Chapter 98 Making trouble
After the Ye Minghui brothers left, the Ye family became temporarily quiet.

Madam Ye is in poor health and can't even get out of bed. No one dares to tell her about this. Zhuo and Guan have to put on a smile and take care of Madam Ye so that she won't find out anything - Madam Ye's condition has finally improved, and they can't let it fail at this moment.

Regarding Tong Zhiyang's brother-in-law mentioned by Jiang Li, Zhong Guanling in Yanjing City, apart from the fact that Jiang Li was surprised to know exactly what official positions these people held, he did not attract much attention from the Ye family.

Jiang Li didn't think so in her heart. The Li family and Tong Zhiyang could be connected by just a Zhong Guanling. With such a close relationship, it was hard for her not to think too much.

If I tell this to the Ye family, I’m afraid they won’t believe it.

After returning to her own yard, Jiang Li sat in the house and pondered.

Tong'er and Baixue didn't dare to disturb her and quietly retreated outside the house. Because of the matter between Ye Minghui and Ye Mingxuan, the servants of the Ye family also seemed to be much quieter, and the whole mansion suddenly became much more stuffy. It was as if an invisible haze was hanging over everyone's heart, making it difficult for them to feel happy.

As the saying goes, a friend in need is a friend indeed. Although no one wants to see the Ye family in trouble, it is an opportunity for Jiang Li. To melt a piece of ice, it is possible to do nothing and let it melt slowly, but it takes too long. And what she lacks most is time. If the Ye family is in trouble this time, she can play a role and help the Ye family get out of the crisis. I am afraid that after this incident, most of the previous barriers will disappear.

At that time, it was an easy thing to "reconcile" with the Ye family.

However, the first thing to figure out is what is going on with the ancient fragrant satin of the Ye family. Jiang Li faintly smelled the smell of conspiracy. So far, she only suspected that this matter was related to the Right Prime Minister Li family, but she had no evidence.

We can only wait until Ye Minghui and his brother return home before discussing it.

……

Ye Minghui and Ye Mingxuan did not return home that night.

Not only that, they also disappeared in the next few days. At first, Guan and Zhuo were still waiting anxiously in the mansion, but after three or five days, there was no news at all. The two could no longer hold back and went to the government office to meet with Tong Zhifu in person to find out what had happened.

But Prefect Tong refused to meet Guan, and only asked his legal advisor to come out and talk to Guan, saying that Master Ye and Master Ye II were guests in the yamen, but their work was not finished yet, and they would naturally go home after it was done.

Even though Guan was usually very good at dealing with people, she was helpless in the face of the slippery Tong Zhiyang. She turned around and complained to Zhuo, "I didn't even get to see Tong Zhiyang! Not to mention asking about the master and my second brother. I think Tong Zhiyang did it on purpose. He knew I would come to him, so he avoided me!"

Zhuo was a bit more timid. Hearing this, she said worriedly, "What on earth does he want to do? He has detained us in the government office. I wonder how they are doing? He won't torture them privately, will he? I heard that some officials kept people in jail just to torture them."

Ye Mingyu heard this and shouted angrily, "Torture? They are so bold! Sister-in-law, wait for me. Isn't Tong Zhiyang going to see me? I'm going to break in! Put a knife on his neck and see if he sees me or not!"

Guan and Zhuo kept shouting that it was not possible, but Ye Mingyu was not someone they could stop. He picked up a horse from outside the door and rode away, apparently going to settle the score with Tong Zhiyang.

Ye Mingyu had a lot of gangster spirit, and he didn't know that not everything in the world can be solved with fists. Jiang Li, who got the news and rushed to the front hall, saw Guan and Zhuo ordering people to chase Ye Mingyu, and didn't know whether they could catch up.

Ye Jiaer and Ye Rufeng also rushed over. After learning the whole story, Ye Rufeng said without saying a word, "I'll go find Uncle San!"

"Rufeng!" Zhuo held him back, "Don't go and cause trouble at this time! There is no man in the mansion right now, and the rest are weak women. This is really... really, hey!"

Ye Jiaer was also very embarrassed. Seeing Jiang Li standing aside, she walked over and whispered, "Cousin, I think it's incredible too."

"Indeed." Jiang Li nodded. "Before I came to the Ye family, I didn't know that the Ye family would have these troubles. I thought the Ye family lived well in Xiangyang."

"The Ye family did live well in Xiangyang, but that was a few months ago." Ye Jiaer smiled bitterly, "But look at it now. People say that everything that prospers must decline. Could it be that the time has come for our Ye family to decline?"

Ye Jiaer's tone was filled with disappointment. Although she was usually generous and decent, she was still very young and had encountered this incident suddenly. Especially since her uncle and father were both arrested, she didn't know what the situation was now. She would be affected to some extent. Jiang Li saw the dark circles under her eyes. She must have not had a good night's sleep these days.

"Man can conquer nature. There is no such thing as right or wrong. Besides, the Ye family has not done anything evil. God will be kind to the Ye family." Jiang Li comforted her. As soon as she said the comforting words, she felt like laughing. God will not be kind to a person just because she is good. In her previous life, all the members of her Xue family lived upright lives, but ended up in a lonely end. God is never reliable. You have to rely on yourself.

She calmed down and said to Ye Jiaer, "Cousin, don't say discouraging words. In my opinion, nothing will happen to my uncle and his men in the government office. If they really wanted to harm them, they could have said it earlier. Hiding it like this makes it seem like a deal. I guess Tong Zhiyang has been refusing to let the aunts see them just to wait for a good price."

"Waiting for a good price?" Ye Jiaer was puzzled.

"Isn't it the same in the business world? Many deals are not done overnight. There is a process of pulling and stalemate, and each side makes concessions little by little to reach a price that both sides can accept. At this time, it depends on who has more chips. The person with more chips is fearless and has the patience to spend. Once the other party panics and loses his temper, he will subconsciously make concessions first and make more concessions."

Ye Jiaer suddenly realized and said, "You mean, now Governor Tong and our Ye family are just like doing a business. Governor Tong doesn't allow our family to see father and uncle. If our family is worried and can't hold back, they will take the initiative to give in. At this time, no matter what conditions Governor Tong puts forward, we can accept them."

"That's exactly the point." Jiang Li smiled. Ye Jiaer was very smart.

"But what kind of business does Tong Zhifu want to do with us?" Ye Jiaer was still puzzled. "What does he want to do by holding our family members hostage?" Unconsciously, Ye Jiaer had become accustomed to discussing problems with Jiang Li. After all, Guan and Zhuo were not involved in business matters, and Ye Rufeng was still a little immature. Looking around, Jiang Li was the only one who could speak in the room.

"That depends on what conditions Tong Zhiyang offers." Jiang Li said, "Don't worry, if Tong Zhiyang really wants to make a deal, he will offer his own conditions in no time. Just wait."

Seeing Jiang Li's confident look, Ye Jiaer seemed to have found her backbone, and she calmed down slowly. Her expression softened a little, and she joked, "But why does my cousin keep calling Tong Zhifu by his name? If someone hears this..."

"He's just a prefect," Jiang Li smiled with a bit of innocent indifference, "My father is the Prime Minister. Even if I stand in front of him and call him by his name, no matter how unhappy he is, he will just keep his tail between his legs."

Ye Jiaer was stunned, and Ye Rufeng also looked at Jiang Li.

Although everyone knew about the "great achievements" of this cousin in the past, Jiang Li was always gentle and considerate when she came to the Ye family, making people feel that she had nothing to do with the vicious eldest daughter as rumored. Over time, people would think that Jiang Li had a good temper and a very soft personality, but at this moment, the contempt she showed when talking about Tong Zhiyang was clearly seen by Ye Jiaer and Ye Rufeng.

Jiang Li really looks down on Tong Zhiyang.

Jiang Li did look down on Tong Zhiyang, but not because he was just a prefect. Tong Zhiyang relied on his brother-in-law to get to the prefecture, and also benefited from his wife. He seemed to be very henpecked, but he had a mistress outside and had a child.

At the end of the year, the county magistrate had to go to the prefectural government for review. Xue Huaiyuan was incorruptible, unlike other county magistrates who gave money to Tong Zhiyang. Tong Zhiyang deliberately picked a fight with Xue Huaiyuan. Xue Zhao couldn't stand it and wanted to find fault with Tong Zhiyang. He didn't expect to know the secret, so he threatened Tong Zhiyang with the secret and told him not to trouble Xue Huaiyuan again.

Xue Huaiyuan didn't know about Xue Zhao yet, and was just wondering why Tong Zhiyang didn't bother him in the following years. In fact, if Xue Zhao hadn't discovered Tong Zhiyang's secret by accident, it would be hard to say how many years Xue Huaiyuan could have served as the county magistrate. With Tong Zhiyang's narrow mind, he would definitely find an excuse to make Xue Huaiyuan lose his job.

Jiang Li sneered at people like Tong Zhiyang. She didn't expect that the person she ran into was Tong Zhiyang again from the Ye family. Naturally, she didn't look very happy.

Guan said to Zhuo, "Why haven't the people who went after the third brother come back yet? Did they fail to stop him?"

"It's very likely." Zhuo was a little nervous. "Third brother's martial arts are good, and none of our guards can compare to him. He was thinking about settling accounts with Prefect Tong at that time, so he must have left in a hurry... I hope he didn't cause any trouble. At this critical moment, we can't let any more problems happen."

"No, I have to go to the government office." Guan stood up hastily, "How can the guards in the mansion persuade the third brother? The third brother has that temper... I'll go and take a look."

"I'll go with you." Zhuo said.

The two were about to stand up when they saw Ah Fu running in hurriedly at the door. He and Ah Shun had been helping in Lizhengtang these days and were not needed in the mansion.

"Afu, what's wrong with you?" Zhuo was shocked.

Jiang Li looked over and saw that Ah Fu's clothes were mostly torn and tattered. His face was bruised and red, as if he had been punched or slapped. There seemed to be blood at the corner of his mouth. His hair was even more messy, and it looked like he had been in a fight somewhere.

"Madam, Madam, something bad has happened." Ah Fu took a breath. He paused for a moment as if he was having a hard time speaking. After a while, he continued, "Li Zheng Tang, Li Zheng Tang was smashed. The guards couldn't stop them. The shopkeeper was surrounded. Ah Shun was still protecting him. Those people came in and smashed everything. They couldn't stop them. They even smashed the sign of Li Zheng Tang. Madam, you should go and take a look!"

He finished in one breath.

"Lizheng Hall was smashed?" Zhuo almost fainted.

"That's right." Ah Fu tugged at his clothes. "If I wasn't so small and quick, I wouldn't be able to come back to report the news. Those people were furious. No one from Lizheng Hall was allowed to leave."

"Ah Fu," Jiang Li asked, "Who are the people who came to smash the store?"

Lizhengtang is the property of the Ye family. Everyone in Xiangyang City knows the Ye family. It takes a lot of courage to come to Lizhengtang and smash the store.

Ah Fu didn't care whether the person asking this question was a cousin who needed to be watched out for, and immediately replied, "They are just ordinary people."

"Where did this unruly person come from? How dare he act wildly in Lizheng Hall? He must be tired of living!" Ye Rufeng was furious. "Why don't you report it to the police?"

"The police have arrested our master, young master, why are you still reporting to the police?" Ah Fu replied with a sad face.

Jiang Li asked: "Then why did they smash the store? For no reason, did Li Zhengtang provoke them? Why did they come to cause trouble?"

"I heard it's because of the ancient fragrant satin." Ah Fu's face was also a little solemn. "The common people who came here said that they got rashes after wearing clothes made of our ancient fragrant satin. Now the clothing stores in Xiangyang don't accept ancient fragrant satin. But the ancient fragrant satin that has been sold is still causing harm to people. A few days ago, someone wore ancient fragrant satin and died."

dead?
Ye Jiaer covered her mouth in astonishment. As the daughter of a merchant, she knew clearly that once the rumor that "ancient fragrant satin can kill people" spread, the Ye family would really have no chance of turning things around.

And now, the rumor has spread.

Zhuo and Guan almost collapsed.

Ye Rufeng clenched his fists tightly.

Ah Fu looked at the people in the room, and for some reason, he felt a little sad. At present, Ye Da Ye and Ye Er Ye were both invited to the government office, and Ye San Ye went to look for someone and didn't know how he was doing now. Old Madam Ye was ill in bed, and the people left in the room, Ye Rufeng was still young, and the others were weak women. But the crisis of the Ye family was coming, what should they do?
"I'm going to Lizheng Hall." Ye Rufeng said.

"Rufeng, what can you do now?" Zhuo tried to stop him.

"Mom, what else can I do if I don't go? Lizheng Hall is the foundation laid by our ancestors, and it cannot be destroyed in our hands. I am the only man in the house now, I have to go." He said, "I must go."

Zhuo let go of her hand in a daze. Jiang Li, however, admired him a lot. Although Ye Rufeng did not look very mature, he was able to recognize his responsibilities, which was a rare quality. He never backed down at critical moments. In this respect, he was very similar to Xue Zhao.

Her eyes suddenly softened.

"I'll go with you." Jiang Li said, "Don't be afraid, I'll find a way."

"You..." Ye Rufeng was about to speak, but Ye Jiaer had already pulled Jiang Li's hand: "I'll go too."

……

At this moment, there was chaos outside Lizheng Hall.

The street was completely blocked, and the shopkeepers of other shops around were leaning against the door to watch the show. In the past, Li Zheng Tang occupied the best land in Xiangyang, and its business was extremely good, which inevitably made people jealous. People in the same industry look down on each other, and even if they are not in the same industry, they are jealous. Now seeing Li Zheng Tang in trouble, they sympathize on the surface, but they are very happy in their hearts.

It seems like he can't stand seeing people being good.

Ah Shun was blocking the door. Although he was not tall, he had traveled with Ye Mingyu all these years, so he had some martial arts skills and had developed some gangster spirit. The entrance of Lizheng Hall was not trampled at this moment, precisely because he had ordered the guards to block it. Even so, the cabinets next to the door were completely smashed, and the ground was full of torn cloth. The crowd was excited, and new people kept pouring in. They held wooden sticks in their hands.

Two fists can't beat four hands. If this continues, he will soon be unable to stop it.
Ah Shun was complaining in his heart. If Ye Mingyu was here, it would be better. He might be able to scare people. But Ye Mingyu disappeared at this moment. Even if he tried his best, he couldn't stop the crowd from coming.

In the crowd there were servants sent by wealthy families, as well as ordinary people who did not look wealthy, all of them shouting angrily.

"The Ye family is murdering people for money, and the ancient fragrant satin is deadly!"

"The Ye family, the profiteer! Tell the head of the Ye family to come out!"

"The Ye family will not have a good death!"

The Ye family was kind and generous in Xiangyang, and never cheated customers. This was the first time they had such a bad reputation. Ah Shun felt dizzy when he heard this. Someone lifted his sleeves to show the dense red rash on his arm, which caused people around to exclaim, so the action of smashing the store became more and more wild.

This was the scene that Ye Jiaer and her group saw when they first arrived at Lizheng Hall.

Guan and Zhuo did not come. Guan went to the yamen to look for Ye Mingyu, and Zhuo stayed in the mansion waiting for news. Before Jiang Li left, she called out all the guards who accompanied her from the Jiang family.

Fortunately, Jiang Li called the guards. As soon as the group arrived at Lizheng Hall, someone saw them and immediately said, "Miss Ye and Master Ye are here!"

All of a sudden, the crowd all ran towards this side with great momentum. Ah Shun thought something was wrong, but he saw the guards behind Jiang Li all drew their knives in a flash.

The guards of the Prime Minister's family looked much more serious than those of the Ye family. They could be used to scare people, at least they looked no worse than the officials from the yamen who came to the Ye family to arrest people. People tended to bully the weak and fear the strong, so when they saw so many ferocious guards, they subconsciously stopped.

I was timid and didn't dare to go forward.

Ah Shun and the shopkeeper heaved a sigh of relief. If anything happened to the young master, young lady, or the cousin from the capital here today, they, the servants, would be to blame.

The guards escorted Jiang Li and others as they walked towards Lizheng Hall. The people who were causing trouble wanted to follow them, but they were afraid of the long swords in the hands of the guards, so they had to follow them closely and surround them.

When they retreated to the door of Lizheng Hall, Jiang Li looked inside and saw that it was already a mess. Manager Qian was holding a handkerchief to his forehead, which was bleeding, probably because he was hit by something. It seemed that these troublemakers suddenly got money and caught the people in Lizheng Hall off guard.

"Everyone..." Ye Rufeng mustered up his courage and said, "Don't get excited. Calm down. I am the young master of the Ye family. If there is anything, sit down and talk it over. The Ye family will not evade its responsibilities..."

Before he could finish his words, an egg came flying towards Ye Rufeng's head, but was blocked by Jiang Li's guards. Otherwise, Ye Rufeng would have been hit hard.

"What do you mean you won't evade responsibility? Your ancient fragrant satin has killed people. You have killed people, and you still want to make money from the people of Xiangyang. You are making dirty money and taking lives!"

Ye Rufeng's face flushed red. In the past, when people in Xiangyang talked about the Ye family, everyone praised him. As the young master, he was naturally respected. But now he was like a rat crossing the street that everyone wanted to beat. The contempt in the eyes of the people was real. They attacked him.

The young boy had never experienced such a thing before, he was confused, puzzled, and even more disappointed. No one was willing to believe him, people were indifferent, he knew his own feelings, but it was too cold.

Ye Jiaer is older than Ye Rufeng. Although she feels sorry for her brother, she can't take care of comforting Ye Rufeng at this moment. She stood up and said, "Everyone, I don't know where the saying that ancient fragrant satin can kill people comes from. We haven't investigated this matter clearly. The Ye family has been doing business in Xiangyang City for so many years, and our reputation is obvious to all. We will not deceive you."

But these words were immediately drowned out by the noisy sound. Jiang Li even saw someone bending down to pick up stones to throw at Ye Jiaer.

Jiang Li quickly pulled Ye Jiaer and asked her to hide behind the guards.

"Who says that ancient fragrant satin can kill people?" A clear female voice with a hint of coldness, not loud, but seemed to be very penetrating and reached everyone's ears clearly.

Everyone looked forward.

Then a young girl who came from nowhere was seen standing in front of the guard. Her dress was a shade of green and was exceptionally clean. Her features were beautiful, gentle, bright and lovely.

Perhaps the change of identity between "the daughter of the prime minister" and "the lady of a merchant" would even make the smell slightly different. Those people dared to throw stones at Ye Jiaer, but they did not dare to say bad words to this gentle-looking girl, as if they were afraid.

Maybe it's because Jiang Li has an unbridled "spirit".

"Who are you? There is something wrong with the ancient satin, and everyone knows it. Look at us!" The man probably wanted to scare a little girl like Jiang Li, so he rolled up his sleeves and showed Jiang Li the fine and dense red rashes.

Perhaps he thought Jiang Li would cover her eyes in panic, but Jiang Li just glanced at his bare arm calmly, as if she was looking at a teacup, a bowl, or an oil lamp, without any fluctuation.

"Oh." She said lightly, and then pulled out a short dagger from her sleeve.

The crowd around was startled and took a step back involuntarily. This little girl took out a knife without saying anything. Did she want to kill someone? Although they kept saying that the Ye family killed people, they knew in their hearts that the Ye family would not kill people in broad daylight.

"Cousin——" Ye Jiaer tried to dissuade her anxiously.

But Jiang Li held the dagger horizontally in her hand, and with a "swish", she cut off a piece of cloth on her sleeve cleanly and neatly.

She casually threw the cloth towards the man who had rolled up his sleeves, and he subconsciously caught it.

"You may want to take a look. I am also wearing ancient fragrant satin. But I don't have such a rash on my body. If you don't believe it, any sister-in-law can come in with me to check it out." Jiang Li said.

Ye Jiaer and Ye Rufeng were stunned. They didn't know that what Jiang Li was wearing was ancient fragrant satin. They left in such a hurry today, who would pay attention to what Jiang Li was wearing. However, when Jiang Li came to Xiangyang, the ancient fragrant satin had already been in trouble. Even Lizhengtang stopped selling ancient fragrant satin, and Jiang Li didn't get a single piece of it. This must have been bought by her in the capital.

Jiang Li saw that the people's expressions had eased a little, and she felt a little relieved.

This dress was found among the gifts she brought to Xiangyang. Tong'er was looking for clothes for her yesterday and saw it and happened to tell Jiang Li about it. Jiang Li was moved and didn't expect to use it so soon.

Ancient fragrant satin is very valuable. The people who can afford it are at least not poor, but the amount is not small. Most of them are bought as gifts. If there is a problem with the gift, and they have spent such a large amount of money, these people will naturally not let it go.

Nothing is more convincing than wearing it yourself. Jiang Li once heard Xue Huaiyuan say: You will never know the pain unless the knife cuts yourself. It is not easy to empathize with the people, but if you can make the people believe that you know how they feel, many problems can be solved.

No one came to check Jiang Li's arm, perhaps because Jiang Li's expression was so frank that people had to believe that the arm under the sleeve was as white as her face.

There were also people who did not believe what Jiang Li said. They picked up the torn sleeve and took a closer look. Finally, they had to nod: "It is indeed ancient fragrant satin."

Jiang Li smiled: "Look, if there is really something wrong with the ancient satin, I won't wear it myself and seek death, right?"

"Why is this impossible?" Someone in the crowd muttered, "What if you are a hired helper of the Ye family, acting for the Ye family for money? What's the point of a life?"

Before Jiang Li could say anything, Tong'er beside her was furious: "Nonsense! Our young lady's life is much more valuable than silver!" But she kept her mouth shut and did not reveal Jiang Li's identity.

People in Xiangyang had never seen Jiang Li and didn't know who Jiang Li was. When they heard Ye Jiaer call Jiang Li cousin, they thought Jiang Li was a distant relative of the Ye family and came to live with the Ye family.

Jiang Li said: "I really don't need to be a shill for the Ye family. My life may be more valuable than this Lizheng Hall."

"Who are you?" Someone asked mockingly, "Are you a princess?"

Speaking of the word "princess", Jiang Li's face darkened slightly. Soon, she raised the corners of her mouth, but the smile on her lips was a bit sarcastic.

"I'm not a princess. I'm Jiang Er, the legitimate daughter of Jiang Yuanfu, the Prime Minister of Yanjing," she said.

The laughter from the crowd gradually faded away.

Jiang Li's smile also completely turned cold.

In the small teahouse opposite Lizheng Hall, a handsome young man in red was drinking tea while watching the show with his head tilted to the side.

The scholar Lu Ji, standing opposite, looked at the situation in Lizheng Hall at the moment and frowned slightly: "I didn't expect that Miss Jiang Er would stand up for the Ye family."

Ji Heng supported her chin with one hand and gently waved a folding fan with the other. The folding fan was folded into a narrow strip. When she waved it casually, tiny golden threads could be vaguely seen.

"Tong Zhiyang's plan will not succeed," he said.

(End of this chapter)