Minglan is reborn, this time with no regrets!

Mother Qi's two sons waited at the dock for two days but no one from the Sheng family showed up. However, Shitou, who was far away in Youyang, received a pigeon message from the Cao Gang:

"A boat was burned on the Bianliang River, killing two men and three women. Their appearances were so disfigured that it was difficult to identify them. However, the remains in the river had the word 'Sheng' written on them."

Shitou was shocked and hurried to find Minglan.

At this time, the guy from the express delivery shop in Beijing was still on the road, and Minglan didn't know so much had happened at home. After reading this message, she frowned and thought: "If it were my family, who would travel by boat at this time?"

Xiao Tao: "Could it be that the master is here to pick up the old lady personally?"

Minglan squinted at her and asked, "Will my father abandon the court for my grandmother?"

Xiao Tao stuck out her tongue: "Just pretend I didn't say anything."

Minglan: "My father and brother are officials in the court. It's a time of great change, so they won't leave the capital. My mother has to manage the household, and my sister-in-law has to take care of her pregnancy, so they won't come out either. Mother Cui and Cuiwei Danju have both been ordered by my grandmother to guard the yard, so they won't leave either."

Xiao Tao: "Then it can only be people from Linqi Pavilion."

Minglan: "But why do the people from Linqi Pavilion want to take a boat? Lin Xiaoniang's mother's family has been dispersed, and she has no relatives outside."

Xiao Tao: "Could they be out for fun?"

Minglan: "The world is so chaotic right now, how could father let them go out to play? There must be something urgent."

Xiao Tao: "It's just that the south is in chaos, it won't be like that in the capital, right?"

Minglan knew that at this time, Prince Yong must have shown his claws. Although there were no bandits in the capital, the power struggle was even more disturbing. She believed that if Sheng Hong did not have to go to court every day, he would probably weld the door of the Sheng family shut with wooden boards so that the whole family would not go out and cause trouble.

She used reason to tell herself that perhaps this "Sheng" had nothing to do with her family, but subconsciously, her fingers were about to crumple the note.

We haven't received the imperial edict from our grandmother yet, so the Sheng family must not make any mistakes at this time!

Shitou: "How about I ask the people at the Bianjing dock to help find out?"

Minglan: "Okay, send the letter now and make sure to find out the truth."

Xiao Tao looked at Shitou's receding back and said with a sigh, "Our girl is really smart. She actually knows that raising pigeons can be used to send messages!"

Minglan: "This method has existed since the previous dynasty, but it is expensive and troublesome, and it is even harder to find someone who knows how to tame pigeons, so many people don't know about it."

Xiao Tao: "How did the girl find these people?"

It would be hard for Minglan to say that she knew them in her previous life, right? She could only say, "Gu Tingye knew them."

In the previous life, trained pigeons were presented as a novelty at the Queen's banquet, and Minglan had the opportunity to meet these pigeon-raising craftsmen. Later, Chengyuan continued to raise these people and pigeons to quickly collect various intelligence.

She was afraid that Xiao Tao would ask more questions, so she continued, "Besides, if it weren't for the help of the brothers from the Cao Gang, our pigeons wouldn't be able to fly this far."

Xiao Tao: "As the girl said, this is called helping each other! Shitou said that his brother and sister-in-law had a hard life before, moving things around to make a living, and they could only barely get their debts back by forming a gang. Now that they have the girl's support, they have bought a lot of powerful things, and the gang has a grand appearance. Shitou said that his brother is now very powerful, all thanks to our girl."

Minglan laughed and said, "It wasn't me, it was all paid by Gu Tingye."

Xiao Tao: "Isn't it because the shop was handed over to the girl? Since she started the grain business, she has earned at least tens of thousands of taels in the past six months. The pawnshop can't store so much grain, and she took over the restaurant opposite to run it together. Add to that the grain business started in other places, wow, I can't even imagine it! With so much money, it's more than enough to support the Cao Gang and raise pigeons." She became happier and happier as she spoke, and raised her voice unconsciously.

Minglan glared at her and said, "Keep your voice down, do you want to show off to everyone?"

Xiaotao chuckled and shut up.

Minglan: "Doing the grain business is not just for money. The war is intense on the front line now, and businessmen are afraid that they will never come back. No one is willing to transport grain. The grain supply is insufficient, and the people will suffer. They either have to pay a high price for grain or simply cannot buy grain. Thanks to the brothers of the Cao Gang who are willing to take the risk, otherwise, the people in those counties covered by the war would have no food to eat."

Xiao Tao didn't know that the grain business was related to the national economy and people's livelihood. She opened her eyes wide and said, "That's really a great deed!"

Minglan: "Yes, so we should support the brothers of the Cao Gang. They are righteous men. They say we support them, but in fact they have helped the common people and the court, so shouldn't they make more money?"

Xiao Tao nodded frantically: "I will never say anything about the Yangcao Gang again! From now on, whenever I see Shi Tou, I will call him a hero!"

Minglan asked meaningfully, "Shitou is not from the Cao Gang, why do you call him a hero?"

Xiao Tao: "He grew up in the Cao Gang when he was young, so he's... half a hero~!"

Minglan: "Oh? How do you know about Shitou's childhood?"

Xiao Tao: "He said it himself."

Minglan: "Why would he tell you this for no reason?"

Xiao Tao said blankly: "He...he just said it, I just listen to him."

Minglan: "Why didn't he tell Langya instead of me?"

"He certainly wouldn't dare to talk about this with the girl. As for sister Langya," Xiao Tao chuckled, "Shitou used to think about how to defeat the two sisters Langya and Tieren every day, but he was beaten so hard every time that he rolled his eyes. Now he doesn't dare to get close to the sisters. He hides when he sees them, so how can he chat with them?"

Minglan's frown finally relaxed a little. She was originally worried that Langya and Shitou had gone on so many missions together, and whether it would interrupt Xiaotao and Shitou's marriage in the previous life. Now it seems that she was worrying too much. Shitou only has Xiaotao in his eyes, but Xiaotao, the little fool, doesn't know anything yet.

……

As soon as Shitou left Sheng's house, he went straight to the pawnshop, wrote a letter of inquiry and put it in a small bamboo tube. A clerk in the pawnshop took the bamboo tube to the restaurant across the street and handed it to the shopkeeper. After a while, a waiter in the restaurant ran to the mansion next to Qianjin Pavilion with a food box. After another incense stick, a pigeon flew out from the backyard of the mansion.

"This family is so idle. They raise so many pigeons but don't even eat them. They just let them fly whenever they want. They are more carefree than us."

"He's rich and can afford to live in such a big house. What's wrong with raising a few pigeons for fun?"

"Hey, I want to be their pigeon."

Passersby were talking about it, and the pigeon was flying in the sky. It flew north along the canal with the south wind, flying very fast. It landed several times on the way to eat and drink water, all at the pigeon training station of the Cao Gang. The pigeon trainers in each station saw a small "eight" written on the bottom of the bamboo tube on the pigeon's leg, and knew that the pigeon was going to the eighth stop along the canal - that is, Bianjing. So the pigeon trainers treated the pigeon to a good meal and then watched it continue on its journey.

After three days, the Youyang pigeon finally arrived at the Bianjing Wharf and landed in a place with a shop in front and a back yard in the back.

This courtyard was just bought by the Cao Gang a few months ago. The front storefront is a place for the Cao Gang to rest and provide tea and simple meals. The backyard is the Cao Gang's office in the capital, where Guan Erye is worshipped. All the internal and external grievances of the Cao Gang will be resolved in front of Guan Erye, and no one dares to disobey.

Pigeons are also kept in the backyard.

The Youyang pigeon fluttered onto the backyard wall and was captured by the pigeon trainer. The trainer took off the small bamboo tube on the pigeon's leg, stuffed the pigeon into a cage, and quickly went to find the manager with the small bamboo tube.

The steward opened the bamboo tube and saw the words written on it: "Has anyone from Fengsheng Mansion in Bianjing left the port recently?"

The steward immediately sent people out to collect information. After half a day, the information was clear. The steward picked up a pen and wrote: "On February 24, Sheng Sanzi and his four daughters went out. On the 25th, Sheng Si and Kang Sanzi returned together, but Sheng San did not return." The news that the Sheng family boat had an accident on the river was delivered directly to Youyang. The steward did not know that Sheng Sanzi would never come back...