Although they had not openly confronted County Magistrate Zou, the fact that they were involved with the Lu Family meant they had also become enemies with the Zou family. Since they were enemies, it was imperative to have a hold on the Zou family’s weaknesses; otherwise, she would not be able to sleep soundly. And since the Hong Family was Mrs. Zou’s natal family, they needed to be investigated as well. Great Chu practiced collective punishment, so if the Hong Family committed a serious crime, the Zou family would be implicated too. In short, she needed leverage against the Zou family now! Qin San Lang whispered back, "County Magistrate Zou is very cunning. He hasn’t left behind many traces, but I did find something rather peculiar—an old servant by his side, named Zou Jiang. Zou Jiang faced a great catastrophe in the past, and that disaster seems to be somewhat related to County Magistrate Zou." During his time at the Military Office, Qin San Lang would sneak out every night to investigate the affairs of the Zou family. Gu Jinli’s eyes lit up when she heard this, and after asking in detail about Zou Jiang’s situation, she smiled and said, "I’ve heard that the college examination grants a fixed number of spaces to Scholars, and County Magistrate Zou probably thought Zou Jiang was a good learner, afraid that he would compete with him for a spot, and thus acted against Zou Jiang." Qin San Lang also thought this was possible: "However, whether the great misfortune that befell Zou Jiang’s family was actually done by County Magistrate Zou still needs further investigation. We need evidence for this matter." Without evidence, they could not topple County Magistrate Zou. Gu Jinli nodded and then inquired about the Lu Family, "What about Lu Laoda and Lu Laoer? These two have been accumulating wealth in the county town all year round; it’s impossible they haven’t committed any evil deeds." Qin San Lang replied, "I’ve found some small indiscretions, but these matters are not significant enough to bring down the Lu and Zou families in one fell swoop." Xiao Yu said she was looking for serious crimes that could bring the entire Lu and Zou families to irreversible ruin. Gu Jinli frowned upon hearing this and thought of Zou Jiang, adding, "We can also look into the trusted servants by the side of the Lu Family People, as well as the servants around Concubine Lu. Sometimes, it’s not the masters who do bad things, but the servants they keep that spoil everything." Qin San Lang nodded, then proceeded to discuss the Hong Family with her, "Ever since Mrs. Zou’s elder brother retired from officialdom, no one in the Hong Family has held a government position. However, Mrs. Zou has three Scholar nephews, and her natal family in De Yuan County of Jiangnan Yonghua Prefecture has hundreds of acres of fertile land; they are a family of scholars and farmers who live a decent life." County Magistrate Zou married Mrs. Zou because her brother had once served as the County Magistrate in Tianfu County, and it was with her brother’s support that County Magistrate Zou rose to prominence. Since he owed his rise to his wife’s family, County Magistrate Zou, despite his philandering ways, never divorced Mrs. Zou. "As for whether the Hong Family has done anything against the Criminal Law, that still needs to be investigated. It would be easy to find out if we were in the Northwest or the Capital, but now it’s somewhat difficult." Gu Jinli spoke, "The Hong Family is far away, so it’s certain to be difficult to investigate. Let’s focus on the Zou family first. Isn’t there a doubt about the catastrophe Zou Jiang suffered? Let’s investigate that." If they could find evidence of County Magistrate Zou violating the Criminal Law, they wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of investigating the Hong Family. "Right, I’ll speed up the investigation of the Zou family." Qin San Lang, fearing that Gu Jinli might take matters into her own hands, instructed, "You focus on making money safely at home. Leave the investigation of those three families to me, to avoid putting yourself in danger." Although she was clever, her martial skills were not as good as his, and being a young lady, it would be terrible if something happened to her; he dared not let her engage in anything too risky. Gu Jinli nodded, "Don’t worry, I’m very afraid of dying. I will act according to my abilities and won’t go behind your back to do anything suicidal." Hearing this, Qin San Lang relaxed and smiled at her. Gu Jinli looked at the dimple on his face and felt an itch to poke it. Qin San Lang was startled and instinctively leaned back, "What’s wrong?" Why did she want to poke his face? Gu Jinli’s fingers twitched and she sheepishly retracted her hand, then asked, "By the way, when is your birthday?" She only knew it was during Big Summer, but every year’s Big Summer was different. Qin San Lang said, "It’s on the fifteenth day of the sixth month. Why do you ask?" Gu Jinli raised her head to look at him and smiled, "Preparing a birthday gift for you." When she celebrated her birthday, he gave her a big present; naturally, it was her turn to reciprocate during his birthday. Qin San Lang was quite delighted to hear that Xiao Yu was going to prepare a birthday gift for him and asked out of curiosity, "What birthday gift are you going to prepare for me? If it’s too expensive, forget about it, it’s a waste of money." Gu Jinli glared at him, "Do you think I’m poor? Unable to afford to spend big money?" Qin San Lang: "...I’m just afraid you would spend too much money on me." She had recently spent quite a lot on buying land, repaying the debts of Xuanhu Fang, and building a house, so he felt... she was indeed pretty poor. But if he told her the truth, she would definitely get angry. Gu Jinli smiled with raised eyebrows, "Don’t worry, I still have the money equivalent to a dozen or so eggs." Qin San Lang was reassured, as long as the gift wasn’t too expensive, he was fine with accepting it. Gu Jinli then said, "However, making that thing is a bit laborious, you’ll have to help." "Alright, just tell me what and how to do when the time comes," said Qin San Lang, who had plenty of strength and didn’t mind the labor. But what he didn’t know was that he had been tricked by Gu Jinli. On his birthday, he spent more than an hour just beating egg whites until his wrist was as sore as when he first drew a bow at the age of five. Seeing that he had agreed, Gu Jinli smiled contentedly, "Then that’s settled." With that, she waved to him and entered the house carrying her load. Qin San Lang also turned around and headed home. Inside the main room of the Qin family, Qin Er Lang was unpacking sandbags. Seeing him return, he snorted coldly, reminding him, "Don’t treat the Military Office as if it’s an abandoned temple. You sneak out every night; someday, you’ll be discovered." Qin San Lang replied, "Don’t worry, Second Brother. I know my limits and won’t get caught." Ever since he was young, he had been trained in scout skills. If after so many years, he could still get caught sneaking out to check on the Zou family at night, then all his years of training would have been for nothing. Seeing that he was not taking the advice, Qin Er Lang got somewhat annoyed, "One day that rural girl will be the death of you." Qin San Lang’s eyebrows tightened a bit, reminding Qin Er Lang, "We were the ones who harmed their families first." "Second Brother has been sneaking around as well." Qin San Lang knew very well that Qin Er Lang had secretly met with Ah Ji more than once. What his second brother did was far more serious than his own deeds. Qin Er Lang’s face turned cold. Now that Qin San Lang had dirt on him, he didn’t dare to speak further. After removing the sandbags, he went to the kitchen to boil water for washing. He was truly fed up with this dusty, rural place. The Qin Brothers didn’t stay long this time, leaving in the mid-afternoon. Before leaving, Third Grandma and Gu Jinli prepared two baskets of braised dishes and three roast ducks for Qin San Lang to take to the Military Office for his comrades to enjoy. Qin San Lang didn’t decline and accepted them cheerfully, then ran off to the Military Office with Qin Er Lang. After sending off the Qin Brothers, Gu Jinli and others took the account books and silver to the workshop to distribute wages to Old Guo and the rest of the workers. Old Guo and the others had already finished their work and were squatting nervously and anxiously in the workshop courtyard awaiting them. Upon seeing Gu Jinli and the others arriving, they immediately stood up and greeted them with an honest smile, "Master, Young Master, you’re here."