Chapter 74: The Invitation at the Tavern

Lord Qiu could tell that the token was indeed from Beiyue. However, he didn’t have the military ledgers from Beiyue, so he couldn’t verify if it had been lost or if a new one had been made.

Therefore, Lord Qiu inspected the tokens confiscated by Daqi.

Indeed, three tokens were found in Daqi.

One was with the Ministry of War, another at the Xiangguo Duke’s residence, and the last was with General Tong.

Years ago, when accompanying the Duke of Xiang, General Tong had captured one of their tokens.

Such items weren’t particularly valuable but were worth keeping as a memento, so General Tong had kept it at home.

Yan Ziqi naturally knew that the token at the Xiangguo Duke’s residence hadn’t been lost; he just needed to find out whether the Ministry of War and the Tong residence had them.

Lord Qiu said, “This matter is significant, and we can’t act recklessly. I will think of a way to investigate the Ministry of War, but the Tong residence…”

He had no reason to go there.

Yan Ziqi nodded. “I’ll go.”

Li Ning’an disagreed. “It’s obvious that it’s a trap meant to kill you; why would you walk right into it?”

The two didn’t want to argue in front of Lord Qiu, so once they were in the carriage, Li Ning’an said:

“Those assassins were able to hurt you; how can we be sure Tong Linian won’t ambush you at home?”

“Perhaps he’s trying to kill two birds with one stone: framing Beiyue while waiting for you to take the bait.”

She was genuinely worried, as her martial skills weren’t strong enough and Yuan Ze hadn’t fully recovered yet.

Yan Ziqi reached out and ruffled her hair. “It’s rare to see you so worried about me.”

In the past, he was always the one worried about Li Ning’an, afraid she would be deceived by Fu Minglang.

Since the Dragon Boat Festival banquet, she had been focused solely on herself.

Yan Ziqi wondered if she had come up with new strategies or if she wanted something from him.

However, in truth, he didn’t have much to offer.

After his father’s death, he returned to the capital and had private discussions with the emperor for a long time.

In the end, he decided to take the lead of the intelligence network and secretly cooperate with the emperor’s actions.

His youthful heart had already started to bud.

Li Ning’an was left speechless by Yan Ziqi’s unexpected gesture.

The methods of the little jiaoyu were surprisingly effective!

Ultimately, Yan Ziqi decided to investigate the Tong residence, but he brought someone along.

In the dead of night, the two of them moved stealthily and reached the Tong residence.

Ling Jibai suspected that it was highly likely that Tong Linian was up to no good.

“Even if you find out he’s lost it, how will you prove it to Lord Qiu?”

Yan Ziqi stood in a courtyard, holding a map of the Tong residence.

Such items should be in General Tong’s study.

“If Lord Qiu checks again and doesn’t find it, then it’s definitely not there,” Yan Ziqi replied, pointing to a location on the map. “It’s right here; let’s go.”

Ling Jibai still felt something was off. “What if they wait for you to finish checking and then either create a fake or already have two tokens?”

It wouldn’t be too difficult to get their hands on such items.

“The confiscated items are all recorded uniformly by the military,” Yan Ziqi said, but he felt Ling Jibai had a point.

That meant he might be wasting his trip.

“Since we’re here, let’s take a look,” he said.

The two quietly made their way to the study, carefully prying open the door to search meticulously.

Tong Linian had indeed sent people to assassinate him, but he hadn’t expected Yan Ziqi to possess such high martial skills. This time, he had taken precautions; if he wanted to deal with him again, it would be difficult.

Tong Linian had deliberately dropped a token that was genuine Beiyue property.

He had taken it from his father’s secret chamber.

Now that the case was in Lord Qiu’s hands, he could have his cousin go and talk to Qiu Li about it.

Qiu Li had always liked her cousin, and as long as he promised her that he would become the Fourth Prince’s consort, Lord Qiu, who doted on his daughter, wouldn’t object.

However, Tong Linian hadn’t anticipated Lord Qiu’s ruthlessness; he was decisive and had already arranged a marriage for Qiu Li.

Qiu Li had quarreled with her father, and since Lord Qiu was busy, she stayed overnight at the Dali Temple and came to deliver breakfast to her father.

She wanted to marry the Fourth Prince, but her father disagreed.

He didn’t want to get involved in factional disputes, so Qiu Li had no choice but to return home.

Tong Linian couldn’t find a way to take advantage of her.

However, regarding Fu Minglang, as suggested by Ning Yi, Tong Linian felt it was worth considering.

This person had always aspired to rise in status and had even garnered praise from Minister Wen. Unfortunately, before he could pave his way, Shui Mingxi had already taken action.

Shui Mingxi hadn’t revealed the truth to anyone; in fact, he hadn’t forgotten that memory.

He even knew that the incident had been orchestrated by his fifth cousin.

If something were to happen to him, his father would have no choice but to adopt a child.

The entire family of his fifth cousin was greedy and would even go so far as to harm their own relatives.

Shui Mingxi discreetly informed his grandmother and father about this matter, and his grandmother shook her head helplessly.

“Well, do as you see fit.”

The Duke of Dingguo had privately warned him, and with Minister Wen’s help, Shui Mingxi successfully reached the Ministry of State Affairs.

Fu Minglang’s position had been taken.

He always felt that there was some invisible barrier blocking his way.

Yan Ziqi and Ling Jibai had searched thoroughly but hadn’t found any tokens.

However, these tokens were small, and if someone really wanted to hide them, it wouldn’t be easy to find.

Lord Qiu was always clear about right and wrong; he wasn’t testing him, was he? Did he really fear that Yan Ziqi would visit the Tong residence at night?

Yan Ziqi had gone for several days without any news.

Meanwhile, Beiyue began to put pressure on Emperor Mingde.

“Your country is taking too long to investigate; when will you clear Beiyue’s name?”

This time, Duo Zhi stood behind the Chi Jin Prince.

Emperor Mingde understood, “The Chi Jin Prince is indeed cautious.”

The Chi Jin Prince nodded in acknowledgment.

Emperor Mingde then remarked, “It seems General Tong isn’t at the Honglu Guild either.”

No wonder Ziqi had sent a secret message, saying there was something suspicious about the Chi Jin Prince and General Tong.

The Chi Jin Prince hoped for a swift resolution to the case and wanted to cooperate with Emperor Mingde; as long as the emperor helped him seize the throne, General Tong would return home.

Emperor Mingde didn’t want to keep fighting with Beiyue; replacing the person in power could lead to a few more years of internal conflict within Beiyue.

“However, General Tong might be a bit lacking,” he added.

Emperor Mingde and the Chi Jin Prince sat in a side hall of the Xuan Zheng Hall, where he had Yan Su fetch a chessboard for them to play.

The Chi Jin Prince played cautiously, while Emperor Mingde attacked openly.

The two exchanged moves while also discussing their cooperation.

Eventually, the Chi Jin Prince agreed to withdraw his troops thirty miles and offered Emperor Mingde thirty fine horses.

Only then did Emperor Mingde have Yan Su prompt Lord Qiu, who had no choice but to focus on the two corpses.

He discovered that they were both natives of Daqi and had no connection to Beiyue.

The Chi Jin Prince planned to spend the New Year in Daqi before returning home. Li Ning’an stayed at the Duke of Xiang’s residence for half a month before returning to the palace.

“Princess, the New Year is approaching; would you like to go out and have some fun?”

Xing’e’s suggestion was met with Li Ning’an’s approval.

“Let’s go to the Manxuan Tower; it’s been a while since I’ve tasted Nie Rou’s cooking.”

With ten days until the New Year, Manxuan Tower was busy. Li Ning’an instructed them to close on the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth month and reopen on the eighth day of the new year.

They would also give out red envelopes to everyone.

Everyone worked diligently.

When Li Ning’an arrived, the tower was bustling with activity.

If it weren’t for her being the owner, she might not have had a place there.

However, before Nie Rou could arrange anything, someone called for her.

“Princess Ning’an, what a coincidence! I didn’t expect to see you here.”

It was indeed the real Chi Jin inviting Princess Ning’an upstairs.

After pondering for a moment, Li Ning’an went up, and Xing’e, unable to stop her, followed along.

What a surprise to run into someone from Beiyue.

Chi Jin had chosen a table by the window. Upon seeing Princess Ning’an, Duo Zhi quickly cupped his hands in respect and said,

“I apologize for my previous rudeness; I hope Princess Ning’an will not take offense.”

Li Ning’an snorted, “This princess has a generous heart; it’s forgotten.”

Chi Jin wanted to cooperate with her father, so she could not mention the Chi Jin Prince’s subordinates.

Nie Rou, seeing the situation, sent someone to the Duke of Xiang’s residence, saying, “Quickly find Young Master Yan to come.”