The Prodigal Son

At dusk, Xu Wan arrived at the Qin family's house.

Qin Yu used the excuse of discussing some official business with Xu Wan to take her to his old man's study alone.

Qin Yu held Xu Wan on his lap, asking, "Have you found anything out about that?"

Xu Wan and Qin Yu had already consummated their marriage, so she naturally didn't care about this intimacy. She even put her arm around Qin Yu's neck and replied, "We don't have any clues, but we've found some suspicious things."

"Oh?"

Qin Yu immediately became interested. "Tell me about it."

Xu Wan wrapped her arms around Qin Yu's neck and recounted what she had found out.

Back then, Jiang Ci's elder brother had an accident, and her father subsequently died of illness. The Jiang family fell into internal strife in their struggle for power.

Jiang Ci and her daughter were initially at a significant disadvantage, and Jiang Ci was bullied terribly.

Later, several managers under her second and third uncles successively sided with her and her mother.

Immediately afterwards, even one of the Jiang family's biggest business partners sided with Jiang Ci.

At this point, Jiang Ci had seized the initiative and forcefully taken over the Jiang family's business.

Based on the information currently available, it appears that Jiang Ci's connection with the Imperial Pottery Official led many to believe that the Jiang family's major kilns could become imperial kilns, giving many hope for the Jiang family's revival. This is why so many people sided with her.

Later, the imperial kiln supervisor was purged and exiled due to the power struggle between the Empress Dowager and Zhao Luan, and the Jiang family's major kilns also lost the opportunity to become imperial kilns.

But by this time, Jiang Ci had already seized power.

Moreover, the second and third branches of the Jiang family also encountered misfortunes at this time, which completely deprived them of the opportunity to regain power.

Qin Yu frowned slightly. "This... doesn't seem suspicious, does it?"

"Listen until you finish speaking!"

Xu Wan pursed her lips and said, "That official in charge of pottery was a eunuch! Logically speaking, at that time, Jiang Ci had no chance of getting close to him! She had absolutely nothing to offer that could impress him!"

What Jiang Ci can give, the second and third branches of the Jiang family can also give!

We can even give more!

If Du Taoguan wasn't a eunuch, one could say that Jiang Ci used her beauty to seduce him.

The fact that Jiang Ci suddenly climbed up to a powerful eunuch when she was in dire straits is worth pondering!

In addition, the official in charge of pottery died suddenly on his way to exile.

The man's death was rather suspicious, and she was now unsure whether Zhao Luan had sent someone to eliminate him.

So many people died after that power struggle that year that the death of an exiled eunuch went unnoticed.

Upon hearing Xu Wan's words, Qin Yu immediately began to ponder.

Zhao Luan did kill a lot of people after he regained power.

But Du Taoguan wasn't a high-ranking official, and he was a eunuch; if he wanted to kill someone, he would have done so long ago!

Zhao Luan killed even the Minister of Works, so why wouldn't he dare kill a mere official in charge of pottery?

To exile first and then kill is like taking off your pants to fart!

After a moment's thought, Qin Yu said, "Under normal circumstances, they've already been exiled. There seems to be no need to kill them further, right? Unless that person possesses a secret the Empress Dowager cannot reveal, in which case the Empress Dowager would have no choice but to kill him!"

"To be honest, the Empress Dowager probably had no reason to kill him."

Xu Wan gently shook her head. "How many secrets could a mere eunuch like Du Tao possibly know about the Empress Dowager? You've seen how Chief Eunuch Guo operates; if the Empress Dowager wanted to kill him, do you think it would be necessary to go through all this trouble?"

That's the Empress Dowager!

For ordinary people or families like the Jiang family, the pottery official is probably a very important person!

But in the Empress Dowager's eyes, he was no different from an ant!

If the Empress Dowager wanted to kill someone, she could find any excuse to do so!

"That's true!"

Qin Yu nodded in agreement: "In that case, if that person didn't die suddenly, then someone was worried he might reveal something shameful, and they had to kill him!"

"Besides that, there is another point of doubt."

Xu Wan continued, "According to my investigation, after Jiang Ci took power, the Jiang family's porcelain business expanded rapidly, but this required a large amount of money to support it!"

"During the internal strife within the Jiang family over the past year or two, their business has already plummeted!"

"Logically speaking, the Jiang family shouldn't have had that much money to grow so rapidly back then!"

"Although Jiang Ci also borrowed 30,000 taels of silver from the money shop, this amount should not be enough to support the rapid expansion of the Jiang family's business..."

If you don't doubt someone, no one will care about these things at all.

But once doubts arise, it seems a bit unreasonable.

If Jiang Ci suddenly receives a large amount of silver, there are only three possibilities.

She either obtained it from that official in charge of pottery, or someone secretly funded it, or she was lucky enough to find the silver, or her father hid a large sum of silver before his death!

If the Jiang family received a large amount of silver from the official in charge of pottery, Jiang Ci would likely be affected to some extent when the official was purged.

However, the fact is that Jiang Ci was not affected at all.

As for the possibility that she found silver or that her father hid a large amount of silver, it's possible, but the probability is indeed very small.

She was more inclined to believe that someone had secretly funded Jiang Ci with a large sum of money.

"That makes sense!"

Qin Yu pondered silently for a moment, then said, "I told Jiang Ci this afternoon that I have something very important to do. Have someone skilled in stealth keep an eye on her, and make sure she's not discovered!"

Xu Wan smiled, pursing her lips. "Are you trying to lure the snake out of its hole?"

"More or less!"

Qin Yu nodded and said, "I want to find out about her situation as soon as possible, lest things get complicated! You must be extremely careful when you investigate, and make sure she doesn't find out!"

Based on all the suspicious points they have discovered so far, Jiang Ci is indeed worthy of suspicion.

He wasn't afraid that Jiang Ci was approaching him to curry favor with the powerful and wealthy; he was afraid that Jiang Ci had ulterior motives.

"Yes, we'll be careful!"

Xu Wan nodded, then gave Qin Yu a light peck on the lips. "Alright, leave the rest to me! We've been in here long enough, it's time to get out! Otherwise, they'll think we're hiding here doing something!"

Qin Yu said with a smile, "We're talking serious business here! An upright person has nothing to fear!"

"You know how sharp-tongued Nan Que'er is!"

Xu Wan said coquettishly, "If she gets a chance, she'll chatter on and on for ages!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Yu immediately revealed a mischievous smile: "Since she's going to say it anyway, why don't we do something to prevent her from saying it for nothing!"

"Pooh!"

Xu Wan gently patted Qin Yu's chest, saying with a mix of embarrassment and annoyance, "Don't you know where you are?!"

This is the old man's study!

Qin Yu smirked and teased, "I didn't say I wanted to be affectionate with you here. Can't I just hug and cuddle?"

"asshole!"

Xu Wan instantly realized that she had been tricked by Qin Yu, and in her embarrassment and anger, she punched his chest.

Feeling a slight pain in his chest, Qin Yu couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

That person in the palace is going to be implicated again because of me!

Thinking of this, Qin Yu laughed heartily, kissed Xu Wan hard again, and then pulled Xu Wan to stand up.

Xu Wan glanced at her shyly, quickly straightened her clothes, and then followed Qin Yu out of the study...