FID – Chapter 624

Chapter 624: You say she’s crazy, and she is crazy

Actually, if one really thought about it, it wouldn’t be impossible to come up with a solution.

It was just that Liu Yusheng really didn’t want to believe that, just after the disaster and with the winery still in its early stages, someone would immediately cause trouble to harm the winery’s interests and bring a bad influence to it.

“Lucky Nannan, you must not be soft-hearted this time. You need to set an example to deter others, or else people in the winery will start copying this behavior, and it will inevitably lead to a big commotion.”

Liu Yusheng looked up and saw that both of them were frowning at her. She couldn’t help but laugh, “Why the frown? Do you really think I’m the type of person who can’t make clear judgments?”

“We’re not worried that you can’t make a judgment, we’re worried that it will be hard for you.”

Both of them knew that the young woman was someone who valued emotions deeply, especially when it came to the villagers, with whom she had a special bond.

If this issue blew up and it was related to someone from Xinghua Village, Liu Yusheng and her family, especially her elderly parents, wouldn’t know how much damage they would suffer.

That situation was something none of them wanted to even think about.

“Don’t worry, there’s nothing hard about it. When someone makes a mistake, they must be punished. The winery’s rules and regulations need to be clear in rewarding and punishing to ensure people are disciplined and things are done properly.” Liu Yusheng paused for a moment, “And, I believe this matter definitely has nothing to do with Xinghua Village.”

The people working in the winery in the village had practically watched her grow up. They understood her character, and she, in turn, understood the character of the elders.

From start to finish, she had never suspected the Xinghua Village Winery.

“The wine being secretly sold off the market is a flaw in our management. After we return, we’ll have to sort things out, and there may be resistance. We’ll discuss it slowly once we’re back.”

“Once the government clears up the investigation, we’ll head back.”

The three of them nodded in agreement.

At this moment, in the capital, hundreds of miles away, a man’s gaze grew colder and colder after reading the secret letter in his hand.

The two elders of the Liu family had been kidnapped in Yunzhou, and he had only learned of the news nearly ten days later.

Although the bandits had all been killed and the trail of the incident had gone cold, Liu Zhixia still had doubts in his heart and eventually reported the matter, asking for his help in investigating it.

The most suspicious point was that, according to the bandits’ usual behavior, they had kidnapped the people without demanding any ransom or benefits, nor did they immediately kill the hostages. Furthermore, from Liu Muqiu’s account, he had learned an important piece of information: if nothing unusual had happened, there would have been someone coming at noon to exchange the hostages for silver.

Who was that person? 

What was their purpose in bribing the bandits to kidnap the couple? 

Just because Liu Zhixia had no lead, it didn’t mean Feng Qingbei couldn’t find one.

The Liu family had always kept a low profile and treated others with kindness, and they had no known enemies.

Even the Liu clan of the capital, once prominent, had already fallen. Liu Huai had been executed a month ago, and they no longer had the means to make a comeback.

Beyond that, there was no one with a significant grudge against the Liu family.

It was even more unlikely that businesspeople would target the Liu family. Given the power behind the Liu family now, those merchants wouldn’t dare make any underhanded moves.

So the most likely explanation was that the Liu family had still been dragged into this because of him.

Looking again at the newly delivered secret letter, Feng Qingbei coldly curved his lips.

Zuo Xuan.

He hadn’t expected that the person who had lost a leg would still be so ambitious, extending their reach so far.

It was his oversight—he had underestimated the woman.

“Someone, what’s happening at the Ding family’s residence?”

“Master, there’s been no movement for now. Zuo Xuan discovered she was pregnant last month and has been staying in Ding’s residence ever since, keeping to herself. However, Ding Wenlin’s cousin is also pregnant at the same time, but they’ve kept it hidden for now, and no one knows about it.”

Feng Qingbei smiled coldly.

In the large estate, both the concubine and the legitimate wife were pregnant. Naturally, the concubine had to keep it hidden, or how else could she protect her unborn child?

“Send the news to Zuo Xuan’s ears.”

“Yes, Master.”

Once Zuo Xuan finds out that the concubine was pregnant, given her temperament, she absolutely wouldn’t do anything about it. 

Ding Wenlin and his cousin, the concubine, shared a deep bond. If the concubine was harmed, Zuo Xuan would definitely not be unaffected.

When a man, no matter how mild-mannered, could no longer tolerate something, he would go mad.

As for the innocent child… Feng Qingbei glanced out the window. There was no such thing as innocence after being caught in this whirlwind; it was all about fate.

“Wei Zi, once things settle over there, cripple Zuo Xuan’s other leg. I want her so crippled that she will never be able to leave her room again.”

“Yes, master.”

Wei Zi replied without any expression.

If not for the fact that Zuo Xuan still had the powerful support of her father, Prime Minister Zuo; it wasn’t the right time to act. 

The order given by Feng Qingbai was likely to be a direct sentence on Zuo Xuan’s life.

However, making a young woman in her teens spend the rest of her life lying in bed, needing others to take care of her every need—eating, drinking, and even going to the toilet—would be far more torturous for someone like Zuo Xuan than death.

And with Ding Wenlin, who had been provoked, by her side… Well, those days would be quite something.

In the palace, upon seeing the late arrival of his Imperial Uncle, Feng Mohan immediately straightened up, trying to adjust her slumped posture. “Uncle, why did you arrive so late?”

“I wasn’t here, so you have more time to slack off.”

His excuse exposed, Feng Mohan tried to maintain his composure. “I’ve already finished my studies and reviewed many memorials.”

Walking over to the long desk, Feng Qingbei flipped through several memorials that only had the word ‘Reviewed’ written on them. “You said many, are you referring to these few?”

“…” Feng Mohan lowered his gaze, his head dropping to his chest.

“Start reviewing now. I’ll be watching from the side.” After saying that, Feng Qingbei pushed a tall pile of documents in front of the young man, casually sat to the side, and really just crossed his arms, slacking off.

Feng Mohan was stunned. Where was the energetic, hardworking Imperial Uncle who used to push him so hard?

“Imperial Uncle, I’m very slow at this. It might take me two or three days to go through all of this.” 

Uncle, help me out here! Don’t you want to go see Aunt Liu? If I don’t finish, you can’t leave!

“It’s fine. If you don’t finish today, you can continue tomorrow. The pile of documents will keep growing, and you can sleep for four hours only when they’re all reviewed.”

“What if I can’t finish them?”

“Then you’ll be like me, sleeping only one hour a day.”

“…”

Feng Mohan was completely deflated.

So, if he slacked off, he was just punishing himself.

His Imperial Uncle had changed his approach, and for a moment, he didn’t know how to respond.

Resigned, he picked up the brush and opened a document that would give him a headache just by looking at it. Feng Mohan quickly wrote the word ‘Reviewed’ on it.

“Imperial Uncle, there’s trouble again at Qingning Palace. How come that old woman hasn’t gone mad yet?”

Ever since the downfall of the Liu family in the capital and Liu Huai’s execution, Qingning Palace had been causing disturbances from time to time, but no one had paid it any attention.

Still, hearing about it from the eunuchs every day was starting to get annoying.

Feng Qingbei closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair to rest. “You’re the emperor. If you say she’s mad, then she’s mad.”

Feng Mohan’s eyes lit up. “To prevent the madwoman from harming anyone, she should be sent to the Cold Palace and guarded!”

Indeed, he was the emperor. If he declared that Dowager Consort Liu had gone mad, who could contradict him?

The current Dowager Consort Liu was not the same as before. Even Prime Minister Zuo had severed ties with her. Who would still stand up for her now?