son, don't mess around

Sun Mansion, outside the door.

"Father!"

A carriage slowly stopped outside the mansion, and Sun Qiao walked forward quickly.

The curtain was opened, and Sun Changtian stepped down from the carriage with the help of the servants. But when Sun Qiao looked at his father's face, he saw that his father's face was extremely gloomy, as if something big had happened.

Sun Qiao's heart suddenly jumped: "Father, what's wrong?"

"Could it be that my second and fourth brothers..."

Sun Qiao suddenly had an ominous premonition in his heart. When he saw that his father had not brought his second and fourth brothers back, a terrible thought came to his mind.

"Could it be..."

Sun Qiao's tone became a little trembling due to shock.

"They're fine."

Sun Changtian said expressionlessly.

Sun Qiao, whose face had just changed, was stunned again when he heard this.

fine?

Why does the father look so unhappy?
Sun Changtian took a deep breath, without explaining too much, and walked into the mansion. Sun Qiao, feeling uneasy at the moment, followed closely behind him.

When they returned to the backyard, Sun Qiao drove away the servants and came to his father, "Father, what happened?"

"You went to the Jiang family, why do you look so unhappy? And where are your second and fourth brothers?"

"How are they?"

In the courtyard, Sun Changtian remained silent, his eyes lowered in thought. The expression on his face became more and more gloomy as time went by, and the air pressure around him became terrifyingly low.

Seeing this, Sun Qiao became more and more uneasy.

What happened to make my father look so unhappy?
Could it be that the Jiang family did something outrageous?

Could it make my father so afraid?

However, his father remained silent and Sun Qiao did not ask any further questions.

Finally, after a long time, Sun Changtian seemed to finally come to his senses. He waved his robe, took a deep breath, and said in a deep voice: "Prince Lin is here."

Hearing this, Sun Qiao's eyes flashed: "Father, is it related to the Prince of Lin?"

"Prince Lin has come with ill intentions and is eyeing our Sun family covetously."

Sun Changtian spoke slowly, his voice getting deeper and deeper: "He used your second and fourth brothers as threats to lure me into the Jiang Mansion. He had planned this long ago, intending to blackmail me and take advantage of someone's misfortune."

Sun Qiao showed a trace of surprise on his face. Blackmail?

How could the Prince of Lin actually do such a despicable thing?

wrong!

Sun Qiao suddenly realized something: "Father, what is he trying to blackmail?"

"thirty million!"

Sun Changtian said expressionlessly.

As soon as these words were spoken, Sun Qiao's expression changed.

thirty million?
How is this extortion?
This is clearly a direct robbery!

How much silver was the tax revenue of the Daning Dynasty in an entire year?

He asked for 30 million silver coins right away?

Does Prince Lin understand what 30 million taels of silver means?

wrong……

But then, Sun Changtian's eyes suddenly changed again.

The Prince of Lin is not a fool. Although his Sun family is considered a big family in Jiangnan, thirty million taels is undoubtedly too much to ask. It is clearly an exorbitant demand.

This means that the purpose of the Prince Lin is not the silver.

Sure enough, Sun Qiao immediately noticed something from his father's face.

"He gave our Sun family two choices: either hand over 30 million taels of silver, or..."

As if he thought of something, a trace of deep fear and an unprecedented panic flashed in Sun Changtian's eyes.

"Waiting to die."

"..."

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, at night, the city of Chujiang is decorated with lights and the atmosphere of festival and reunion is everywhere.

The streets in the city are prosperous and bustling with people flowing constantly. A river flows through the city, and pedestrians can be seen gathering in groups of three or two everywhere, making it very lively.

On the calm river surface, pleasure boats can be seen everywhere, with bright lights on, and sounds of laughter and playfulness from time to time. The hearty laughter of men and the shyness of women create an extremely ambiguous atmosphere.

On both sides of the river, ordinary people gathered on the river bank to place lanterns, and men and women in brightly dressed gathered together to pray for peace.

What a prosperous scene it is! It is a scene of peace and prosperity!

As the most prosperous economic area in the Daning Dynasty, Chujiang City is undoubtedly a representative of living a life of drunkenness and dreaming. For the people of Chujiang City, they don't care about the outside world. In addition, the communication is inconvenient, so naturally they only know a little about the news that Prince Xu in the north is planning a rebellion.

Even if someone had heard it, they wouldn't have taken it seriously.

After all, Chujiang City is far away from Xuzhou. If Prince Xu's Mansion really rebelled, by the time their army arrived and began to see results, I'm afraid the Daning Dynasty would have already perished!
And during this most lively festival of the day, a grand poetry exchange conference is being held in Chujiang City!

It is said to be an exchange conference, but it is undoubtedly an occasion for those talented scholars to show off and become famous in front of the public. There is a huge attic facing the river. The attic has a total of five floors and is built right on the riverside. You can see the magnificent river surface in the distance.

The attic was beautifully decorated, and the bright lights almost illuminated the entire river surface. There was a huge ferry docked next to the river, connecting to the attic. Tonight, most of the literati and scholars in Chujiang City gathered here.

Even many literati from the Jiangnan region gathered here to exchange poems and songs, it was so lively!
“How boring!”

Inside the attic, there is a private room that is decorated extremely exquisitely and elegantly.

When Xu Lan stepped out onto the balcony, she could hear bursts of lively noise coming from the attic from time to time.

But Miss Xu had a somewhat bored look on her face.

Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. Xu Lan, who loves lively occasions, came here excitedly to join in the fun after learning that there was a poetry reading.

However, after joining in the fun for a while, she soon began to feel bored.

Miss Xu is not a cultured person. As the eldest daughter of the Xu family, although she has studied for a few years, her cultural level and quality are obviously not up to par.

For Miss Xu, who likes to wield swords and sticks and has an impetuous personality, these flowery things obviously do not arouse her interest.

At first I thought it was novel and wanted to join in the fun of being an official, but when I saw those so-called literati and scholars, they looked very gentle and polite, muttering to themselves, and acting like upright gentlemen.

However, most of these people were holding prostitutes who were found from nowhere in their arms, and many of them even said some unpleasant words.

However, most of the people who came to this so-called poetry exchange were only half-baked. There were only a few who were truly talented, and those children of power soon received many people's hypocritical compliments.

This made Xu Lan more and more displeased. The literati in Chujiang City were not much better than those in her Linjiang City.

Not even as good as this!

Xu Lan immediately lost interest and ran back to the private room.

Today, she came with Xiaolu and Sister Zhiyuan. After much persuasion, Sister Zhiyuan finally let her come.

Xu Lan originally wanted to call Aunt Xiang, but Aunt Xiang said that she had important things to do today and had no plans to come.

Xu Lan went to call Lin Jiangnian again, wanting to ask him to come along, but Lin Jiangnian also said that he had something important to do.

This is strange!

Why are you so busy today?

Xu Lan had to doubt something.

"Sister Kite?"

Xu Lan returned to the room, approached Zhiyuan, and asked in confusion: "Where did that guy go today? Didn't he accompany you during the Mid-Autumn Festival?"

"unacceptable!"

Xu Lan condemned angrily.

It seems that he is doing it in the name of the kite, but in fact he wants to curse himself!
Zhi Yuan, dressed in a light white gauze dress, sat at the table. There was not much emotion on her delicate and cold face. She shook her head gently: "He has something very important to do." "What is it?" Xu Lan asked.

But Zhiyuan didn't elaborate.

"Sister Zhiyuan, is he lying to you?"

Xu Lan's face was full of suspicion: "She didn't accompany you on such an important holiday tonight. There must be something fishy... Maybe she was deliberately lying to you, and then secretly went to meet another woman..."

When Xu Lan thought of this, his heart ached and he felt that it was more and more possible.

Zhi Yuan raised her eyes gently, something seemed to flash across her eyes, and after a while, she shook her head gently: "He won't."

"It's hard to say..."

Seeing that Sister Zhiyuan believed in Lin Jiangnian so much, Xu Lan was a little anxious. She originally wanted to win over Sister Zhiyuan to her side so that they could deal with the eldest princess together in the future.

But looking at Sister Zhiyuan now, it seems like she has been brainwashed by that guy!
Do you trust her so much?

Xu Lan sighed faintly: "Forget it, Sister Zhiyuan, let's go out for a walk too? It's boring to stay here."

Zhiyuan raised her eyes and glanced at the river view outside the attic, thought about it, and nodded.

She stood up and was about to walk outside, but suddenly she seemed to realize something, paused, and looked outside the attic again.

In the distance, the lights are bright, as if illuminating the entire river surface.

However, Zhiyuan's figure seemed to pause and he stood there motionless.

"Sister Kite?"

Xu Lan, who was standing by, had just called Xiaolu and Xiaozhu when she saw Sister Zhiyuan standing there without moving: "What's wrong?"

A strange color flashed in Zhiyuan's eyes, and then he said calmly: "You go first, I have something else to do."

Xu Lan and Xiao Zhu were both a little surprised, but after Sister Zhiyuan said that, they nodded.

"Then let's go downstairs and wait for you, Sister Zhiyuan, to come down?"

"Ah."

After Xu Lan took Xiaolu and Xiaozhu away, the private room soon fell into silence.

Zhiyuan stood there, her beautiful eyes still fixed on the balcony.

Then, she took two steps forward and stopped.

The voice was cold, yet seemed to carry a hint of indescribable softness.

"Now that you're here, why are you hiding?"

Not long after Zhiyuan finished speaking, a gust of wind blew outside the balcony again, making the screen windows on both sides whistle.

In the dim vision, a figure in red appeared silently outside the balcony.

Step into the private room.

In the sight, there is a graceful figure in a red dress that is more beautiful than fire. She is tall, plump and round, with a willow-leaf waist, and long legs as gorgeous as an unparalleled beauty under the red skirt.

At this moment, against the backdrop of the night, it gives people an indescribable sense of strength.

Cold and yet extremely passionate.

Under the tied-up black hair, there is a stunning face with delicate features and exquisite appearance.

As she walked into the private room, the temperature around her seemed to drop slightly.

She stopped and looked at Zhiyuan, examining her quietly. Her beautiful eyes seemed to be examining her, but also seemed to reveal a bit of hostility.

At the same time, it is also mixed with some complexity.

Not a word.

Zhi Yuan in the private room also fixed her eyes on the woman in red and looked at her calmly.

Neither of them spoke. There was silence all around except for the faint noise coming from not far away.

And the bright and full moon in the sky is reflected on the calm surface of the river.

……

At the ferry near the river bank, Jiang Yuxiang, dressed in a plain white and green dress, was pacing, as if anxiously waiting for something. Her gentle and pretty face showed a hint of anxiety from time to time. She couldn't help but look towards the distance, speaking angrily.

"That brat, didn't he stand me up?!"

Jiang Yuxiang in sight, the white and green long dress showed her elegant temperament. She seemed to have been dressed up carefully tonight, with her long black hair tied up and adorned with exquisite hairpins, making her look graceful and luxurious.

Against the backdrop of this temperament, the feminine scent has shed its youthfulness and matured, like a ripe fruit, plump and juicy, making people salivate.

Her voluptuous figure is fully revealed between the green and white skirt, and her delicate face, which occasionally reveals a bit of anxiety and inadvertently reveals a bit of girlish mentality, adds a bit of charm.

Not far away, many people looked at her from time to time, but few people approached her.

There is no other reason. The reputation of the fourth young lady of the Jiang family is so well-known. In addition, the Jiang family is extremely powerful, so no one can ignore it.

Of course, there are still some people who are short-sighted.

Just like...

"Yuxiang!"

A surprised sound was heard, and Jiang Yuxiang, who was already getting impatient, glanced sideways and saw a figure he really didn't want to see.

In the sight, Xu Xiuzhu was walking slowly forward in surprise, came to Jiang Yuxiang's side, and said in surprise: "Yuxiang, you are here!"

"I knew you..."

"Shut up!"

Before Xu Xiuzhu could finish, Jiang Yuxiang interrupted him coldly and glanced at him: "Who told you to call me Yuxiang? Do we have a good relationship?"

As soon as these words came out, it was obvious that Xu Xiuzhu's smile froze, but then he quickly hid it: "Yu... I went to Jiang's house to look for you two days ago, but the maid said that you were not feeling well. Have you gotten better?"

Xu Xiuzhu's tone was full of concern, as if he was extremely concerned about her health.

"Can't die."

Jiang Yuxiang answered perfunctorily that Xu Xiuzhu was indeed here tonight, but there was still one main character who had not come, which made Jiang Yuxiang very uncomfortable. She kept looking towards the shore not far away, scanning for something.

"Yuxiang, what are you looking for?"

Xu Xiuzhu seemed to notice Jiang Yuxiang's gaze and followed her direction: "Are you waiting for someone?"

"Ah."

"I wonder who you are waiting for?"

Jiang Yuxiang glanced at him: "Does it have anything to do with you?"

A hint of displeasure flashed across Xu Xiuzhu's eyes, but it quickly disappeared. He still had a smile on his face, as if he didn't take Jiang Yuxiang's impatience to heart at all.

Not far away, many people saw this scene and were immediately moved.

"Tsk, this Xu family's eldest young master is really persistent and infatuated!"

"Of course not. It's been so many years. Haven't you given up yet?"

"I heard that the fourth young lady of the Jiang family brought a man home a few days ago..."

"Tsk tsk, even this, Young Master Xu still can't forget it, this is really a shame..."

"Isn't this a turtle man?"

"..."

Outside the crowd, people watched this scene from time to time, talking about it, making jokes and mocking it.

For many people, it is naturally very interesting to see such a scene, and they just watch and enjoy the show.

But for Xu Xiuzhu, these few words made the suppressed anger in his heart rise continuously.

Seeing Jiang Yuxiang, who was still indifferent to him, with this stunning face and gentle temperament, he thought of her and the wild man in the rumors...

A hint of gloom suddenly flashed across Xu Xiuzhu's eyes.

...(End of chapter)