In the wooden box are two bracelets with different textures and workmanship, one silver and one jade.

Although it is worth some money, it is not a treasure, especially jewelry that is not worth mentioning in a prominent family like the Xie family.

But in Li Ling's eyes, they were more precious than any treasure. At this time, a dangerous light that made people palpitations appeared in his eyes. The smile on his face had long disappeared. He ignored his still in the Xie family. In front of him was Changxing Hou, who was much higher than his status, staring at the other party, waiting for him to give an answer.

Because these two bracelets are the ones he is most familiar with, the two women he recently wore on the wrists were the ornaments of his sister Li Yueer and his lover Yang Qingxiao.

Originally, Li Ling was uneasy because they had never shown up. He ordered the people from the government office and the Chuan camp to search secretly, but found nothing. Not only Yang Qingxiao and the others, but even the Cao Gang, which should have had a considerable force here, has not appeared in this month, which made his uneasy mood stronger.

However, because Yangzhou is not stable yet and I don’t know where to start, Li Ling forced himself to suppress his desire to find someone regardless of everything, and hoped that everything would be just overwhelming. Maybe when they would come here.

But unexpectedly, their whereabouts suddenly appeared in front of him under such circumstances. Whether the appearance of two bracelets means that they are in the control of the Xie family, or even... the more terrifying thoughts later, he didn't dare to think about it anymore, but the dangerous light in his eyes was almost unable to suppress it.

Even Xie Wenruo was shocked and fainted when he was stared at by Li Ling. But after all, he had extraordinary status and had enough experience. At this time, he seemed quite calm and composed, and smiled and said, "I have no other intentions, I just give a gift to Prefect Li. So it seems that you don't like it anymore?"

"Changxing Hou, I am not interested in joking with you. I will only ask you one question, where did you get these two bracelets? Where is their owner now?" Li Ling asked impatiently, no longer interested in going around with him.

Feeling the anger that Li Ling was about to be suppressed, Xie Wenruo was proud, just like he thought, and now he had grasped his vital points. At that moment, the old god was there: "Master Li, please be calm and don't be impatient. Listen to this marquis finish his words, and you will get the answer then."

Seeing him looking fearless, Li Ling became more confident in his judgment and gritted his teeth: "You said, I'll just listen."

"This should have happened before you took office by Magistrate Li. There was an armed fight in a small town outside Yangzhou City. It is said that there were conflicts in the world. Fighting all day long, many casualties and injuries. At that time, the government was unable to control the place, so I, the Changxing Hou, who was granted by the imperial court, could not sit idly by, so I sent my subordinates to investigate.

"I later discovered that this was a fire between the Cao Gang and the Dajiang Gang. When the two families made enemies, the Dajiang Gang raided the Cao Gang headquarters that day. Both sides were injured. The leader of the Cao Gang was injured, and then he broke out of the siege under the escort of the people. During this period, some people around him had problems and were intercepted and killed halfway by several masters of the Dajiang Gang and captured alive. And one of them was the sister of the Cao Gang gang leader..."

Li Ling's eyelids suddenly jumped. He really didn't expect that before he took office, the Cao Gang would encounter such a big change. The Dajiang Gang attacked the Cao Gang at all costs. If this statement is true, then he had to take on the relationship, because it was his actions in Huating that made these two gangs that had originally not violated the river.

The Cao Gang is far more powerful than the Dajiang Gang, and generally speaking, it is not afraid of the other party. But when the latter launches sneak attacks, especially when the Yangzhou chaos, the strength of the Cao Gang is affected, things are completely different. After all, those with intentional arising but unintentional, and those with weak power can defeat the strong.

As for the Yang Qingxiao mentioned by Xie Wenruo, Li Ling was a little unbelievable at first, but then he realized that Yue'er should have dragged her down. With her skills, it might not be enough to turn the situation around, but it is not difficult to escape by protecting herself. Only when someone threatens her to take the person she values ​​will she not even be able to run away.

And Yue'er is the person she will definitely value, not only because of Li Ling, but also because of the deep feelings between her and Yue'er. After all, all this is because of him, Li Ling.

Of course, now is not the time to complain, he cares more about the situation of the two women: "Since that is the case, how could they send the bracelet to you?"

"No, not only the bracelets, but also the two women were rescued by my Xie family. Didn't I say that, I sent someone to investigate. Since I found that the people from the Dajiang Gang were engaged in accusation of women, I naturally could not stand by. So they took action and saved the women and children of the Cao Gang. These two bracelets were obtained from the sister of the Cao Gang leader and another girl."

Xie Wenruo smiled and said, "By the way, they are all injured now, and they are placed in a villa outside the city to rest in a garden. But Master Li, please rest assured that they are absolutely safe and are even more distinguished guests of my Xie family. They will only be sent away after the injury is healed."

Hearing this, Li Ling's face calmed down a little, at least Yue'er and Qingxiao are safe now. But then, his eyes narrowed again: "Did you keep them to threaten me? Do you think you can force me to submit?"

"Mr. Li, what are you saying? How could this marquis of the court do such a thing? No, what is the relationship between those two women and you? I just gave you these two bracelets, so why did it become a threat to you?"

The other party refused to admit it, which immediately made Li Ling feel a little unable to have an attack. He could only stare at Xie Wenruo's smiling face coldly and said after a moment: "Since that's the case, please send them back to the government office. One of them is my fiancée's wife and the other is my sister. As long as they can return safely, I will owe the Marquis a big favor."

"Is this really the case? This is really beyond my expectation. It's easy to say. Since this is the case, when they recover from their injuries, I will personally send them to the government office. Lord Li just worry." Xie Wenruo looked easy to talk and nodded with a smile.

But after hearing this, Li Ling was not at all relieved and raised his eyebrows again. What does it mean to heal after healing the injury? This is simply an excuse. To put it bluntly, he still refused to hand over the person.

Because Xie Wenruo had already determined that these two women were Li Ling's seven-inch key points, as long as they were in hand, it would be enough for Li Ling to dare not be strong against the Xie family. Li Ling also understood this intention, so he looked even more unkind and said in a muffled voice: "Changxing Hou, what do you mean? Are you going to go against me to the end?"

"Master Li, you really misunderstood this marquis. I am just a vacancier in a place without power or position. How dare you become enemies with your dignified marquis? Isn't this out of kindness?"

The other person just refused to admit it, but he didn't let it go, which made Li Ling completely useless. It was useless to use force to suppress him now; if he wanted to use extraordinary means, there were hostages in his control. He understood that his plan to get half of the taxes from the Xie family this year might have been vain.

After letting out a long breath, Li Ling said again: "Since that's the case, I'll wait for good news in the government office. Mr. Xie, Yangzhou's taxes are related to the stability of the entire Jiangnan. As a marquis of the court, do you really have no view on this overall situation?"

"Haha, Lord Li is so serious. Some things cannot be done by me just by making a decision. It is not difficult for you to see, but the many influences that follow are required by the Xie family, which is not what I hope to see. If you can really solve this point, maybe we can really work together." Xie Wenruo suddenly said a few words a little vaguely, then served tea and saw off the guests.

Li Ling was stunned, as if he understood what the other party meant, but when he thought about it carefully, he had questions. In fact, the other party was not stingy with the little silver and grain, but had other concerns. However, he was not even afraid of himself as an imperial official, and even used Yue'er and the others as bargaining chips to threaten him, and was not worried about another chaos in Yangzhou. So what was he worried about?

Unfortunately, the other party didn't give him a chance to understand the whole story, so he asked someone to give him a gift.

When he stepped out of Xiejiabao, Li Ling felt something in his heart and suddenly stopped looking back. He vaguely guessed what Xie Wenruo was worried about.

After he left, Xie Wenbin returned to the monastery again, but there was a worry on his face: "Head of the family, will you offend people too much if you do this?"

The light smile on Xie Wenruo's face was also replaced by a cautious expression. Hearing this, he shook his head: "If you don't do this, it will be difficult to finalize this matter. This Li Ling is indeed capable and courageous. It is not appropriate to be an enemy of him, but it really fulfills his intentions and will cause greater harm to my Xie family. Therefore, this problem must be thrown to him and he will solve it."

"I know that the head of the family had to make things difficult for me, Xie's family, in Jiangnan, but..."

"There is nothing, but this is the safest thing. Afterwards, the news spread, and said that my Xie family was a bargaining chip with the relatives of the Prefect Li, so that he could not ask for money. Although this offended him a little, there was no way. We must draw a clear line with him." Xie Wenruo ordered very solemnly, "Next, it depends on what choice the Lu family will make then."
Chapter completed!