After the favored concubine remarried, the aloof and powerful minister forcibly took her away.

Chapter 177 The handle
Pei Yanzhi is the one who is drowning, and Xiang Ning is the only lifeline he can hold onto now.

What a ridiculous word. One day, he will consider Xiang Ning his one and only.

When Pei Yanzhi took her in, he never imagined he would end up like this.

He softened his heart for a moment, and she became someone he could never let go of.

"How does Master intend to deal with Lu Jiang? Now that Lu Jiang knows about Miss Xiang Ning's background, he will definitely not let this go."

Upon hearing Cheng Hua's worried words, Pei Yanzhi paused, lowered his eyes, and remained silent.

He knew, of course, that what Cheng Hua said was true. Lu Jiang had been searching for Xiang Ning for so long, and now that he knew where Xiang Ning was, he was even less likely to let go.

Pei Yanzhi, of course, could not simply keep Lu Jiang detained like this.

In time, the Lu family will also notice something amiss.

"Go to Dali Temple."

Before long, Pei Yanzhi seemed to have thought of something and started walking outside.

Chenghua didn't understand why, but he still followed in his footsteps.

When they arrived at Dali Temple, Mingxiang was somewhat surprised to see Pei Yanzhi.

"grown ups?"

"Give me the file."

Pei Yanzhi spoke up, and upon hearing this, Mingxiang was first taken aback before realizing what Pei Yanzhi wanted.

What he wanted was the disaster relief fund case they had been investigating before.

"My lord, the whereabouts of the remaining silver have been basically determined."

Mingxiang raised his hand to have someone take it. He thought Pei Yanzhi wanted to know about this, so he spoke up to explain.

However, Pei Yanzhi did not say anything after hearing this.

"Have you found out about Prince Qing?"

"not yet."

Upon hearing Pei Yanzhi's question, Mingxiang shook his head.

Prince Qing is very secretive; even if he really wants to do something, he will only do it through others.

Pei Yanzhi frowned slightly, his eyes revealing a hint of seriousness.

Cheng Hua, standing to the side, seemed to understand what Pei Yanzhi was about to do.

At Princess Huihe's birthday banquet, Prince Qing invited many merchants from Ling'an to attend.

The Lu family was also among those invited, and Lu Weimin stayed at the Prince Qing's residence for quite some time before returning home.

If the disappearance of the imperial relief funds is related to Prince Qing, then the Dali Temple would have a way to temporarily detain Lu Jiang.

Pei Yanzhi holds leverage over the Lu family. If the Lu family wants to protect Lu Jiang, the conditions will naturally be set by Pei Yanzhi.

But in doing so, I've gone further and further down a path of no return.

When Miss Xiangning finds out the truth in the future, she will only hate Master even more.

Cheng Hua wanted to say something, but when he looked up at Pei Yan, he couldn't say anything.

Pei Yanzhi seemed to see through Cheng Hua's thoughts, but he remained calm and said nothing.

Having chosen this path, there is no turning back.

Xiang Ning is the most precious person to him now, and even if she resents him or hates him in the future, he will not let go.

Pei Yanzhi understood what Tang Yanjun meant.

He knew, however, that one wrong step would lead to another, and there was no turning back between him and Xiang Ning.

Either he keeps it from her forever, or the forget-me-not will make her only remember what he said.

There will be no rift between them; they will simply follow his plan.

Either Xiang Ning learns everything from Lu Jiang, then there will be no possibility between them.

Thinking of this, Pei Yanzhi clenched his fists and turned his gaze to the mountain of files.

Lu Jiang had already planned to return to Ling'an ahead of time to tell Lu Weimin about this.

He didn't believe Pei Yanzhi would let Xiang Ning go; judging from his attitude, it was just a delaying tactic.

When he finally figured out a way to cover his mouth, it would be his death day. So Lu Jiang couldn't wait any longer and had to tell his father about it as soon as possible.

This way, if Pei Yanzhi really did something to the Lu family, they would have a way to deal with it.

"Brother Tang, please be careful in everything you do. I've dragged you into this mess."

Lu Jiang looked at Tang Yanjun, who had come to see him off, and sighed as he said this.

Upon hearing this, Tang Yanjun reached out and patted his shoulder: "Let's not say such things between us."

“I’m not some nobody either. He can’t find anything wrong with me to make things difficult for me. But you…”

At this point, Tang Yanjun paused, then sighed: "Judging from his attitude towards Miss Xiang Ning, I'm afraid he's going to take action against the Lu family. Take care."

Hearing Tang Yanjun's words, Lu Jiang nodded: "I will be careful. Farewell."

Lu Jiang hurried back to Ling'an, traveling a long and arduous journey without daring to stop for a moment.

He was extremely anxious, knowing the importance of this matter and that he could not afford to delay even for a moment.

When Lu Weimin heard that Lu Jiang had returned to Ling'an, he thought he had brought back some good news, but when Lu Jiang saw him, his face was full of solemnity.

"Father."

Lu Jiang stepped forward, knelt down without saying a word, and explained the whole story.

After listening, Lu Weimin sat down in a chair and let out a long sigh.

"What a cruel twist of fate."

Finding Chaoguang back is proving to be incredibly difficult.

"I don't care how powerful Pei Yanzhi is, I just want to bring Chaoguang back."

Lu Jiang clenched his fists tightly, looked up at Lu Weimin, and said this.

Chaoguang is the daughter of the Lu family, and she could have had a life of comfort and ease.

Becoming Pei Yanzhi's concubine is already a misfortune, so how could Lu Jiang, her brother, allow her to continue suffering?

“Pei Yanzhi will not let go. He will take action against the Lu family. What I am worried about is the matter of Prince Qing.”

Lu Weimin closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Upon hearing Lu Weimin's words, Lu Jiang frowned: "Prince Qing? Father, what have you done for Prince Qing?"

Lu Weimin slowly opened his eyes, his gaze revealing a hint of helplessness and regret.

"Back then, Prince Qing promised to help the Lu family and also promised to help us find Chaoguang. I was confused for a moment and agreed to do some things for him. But who could have imagined that all of this would be involved in the disaster relief fund case?"

"By the time I realized it, it was too late."

Lu Jiang was shocked; he never imagined that his father would have such a deep entanglement with Prince Qing.

"Father, what should we do now? What if Pei Yanzhi has evidence..."

This evidence will become Pei Yanzhi's leverage against the Lu family, and Chaoguang will never be able to return.

Lu Weimin raised his hand to interrupt Lu Jiang.

"However, I also have a backup plan, so I won't be too passive."

“That batch of dirty silver was originally intended to be sent out, but I hid it.”

If they hand it over voluntarily, they'll at most be charged with deception; the real problem lies with Pei Yanzhi.

Lu Jiang got up and paced around the room: "Then we can only pretend that we have abandoned Chaoguang for now."

"Lower Pei Yanzhi's guard and wait for an opportunity to act."

If the Lu family is gone, Chaoguang will never return.

He looked up at Lu Weimin and said these words, which made Lu Weimin even more heartbroken: "It's my fault."

If he hadn't promised Prince Qing, he wouldn't be in such a passive position now.

"Our family will always be reunited."

As long as the Lu family is still around, as long as he is still alive, there is no worry about not having a day of reunion.

When the dark clouds dissipate, the sun shines.

(End of this chapter)