Dad, open the door. I'll bring your mistress back for you.

"I met Zhuang Xiuming, the former master of the Divine Doctor Valley, on the island." Zhou Lin said to Shen Chuning with a serious expression.

Shen Chuning blinked her bright eyes and responded, "I know. You just said it. Wasn't it him who helped you heal your wrist?"

Zhou Lin coughed lightly and continued, "That's not the point I want to make. Master Zhuang actually looks a bit like Ning Shutong, the one you brought to Fuping earlier."

Hearing this, Shen Chuning looked puzzled and asked, "According to you, Han Yuanzheng and the Valley Master of the Divine Doctor Valley are related?"

Zhou Lin shook his head and slowly explained, "Han Yuanzheng and Ning Shutong don't look alike. I suspect Ning Shutong isn't Han's child. Master Zhuang's son went missing over a decade ago, and Ning Shutong's age is quite consistent with him."

Upon hearing this, Shen Chuning seemed to suddenly understand something and said with sudden realization, "No wonder he's not even listed in the Han family tree at his age. At first, I thought he was an illegitimate child and it was inconvenient to list him in the family tree, but looking at the Han family's attitude towards him, it doesn't seem likely. After all, the Han family suffered such a disaster as the confiscation of property and exile, but they were only concerned with protecting him..."

Zhou Lin nodded slightly in agreement and continued his analysis, "Given Master Zhuang's personality and character, he must have helped many people in his early years. If Ning Shutong is truly Master Zhuang's biological child, then it's no surprise that the Han family is helping him so much."

Shen Chuning frowned slightly, thought seriously for a moment, and then slowly said, "I'll ask Shutong later to see if he's willing to meet me. If he agrees, I'll ask Fourth Uncle to help arrange a meeting between them."

Zhou Lin currently heard all the details about this matter from Master Zhuang.

What if Shutong was not lost but abandoned, or even worse, for example, Master Zhuang had a grudge against his family and wanted to wipe out the whole family? If he rashly forced them to recognize each other, wouldn't that put Shutong in danger?

Zhou Lin said seriously, "This matter should be dealt with sooner rather than later. We can't just watch their loved ones be torn apart."

Hearing this, Shen Chuning couldn't help but feel suspicious. She looked at Zhou Lin with a slightly scrutinizing look and said suspiciously, "Brother Zhou Er, I've never seen you care so much about other people's affairs!"

Zhou Lin touched his nose uncomfortably, then gave a dry laugh and explained, "This... I'm just thinking about Shutong. Once he recognizes his ancestral roots, he can change back to his original surname soon. Who else would choose their own surname like him? Do we even have to compile a separate family tree for him in the future?"

Shen Chuning couldn't help laughing when she heard his slightly embarrassed look. "It's the 'Ning' of An Ning, not the 'Ning' of 'An Ning'."

Zhou Lin was being stared at intently by someone in the depths, and a blush appeared on his face. He could only cough softly to cover up his embarrassment, and then found an excuse to say goodbye and leave.

Not until Zhou Lin's figure completely disappeared from sight did Shen Chuning gently reach out and carefully open the brocade box he had given her.

Lying quietly in the brocade box was a doll carefully carved from mutton-fat white jade.

The entire doll is crystal clear, with smooth and natural lines, just like flowing clouds and running water, without any flaws or impurities.

Shen Chuning took the doll out of the brocade box, held it in her hand and looked at it carefully.

The more she looked at it, the more she felt that the doll looked familiar.

Suddenly, she realized that this looked just like the wooden doll that Xie Xiuqi gave her when she first came to Shandong.

The only difference is that the doll in front of him is carved from white jade, while the previous one was made of wood.

She really liked the doll at that time, but it accidentally fell into Daming Lake.

It had been a long time since the incident happened. If she hadn't seen this similar jade doll today, she would have probably forgotten it long ago.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Lin still remembered it so clearly...

……

On this day, Wang Haiquan had just arrived at the governor's office when he saw from afar a group of craftsmen busy carrying out the broken walls that had been charred by the fire.

He was pleasantly surprised and quickly quickened his pace to run towards the yard, wanting to find Shen Qinghe to confirm as soon as possible.

Because he was too excited, he didn't even care about Shen Qi standing at the door. He pushed the door open and rushed in, so that Shen Qi had no time to stop him.

"Sir Shen! Sir Shen! The court is going to rebuild the Governor's Office? This is a big deal! I wonder if they plan to build it according to the original layout this time, or to draw a new blueprint? Have the officials from the Ministry of Works arrived? I have a large family, and I have some immature suggestions for the construction of this office. I would like to discuss them with the officials from the Ministry of Works." Wang Haiquan's face was full of excitement, and he walked quickly into the house while speaking.

Shen Qinghe couldn't help but frown when he heard this series of shouting. He slowly raised his head and glanced at Wang Haiquan coldly.

"Get out." Shen Qinghe's voice was calm but full of majesty.

"Ah?" Wang Haiquan was stunned for a moment, as if he had never expected to get such an answer.

"Can't you see I'm handling government affairs? How dare you barge in like this!" Shen Qinghe looked displeased and scolded with a frown.

At this time, Wang Haiquan noticed that in addition to Shen Qinghe, there were several other people sitting in the room, all of whom were looking at him with a look of laughter on their faces.

Wang Haiquan instantly realized that his behavior just now was too rude and disrespectful. He felt his face getting hot and was very embarrassed.

"I'm sorry for being rude. Lord Shen has more important things to do. Then... I'll wait for Lord Shen outside the door." Wang Haiquan blushed and stammered as he finished speaking. Then he turned around and left the room dejectedly, closing the door gently.

After leaving Shen Qinghe, Wang Haiquan still felt a little depressed, but when he thought that the West Courtyard would be restored to its original state soon, he became happy again.

So he hurried to the west yard, stood aside and began to point and direct the craftsmen.

However, what made Wang Haiquan feel quite helpless was that these craftsmen seemed to have no intention of listening to his instructions at all and continued to do their work on their own.

Wang Haiquan shouted until his throat was almost smoking, but to no avail.

After a long while, he felt bored and had to leave the west yard in embarrassment.

He also found a way out for himself along the way. These craftsmen were all from the capital and were professionals. It was normal for them not to listen to the orders of outsiders.