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

No sooner had Han Ting and Lu Yun left than a maid knocked on Lu Zhiyuan's door.

Lu Zhiyuan was just about to rest when she heard a knock on the door and sat up abruptly.

This is Manager Xie's courtyard. The servants in the courtyard were trained by Manager Xie himself, who in turn was trained by the Xie family. According to Xie family rules, one must inquire before knocking, especially at the master bedroom. One should knock once to confirm whether the host or guest is inside. If there is no response, one should leave immediately. If there is a response, one should knock twice to confirm again.

Many of the Xie family's rules were not those of traditional aristocratic families, but rather a combination of military,江湖 (jianghu, the martial arts world), and business practices. This person walked hurriedly, knocking on the door before even asking where he was going. Not once, but three times, three times in quick succession.

She wasn't a servant of the Xie family; she had infiltrated the Xie family.

Lu Zhiyuan narrowed her eyes.

This mansion not only houses Xie family servants, but also the Crown Prince's guards and secret agents. Anyone who can enter here so openly is no ordinary person. He gave Liuying a look, and Liuying understood, asking in a high-pitched voice, "What are you doing here?"

The maid's calm voice carried a hint of coldness: "Someone delivered a letter, saying it was for the madam."

The door opened, and there was a letter in the maid's hand. The envelope was clean, without any writing. It was open, without a seal. Inside was a thin piece of paper with only one sentence: "To know the truth, go to the Liu family's old residence."

the truth?

The truth behind the Ganzhou grain draft was that the messenger knew what they were investigating.

The Liu family's old house?

Liu Ying asked the maid, "Do you know the old Liu family residence?"

The maid shook her head at first, then said softly, "Among the shopkeepers who are on good terms with our manager, there is one surnamed Liu who, like our manager, is in the charcoal business. About ten days ago, his house and shop caught fire and burned to the ground. Shopkeeper Liu had nowhere to go, so he took his wife, children, and elderly relatives back to his hometown. I wonder if the old Liu family residence you are asking about is this one?"

Liu Ying looked into her eyes: "You should know whether it is or isn't."

The maidservant suddenly panicked, "This servant doesn't know what you're talking about, Miss? The manager will be back soon, why don't you wait for him to return and ask him? This servant doesn't go out often, and I really don't know where this Liu family old house is referring to."

"Ask someone you know," Liu Ying said, folding the letter and putting it back in the envelope. "Who gave you this letter? And who asked you to deliver it to the Madam?"

The maid lowered her head, pursed her lips, and thought for a moment before answering, "This servant wouldn't dare deceive you, Miss. This letter was delivered through the back door by a servant from the Liu family. Manager Liu is on good terms with the manager and often brings his servants over, so I know him. But that's all; I haven't said much to him. He seemed very anxious, as if something had happened. I refused and told him to go find the steward. He offered me a bribe, and I couldn't resist. I was wrong; please don't tell the steward about this, Miss."

The maid kept her head bowed low, looking guilty and remorseful. But when Liuying crouched down to look at her, she noticed a sly glint in her eyes. She was faking it, deliberately making them think she couldn't withstand the intimidation and would reveal the truth. Liuying lowered her eyelids, concealing the disgust that was about to show.

Winning her over isn't the problem; the problem is what her true purpose is.

What would happen if we told the housekeeper?

"The steward will kick me out." The maid shrank her neck. "I have a seventy-year-old mother, two young nephews and nieces, and three older brothers. Two of them are good-for-nothings, and the other is still unmarried. My whole family depends on me. If I lose this job, my three brothers will beat me to death. Please, young lady, have pity on me and don't tell the steward about this."

"Look at you, so pitiful." Liu Ying helped the maid up. "It's rare for a person to live to seventy. Your mother was over seventy. It's a blessing that she's passing away now. As for your three brothers, if they're not good enough, then don't worry about them. Anyway, they're all married and not young anymore. They should be responsible for themselves."

The maid was stunned and stammered, "My third brother is not married yet."

"What does it matter to you whether we get married or not? You're just a sister, not our parents. And your young nephews and nieces, they have parents too, do they need you, their aunt, to support them? I'm also from the Xie family, and I'm a maid raised by the Xie family. I know better than you how much the Xie family gives me each month, you can't support such a large family." Saying this, she patted the maid's shoulder, "Listen to your sister, loving yourself is worse than loving others."

"Thank you, Miss. I understand." The maid took a step back. "The letter has been delivered. I won't bother you any longer."

Watching the maid leave, Liuying looked at her palm.

He was skilled in martial arts and very wary. He was quite familiar with the Xie family, having lived there for at least some time. He summoned a bodyguard and instructed him to keep an eye on the maid, then took the letter and returned to his room.

Lu Zhiyuan leaned against the soft pillows and opened her eyes when she heard the sound: "I know about the fire at the Liu family's house. I asked Manager Xie about it the day I arrived in Ganzhou. I thought it was an accident, but now it seems that it is related to the charcoal incident that Han Ting mentioned and the things we are investigating."

"Should we inform His Highness, or should this servant take some people to check on the Liu family's old residence?"

"What time is it?"

"Six quarters past the hour of Si".

"How long has Your Highness been gone?"

"About two hours."

"He and Zuo Yi must be tied up with something else. What about Han Ting and Lu Yun?"

"It's been an hour, and they still haven't returned."

“This letter is aimed at me.” Lu Zhiyuan stood up: “Tell the steward to prepare a carriage, and find a servant familiar with the surrounding area to find out the exact address of the Liu family’s old residence. We’ll go to the Liu family’s old residence and see what this messenger is up to.”

"Madam's health... perhaps we should have someone urge Han Ting to come along? With him by my side, I feel at ease."

"Where is Miss going?" Han Ting pushed the door open and came in, and Liu Ying's face lit up with joy.

Upon learning that Lu Yun had gone to the Liu family's old residence, Liu Ying breathed a sigh of relief. With Lu Yun there, nothing should go wrong at the Liu family's old residence. Right now, the most urgent matter was that batch of charcoal. If the Xie family's charcoal had been tampered with, not only would the soldiers in the prefecture and military camps suffer, but the entire Ganzhou would be in danger.

What does Han Ting think?

"After thinking about it all the way, I don't think they would poison the charcoal. First, they can't guarantee that the Xie family's batch of charcoal will be delivered to the prefectural capital or the military camp. Second, they don't know if there will be any other problems during transportation. Third, they don't know the procedures for inspecting charcoal in the prefectural capital and the military camp. If something goes wrong, wouldn't they lose everything? Based on my guess, they must have used some special method to make the Xie family's batch of charcoal unusable."

Han Ting took out several account books: "There are seven charcoal shops in Ganzhou City. Apart from the Liu shopkeeper and the Xie family that were burned, there are five others. These five shops seem to have received the news in advance and did not stockpile a large amount of charcoal for sale before winter. However, upon checking their accounts, it was found that they had already purchased a large amount of charcoal before autumn and transported it to Tianhe County."

“The large shipment of charcoal to Tianhe County indicates that Tianhe County needs this charcoal. However, Tianhe County is located inland and not as cold as Ganzhou, so its demand for charcoal is not as high as Ganzhou's. Even if it did, it wouldn't need five charcoal shops. This charcoal isn't for the people of Tianhe County, but for the mountains.” Lu Zhiyuan opened a map and circled the location of Tianhe County: “Only the Xie family in Ganzhou City has charcoal. What will happen to the Xie family if there's a problem with the charcoal in the prefecture and the military camp? What will happen to Ganzhou?”

"It's not just the prefectural government and military camps, but also the common people. They're forbidding the people from buying charcoal." Liu Ying swallowed hard. "Just because they forbid it now doesn't mean they won't forbid it later. Once Ganzhou enters a harsh winter, once the people face the prospect of freezing to death, once they issue an order requiring the people in the city to buy charcoal from the Xie family, what will the Xie family do then?"

The Xie family will be in big trouble.