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

Manager Xie intercepted Prince and Zuo Yi on the street.

Manager Xie said three things.

First, Lu Zhiyuan and Liu Ying went to the Liu family's old house.

Secondly, all eighteen members of Manager Liu's family, including his wife, were killed.

Third, Lu Zhiyuan, Liu Ying, and even the young waiter who was driving the carriage have all disappeared without a trace.

The crown prince asked anxiously, "How long has it been? Why is it taking so long to report this?"

Manager Xie wiped his sweat anxiously: "They left before dark, it's been a whole night."

"One night?" The Crown Prince's face darkened. "The address? Have you sent anyone to search? Where is Lu Yun? Where is Han Ting? Weren't they guarding the Lady? Where are they? Where did they go?"

Shopkeeper Xie grew even more anxious, bending over as he followed behind: "Young Master Lu has likely met with a terrible fate! We found half a jade pendant in the dry well in the backyard, and Young Master Han confirmed it..."

It was one of Young Master Lu's personal belongings. There were some climbing marks around the dry well, but they were too messy to identify. There was blood in the well, and bloody handprints on the well wall; the size of the handprints belonged to Young Master Lu.

Where is Han Ting?

"Young Master Han went out on a mission on Madam's orders and returned in the middle of the night. Upon learning that Madam and Liu Ying had not yet returned, he rushed to the Liu family's old residence without stopping. Accompanying him were our Xie family's servants. We carried lanterns and torches and practically turned the entire Liu family's old residence upside down."

Shopkeeper Xie wiped the sweat from his brow and said, "The government has already sent people to inform them, and they are also looking for the lady's whereabouts."

The Crown Prince glared at Manager Xie: "Such a big thing happened, why didn't you inform me? Do you know that Madam is still ill? In one night... how much can happen in one night? If Madam... I don't need to lift a finger, your eldest master, second master, and third master will deal with you themselves."

Manager Xie was about to cry.

Even without the Crown Prince's reminder, he knew that if Lu Zhiyuan got into trouble in Ganzhou, not only him, but also the manager of Ganzhou would be implicated.

Is he unwilling to inform the Crown Prince? Or is he unable to find the Crown Prince?

As they were speaking, a horse charged towards them. Zuo Yi, seeing this, prepared to attack, but saw the man tumble off his horse in a disheveled state, staggering as he ran towards them. Upon seeing the Crown Prince, he didn't even raise his head, immediately kneeling on the ground: "We...we've found the bodies of Miss Liuying and Ah Cai!"

Ah Cai was the Xie family's young apprentice who helped Lu Zhiyuan and Liu Ying drive their carriage.

The shop assistants in the charcoal shop were arranged according to the order of wealth and prosperity. Ah Zhao was a distant nephew of Manager Xie, and in addition to helping Manager Xie manage the shop, he also helped with the accounts. He ate and slept at the shop and rarely went to the Xie family's house. Ah Jin and Ah Bao, one helped the steward manage the affairs of the front yard, and the other helped the nanny manage the affairs of the back house.

Although Ah Cai joined the family earlier than Ah Jin and Ah Bao, he was the youngest of the four. He was not good at finance or managing affairs, but he knew every road in Ganzhou City well and was skilled at driving carriages.

The bodies of Liuying and Acai were brought back by people from the government office and dumped in a mass grave not far from the village. The person who dumped the bodies covered them with a thin layer of soil and sprinkled withered leaves, so that they were not noticeable unless you looked closely.

The prince hurriedly led Zuo Yi to the county government office, with Manager Xie and his assistant following behind.

While wiping his sweat, Manager Xie asked, "How did Miss Liuying die?"

The waiter said, "He was killed by a sword!"

Manager Xie then asked, "Where's Ah Cai?"

The waiter said, "Like Miss Firefly, she was killed by a sword."

Manager Xie sighed: "Have you found the whereabouts of the madam? And has the head manager sent anyone to deliver a message? The madam is missing, and she was lost here. Rather than waiting for the higher-ups to ask, we might as well explain it ourselves."

The waiter replied, "I've already sent someone to inform them."

Manager Xie stopped in front of the county government office: "I hope the lady is safe and sound. If not... well, I'd better find myself a burial plot soon."

Inside the government office, no one, from top to bottom, dared to utter a sound.

Although they didn't know the Crown Prince's true identity, they did know he had come from the capital. The coroner had just finished examining the body and hadn't even untied his apron when Zuo Yi pulled him aside.

"Everyone is dead?"

"Nonsense, would I have come if I weren't dead?" The coroner rolled his eyes. "Who are you? You're not from our office, are you?"

"Where is it?" Zuo Yi grabbed the coroner's apron.

"Where? Who are you?" The coroner broke free: "Look carefully, I am a coroner, not some random passerby. I don't concern myself with asking living people for directions."

“Old Ding, this is Young Master Zuo from the capital.” The magistrate kept winking at the coroner: “Answer whatever they ask, and don’t hide anything. You’re getting on in years, you should tone down your temper.”

"Is this the level of intelligence someone from the capital has?" The coroner scoffed. "I'm a coroner, and he's asking me if the person is dead? This is the county government office, and he's asking me where the person is? Where else could they be but in the morgue? In all my years, this is the first time I've ever seen someone ask such an idiotic question."

Zuo Yi didn't argue with him, asked the yamen runner where the mortuary was, and headed straight for it.

The room was large and empty, with two simple beds in the center. On the beds lay two corpses, a man and a woman. The corpses were covered with white sheets, with only the soles of their feet visible.

Both of their feet were stained with blood, and that blood seemed to be telling Zuo Yi what they had gone through before they died.

He held his breath and slowly approached from the left.

He didn't start from the top, but from the bottom. The moment he saw the embroidered shoes, his heart felt like it was being gripped tightly by an invisible hand. The Crown Prince entered and froze on the spot when he saw the embroidered shoes.

Liu Ying accompanied A Yuan into the palace. When they first met, she was just a naive and innocent teenage girl.

She loves to eat, loves to laugh, and loves to worry, especially about A Yuan's affairs, she cares about everything, big or small, like an old nanny.

When A Yuan was injured, she cried the most, always feeling remorseful and blaming herself, feeling that she had failed to protect A Yuan.

Zuo Yi liked her, and she seemed to like Zuo Yi a little too. He thought that once these things were over, he would have A Yuan ask her what she thought. If she was willing, he would personally arrange their marriage.

How could someone who was perfectly fine yesterday become a cold corpse lying here overnight?

The Crown Prince patted Zuo Yi on the shoulder. Zuo Yi turned around, glanced at the Crown Prince, and said, "I shouldn't have worried you."

The prince did not speak, but gently pulled back the white cloth covering Liu Ying.

She lay there, as if asleep. Her clothes were clearly wrinkled and stained with blood, and there was a wound on her neck. The coroner, leaning against the door, said she had only one fatal wound and hadn't suffered much pain before death because the killer's strike was swift and ruthless. Besides this fatal wound, she also had some old injuries, which were healing well and almost fully recovered.

After saying that, he handed them a piece of paper. On the paper was a drawing of a sword, the murder weapon that killed Liuying and Acai.

Upon seeing the sword, Zuo Yi's pupils dilated, and he shook his head, saying, "No! This sword could not possibly have killed Liu Ying!"

Zuo Yi recognized the sword; it was a gift from Lu Zhiyuan to Lu Yun, and there was only one of its kind in the world.

Lu Yun could never be the murderer who killed Liu Ying!