Transmigrated Leftover Woman in Rural Style

Li Xiaonuan couldn't understand why the officer not only didn't stop her from seeking help but also sent people to protect Jingjing. However, she at least realized one thing: the officer wanted to follow the trail and expose the person behind her.

Li Xiaonuan, carrying the sobbing Xiaojun on her back, was escorted out of the courtyard by dozens of soldiers along with the old lady and a few others. Outside the courtyard, the dozen or so families who grew chili peppers together looked at them with concern.

Li Xiaonuan spotted Grandma Yu and Zhou Liufeng in the crowd and loudly instructed them, "Grandma Yu, Brother Liufeng, could you please look after our house for the next few days and also keep an eye on the chili peppers? The people from Binzhirujia will come to collect the chili peppers on time every morning, so don't worry."

"Brother Liu Fei, remember to send ten catties of chili peppers to Yingkelai every two days." Li Xiaonuan thought for a moment and then specifically instructed him.

With Li Xiaonuan's assurance, the families who had grown chili peppers felt less resentful. Only then did they truly begin to care about the fate of the Li family. Throughout history, whether falsely accused of treason or genuinely complicit, those who have colluded with the enemy have never met a good end.

Under an imperial dynasty, not only ordinary people but even the highest-ranking officials were powerless to resist. Therefore, when the Li family was taken away, everyone couldn't help but feel a pang of anxiety for them. Some had already begun silently praying and reciting scriptures for the family, hoping they would have a smooth journey to the underworld.

As they prepared to ascend the official road, their group was stopped. The one who stopped them was a nouveau riche who called himself Qian Dafu. Because Li Xiaonuan and the others were some distance away from the young officer, they couldn't hear what the young officer and Qian Dafu were saying.

However, judging from the junior officer's attitude and behavior, it was not difficult to see that Qian Dafu was actually a person of importance. After Qian Dafu and his men left, the junior officer arranged for Li Xiaonuan and the others to board the carriages waiting on the official road and head straight for the city's garrison.

In fact, Prince Jing already knew about the false accusations against Li Xiaonuan and her family not long after. This was because Xiao Gang, who worked at the clinic, was falsely accused and taken away. Xiao Yang, who was diligently studying at the school, was also falsely accused and taken away.

Therefore, when Jingjing arrived at the clinic with the jade pendant, Prince Jing had already summoned Wei Yu to help him come up with a solution.

Prince Jing accepted the jade pendant and told Jingjing that they were trying to find a way, asking her to go back and tell everyone that Li Xiaonuan and her family would return safely.

"Do you know who's behind this?" Prince Jing asked Wei Yu directly.

Wei Yu frowned deeply, his dark face radiating anger.

“It must be related to Chu Feng. I was suspicious when Chu Feng brought the apology gifts to the Li family’s door. Afterwards, I had someone search through all those things, but they didn’t find anything suspicious, so I stopped watching. Now that I think about it, Chu Feng had actually set a trap back then.” Wei Yu said through gritted teeth.

"What was his purpose in doing this? Did he already know that Li Xiaonuan was the one who provided the nautical chart? But that nautical chart was only sent back to the capital at the beginning of last month. Before that, we didn't reveal a word to anyone. Could it be that there really is a traitor among us?" Prince Jing was completely puzzled.

Wei Yu suddenly thought of someone, but he quickly dismissed the idea. He simply couldn't believe that person was so cunning, capable of casting a wide net so early on.

"What, you've thought of that person too, haven't you? If that person is truly involved in this matter, I'm afraid I won't let her off easily. I have to teach her a lesson, no matter what. Otherwise, she'll think my people are easy to bully." Prince Jing could tell from Wei Yu's expression that he had also suspected that person.

Wei Yu felt a little flustered; he knew Prince Jing's methods. Although Prince Jing had always been a leisurely prince, his power was by no means small. Moreover, he had truly mastered every trick in the book of the Wang family.

"Your Highness, we haven't investigated thoroughly yet. Isn't it too hasty to draw conclusions like this? I promise that once the matter is clarified, I will give Your Highness a satisfactory answer." Wei Yu felt that things weren't as simple as they seemed on the surface. Therefore, he was also very uneasy, afraid that if the investigation went on, that person would truly be implicated.

"Since you're so protective of that person, then you can investigate her. I'll take some men to the barracks and see if we can find out anything. At the very least, we need to know what they mean by 'evidence of treason'." Prince Jing made this decision and then dismissed Wei Yu.

In fact, Wei Yu suspected that there was an 80% chance that Chu Lin was behind this. In this prefectural city, besides the Qi family father and son, only the Wei family could guess the connection between Xiao Nuan and him.

Qi Ji knew this, needless to say, because Li Xiaonuan told him herself. As for Doctor Qi, it was because Prince Jing had been staying at the Qi family clinic ever since he arrived in the prefectural city. However, within the entire Wei family, only Wei Yu and those around him knew about this.

Judging from the various incidents that have happened to Li Xiaonuan, Chu Lin is undoubtedly the biggest suspect at present.

The reasons for suspecting Chu Lin aren't hard to find. Leaving aside the fact that Li Xiaonuan had offended the Chu Lin sisters before, the collaboration between Wei Yu and Li Xiaonuan alone is enough to drive Chu Lin crazy. It's just that Wei Yu has never known this. Or perhaps Wei Yu has always understood, but is just pretending not to.

Finally, and most importantly, there's Chu Feng, who is a member of the Empress's faction. Back then, the Empress hated the Wei family and used every means to harm them. But her own family gained no advantage whatsoever. In the end, it was only because of the incident involving Wei Lu and her child that the Empress's family gained the upper hand.

Over the years, the Empress has never given up suppressing the Wei clan. If it weren't for the Emperor's guilt towards the Wei family, and Prince Jing's intentional or unintentional support for them, making it even more difficult for the Empress's faction to act, they would have already successfully wiped out the entire Wei clan.

This is why, over the years, the Empress has repeatedly framed Prince Jing before the Emperor, fabricating charges against him for cultivating his own power base. However, Prince Jing and the Emperor have reached a level of close friendship where they can confide in each other about anything. And the person who has maintained this relationship is none other than Wei Lu.

Therefore, the Empress wished she could tear Prince Jing to pieces. She had to find a powerful clan that could rival the Wei clan, and then cultivate and promote them to deal with the Wei clan. That clan was the Chu clan.

In other words, the Wei clan and the Chu clan were actually adversaries in the court. The Empress once trusted and supported the Chu clan, which brought them considerable glory.

But this glory gradually faded after Chu Lin married Wei Bian. Although their elders were political enemies in the court, the younger generations of their families remained relatively close in private. The relationship between the two clans was the kind of complex love-hate relationship described in legends.

Two months ago, Chu Feng suddenly returned from the capital for some unknown purpose. If he could handle that matter well, Chu would regain the Empress's favor.

Unexpectedly, Chu Feng, who had come specifically to see Prince Jing, stumbled upon Zhao Wangchuan. It was only after that that he impulsively decided to kill Zhao Wangchuan. Unfortunately, their preparations were insufficient, and they failed. However, finding the whereabouts of Wei Lu and her child was still a great achievement for the Chu family.