“Mother, didn’t you say last time that you would use your life to protect the Ming family?”

Ming Qingda squatted down and put his hand on the wrinkled hand of Old Lady Ming. A fleeting trace of guilt flashed in his eyes, and then they became ferocious and vicious.

“When you get old, why don’t you just take a good rest and enjoy your old age? Why do you still worry about family affairs?” Ming Qingda pulled out his hand, which had marks of strangulation due to excessive force, stared at the old face that made him feel uneasy for a while, and stood up expressionlessly.

“You didn’t cry when your father died. Now that you’re dead, don’t expect your son to cry either.”

Not far outside Ming Garden, the maidservant beside Old Madam Ming heard that there was no movement in the garden, so she crouched down and walked in tremblingly with a look of panic on her face.

Ming Qingda stood with his hands behind his back beside the dead old woman, murderous intent in his eyes. He called his mother’s maid, his voice as cold as snow.

“You know what to do.”

The head maid sobbed and trembled as she said, “I know that the old lady… hanged herself.”

Ming Qingda shook his head and looked fiercely at the maid who was unable to stand steadily: “What’s the reason? How did my mother die?”

“The inner treasury…is in deficit, and the imperial envoy has requested a new tender to switch…to switch the marketing rights. Old Lady Ming felt that she had let the country down and had failed…to manage the business with all her heart, so she hanged herself in order to atone for her sins.” The head maid wiped her tears and fearfully said the words she had memorized long ago. The fear in her heart reached its peak.

Ming Qingda finally showed a triumphant smile on his gloomy face: “Very good, remember, when others are in front of you, you have to cry more realistically like you do in front of me.”

After saying this, Ming Qingda walked out of Ming Garden as if nothing had happened, feeling relieved. He would never have to come to this haunted garden again.

The Ming family is so big, but he has to come to this broken garden to suffer every day. It is such a great injustice.

Ming Qingda laughed coldly and said, “Mother, the good reputation you have built up for half your life is finally going to come in handy. The common people and gentry in Jiangnan will come to you to seek redress for your grievances.”

“In short, don’t worry, no one can take away what belongs to the Ming family.”

……

On the other side of Suzhou City, Ming Lanshi, with complicated thoughts, would never have thought that his father had done such a cruel thing.

At this moment, he was sitting on a stone bench in the riverside manor, trying his best to digest the words of the imperial envoy sitting opposite him.

After thinking for a long time, Ming Lanshi couldn’t help but remember what his father said outside Ming Garden: the imperial envoy would definitely not let the Ming family go.

“Lord Lin, do you really want to let the Ming family go?” Ming Lanshi finally asked, expressing the doubts in his heart.

“Although the Ming family is responsible for the deficit in the inner treasury, they have not done anything heinous, so it is not necessary for me to negotiate whether to let them go or not.” Lin Ruo smiled and said:

“What a joke, Young Master Ming.”

Ming Lanshi smiled bitterly, his expression was very stiff, and his hands in his sleeves seemed a little at a loss. He said with a guilty look: “My Ming family has a lot of responsibility for the deficit in the inner treasury. We are really ashamed of the trust of the court.”

“So there’s no problem with me re-bidding, right?” Lin Ruo took a sip of tea and said lightly.

Ming Lanshi bowed his head and said, “Your Excellency is re-bidding for the sake of the country, so there is no problem, but please give our Ming family a chance.”

“I believe that after learning from this lesson, the Ming family’s business operations will improve greatly in the future, and they will definitely do more for our Qing country.”

Lin Ruo nodded and comforted him, “Young Master Ming, there is no need to feel guilty. I believe the princess had her reasons for choosing your Ming family as the marketer of the inner treasury’s industries.” Ming Lanshi was startled. The princess’s words made him secretly think that the imperial envoy was referring to the Ming family.

“Princess… ever since the inner treasury was announced to have a new owner, the Ming family and the princess have had very little contact.” Ming Lanshi said against his conscience.

He and his father may have had few interactions with the eldest princess, but his grandmother had an extraordinary relationship with the eldest princess. As for the Junshan Society, most of the money was actually paid by his grandmother and was run with the financial resources of the Ming family.

Many assassins in the Junshan Society had worked for the Ming family and done many shameful things.

However, in recent years, as the Ming family gradually got rid of the secret black pawn business, Ming Lanshi rarely saw the assassins of Junshan Society around her grandmother.

“So that’s how it is. The eldest princess is no longer concerned with worldly affairs in Xinyang. It’s right for the Ming family not to disturb her.” Lin Ruo said with great appreciation.

Ming Lanshi quickly agreed, “Your Excellency is right. We should stick to business and not trouble outsiders for everything.”

“That’s not true. Sometimes businesses still need government support. After all, the inner treasury business is not a private residence business.” Lin Ruo suddenly retorted.

Hearing this, Ming Lanshi was delighted and flattered, “Yes, yes, I hope Master Lin can take care of the Ming family’s business in the future. With your guidance, it will surely prosper.”

He had no reason not to feel that the imperial envoy’s words and hints indicated that eradicating the Ming family was not the main intention, but that the real intention was to make the Ming family find a new backer.

Ming Lanshi easily accepted this point of view. It was easy for him to break away from the eldest princess.

He also had reasons to convince his father. After all, the eldest princess was in danger now, and making a choice was necessary.

It’s just that the grandmother at home… Thinking of this, Ming Lanshi couldn’t help but feel a headache. It would be difficult for his grandmother to agree with his ideas.

“The bidding for the inner treasury will be held as scheduled, and it will still follow the previous rules. The highest bidder wins. Young Master Ming, go back and prepare well. I have never met the head of the Ming family and old lady Ming, but I still have expectations for you.” Lin Ruo said finally.

Ming Lanshi remembered these words deeply. He left the house by the West Lake, got on the carriage, and went back with mixed feelings in his heart, thinking about how to tell these words to his father.

After a sway, the carriage was stopped again. Ming Lanshi was furious. He opened the curtain and was about to curse, but he saw that the people who stopped the carriage were servants from the Ming Mansion.

The servant had a tearful look on his face, and after trembling for a long time, he said, “Young Master, something big happened in the mansion. Old Madam Ming…”

Ming Lanshi had a bad feeling, so he grabbed the curtain tightly and said in a stern voice, “What’s wrong with grandma? Tell me quickly.”

“Old Lady Ming hanged herself.” The servant said this in great sorrow and almost knelt down.

Ming Lanshi’s heart sank suddenly, but he did not immediately show the sadness he should have felt. Instead, his face showed a look of heavy thought.

In an instant, many things flooded his mind, what Lin Ruo said to him, what his father said to him.

After pulling the curtain shut, Ming Lanshi began to cry and murmured to herself, “Father, what have you done?”

Then he shouted loudly outside: “Go back, go back to Ming Mansion immediately.”

(End of this chapter)