Heartstrings Resonance: The Beloved Princess of the Female Power

If anyone stepped into any brothel in Yanliu Lane, he would guarantee that the Youzhou prefect Mu Cheng allowed his son to frequent brothels, and his son Mu Yunxiao was only eleven years old and was not well educated. A memorial on how he was qualified to sit in the position of prefect of a state would be presented on the emperor's desk.

Mu Cheng might have told Mu Yunxiao all this, but Mu Yunxiao's eyes widened and he couldn't make a sound. He blamed himself when he thought that he almost hurt his father because of his momentary playfulness.

He was not a child who knew nothing. The teacher was a good friend of his father and often told him about the difficulties his father faced in being an official.

He'd been curious that day, wanting to go in and see what it was like, but then he remembered how many women had said Yanliu Lane was a dirty place, not a good place. With that in mind, he'd struggled to break free from Liu Ming and the others' grasp and ran home. Thinking back on it now, he was filled with gratitude that he hadn't gone in.

Seeing that he seemed to understand the logic behind it, Mu Cheng slowly said, "I've already asked someone to check on those people. Just kneel down here and think about what you want to do. Or what you want?"

Mu Cheng stood up and prepared to leave, still thinking about coaxing his wife! At this moment, Mu Yunxiao suddenly called him: "Dad, although I don't quite understand what is so good about Youzhou that makes the Liu family so eager to get it, the emperor chose to hand Youzhou over to you instead of giving it to the Liu family. This is undoubtedly because the emperor values your ability. I will work hard to learn both literature and martial arts in the future so that I can become your right-hand man."

Hearing this, Mu Cheng felt extremely relieved and even said with some emotion: "Xiao'er has grown up! He can now think about sharing his father's worries!"

Mu Yunxiao answered sincerely, "My eldest sister told me all this. She said that Dad doesn't have many reliable people around him, and she hopes that I can study hard and practice martial arts so that I can become Dad's right-hand man in the future."

Mu Cheng immediately withdrew his feeling of being touched. He said, how come his son suddenly became so sensible! It turned out to be because of his eldest daughter! But when he thought that it was his eldest daughter's teaching, he felt touched again.

After his daughter went out, she became more stable and organized, just like a mistress of the house. Not only did she manage the house well, but she also knew how to care for her family, which made him feel relieved and proud.

He couldn't help but think of his eldest daughter when she was little. Back then, she was innocent, lively and lovely, but now she has become calm and reserved, making it hard to understand. Although she looks cold on the surface, she is actually very warm-hearted and full of love and care for her family.

However, when he thought about his eldest daughter's love affairs, a trace of worry arose in his heart.

"Alas!" He sighed, no longer paying attention to Mu Yunxiao who was still kneeling there, and walked away somewhat frustrated. Xiao Yao saw him coming with his head down, and asked curiously: "What's wrong? What did Yunxiao say to offend you?"

Mu Cheng shook his head and said, "I wonder how my daughter is doing in Shuzhou?"

Xiao Yao's face also showed worry.

Mu Cheng thought about the purpose of his visit to Xiao Yao, put his arm around Xiao Yao's shoulders and went into the inner room. The servants all left when they saw this. Xiao Yao knew that he had something to say.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Mu Cheng took Xiao Yao's hand and said sincerely: "Don't be angry with my parents. I promise you, no matter what, I will never take a concubine. I am very satisfied with having these three children with you. I don't need anything else." Looking at his face full of expectation and sincerity, Xiao Yao's face and heart were also hot. She knew that Mu Cheng loved her and respected her; but she didn't want to make things difficult for him. Holding back her shyness, she asked: "What are you going to say to your parents-in-law?"

Mu Cheng saw that her face was flushed and her earlobes were also bright red. He couldn't help but kiss her earlobes.

Xiao Yao was so ashamed and angry that she glared at him fiercely, but her eyes did not hurt at all. Mu Cheng laughed out loud at her expression of shame and anger. If it were not in broad daylight, he would have wanted to "cultivate" a good relationship with Xiao Yao.

Xiao Yao patted his chest in anger, "I'm asking you a question! How are you going to explain this to your parents?"

Mu Cheng waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "Although the elders used filial piety to pressure me today, Madam, don't worry. They won't really do that. If you and I don't agree, they won't bring it up again. I'll go talk to the elders later. They won't make it difficult for you." After saying that, he kissed Xiao Yao's face. Xiao Yao blushed again. After many years of marriage, Mu Cheng treated her the same as always. She was very grateful to have met this man.

After several days, Mu Cheng's men had discovered the identities of Liu Ming, Liu Ce, Huang Haitao, and Cheng Chuan. Liu Ming and Liu Ce were illegitimate sons of a bastard from the Liu family in Beijing, while Huang Haitao and Cheng Chuan were nephews of the illegitimate son's wife. The illegitimate son had been assigned to run some business in Jingzhou.

Some time ago, because Xiao Yao and her daughter returned home safely, their people were detained by Jin Rongsheng again, but later those people died for no apparent reason. It's easy to imagine what happened. They were afraid of leaking the news, so they killed them.

This time he wants to attack Yunxiao again. He is going to confront him and he must bring him down!

Mu Cheng ordered his servants to call Mu Yunxiao and told him everything. He also made up his mind to take this son with him and teach him. After learning that his mother and sister had been murdered, Mu Yunxiao became much more stable.

At this time he asked Mu Cheng: "Then should we fight back?"

Mu Cheng shook his head, his eyes dark. "The one above knows what our family has endured. What we need to do now is to protect ourselves and gather evidence. If the Liu family loses power, this will be the last straw that breaks the camel's back. We can't be impatient. As long as the one above doesn't intend to touch the Liu family, our family's meager power is nothing more than an ant trying to shake a tree."

Mu Yunxiao frowned and asked, "When will that happen? What if the emperor...what if that person doesn't touch the Liu family? Will our family just have to swallow our anger forever?"

Mu Cheng looked at his son, whose height had reached his chest, with satisfaction. He patted his shoulder and said, "It will happen. The Liu family is always making alliances. Now the entire Zhao Kingdom has relatives of the Liu family, and each family has considerable financial resources and influence in the local area. I don't know what the Liu family is planning. Although they are the Third Prince's in-laws, can Your Majesty let them ride on your head? If they want to be the master of the royal family, it depends on Your Majesty's approval."

Mu Cheng had been telling Mu Yunxiao a lot about officialdom these days, and Mu Yunxiao understood that the Liu family had big ambitions. They were paving the way for the Third Prince, hoping to support him on the throne. But the Emperor wouldn't allow someone to scheme against him like that. Even if the Third Prince had the talent to hold that position, the Emperor wouldn't allow someone like the Liu family, with ill intentions, to continue to thrive.

Mu Cheng had told him about the current emperor's difficult life. The previous emperor had been too lenient, leaving behind a mess for the current emperor. From the moment he ascended the throne, the emperor was faced with the so-called aristocratic families controlling the government. They formed close alliances and attempted to use their collective power to influence the emperor's decisions.

They owned large amounts of land and wealth, and were able to influence national policies through economic means, and in some cases even control the finances of the imperial court.

These aristocratic families placed great emphasis on the inheritance of family culture, cultivating a large number of talented individuals and influencing the people's unrest and the emperor's ideas through cultural and public opinion.

Moreover, under the system of recommendation and the system of nine-rank officials, aristocratic families monopolized the power to select and recommend officials, thereby controlling important positions in the imperial court.

These methods enabled the aristocratic families to hold an important position in the court, and to exert certain constraints and influence on the new emperor.

Emperor Qing Zhao was well aware of this when he was the crown prince, and he also slowly cultivated his own people who did not belong to these aristocratic families. It was he who took the risk to recommend Mu Cheng to the position of Youzhou prefect. It was not only the Liu family who wanted to target Mu Cheng and replace him with their own people, but since the Liu family had taken action, they could only watch the fun. The reason why they did not kill Mu Cheng directly was because the risk was too great. They all knew that Mu Cheng had the emperor's people around him, and it was impossible for them to hand the handle directly to the emperor! Moreover, Mu Cheng was recommended by the emperor himself, so he always had to save some face for the emperor. But if Mu Cheng made a mistake himself, or was "unwilling" to sit in this position, it would not be their business.

Mu Yunxiao was naughty in the past because he was young, and Mu Cheng and his wife never mentioned this to him in front of him, but he is smart and has a quick mind. Now Mu Cheng tells him these things and he understands them immediately.

As the New Year was approaching, Mu Yunxi wrote back, saying that she would not be coming back this year and would spend the New Year with her master Xie Shengsheng in Shuzhou.

At this time, Youzhou, a prosperous ancient city, was bustling with merchants and bustling with activity. It was originally a place where trade and culture converged. However, it had recently been shrouded in an ominous shadow—merchants began to disappear one after another, and the number of cases had accumulated to over twenty.

At first, people didn't associate these occasional disappearances with anything unusual, simply believing they were the treacherous nature of business travel, perhaps encountering robbers or some other mishap. But as time went on, the number of missing merchants continued to increase, often vanishing without warning, raising suspicion and fear.

Some of these missing merchants were silk tycoons, some were jewelers, and some were foreign traders from distant lands. What they all had in common was considerable wealth and extensive business connections. Such disappearances not only left their families distraught, but also plunged the entire Youzhou business community into panic.

After receiving the report, the government dispatched personnel to investigate, but they always seemed to be a step behind, unable to find any useful clues. The merchants' goods, silver, and even their valuables seemed to have evaporated along with their disappearance, leaving no trace.