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

When Lu Yun asked him about the Liu family's old residence, the man said he knew nothing about it, but based on his understanding of the Marquis of Yongchang, it should have been an assassin arranged by the Marquis to kill and silence him.

The matter of the charcoal had nothing to do with the Marquis; it must have been done by his men.

As far as he knew, the Marquis had not ordered the people of Ganzhou to stop buying charcoal; rather, he had instructed them to buy as much as possible for the grand plan this winter. Those people, unwilling to put in the effort, outwardly complied but inwardly defied him, turning the order to buy as much as possible into a complete ban on the people buying charcoal.

This matter has been informed of the Marquis, and I believe he will make his own decision.

Gu An spat and said, "I believe you that your subordinates are two-faced, but I don't believe you that Marquis Yongchang was completely unaware. A dignified marquis, with eyes in all directions and ears in all directions, how could he not know that his subordinates are so unethical? He's pretending not to know because he doesn't say anything."

The man wanted to explain, but didn't know how.

Just then, the cook came to clear the dishes, and Lu Zhiyuan caught a glimpse of a little boy, about three or four years old, standing by the door. The boy was wearing a thin, ill-fitting jacket, half-hidden in the doorway, peeking inside. Following his gaze, Lu Zhiyuan saw a bowl on the table. Only noodle soup remained, with a few scallions floating on top, and the faint aroma of noodles still lingered.

Lu Zhiyuan greeted him, "Would you like some noodles? There are some on the table in the kitchen. Ask this uncle to make some for you."

The cook waved his hand: "Those are noodles made by the madam herself, how could he eat them? Madam, don't pay any attention to him, I'll take him away right away."

Lu Zhiyuan beckoned to the child, gesturing for him to come over, saying, "Since I rolled out the dough, I get to decide what to do with it."

The cook looked at Gu An with a troubled expression. Gu An glared at the cook and said, "Listen to Madam. Do whatever Madam tells you to do. What are you standing there for? Go and cook."

The cook hurriedly left.

Gu An gave a wink to the door, and two people came in and took the spy who came out of the East Palace away. Gu An asked Lu Zhiyuan what to do, and Lu Zhiyuan looked at the child's bright eyes, covered his ears, and whispered, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Follow your local customs."

Gu An pondered for a moment: "Then we need to interrogate him again. If he hasn't taken any lives, we'll release him after we've safely returned. We also need to ask you to send a message to the palace, making sure he's not allowed to go back. If he has taken lives, we'll give him a quick death."

Gu An took the person away, leaving only Lu Zhiyuan, Lu Yun, and the child in the large room.

Lu Zhiyuan teased him, "What's your name?"

The child shrank back and whispered, "Xi Bao."

Lu Zhiyuan laughed, "What a nice name! Where are your parents? Do they know you came all this way? They'll be worried if they do."

The child shook his head: "Xi Bao doesn't have parents. Xi Bao's parents are dead. Xi Bao was brought back by Uncle Ghost."

Uncle Ghost refers to Gu An.

Because of that experience, Gu An was disfigured, but also unexpectedly gained a long life.

His longevity is similar to immortality, but different. He will age and die, but the aging process is slower. One year for him may be four or five, or seven or eight years for others.

If he hadn't been injured or disfigured, this change would have been much more noticeable. Because he was injured and disfigured, nobody cared about those things.

Gu An returned, holding a bowl of noodles that the cook had just cooked.

The noodles were rolled out by Lu Zhiyuan and had been sitting for a while, so they were a bit dry. The soup was leftover from cooking the noodles earlier, and it was a bit cloudy, not as clear as the previous bowls. The broth was also prepared by Lu Zhiyuan beforehand, and perhaps she added too much noodle soup, so the flavor wasn't as rich as before, although it still smelled very fragrant.

Kids don't have much time to think; once the noodles are cooked, they just want to eat them quickly.

Making conversation, they started asking about Xibao.

It's so pitiful that such a young child has lost both parents.

His full name was Zhang Huanxi. His father was a fur trader and had half-foreign ancestry. In Ganzhou, such people were not well-liked and were often given all sorts of unpleasant nicknames.

Because of his lineage, Zhang Huanxi's father was still unmarried at the age of thirty.

At the age of thirty-one, he rescued an old man in distress. The old man was poor, but had two beautiful young women of marriageable age. To repay the kindness, the old man decided to marry one of his daughters to a fur merchant, who was also Zhang Huanxi's father.

The fur dealer did not refuse.

Firstly, he didn't believe the old man would keep his promise. Secondly, he didn't believe the old man's daughter would willingly marry him. To give the old man a way out, he took off the jade pendant he always carried and handed it to him. This jade pendant was half crafted by the people of Beiliang and half by a foreign tribe. Seeing the jade pendant, one could tell that he was not a pure Beiliang person.

He told the old man that he would marry any of his daughters who came to him with the jade pendant.

The old man returned home and told his wife and daughters everything he had experienced. Upon learning that the man was a wealthy fur merchant, the younger daughter immediately snatched the jade pendant back. The older daughter, worried that her younger sister might act impulsively and regret it later, inquired with her father about the fur merchant. When she heard that the fur merchant was over thirty years old, unshaven, and of foreign descent, the younger sister immediately changed her mind and gave the jade pendant to her older sister.

The fur merchant saved her father's life, and her father promised to marry his daughter to him. One should not be ungrateful; otherwise, who will lend a helping hand in times of trouble? The older sister, carrying the jade pendant, went to the fur merchant, explained her identity, and expressed her willingness to marry him.

The fur trader confirmed the details several times, and only after the sister insisted did he begin to prepare for his and her wedding.

On their wedding night, the elder sister met a husband who was completely different from the fur trader—a very handsome man. Mistakenly believing someone had broken into their bridal chamber, she grabbed a hairpin and tried to kill herself. The groom quickly explained that he was indeed the fur trader, and that he had always been unkempt because no one cared, and that a scruffy beard made business easier.

During their first meeting, he noticed the bride seemed somewhat afraid, so he shaved and tidied himself up. Only after confirming that the man wasn't lying did the sister consummate the marriage with the fur merchant.

Three days after her brother-in-law's return visit, the younger sister felt remorseful the moment she saw him.

I had imagined my brother-in-law to be an old man, but he turned out to be a handsome man with a mature demeanor and striking features. Not only is he good-looking, but he's also rich, generous, and incredibly kind and caring towards my sister.

The younger sister became jealous, believing that her older sister had stolen her good match.

To win back her brother-in-law, she schemed and plotted on her sister's homecoming day, but he wouldn't even glance at her. Having been in business for many years, what kind of people hadn't she seen, what kind of things hadn't she experienced? How could a fur merchant not see through his sister-in-law's schemes and tactics?

The more she acted this way, the more fortunate the fur merchant became, fortunate that it was the older sister who married him instead of the younger sister.

Seeing that she could not replace her older sister, the younger sister harbored malicious intentions and murdered her sister under the pretense of inviting her to worship Buddha. At that time, the older sister's child with the fur merchant, Zhang Huanxi, was still an infant. The younger sister instigated her parents to persuade her brother-in-law to let her marry him as his second wife.

The fur trader had long suspected the sister, but lacked evidence to bring her to justice. He would marry her if she wanted to, and then find a way to uncover the truth after she entered the household.

The younger sister was indeed restless; she not only killed her older sister but also tried to kill her sister's child, but was caught red-handed by the fur dealer.

A fur trader, seeking revenge for his wife's death, murdered her sister. After the case was exposed, he was detained by the authorities and sentenced to immediate execution.

The fur merchant's property was confiscated by the government, and Zhang Huanxi was taken home by his maternal grandfather, but was repeatedly thrown out by his maternal grandmother due to her hatred. Gu An happened to pass by, felt sorry for the child, and took him in.