The abandoned concubine who transmigrated woke up shouting "Long live the widow!"

Zhao Chen's home was at the very back of Dashan Village, a three-room mud house surrounded by a one-meter-high wall. The yard was quite clean. Before entering the yard, Butler Yuan stood outside the wooden gate and called out, "Zhao Chen."

The door opened and an old man with a cane came out. "Butler Yuan is here!"

"Uncle Zhao, this is our master who came to see Zhao Chen. How is he?" Butler Yuan said, opening the door for Jingxue. He hadn't noticed that Runyue had a large piece of meat in her hand after getting off the carriage.

Jingxue looked over and saw that the old man's right leg was missing below the knee.

"Hello, boss! Please come in!"

"How is Zhao Chen's injury?" Jingxue asked.

The old man closed the wooden gate to the yard. "It's nothing serious. A hunter in the village had some badger oil, so he applied some to his wound. It'll be fine in a couple of days!"

The group entered the main room, and the old man opened the left door. "Zhao Chen, it's Steward Yuan and the master!"

Zhao Chen came out of the house. Jing Xue saw that his right hand was covered with shiny oil, and his hair and eyebrows had burn marks, but they had been cleaned up.

"Steward Yuan, Master, you've arrived! Please have a seat. I'm fine, but I've troubled you to come all this way! I'll get you some water," Zhao Chen said.

"No need to bother, let me take a look at your wound." Jingxue stepped forward and stood opposite Zhao Chen, carefully examining his hand.

Zhao Chen was a little embarrassed. "Boss, it's all my fault. I didn't notice it in time. My wound is nothing. There was a bucket of water next to me. I put my hand in the water after I burned myself, but I still got a lot of blisters."

The blisters on the wound are as big as soybeans, and several of them have already burst.

Jingxue took out three tubes of burn ointment from her waist and placed them on the table, along with a bottle of painkillers and several rolls of gauze.

"You'd better bandage your wound." Jingxue said, and was about to bandage Zhao Chen's wound. Zhao Chen stepped back embarrassedly and said, "Master, my second uncle can bandage it for me later. I wouldn't dare trouble you!"

Jingxue didn't insist, but simply told him to take a painkiller if he felt really bad.

"Take good care of your injury. You were injured while fighting the fire. You will continue to be paid during your recovery period until you are fully healed," Jingxue said.

"Boss, I'll be able to start work in a couple of days." Zhao Chen looked at the others and stood there keeping him company instead of sitting down.

Seeing that there were only the two men in the house, and that Zhao Chen was injured and his second uncle's leg was still hurt, Jingxue said, "Butler Yuan, could you have Li Ma arrange for someone to bring them meals every day? This house..."

Uncle Zhao Chen walked over, leaning on a cane in one hand and carrying a water bottle in the other. “Master, you don’t need to bring us food. I can do any kind of work. When Zhao Chen is at work, I’ll cook at home. I was in the army, so I can do any kind of work.”

The meat had already been placed on the table during the leap month.

Jingxue didn't want to argue with them anymore; these villagers were hardworking and used to these conditions.

Before leaving, she told Zhao Chen to contact Butler Yuan and the others if he needed anything.

When the three returned to the greenhouse, everyone was cutting soybeans and digging sweet potatoes. Li's Fruit and Vegetable Store had been closed for the past two days, so the horse-drawn cart that delivered vegetables came to pick up sweet potatoes and soybean stalks.

Upon seeing Jingxue and the others return, Ye Muchen and Qin Jing walked over.

"How is Zhao Chen?" Qin Jing asked.

"It's not too serious. I left him some medicine. I'll have Butler Yuan go check on him when I have time and bring him some food and supplies!"

Seeing that Ye Muchen looked a bit tired, and remembering that he had a cold, Jingxue said, "Let's go back to the manor! Shadow A and the others should be rested enough by now. Let's see what's going on!"

Qin Jing nodded, "Alright, leave this to Li Zhuangtou and the others!"

The group boarded the Prince's carriage, and Qin Jing recounted the events of that morning: "Before dawn, Du Zhuangtou rode into the city. Because he delivers vegetables every day, the soldiers guarding the city recognized him and knew he was from my household, so they let him into the city."

"When I arrived, the fire had just been extinguished, and thick black smoke was still billowing from the place. My cousin and I had just analyzed it, and the arsonist was well-trained and retreated cleanly and efficiently."

Ye Muchen said, "This must have been planned for a long time. Last night was New Year's Eve. Whether it was the villagers or the people in the village, they all slept later and more soundly than usual. They might have even drunk some alcohol. So, choosing such a day to make a move would have a higher chance of success."

Jingxue nodded. Ye Muchen's analysis made a lot of sense, but whose work was this? Was it aimed at her again?

“At best, this destroyed a whole shed of grain. At worst, we just signed an agreement with Cangbei, which is a major event that will affect trade between the two countries. And who knows the specific details of this agreement?” Jingxue said.

Ye Muchen and Qin Jing exchanged a glance, eagerly awaiting Jingxue's continuation.

"The ultimate target of both the big and small groups is me. It's very unlikely that they're after Qin Jing! Because if I can't deliver the grain seeds when the delegation leaves in a few days, His Majesty will blame us, and the delegation will make us pay a penalty for breach of contract. This is clearly stated in the divorce agreement," Jingxue said.

Ye Muchen said, "Could it be those rotten apples in the Ministry of Revenue? They're getting bolder and bolder."

"Maybe it's not that serious. Cousin and cousin-in-law, you don't need to think the worst. We'll just increase patrols from now on," Qin Jing advised.

Jingxue didn't want to continue the analysis with them; she would just go back and investigate on her own.

"Qin Jing is right. They came prepared. Since we've been targeted, it's impossible to guard against them all." What Jing Xue didn't say was that she wanted to find the person behind this to eliminate this scourge at its root.

When they arrived at the village, Li Ma and the others were cooking; the sun was almost setting.

After dinner, Ye Muchen and Qin Jing went to the warehouse, while Jing Xue met with Shadow A alone.

“Young Miss, it is my fault for neglecting my duty. Please punish me! There are six of us here, but we failed to protect the crops in the greenhouse. They were destroyed just before harvest.” Shadow knelt on one knee and said with his hands clasped.

"Get up! I'm not blaming you, and I didn't think things through properly either," Jingxue said.

“Young Miss, I have examined the arrows that shot into the greenhouse. They were very well made and professionally crafted. Moreover, the person who shot the arrows was also quite skilled in martial arts. We chased after them for several miles but did not find any suspicious footprints.”

"Okay! I understand. You can increase patrols from now on." After saying that, Jingxue took out several drones that she had prepared in advance and taught Shadow Armor how to use them.

"Shadow Armor, we're going to be building a few more workshops soon. Consider this a wake-up call. We'll have to rely on you from now on!"

"It's no trouble at all, Miss. It's all my duty."

Jingxue originally planned to return to the capital on the third day of the Lunar New Year, but the Emperor Emeritus sent a Golden Armor Guard early on the second day.