The moonlight is fine, and the steward who came to Wang Xueshan's mansion to deliver the name card was driven away. Lin Fu accompanied Gu Wudian to drink wine in the back garden, with Gu Siyuan, Yang Pu, and Yang Shi sitting together. The gentle breeze blows, and it doesn't feel cold anymore, this winter season is over.

  Gu Suiyuan, though sitting with them tonight, didn't dare to utter a word or interrupt, and his expression wasn't good either. At this moment, Mrs. Gu and Gu Junxian, who had changed into women's clothes and applied light makeup to restore her original beauty as a lovely young girl, walked out.

  "Xunniang said she wanted to come over and thank Lin," said Mrs. Gu.

  "Thank you, Brother Lin." Gu Junxian plucked up the courage, gave Lin Xuan a glance with her beautiful eyes, bowed and said in a soft voice.

  "It's just a coincidence that I happened to be of some slight help, I don't dare to take credit for it," Lin Xie stood up with his hands clasped together in a gesture of respect, which was equivalent to returning her courtesy. "Xun Niang didn't suffer any great shock, so Lin Xie can also rest at ease."

  "Fortunately, you were there today, otherwise I really wouldn't know how to deal with this. This dead girl, how can she be so reckless? She cried and wailed, but in her heart, she may not have truly learned a lesson, probably thinking that I'm soft-hearted and won't scold her! If we're talking about lessons, wasn't the one from Shiliang County enough? You're all grown up now, it's time to get married soon, yet you don't know what's proper or improper. Do you really think wearing boys' clothes means you can run wild like a boy?" Madam Gu continued to grumble, still not satisfied.

  Gu Jun Xun also returned to normal, standing behind her father and pushing his shoulders to plead: "It was all my own fault for sneaking out, it has nothing to do with Juan Er and the others, please don't let mother punish them..."

  "You also know it's your fault," said Mrs. Gu, "I can't control you, and I still can't control the two maids by your side? If you don't want others to be punished for you, then follow some rules from now on. Asking your father won't work, don't think I'll go soft-hearted. If you have the ability, kneel with them together. This is in your own home, your father spoils you, but after marrying into another family, who will spoil you? If you're divorced and sent out, I wonder if you still have the face to continue living in this world?"

  Seeing his wife's words were so severe, Gu Wu Chen could only spread his hands, indicating that he was powerless to do anything about it. At this moment, a servant came in to report: "There is someone outside the door who claims to be Zhao Qinmin and says he wants to come over to apologize on behalf of his family's child and ask to see the master..."

  Gu Wudu's eyebrows slightly furrowed as he asked Lin Fu: "You said Wang Xueshan's attendant rushed over here, what for?"

  "It doesn't matter if we meet," Lin Xie said, "King Xue Shan wouldn't let him come alone."

  "All right, it doesn't matter if we meet." Gu Wudu instructed his family to bring Zhao Qinnian in. Since it wasn't Wang Xueshan who had him come over, then he must have come on his own initiative.

  Gu's family didn't consider Lin Xie an outsider, so it was fine for Gu Shixiong and Gu Junxiang to meet with him in the garden. Now they should leave to avoid outsiders.

  After a moment, Zhao Qinmin was brought to the backyard by someone. He saw Gu Wu Chen and Lin Fu sitting around the stone table in the backyard drinking wine. He immediately knelt down and kowtowed three times, confessing: "The unfilial son Zhao Jin was deceived by others and made today's mistake. I hope Lord Gu will spare his dog life because of his youth and ignorance..."

  Gu Wu Chen's eyes carefully looked at Zhao Qin Min under the lamp, and after a while, he said: "You come to beg for mercy, aren't you afraid that Wang Xue Shan will find out?"

  "My son is just a dog's life, not worth putting in the heart of Wang Xueshan," Zhao Qinmin knelt on the ground and knocked his head to plead, "I have three young daughters since I was born, all of whom are my heart's flesh. I know that my son has committed a great crime and deserves to die ten thousand times. However, as a father, I am also at fault for not teaching him properly. I can only hope to beg Lord Gu to give him a chance to reform and start anew."

  "I'll let your only son out of prison tonight, but I'm afraid you and your son won't have a place to stand in the city either..." Gu Wu Chen said.

  "I, too, have no good plan, but I don't want to see my son lose the opportunity to reform and start anew. When I left home, I told my wife and daughter to go to the north of the city first and take temporary shelter. Perhaps it's not just that our family of five can no longer stay in Jiangning, but for now, we can only take things one step at a time." Zhao Qinnian said.

  "How can I be sure you're not sent by Wang Xueshan to test me?" Gu Wudu slapped the table and stood up, saying sternly, "If I were to believe your words today, wouldn't it make a laughing stock of me in front of the whole city tomorrow?"

  "A humble man dare not deceive a superior," Zhao Qin said, knowing that without the name tablet it would be impossible to easily convince Gu Wu Chen. He hastily pulled out a thin booklet from his bosom and kneeled before the desk, holding it above his head with both hands, "Sir, please take a look at this and you will know whether I am deceiving you or not..."

  Lin Tie didn't bother to take a peek at what was written in the booklet, watching as Gu Wu Chen took it over and flipped through it with a serious expression. He thought to himself: Zhao Qin Min had been by Wang Xue Shan's side for eight years as his advisor, so he must have grasped many secrets that Wang Xue Shan couldn't reveal to outsiders. It was possible that Gu Wu Chen would use this to overthrow Wang Xue Shan in one fell swoop, but it was even more likely that he would use it to suppress him instead. After all, the situation in Jiangning City was too complicated, and completely overthrowing Wang Xue Shan wouldn't improve Gu Wu Chen's current circumstances much. Everything depended on how Gu Wu Chen himself decided to act.

  Gu Wudu considered for a long time before making up his mind and saying to Zhao Qinmin, "Alright, my mansion also lacks someone to manage it. If you are willing to stay, then stay. At least in this mansion, I can guarantee that your family will be safe. I'll have Yang Pu bring my orders to release your son from the city's great prison. Where is your wife and daughter? I'll send someone to pick them up and settle them down?"

  Zhao Qinmin knew clearly what dangers awaited him. He didn't dare to reveal the private matters of Wang Xueshan, nor could he beg for mercy from Gu Wuduan without being seen as a traitor by Wang Xueshan. Observing Gu Wuduan's expression and tone, Zhao Qinmin realized that even if Gu Wuduan obtained evidence, he might not necessarily want to overthrow Wang Xueshan immediately. In his heart, he lamented: "These power-hungry individuals are all about fighting for dominance; I knew it would be like this. As long as Wang Xueshan remains in power, I may end up dying on the streets one day." However, at that moment, he couldn't afford to think too much. Zhao Qinmin immediately kowtowed and said: "I don't dare ask for anything else, only a place to stay..." He hoped that by not directly offending Wang Xueshan, Gu Wuduan might not overreact. He implored: "I didn't tell my wife and daughter where to meet; I only told them to find an inn near the Tianhan Bridge in the north of the city. Perhaps they haven't settled down yet. Please, sir, send someone to the city's great prison as soon as possible, lest it be too late..."

  "Don't worry about this, the big prison in the city won't use torture before midnight," Gu Wu Chen helped Zhao Qin Min up and said, "I also want to see if Wang Xue Shan will put these few lives at heart." He saw that Zhao Qin Min didn't want to do things for himself before Wang Xue Shan was overthrown, nor did he force him, and asked Lin Fu, "Can you arrange a place for Mr. Zhao's family?"

  Lin Xie knew that Gu Wu Chen had made up his mind to focus on stabilizing his footing at Jiangning Station, and even if he obtained the trump card against Wang Xue Shan, he only wanted to use it to restrain Wang Xue Shan, without any intention of overthrowing him. He thought: This Zhao Qin Min is also clever, and it's safer to be on the island prison, so he's not afraid that Wang Xue Shan will send an assassin to kill Zhao Qin Min and his family on the island prison. However, there are too many secrets on the island prison, and he's worried that Zhao Qin Min might be too clever.

  Lin Tie said to Gu Wu Chen, "The river mouth should be safe, after the refugee massacre, I don't dare let outsiders easily mix in, Mr. Zhao's family will be cautious and won't have any major problems." He then bowed his hands towards Zhao Qin Min and said, "Mr. Zhao, your son's leg is probably going to be crippled, Lin Tie will try his best to invite famous doctors to treat him..."

  "I dare not blame Director Lin, it's all because of this son's own doing. I hope he will have a conscience in the future." Zhao Jinmin put his family's life on the line just to save his son's life, how could he still dare to complain about heaven and earth?

  "It would be better this way," Lin Xie suggested to Gu Wu Chen, "Please ask Yang Shu to take the master's token to the city prison to fetch the person. If possible, try not to disturb others and send the person to Ji Yun Ju first; I'll accompany Zhao to find his wife and daughter, so as not to prolong their suffering, and we can rest at Ji Yun Ju tonight. Once the city gate opens tomorrow morning, we'll send them to the river port. As for those four guards, I'll borrow them from you first, sir, and they can return here after we leave the city tomorrow..."

  "Alright, let's do it then." Gu Wu Chen nodded and said.

  **********

  Lin Tie had a horse-drawn carriage waiting outside the Gu residence, and he asked Zhao Qinnian to get in without being seen by outsiders. He rode a horse with Zhou Pu, while the other four bodyguards escorted the carriage directly to Tianhan Bridge, searching for Zhao Qinnian's wife and daughter who had escaped from Wang Xuesheng's residence. Zhao's wife and two daughters, aged 13 and 15, fled from Wang Xuesheng's residence, although there were stars in the sky, they were panicked inside, and ran all the way to Tianhan Bridge, not knowing how many times they stumbled on the road, nor did they know where to find an inn. When Lin Tie and his men found them, the three women were cowering in a corner of an alley, crying in terror. Fortunately, the security on this side of Tianhan Bridge was still good, and no one had taken advantage of them first.

  Have Zhao Qinmin's wife and daughter get on the horse carriage, Lin Fu said to Zhao Qinmin: "Please ask Mr. Zhao to go to Jiyun House for a rest first, Yang Dianwei will send your son over soon, I'll go to the medical hall to find Langzhong, if it's in time, maybe we can still save your son's right leg..."

  Zhao Qinmin did not dare to ask for more, and at this time he could only follow Lin Fu's arrangement. Lin Fu first let three guards escort Zhao Qinmin and his family of four to the Ji Yun Society, and then let the last guard go to the medical institute to invite Lang Zhong to bring him to the Ji Yun residence.

  Everyone here has been sent away by Lin Xie, and Wu Qi walked out of the darkness and said to Lin Xie: "Everything is ready, Fan Zhi Mei is now in the house of his concubine on the east side of Xingyi Gate. As long as we can lure him out, there are several alleys outside Xingyi Gate where we can take action..." He also asked, "Isn't it more secure to wait for Zi Ang and others to enter the city tomorrow before taking action?"

  "We can't delay any longer, let's take action tonight," Lin said, "we'll go over the details once more..."

  Apart from Zhao Qinmin's son, the city's great prison will not show mercy to the other three people again. The death feud with Wang Xueshan and his father is settled. These scoundrels do not dare to take drastic measures to resist, especially since they have a handle to hand over to Gu Wudun. However, it is uncertain whether they will vent their grievances on Xiaoman. Lin Fu cannot ask Gu Wudun to do anything for Xiaoman, who is just a prostitute's daughter. Lin Fu is very clear that in the eyes of people like Gu Wudun, Xiaoman may not even be considered a pawn. He can only rely on his own strength to prevent Xiaoman from being harmed at all. Tonight, he will take action, lest the night be long and the dreams many.

  *******************

  PS: Today I have received 2139 red tickets so far, thank you brothers!

  Third request for red envelope!