Reborn, I was pursued by the Prince of the Broken Sleeves

Ye Mo finished his meal slowly and deliberately, then took a handkerchief to wipe his lips and cleaned his hands.

Tao Hong and Chun Hua quietly cleared away the bowls and plates and served fresh tea.

Su Chengwu sat upright to the side, his gaze sweeping over his younger sister, unsure of what to do with his hands and feet.

Su Manman picked up her teacup, took a sip, and said, "This morning, there was a lot of talk outside that Mr. Xiao's dessert shop, along with several other shops and banks, were looted overnight."

“Not bad,” Ye Mo took a sip of tea and slowly recounted the matters discussed at the morning court session.

It turned out that the gang of thieves had vanished without a trace, stealing tens of thousands of taels of gold and silver.

The strangest thing is that those many boxes and trunks had only been moved out of the shop a short distance before they vanished as if into thin air, leaving no trace whatsoever.

The troops from the Jingzhao Prefecture and the Five Cities Military Command searched everywhere, but found nothing.

“Absolutely impossible!” Su Chengwu shook his head decisively. “With so much wealth, they would never dare to leave the city openly. There must be some secret passage nearby, or a courtyard or warehouse that they would have been waiting for them.”

He paused, then said, "But such a large-scale operation to plunder such a huge sum of money must be for urgent use. After succeeding, they will definitely move it as soon as possible, and I'm afraid it has already been sent elsewhere through a secret passage."

Su Chengwu's judgment was correct.

With so many people and so much wealth, and such a large target, how did they manage to move it away without anyone noticing?

Su Chengwu scratched his head, utterly perplexed: "Such a brazen case has occurred in the capital, a place of utmost importance. It's truly unbelievable! Who on earth is so audacious? What is he planning to do with so much silver?"

He muttered to himself, while the two people opposite him exchanged a knowing glance.

Su Manman asked softly, "How is Mr. Xiao?"

"He suffered a minor injury."

"You're injured?" Su Manman's expression tightened. "Where are you injured? Is it serious?"

Ye Mo's gaze sharpened slightly: "You seem to care about him a lot?"

In her past life, he was her master, but he met such a tragic end. How could she not be worried about him?

“He’s your man, so naturally I don’t want to see him get hurt.”

"Don't worry, getting injured is just to better confuse the enemy."

Ye Mo's voice was deep, "I didn't ask him to risk his life, but he overacted and accidentally cut his arm. Wu Xiaowen has already treated it for him, and he'll be fine after a few days of rest."

"If you had been prepared, then the gold and silver..."

"It has already been replaced with a substitute that is indistinguishable from the real thing. They won't notice it for a while." Ye Mo sipped his tea, his tone calm.

A smile flashed in Su Manman's eyes: "Well done!"

Su Chengwu, who was standing to the side, was completely confused. Only after the two finished speaking did he hurriedly interject, "Who on earth is so audacious as to commit such a major crime in the capital? Aren't they afraid of losing their head?"

Su Manman put down her teacup and looked up at him: "You just saw him yesterday. How was it being kidnapped?"

"Your Highness Prince Jin?" Su Chengwu blurted out, "He... he's become so lawless? Committing such a horrifying act, isn't he afraid of the Emperor's punishment?"

“What’s there to be afraid of? With the money, his next step will probably be to rebel,” Su Manman said.

While Su Chengwu was still in shock, Ye Mo got up to leave, but then turned back and instructed, "Within ten days, something will definitely happen in the palace. During these days, you should stay in the mansion and try to go out as little as possible."

"Okay, you be careful too."

When only the brother and sister remained in the room, Su Chengwu finally let loose and said with a serious expression, "Sister, what did you mean by what you said to Prince Qi? Is Prince Jin planning a rebellion? Where does he get the courage? Even if he wants to be emperor, he is not legitimate now. How can he silence the public's criticism?"

Su Manman sat up straight, looked at her somewhat naive older brother, and said solemnly, "In the affairs of the world, history is always written by the victors and the vanquished. If Prince Jin wants to become emperor as soon as possible, all he needs is for the Great Qian Emperor to write an edict of succession. How do we get him to write it? Whatever he writes, as long as we have a knife to the Great Qian Emperor's throat, enough of a threat and leverage, why would the Great Qian Emperor refuse?"

“But…” Su Chengwu wanted to argue, but when he thought of how he had been lured away by Prince Jin’s men last night, kidnapped and bound as a hostage, and what they had planned to do to his sister, he didn’t know what to say.

“Sister, I have been stationed at the border for many years and do not know much about what is happening in the capital. We have only heard rumors that His Highness Prince Jin is favored by the Emperor and that the position of Crown Prince is rightfully his. Why is he in such a hurry?”

"There are some things you don't understand. But once you stay in the capital for a while and learn everything, you'll naturally understand!"

“Sister, I understand.” He hesitated, about to mention the Su family, “Father…”

Su Manman stood up first, "Go find your mother. You haven't seen each other in a long time, spend more time talking with her. As for where you should take up your post after returning to the capital, wait a while, His Highness Prince Qi will make arrangements."

His sister didn't want to talk about it, so he stopped bringing it up.

Su Chengwu got up and went to Xixia Xiaozhu.

The mother and son sat down in the courtyard. Madam Lin looked Su Chengwu up and down again, and inquired in detail about his life in the military camp. In the end, she still mentioned the Su family.

"The Su family has committed numerous evils. Man'er's exposure of their wickedness was an act of justice, and their fate was well-deserved. You must not let this cause any rift between you and your sister."

Su Chengwu nodded and remained silent for a long time before speaking: "At first, when I heard that Father was imprisoned because of my sister, I had some resentment in my heart. After all, he is our blood relative. As his children, how could we send the entire Su family to prison?"

"Later, when I learned what my grandmother and father had done, I was amazed by my sister's decisiveness. If it were me, I would probably have hesitated at first, but in the end, I would have made the same choice as my sister."

"The wicked should reap the bitter fruit."

"I will not let my relationship with my sister become strained; on the contrary, I will love her even more."

“Mother, I regret it too. Back then, I left to join the army on a whim, leaving you in the wolf’s den with no one to take care of you.”

"Fortunately, my sister was there. She protected you and saved herself. Moreover, even though the Su family committed a crime and the whole family was exiled, she opened up a new way of life for me and saved me from punishment."

"I admire my sister's strength, and I will definitely protect her well in the future."

Su Chengwu made a promise to Lin, and Lin's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, was finally put at ease.

In the afternoon, news came from the palace that the Emperor of Daqian had fainted again, and the imperial physicians were helpless. The Empress Dowager ordered the chief eunuch Li Dequan to quickly invite Su Manman to the palace.

Just as they arrived at the Lin residence's main gate, Tao Hong came to deliver a message. Su Manman put down the book in her hand and gently tapped her fingers on the table.

Emperor Daqian had just recovered from a serious illness, and the possibility of him relapsing was extremely low.

He insisted on letting her enter the palace, and there must be some hidden reason behind it.

Just then, Lin Yi suddenly appeared, his expression serious: "Miss, something has happened. Several avalanche grass plants have been found in Consort Xiao's garden, and the Emperor has fainted due to their effects."

Su Manman's hand trembled, and she knocked over a cup of tea on the table.