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

Lu Zhiyuan was unaware that after rescuing Han Ting from the slave market, Han Ting became trapped under her control.

Their eyes met, and both of them had red eyes.

Lu Zhiyuan quickly composed herself and changed the subject: "Let's talk about Ganzhou. What did you find out when you went north?"

Han Ting quickly composed himself and ordered the attendant waiting outside to bring in the map. When the door opened, Han Ting's eyes met Lu Yun's, and he waved to him.

"What about my business? I thought Chief Han had taken care of everything."

"This is none of your business. You can continue standing outside." He took the map from his attendant, gestured for him to go outside and wait, and rolled his eyes at Lu Yun.

"Madam, did you see that? He's giving me the cold shoulder." Lu Yun complained, ignoring Han Ting's eye-rolling and squeezing onto the same stool with him.

Han Ting tried to get up, but was pulled back by him: "A real man, a true man, should be out in the world. Don't be so hesitant. It's just sharing a chair. Look how embarrassed you are. I'm not asking you to take responsibility for me."

Han Ting pointed at Lu Yun, wanting to say something but not knowing what to say, wanting to curse but not knowing what to curse. He had been the gang leader for seven years, and he had seen all kinds of difficult people. The only people who could make him lose control of his emotions were the young lady and Lu Yun.

She showed concern and worry for the young lady, but was purely angry with Lu Yun.

Lu Yun ignored him and snatched the map from his hand: "Weren't you looking at a map? Look at it!"

Two maps, one new and one old. The old one shows obvious signs of being eaten by insects; it's unclear where it was found. The new one is readily available; it's in the lady's closet.

Spread out the two maps, one from the previous dynasty and the other from the Northern Liang. The mountains and terrain are basically the same, but the cities and towns are slightly different.

From the previous dynasty to the present, many cities have changed their names, and many villages and towns have disappeared into the dust of history due to war. Lu Yun bent down and tapped the old map, and a shriveled little insect egg was peeled off.

The area covered by the insect eggs happened to be Ganzhou.

"This map was found in an old warehouse in Tianhe County. It was left behind by the previous magistrate. That magistrate is the one I mentioned in the letter. When tracing the grain, I found that the location of Tianhe County and Ganzhou is very strange. Miss, look, Ganzhou is here, and Tianhe County is here. They transported the grain out of Beiliang via this road."

"Going the long way around instead of the nearby option doesn't seem like a smart choice."

“Indeed, compared to Tianhe County, Longshan County is closer and more convenient for transporting grain.” Lu Yun drew a line between Ganzhou and Longshan with his hand: “Where was this grain collected? If it was collected in Tianhe County, there is no problem storing it in the granary of the Tianhe County government.”

“Tianhe County has no grain.” Han Ting tapped his finger on the map. “Tianhe County is in a very special location. It is located at the junction of Ganzhou, Yanzhou and Yinzhou. To the north are ridges, to the south are mountains, and to the west it is connected to Yinzhou. Yinzhou has many bandits who often roam around Tianhe. Only to the east is a relatively flat plain with two rivers converging, which is suitable for growing grain.”

"And then?" Lu Yun blinked. "It's suitable for growing grain, so why is there no grain? Chief Han's words are all over the place."

"They robbed it from those bandits from Yinzhou!" Lu Zhiyuan took a sip of tea. "The imperial court requisitions grain, and although Tianhe County manages to collect some, it's not much. Most of the grain is requisitioned from places like Ganzhou or Longshan County. Compared to Tianhe County, Longshan County is not only more commercially prosperous and has convenient transportation, but it also has the best public security among the dozen or so surrounding prefectures and counties. If those people's goal is to disguise this military grain as private grain and transport it out, Longshan County is better at concealing their actions than Tianhe County."

“I took my men to the north, and it turned out that their initial goal was not to transport military supplies out.”

“They’re either shipping it out or shipping it in; they’re going to use this grain to support their private army.” Lu Zhiyuan picked up her pen and drew a circle around the location of Tianhe County: “Han Ting mentioned in his letter that the timing of the magistrate of Tianhe County being transferred here was very coincidental. It’s possible that someone did it on purpose, with the aim of having him guard or transport that batch of grain. The mountains and ridges make it easy to hide people. Not to mention the distant ones, the mountains to the south alone can hide quite a few people.”

“At least 100,000 troops,” Han Ting said. “I sent men to the south to check. There are scattered farmhouses at the foot of the mountain, which are perfect for disguise as sentries. Although the mountain is high, it is not steep, and fortifications can be built in the forest. There are many wild animals in the mountains. With these grains, feeding 100,000 people will not be a problem.”

"With that little bit of grain in the county government office, you think you can feed 100,000 people? Chief Han really doesn't know the value of money when he's not in charge. With that little bit of grain, let alone 100,000, it would be a struggle to feed even 20,000."

"Who said there was only that little bit of food from the Tianhe County government office?" Han Ting looked at Lu Yun: "Seven years have passed, and you haven't improved at all. Your martial arts are terrible, and you've lost your mind. Who said there was backstabbing and intrigue in the harem? With a brain like yours, how did you even survive to leave the palace?"

Lu Yun pointed at Lu Zhiyuan.

"With Madam here, whether I have a brain or not is irrelevant."

Han Ting felt a tightness in his chest, neither rising nor falling.

"When the imperial court went to war, it conscripted enough rations to feed at least 200,000 people for a month. Less than 20,000 were sent to the border for half a month. Where did the rest go? According to the Ministry of Revenue's register, the rations were procured from various prefectures, counties, and townships in Beiliang, taking nearly half a year. The rations were still there when they left the villages and townships, and they were still there when they left the prefectures and counties, until an accident occurred during the handover. The rations disappeared without a trace, and the fate of the soldiers responsible for the handover is unknown." He tapped on the location of Tianhe County, emphasizing, "This matter must be investigated starting from Tianhe County."

"So much grain was lost in Tianhe County?" Lu Yun's eyes widened. "Tianhe County is really strange."

“It’s really weird!” Han Ting’s eyes darkened, and he grabbed Lu Yun’s ear: “You’ve been by Miss’s side for so long, and you haven’t learned even a fraction of her intelligence and meticulousness. Miss is so sick because of you.”

Lu Yun's heart sank for a moment, but only for a moment before he exclaimed dramatically, "Ouch, ouch, ouch! Let go right now! Even the dumbest person knows to check the case file."

He slapped Han Ting's hand away and rubbed his ear: "Back then, Yanzhou and Ganzhou were besieged by enemy forces, and the imperial court transported the military rations it had collected in batches. Yanzhou received two batches, totaling 30,000 dan, and Ganzhou received one batch, totaling 15,000 dan. However, these military rations did not refer to human food; in addition to wheat, soybean flour, there was also fodder for horses. Although there was no detailed warrant for their arrest, what they said was similar to what you just said, not enough for the soldiers of Yanzhou and Ganzhou to defend the city for half a month."

"The first batch of missing grain was here!" Lu Yun pinpointed a location: "This place is called Hanging Platform, supposedly the place where a former dynasty's great general hanged himself after his defeat. According to the records, the weather was clear in the first half of the night before the incident, but a sudden downpour occurred in the second half. The soldiers covered the grain carts with tarpaulins and then went into the General's Temple to take shelter from the rain. Once inside, they never came out again."