Jinghong Tower

Chapter 378 Changes in Jinghong Tower

At night, He Ran had just fallen asleep when Xiaoli's voice came from outside the tent: "Boss, He Jiangqi is here."

He Ran's heart moved. On her way south, she learned that Wu Dongming and his son had fallen out, and Wu Ji had stationed troops in Xi'an. She then sent He Jiangqi to Xi'an secretly to find out what was going on.

Although there is Jinghong Tower in Xi'an, if the Wu father and son take any action, they will definitely avoid Jinghong Tower. Besides, she has a hunch that Jinghong Tower in Xi'an is hiding something.

When it comes to spying on military intelligence, she thought the Eagle Team was more professional, so she sent He Jiangqi to Xi'an.

"Let her wait a moment." He Ran said.

A moment later, He Ran saw He Jiangqi.

He Jiangqi looked exhausted, but his eyes were bright and he looked energetic.

"Jiang Qi, thank you for your hard work along the way."

He Ran asked Xiaoli to bring some food over, and she and He Jiangqi talked while eating.

He Jiangqi thanked her, and as Xiaoli had just left, He Jiangqi couldn't wait to report on his trip to the Northwest.

"Master, the Wu family's father and son are really at odds with each other. There are two main reasons for the conflict. One is that Wu Dongming and Wu Ji have different political views. The other is that Wu Ji's new wife made Wu Dongming very disappointed. The new wife's adoptive father is Xi'an General He Zhi. Therefore, Wu Dongming took his men to Xi'an and started a new business."

He Ran was stunned: "Wu Ji got married? Why didn't I receive a wedding invitation?"

Given her relationship with Wu Dongming, even if it was just for face, for such a big thing, Wu Dongming would send her a wedding invitation regardless of whether she went to the wedding or not.

He Jiangqi explained: "We got married, but it was a private engagement."

He Ran nodded. No wonder Wu Dongming was dissatisfied. With Wu Ji's status, how could he marry whoever he wanted? Even if it was not a strong alliance, it would still play a role in winning over others.

"He Zhi, the general of Xi'an? I seem to remember that Wu Dongming thinks highly of this He Zhi. Why would he disagree with the marriage between the two families?" He Ran was puzzled.

He Jiangqi looked at her, wanting to say something but stopping herself. He Ran smiled and said, "Jiangqi, when did you learn to read people's expressions? Don't forget, you are the Eagle of the Eagle Team."

He Jiangqi was startled, stood up and clasped his fists: "Boss, Jiang Qi doesn't read people's expressions, Jiang Qi just doesn't know what to say."

He Ran said, "Then just say whatever comes to mind."

He Jiangqi no longer hesitated and said, "Boss, He Zhi's goddaughter is most likely He Shuting, the second daughter of the Zhending He family."

He Ran was shocked. He Shuming was murdered that year, and the murderer was He Shuting. After that, He Shuting disappeared, and even He Shuqiao didn't know her whereabouts.

Now He Shuqiao has been selected to go to Qingcang Mountain for training, and He Ran has almost forgotten about He Shuting.

I didn’t expect that she would be in Xi’an!
"Tell me in detail why you suspect she is He Shuting." He Ran said.

He Jiangqi had never seen He Shuting before, whether she was in Zhending or Jinyang.

He Jiangqi is the captain of the Eagle Team. She carries out important and dangerous missions and does not stay in Jinyang for a long time. As for He Ran's life experience, she, like most people, only knows that the head of the team, He, is from the Zhending He family, which is a scholarly family.

After she arrived in Xi'an, while investigating Mrs. Wu Ji, she unexpectedly learned that this Mrs. He was also from Zhending.

There are many people with the surname He in Qingcang Mountain, and there are also many people with the surname He in Ran Army. Most of these people with the surname He are related to Mr. He. So what about Madam He, who is also from Zhending like Mr. He?

He Jiangqi bribed the maid of He Zhi's family and finally found out the background of Mrs. He.

The maid heard the conversation between He Zhi and his wife, and learned that the former Miss He, now Mrs. He, was the half-sister of Mr. He!

He Jiangqi was greatly shocked and went to Yulin to inquire about the news. It was soon confirmed that He Shuting was indeed the biological sister of He Ran.

The reason why Wu Dongming did not agree to this marriage was also because of He Shuting's background.

Because He Shuting eloped from Jinyang with Wu Ji!
As early as when Wu Dongming formed an alliance with He Ran, he had already sent people to Zhending to inquire about the He family.

Not only did he find out about the real and fake daughter, he also found out that Mr. He had remarried during his mourning period, and that this He Shuting was conceived during his original wife's mourning period.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the child was born out of adultery.

The matter of the real and fake daughter was fine for fooling the ladies in the market, but for a seasoned man like Wu Dongming, who was he trying to fool when the real daughter was swapped out? It was obvious that Master He had exchanged his own flesh and blood for his new wife. He Ran was most likely abandoned but not destined to die, so she was picked up by He Jinghong and raised to adulthood.

If it were a few years ago, Wu Dongming still had the confidence to compete with He Ran, but now, he has long given up this idea.

He Ran's power is growing. If the Wu family can always rely on He Ran without any second thoughts, they can keep their home in the northwest in the future. If they have a good relationship with him, they can get a king of a different surname and be rich for at least three generations.

Wu Dongming is old and injured, and all he wants now is to live in peace with He Ran.

If they could marry into a family alliance with He Ran, that would be the best. Even if He Ran looked down on her two sons, there were so many female officials under He Ran's command. Picking any one to marry her son would strengthen the relationship. When they had several children in the future, some would be sent to He Ran's command, and some would stay in Yulin to inherit the family business. The relationship would become more and more stable, and within at least three generations, no one would be able to replace the Wu family's position in the northwest.

Wu Dongming's candidate for daughter-in-law had long since changed from He Ran to the female generals under He Ran's command.

Wu Dongming also believed that as long as there was a suitable candidate, He Ran would agree to this marriage. After all, even if He Ran did not trust the Wu family, she would trust the female generals he promoted.

As for He Shuting, although she is He Ran's sister, in He Ran's eyes, she is probably not even half as good as those female generals. Marrying such a thing into the family is not a marriage of alliance, it is an offense, and the one offended is He Ran!
Therefore, Wu Dongming flatly opposed it, leaving no chance for easing.

But Wu Ji seemed to be possessed and was determined to find He Shuting.

For this reason, Wu Dongming beat Wu Ji. Wu Ji, without saying a word, led a team to Xi'an and married He Shuting without Wu Dongming's consent!

When Wu Dongming heard the news, the two were already husband and wife. Wu Dongming was so angry that he vomited blood and lay in bed for half a month.

He Jiangqi was not good at speaking and his words were very plain, but He Ran was still dumbfounded.

Wu Ji is actually a romantic man?
I didn't expect that a man like Wu Dongming could raise such a romantic person.

And there is He Shuting. I really underestimated her before.

Come to think of it, this girl was able to run from Zhending to Jinyang with her brother at such a young age, and faced many dangers along the way, which shows that she is determined. He Ran thought for a moment, and when she saw that He Jiangqi seemed to have something to say, she said, "Just say it directly, don't hesitate, that's not the style of the Eagle Team."

He Jiangqi said: "Boss, I suspect there is something wrong with the people in Xi'an Jinghong Tower."

He Ran frowned slightly: "Tell me in detail, what did you find."

The head manager of Xi'an Jinghonglou is Pinggu, who is also Xiaokui's goddaughter. He Ran has never met her.

He Jiangqi said, "These are the news I got. It's not difficult to find out. Moreover, the He Zhi couple did not avoid the maids and servants when they talked about this matter at home, which means they did not regard this matter as a secret. With the ability of Jinghong Tower, it will be easy to find out."

He Ran nodded. He Jiangqi was right. There was no reason why He Jiangqi could find out the information when he first arrived in Xi'an, but Jinghonglou, the local boss, could not find out the information.

"Have you ever been to Jinghong Tower in Xi'an?" He Ran asked.

He Jiangqi snorted coldly: "It is because I went there that I became more suspicious.

Boss, after I arrived in Xi'an, I went to Jinghong Tower to ask for an audience with the chief manager. The one who received me was a steward named Zhang Liansheng. It turned out that the chief manager Ping was ill, and the affairs of Jinghong Tower were temporarily managed by Zhang Liansheng.

Zhang Liansheng asked me what important business brought me to Xi'an. I said I was passing by Xi'an and came to see the shopkeeper Ping. So Zhang Liansheng asked someone to take me to visit the shopkeeper Ping, and then I said goodbye.

But since then I found that someone was following me. I found an opportunity to capture the person who was following me and forced him to tell me who sent him. He said that he was a fellow disciple from Jinghong Tower and that he was worried that a weak woman like me would not be safe outside alone, so he protected me secretly.

Haha, how could I not know if it’s tracking or protection?

I released him, and on the surface I was still living in the inn, but in fact I had moved, and my things in the inn had been rummaged through. Obviously, they were still monitoring me, but I hid my tracks and quietly went to Yulin. "

He Ran asked, "Did you see Pinggu? What disease did she have? What did you say to her?"

He Jiangqi said, "Pinggu fell off a horse and injured her leg. But I saw that she looked very bad and had no energy. When she learned that I was from Hejia Village, she was very happy and managed to talk to me for a while. By the way, Zhang Liansheng is Pinggu's son-in-law, and Pinggu trusts him very much."

In the Ran Army, the Eagle Team is a special existence. Even most people in the Ran Army are unaware of the existence of the Eagle Team.

Here, the Eagle Team will not reveal their identities when they are on the move. For example, when He Jiangqi went to Jinghong Tower in Xi'an, she used the sign of the He family caravan to prove her identity.

The He family caravan originated from Hejia Village and its history can be traced back to the time when He Jinghong was still alive. In the early years, they sold the mountain products of Hejia Village to the outside and then bought paper, cloth and other items needed by the villagers.

Later, when He Ran returned, the caravan had changed. Now He Shaolin was in charge of the caravan. The main items purchased by the He caravan were medicinal materials. All the Jinghonglou in various places had received orders that as long as the people from the He caravan arrived, they would be responsible for receiving them, but they were not allowed to interfere with the work of the caravan.

Therefore, He Jiangqi went to purchase medicinal materials. Jinghonglou could receive her but would not protect her secretly.

After seeing He Jiangqi off, He Ran wrote letters to Xinggu and Taogu respectively, asking them to go to Xi'an secretly to check the situation in Jinghong Tower and giving them the right to act as they see fit.

After arranging this matter, Feng Zan and Lu Zhen brought good news that all prefectures, states and counties in Jiangnan had completed the change of flags.

In the next few days, He Ran was very busy. Feng Zan and Lu Zhen led the army to Jinling. At the same time, Feng Xieying led his team to Jinling, and He Yamin came with him.

He Yamin came to open a printing studio. Once the printing studio was opened, the people of Jinling would be able to see the latest printed morning and evening papers.

Zhong Yi's screening of Jinling has achieved initial success. It took ten days for the people of Jinling to re-register their household registration, and every household received a new identity card.

Zhou Yuan, who had been living in the inn, finally received good news.

He Ran named him Prince of Pingyang and gave him his own house in Zhoujiabao. If he wanted to expand it into a royal palace in the future, that would be his own business.

Don't underestimate this house. For Zhou Yuan, the significance of this house is not just a place to live, but it means that this branch of his family can return to Zhoujiabao!

He has the dignity of a prince, and returning to Zhoujiabao means taking over the Zhou clan.

The elders of Zhoujiabao have not done anything good over the years. It is time to find someone to take care of them.

Zhou Yuan has status, is able to endure, is courageous, and can judge the situation. He Ran is very optimistic about him.

As for the original assets of the Songjiang Palace, Zhou Yuan said that he wanted to donate it all. He Ran was embarrassed to take it all, but of course, she was reluctant to give it up, so she only accepted a small amount of 150,000 taels of silver.

Zhou Yuan was extremely grateful. The throne of Prince Songjiang had been blocked by the royal family for many years. Originally, he had no hope and just wanted to return to his homeland with his family.

Unexpectedly, He Ran not only allowed him to return to Jin, but also conferred him the title of Prince of Pingjiang County, and allowed him to take away most of the family property. It was impossible to say that he was not grateful.

As for the head of the Lu family, he had finally prepared all the military supplies worth 300,000 taels.

In order to raise the three hundred thousand taels, the Lu family mobilized all the connections they could. Fortunately, the in-laws and old friends all gave them face, and the three hundred thousand taels of silver were raised.

But having silver without rice is not enough. There were always wars in those days, and many times, even if you had silver, you couldn't buy rice.

Rice merchants will hoard rice at this time.

Several masters of the Lu family took the trouble to go to Jiujiang, Wuxi and Wuhu to persuade rice merchants in these places to open their warehouses and sell rice.

Less than a month later, shiploads of rice and grain finally arrived in Jinling.

He Ran was overjoyed. It was indeed the right thing to let the right person do the right thing.

Only a wealthy local family like the Lu family could raise all the military rations in a short period of time.

The four people who were locked in the small dark room finally waited for the day when they could see the light again.

Before dawn, the four were dumped at a T-junction outside the city.

The four people crawled out of the pocket and looked at the surrounding environment. Madam He opened her mouth and wanted to cry, but as soon as her mouth opened, she suddenly thought of her identity and forced herself to hold back the tears.

Old Man Yu didn't even look at them. Although he was also put into a pocket and thrown out, those people put another bag in when they put him in their pockets.

Old man Yu opened the bag, and inside were four soft and glutinous rice cakes and a large chicken leg wrapped in oil paper, in addition to ten taels of silver!