Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 375 Sister-in-law, will you marry me? (6,000 words)
Niece-in-law?
Originally, Luo Tianyi's cheeks were only slightly flushed, but upon hearing these words, her entire face turned bright red, with the rosy hue even spreading to her ears.

The little ears twitched, revealing a touch of cuteness.

Just then, Zhao Gaizhi slapped his forehead as if he had just remembered something: "Oh dear, look at my memory, my niece-in-law should be Princess Tianxuan, and this is Princess Tianyi... but the two of you walking together are just too well-matched, you are a match made in heaven, and I can't recall what I remember in my head all at once."

Zhao Gaizhi's face was full of mocking smiles, and he even winked at Song Yan, as if to say, "Well done, kid, you've already got your sister-in-law."

How could someone who has just lost his wife and children look like that?
I will never be sad again in this lifetime.

If your wife cheats on you, who else but you should die?

I raised the child for nineteen years only to find out he was a bastard. If he doesn't die, who will?
When Zhao Gaizhi first learned of this news, he felt somewhat saddened. However, as he chopped away at Yang Shuxuan and Zhao Feng, listening to their screams, the exhilarating feeling that welled up from the depths of his soul gave him goosebumps and captivated him completely.

All the pain was transformed into the motivation for revenge. Killing Yang Shuxuan and Zhao Feng was just the beginning. Zhao Gaizhi knew very well which direction the knife in his hand should be pointed.

Even if he had no descendants, he wouldn't care. He could simply choose an outstanding nephew to adopt, so that the family line wouldn't end.

Luo Tianyi was a bit thin-skinned and couldn't stand such teasing. She secretly regretted that she hadn't stomped hard enough. She glared at Zhao Gaizhi, then lightly touched the ground with her toes, kicking up a few snowflakes, and disappeared from Song Yan and Zhao Gaizhi's sight in the blink of an eye.

Perhaps it was a case of "out of sight, out of mind," but her slightly flushed cheeks and pounding heart ultimately betrayed Luo Tianyi; she wasn't as calm as she appeared on the surface.

After Luo Tianyi left, Zhao Gaizhi became even more uninhibited: "Nephew, I'm not trying to criticize you, but if you're interested in that girl, you should take the initiative to propose. This sneaking around, this ambiguous relationship, is ultimately not a good thing."

"However, you're quite impressive too."

"You've already taken down one princess, and now you're not even letting go of the other one? Aren't you afraid Princess Yuheng will skin you alive?" Zhao Gaizhi asked curiously.

He knew a thing or two about the princess's temper.

Song Yan thought about it seriously, and the image of Luo Yuheng involuntarily appeared in her mind. He was always smiling gently and patting her head lightly on his tiptoes. No matter when, he was always so gentle and reassuring.

It's been over a month, and I can't help but miss it a little.

Shaking her head, Song Yan said, "Skinning her alive probably wouldn't be the case... On the day of the wedding ceremony, Tianxuan couldn't show up due to her health condition, so Tianyi performed the ceremony in her place." However, Song Yan still kept Zhao Gaizhi's words in mind. This ambiguous relationship was indeed intoxicating, like having a crush on a female classmate in school, all hazy and unclear. But in some ways, it was actually a kind of harm to Luo Tianyi.

Later, Song Yan would have to find a time to talk things out with Luo Tianyi. However, he was somewhat unsure how to phrase it; he couldn't very well just ask, "Sister-in-law, will you marry me?" That probably wouldn't work.

Zhao Gaizhi was stunned. It was the first time he had heard about the matter of someone taking his sister's place in the wedding ceremony. He couldn't help but look Song Yan up and down. He didn't think there was anything special about this kid. Why did he get Luo Yuheng's special treatment?
Is it all because of this face?
"Alright, why should I meddle in your affairs? Just remember to let me know when good things are coming up. I missed my eldest nephew's wife's wedding, so I can't miss my second nephew's wife's." His mind always jumped around quickly: "Nephew, wasn't I pretty good just now?"

Song Yan nodded.

Not bad indeed.

Zhao Gaizhi may lack military strategy and be completely clueless about literature, but when it comes to acting, he is an absolute genius who is self-taught. Just now, he performed the Yang family's commotion perfectly, conveying disappointment, contempt, pain, anger, and sarcasm. No one could find a single fault with him.

Gradually, the smile on Zhao Gaizhi's face faded. The two walked to a carriage, driven by an old man in his fifties. Upon entering the carriage, Song Yan instinctively felt a sense of oppression. She reached out and touched the fabric; beneath the silk was a cold and stiff touch.

It is made of iron.

Zhao Gaizhi, slightly pleased with himself, curled a finger and flicked it on the carriage wall, producing a crisp sound: "Safe and soundproof, it was specially made by a craftsman. Old Feng, who drives the carriage, isn't very good at hearing and can't hear much."

Leaning against the metal carriage, Zhao Gaizhi asked what Yang Hetong had said to him, and Song Yan did not hide anything, giving a simple explanation.

"Back then, when we joined forces with Bailu Academy, we were willing to cede some benefits just to transfer you from Pingyang to Dongling. We were probably thinking about how to get rid of you... or at least keep you under our noses so you'd be easier to control." Zhao Gaizhi sneered, "Now that we've discovered you're a troublemaker, and we can't kill you, we've only suffered huge losses for nothing, so we want to kick you aside? There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world."

"One million is far too little."

"The Yang family is a powerful clan that has been passed down for six or seven hundred years. They can amass mountains of gold and silver. Let alone one million, they could probably come up with five million or even ten million."

Song Yan smiled and said, "It's okay, we can take it one step at a time, there's no need to rush."

"Then who do you think assassinated you? There are crossbows in the army, could it be Song Jing?" Zhao Gaizhi knew about Song Yan and his brothers, and immediately suspected Song Jing.

Song Yan shook his head: "No, although Song Jing is a martial artist, he is not stupid. Why would he expose such an obvious target as a military crossbow so blatantly? To put it bluntly, for those people in Dongling City who want to kill me, getting a military crossbow should not be a difficult task for them."

Bailu Academy, the Yang family, the Song brothers, Song Jincheng, Fang Hu who wanted his life, the censor of the Censorate... These people, while not all of them could be said to have connections to the highest levels, all had some degree of influence with the Imperial Guards, the Golden Guards, and the Silver Feather Guards.

Military crossbows are nothing more than slightly more troublesome toys.

Zhao Gaizhi couldn't help but sneer: "They're quite capable. Apart from the Song brothers, the people they've offended are all big shots. Song Jing and the Yang family can be ruled out."

"Bailu Academy can also be ruled out. Bailu Academy shouldn't have time to do anything like assassination right now."

Thinking of the entire academy filled with excrement, Song Yan vaguely felt as if the air itself was filled with the stench of filth.

Several targets were eliminated at once, leaving only Song Jincheng and Fang Hu.

Fang Hu was evicted by Fang De.

Song Yan's involvement is a factor here; from this perspective, Fang Hu had a motive to assassinate Song Yan.

However, he was first assassinated on the night of the Lantern Festival.

At that time, he had not yet broken ties with Fang Hu, and Fang Hu even hoped that he could marry Fang Lingyu and become his son-in-law.

Therefore, Fanghu can also be ruled out.

The final target is Song Jincheng, but Song Jincheng is also facing a lot of trouble right now. I also have Song Jincheng's biggest weakness in my hands. Without absolute certainty, Song Jincheng will not act rashly.

After careful analysis, Song Yan's brows furrowed more and more, and he ruled out almost all the suspects.

"Why don't you think about who else you've encountered since arriving in Dongling? Perhaps he hasn't shown any intention to kill you, so you haven't suspected him at all. But in reality, does he have a motive to kill you? And he's hiding it very well?" Seeing Song Yan's furrowed brows, Zhao Gaizhi could understand Song Yan's inner turmoil and couldn't help but say.

He had the motive to kill himself.

But he showed absolutely no murderous intent?
Song Yan subconsciously began to think along the lines provided by Zhao Gaizhi.

Names and faces flashed through Song Yan's mind.

He didn't know how much time had passed when Song Yan suddenly trembled, his eyes widened abruptly, and a name gradually appeared in his mind:

Mei Zicong.

Duke Lu, the adopted grandson of the old master of the Mei family.

Song Zhe once said that his mother was the only daughter of the old master of the Mei family, and he himself was the old master of the Mei family's grandson.

Although the truth is unknown, the old master of the Mei family had no sons. If he had a grandson, he might have adopted him to inherit the title of Duke of Lu.

Although it is highly likely that Song Zhe made this up, and Song Yan had no interest in the title of Duke of Lu, from this point of view alone, he was definitely Mei Zicong's biggest enemy... Mei Zicong had been the grandson of the old master of the Mei family for twenty years. He was about to get the title of Duke, but in the end, he got nothing. How could he be willing to accept that?

As for motives, Mei Zicong is absolutely right.

During their first meeting, Mei Zicong took the initiative to tell Song Zhe what he had been told and said he wouldn't be fooled. Was it just a pretense?

With absolutely no evidence, Song Yan felt a little confused.

Perhaps, I can ask Ziyu about Mei Zicong's situation later.

Moreover, it would be best to take the initiative to visit the gate of the Duke of Lu's mansion.

Seeing that Song Yan was in a bad mood, Zhao Gaizhi quickly changed the subject and brought up the matter of Bailu Academy... Zhao Gaizhi had indeed received an order from Emperor Ninghe to deliberately embarrass Bailu Academy. When Zhao Gaizhi and the Imperial Guards slowly strolled to Bailu Academy, the entire academy was already in a mess.

The courtyard wall was pushed down.

In the library, more than half of the tens of thousands of books were destroyed.

The lecture hall was smashed.

The doors and windows were all dilapidated.

The losses to various antiques and paintings by famous artists were incalculable. Hundreds of scholars were beaten, their belongings stolen, and seven were even beaten to death. The Imperial Guards merely went through the motions, as there were simply too many people involved to remember. The entire academy was covered in a thick layer of excrement, reeking of foul odors.

"This time, Bailu Academy is truly destined for eternal infamy," Zhao Gaizhi concluded. "Most importantly, it's a loss of reputation. Now, when people mention Bailu Academy, they'll only remember the stench of excrement, not its outstanding scholars." After a pause, Zhao Gaizhi changed the subject: "By the way, my dear nephew, what do you think will happen to the Yang family after I caused such a scene?"

Song Yan thought for a moment: "Yang Shuxuan is dead, Zhao Feng is dead, and your marriage ties with the Yang family are essentially severed. You now command 15,000 Imperial Guards. Given the Yang family's usual practices, they will most likely select a new woman to send to your side to maintain this marriage relationship."

Zhao Gaizhi frowned, feeling somewhat nauseous.

"Why not take advantage of a beautiful woman warming your bed? You won't lose out," Song Yan teased. "Believe me, the woman the Yang family has prepared for you this time is definitely more beautiful and has a better figure than Yang Shuxuan."

Zhao Gaizhi looked like he'd just eaten fly droppings, muttering, "What good is a good-looking face if you still have a heart of a snake?"

"How's the investigation going with those nobles you know?"

"It is certain that one of the sons is definitely involved, but there is a lack of evidence. The situation with the others is not so clear at the moment."

Song Yan didn't urge him, after all, it was still early, and it was already quite an achievement for Zhao Gaizhi to have investigated so much. Of course, everything he found out was currently kept secret, and Zhao Gaizhi hadn't revealed it to anyone... This wasn't hard to understand; if someone had raised a son for twenty years, and you suddenly showed up at their door saying that this was a bastard born from their wife and another man, they'd probably get stabbed on the spot.

The carriage was completely sealed off.

The snow fell silently outside the carriage.

The carriages of this era were still relatively rudimentary in terms of technology, lacking springs for shock absorption, making the ride quite bumpy. However, Zhao Gaizhi's modified carriage, perhaps due to the heavier iron shell, experienced significantly less bumpiness.

Behind the carriage were two deep dents.

Not long after, the carriage stopped.

After getting off the carriage, Zhao Gaizhi subtly distanced himself from Song Yan, his face grim, looking as if he wanted to kill her.

Before them stood a mansion, the Zuo Mansion.

This person's surname is relatively rare, which is why Song Yan remembers it quite vividly.

Zuo Kai, Left Attendant Gentleman of the Palace, served in the Secretariat. He embezzled 480,000 taels of silver from the Ghost Cave. He was a high-ranking official who accepted bribes and was one of the few people whose entire family was executed.

At this moment, the place was surrounded by the Imperial Guard.

“I have dispatched all 15,000 of my Imperial Guards, and the residences of 203 officials have been completely surrounded. No one can get in or out,” Zhao Gaizhi explained. “We can only confiscate their property if both of us are present at the same time.”

Song Yan nodded and looked up to see two old men at the door: Zhao Anze, Minister of Justice, and Lü Changqing, Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review.

Two old men who were once beaten up in a brothel because of an argument about whether Zhang San was guilty.

Song Yan strongly suspected that these two old men might also be Emperor Ninghe's men.

Upon seeing Song Yan and Zhao Gaizhi appear, the two old men immediately put on smiles and came forward to greet them: "Marquis Anning, Marquis Champion, you two have finally arrived."

"Old Master Lü, Old Master Zhao," Song Yan greeted them with a smile. Although the two old men had somewhat eccentric personalities, they were still to Song Yan's liking: "You used to avoid me, but now you're not afraid?"

Zhao Anze stroked his beard and said, "I'm not afraid anymore. I never imagined that I would become the famous Marquis of Champion in less than a year, when I was just an ordinary young man from Ningping County. Now you are a jinx. When Guidong offended you, you slaughtered Guidong. When the censor impeached you, you got rid of the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief. Now, when civil and military officials meet you, they will greet you with a smile."

"We absolutely dare not offend them."

"Even if we two old bones come up to you and say a few words, no one will suspect anything."

Zhao Gaizhi was somewhat surprised, not expecting that Song Yan actually knew these two old men who were practically in their graves: "What brings you two here? The task of confiscating property, His Majesty must have assigned it to me and the Marquis of Champion, right?"

Lu Changqing chuckled: "That's natural. Confiscating property is the job of the two marquises, but arresting and beheading people is the job of the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review."

There used to be a Censorate as well.

However, many of the censors from the Censorate were implicated in the case this time.

The Left Censor-in-Chief was removed from the list by Emperor Ninghe.

Just then, the door creaked open, and looking up, one could see a large group of people in the courtyard. On one side were the masters dressed in gorgeous clothes, and on the other side were Zuo Kai's wives, concubines, children, and parents.

On the other side, there were about a hundred people dressed as servants.

The sound of the door being pushed open was like a death sentence. The group of people in the courtyard suddenly trembled. Some turned pale and wailed uncontrollably; others collapsed to the ground, losing control of their bladders.

Those who haven't experienced it can never understand the agony and despair of waiting for death.

"Should we kill them all?" Song Yan raised an eyebrow.

“Exterminating nine generations and executing the entire family are different.” Lu Changqing smiled and explained, “Executing the entire family means beheading everyone, including servants; exterminating nine generations will not implicate servants, and at most, illegitimate children will be exiled, but they will not lose their lives.”

As he spoke, Lü Changqing waved his hand, and the constables from the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review entered the Zuo residence first, tied everyone up, and dragged them away amidst a series of mournful cries... Although servants and illegitimate children could be spared death, their identities still had to be carefully verified.

After the officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review left, Zhao Gaizhi gave the order, and hundreds of imperial guards poured into the Zuo residence, followed by a series of loud clattering sounds. Before long, soldiers were seen carrying porcelain, paintings, and other items out of the house and piling them in the middle of the courtyard, along with some gold and silver utensils, jewelry, and jade.

Whenever a member of the Imperial Guard passed by the courtyard, they would cautiously glance at Song Yan, their bodies trembling as their eyes met, and they would quickly lower their heads, not daring to look again. Confiscating property was actually a very lucrative task; whether it was the officer in charge of the confiscation or the soldiers doing the manual labor, secretly slipping a few gold coins or pieces of silver into their pockets was incredibly easy. However, under Song Yan's watchful gaze, these Imperial Guard soldiers ultimately lacked the courage to do so.

There was no way around it; this man was truly ruthless and vicious. In Dongling City, there was already a legend about King Yan of Song. When Song Yan looked over, everyone felt a chill on their necks, as if someone had their heads on their radar and was going to take them off and build a Jingguan (a mound of corpses) outside the city.

It's really not worth it for a few taels of silver.

In the courtyard, there were also some finance commissioners borrowed from the Ministry of Revenue who were specifically responsible for accounting.

Song Yan and Zhao Gaizhi each found a chair and sat down, but as they looked at each other, Song Yan's brows furrowed more and more.

They did manage to confiscate some copper coins, silver, and gold, but it was far from what Song Yan had imagined. He glanced at the Ministry of Revenue's accounts and found that the total amount of gold and silver collected since the confiscation was less than 100,000 taels.

Besides that, there were no banknotes or similar items.

This is impossible. Zuo Kai has collected 480,000 taels of silver from the Ghost Cave alone. His family's wealth cannot be so meager. Song Yan couldn't help but get up and walk straight towards the main hall of the Zuo residence. When he reached the entrance of the hall, he suddenly stopped and looked at the two waist-thick pillars on the left and right sides. The pillars were round and vermilion in color.

When I reached out and touched it, it was icy cold to the touch.

He then bent a finger and tapped it; the sound was dull, and when he put his ear to it, it seemed to echo.

He pursed his lips, took a step back, and waved to a guard: "Find me a hammer." Faced with King Yan's request, the soldier dared not delay in the slightest and hurriedly went to the woodshed to find an iron hammer. Song Yan took it, weighed it in his hand, and then swung the iron hammer in a round swing with a whoosh.

Bang... Crack.

The hammer slammed heavily onto the pillar, the sound of wood cracking echoing through the hall, which seemed to sway slightly from the impact.

Right before Zhao Gaizhi and the numerous Imperial Guards soldiers' eyes, a huge wooden pillar was smashed open, creating a large hole. The next second, accompanied by crackling sounds, palm-sized silver ingots rolled out of the hole, quickly forming a pile half a person's height on the ground.

Zhao Gaizhi was dumbfounded. He never expected that the two large pillars were actually filled with silver.

That wasn't all. Song Yan turned around and smashed another pillar, which also turned silvery white.

Immediately, Song Yan stepped into the main hall and saw the offering table placed there. The table legs were unusually thick, so he swung the iron hammer and swept it across.

There was a click.

The table leg broke off instantly.

The next instant, a whooshing sound echoed in everyone's ears.

A dazzling expanse of golden yellow.

Countless golden beans rolled out, almost covering the entire ground.

(End of this chapter)