, no matter how much the Du family had caused trouble, Yan Bei would at most summon them for a reprimand; he would never interfere in their affairs.

This time, they had tried their best to keep a low profile, suppressing any trace of their involvement in the He and Zhang families to the absolute minimum. Why, then, was Yan Bei still pulling on this thread?

What did a thorough investigation imply?

It meant that no matter how much effort they had put in, or how perfect their "mending the fold after the sheep are lost" plan was, it would be impossible to completely extricate themselves from this case!

He would inevitably trace it back to the Du family!

Du Yu was, after all, cold-blooded. After a moment of shock, he said, "The Prince may be... the most ruthless person to have killed his mentor to ascend to power, but he hasn't made any major moves in three years since entering the capital. Our Marquis's manor is one of his greatest assets. Even if something is discovered, it is unlikely he would enforce the law publicly and prune his own wings, is it? What benefit would he gain by sending us to the executioner's block?"

"Have you truly forgotten that there is a blade hanging over our backs?" The Marquis of Guangling glared at him through gritted teeth. "If the Prince's manor investigates and finds our connection to the Yongjia matter, do you think the person behind us would allow us any chance to reveal the truth to the Prince?"

Du Yu froze instantly.

Three years ago, even if the Du family had grown three heads, they would never have had the audacity to plot against Princess Yongjia.

For years, they had been on a path of liquidating ancestral assets; they could never have possessed the capability to orchestrate such a massive scheme, mobilizing so many assassins disguised as bandits to carry out a murder.

And it would have been even more impossible for them to so readily produce tens of thousands of taels of silver afterward to silence the He and Zhang families!

Therefore, after them, there was yet another person.

But they absolutely, under no circumstances, could speak!

Once they spoke, not only would father and son be finished, but the entire Marquis's manor would surely perish.

They would likely be wiped out even more thoroughly than the He and Zhang families!

Wealth is sought amidst danger; one cannot gain fortune and then forget the peril!

The Prince of Jingyang's manor did not form factions with any party in the imperial court. Even the Mu family, the Emperor's maternal clan, had repeatedly tried to curry favor with Yan Bei using the Emperor's influence, yet Yan Bei had treated them with the same indifference.

No one could fathom the depths of Yan Bei's character.

Naturally, the person behind them would not allow them to touch this matter.

"But the Prince has ordered us to deliver the case files. What should we do now?" Du Yu was truly at his wits' end.

"Hold onto Xu He! Urge him to hurry and send the betrothal gifts to the Duan family to marry!" The Marquis of Guangling turned abruptly, his eyes bloodshot and fierce. "Xu He is the top scholar appointed by the Emperor and has been placed in the Secretariat. He is someone the higher-ups want. We must handle this matter steadily first! Do you understand?!"

Du Yu hurriedly complied.

As he crossed the threshold, he turned back to ask one more thing: "Father, this person behind us... who exactly is he?"

The Marquis of Guangling, his face still etched with anger, looked up. "What?"

"I just feel we are too passive. It has been three years. Although the promises made back then have been fulfilled, he has never once shown his face. If something goes wrong in the future, we won't even know how we fell."

The Marquis's gaze darkened. He stood by the table for a moment before looking over. "Go and handle the business first."

Du Yu pursed his lips, nodded, and left.

Only when the courtyard was empty and silent did the Marquis of Guangling straighten his back. He turned, passed through the beaded curtains, and pulled aside a painting of peonies hanging on the wall.

Beneath the painting was an iron mechanism. Once opened, a secret compartment hidden within the wall was revealed.

He took out a broken string of beads from it, clenching it tightly in his hand with gritted teeth, before slowly placing it back as if it weighed a thousand catties.

***

Long before acting against the He family, Wei Zhang had already scouted the Marquis of Guangling's manor.

Though the manor had deep courtyards, it was insignificant compared to the Prince of Jingyang's manor.

Aside from the sentries watching day and night, Wei Zhang could find no way in, but he had scouted everything else.

He Chenzhong had mentioned the mechanism beneath the peony painting in his study before he died. A mechanism on a wall was nothing more than a metal secret compartment—common knowledge for those in the Imperial Bureau of Investigation. Even if Xiao Huo couldn't solve it, Wei Zhang could.

The current obstacle was how to enter the manor inconspicuously without alerting the Du father and son, who were already on guard.

The Prince of Jingyang's manor had suddenly issued a notice to search for someone. Without investigating his motives, she only knew the relationship between the Prince's manor and the Du family. Even if they could succeed in the Du manor, how would they deal with the Prince's manor afterward?

After Wei Zhang and the others left, she sat contemplating the map left by Zhang Shaode.

She only snapped out of it when her vision grew dim; the sky had unknowingly turned dark.

And Wei Zhang and the other had yet to return.

She rose and went out. Lan Qin was cooking, and Hua Lin was tinkering in the pharmacy. She walked in. "Is there still no news from Wei Zhang and the others?"

Xu He was from Luoyang; he wasn't from a poor family, but he wasn't prominent either. His father served as a county magistrate in the south. Originally, he had stayed in his ancestral home to study with his mother, but after passing the imperial examinations as the top scholar, he brought his mother to the capital. They lived in an alley just two streets away from the Marquis's manor. After half a year, his father was still stationed elsewhere.

If the Xu family were of high status, they wouldn't have let Xu's father serve as a magistrate thousands of miles away, nor would they have accepted a match from the Marquis's manor to marry a daughter of the Duan family, whose family held five official ranks.

Therefore, logically, Xu He's background should be easy to trace; it shouldn't have taken an entire day.

"You're asking me? How should I know? I only know how to treat illnesses and prescribe medicine." Hua Lin grunted through his nose while preparing medicine, sounding indignant, though his formal address remained impeccable.

Yue Tang eyed him. "I remember you weren't like this when you used to come to the Prince's manor to treat my mother. What, now that Mother is gone, you're putting on airs as my maternal uncle?"

"So you *do* remember that you're my maternal cousin?" Hua Lin seemed to have had his tail stepped on, instantly squaring his shoulders and sticking his neck out.

Yue Tang smiled. "Of course I remember. Besides that, I also remember you once embezzled my New Year's money."

Hua Lin immediately wilted, his face flushing bright red. "I told you, that was a misunderstanding..."

Yue Tang did not argue.

Hua Lin was a descendant of the direct branch of the Hua family. The Hua family had been physicians for generations and held a prestigious reputation, but because they had had friction with the imperial family in their early years, they never involved themselves in royal affairs.

However, the Princess Consort of Duan and Hua Lin were cousins.

Thus, when the Princess Consort fell seriously ill, the Hua family stepped forward without hesitation.

It was then that Yue Tang met Hua Lin.

After the Princess Consort passed away, Hua Lin returned to the mountains with his father.

Later, when she was pregnant with A-Li, fearing an accident, she had sent word to have Hua Lin on standby in Bieye.

The "embezzlement of New Year's money" she mentioned had occurred on the very last New Year's Eve of the Princess Consort's life.

Yue Tang leaned her lower back against the desk, her hands resting lightly on the edge, her eyes gazing gloomily at the cabinets full of medicinal herbs.

"Tell me, that day, you clearly put your own New Year's money in the lotus vase, while mine was in another vase. Mother must have known I made a mistake, so why did she insist on stuffing it all to me?"