I only wished to take up my fiefdom, but my elder brother forced me to rebel.

Liu Ruyan told him everything she knew about Lucheng.

Lu Cheng secretly owns three restaurants, eight pawnshops, two security escort agencies, and a private salt trading company.

Ignoring the shocked expressions of others, Liu Ruyan finally said, "I don't know the exact amount of revenue each year, but Lu Cheng once said while drunk that he could control no less than three million taels of silver each year."

Lu Yuan raised his hand to cover his forehead.

Three million taels.

"My father would have gladly pawned his own dragon robe for a few thousand taels of military pay."

"The Ministry of Revenue's treasury was so poor that even rats had to bring their own food to go in."

"My second elder brother is doing well, earning three million taels a year, he's rolling in money!"

Shen Hanqiu took the paper and pen and wrote down the industries that Liu Ruyan had mentioned.

"Since these businesses can earn so much money for the Second Prince, they must be very well hidden."

"Miss Liu, do you know where the accounting office is located? And how the money is delivered to the Second Prince's residence?"

Liu Ruyan shook her head. "Lu Cheng is very cautious about these things."

"He never allowed the silver carts to enter his residence directly. The income from the restaurants and pawnshops would likely pass through the escort agency."

"The silver sent by the salt merchants was received by my father on his behalf."

Lu Yuan raised his head, incredulously asking, "The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review accepting smuggled salt money for the prince?"

Liu Ruyan lowered her eyes, looking slightly embarrassed.

"My father ran the Dali Temple for many years, and many officials and runners were promoted by him."

"As long as the Dali Temple doesn't speak up when goods enter the capital, the Five City Garrison and the Patrol Office won't ask any questions."

"If something really goes wrong, they can just push the blame onto their subordinates."

Su Yuling sneered, "No wonder the Liu family is willing to work for Lu Cheng."

"Several million taels of silver a year, a small portion of which could support most of the imperial court."

"Father, can't you find out?"

"It's not necessarily that it can't be found."

Lu Yuan sighed and continued, "Father has to manage the border, deal with disasters, and keep an eye on several princes."

"Lu Cheng has further broken up his businesses, registering them under different names. Unless someone connects the dots, who would suspect that he owns three restaurants, eight pawnshops, and two security escort agencies?"

Su Yuling and Shen Hanqiu didn't understand these things, but seeing how logically Lu Yuan spoke, they must have come up with a solution.

So I simply let it go.

At this moment, Lu Yuan looked at Liu Ruyan again, "Now all we have to do is wait!"

Liu Ruyan paused, then asked, "Waiting for whom?"

"Wait for someone from Lucheng to contact you."

Lu Yuan leaned back in his chair, a smile spreading across his face. "He's currently under house arrest, and the Liu family is being targeted by the Emperor. You're the only person he can infiltrate the Ninth Prince's residence."

"He couldn't bear to leave it unused."

Shen Hanqiu continued, "If the Second Prince sends someone to find you and asks you to inquire about His Highness's whereabouts, you should agree first."

"Then tell us everything the other person said, word for word."

Liu Ruyan looked at the three of them and suddenly realized, "You're planning to turn the tables on me?"

"That's right."

Lu Yuan picked up the steamed bun again. "Whatever he wants to know, we'll let him know."

"He wanted me to be short of money, so I showed him how poor I was."

"He wanted me to fall out with the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works, so I put on a show for him."

"When he felt the opportunity had come, he took the initiative to mobilize those money bags, and we followed the leads and collected money from each household one by one."

Su Yuling's eyes lit up with excitement.

"You just copied it directly?"

"That's so rude."

Lu Yuan took a bite of the steamed bun. "I am a reasonable person."

"Smuggling official salt, intercepting tax revenue from the imperial court, and secretly maintaining escort agencies to deliver private messages. Every single one of these is governed by the laws of the Great Yong Dynasty."

"We're only responsible for finding out the truth."

"As for confiscating property, that's Father Emperor's business."

Su Yuling looked at him and said, "Your smile doesn't seem reasonable."

"This smile is to share my father's burdens."

Lu Yuan raised his hand and tapped on the table. "Father is short of money, and the Ministry of Revenue is short of money. Since Second Brother is so rich, he should at least contribute some to show his respect."

"He was willing to give me his beloved, so giving me several million taels of silver isn't excessive, is it?"

Liu Ruyan's face stiffened, and she said awkwardly, "Your Highness, could you please stop bringing this up?"

"What, you feel sorry for him?"

"I feel ashamed."

"Then you'll have to get used to it."

Lu Yuan glanced at her, "If you follow me, your second brother will embarrass himself a lot more in the future."

Su Yuling used the scabbard to push the bowl of porridge in front of Liu Ruyan.

"Let's eat first."

"If you honestly help, we can settle the old scores later."

"If you dare to relay messages to both sides, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Liu Ruyan picked up her chopsticks.

"I know."

"Knowing is not enough; you must do it."

"I will do it."

Shen Hanqiu carefully put away the draft of the record of the industry.

"This document cannot be left outside. I will make a copy later and burn the original."

"Those industries can't all be investigated by the same group of people, lest information leak out."

Lu Yuan nodded, "Have Su Bo'an send some of his elders to keep an eye on the restaurant."

"Hand over the pawnshops to the Phoenix Battalion and have them investigate a few unfamiliar faces."

"Don't touch the security escort agency yet, and don't alarm the salt merchants either."

Su Bo'an quickly agreed.

"This old servant will make the arrangements today."

After finishing his business, Lu Yuan picked up his porridge, took a couple of sips, and suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, is today our homecoming visit?"

Everything at the table stopped.

Su Yuling looked at Shen Hanqiu.

Shen Hanqiu also looked at her.

Lu Yuan's gaze swept over the two faces.

"What's with those expressions?"

Su Yuling looked away first, "I grew up on the border and don't know the rules of the capital."

Shen Hanqiu gripped his sleeve, his expression somewhat embarrassed.

"I was married once before, but at that time the Fifth Prince was in the army all year round. He left the capital the day after the wedding and did not return home."

Lu Yuan put down his bowl of porridge.

"so what?"

Shen Hanqiu said softly, "So... we forgot."

"Have you forgotten everything?"

Su Yuling said matter-of-factly, "Didn't you just remember that too?"

"I'm a man!"

Lu Yuan pointed to himself, "What gifts to bring and what etiquette to follow when returning to one's parents' home should be prepared by the women of the household."

Su Yuling rolled her eyes at him.

"It's not too late for you to think of it now. Send someone to buy it."

"We're going to the Yongning Marquis's residence in the morning and the Shen family's in the afternoon. You want me to buy it now?"

Lu Yuan looked at Su Bo'an.

"What's in the warehouse that we can send?"

Su Bo'an started counting on his fingers.

"The imperial gold ingots have been sent for exchange. There are still a few jars of fine wine, but the Earl of Yongning should not drink too much."

"There are two bolts of silk in the manor, but the colors are too bright and not suitable to be given to Lord Shen."

"In addition, there is a pair of jade lions that His Highness bought last year."

Su Yuling asked, "Is it valuable?"

"The stall owner said it was a treasure from the previous dynasty's palace, and His Highness spent eight hundred taels of silver on it."

"Is she really from the previous dynasty's palace?"

"Later, someone examined it and determined that the color was from the stone and worth eight coins."

Lu Yuan's face darkened. "Is that stall owner still in the capital?"

"I heard he went back to his hometown to retire after selling out."

Su Yuling's lips curled up.

"My husband has good taste."

"Is now the time to laugh at me?"

Lu Yuan looked at the two of them, "For your first visit home, you can't exactly bring two fake jade lions with you, can you?"

Shen Hanqiu pursed her lips. "How about I bring less when I go back to the Shen family? My family is just a small household and we don't care much about etiquette."

"Come on."

Lu Yuan directly rejected the idea, saying, "What the Su family has, the Shen family must also have."

"I cannot allow others to feel that the Ninth Prince's residence is showing favoritism."

Shen Hanqiu looked at him, her gaze softening.

Su Yuling put down the knife, finally looking a little troubled.

"What should we do then?"

"There's definitely not enough time to go shopping now."

"Furthermore, since the two families are of different statuses, the gifts they give cannot be the same."

As several people were worrying, Liu Ruyan slowly raised her hand.

"that……"

Lu Yuan turned to look at her.

Liu Ruyan put down her chopsticks and spoke weakly.

"How about you give me the homecoming gift? I know about these!"

In an instant, everyone's eyes were on Liu Ruyan.

They all nodded in unison.