Climbing on the Sparrow Branch – CH 750

Chapter 750: Insults

“The Wang family is, after all, a high-ranking family. Since they want to see the Xu family suffer, they will naturally show some real skill,” An Zhi said with a smile.

Pei Que chimed in, “Indeed. Prime Minister Wang suffered a great loss at Xu Wenyong’s hands, and he must harbor such resentment that he’d want to tear Xu Wenyong apart. He probably will not hold back his strength.”

The Prince of Dingnan could not penetrate deep into Jizhou, not because his strength was insufficient, but because doing so would result in heavy losses. Everyone wanted to achieve the greatest results with the least effort.

Therefore, the Prince of Dingnan only operated on the outskirts of Jizhou. He would continue to keep the Jizhou governor on his toes and draw attention away from the Wang family.

An Zhi thought of the Wang family’s personalities—they were a family that was somewhat volatile and petty.

This time, the Empress Dowager had exposed Xu Wenyong’s true nature, and no one could help Xu Wenyong calm the current situation.

Days passed by, and November arrived in the blink of an eye.

The snow in the capital grew heavier day by day, and the wind outside felt like a cold knife scraping one’s cheeks.

Yue’er was experiencing such a cold winter for the first time, as was the Zhang family. Zhang Huai’an originally intended to buy another house, as renting the Pei family’s courtyard indefinitely was not a good idea. However, due to the harsh winter weather, Zhang’s younger daughters caught colds and could not move immediately, so he temporarily abandoned the plan.

That day, Yu Yao brought some homemade sweet buns as a guest.

As soon as she entered the house, she felt the warmth of An Zhi’s room.

“It’s warmer in your room,” Yu Yao said with a smile, sitting down. She glanced at the head of the table, her eyes quickly sweeping over the maids in the room. Hearing An Zhi instruct the maids to prepare some tea and snacks, she rose and sat down next to An Zhi. “I came today because I have something to tell you.”

An Zhi had already guessed that Yu Yao had something to say. “What is it?”

“A while ago, Jizhou was quite unsettled, so the Cheng family sent people to investigate. Good heavens, you have no idea how many troops are there in Jizhou!” Yu Yao unconsciously raised her voice, then quickly covered her mouth after realizing she was being too loud. Then, in a low voice, she said, “My master sent me to tell you that the Xu family’s dealings in Jizhou are not clean. Although the Cheng family has not found evidence, they learned from some refugees in Jizhou that the mining operations there are not in accordance with official regulations.”

She paused, looking around, then continued, “My master said he knows that the Prince of Dingnan’s men have been active on the Jizhou border recently. If you can find any useful evidence, you can bring it here. Combined with the Wang family’s people, it will definitely deal a heavy blow to the Xu family.”

As the saying goes, a tall tree catches the wind. An Zhi really had not expected the Cheng family to be in Jizhou.

After Yu Yao finished speaking, An Zhi smiled slightly. She told Yu Yao to have some tea and rest. “To be honest, I knew about the mining in Jizhou when I passed through Jizhou on my way back from Yongning. But Jizhou is Xu Wenyong’s money bag, and he controls it tightly. Pei Que almost lost his life trying to find some evidence back then.”

“Not a single clue?” Yu Yao asked, frowning.

“It’s not that we have absolutely no clues, but those few things do not pose much of a threat to the Xu family right now.” An Zhi also picked up her cup and took a small sip of tea. “Now, it depends on the Wang family.”

The Wang family had been in Jizhou for quite some time, but there’s still no news, and we do not know their current situation.

Yu Yao sighed several times, lamenting, “Before, when we were in Yongning or other places, my master was always peaceful and amiable when he came home. Now that we are in the capital, he often comes home and yells at people. Not at home, but he angrily berates the people in the court. You have not heard it; he’s really fierce now. He says there are too many people in the court who only care about their own affairs, and if the Xu family ever rises to power, the first to die will be people like them.”

An Zhi smiled, recalling Zhang Huai’an’s tone; the scene seemed to be right before her eyes.

The two talked for a while, and just as Yu Yao was about to leave, Fusheng suddenly rushed in, saying that the Northwest and the Northern Desert had started fighting.

T/N: Cue intense music bgm ✶♫⋆