She's skilled in medicine, martial arts, and even understands animal language—the abandoned dau

The two went together to the east end of the village and found Jiang Qi and Song Shi.

Jiang Qi and his wife had never seen such a handsome young man before, and they stared at Chu Zhiyi with curiosity for a long time.

They knew that Shen Man was now a doctor in town and it was normal for her to know some friends, so they didn't ask her who she was.

After Shen Man explained her purpose to them, Chu Zhiyi handed the piece of cloth to the two elderly people.

The two elderly people took the fabric and examined it carefully.

“This is indeed a very special weaving method…” Jiang Qi said, stroking his chin.

“That’s right, this doesn’t seem to be our country’s traditional weaving method,” Song said. “However, I feel like I’ve seen this weaving method somewhere before…”

"This isn't our traditional weaving method. Could it have come from abroad?" Shen Man guessed. She wasn't knowledgeable about textiles, so she could only make wild guesses.

“I remember now, this weaving method is called kesi weaving. It is indeed not a traditional weaving method of our country, but was introduced from the Western Regions.”

"I remember, more than ten years ago, the Gu family hired a master weaver from the Cheshi Kingdom to teach the workers in the weaving workshop how to weave. This is the weaving method he taught," Song suddenly said.

"Grandma Song, is what you're saying true?" Shen Man asked excitedly upon hearing this.

"Yes, that's absolutely true. Our traditional brocade weaving method is the warp-weft method, which means the weft thread runs through the entire width of the fabric. But the tapestry weaving technique uses raw silk as the warp and various colored cooked silk threads as the weft, and it is woven using the warp-weft discontinuity method."

In our Crimson Flame Kingdom, only the Gu family's weaving workshop should possess this technique. I've heard that fabric woven this way is considerably more expensive than that woven using traditional methods!

"It seems that as long as we find the Gu family's weaving workshop, we can find out the origin of this cloth," Chu Zhiyi said.

He originally just came to try his luck, but unexpectedly, he actually found some clues.

"The Gu family's weaving workshop is far away in the capital. I wonder where your cloth comes from?" Madam Song asked curiously.

"We found it by chance, thank you Grandma Song!" Shen Man thanked Madam Song and then left with Chu Zhiyi.

"It seems your guess was correct. Since this matter is related to the Gu family, it must also be related to the Cui family. I heard from you, sir, that the Gu family and the Cui family are related by marriage."

“That’s right. But now that I know the fabric comes from the Gu family, I have a way to find out the truth.” Chu Zhiyi said confidently.

"Yes, I hope you can find the evidence soon and clear your name and your family's name!"

That evening, Shen Man let the two of them, master and servant, stay at her house.

The next morning, the master and servant decided to leave.

Before leaving, Chu Zhiyi handed Shen Man a slip of paper with an address written on it.

“Miss Ding, we can be considered friends now. If you ever need my help in the future, you can write to me and have the post station send the letter here.”

"Okay!" Although Shen Man didn't intend to write him a letter, she still took the note, folded it up, and held it in her hand.

"Young master, regarding the matter of money..."

Seeing that Chu Zhiyi hadn't mentioned asking Shen Man for money at all, Xun Yan anxiously reminded him.

Upon hearing this, Shen Man turned and went into the house. She took out five thousand taels of silver notes from the money box, walked quickly to Chu Zhiyi, and handed them to him, saying, "These are five thousand taels of silver notes. Three thousand taels are the dividends from the village's silkworm breeding cooperative to you, sir. The other two thousand taels are a gift from me to you, sir. Please take them to him for me."

Shen Man knew that everyone in the Ningguo Duke's mansion had been exiled, and their property had certainly been confiscated.

A family went to a strange place and had no money, so they had no way to get by.

Chu Zhiyi looked at the silver notes in front of him with some surprise. He did not expect Shen Man to be so generous, giving away five thousand taels in one go.

Xun Yan was even more stunned. Firstly, he didn't expect Shen Man to have so much money, and secondly, he didn't expect her to actually be willing to give it to them.

Chu Zhiyi hadn't originally intended to ask her for money, but he had left in a hurry and had been chased along the way, so he didn't have much money with him. Moreover, he still needed to go to Fengzhou, and he definitely didn't have enough money on him.

He hesitated for a moment, but still accepted the silver note: "Miss Ding, I thank you on behalf of my maternal grandfather's family!"

"A teacher for a day is a teacher for life. My teacher is in trouble now, and I can't help him much, but I can do my bit."

Chu Zhiyi carefully put away the silver notes and thanked her again. Afterwards, he left Xiaoyao Village with Xunyan and embarked on his journey to Fengzhou.

He only has six months to find out the truth; the task is arduous and the road ahead is long.

However, not long after Chu Zhiyi and his servant left, the group of people who had been tracking them reappeared in front of Shen Man.

"Brothers, it seems we really have a deep connection! You actually found your way to my home!" Shen Man's heart skipped a beat when she saw them, but she then smiled and said.

"It's not by chance, we came here specifically to find you!" the man in red said coldly. "Tell me, where did you hide them?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Shen Man said, feigning innocence.

"Stop pretending!" The man in red glared angrily. "Don't think you can fool us!"

"Brother, I really don't know who you're talking about," Shen Man said with a smile.

“It’s that person in the portrait, don’t tell me you don’t know him! Someone saw you take them away yesterday!” the man in black interjected.

Shen Man inwardly cried out in alarm. Could it be that some of those thugs from yesterday were still alive? But what if they were just bluffing?

Thinking of this, Shen Man replied, "No, that person must be lying to you. Such a handsome young master, if I were to run into him, I would definitely keep him as my husband. How could I let him go? If you don't believe me, you can come into my house and search to see if they are here."

As Shen Man spoke, she gestured for them to enter.

"You better not lie to us, or else..." Before the man in red could finish his harsh words, he led a group of people back towards the village entrance.

"Even if I had ten lives, I wouldn't dare to lie to you, brother!"

Shen Man finally breathed a long sigh of relief after the group of people had completely disappeared.

A moment later, she began to worry again, wondering where Chu Zhiyi and the others had gone and whether they would be caught up by those people.

"Man'er, who are these people?" Lanxiang was in the house when she saw those people coming over, and she was so scared that she didn't dare to breathe.

"Mother, I don't know who they are, but they probably aren't good people. By the way, Mother, there have been a lot of shady characters in town lately, so be extra careful when you go out."

Shen Man was worried that Lan Xiang would become more concerned if she knew too much, so she did not tell her Chu Zhiyi's true identity.