After many days, Ji Yunxi finally returned to the capital city of Southern Yan.
Feng Xingzhi didn't dare to stay for a moment and went straight into the palace.
Feng Jiangming had received Ji Yuchen's letter and learned about their experiences in Xuan City. However, the matter of the arms was still unclear. Seeing his younger brother return safely, he felt greatly relieved.
"After being away for so long, you finally remember to come back?"
Feng Jiangming originally wanted to speak nicely and not blame his younger brother and sister for leaving without saying goodbye. But when he saw Feng Xingzhi and thought of his days of worry, he couldn't help but make a few sarcastic remarks.
"Your Majesty, it's all my fault."
He rarely saw Feng Xingzhi being so obedient. For a moment, he was a bit stunned. After a while, he put his fist to his mouth embarrassedly and coughed: "Alright, alright, get up. I didn't say I was blaming you. Where's Jiuge?"
Feng Xingzhi stood up: "Jiuge has returned to the palace to pack up. She should come over soon. I came here first because I have something important to tell you."
His expression was solemn. It was obvious that there was something urgent. Feng Jiangming's heart suddenly tightened, and his right eye kept twitching.
"Tell me first if it's good news or bad news?"
"Bad news."
"Hiss!" Feng Jiangming gasped: "Alright."
He glanced at the servants around. After all the sensible servants had left, he let Feng Xingzhi speak.
"Your Majesty, when we went to Xuan City to rescue Jiuge, we took away the son of Sang Yuanyi, a great general of Northern Di."
"… This is a minor matter. It was he who offended us first. Could a general of Northern Di really cause any big trouble?"
"But we brought him back because the Sang family has been selling arms to Southern Yan."
Feng Jiangming's face suddenly turned stern: "What did you say?!"
"Our intelligence is correct. Every once in a while, the Sang family would sell a large number of arms outside the city to people with Southern Yan accents. Their methods were blatant and they didn't even try to hide it. The cart tracks of the other side also pointed straight in the direction of Southern Yan. We still don't know who the specific buyer is."
At this moment, Feng Jiangming no longer had his usual gentle attitude. The aura of an emperor emerged: "Come here! Order Prime Minister Ji, the magistrate of the capital city, and the commander of the imperial guards to enter the palace immediately to meet the emperor!"
Ji Yuchen had just returned to the prime minister's mansion. He had just changed out of his travel - worn clothes when he was called into the palace.
Not long after he left, Lu Shu came back with the latest news.
"Master, according to the spies in Xuan City, the guests in Sang Qingzhou's mansion have gathered. General Sang Yuanyi of Northern Di has also led his troops on the way. However, the number of troops is unknown."
Lu Shu was rarely a bit nervous: "Master, what should we do?"
Ji Yunxi put down the cup in her hand and sneered: "What should we do? Nothing. His son is in our hands. What he's doing now is just trying to put pressure on us. But he doesn't even know where we've locked up his son."
"It's just a display of impotent rage."
"That's true. Even if he really comes to demand his son back, no one knows that it was us who took him away."
Lu Shu let out a sigh of relief. Then he heard Ji Yunxi say: "Alright, don't relax either. Since he dared to lead his troops directly, it shows that Sang Yuanyi has had impure thoughts for a long time. You write an anonymous letter to tell him that as long as he dares to take action, I'll immediately kill his son and execute him by slow slicing!"
"As you say, Master. I'll go and do it right away."
After seeing Lu Shu off, Ji Yunxi called the steward.
"During the days when my brother and I were away from the mansion, was there anything unusual?"
"Everything was fine."
Ji Yunxi nodded. Suddenly, she remembered that she hadn't seen her second brother since she came back: "Where is my second brother now?"
The steward thought for a moment: "After the second young master came back, he went to the study and hasn't come out yet."
Ji Yunxi thought of the extra people in the study. She got up and was about to go to the study when she was stopped by the steward.
"Miss, during the days when you and the two young masters were away, would you like to go and check the warehouse?"
This was a rule in the inner courtyard to prevent family thieves while the master was away.
Ji Yunxi originally thought that the servants left in the family had served for many years and there should be no problem. But since the steward had brought it up, she might as well go and take a look.
As she spoke, she followed the steward to the door of the warehouse, with Chunyuan closely behind.
The big door of the warehouse opened. Ji Yunxi led Chunyuan in. There were red wooden boxes on the ground.
Most of the treasures in these boxes were the betrothal gifts that Feng Xingzhi had sent after the engagement. There were not many that actually belonged to the Ji family.
"Miss, I feel something is wrong, but I can't put my finger on it."
Chunyuan frowned. As Ji Yunxi's personal maid, she had seen these betrothal gifts countless times. Although she couldn't tell exactly what was missing, she could tell at a glance if the quantity had changed.
Ji Yunxi saw the box that she was pointing at. She walked over, squatted down, and rummaged through it. Suddenly, her heart skipped a beat.
A pair of hairpins was missing.
Those hairpins were made of the night pearls from the East Sea and were extremely dazzling. Before, when Ji Yuyan was caught by her, she was holding exactly that pair of hairpins.
As if thinking of something, Ji Yunxi immediately stood up and looked around. Sure enough, all the things that Ji Yuyan had taken a fancy to and even stolen before were now gone.
"Steward!"
The steward outside was startled and quickly walked in.
"Has anyone been here?" Ji Yunxi's expression wasn't good, but her tone was relatively calm.
The steward frowned and shook his head: "Reply to the miss, no one has ever been here."
"Have you heard any strange noises?"
"The guards outside have high spiritual power cultivation. They haven't heard anything."
A hint of suspicion rose in Ji Yunxi's heart.
The steward was a bit nervous and asked: "Has something happened?"
His voice was a bit trembling. Ji Yunxi didn't want to worry this old man who had taken care of her since childhood, so she shook her head and didn't say a word.
On the way back to her room, Chunyuan whispered: "Miss, something must have been lost. Why don't you investigate?"
"This matter needs further discussion... I'll go to my second brother's place first."
Saying that, she turned around and walked in the direction of the study.
Ji Yunyi had just come out of the secret room. He had mocked Sang Qingzhou and finally felt better.
As soon as he opened the door, he saw his sister come in. She also dismissed the servants around.
Seeing her frowning tightly, Ji Yunyi guessed that something must have happened.
"Second brother, I just went to the warehouse. Some things are missing."
"Ah? Could there be a family thief?"
Ji Yunxi grabbed her brother who was about to call someone: "What's missing are all the things that Ji Yuyan wanted to steal before. She was caught by me and then replaced them."
Ji Yunyi's eyes instantly widened. He understood. His sister was saying that Ji Yuyan had come back!
"This... Could it be that she's back? But that's impossible. I remember that I found people with relatively high spiritual power cultivation to guard the door of the warehouse. She has low cultivation. She couldn't have gotten in without anyone noticing."
Ji Yunxi's eyes turned completely cold: "That's right. It's impossible for her to improve so much in such a short period of time."
"It seems that we need to strengthen the defense of the mansion."