Not following the expected path? Reborn and unexpectedly married to a demon.

"If the country is peaceful and prosperous, my Xiao family would be willing to be jewelry merchants for life."

"My Wang family is also willing to set off fireworks for a peaceful and prosperous world for a lifetime, but Dazheng is not at all peaceful and prosperous now. It can't even achieve peace. If we let the tyrannical Feng Zhe continue to rule, I'm afraid the country will be destroyed and the family will perish."

Xiao Yuanyi continued, "To be honest, young master, our ancestors left us a legacy. We were born and raised in wealth, and our ability to endure hardship is far inferior to that of our ancestors who started from scratch."

We have always adhered to the family motto of "being concerned for the country and its people," but we do not have a high opinion of the imperial family that Feng Zhe serves, nor do we intend to follow him.

If they also intend to oppose Feng Zhe, Chu Luo would gain a significant advantage. "So, are you going to follow in the footsteps of your ancestors and fight against Feng Zhe?"

"To be honest, we only want to find our ancestors' secret manuals and rebuild our family business so that we can have some means to defend ourselves when Feng Zhe attacks us."

Xiao Yuanyi told her the truth, and Chu Luo was somewhat disappointed. After all, she wasn't born into the same hardship as her ancestors and didn't possess such passionate spirit.

"But what does all this have to do with the pipa music played by General?" Chu Luo wouldn't press them for an answer; she simply asked the matter at hand.

"The act of destruction and extermination has wiped out much of the wisdom and experience gained, but there is one place where the original texts are preserved."

"Is it at the Lan family's or the Jing family's?"

Chu Luo thought that only these two families had the ability to protect these secret manuals.

Xiao Yuanyi and Wang Youshi were also unaware that "it's either the Lan family or the Jing family, but it's in the hands of either of them."

"In that case, let's go find their descendants. We should be able to persuade them with reason and emotion. Their ancestors were such remarkable figures; they should still have some integrity left."

Looking at Xiao Yuanyi, who only wanted to protect himself, Chu Luo suddenly realized that her words seemed wrong, and her voice became softer because she lacked confidence.

Times have changed. Compared to the Xiao and Wang families, the other two families were much wealthier and more powerful back then, and their descendants probably haven't suffered much hardship. Now, both the Xiao and Wang families just want to mind their own business.

She had no idea what those two families were like now. She had some recollection of the Xiao and Wang families, but she had no memory of the Lan and Jing families from any of her past lives.

"If it is truly that important, in urgent situations, it is not unreasonable to use other means to obtain it from their descendants."

Chu Luo noticed the strange expressions on the faces of the three people as they listened to her talk about the descendants of her two families. She assumed they were hesitant to take action because of the friendship between their ancestors.

If not, she felt that what is united must eventually be divided, and that the Wang and Xiao families had some grudges with the other two families. But if it was really important, why be so particular? No matter how precious these things were, they couldn't compare to killing Feng Zhe and saving hundreds of thousands of lives.

Chu Luo waited for their answers, but to her utter surprise, she received a heart-wrenching statement: "Neither of their families has any descendants, and no one even saw what they looked like in their old age."

"No descendants? How can there be no descendants?" Chu Luo exclaimed in surprise.

Chu Luo suddenly remembered that Mr. Mu had said at the beginning that the last general of the Lan family was no longer a general. She thought that it would be good for the Lan family to retire and return to their fields after the world was at peace. But she never expected that the Lan family would be without generals.

Chu Luo's heart ached; this story made her very sad, inexplicably sad.

"The march was lonely and boring. The Lan clan was skilled in dancing and music. Among the musical instruments, the pipa was particularly popular. Its powerful sound could boost morale, and many members of the Lan clan loved pipa music."

General Lan is not only fond of listening to music, but also skilled at playing and composing. The head of the Jing family is also knowledgeable in music. Many pieces of "General's Song" were composed by the two of them.

Their pipa music is not only beautiful and inspiring, but it can also convey coded messages, such as locations, times, and schemes.

The incomplete score in the hands of my two sworn brothers is the very piece composed by General Lan, which was also his favorite. Before his death, Master Jing revised and polished it again and bound it into "General's Song".

The patriarch of the Jing family left a will instructing his friends and brothers to find General Lan and give him one of his personally written copies of "The General's Preface," while another copy would be buried with him.

"So you deduced that the score mentioned the location where the Jing family stored their belongings, which is why you've been searching so diligently?"

Chu Luo asked what was on her mind.

“Yes, our fathers all thought so, but several generations of people have been unable to restore this score,” Wang Youshi sighed.

Therefore, this pipa score was not just a simple score for them, but a treasure map.

Chu Luo wasn't interested in those books or manuals; she simply wanted to restore the musical score created by General Lan, which should be the last trace left in the world by General Lan, whose achievements and name had been hidden.

"Please, young master," Xiao Yuanyi respectfully handed the incomplete score to Chu Luo.

Chu Luo didn't accept the offer. "No need, Mr. Xiao. I've already noted it down. I won't take your things. I will do my best to fight to the death. I will have someone come and inform you if there is any news."

Chu Luo told the three how to contact her if they had any urgent matters before leaving.

In this life, she has one more thing to do.

If possible, she would like to learn more about General Lan and the Jing family, so that their achievements can be known and remembered again.

When Chu Luo returned, the others were still asleep. She put the antidote in the incense and they woke up, thinking that the continuous rain had exhausted them.

She was pondering the pipa score, which required someone's help. One name slowly came to mind, but looking at the heavy rain outside, she realized it wasn't the right time to go find that person.

The score for this piece can't be restored in a short time; right now, we need to focus on the Lilan Dam and the floods.

She heard from the servant that Jin Wuchen had returned and was taking a bath, so she had a small stove and good wine prepared, and waited for him to come out in the hall while warming the wine.

The aroma of wine filled the air, and the whole room became warm and cozy with the smell of wine and the warmth of the fire.

As soon as Jin Wuchen emerged from his bath, he was greeted by a rich aroma of wine and beheld a heartwarming scene of a beautiful woman warming wine.

Beside the orange candlelight, a woman with long hair and a yellow dress, wearing a pale green bracelet on her delicate white wrist, was fiddling with a jade wine cup.

Seeing him come out, Chu Luo stood up and bowed. "Young Master, I warmed some wine to ward off the cold. Would you like some?"

"Why are you being so obedient and attentive today? Is the fox paying New Year's greetings to the chicken?" Jin Wuchen sat down. Perhaps because he had just taken a bath, he had a faint, pleasant fragrance on his body.

Chu Luo rarely smelled incense or sandalwood on him. Thinking about it carefully, she realized that he hardly had any scent at all; he just had a very clean and fresh feeling.

Everyone said he liked to linger among women, but Chu Luo never smelled any woman's perfume on him. It seemed that no one could make him smell even a trace of another's scent.

“That’s not right. How could you use such a gentle animal as a metaphor, Young Master?” After spending some time together, Chu Luo became less reserved when speaking to him, knowing that he wouldn’t kill her anyway.

Jin Wuchen raised the corners of his mouth slightly, took the wine Chu Luo handed him, and took a sip. "Little fox, I've drunk the wine. What do you want to know?"

"How's your investigation into the Lilan Dam issue going? What are your plans for handling it?" Chu Luo didn't waste any more time and asked directly.