When the incident in Shunzhou first occurred, Han Yunqian had warned his grandfather, Old Master Han, but at the time, Old Master Han hadn’t paid it much mind. Over the years, the Han Family’s reputation in Yanbei had been decent, and they hadn’t made any other enemies. Moreover, with the Han Family currently on the rise and their marriage alliance with the Yun Family imminent, Old Master Han simply assumed it was the Lei Family secretly causing trouble and setting traps—something the Han Family had also done to the Lei Family on numerous occasions.
After the issues with the salt wells in the northwest arose, although Han Yunqian harbored suspicions, he refrained from mentioning them to his grandfather for certain reasons.
However, soon after, several more of the Han Family’s business ventures encountered difficulties.
The Yun Family’s intention in forming a marriage alliance with the Han Family had been to leverage the Han Family’s merchant status, allowing both families to collaborate and achieve mutual benefit. However, the Yun Family Head was an extremely cautious person by nature. When the Han Family encountered one problem after another, causing the Yun Family to suffer some losses as well, the Yun Family Head grew vigilant and inwardly astonished.
It was clear that someone was targeting the Han Family from the shadows. But now that the Han and Yun Families were bound together on the same boat, as the saying goes, “Even if you don’t respect the monk, you must respect the Buddha.” In Yanbei, few families dared to directly confront the Yun Family. Even Lei Ting, the head of the Lei Family, would show some respect to Old Master Yun and wouldn’t so ruthlessly drag the Yun Family down along with the Han Family. Given the Lei Family’s current influence, even if Lei Ting had such ambitions, he lacked the capability.
So, who was behind this?
Even the well-traveled and experienced Old Master Yun grew increasingly alarmed, breaking out in a cold sweat as he pondered the matter.
Yun Wenting, the Yun Family’s eldest young master, had also sensed the unusual nature of the situation early on. He advocated for a wait-and-see approach. After careful consideration and weighing the options, Old Master Yun decided to temporarily postpone the previously agreed-upon collaborative projects with the Han Family.
If this were an ordinary family, they might have panicked and sought to dissolve the marriage alliance, cutting all ties with the other party. Fortunately, the Yun Family was no ordinary family. Yun Wenting and Han Yunqian remained close friends, and the Yun Family had no intention of severing ties with the Han Family—they simply refrained from discussing further collaboration.
Nevertheless, the Han Family’s previously rapid momentum slowed due to the Yun Family’s caution.
After regaining his composure, Old Master Han had been searching for the cause, trying to uncover who was secretly targeting the Han Family, but to no avail. The person behind the scenes would occasionally seize opportunities to provoke the Han Family, causing them minor setbacks and losses, and even dragging down those who had business dealings with the Han Family. Strangely, however, the mastermind never delivered a fatal blow, even though there were times when they could have acted more ruthlessly. It was as if they were toying with the Han Family like a monkey, but this very restraint only made the situation more unsettling.
At this point, Old Master Han still hadn’t realized that the tactics used by the hidden hand to toy with him were identical to those he had once employed against the Ren Family. Now, the tables had turned—only the current mastermind wasn’t as ruthless as he had been.
This continued until one day when another in-law family of the Han Family, the Jiang Family, sent someone over. The visitor was the Jiang Family’s sixth young lady, Jiang Qianniang. Her father, Jiang Yan, had become the Jiang Family’s clan head during the previous internal strife within the Jiang Family. A man of considerable skill himself, he had quickly solidified his position as clan head.
This time, Jiang Qianniang came to stay with her aunt’s family—the Han Family. Her aunt, Madam Jiang, had married the Han Family’s Eldest Master as his second wife.Madam Jiang was also somewhat surprised by the arrival of Sixth Miss Jiang. Although she was Jiang Qianniang's aunt, Jiang Qianniang's father was only her cousin, and there was an age gap of over ten years between them. Their relationship had always been neither close nor distant.
Thus, she had not expected Jiang Qianniang, with whom she had little contact, to make a special trip from Shunzhou to visit her.
However, Madam Jiang was an intelligent and shrewd woman. Knowing that the eldest branch of the Jiang Family was now in charge, and since Jiang Qianniang claimed to be visiting her, she put on a warm and affectionate front when facing this niece. She even personally went to the Inner Gate to greet her, making outsiders think the aunt and niece were exceptionally close.
In truth, Madam Jiang was not familiar with Jiang Qianniang. Instead, she was closer to Eighth Miss Jiang, Jiang Yuan Niang. Before she married, Madam Jiang had lived in a small building with Jiang Yuan Niang, one upstairs and the other downstairs. The aunt and niece would often pass the time together embroidering and chatting. At that time, the second branch of the Jiang Family was in charge, but the shrewd Madam Jiang would not miss this opportunity to build closer ties with the eldest branch.
After entering the Han Family and paying respects to the elders, the aunt and niece closed the door to reminisce for an hour. No one knew what they discussed, but laughter could be heard continuously from the room, suggesting a pleasant conversation. When they emerged for a meal, Madam Jiang's eyes were slightly red.
Jiang Qianniang stayed overnight at the Han Family. The next day, she mentioned visiting a few friends she had met earlier in Yunyang City. The first person she intended to call upon was actually Miss Ren of the Ren Family, who had married into the Yanbei Prince's Mansion—Ren Yaoqi.
After Jiang Qianniang and Madam Jiang left, Han Yunqian thoughtfully asked Han You, "Is Sixth Miss Jiang acquainted with the Xiao Family's young madam?"
Han You thought for a moment and replied uncertainly, "They do know each other, but they probably aren't very close? Come to think of it, the two Jiang Family young ladies are closer to the Yun Family young lady." After saying this, Han You glanced at Han Yunqian.
Han Yunqian, however, paid no attention and merely frowned in contemplation.
Ren Yaoqi was not particularly surprised when she learned that Madam Han and Jiang Qianniang had sent a request to visit her at the Yanbei Prince's Mansion. She had them wait outside for a while before having them escorted to the small parlor she used for receiving guests.
Xiao Jingxi's Zhaoning Hall never entertained outsiders, and Ren Yaoqi rarely received guests there. She usually used the Yingya Pavilion in front of Zhaoning Hall. The Yingya Pavilion was not large and had previously been vacant. After Ren Yaoqi married into the Yanbei Prince's Mansion, she had it tidied up, using the main parlor to receive outside guests.
By the time Ren Yaoqi arrived, Madam Jiang and Jiang Qianniang had already finished half a cup of tea.
"Greetings, Young Madam," Madam Jiang and Jiang Qianniang promptly rose to bow.
Ren Yaoqi casually steadied Madam Jiang, who was closest to her, and smiled, "No need for formalities, please take a seat. I was delayed for a moment and arrived late—please forgive me."
Jiang Qianniang smiled and said, "You are too kind, Young Madam. That you would meet with my aunt and me is already a great honor."
Ren Yaoqi glanced at Jiang Qianniang with a smile. Jiang Qianniang was quite attractive, with an air of scholarly refinement from a family of scholars that easily won people's favor. However, Ren Yaoqi knew this young lady was not as harmless as she appeared; on the contrary, she was quite formidable.Madam Jiang had a full, round face with willow-leaf eyebrows. Though her features were not as striking as Jiang Qianniang or Jiang Yuan Niang’s, she shared the Jiang Family’s snow-white complexion, which made her quite pleasant to look at. This was Ren Yaoqi’s first close encounter with Madam Jiang, and her initial impression was rather favorable.
Jiang Qianniang was also discreetly observing Ren Yaoqi. Compared to their last meeting, Ren Yaoqi’s appearance had grown even more remarkable. Though she lacked the dazzling, eye-catching beauty of her elder sister Ren Yaohua, she possessed a captivating grace all her own, with an especially distinguished air.
On the surface, Jiang Qianniang had come today to visit a friend, but everyone present understood that Ren Yaoqi and Jiang Qianniang could hardly be considered close acquaintances. Ren Yaoqi could have chosen to ignore their unexpected visit, yet no one brought up this point.
After discussing the local specialties she had brought from Shunzhou, Jiang Qianniang apologized, “To be honest, our uninvited visit today was rather presumptuous. I hope you won’t take offense, Young Madam.”
Ren Yaoqi looked up with a faint smile but remained silent, waiting for Jiang Qianniang to continue.
Jiang Qianniang paused thoughtfully, glanced at Madam Jiang, and sighed. “Our Jiang Family has been running an academy in Shunzhou since the reign of Emperor Gaozu. Though the Jiang Family Academy cannot compare to Yunyang Academy, it has still made a name for itself and benefited the local community.”
Ren Yaoqi nodded. “The Jiang Family Academy is indeed one of the top academies in Yanbei.”
Jiang Qianniang shook her head with a bitter smile. “Yes, but that’s only on the surface. The first rule of our family’s ancestral teachings is that no descendant of the Jiang Family may engage in commerce. However, the clan’s farmland and most of its assets are passed down only to the eldest son of the main branch. The rest of the Jiang descendants must rely on the few meager acres allotted to them or depend on clan support to survive.” This was also why the main and secondary branches of the Jiang Family had once fought so fiercely.
Ren Yaoqi had heard of this before and listened without comment.
Jiang Qianniang continued, “But the Jiang clan has at least four to five hundred members, most of whom are scholars with no practical skills and who do not engage in productive work. If they had to rely solely on the rent from those few acres of farmland, most would starve. So, later, the Jiang Family came up with a compromise: they purchased a large plot of land in the city and built two streets of shops, planning to lease them out for income. This way, they wouldn’t technically be engaging in commerce but could still support more clan members.”
At this point, Jiang Qianniang sighed. “This was originally a good plan, but unfortunately, complications arose later. The land for the shops was bought by my father at a relatively low price, but now there’s an issue with the deed. It turns out the land was jointly owned by three brothers. The two elder brothers secretly sold their younger brother’s share without his knowledge, and recently, that younger brother, in urgent need of money, sold his share again. By the time we found out, nearly all the shops were already built, and we learned that one-third of the land actually belonged to someone else. My father has been so worried about this that his hair has turned white.”No wonder Jiang Qianniang's father was anxious. Back then, he had been able to steadily oust his uncle and take over the clan leader position precisely because he had shown many clan members tangible benefits. This land was what he had persuaded his grandfather to purchase and develop into a commercial street. Now that problems had arisen with this land, some clan members' interests were about to suffer, which could very well destabilize his position as clan leader.
"Can't we find the other person who bought the land and purchase it back from them?" Ren Yaoqi asked.
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