The sickly son died young? After the marriage exchange, I will bring prosperity to his entire clan f

Du Mingxian naturally knew what was happening, and was the first to step forward and put the things into the basket. Then she stepped aside, and the others also reacted quickly and put the things in their hands into the basket.

The supervisor pointed at Du Mingxian and said, "Go check and see if anyone has missed putting anything in, or if anything was overlooked."

"Yes."

Du Mingxian scanned the area and found that everyone's belongings were strictly controlled and were generally kept in winnowing baskets. When they were putting things into the baskets, everyone simply put the small winnowing baskets directly into the large baskets, so there really wasn't much outside.

"The person in charge has nothing."

"Okay." The manager replied, picked up the baskets, one on his back and one in each hand, and took all three baskets away neatly.

Someone asked in a low voice, "What happened? Why did they take away all our work supplies out of the blue?"

"I don't know, it sounds like there's some noise outside."

People were whispering among themselves, but Du Mingxian stood quietly to the side, as if she hadn't heard a sound.

The man sent by the Crown Prince arrived quickly and soon found them there. Finding nothing, he chased after them. Meanwhile, a guard stood at the door of the room where Du Mingxian was staying, preventing anyone from entering or leaving.

Even the slowest person would realize something was wrong by now. Someone went up to plead for mercy, but the gatekeeper ignored them and stood straight as ever.

Du Mingxian silently calculated the time. About fifteen minutes later, someone came over and said, "Bring everyone out of the house."

Someone called from outside, and Du Mingxian and the others lined up to go out. Everyone was led to the front, to the place where meals were usually distributed. Du Mingxian saw... the Crown Prince.

He actually came in person.

"Trial them separately." With the Crown Prince's order to conduct separate trials, everyone was brought in for questioning.

With a large number of people and the Crown Prince in a hurry, they divided the group into five rooms, with two people in each room to begin the interrogation.

Although the Crown Prince saw Du Mingxian, he did not make any special arrangements and simply sat there waiting for the result.

Du Mingxian was near the front of the line, and it was soon her turn to go in.

The other party glanced at me and immediately asked, "Name, age, place of residence, why are you here? What are you doing?"

Du Mingxian answered truthfully for the first few questions, but pretended not to know anything for the later ones. After all, her background was there, so it wouldn't be surprising if she didn't know.

"If you want to earn more money, do some needlework here."

The man frowned and stared at Du Mingxian. "Is that all you do? What else do you know?"

Du Mingxian sensed something was off about the man in front of her. "He only does needlework. We're both from the countryside, and actually, I... don't know how to do anything else."

"To be more specific, what kind of needlework?"

"At first, we made clothes, then boots, that's all."

Where were your clothes made?

"The clothes were previously kept in the city."

"Can you describe what the boots look like?"

"They're just pretty boots, nothing special. Aren't all the high-ranking officials and nobles wearing pretty boots?"

The man demanded sharply, "You really know nothing?"

"My lord, I really don't know anything. If I had known that doing needlework would lead to trouble, I would never have come to do this work, even if you beat me to death."

At this point, the man who hadn't spoken asked, "Have you noticed anything unusual about this place?"

Du Mingxian shook her head in confusion, "No, they are very kind and pay a high salary, so we are happy to work for them."

The two men exchanged a glance and laughed, which made Du Mingxian's heart skip a beat.

"Alright, get out. Call the next person in."

"Yes."

Du Mingxian went out, and those who had been questioned were taken to wait elsewhere. When she arrived, Lin Guixiang was already there.

Lin Guixiang saw Du Mingxian coming and hurriedly ran over, "What on earth is going on? Why are government officials here to question us all of a sudden? It's really terrifying."

"It should be fine. We didn't do anything, just some needlework. Did the adults who interrogated you say anything?"

Lin Guixiang shook her head. "It's very strange. They just asked me where I worked, then asked me two simple questions and let me out."

There is a difference between the outer and inner courtyards. The outer courtyard has no real access to anything; it's just the methods used by those behind the scenes to select people. I'm afraid that these people from the inner courtyard won't be able to leave for the time being.

"Me too, let's wait a bit, everything should be fine."

"Hopefully."

There was no lunch, and no one dared to complain of being hungry. Everyone waited quietly. As more and more people came in, the interrogation came to an end.

Soon a person appeared at the door; he was one of the people interrogating Du Mingxian.

"Next, I will call out the names on the list. The rest of you can pack up and go home. Remember, you can't work for these people anymore. They are all wanted criminals by the imperial court. If you contact them again, you will be an accomplice."

"Yes, yes." Many people were so frightened that they quickly agreed when they heard that the other party was dissatisfied, not daring to say another word.

People started calling out names at the entrance. Du Mingxian listened for a while and saw that they were all faces she had seen in the inner courtyard. She knew that she was probably doomed too.

Sure enough, she was also kept behind and her name was called.

Lin Guixiang, being from the outer courtyard, knew nothing, so she could only leave with everyone else. Before leaving, she glanced at Du Mingxian with concern and left, turning back every few steps.

“Those of you who were left behind will be interrogated again. Get in line and wait.”

Those who were chosen to go into the backyard were all perceptive and not stupid. When they heard what the other party said, they didn't make a fuss and just waited quietly for the other party to come out and ask again.

Du Mingxian was still standing at the front; it wasn't long before it was her turn.

"Du Mingxian?"

"Yes."

"Did you come to the capital with your husband, Ling Ziming?"

"Yes."

What is your relationship with these people?

"Who are they?" This was Du Mingxian's subconscious question.

The interrogator was very displeased. "You're working here, so tell me who I'm questioning?"

"What...what kind of relationship is this? We work here, they are the bosses, and we rely on the bosses to get our money."

Do you know what kind of boots they make?

Du Mingxian looked even more confused. "Boots...aren't they just for wearing on your feet? Could they have some other purpose?"

Seeing that the people who were asking the questions looked particularly bad, Du Mingxian immediately put on a timid and cowardly appearance, "My lords, I really don't know what you are talking about. Please investigate."

One of them threw an official boot right in front of Du Mingxian, saying, "Look, take a good look, see what's wrong?"

Du Mingxian actually picked it up and examined it carefully. Finally, she looked up and said with great admiration, "This person's stitches are not tight enough. They are not as good as mine. The boots I make are the most comfortable. It's infuriating that someone like this gets the same pay as me."

This really baffled the review officials, who ultimately unanimously concluded that Du Mingxian might not be very bright.