My game even includes ancient times

"Manager Chang," she said, her slightly hoarse and melodious voice carrying a hint of barely perceptible coldness. Her beautiful eyes shifted slightly to Manager Chang's smiling face. "Have all the money, grain, medicine, and other supplies raised by the merchants been recorded here?"

Manager Chang nodded hurriedly: "Replying to Miss Xia, everything is here. I personally supervised the recording of the accounts, and I guarantee that not a single grain of rice or a single coin is missing."

Xia Yuan nodded and stood up: "In that case, let's go check out the warehouse. Manager Chang, shall we go?"

"This..." Manager Chang said with a smile, his voice sincere, "Miss Xia, the warehouse is messy and dirty. You are delicate and it is really not suitable for you to go there. I have been with the master for more than 20 years. Don't you trust me?"

"Oh? It's filthy and messy?" Xia Yuan looked down at Steward Chang, who was shorter than her, her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly, and her voice was filled with dissatisfaction. "Steward Chang, this isn't a matter of trust. Putting everything else aside, these grains and medicines are meant to be ingested. If we introduce disease into the grain because our warehouse is too dirty, and then feed it to the disaster victims in the disaster area, wouldn't that be harmful?"

Upon hearing her words, Steward Chang knew things were going to go wrong and wished he could slap himself immediately.

Why did you have to say that extra thing when you were just trying to advise someone? It's true what they say, the more you say, the more mistakes you make!

He was about to open his mouth to explain when Xia Yuan raised her hand to interrupt him: "To avoid such an accident from happening, I need to go to the warehouse to take a look. Manager Chang, don't waste time, let's go."

Despite the manager's hesitant attempts to persuade her, Xia Yuan still insisted on going to the warehouse.

She casually straightened her skirt and interrupted Steward Chang's incessant explanation: "Steward Chang, you've been obstructing me from going to the warehouse. Could it be that something has happened there, and you're trying to keep it from the Chu family?"

Manager Chang's expression changed, and he quickly said, "Miss Xia is joking. Since you insist on going, let's go. Xiao Dong, go prepare the carriage."

"No need to trouble yourself, my car is parked at the back gate, Manager Chang can come along too."

Manager Chang's eyes darkened, but he smiled and said, "Very well, very well, Miss Xia, please."

As soon as they stepped out of the back gate, a spacious carriage was indeed parked under the courtyard wall by the roadside. Xia Yuan went up first, and Steward Chang apologized and followed her into the carriage.

The carriage was lined with thick rattan cushions, and the small table was filled with delicate pastries. A faint, elegant fragrance permeated the entire carriage. In addition, there was a slender and beautiful woman sitting opposite him. Manager Chang had never ridden in such a comfortable and pleasant carriage before, but he had no mind to enjoy it at the moment.

Instead, he felt as if sharp thorns had sprouted from the rattan mat beneath him, which hadn't been bumpy at all, making him restless.

The Chu family business has four warehouses in Dingyun City, the largest of which is a granary. The convoy carrying grain for disaster relief stopped here.

Seeing that Steward Chang had returned, the guards watching the warehouse were quite surprised and stepped forward to say, "Steward Chang, didn't you just leave this morning..."

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Steward Chang's gloomy face and suggestive eyes. The guard's heart skipped a beat. He looked up and saw a beautiful woman in a red dress walking gracefully not far behind Steward Chang.

Although the guard did not recognize the man, he understood the signal from Steward Chang, so he shut his mouth and quickly stepped aside.

Manager Chang led Xia Yuan to the warehouse door and said to the guard, "Open the warehouse."

Although he appeared calm, he was inwardly panicking.

He felt something was wrong as soon as he got out of the car.

Even though someone had been secretly sent to inform the three military advisors, why did the guards watching the warehouse seem completely unaware of what had happened?

Could it be that Xia Yuan knew about their plan in advance and had already sent people to stop them?

But how could that be! The only outsider who knows the truth is currently lying in his backyard!

As she pondered, the heavy warehouse door was slowly opened, and Xia Yuan, standing at the front, stepped inside first.

Just as Manager Chang had said, the warehouse was indeed dirty and messy.

In the dim light, rows of carts loaded with goods were placed in the center of the warehouse. The ground was covered with messy grass roots, soil and sand. Countless dust particles floated in the air, choking Xia Yuan so much that she raised her hand to cover her mouth and nose.

She glanced at Steward Chang: "Steward Chang, why is there so much grass and sand on the warehouse floor?"

Manager Chang forced a smile: "It must have been accidentally brought in by people when they were moving goods."

Xia Yuan didn't speak, but slowly walked to a cart piled high with grain sacks and asked, "What kind of grain is this?"

Steward Chang: "It's brown rice..."

Before he could finish speaking, Xia Yuan's right hand flashed with cold light, and a large hole was slashed open in the grain bag, causing its contents to spill onto the ground.

"Hey……"

Manager Chang was dumbfounded. Xia Yuan's movements were too fast; he had no time to react and could only take a step forward in vain, reaching out his hand to try and stop her.

But Xia Yuan had already squatted down, picked up a handful of rice from the ground, and examined it carefully in her palm. Then she stood up, grabbed a handful from the remaining half-sack of grain, and carefully separated it with her fingers: "Manager Chang, who delivered this cart of grain?"

Steward Chang tried his best to keep his voice from trembling: "There... there are too many things, I've forgotten some..."

"Moldy, fragile, and mixed with at least 20% sand, the people who transported this grain were really vicious."

Xia Yuan's voice echoed in the warehouse, sounding strangely chilling.

She dropped the old grain and sand in her hands, casually walked to another row of carts, slashed open a grain sack, and found the same situation inside.

Next came the boxes containing medicinal herbs. Xia Yuan opened one and found that the herbs, of mediocre quality, were mixed with nearly half branches and clods of dirt. She randomly opened another box and found the same thing.

The warehouse was completely silent; no one dared to breathe.

Xia Yuan's red figure resembled a flame in the dim light, scorching the eyes of Steward Chang.

"Manager Chang," she said, walking forward and stopping three feet in front of him, looking down into his eyes, "aren't you going to explain?"

Manager Chang forced himself to remain calm: "These small merchants are really unreliable. They actually passed off these inferior goods as superior ones. It's all my fault for trusting them too much and not opening the bag to check. Miss Xia, I am willing to accept the master's punishment..."

As long as he can fool Xia Yuan for now, he can find the right opportunity to escape. He has accumulated a considerable fortune over the years, and once he leaves Yunzhou, he can make a living anywhere...

But a voice that suddenly rang out outside the warehouse ruthlessly shattered his illusions.

"Manager Chang, so you're here. Where are Military Advisor Hou, County Magistrate Wang, and Colonel Liu today?"

Hearing that familiar voice, Steward Chang turned around abruptly. Upon seeing who was standing at the door, he immediately wore a look of utter disbelief: "You...how could you..."