Fourth Master Xiao and Xiqiu watched, their hearts in their throats.

"Fourth Master is going to the government office tomorrow, right?" He originally said he would rest for half a month, but it has now been over twenty days, and the Emperor has asked several times.

Fourth Master Xiao was still not at ease, taking Ying from Zhi’s arms, regardless of whether he was willing or not, and cuddling Ying in the room to comfort her. Seeing that he still didn’t seem to want to go, Xiqiu smiled and said, "I heard that last month the Emperor went on a micro-outing to visit Elder General Chen."

In other words, the Emperor might also come to the Governor Mansion on a secret visit. Secretly, she wasn’t willing for the Emperor to come.

Fourth Master Xiao moved his gaze from Ying’s face to look at Xiqiu, and saw Xiqiu’s eyes bright and full of deep laughter as she looked at him. Fourth Master Xiao’s brows twitched, but he didn’t speak.

Unable to touch Ying, Zhi reluctantly turned to see Gong, who unceremoniously closed his eyes and slept soundly.

"I’m going back to sleep." These days he hadn’t been taught by his teacher, so he slept very early at night and still woke up early in the morning just like before.

Xiqiu nodded: "Sleep early." Holding Zhi’s hand, she saw him out the door: "Let Nanny Cen send you back home." Zhi agreed, hopping off to the rear courtyard.

The next morning, Fourth Master Xiao indeed got up early but lingered by the bed for a long time before leaving the mansion.

Xiqiu woke up early, barely had combed her hair and fed the two children milk when Ruan Jingliu arrived.

"Why come so early?" Xiqiu strangely invited her to the side room and served tea: "Have you had breakfast?"

Ruan Jingliu nodded, holding the tea, replied: "I’ve nowhere to go, so I came here to hide for a bit."

Xiqiu paused upon hearing this: "What do you mean?" Ruan Jingliu’s expression darkened as she replied, "Mrs. Liu, ever since she found out I’m pregnant, has almost daily come to the mansion, just sitting there like a guardian deity without doing anything."

Mrs. Liu is Qin Yuanfeng’s sister-in-law, the First Young Madam of Xuan Hall.

"Why does she do that?" Xiqiu showed a puzzled look. Qin Yuanfeng had long severed ties with the main branch of the Qin Family, so why was there now such entanglement again?

Ruan Jingliu seemed tired, placed a cushion behind her back on the rose bed, and replied helplessly: "It’s just about family matters." And then she explained the cause to Xiqiu.

When Qin Yuanfeng left home, he told the whole family he wouldn’t inherit a single penny from the Qin Family and swept out of the mansion. At the time, the main branch couldn’t have been more pleased; later, after the Old Master and the Old Madam passed away, only a few elderly concubines were left in the mansion, who couldn’t hold any authority. The main branch naturally took over all the assets Tongxuan Hall had in Great Zhou.

On the surface, this seemed fine. Qin Yuanfeng voluntarily gave up, and the First Master was right to take over everything. But the problem arose when a concubine in the Qin Mansion, before her death, inadvertently mentioned that the Old Master had actually left a will, and the will had long been handed over to Qin Yuanfeng.

Great Zhou has quite comprehensive laws regarding inheritance, and as long as a will exists, no matter how justifiable the First Master’s possession is, the inheritance must be redistributed according to the will.

Under no circumstances can the will come to light! The First Master is dissatisfied; Tongxuan Hall has doubled its scale under his management over the past couple of years, and it will only get better in the future. He cannot allow a random will to disrupt everything.

He personally went to test Qin Yuanfeng, but Qin Yuanfeng simply refused to see him. After much annoyance, he sent a message: "The words of the past are still valid."

This statement not only failed to reassure the First Master but also made him believe even more that the will was indeed with Qin Yuanfeng, making him even more restless.

But Qin Yuanfeng refused to see him, which led to the First Young Madam’s daily presence in front of Ruan Jingliu.

If Ruan Jingliu followed her usual temper, she wouldn’t let someone in. But she saw that although Qin Yuanfeng ignored the First Master, he was still somewhat respectful to the First Young Madam, so she patiently accompanied her for several days. Now, she couldn’t stand it anymore, so she came to hide with Xiqiu early.

"Is there really such a will?" Xiqiu showed doubts, looking at Ruan Jingliu. Ruan Jingliu frowned and replied: "Yuanfeng says he neither saw it nor even heard of it." She said while rubbing her temples, feeling the headache: "I don’t know what that concubine was thinking."

Xiqiu tilted her head, thinking. They say the words of a dying person are kind: "What kind of person was the concubine who said this in life, and how was her relationship with the First Young Madam?"

"I did hear something." Ruan Jingliu lazily lay there, feeling quite comfortable in the rare peace: "That concubine had no children, so she secretly took special care of the First Master, and the relationship should have been quite good." Qin Yuanfeng’s mother was the Old Master’s second wife, while the First Master was born to a previous Qin Madam.

Xiqiu thought thoughtfully, if this is true, then the concubine would have no reason to deceive the First Master. She looked at Ruan Jingliu: "If this matter has no resolution, I fear it won’t cease anytime soon. Why not let Second Master Qin investigate? The First Master won’t rest until the truth is clear."

Ruan Jingliu frowned and nodded: "He has already started investigating. I’ve instructed the staff in the mansion that from tomorrow, without my consent, no one is allowed in." She doesn’t have the energy to deal with these people, and after a while, she looked at Xiqiu: "Do you have anything to eat? I’m a bit hungry."

Pregnancy can change one’s temperament, so Xiqiu smiled and nodded: "I’ll have Lyuzhi check the kitchen." She said, getting up and leaving the room.

Ruan Jingliu lingered at the mansion for the whole day before Qin Yuanfeng came to pick her up. She coincidentally met Fourth Master Xiao at the entrance, exchanged greetings, and Fourth Master Xiao went into the inner courtyard. Xiqiu was in the room chatting with the Grand Dowager, and Fourth Master Xiao directly lifted the curtain and entered. When the Grand Dowager saw his face was rather unhappy, she asked: "What happened? You don’t look well."

Xiqiu got up to make tea for him, and Fourth Master Xiao replied solemnly: "Chen Hui is in trouble."

Xiqiu paused her tea-making action, turned back to look at Fourth Master Xiao, and the Grand Dowager was also surprised, asking: "What happened? By calculation, the governor’s boat should have reached the borders of Jingjiang and Yangzhou by now, correct?"

"Tea." Xiqiu handed him the tea, and Fourth Master Xiao nodded slightly and accepted it. Xiqiu sat down beside him, and Fourth Master Xiao began to speak.

It turned out that three days ago, Chen Hui and Ruan Bosong’s group arrived at Jingjiang. For unknown reasons, Chen Hui suddenly decided to head to Taiping without any notice. As the boat was sailing through a gorge at midnight, countless water ghosts mysteriously emerged from the depths.

Why they are called water ghosts is because once these people enter the water, they move like phantoms, appearing and disappearing as they please. They often vanish into the water before others can react. It’s never good when they appear...

Countless hooks were attached to the sides of the ship, and the water ghosts climbed on board, their faces covered, looting the ship’s goods with ease. At that moment, Ruan Bosong and Chen Hui were sound asleep on the second floor, both awoken by the thick smoke. When they got up, they saw that fires were blazing at both ends of the ship, and the deck was soaked with tung oil.