Chapter 272 Coming to the Door

"Master, An Shigeng has been printing copper coins before. How should we deal with this matter now?" Ji Yaohua asked Ye Xiu.

"Printing copper coins? Just stop it, and then find a few scapegoats to take the blame for this matter." Ye Xiu didn't think too much about it and said to Ji Yaohua directly.

"Yes, okay!" Ji Yaohua nodded in agreement when she heard what Ye Xiu said.

In fact, Ji Yaohua herself didn't really like printing copper coins, because counterfeiting money actually didn't bring any benefits to her at all.

And the reason why An Shigeng printed a large number of fake copper coins was not to make money.

In fact, the profit of printing fake copper coins was not that great.

Because printing fake copper coins still uses copper, lead and other materials, and at most it just adjusts the proportion of various metals inside.

If the copper content is too low, the coins will appear fake and instantly recognizable, making them impossible to circulate. Therefore, although An Shigeng's counterfeit coins were fake, the proportion of copper and other metals in them made the cost of producing them extremely high, almost reaching 60% of the cost of the coins themselves.

Of course, a 40% profit is already high, but for a family like the An family, known as the God of Wealth, it's not considered high. They have many other businesses that can generate profits far higher than this.

Furthermore, in addition to manufacturing, counterfeit coins also require other distribution channels, which also account for a portion of the costs, further reducing the profit margin.

The An family printed counterfeit coins solely to cause unrest in the Song Dynasty. Once the Song Dynasty was in chaos, they could exploit the chaos to seize power.

An Shigeng had been beaten to a pulp by Ye Xiu. If it weren't for the relative magical power of the Zongwu World, Ye Xiu wouldn't have known if An Yunshan had used some means on An Shigeng. If An Shigeng died, An Yunshan would have sensed it and rushed back immediately.

So, An Shigeng could only cling to life, suffering for the time being.

With An Shigeng in this state, the counterfeit coin production operation naturally had to cease. It offered no benefit to Ye Xiu, Ji Yaohua, and the others.

If the counterfeit coin issue remained unresolved, it would only lead to further unrest and, in the end, might even attract the attention of the Divine Marquisate.

Then, An Shigeng's secrets might leak out, potentially reaching An Yunshan's ears.

Therefore, by halting the counterfeit coin production and assigning the blame to a few individuals, the Divine Marquisate would cease its investigation, saving Ye Xiu considerable trouble.

Ye Xiu then began impersonating An Shigeng, temporarily managing the An family's affairs while awaiting An Yunshan's return.

However, now that Ye Xiu had dealt with An Shigeng, he could easily leave the capital and the Great Song before An Yunshan returned. After all, Ye Xiu had mostly used fake faces when he arrived in the capital, making him unrecognizable. Even if

An Yunshan returned and wanted to cause trouble, he wouldn't be able to find Ye Xiu.

But, but,

Ruyan and Ji Yaohua were now Ye Xiu's women. Unless Ye Xiu took them far away and had them live in anonymity, or simply changed their names and appearances, upon An Yunshan's return, Ruyan and Ji Yaohua would undoubtedly become his scapegoats, facing a tragic death at his hands.

While Ye Xiu wouldn't offer or refuse, he wasn't irresponsible either. Therefore, he couldn't just let Ruyan and Ji Yaohua be killed by An Yunshan.

Therefore, Ye Xiu planned to stay and improve his strength for a while, then wait for An Yunshan to return and eliminate him.

Ruyan and Ji Yaohua would then have nothing to worry about.

Of course, the main reason was that Ye Xiu was confident he could deal with An Yunshan, even confident he could do so relatively easily, so naturally, Ye Xiu wouldn't be overly worried or anxious.

This was why Ye Xiu decided to stay in the An Mansion and temporarily take charge of its affairs. As for An Shigeng, as the master of the An Mansion, he would need to make occasional appearances—a task that wouldn't be a problem for Ye Xiu. 

Firstly, Ye Xiu possessed the art of disguise, allowing him to easily impersonate An Shigeng. He could even guarantee that even An Shigeng's father, An Yunshan, wouldn't be able to tell he was fake just by looking at his disguised face. 

Furthermore, besides Ye Xiu, Ruyan was also highly skilled in disguise, and she could also impersonate An Shigeng without any flaws. 

Ruyan's disguise skills are truly remarkable. Among the Four Great Constables, Ruyan disguised herself as Zhuge Shenhou, leaving Tieshou and the others completely unable to tell the difference. Ultimately, she even forced Zhuge to take the blame. 

Later, Ruyan disguised herself as the emperor, leaving even Zhuge Shenhou unable to distinguish the real from the fake. 

This demonstrates Ruyan's mastery of disguise to the point of being truly exceptional. 

Even Ye Xiu's skills are roughly on Ruyan's level. 

With two masters of disguise, Ye Xiu and Ruyan, outsiders were unable to detect An Shigeng's abnormality. 

After capturing An Shigeng, Ruyan used various tactics to extract numerous secrets from him, including information on how An Shigeng contacted An Yunshan. 

Of course, An Shigeng had An Yunshan's contact information. 

However, An Shigeng rarely contacted An Yunshan. He was acting like a rebellious child, completely annoyed and fed up with his father, An Yunshan. 

So, aside from the obligatory monthly contact to let An Yunshan know he was alright, An Shigeng rarely contacted him. 

This rebellious phase was also a blessing in disguise for Ye Xiu. 

It meant less contact with his father, An Yunshan, and often led to impulsive behavior. This allowed Ye Xiu to occasionally act differently from his original self without much surprise. 

For example, even if An Yunshan heard that Ye Xiu wanted to stop counterfeiting, he wouldn't question whether An Shigeng was impersonating him. At most, he'd think An Shigeng was being naughty again. 

So, Ye Xiu temporarily stayed at the An residence, assuming An Shigeng's identity. 

Ruyan assisted on the side, helping to deal with various matters. 

Ji Yaohua returned to the Six Gates and began to deal with the case of fake copper coins. 

The case of fake copper coins, whether it was the Six Gates, the Divine Marquis Mansion, or many other forces, was trying to find a way to investigate, so it would not be inappropriate for Ji Yaohua to intervene in this case. 

The reason why Ji Yaohua wanted to deal with this case was that she wanted to settle the case and deal with it as soon as possible. 

In this way, she could cover up more traces and prevent others from discovering that the production of fake copper coins was related to the An Mansion.

By properly handling the case and erasing all traces of the clues, Ye Xiu could remain more secure within the An Mansion.

Of course, if Ji Yaohua could solve the counterfeit copper coin case, she would also gain certain benefits, greatly facilitating her climb to the top of the Six Gates.

However, Ji Yaohua had previously joined the Six Gates and employed various methods to elevate her status and position. But that was all due to An Shigeng's demands.

He wanted Ji Yaohua to control the Six Gates and make their power a pawn of his An Mansion.

He even had a plan in place, a plan to allow Ji Yaohua to control the Six Gates.

Unfortunately, before An Shigeng could do anything, Ye Xiu had already eliminated him, and Ji Yaohua's mission within the Six Gates had come to an end. Whether Ji Yaohua continued to climb the ladder or control the Six Gates was a matter of little concern to Ye Xiu. He left it entirely to Ji Yaohua to decide whether to leave, remain within the Six Gates, or even seek control.

Ye Xiu didn't care about Ji Yaohua's opinion; she could choose whichever she wanted.

As for the poison An Shigeng had previously given Ji Yaohua and the female detectives from the Six Gates, the antidote had already been delivered to Ji Yaohua.

After Ji Yaohua took the antidote, the life and death talisman in her body—

after Ye Xiu had dealt with An Shigeng and slept with Ji Yaohua, he had removed it.

Meanwhile, Ruyan's talisman remained.

The reason Ji Yaohua's talisman was released, while Ruyan's wasn't, was entirely due to their different personalities.

Ji Yaohua, needless to say, while a bit awkward, wasn't completely self-centered, and she still managed to gain some trust.

But Ruyan, on the other hand, was a true egoist.

She wouldn't hesitate to act when it came to her own interests. Ye Xiu worried that after removing the Life and Death Talisman from Ruyan, she would immediately try to escape.

It wouldn't be a big deal if Ruyan simply ran away.

Ye Xiu was worried that her escape would attract An Yunshan's attention, potentially leading to his arrival. That, in turn, would be a real headache for him.

So, Ruyan had to keep the Life and Death Talisman

with her for the time being. Of course, to appease Ruyan, Ye Xiu didn't tell her about removing the Life and Death Talisman from Ji Yaohua. He even specifically warned her not to share this with her.

After all, if Ruyan knew that Ye Xiu had removed Ji Yaohua's Life and Death Talisman but not hers, she might become overly suspicious and do something irrational.

However, even though Ji Yaohua had promised Ye Xiu not to tell her about this

, it didn't happen. When Ye Xiu wrote about it in his diary at night, Ruyan already knew about it.

After reading the diary's contents, Ruyan nearly gnashed her teeth.

She and Ji Yaohua were sisters in the same school. When they first arrived at the An Mansion, An Shigeng had already taken a liking to Ji Yaohua, but he hadn't even bothered to glance at Ruyan.

Back in their time at the sect, the master had always favored Ji Yaohua.

Now, after finally leaving Penglai, even An Shigeng had become a cripple.

Ruyan had once again been humiliated by Ye Xiu.

After reading the diary, Ruyan wanted to find Ye Xiu immediately, grabbing him by the neck and demanding to know why he had unlocked Ji Yaohua's life and death talisman while denying hers when she had clearly been the first to approach him, to seek his support, and even to have sex with him.

However, despite her impulsiveness, Ruyan managed to maintain a modicum of reason. Despite her intense frustration, she forced herself to hold back.

Ruyan knew her personality wasn't as likable as others.

After all, no one likes a sophisticated egoist who puts their own interests first, willing to sell out everything for their own gain.

Even though Ruyan knew the reason, she still felt resigned.

So that night, Ruyan began to bully Ji Yaohua relentlessly.

Ji Yaohua was already struggling to face Ye Xiu, and now Ruyan was adding to her troubles. Soon, Ji Yaohua was reduced to a puddle of mud, her eyes rolling back and her mouth spitting white liquid.

Seeing Ji Yaohua being bullied like this, Ruyan was filled with joy, feeling that much of her frustration had been released.

...

"Ah, I didn't expect the Six Gates to crack the fake copper coin case first. Ji Yaohua is truly remarkable," Tieshou couldn't help but sigh.

"Although Ji Yaohua is a woman, she's certainly remarkable." Zhuge Shenhou chuckled, then shook his head. "However, the mastermind behind the fake copper coin case escaped unscathed."

Wuqing, standing nearby, remained silent.

"Okay, Wuqing, although we haven't been able to catch the real mastermind behind the case, An Shigeng, at least the copper coin mold has been recovered. There will be no more fake copper coins in the future. The case of fake copper coins has been solved." Zhuge Shenhou looked at Wuqing's silence and said comfortingly.

Because from the beginning, Wuqing knew that An Shigeng was the mastermind behind the fake copper coin case, so she deduced a lot of things through An Shigeng.

Afterwards, Wuqing told Zhuge Shenhou the information she had analyzed and deduced.

The Shenhou Mansion was ready to take action, solve all the problems step by step, and finally arrest An Shigeng.

However, they didn't expect that just as the Shenhou Mansion took action, Ji Yaohua of the Six Gates had already solved the case and even found the lost copper coin mold. Now the case was solved.

Zhuge Shenhou and his companions, through Wuqing's analysis, knew that An Shigeng was behind the counterfeit copper coin case. However, they knew that the case was only halfway solved; at least the true mastermind, An Shigeng, hadn't been brought to justice.

Tieshou and Zhuge Shenhou, observing Wuqing's silence, assumed he was lost in thought and offered comfort.

"Yes, I understand, Uncle Shi," Wuqing nodded.

Wuqing wasn't overly concerned; at most, she was just a little upset.

She had originally planned to use the crackdown on the counterfeit copper coin case to apprehend An Shigeng, then use this opportunity to meet Ye Xiu, get to know him, build a closer relationship, and ultimately, secure a deal.

Now, after reading the diary and realizing An Shigeng had become a crippled man, she had to consider other ways to approach Ye Xiu. This was the reason for Wuqing's silence.

However, Wuqing couldn't express his thoughts, which caused Zhuge Shenhou and the others to misunderstand him. They thought that Wuqing had put in so much effort but failed to achieve complete success, so he was unhappy.

"Wuqing, there are many things in this world that are imperfect. Many things leave behind regrets, but it's precisely because of this that the world feels so real..." Zhuge Shenhou began to give Wuqing some heartwarming advice.

"Uncle, I'm really not depressed about this. I'm just thinking about something," Wuqing said, a bit amused, as he watched Zhuge Shenhou trying to give him some heartwarming advice.

"..." Zhuge Shenhou breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that Wuqing wasn't pretending.

Meanwhile, Wuqing was already thinking about meeting Ji Yaohua.

Wuqing knew Ji Yaohua was Ye Xiu's friend and that Ye Xiu was impersonating An Shigeng. Naturally, Wuqing wouldn't expose such a thing.

However, she felt that using Ji Yaohua to meet Ye Xiu was a relatively acceptable method, at least more convenient than other methods.

...

"Are you Ji Yaohua?"

"I'm Ji Yaohua, who are you?" Ji Yaohua looked at the woman standing before her, a slight sense of alarm in her heart.

This woman is very beautiful, but there is a bit of dominance between her eyebrows. Although her behavior cannot be said to be rude, it reveals a bit of wildness. She is a very special woman.

The most important thing is that this woman is very strong, stronger than her.

"My name is Lian Nishang, and others also call me Yu Luosha. I think you should know me, right!" As Lian Nishang spoke, a black diary appeared in her hand.

Ji Yaohua was stunned when she saw the diary in Lian Nishang's hand. She obviously did not expect Lian Nishang to look for her.

In fact, when Ji Yaohua knew that her senior sister Ruyan was also the owner of the diary, she knew that there must be other diary owners in the world, such as Dongfang Bubai and others.

But Ji Yaohua thought that the first person who would find her should be Wuqing, but she did not expect it to be Lian Nishang, the Yu Luosha of the Ming Dynasty.