Facing Caiyu's fierce look, Sheng Jiangli instinctively flinched.
He dared to be flippant in front of the Emperor, but whenever facing an angry Caiyu, he always ended up the loser.
Sheng Jiangli sighed, "It's true that before you, I always had people secretly watching over Qin'er. Wen Lin's family had been withholding her monthly allowance. She was poor to begin with, but not to this extent. Every time she went out to sell her embroidery, I had people buy them."
"Although I can't let her live the life of a rich young miss openly, I would never let her get forced to pawn things..."
Sheng Jiangli paused, then said, "She pawned things because of our adoptive father and elder brother."
"Qin'er was worried that they would get bullied in exile, so she spends money every month to manage the local government. I couldn't show my face and get involved with the Lan family, nor could I give her silver to manage the situation, so I could only watch as she pawned things."
Seeing Caiyu glaring at him, he quickly added, "Don't look at me like that. I had people redeem whatever Qin'er pawned. I'll just have to wait for an opportunity to return them to her..."
"What else?" Caiyu eyed him suspiciously. She felt that Sheng Jiangli wasn't telling her everything, "She was so poor that she even went to the house of the Left Censor to extort money. This must not be something that happens every month."
"You're so sharp." Sheng Jiangli could no longer hide the truth from her. His forehead throbbed. He could only continue to spill the beans, "The day before yesterday, we heard the news that elder brother got into trouble..."
Since he had already said so much, Sheng Jiangli might as well tell Caiyu everything, "Qin'er hopes to resolve this with silver, but the other party is asking for 200,000 taels of silver. You know, if we don't agree, the other party will have a hundred ways to torture elder brother."
It was big brother's matter!
Caiyu felt like she couldn't breathe. Her heart was in a mess.
"Big brother is so down." Caiyu blinked. Her nose was sour.
Sheng Jiangli saw the tears in her eyes. He felt like his heart was being squeezed, "So it's not that I didn't want to tell you, but if I did, it would only increase your troubles. Don't worry. Although I'm always in the frontier, I have no connections with Hainan. But I'll think of a way to manage the situation and save elder brother."
Caiyu's eyes were still filled with tears.
She always thought that she was the only one who had been struggling to support the Lan family, but only today did she know.
So big sister had also been working hard for the Lan family. Even Ah Li-gege, who had lost contact for nine years, hadn't abandoned the Lan family.
He was just silently resolving the problems in other ways.
At this moment, the news of her elder brother was very troubling, but Sheng Jiangli and Lan Jinqin gave Caiyu a new sense of confidence.
She was no longer alone.
"Ah Li-gege, can we think of a way to raise the silver?" Caiyu suddenly asked.
Sheng Jiangli blinked in confusion, "Ah?"
"I know it's not convenient for you to reveal your relationship with the Lan family. If you admit that you're father's adopted son, then your resume at Marquis Changxing's place would be false. It's a big crime to lie about your background when you join the army. I understand that you can't show your face, and it's best that you don't use your connections to help big brother."
After a moment of confusion, Caiyu quickly analyzed the situation, "The other party wants silver, so currently, using silver is the quickest way to resolve this."
Sheng Jiangli nodded, then frowned as he looked at her, "Although that's the case, I think Qin'er's trip to Xiao Rencheng was useless."
Caiyu didn't ask why. She didn't know much about Xiao Rencheng.
But she knew that Xiao Rencheng was one of the few second rank officials in Da Ye who had risen from humble beginnings.
That alone was enough to prove that he was a powerful and meticulous person.
Big sister going to Xiao Rencheng to talk about silver was no different from seeking the skin of a tiger.
Not only would Lan Jinqin not get the silver, she might even lose something...
Caiyu was getting more anxious, "Aren't you a third rank military general? You were just promoted to a second rank military general."
She didn't want to say the last half of the sentence.
They were both high-ranking officials. Why did Song Yinghuai have so many properties?
Sheng Jiangli burst out laughing. His voice was bitter, "Your Ah Li-gege is a poor man. A third rank military general's annual salary is 1200 taels. If there aren't any opportunities to embezzle, then these salaries would be very embarrassing. It's enough to support Qin'er..."
Facing Caiyu's shrewd look, he swallowed his saliva and said with a smile:
"I don't want to rob the rich and help the poor, but it's so cold in the frontier. There aren't any opportunities to get rich. I finally discovered a copper mine in Kaiping, but it was destroyed by your royal highness. What can I do? The other party is asking for 200,000 taels of silver!"
Caiyu: ...
When Sheng Jiangli said this, he had a half-smile on his face, "Shu'er, if you're talking about silver, other than the national treasury and the crown prince's private treasury, your royal highness probably has the most."
Caiyu lowered her eyes.
She naturally knew that it wasn't difficult for Song Yinghuai to get 200,000 taels of silver.
But what reason could she use to ask him?
One, she couldn't tell him her real identity - she was a criminal appointed by the Emperor, but she had escaped from death. Even Song Yinghuai couldn't resist the Emperor's order to protect her.
Two, she couldn't ask Song Yinghuai for 200,000 taels of silver for no reason - she was just a servant girl.
"Let me think of a way." Caiyu grabbed her sleeve and jumped off the bed.
She was tall and curvy.
The waiter had misunderstood her. The clothes he bought were very charming.
Sheng Jiangli felt his breathing tighten. He wanted to turn his eyes away, but he was like a demon who was fixated on her curves.
He couldn't move. He really couldn't move.
Caiyu felt his hot gaze. She looked down at her clothes that could barely cover her body. Her face turned angry as she shouted:
"Don't look! Careful that I'll dig out your eyes!"
Sheng Jiangli finally retracted his gaze. He said aggrievedly, "Can you be more gentle with me? Are you also like this with him?"
He was comparing himself with Song Yinghuai again.
Seeing Caiyu getting more and more angry, he quickly shrank his neck, "Okay okay okay. I like you even if you're a tigress!"
He had regained his nonchalant attitude. Caiyu knew that if she argued with him, they would just get further and further away. So she didn't argue.
She dressed herself before opening the door and walking out.
Sheng Jiangli whispered behind her, "If you don't want me to help, then you must resolve the silver matter quickly. Elder brother is in the water dungeon. He can't hold on much longer."
When Caiyu went downstairs, she immediately felt the air pressure was different.
Song Yinghuai was sitting at the tea table. His black eyes were dark. He was staring at the two people who walked down from the second floor.
It was as if his heart was being squeezed.
Very good. A young man and a young woman. Their clothes were revealing.
He didn't want to be so ungentlemanly, but when Caiyu and Sheng Jiangli walked down together, he suddenly felt like he was the extra person.
The pain that came out of nowhere made his head heat up. The twin snakes in his body began to riot. He didn't have time to think.
Before Caiyu could say anything, he suddenly stood up.
"Peng."
The tea table was knocked over. The teapot and teacups fell to the ground.
Song Yinghuai had a dark face. He grabbed Caiyu's wrist and pulled her out. He didn't say a single word.
Who knew that just as he took a step, Caiyu's other hand was grabbed by Sheng Jiangli.
The two men grabbed one hand each. Caiyu was in the middle. She couldn't move.
The people standing around didn't dare to say a single word. They were so afraid that they didn't even dare to look at this scene.
The air was immediately filled with a strong smell of gunpowder.
Song Yinghuai and Sheng Jiangli's gazes were like sharp spears as they stared at each other. The atmosphere was tense.
After a while.
Song Yinghuai squeezed out two words from his teeth:
"Let. Go!"