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

Ganzhou gets cold early; the chill arrives even before the start of winter.

The Xie family owns a charcoal shop in Ganzhou City, and it's already bustling with activity. Business is not as good as in previous years, and it's rather sluggish. The shopkeeper had no choice but to bite the bullet and go to Lu Zhiyuan.

Lu Zhiyuan didn't have the energy to make any arrangements. She just went over and took a look before handing over all the important and trivial matters to the Crown Prince.

As the grandson-in-law of the Xie family, the Crown Prince should contribute to the Xie family's business.

As the Crown Prince led the shopkeeper out, they happened to run into Han Ting, who was returning. The day before they entered Ganzhou City, Han Ting had taken his gang of men north, ostensibly to do business, but in reality to avoid suspicion. They had taken silk, tea, and spices with them, and leather goods and charcoal on their return journey. All these items were stored in the Xie family's shop, where Manager Xie was handling them.

Upon hearing that there were still seven cartloads of charcoal left, Manager Xie broke out in a cold sweat.

In previous years, even seven large cartloads of charcoal would have sold out, let alone seven large cartloads. This year, not a single person has even inquired about it, let alone bought any. Of all the shops on the street, only the charcoal shop is deserted, giving off an eerie atmosphere.

Han Ting's observations were more meticulous than Manager Xie's. Apart from the grain shop and the tavern, the other shops weren't doing well either. It seemed that something big was happening in Ganzhou City, with an atmosphere of impending storm. What was even stranger was that there had been nothing unusual along the way when he returned from the north, indicating that the storm was coming from within the city.

The prince understood, nodded his thanks, and led the shopkeeper out. After taking a few steps, he turned to Han Ting and said, "Ah Yuan is not feeling well and needs to rest. If Chief Han has nothing urgent, please do not disturb her."

"Your Highness, rest assured, when Han Ting goes to see Miss, she will never consider it a disturbance."

The word "Miss" indicated that he had never considered Lu Zhiyuan as the Crown Prince's consort. The Crown Prince was displeased, but he couldn't show his anger in public, after all, she had just reminded him of the matter in Ganzhou, and her efforts were all for the sake of the Xiao family's country and its people.

For the first time in my life, I felt that the identity of the crown prince was a burden.

Lu Zhiyuan's body was already at its limit, and she was only alive because of that pill. She didn't know how much longer she could hold on. Liu Ying knew she couldn't stand the cold, so she lit a charcoal fire. It was chilly outside, but warm inside, and she was almost asleep, holding her medical book.

Han Ting took off his cloak and tossed it to Lu Yun, who was guarding the door, but hesitated to go in. Seeing this, Lu Yun couldn't help but urge him, "Are you feeling nervous about returning home?"

Han Ting rolled his eyes at him: "I told you to read more books, but you insist on slacking off here."

Lu Yun nudged him with his sword: "I know you're highly learned; you could pass the imperial examinations even without being the leader of the gang. By the way, why weren't you waiting for us in Ganzhou? What did you find out in the north?"

Han Ting rolled her eyes at him again: "What's wrong with Miss? I entrusted Miss to you, and this is how you protect her?"

Lu Yun blinked, puzzled, and asked, "What happened to Madam? Oh, right, we were attacked on the way, and Madam was injured. The imperial physician has already examined her."

"Injured?" Han Ting turned around and grabbed Lu Yun: "Aren't you supposed to be good at martial arts? Have you been slacking off all these seven years in the palace? Have all of you been just freeloaders? Do you even know about Miss's health... Never mind, just tell me what happened?"

Lu Yun said, feeling wronged, "I may be good at kung fu, but even the strongest fists can't fight four hands. You just haven't encountered it yet. If you had, you might not have survived, let alone protected the lady."

"I would rather die than let Miss get hurt. In the end, it's still your fault for being useless." Han Ting let go of her hand. "If I had known you were this useless, I would have gone back to take care of Miss sooner. And that Crown Prince, a dignified heir apparent, couldn't even protect Miss. So incompetent, if I were the old emperor, I would never have handed over the Northern Liang kingdom to him."

Lu Yun quickly covered Han Ting's mouth: "If you don't want to live, don't implicate the madam and the Xie family."

As Lu Yun recounted what had happened that day, Han Ting's brows furrowed. The assassins were a mixed group, from different backgrounds, yet they worked together seamlessly, obeying only one person's orders.

This is truly strange. What's even stranger is that the Crown Prince has investigated for so long but hasn't been able to find out who's behind it all.

The noise reached Lu Zhiyuan's ears. She put down her medical book and looked towards the door: "Han Ting is back? Quick, let him in."

Liu Ying put the medical book down and muttered, "So what if he's back? He's disturbing Madam's rest. I'll go out and teach him a lesson, and bring him in while I'm at it."

Lu Zhiyuan shook her head, helped herself up from the recliner, and when she looked again, Liu Ying had indeed dragged Han Ting in by the ear.

Liu Ying was much shorter than Han Ting, and even standing on tiptoe, she looked somewhat awkward. Han Ting still had that aloof and cold demeanor, but he cooperated by bending over and letting Liu Ying pull him in by the ear.

In a daze, it felt like I had returned to seven years ago.

As people grow up, they have more worries and are not as happy as they were when they were children.

"Firefly, let go, or you'll look terrible."

"I only pinched your ear, not your face." Liu Ying let go, and glared at Han Ting as she did so: "Now that Madam is married, you don't care about her anymore, do you? You know Madam isn't well, yet you still argue with Lu Yun outside. That Lu Yun, he seems alright on ordinary days, but he acts like a complete idiot when he's with you. You don't care about Madam, and neither does he? Just wait and see how I deal with him later."

"It's Han Ting's fault, please punish him, Miss."

"Come here!" Lu Zhiyuan patted the stool next to her: "Tell me about what's happening in Ganzhou and the north? There's something strange going on in Ganzhou City. Is it related to what we're investigating?"

"Miss doesn't look well?" Han Ting touched her face. "Miss doesn't like wearing makeup unless she's receiving guests, but now she's applying rouge to cover up her illness. And these sachets are to cover up the smell of medicine on her. This smell isn't from the medicine, but rather it's emanating from her body. Tell me the truth, Miss, how is your illness?"

The Crown Prince didn't notice, nor did Liu Ying and Lu Yun, who were with her day and night, notice it, but Han Ting did. She smiled and touched his high nose bridge, teasingly saying, "Well, you've used all the skills I taught you on me? Not bad, you've been practicing diligently for the past seven years, no wonder you've become the leader of the number one gang in the world."

"Miss, this trick won't work on me. I am not Liu Ying, nor am I Lu Yun. Please tell me the truth, Miss. How is your illness?"

"It's just a relapse of an old ailment, nothing serious." Lu Zhiyuan winked at him and said to Liu Ying, "It's too hot in the room, and my throat is a bit dry. I remember we brought a lot of flower tea with us when we came. Have the kitchen staff brew a pot for me, and also bring some of our newly made pastries."

The tea was freshly brewed and placed on the right. The pastries were also freshly made, brought over by the Crown Prince earlier. Liu Ying knew that the Madam was making excuses to send her away, not wanting her to hear what was about to be said.

The lady is ill, not as she herself said.

She was afraid they would worry, so she deliberately kept it from her... no, not only from her, but also from the Crown Prince, from Lu Yun, and from everyone except Han Ting.

The lady tried to keep it from Han Ting, but she couldn't.

Han Ting was smarter than her and Lu Yun. Even without seeing the lady's face, she knew that the lady's illness was not as simple as it seemed on the surface. She and Lu Yun stayed by the lady's side every day, but they believed the lady's lie that it was just a relapse of her old illness.

The more she thought about it, the more guilty and sad she became. After closing the door, she threw herself at Lu Yun, hugged his arm, and rubbed against him.