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

Wen Liangyu suddenly stood up, stood for a while, and then slowly sat down: "Since there is someone with the surname Cheng, it can't be Eunuch Cheng, the age doesn't match."

Xie Yubai asked, "Does the Wen family actually have someone surnamed Cheng?"

Wen Liangyu nodded, but did not say who the person was. Xie Yubai and Lu Zhiyuan exchanged glances, and Xie Yubai said casually, "Yuan'er, can you help your second uncle analyze whether any of the eunuchs and palace maids who entered the palace are impersonating others?"

“Of course there are.” Lu Zhiyuan tapped her chin: “There are three types of eunuchs. One type is from poor families who would starve to death if they didn’t enter the palace to make a living. Another type is from families that are relatively well-off, but have many brothers and low status, and want to use entering the palace to make a future. There are also some who are descendants of disgraced officials. The situation of lower-ranking palace maids is similar. Some of the higher-ranking palace maids were rejected during the imperial concubine selection. Some of them used other people’s identities.”

Xie Yubai feigned ignorance and asked, "Entering the palace to be selected as a concubine is a good thing, so why impersonate someone else?"

Lu Zhiyuan tilted her head, looking languid. "Being chosen as a concubine isn't a good thing; being selected and becoming a concubine is. The concubine selection in Beiliang happens once every five years, with anywhere from a hundred to a thousand candidates. How can everyone catch the eye of the royal family and become the emperor's bedmate? Those who are not chosen can't go home; they can only work in the palace as maids. Giving up a perfectly good life as a young lady and a good husband to become a maid—if you were in that situation, you wouldn't be happy either."

Xie Yubai is like a straight man in a comedy duo.

"What can we do if we're not willing? We can't disobey the imperial edict, can we? That's a capital offense."

“Just buy her with money. Buy a poor girl and send her into the palace as your own. If she gains power, she’ll be your own daughter, worshipping your ancestors and being included in the family genealogy. If she doesn’t gain power, she’ll just be an ordinary palace maid. Her family will use her to make money, and they won’t tell anyone whether she gains power or not. Buyer and seller, everyone’s happy.”

"So..." Xie Yubai looked thoughtful. "Eunuch Cheng may not be surnamed Cheng, but he must know someone with the surname Cheng. It would be most appropriate to enter the palace using the surname of someone he knows. If this Eunuch Cheng knew Wen Liangyu from the beginning, then it would not be a coincidence that you, Wen Liangyu, met Eunuch Cheng in the palace, received his help, and were transferred to the Empress Dowager's side."

Wen Liangyu's gaze deepened: "Does Lord Xie mean that he is helping me avenge the Wen family?"

Xie Yubai shook his head: "He's not avenging the Wen family, but using you, the last surviving member of the Wen family, to achieve his ulterior motives. Wen Liangyu, I ask you, twenty years ago, how did you leave Tingzhou for the capital, and how did you get into this palace? Penniless, traveling thousands of miles, how did you, a mere child, manage to do it all in such a short time? Was it really just good luck?"

A few words from him sent a chill down Wen Liangyu's spine.

Memories flashed through my mind, settling on a blurry face with indistinct features.

When the Wen family met with misfortune, he was listening to a storyteller in a teahouse with the Wen family's old servant. The old servant was always frugal and strictly adhered to the Wen family's rules; even when listening to a storyteller, he would only listen briefly from the doorway. That day was unusually different. Not only did they listen to the entire story, but the old servant also bought him roasted nuts and melon seeds, as if he knew beforehand that the Wen family would meet with misfortune that day.

Upon learning that the soldiers had gone to the Wen family's residence, his first action was not to take him back to the mansion for inspection, but to take him to the home of a distant relative and hide him. The person who came to fetch him was not the old servant, but a stranger. The stranger said the old servant was dead, shot by the men who had captured them.

He was young then and only knew fear; he didn't think there was anything wrong with what that person said.

What if the old servant hadn't died? After all, he hadn't seen it with his own eyes; all he knew was what that unfamiliar face had told him.

The man claimed he was entrusted by the old servant to blend in with the beggars and leave the city with them. The Wen family had been executed, and there was no wanted poster for him at the city gate. Why would the man want him to disguise himself as a beggar?

The purpose was to make him hear what the beggars were saying, so that he would naturally go to the capital.

At that time, Tingzhou was a prosperous place, and one would not starve to death by begging in Tingzhou. Why would two old beggars, whose legs were both weak, travel thousands of miles to the capital?

When did the two beggars disappear? When we entered Caiyi Town.

He fell ill and lay dying in a dilapidated temple when a wealthy merchant happened to pass by. He saw him, took pity on him, and saved him, bringing him to the capital.

There aren't that many coincidences in the world.

He wasn't the only sick beggar in the dilapidated temple, so why did the wealthy merchant save him alone?

Despite being a wealthy merchant, he carried very few items, not at all like someone in business. After arriving in the capital, he discovered the route to the palace by chance through this same wealthy merchant.

A young eunuch newly arrived at the palace, with a handsome appearance, honest demeanor, few words, diligent hands and feet, and a keen eye for social cues, how could he possibly be disliked by his masters? The nobles' criticism of him seemed more like a deliberate act.

Lord Xie is right. All of this is too coincidental, as if it were arranged by someone.

Who was that person? Eunuch Cheng? He didn't know him at all. What was it about this remnant of the Wen family that he was interested in?

A thought flashed through his mind, recalling the two sentences Xie Yubai had just said. Eunuch Cheng's surname wasn't Cheng, but he knew someone with that surname, and that Cheng had intricate connections to the Wen family.

Among the Wen family's old acquaintances, there was only one surnamed Cheng who had the ability to facilitate this matter—his father's sworn brother, Cheng Xiao'an, a jade carving merchant from Tingzhou.

"Cheng Xiaoan?" Xie Yubai frowned. "Is there such a person in Tingzhou?"

“In Tingzhou, he was just an ordinary jade carving merchant, so it’s normal that Lord Xie doesn’t know him,” Wen Liangyu said. “He was fifteen years younger than my father and ten years older than me. To me, he was more like an older brother who liked to play pranks. My father was sullen, but he was lively and cheerful. In particular, his laughter could wake up everyone in the mansion before he even entered.”

A slight smile appeared on Wen Liangyu's face.

“He loved bringing me gifts, especially masks, all kinds of masks. He would hide them behind the masks and only give them to me after scaring or making me cry. Every time I saw him, his eyes were blurry with tears, so I couldn’t see him clearly or remember what he looked like. I only remember his laughter.”

Xie Yu asked, "Does he have a sweetheart named Meiniang?"

Wen Liangyu countered, "How do you know he has a sweetheart named Meiniang?"

Xie Yubai laughed: "There really is such a person!"

Wen Liangyu nodded: "Uncle Cheng likes her very much, but Uncle Cheng and Aunt Cheng hate her very much, thinking that she is a cunning and treacherous woman. Because of this, Uncle Cheng once went to my father, hoping that he could persuade Uncle Cheng and Aunt Cheng to agree to him taking Meiniang as a concubine, but my father refused. Because of this, Uncle Cheng and my father had a big fight and did not speak to each other for more than half a year."

Lu Zhiyuan leaned closer to Wen Liangyu, looked into his eyes, and asked, "What was the reason your father refused?"

“This woman behaves improperly, having dealings with many wealthy merchants and young masters in Tingzhou. Even if she were to become a concubine, it would be a misfortune for the family.” Wen Liangyu lowered his eyelids: “When the news reached Meiniang’s ears, Meiniang tried to prove her innocence with her death. She didn’t die, but the child in her womb died. Father said that the child was not Uncle Cheng’s.”