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

Anyone in business knows that purchasing inventory should be estimated based on sales figures for the year, quarter, month, and day, and inventory should be replenished in a planned and orderly manner.

Based on past years, it usually snows around October, and by November, heavy snow will be falling, quickly burying the main roads and surrounding paths. At that time, it will be difficult for people to walk, let alone carriages and horses.

The people of Ganzhou are accustomed to buying most of their charcoal before winter. Firstly, charcoal is relatively cheap before winter, and secondly, the weather varies slightly from year to year. For poor families, the better they are, the better they will get through the winter and use as little charcoal as possible. The money saved can then be used to buy more rice and other necessities.

Due to the intervention of a mysterious force, no one in the populace was buying charcoal. As the owner of the charcoal shop, Xie naturally wouldn't stockpile any to protect the interests of the Xie family. Once winter arrived and the people needed charcoal, the prefecture would be short of it, and the people would also be short of charcoal. Even if the Xie family wanted to do something, they would be powerless to do so.

If their guess is correct, the person behind the scenes is playing a much bigger game.

There are two urgent matters to attend to. First, we need to investigate the letter in our possession and see what Manager Liu is up to. Lu Yun has already gone to the Liu family's old residence; he's discreet and there's no rush. We need to investigate the charcoal supplies in the prefectural government and the military camp; Manager Xie has already made arrangements. The Crown Prince handles state affairs with ease, and Han Ting is adept at dealing with matters of the martial world, but when it comes to daily necessities, they are both utterly inept.

"Let's go to the military camp first." Without even changing his clothes, he left the house.

Upon reaching the front yard, they encountered the bodyguard who had been watching the maid. He was dressed in the clothes of a Xie family servant and looked timid and honest. He lowered his head, picked up a broom, and walked up to Liuying, whispering, "That maid changed her clothes after returning to her room. She's now helping out in the kitchen with Granny Xu."

Granny Xu noticed her on her very first day at the Xie residence.

Standing among the onlookers, a group of maids and servants, she felt out of place. She initially thought she was overthinking things; after all, the journey had been anything but peaceful, and she was perhaps a little paranoid. Now she realized she wasn't overthinking it. The reason she felt out of place was due to her age, her attire, and her gaze.

She changed her appearance, but her behavior, including the way she looks at people, is that of a teenage girl. How can that not be strange?

Liu Ying made a throat-slitting gesture, but Lu Zhiyuan silenced her with a single look.

There's no need to worry about the exposed enemies; keeping them alive is more useful than killing them. Just have the guards continue to keep an eye on them.

Upon learning that the delivered charcoal was defective, the guards at the military camp grumbled and cursed. Maintaining a conciliatory attitude, Manager Xie kept smiling and said, "We only received the news at the last minute. Someone is using the Xie family to incite chaos in Ganzhou. The Xie family has three masters: the eldest is a businessman; the second resides in the capital and is a close confidant of the Emperor and the Crown Prince; the third is a wanderer who's rarely home, appearing and disappearing unpredictably. The villains dare not act in front of the second and third masters; they can only target the eldest's business."

A warehouse watcher gave a cold look: "Don't try to intimidate us with your Xie family's power! No matter how powerful the Xie family is, it was you who delivered the charcoal. You said it was good when you delivered it, but now you're saying someone tampered with it. Who knows what you merchants are up to?"

Manager Xie handed over a heavy ingot of silver.

"What can we possibly do? The Xie family has been supplying us with charcoal for over a year or two, and there's never been a problem. We're just worried that thieves might try something underhanded and implicate us." Manager Xie winked. "Who burned the charcoal? The brothers burned it. If something goes wrong, who suffers? The brothers. Whose life is it? Ours, the brothers' life."

The warehouse keeper grinned and said, "If something happens to us, your Xie family won't escape either."

Manager Xie chuckled: "You're overthinking it! You've forgotten, the charcoal was thoroughly inspected when it entered the warehouse. If there were any problems, who would the marshal go to, who would the general go to, who would your superior go to? He'd go to you. It was fine when it entered the warehouse, but problems arose when it was used. If it wasn't you, the charcoal supervisor, who tampered with it, then who else could it be me, the charcoal seller?"

The warehouse keeper's expression changed instantly, and he pointed at Manager Xie: "You...!"

Manager Xie grasped his hand and stuffed silver into his sleeve: "Judging by your age, you're already married, aren't you? Do you have children? How many? Are your elders still alive? Don't answer me, I'm just asking casually. If something happens to the charcoal in this warehouse, you, your wife, children, parents, and your entire family will all die."

The warehouse keeper clutched the silver tightly and remained silent.

In the military camp, he was the most inconspicuous. When there was no fighting and no need for supplies, he was basically not needed. But once war broke out and supplies were needed, he became the focus of the entire camp.

He knew perfectly well what was going on in the military camp and knew that Manager Xie wasn't trying to scare him. If something really went wrong with this batch of charcoal, he, his family, and his clan would all die.

Seeing that the time was about right, Manager Xie patted the warehouse watcher on the shoulder: "This is something you know, me know, heaven knows, earth knows, and my young lady knows. If there are no problems, we're all happy. If there are problems, I'll find an excuse to replace it, and no one will know. You're risking your family's lives, and I'm risking the reputation of the Xie family. Brother, do me a favor."

The warehouse keeper was in a state of turmoil, but forced himself to remain calm: "The young lady you're talking about, is it the young lady from the Xie family?"

"That's right, it's our young lady who came all the way from the capital for this matter." Manager Xie handed over another ingot of silver: "Don't forget, the Xie family also has two generals guarding the border. The young lady came for the charcoal, but she didn't come for the charcoal."

After settling things at the warehouse, they brought Lu Zhiyuan and the others in. Since the situation was unclear and they couldn't make a fuss, Lu Zhiyuan and Liu Ying were dressed as shop assistants. Han Ting was dressed as a soldier; at first glance, it looked like he was a soldier who had followed them in, which was in accordance with the regulations of the military camp.

I've already come up with an excuse: I'll say that the charcoal stored in the warehouse has become damp, and I'll ask the charcoal shop people to come and see how to fix it.

The charcoal was stacked according to the date it arrived at the warehouse, pile after pile, so only the person watching the warehouse could tell which day it was. The warehouse was airtight and had a rather unpleasant smell.

"The first two batches entering the warehouse don't need to be checked; they're being inspected closely and thoroughly, so there won't be any problems. The last batch entering the warehouse also doesn't need to be checked; the final batch will be inspected carefully. Where are the ones entering the warehouse in the middle piled up?"

The warehouse keeper pointed, and Lu Zhiyuan walked over to the charcoal and picked up two pieces at random.

Luckily, both pieces of charcoal were defective.

Compared to the charcoal next to it, this pile of charcoal was significantly smaller, with a smooth surface and a harder texture. At first glance, it didn't seem like anything special. After all, different wood is used for charcoal making, resulting in different textures; nobody pays attention to these details. However, this charcoal had been tampered with; it had been soaked in water. It could burn, but it produced only black smoke, worse than even the lowest grade of charcoal.

The pile next to it also had a problem; they had sprinkled white phosphorus on the charcoal. White phosphorus is a combustion aid, but it is also poisonous. Unlike ordinary poisons, white phosphorus poisoning can enter the body through the skin, respiratory tract, and digestive tract, causing severe skin burns, difficulty breathing, and even death.