Chapter 1223: Chapter 1219: Lost Contact with Miaoyan

“Ji Yun Country?”

In Su Yingxue’s mind, she had no impression of this small country among the nine provinces; it had no presence in her previous life.

But how could the schistosomiasis from their region have been used to harm Xiao Hui?

Su Yingxue had shared all the results she had found with Chu Yihan.

Chu Yihan stood in front of Xiao Hui’s corpse, looked it over, and after confirming again with his people that the prison cell hadn’t been tampered with, he concluded, “Xiao Hui was manipulated and used by someone. After being caught, he was silenced.”

The person who had instructed him had known early on that he would become useless, so they planted a Gu insect in his body to act at this time.

...

Su Yingxue frowned, “But what does the people of Ji Yun Country have to do with Xiao Hui? Why would they poison him?”

“That depends on the current situation of the Xiao family,” he replied.

Chu Yihan, with one hand behind his back and the other in front of him, his thumb and forefinger gently rubbing together, had a profound and inscrutable expression, his eyes as deep as the sea. Even Su Yingxue could hardly understand what he was thinking.

Chu Yihan had Su Yingxue check Xiao Hui’s corpse twice, collect the Gu insects on his body, and record the circumstances of his death before leaving the dungeon.

Chu Yihan also ensured that the family of the constable who died because of Xiao Hui received a consolation payment to show care and instructed them to be well taken care of.

Wang Jingzhi also expressed his regrets as he bowed politely, “Yes, your servant obeys.”

Since Wang Jingzhi was not instructed to investigate Xiao Hui’s death, he stayed in Yangzhou Prefecture on Chu Yihan’s orders. However, Chu Yihan had instructed him in private to review all the business records that the Xiao family had filed in recent years and to retrieve the Xiao family’s account books.

But the account books that Wang Jingzhi brought seemed as if they had been redone, showing nothing suspicious.

When Mo Qi returned from outside, he brought a box of items and said, “Emperor, these were sent by Xiao Qingyu. He obtained them from Xiao Hui’s secret room. Since he was severely injured and unable to travel, he sent someone to present them to you.”

Chu Yihan’s sharp eyebrows slightly relaxed, “He knows his place.”

Knowing that he was being investigated, he immediately submitted the records, trying hard to clear his connection with Xiao Hui.

“Xiao Qingyu is also a young master of the Xiao family, holding the reins of the family business. It seems, the Xiao family wouldn’t harbor too much ambition, right?” Su Yingxue speculated.

She hadn’t seen him as a bad person.

At most, he had some omissions, wanting to cover for the Xiao family, but his later decisiveness was not something ordinary young men could possess.

He was a very clear-headed person.

“Not necessarily.”

After Chu Yihan said this, he began to look over the account books that Xiao Qingyu had sent. Half an hour later, he found something amiss.

He stacked a pile of account books together, and with a slap on the stack said, “In the past three years, Xiao Hui diverted hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, its whereabouts unknown.”

“What?!”

Su Yingxue was greatly surprised and looked over everything Chu Yihan had organized.

Thanks to serving as the empress, she was in charge of the harem’s expenses. She reviewed account books so quickly and so clearly that she could soon see that Xiao Hui had been amassing money, creating the false appearance of being extravagant with silver.

It seemed he had squandered large sums of silver over the years, but in reality, the money was spent in shops owned by the Xiao family, essentially, it was taking wool from the sheep. He hadn’t spent any money at all.

And such a huge sum of money, all gone without a trace!

Even Su Yingxue had sensed that something was amiss, “Three years, several hundred thousand taels, there’s too much that can be done with that amount.”

Chu Yihan’s brows furrowed even tighter, “Has there been no news from Xiao Yu’s side yet?”

Mo Qi replied, “None! The letters the emperor sent to question Xiao Yu have all gone unanswered, and Xiao Qingyu also mentioned this matter when he sent the account books.”

Upon hearing this, Chu Yihan’s brow furrowed deeply, he needed to speak with Xiao Qingyu in person now.

Xiao Qingyu was still staying at Tongchang Medical Center, with Rong Sheng taking care of his illness.

That night when Chu Yifeng came here and severely injured him in his frenzy, although he had saved his life, his health was terribly poor now, unable to leave the bed for days, as pale as paper, he didn’t even have the strength to pay his respects to Chu Yihan anymore.

After Rong Sheng had administered acupuncture to boost his energy, she told Chu Yihan and Su Yingxue, “He can hold on for at most a quarter of an hour, ask him whatever you need to and let him rest early.”

Su Yingxue nodded, “Understood, Sister Rong Sheng.”

As Rong Sheng left, her demeanor was still cold and clear; however, the way Xiao Qingyu looked at Rong Sheng was increasingly filled with affection.

These two people…

While Su Yingxue worried about them, Chu Yihan had already walked over to Xiao Qingyu, “When was the last time you were in touch with Xiao Yu?”

“Three months ago.”

Leaning against a thick pillow, Xiao Qingyu said with a pale face, “Brother usually sends someone every month to take care of business in Yangzhou City, check the account books, and occasionally he comes to visit me too. Half a year ago, he even brought sister-in-law here.”

“Miaomiao?” Su Yingxue missed Su Miaoyan and was especially concerned, “What about after that? Have you seen Miaomiao since? According to the timing, she should have given birth already.”

Xiao Qingyu’s expression grew even graver, “This is what’s strange; sister-in-law was due before March, and it was around that time I lost contact with brother. I’ve sent people back to our Hangzhou home several times to inquire about brother and sister-in-law’s condition, but there’s been no response.”

“What? No news for three months?” Su Yingxue sprang up suddenly, “How is Miaomiao doing? You haven’t received any messages for three months and haven’t gone back to check on them?”

Xiao Qingyu shook his head solemnly, “Brother set rules that outside of holidays, without his permission, Xiao family members stationed in different places must not return to the main house on their own, or they will be expelled from the Xiao family.”

“Such strict rules,” remarked Su Yingxue curiously, “It’s strange for a merchant family like Xiao’s to set such rules.”

Chu Yihan spoke indifferently, “With Xiao Yu in charge of the main house, the presence of other Xiao family members would surely disrupt the peace. He secures the interior while the rest of the Xiao family members each take responsibility for their roles, without interfering with each other. Everything still has to be coordinated by him as the head of the family. If anyone harbors ulterior motives and tries to cause trouble, it will not be easy and they won’t have enough power to shake the foundation of the Xiao family.”

This was a profound strategy and deep thought from Xiao Yu as the head of the family.

But he had been out of contact for three months now.

That was very dangerous.

These thoughts, Chu Yihan did not speak in front of Su Yingxue.

But Su Yingxue was not a fool, “When Miaomiao was giving birth, Xiao Yu lost contact, if something happened to him then Miaoyan and her child must surely be in danger!”

Her heart immediately hung in suspension.

Her lively and lovely little sister!

And Miaoyan’s child…

She instantly wanted to rush to Hangzhou City to see exactly how her sister and little nephew were doing.

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