After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

"Smart!" Lu Zhiyuan snapped her fingers. "Was it cleaned before or after the theft?"

"Naturally, after it was stolen," Captain Ma said confidently.

"Wrong. This box was cleaned before it was stolen. To be precise, it wasn't stolen at all. It was placed here together with the box containing the golden Buddha, and that box was once stacked on top of this box. When the palace servants moved it, they accidentally bumped the surface of this box due to external force."

There is a dense patch of bright green on the box surface. Upon closer inspection, there are slight scratches on it, which matches what Lu Zhiyuan said.

"It's not just scratches, but also traces of gold paint. Gold paint is made by mixing gold powder into lacquer."

Lu Zhiyuan picked up the box containing the golden Buddha and held it up to the light. The entire box shimmered with tiny points of light, echoing the gold lines that were meticulously drawn on it, exuding an air of palace extravagance. Compared to the box containing the golden Buddha, the box containing the jade Guanyin had a smooth, flawless lacquer finish, except for a patch of concentrated, luminous green.

"The scratches on it are not obvious. If it weren't for this powder, you would hardly notice anything wrong. But the problem lies in these scratches."

“I understand. If the box had been wiped, even if the scratches were still there, it wouldn't have left these gold dust. Even if they had, they wouldn't have stayed in their original places. If it hadn't been wiped, there would definitely be fingerprints on the surface and body of the box. These powders can magnify those tiny marks. It's amazing. I wonder where Miss caught this insect. When I return to the capital, I'll have someone catch one for use in the case.”

"It was a gift from my uncle; I originally kept it as a pet." He put the small porcelain bottle back on his waist and patted it gently. The bottle vibrated slightly, as if the insects were responding.

The third young master of the Xie family was often away from home, and the people he associated with were mostly from the martial arts world. These people were a mix of good and evil, from all walks of life. It wasn't surprising that Miss Lu had this insect. Unfortunately, there was only one, and he was too embarrassed to even ask for it.

Upon opening the box, a faint fragrance wafted out, yet it didn't resemble the rouge and face powder commonly used by women.

"The scent of medicine! It's the scent of medicine!" Lu Zhiyuan said, "This eunuch has been in the palace for many years. He's not directly under the Empress Dowager's nose, but he has received her favors or reprimands. He's about shoulder-length, rather thin, and has a fair complexion..."

I closed my eyes and thought about it for a moment.

"His skin was pale, and he looked sickly. He was humble and polite. He often bowed his head when he saw people, and his presence was not strong. He was the one who took the Empress Dowager's jade Guanyin. He brewed medicine at the post station, the one closest to Huguo Temple. In the backyard, he used the stove in the backyard of the post station. The wind was blowing from the back; I smelled that when I was talking to the princess."

Lu Zhiyuan took two steps in place: "The jade Guanyin was not lost at the temple, but at the post station. Quickly send someone to the post station; he must have hidden the jade Guanyin there."

"Guest rooms? The backyard? Or the carriage parking area?" Commander Ma murmured, "That post station is different from the others. If we find it, that's fine, but if we don't, it might be difficult to explain to the Emperor. Miss, you may not know, but the manager of that post station is the descendant of a loyal minister. His entire family, except for him, was killed by the Southern Chu people. Although he didn't die, he was left with a disability. The post station is both a reward from the Emperor and his place of refuge. It's not appropriate for us to search it so openly. Why don't you tell me a general location, Miss, and I'll go find it myself or send a trusted confidant?"

Lu Zhiyuan tapped her chin with her fingers.

If she were that eunuch, where would she hide the things?

Room?

Although the rooms at the inn weren't cleaned daily, people were constantly coming and going. If someone else discovered this, wouldn't it be like letting someone else profit? He probably wasn't that generous. The beam? That could be a place to hide things. But a jade Guanyin isn't just anything; if it were placed so high up and fell, wouldn't it be completely useless if it broke?

The backyard, where carriages and other belongings were parked. I vaguely remember there was a haystack behind it, used by the post station as fodder for the horses. Could he have hidden the jade Guanyin there?

Medicine? Medicine dregs!

Oh, right, the place next to the haystack where they dump the medicine dregs.

The workers at the post station said that the dregs of the medicinal herbs would be dealt with next spring. These dregs were nothing more than leaves, flowers, fruits, stems, roots, branches, and the bodies of small insects. Piling these together, they would naturally ferment and become fertilizer for the medicinal herb field. There was a medicinal herb field behind the post station, jointly cultivated by the people at the post station and the people at the temple.

To outsiders, the dregs of medicine are considered filthy; no one would touch them unless absolutely necessary. He must have buried the jade Guanyin statue where the dregs were dumped.

They rode at breakneck speed, and the officers from the Commandant's Office retrieved the Jade Guanyin in just half an hour.

The person who stole and buried the jade Guanyin statue has also been found.

His name was Wen Liangyu, and the people in the palace called him Xiao Liangzi. He was an old man in the Empress Dowager's palace.

When asked why he stole the jade Guanyin, his answer was unexpected: he said the jade Guanyin belonged to his mother, and that the Empress Dowager had snatched it from her. His eyes were filled with hatred when he mentioned the Empress Dowager, but she couldn't recall when she had stolen anything from his family. The jade Guanyin had clearly been taken from her storeroom.

Wen Liangyu gritted his teeth and asked the Empress Dowager if she had forgotten the Wen family of Tingzhou.

The Wen family of Tingzhou had been in the jade carving business since the previous dynasty. Although their business was not large, they enjoyed a high reputation, and even foreigners liked to buy from them. After the establishment of the Northern Liang state, their family became imperial merchants, and many jade ornaments in the court came from the Wen family.

About twenty years ago, the Wen family was brutally murdered, and all the jade and jade carvings stored in their warehouse were looted. The case was classified as the work of thieves, and to this day, the perpetrators have not been apprehended.

If Wen Liangyu belonged to the Wen family, then the massacre of the Wen family was the work of the Empress Dowager. Otherwise, how could the jade Guanyin of the Wen family have ended up in the hands of the Empress Dowager?

Sensing something amiss, Commandant Ma quickly gave a signal to the officials and their families who were watching. The quick-witted ones immediately made an excuse to leave, and the rest followed suit. Only Wen Liangyu, Commandant Ma, the Empress Dowager, and Xie Yubai and Zhou Yu'an, who stood on either side, remained in the large courtyard.

"Twenty years ago, the Southern Chu royal family ordered a batch of jade jewelry from the Wen family. In accordance with the regulations of the government, we began production after making various requests, filing records, and obtaining permission. The jewelry was themed around flowers, including flower hairpins, hair ornaments, earrings, and bracelets. There were also two jade buttons to be used as decorations on clothing. The finished products were handed over to the government for inspection, and only after they were confirmed to be in good condition were they escorted to Southern Chu by a security escort agency. The security escort agency was also recognized by the imperial court."

Wen Liangyu's eyes reddened: "Even so, the Wen family still fell victim to the crime of treason! Only afterward did we learn that the Wen family's calamity was not due to treason, but to the possession of jade. The Empress Dowager coveted the jade mine that the Wen family had recently discovered, and wanted to seize it for herself."