C38 (1/2)

Unparalleled Pavilion, An Su sat in front of the bed, her expression cold.

There were a few pieces of Xuan paper on the jade table beside him. The paper was as white as snow, and the ink-black lines painted a vivid picture of the faces on the paper.

On three pieces of paper, there were three people. Each of them had their own name written on it.

Ji Zhan, Mu Heng, Ji Yinli.

Previously, she had asked Pearl who held the authority over the Court, but unfortunately, Pearl, as a maid, did not know anything about the Court. She had also thought of asking Wang Xuanlang and Xie Wentao directly, but investigating Xiao Ye had already made them suspicious. If she were to ask about the whereabouts of the troops, even if Wang Xuanlang was unable to guess her ultimate motive, he would inevitably think of it.

That was why she dispelled that thought. She planned to have the pearl find some other beggars to secretly investigate, but did not expect to hear the answer from Ji Zhan's mouth.

”Ji Zhan, Mu Heng, Ji Yinli...”

An Su muttered the three names softly, her eyes staring coldly at the portraits of the three people. Among the three people, other than the Marquis of Yong Ning, who was one of the five marquis, Mu Heng was ranked as one of the three - Duke of Mu. The so-called ”Third Marquis Estate” consisted of the Duke of Mu Palace, the Duke Su's Mansion, and the defunct ”Mansion of the Lord Protector.

The Su Family was the Wen Chen, and the Mu Family and An family were also the Martial General Manor.

Although the Mu Family and the An family were both ranked third, higher than the title of Marquis Yongning, and even had strengths that were higher than the Marquis Yongning's Mansion at one time, but the Mu Family and the An family were both heirs of three generations of dukes, and there was a fundamental difference between the titles of the dukes and the Marquis of Yongning.

There was a set of rules for the survival of the Ji Family even though the Ji Family could stand for two hundred years. Other than the fact that every successor did not look at their status and only looked at their talent, once the House of the Marquis established themselves as the successor to the Crown prince and accepted their title, the rest of the houses would split their assets and move away from the house, or choose their own business.

Ji Shaoyang usually took over her position at a young age and had their own reasons.

She was forced by the momentum, and Ji Shaoyang's position was closely related to Old Lady Ji and Ji Zhan's preferences. Of course, Ji Shaoyang himself was outstanding enough, and it seemed that he was the most suitable for it.

The Marquis Yongning's Mansion had never been prosperous before, and had almost died due to the fight for the title. But in the end, the Marquis Yongning's Mansion was able to hold on, and after the generations of their ancestors accumulated together, they managed to come up with a set of their own survival laws.

The An clan also had a large number of members. Her father had died early, and the An clan had fallen in battle, resulting in the demise of the An clan. In the end, it was because of her unfilial daughter's selfishness that finally disappeared.

Just like the An clan, the flourishing period of the Mu Family was over.

Three years ago, when Old Duke Mu died, his eldest son, Mu Heng attacked him. Mu Heng was about forty years old, and his wife came from the Fang family of the eight families, and he had four sons and two daughters. It was said that he had a very good relationship with the Third Brother, and that he was also a military general under his watch. On the contrary, their two brothers walked the path of the Wen Chen.

Three years ago, she had met Mu Heng when she was returning to the capital. His appearance was ordinary and mediocre. Furthermore, the Mu Clan had inherited Mu Heng's legacy to the third generation. In other words, if Mu Heng did not have any great achievements in the construction of the in his lifetime, the title of the Mu Family would be taken back by the Emperor after he died.

From this, one could see that the destruction of the An clan was beneficial to the Mu Family.

Was Mu Heng a mediocre person, or was he an expert at hiding his true strength?

After all, the world was unpredictable. There were too many people in this world who did not know what to say.

And the last one, Ji Yinli!

In An Su's mind, a human figure appeared, it was even more three-dimensional than the image, the outline was clear, and the appearance was handsome. The spear in her hand was trained to the point where sweat was flowing down her cheeks, her hands and feet were trembling uncontrollably.

She understood Ji Yinli better than she did Mu Heng, he was one of her trusted aides whom she had raised with a single hand. Before entering the camp, he was a white-faced scholar who did not even know how to fight. Although he was smart, he had some guts. He was meticulous and did not hesitate to sacrifice his life. He had always fought with everything he had, and he had also performed many meritorious deeds in the past.

Although Ji Yinli's background was not prominent, it was said that he was also from a wealthy southern family, and was the direct son of the family. However, after his birth mother passed away, his father did not like his for being bad with words, so he ended up in the army camp.

The Ji Family was not in the Capital.

From what she knew, there was no one with the surname Ji that held power and influence in the imperial court. Those were all people that she had accidentally heard Ji Yinli mention after he got drunk at a celebratory feast. She didn't want to suspect that her old clan was the main culprit behind the deaths of her entire clan.

But if it really was him …

Lowering her head to look at the portrait, An Su took out fire clasp and lit up a few pieces of paper. The person in the portrait was slowly being distorted by the fire until he turned into ashes.

But it only disappeared for an instant.

”Creak ~ ~ ~”

A moment later, the door was pushed open, and Pearl Liusu walked in with the bird's nest in her hand.

”Miss is the blood swallow that I ordered my men to eat in the morning. Miss had consumed a lot of energy today and needed more nourishment. Miss is so mighty today. I didn't know that you were worried to death.”

Liusu's oval face was wide open, her red lips were moving with excitement, and her hands were swiftly moving towards the bird's nest. From time to time, however, she would glance over with a gaze that could not conceal her concern and adoration.

An Su raised her head and looked at the girl who was about fifteen or sixteen years old.

”You're called Liusu?”

”Miss is so amazing, this servant only said once that Miss remembered it.” Miss, this servant is Liusu, the Liusu with the golden hook. ” Liusu put down her porcelain cup. She did not seem to be afraid like the other servants when they looked at An Su. Instead, she had a pleasantly surprised look on her face.