(This chapter was hard to write, so it's a bit late. Tomorrow's chapter will probably be even harder, and the update will also be a bit later.)

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"Since you know it's a rumor, what's there to panic about!" Old Madam Ming screamed furiously, her voice sharp with a strange sense of humiliation, like a knife scratching across porcelain.

The auntie-concubine sitting beside her was so startled that she trembled all over, and quickly sat back on her chair, not daring to say another word.

Old Madam Ming was known for her jealousy and ruthlessness, so Old Master Ming only took three concubines in total. Now, of that generation, only these two women remained. Fortunately, the Ming family had many sons. Not counting Xia Qifei, who was currently drinking in Jiangnan, the two branches with descendants had a total of six men. Ming Qingda, the eldest son of the main branch, was now the head of the Ming family, while the third and fourth sons were born to this auntie-concubine. Seeing their birth mother being shouted at like this by the Old Madam, these two naturally felt uncomfortable, but the Old Madam's long-standing authority made them不敢 to argue.

As the eldest son, Ming Qingda naturally had to step forward and say a few words of gentle reassurance. However, the Old Madam ignored even the nominal head of the Ming family, keeping a cold, old face and saying, "Remember this! That seventh son of the Ming family died more than a decade ago. As for that Xia family head in Suzhou City now… if he thinks he can cause trouble with rumors from more than a decade ago, my Ming family will not tolerate it."

Ming Qingda was rebuffed, but he still wore a smile on his face, saying gently, "Mother, naturally no one will believe such absurd rumors. But… what if the Imperial Court chooses to believe them?"

This sentence was very direct. Xia Qifei was Fan Xian's pawn. If the Imperial Court represented by Fan Xian wanted to use this opportunity to seize the Ming family's vast wealth and power without firing a shot, that would be the most dangerous situation.

The Old Madam blinked her somewhat cloudy eyes and said with disgust, "Does that official named Fan get to decide everything? Is the Imperial Court unreasonable?"

Ming Qingda thought, when has the Imperial Court ever been reasonable? It's just that the Imperial Court used to be on their family's side, so the strongest reason and the hardest fist in the world belonged to the Ming family. But now that there was division within the Imperial Court and their family's fist had already been reluctantly cut off, it would be even harder to reason things out.

He smiled wryly and said, "Please give us your instructions, Mother."

Xia Qifei was coming on strong. Judging by his bidding today, he had brought a great deal of money, and he also had the support of the Imperial Envoy. How exactly should the Ming family respond? The Old Madam needed to make some kind of plan.

In the depths of her heart, Old Madam Ming wasn't as confident and domineering as she appeared on the surface. She didn't directly answer Ming Qingda's question, but stared at the Ming family descendants in the courtyard and said coldly, "The situation is different now than in previous years. Some time ago, I had Lan Shi visit you uncles and tell you to be honest… Today, I'll repeat it again. At this time, don't bring any trouble to the Ming family! Walk your birds at home, and drive those roughnecks who only know how to wrestle out of the gardens!"

"And this matter, no one is allowed to spread it! If I hear anyone gossiping behind my back, I'll rip their tongues out!"

Old Madam Ming spoke quickly and angrily, and started coughing. The head maid quickly patted her back gently, and her eldest grandson, Ming Lan Shi, respectfully offered her a bowl of tea.

The Ming family descendants in the courtyard all bowed, not daring to disobey the Old Madam's orders in the slightest.

Ming Qingda looked at his mother, hesitant to speak.

The Old Madam sneered in her heart. This son of hers always lacked decisiveness. She always had to be the bad guy. She took a sip of tea and said indifferently, "Tomorrow is the second day of bidding. You all know that the Imperial Envoy is targeting our family. The remaining eight lots are bundled into two batches, and it looks like the prices will be much higher than in previous years. There's only one night, and it's probably too late to find a money house to issue tickets. At this time, you brothers go back and gather your private savings and bring them to the accounting room later."

As soon as these words came out, the Ming family gentlemen in the courtyard were dumbfounded. Not being allowed to walk their birds or wrestle was just temporary boredom that anyone could endure, but… how could they be asked to use their meager private savings to fill the family coffers? Every year, the family would prepare enough silver for the Internal Treasury bidding. If the prices for those eight lots were outrageously high, they could just not bid. Why did they need to be so desperate? The Imperial Court wouldn't set a limit. Who knew how much silver they would have to fill in?

These gentlemen were born with silver spoons in their mouths, but they didn't have inheritance rights. They only knew how to enjoy life. Where would they know the true meaning of the Internal Treasury bidding for the Ming family? Behind this lay a power struggle within the Imperial Court. Hearing the Old Madam's words, they subconsciously didn't want to agree.

The sixth son of the Ming family, being younger, liked wrestling and was bolder. He mustered his courage and said, "Mother, we brothers have never been involved in the family business. We live on monthly allowances, and each of us has a large family to support. Even if we have some private savings… that little bit of money wouldn't be of much use if we put it in there. It would be better to…"

Before he could finish speaking, a teacup shattered in front of him with a crisp sound!

The sixth son of the Ming family was startled. His body trembled, and looking at the Old Madam's expression, he was so frightened that his legs went weak and he knelt down.

The Old Madam looked at him coldly and said, "A meager amount of money? Do you think I don't know how much you've profited from the family over the years? Your brothers-in-law are all famous rich men in Suzhou City now… I pretended not to see it before because you are all, after all, flesh and blood of the Ming family. According to ancestral rules, you're not allowed to take over the family business. Seeing you pitiful, I let you earn some money… But what is the situation now? Kneel down and listen to me!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone, including Ming Qingda, knelt in front of the two grand master chairs.

The Old Madam's voice was as chilling as a viper's tongue: "If the tree falls, will you monkeys be any good? I'll be blunt. If we don't get the bids tomorrow, even if our Ming family can last for a few more years, we'll eventually be reduced to scattered ashes. At this time, we can't allow ourselves to retreat. We can only advance… At this juncture, don't even think about hiding anything!"

The auntie-concubine looked at her sons in the courtyard with pity and tried to comfort the Old Madam, "Sister, don't be angry. They know what to do."

The Ming family gentlemen in the courtyard were terribly frightened, kowtowing repeatedly and admitting their mistakes.

"It's good that you know your mistakes." Old Madam Ming leaned back slowly in her chair, her eyelids half-closed, and said, "Go back later, and no matter what method you use, bring the silver to the accounting room before dawn tomorrow. Two hundred thousand taels per branch, except for the sixth who provides one hundred and fifty thousand taels."

As soon as these words were spoken, the second, fourth, and fifth sons had no objections, although they were still extremely distressed. But the third son wouldn't have it, and said with a stiff neck, "Mother, why does the sixth only have to pay one hundred and fifty thousand taels?"

The Old Madam glared at him and said, "The sixth is the youngest. He's been associating with the garrison commander in the last two years, and he likes wrestling, so he spends more money. What are you quibbling about with your younger brother?"

The third son snorted angrily and said stubbornly, "Don't I spend money on weekdays?"

In fact, everyone knew that the Old Madam was just favoring her youngest son, but anyone could say this except the third son, because the third son was the auntie-concubine's own son. Seeing that the situation was not good, the auntie-concubine repeatedly winked at the third son, but the third son was short of money recently and refused to bow his head.

The Old Madam was furious and scolded, "You only know how to spend money in brothels, and you even bring those prostitutes home. Is that money spent reasonably?"

From the miserable experiences of Xia Qifei and his mother, one could see that this Old Madam had a very persistent aversion to certain habits of men.

"What about the eldest brother?"

"I am the eldest son." Ming Qingda knelt on the ground, looking at his brothers with a smile and said, "Naturally, I have to contribute more. I'll provide five hundred thousand taels."

Hearing that their eldest brother had said this, the brothers couldn't say anything more. The Ming family gathering quickly broke up, and the brothers hurried out of the garden to raise money. Although they did have a lot of private savings, it was indeed a difficult task to raise these amounts overnight.

The third son of the Ming family walked out with his brothers, constantly complaining about his poverty, hoping that his brothers could help him. But everyone was busy taking care of themselves at this time, and with the Old Madam's strict orders, no one dared to slack off, let alone care about him!

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…

"Time is too tight."

The auntie-concubine had also returned to her courtyard at this time. Only the main branch remained in the Old Madam's courtyard. Ming Qingda frowned slightly and said, "The Imperial Envoy's move came so suddenly, it didn't give us much time to react."

Old Madam Ming glanced at her son and sighed, "Your reaction was good in the Internal Treasury mansion today. At least you bought us another night."

Ming Qingda shook his head with a wry smile: "One night is too short, and judging by Xia… Qifei's actions today, he probably has a lot of reserves. Tomorrow's battle will probably be extremely dangerous. Even if the brothers can raise enough money, it will only be another million taels or so, which may not be enough."

Ming Lan Shi, who was listening on the side, was dumbfounded, and questioned himself, "Father, in previous years, the eight lots were all won, and the 40% deposit was five million taels. This year, we had already prepared 20% more, and adding the million taels raised by the uncles, isn't that enough?"

Ming Qingda smiled wryly and said, "The biggest problem is that the Imperial Envoy knows that we definitely have to win these eight lots, so Xia Qifei can bid randomly, and production and sales are all their internal affairs. They can afford to lose money."

Ming Lan Shi sighed. He was a smart man and wouldn't ask why the Ming family had to compete for these lots. Regardless of the issue of power, the Dongyi City side would definitely require them to win the eight lots. Otherwise, the cost Dongyi City would pay for the Internal Treasury production each year would probably far exceed several million taels.

"Is there any news from the Taiping Qianzhuang?" Old Madam Ming, who had been silent for a while, suddenly spoke.

Ming Qingda replied calmly, "They didn't expect this situation either, so they are somewhat unprepared. Xia Qifei's money was all transferred from Taiping Qianzhuang. Now they can only issue us promissory notes, but they can't issue any more cash notes, and we need cash notes tomorrow… You know, they also have their concerns. Their manager has already come back to report that they can only draw out another 300,000 taels for me at most."

Old Madam Ming understood why. The bank notes issued by the money house always needed to be cashed. Xia Qifei had already issued a very large number of bank notes. Correspondingly, few dared to issue more, because the money house had to ensure that it had cash to pay, which was related to the most important reputation of the money house.

Of course, given the relationship between Dongyi City and the Ming family, if it weren't for such a tense situation, Taiping Qianzhuang could completely issue fake bank notes, but the risk was too great, and this method was too crude. Once Fan Xian was offended too severely, the Internal Treasury Transportation Department could completely use the Xia family's bank notes after the bidding and the Ming family's submitted bank notes to play a most shameless squeeze.

With so much money… even if Taiping Qianzhuang were gods, they couldn't possibly transfer it to Suzhou in a short time.

If so, Taiping Qianzhuang would be ruined.

Although Taiping Qianzhuang had extremely close economic ties with various countries, generally speaking, no country's Imperial Court would do such a ruthless thing, but the one in charge of the Internal Treasury bidding this time was Fan Xian, who was the most unpredictable and acted the most ruthlessly and domineeringly. Taiping Qianzhuang dared not take this risk for anything.

The courtyard fell into a deathly silence. The three generations of the Ming family were starting to feel a little nervous at this time. Was it really… were they really going to watch that Ming Lao Qi steal the Ming family's business tomorrow? Without the Internal Treasury's sales rights, the Ming family would only be a local tyrant with the most land, and could be slaughtered at any time.

This terrible fact made Old Madam Ming frown even more deeply. She suddenly thought of a name and said coldly, "Recently, has anyone from that Zhaoshang Qianzhuang come?"

Ming Lan Shi shook his head: "They know we are big clients of Taiping Qianzhuang, so they probed a few times and probably knew they couldn't sway us, so they retreated knowing it was impossible."

Old Madam Ming nodded subconsciously and said, "It seems… not as I imagined."

Because the Taiping Qianzhuang's accounting room had always been controlled by Old Madam Ming, Ming Qingda had always been the one who strongly advocated engaging with Zhaoshang Qianzhuang. Hearing his mother's words soften, he was secretly delighted, but said quietly on the surface: "They should be trustworthy. If there really were any problems, it shouldn't be this kind of approach."

Old Madam Ming frowned, as if she was thinking about a very difficult problem. After a long time, she said: "Send someone to Zhaoshang Qianzhuang, no, don't send someone, Lan Shi, you go personally, and see how much cash they can transfer out tonight."

"Yes, Mother." Ming Qingda smiled slightly, and asked hesitantly, "How should we deal with Xia Qifei?"

Old Madam Ming's face turned cold and said, "I don't know that person, and you don't know him either. None of us in the Ming family know him. Since that's the case, what do we need to deal with? Don't interfere in this matter, don't let the Imperial Envoy use this as an excuse to make a big deal out of it… Now the Imperial Envoy hopes that our Ming family will react violently, so we should be even more calm."

Ming Qingda bowed deeply and praised, "Mother is wise."

Ming Qingda had to handle the affairs of tomorrow's bidding and had to watch over the brothers in the accounting room. Ming Lan Shi had to enter the city to find that mysterious Zhaoshang Qianzhuang, which was rumored to have a Dongyi background, so he didn't stay in the courtyard for long. After saluting, he retreated.

Old Madam Ming watched her son and grandson walk out of the small courtyard, and her eyes suddenly changed from the previous sternness to the current fatigue. She tapped the armrest of the chair weakly with her little finger.

The close-fitting maid leaned in to the old woman's lips.

The old woman closed her eyes, her little finger still raised, and she didn't put it down for a long time, nor did she speak, as if she was weighing something important.

Xiao Qi? (Little Seventh)

At this time, in the old woman's tightly closed eyelids, a dark picture seemed to appear. In the picture, a woman with a charming face was turning and accepting under a familiar man, smiling at her self-importantly and proudly in front of her. The picture turned, and the woman gave birth to a child. She held the young baby and paraded around Ming Garden, her laughter like silver bells… floating, floating, all the way to the sky.

The old woman suddenly opened her eyes, her eyes full of icy coldness. Her little finger twitched excitedly and bent slightly.

At this moment, she remembered many things from those years, such as the beauty of the blood blossoms blooming when those heavy staffs fell on the woman's body. The woman was thrown into the well by herself. That day, the snowflakes were also floating, floating, all the way to the sky. That woman's corpse had probably long since turned into bones—rats were drilling on it, only making unpleasant sounds, and would never be able to make silver bell-like laughter, right?

After that old thing died, she was the one in charge of this family. After that woman died, that woman's child was not easy to kill. After all, he was nominally of the Ming family's blood. Fortunately, Qingda was ruthless, whipping him every day, finally whipping that child so that he couldn't bear the humiliation and pain, and ran out of Ming Garden one morning.

Perhaps that child would never know that she was watching him coldly behind the door at that time.

Perhaps that child would never know that she had already prepared assassins waiting outside Ming Garden to send him down the dry well to reunite with his mother.

But… why didn't that child die?

Why didn't he die!

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A trace of anger flashed in Old Madam Ming's cold eyes. Her finger, which had been raised and slightly bent, finally gently placed it on the back of the chair. At the same time, her slightly dry lips opened slightly, and she whispered to the maid who was attached to her lips: "Please invite Mr. Zhou."

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While Old Madam Ming was finally making up her mind, her son and grandson were walking side by side.

Ming Lan Shi looked at his father with admiration and said, "Are you saying that grandma will definitely make a move against that bastard?"

"What bastard?" Ming Qingda had a kind smile on his face, "That's your seventh uncle. Although he's our enemy now, he's always your own seventh uncle."

Ming Lan Shi smiled self-deprecatingly and suddenly frowned and asked: "Killing seventh uncle can certainly completely settle this matter… But, how will the Imperial Envoy react? Even if Junshan Association has strength, it can't rebel."

"Your grandma is old." Ming Qingda sighed, "From the beginning, the methods she used were wrong."

Ming Lan Shi shook his head.

Ming Qingda suddenly smiled and said: "However, her mistakes do not represent the Ming family's mistakes… If your seventh uncle is not so lucky this time, it may not all be bad things. Don't worry too much, I have a sense of measure."

This nominal owner of the Ming family sneered in his heart, let that Junshan Association that he could never control and the Overwatch Council collide. As cunning as he was, he naturally had a way to clean up this mess, but he didn't know what methods he would use.

"Sixth uncle got a good deal again this time." Ming Lan Shi suddenly mocked.

Ming Qingda patted his son's shoulder lovingly and comforted him: "Old people always like the youngest son the most… Of course, it must be her own."

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When the Ming family was in a mess, and at the same time, there were many rats glaring at each other in this pot of warm porridge, with the intention of trampling each other to death, the youngest son of the Ming family, Ming Qingcheng, now the commander of the Jiangnan Water Village, and the secret Jiangnan Patrol Division Supervisor of the Overwatch Council's Fourth Division, was standing on the highest floor of Jiangnan Ju in Suzhou City.

He stood by the railing, gently stroking the wooden railing, looking thoughtfully at a certain place outside the city, which used to be his home, a home he hadn't returned to for many years—Ming Garden.

The gathering of Jiangnan merchants was over. Although everyone hadn't set any specific rules, judging from the greedy eyes of the Xion family of Lingnan and the Sun family of Quanzhou, Xia Qifei knew that Lord Tisi's plan had worked. Tomorrow, the Ming family would not only face his attack, but also the offensive from those similar to the combined Xiong and Sun families. Merchants always want to eat meat. If they are too hungry, who cares whose meat it is?

Xia Qifei narrowed his eyes slightly. Ming Garden was too far away. Standing on the high top floor of Jiangnan Ju, he couldn't see the lights clearly.

Today was the most unrestrained and fulfilling day he had lived since he was lucky enough to survive in this world. He finally proudly said his name in front of everyone, Ming Qingcheng.

Compared to this, the pleasure of smashing people with money, breaking away from the identity of a Jianghu person, and standing on the stage of Qing Kingdom, these things were nothing.

As long as he could say his real name, it was equivalent to slapping that vicious old woman of the Ming family in the face. This pleasure of revenge overshadowed everything, making Xia Qifei infinitely grateful to Fan Xian. Even though Fan Xian had sent seven swordsmen tonight, he didn't feel the slightest displeasure.

He was intoxicated and saddened by everything that happened today, so much so that this tycoon of Jianghu didn't notice that there were several strange people on the opposite street.