She got pregnant after the swap marriage, and the scumbag's family regretted it so much they cr

The lower-ranking officials pushed and shoved each other, all wanting to get closer and see what the 40,000 taels of silver notes looked like.

Only a few people noticed the woman standing behind Prefect Di. One of them, a young man in a gray servant's uniform, glanced at Lu Huan a few times while holding a broom, then quickly lowered his head.

Lu Huan quickly understood the good intentions of the head butler and Di Bo.

She watched as the two of them wrote their names in the middleman's place and pressed their fingerprints. She understood that unless Di Bo and the Prince of Yan's mansion committed a serious crime like treason, ordinary people really couldn't tamper with these property deeds unless a member of the royal family personally intervened.

Lu Huan was speechless and stood frozen in front of the table, too excited to speak.

The head steward smiled and said, "If you really want to thank Lord Di, send him some good tea; he likes tea."

Lu Huan seized the opportunity and said, "This humble woman will remember! Thank you, Steward, and thank you, Lord Di!"

The wooden box, which had previously been filled with silver notes, now contained only a few house deeds and four silver notes, making it feel rather light, but Lu Huan's mood was exceptionally bright.

Shi Gu lifted the carriage curtain for her. Gao Yan had already heard the sounds outside and was waiting by the door.

He pulled Lu Huan onto the mule cart and asked, "How is it? Is everything settled?"

"It's all done!" Lu Huan presented the wooden box to Gao Yan like a treasure, then quickly recalled his earlier refusals and pouted, complaining, "Honestly, you wouldn't even come in with me. What if I got stage fright?"

"You wouldn't," Gao Yan said calmly, a smile playing on his lips. "Where is the Prince's head steward?"

"He and Lord Di have something to discuss, they won't be out until later." Lu Huan sat down, looking at Gao Yan's nonchalant demeanor, and voiced her doubts, "I have a feeling you're deliberately avoiding the people from the Prince's residence. Could it be that you've done something wrong there?"

"No way."

Gao Yan chuckled softly, but his confidence was lacking, and his laugh sounded somewhat weak.

Lu Huan rolled her eyes and said, "I'm also waiting for the day you're willing to be honest!"

It was lunchtime, so the two didn't linger and found a decent-looking restaurant near the Qin family's residence.

While waiting for the food to be served, Lu Huan opened the wooden box and showed Gao Yan her haul for the day.

Apart from the three shops acquired from the Prince of Yan's residence, the remaining three shops were once owned by the Cheng family, and were the largest of all the Cheng family's shops.

One of them is on Zhuque Avenue, while the other two are on the main cross streets of Yanjing City.

However, now is not a good time to seize the shop. We need to wait for the government officials to remove the seals first, and then send someone to check the current condition of the shop.

After all, this vacancy has lasted for nearly ten years.

Lu Huan recalled those names and immediately began searching for them in the private room.

"Huan'er, what are you looking for?"

"Did you see the pen and ink?"

They quickly found a small couch for guests to rest in the suite's cubicle, along with tea sets, writing brushes, and other items.

Gao Yan grinds the ink, and Lu Huan picks up the brush to write.

"Huan'er, your handwriting is so beautiful, even better than what the teacher taught you."

Lu Huan's attention was focused on the name; she merely smiled slightly at Gao Yan's praise, without taking it to heart.

She made no attempt to conceal her writing, and Gao Yan was able to recognize that it contained several names.

Who are these people?

"I don't know any of the people who took over the Cheng family's shops. I can only leave it to Uncle Qin and ask him to help me find out."

Gao Yan also carefully noted them down. But with only a few names and no other clues, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Lu Huan understood this principle, but having clues was much better than being completely clueless.

The two men emerged from behind the screen, just as the dishes were being served. They greeted Ishiya as if nothing had happened and invited him to eat.

"Uncle Qin, take a look at these names. Do you recognize them?" Lu Huan placed the note he had written in the restaurant in front of Bi Zhu's father.

Before Lu Huan and his group arrived, Qin Hui was extremely busy at the grain shop. Upon hearing the news of Lu Huan's arrival, he didn't delay and rushed back to the Qin residence.

He was still out of breath: "Miss, who are these people?"

"The person who took over the Cheng family shop."

Qin Hui gasped, almost choking on his own saliva.

He carefully examined the names on the slip of paper, pointing to one of them and saying, "This seems to be the name of the second master of the Du family. However, he is rarely in Yanjing City, so I'm not sure. Miss, where did you learn these names?"

Lu Huan gestured to Gao Yan to open the wooden box and present it to Qin Hui.

He unfolded the folded sheets of paper and was immediately drawn to their contents.

"these are……"

The familiar address reminded Qin Hui of decades ago, when he was just a five or six-year-old child, and his father was the manager of the shop, scolding him and forbidding him from running around.

Before he knew it, his eyes were already brimming with tears. He hurriedly put the deed back into the wooden box and pushed it far away, afraid that his tears would fall and ruin the deed that the young lady had worked so hard to redeem.

He didn't even have time to take out a handkerchief; he just wiped his face haphazardly with his sleeve a few times, then picked up the property deed to check it again.

Qin Hui spread out several sheets of paper on the table, stared at them for a while, and then let out a hearty laugh.

"Great! Great! These shops are finally back! Hahaha!"

In Lu Huan's eyes, these three shops were merely the tip of the iceberg of the Cheng family's vast business empire. However, for Qin Hui, these shops represented his entire childhood.

Countless times, Qin Hui passed by Zhuque Street and saw the once bustling shops, their businesses sealed off on the day the devastating news arrived. As time eroded them, they gradually lost their former glory and became dilapidated. He felt as if his heart had been torn apart, and he was filled with unbearable pain.

He was laughing for a while, then he hugged his head and started to cry.

Lu Huan wanted to go up and comfort him, but Gao Yan pushed her aside and hugged him instead.

This jealous person! Doesn't she know what kind of occasion this is?!

Lu Huan silently complained about Gao Yan in her heart, glaring at him several times. The little bit of sadness she had painstakingly cultivated was completely destroyed by Gao Yan's interference.

"Uncle Qin, don't be sad. I've found a clue, haven't I?"

Qin Hui's sleeve was soaked with tears, and his words were somewhat slurred: "Before, I only suspected that the Cheng family's troubles were related to the Du and Chen families, but now there is concrete evidence."

But I've never been able to figure out who's behind them. Even though I've been secretly keeping an eye on both families for the past ten years, I'm still outnumbered and haven't found anything.

This old servant is utterly useless!

"Uncle Qin, you don't need to blame yourself. It's already a great achievement that you managed to stay alive," Lu Huan comforted him. "Now that we've found a clue, it's not too late. By the way, I've made another discovery!"

Qin Hui immediately forgot about crying and asked seriously, "What else did Miss discover?"

“I suspect that the Li family is also involved in this matter, and even… the Lu family.”

"This is impossible!" Qin Hui stood up excitedly, muttering to himself as he paced back and forth.

Lu Huan and Gao Yan exchanged a glance, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes.

"Uncle Qin, why do you think it's impossible?"