Huang's mother and daughter were not there, but had gone to the main courtyard to talk with Wang's wife.

  It's rare to see someone running over in the middle of the day and standing upright. Xie Wan held onto her doubts, fanning herself with a round fan as she walked up to the upper house.

  From a distance, I heard the sound of laughter and conversation from a house full of people. The maid at the door announced "Third Miss has arrived", and immediately the voices inside fell silent.

  Xie Wan bowed her head and entered, only to see that everyone was there. The Huang mother and daughter were smiling at her with pleasure, while Wang Shi sat at the top, also looking delighted.

  After exchanging greetings, Xie Wan sat down below Xie Yu and said: "What were you talking about? I could hear the laughter from far away."

  Xie Wei smiled and said: "There are two happy things, which one do you want to hear first?"

  Xie Wan said: "Of course I'll listen to you first."

  Xie Wei smiled and poked her forehead: "This little ghost, how did you know that there's something about me in here?"

  Xie Wan smiled silently, and with a sidelong glance, she saw a flash of sinister color on Wang's face, but when she looked straight at him again, it was gone.

  That's right, when someone sees an enemy, how can they not reveal a hint of their true feelings? If she could really do this, Xie Wan would suspect that she also had a few lifetimes' worth of city walls in her mind.

  Xie Wei said: "You guessed it! Father's letter, let mother take me and my brother to Beijing for a while. We came over to invite the lady to go together, but the lady said that there was something at home and couldn't leave. You say, how good would it be if we could go together!"

  A short stay in the capital? Xie Wan's hand holding the fan suddenly stopped. Xie Rong had only been in office for a year, and although he owned a house, it was still quite ostentatious. Moreover, Zhao Zhen's letter said that he was currently busy building relationships with various officials, so how could he have time to accompany them? Unless... they were useful to him.

  Xie Wan let out a soft sigh. The round fan began to gently sway again.

  Xie Wei is already fourteen years old and should be of marriageable age. Xie Rong has been traveling everywhere recently, and now he lets them enter the capital. Could it be for this matter?

  However, she remembered that the person Xie Wei married in her previous life was just a scholar from a humble background. Although he turned out to be not bad later on, at that time, he wasn't someone who could bring reliable help to Xie Rong's family. Since Xie Rong was so serious about bringing them into the capital, it wouldn't be some ordinary person. Could it be that Xie Wei's marriage would change in this life?

  As she thought of this, she turned her head to look at Xie Wei, who was still immersed in the joy of rushing to the capital and didn't notice her gaze.

  Huang's expression was much more calm and steady, happy as she was. When looking at her daughter, however, a hint of something extra still shone through in her eyes.

  "And another thing, Third Sister can't guess again!"

  Xie Yun saw that everyone was caught up in the topic of going to Beijing, and no one paid attention to him. He suddenly jumped out and said: "Ren's family's Jun brother has been admitted as a student at Nan Yuan County! However, there is no one in their family who can study with him, so he will come to our house to live with us, and go to Qinghe with my brothers to study! Mr. Ren has already contacted the county school!"

  Xie Wan didn't come back to her senses until half a day later.

  Ran Yun wants to come to our house to live and go to school with his brothers at the county academy. What does it mean?

  She subconsciously looked at Xie Qi, who had been blushing since the beginning, and his smile on his face never stopped today.

  It's been over a year since Xie Qi took the jade from Ren Yu, and it was such a big deal back then. A weak-hearted girl might have really done something stupid, but not long after that, Mrs. Ren asked Ren Yu to stay at the Xie residence for an extended period. Isn't she afraid that Ren Yu will really be taken advantage of by Xie Qi?

  Xie Wan felt that this Ren family was truly inexplicable.

  But that's secondary. What's important is what happened with Xie Rong.

  Xie Wan had just returned to her room when Zhao Zhen's letter arrived immediately after.

  There was only one sentence in the letter: Xie Rong had recently been in close contact with Wei Xi, the younger brother of Wei Bin, a participant in political affairs.

  Xie Wan's hand trembled inexplicably at her fingertips as she held it.

  Wei Xiao came to the Xie residence uninvited, and then Xie Rong had contact with people from the Wei residence. Was this a coincidence, or did Xie Rong find out that Wei Xiao was lingering at the residence and then climbed up along the line provided by Wei Xiao?

  The literary circle was originally broad, and those gentlemen were known for their high or low talents. Xie Ronghou had a thick foundation from the beginning, and now that he has entered the Hanlin Academy, he is a living signboard. He is also extremely adept at grasping opportunities. If he uses his connection with Qi family's fifth master, who was a fellow jinshi graduate, to get close to the Wei brothers, it's not impossible.

  But in my impression, Xie Rong is not the kind of person who uses his children's happiness to pave the way for himself. Although he is good at scheming, he is extremely loving and protective of his family members. Even if such an opportunity arises, he must have asked for their own opinions, so is this Xie Wei's idea?

  She recalled that plum blossom painting Wei Qian had painted for Xie Yu, which was as vivid as herself, and vaguely sensed something.

  Anyway, Xie Wei is excellent.

  Wei Jiong was the son of a third-grade official, but he wasn't the eldest son. His future prospects depend on his own destiny.

  So if she marries Wei Qian, it's not considered a high match. Moreover, Xie Yu is steady and introverted, which would be beneficial for the Wei family to pair with the childish Wei Qian. And Xie Yu has always admired her father, regarding Xie Rong as a god-like figure since her past life. If the Wei family really took a liking to Xie Yu, wouldn't this marriage expand Xie Rong's career prospects even further? Wouldn't it also align with her own desires?

  She leaned against her cheek and frowned.

  In theory, she had to stop this marriage. Whether it was her own conjecture or true, she had to cut off this possibility. But what if this was also Wei Xiao's intention... She already owed him a favor, and if she ruined his marriage, wouldn't she become the kind of person who repays kindness with enmity?

  What was originally a clear matter has become difficult to decide on once it reaches this level.

  After some thought, he could only write to Zhao Zhen and ask him to find out the inside story, and also tell him about Huang's plan to bring his children into the capital, as well as the possibility of an alliance between the Wei and Xie families.

  Unexpectedly, her letter was sent to the capital, and Luo Sheng returned from Cangzhou. His body was covered in dust, his hair disheveled, not looking like a decent shopkeeper, but rather a refugee from a disaster-stricken area.

  At that time, it was just when the shop was closing, and Xie Wan came to the shop every day at this regular time to check the accounts. Seeing him like this, she had already chilled half of her heart.

  Luo Xiang did not expect that she would be stuck in the shop every day, staring at him, and he didn't even have a spare moment to tidy up his room before coming to see her.

  "What about Zhang Wu?" she asked.

  Lu Sheng's beard was shaking with anger. Pointing outside the window, he gritted his teeth and said: "This Zhang Wu is a scoundrel! He brought Xiao to the dock that night and brought two people with him. They claimed to be two head workers under the Huo Bang, wanting to discuss the price of ship silver with Xiao. Xiao saw the badges on their bodies, which were indeed the badges of the head workers, so he let go of his inhibitions and discussed it with them.

  Later, a deal was made for a small boat of 100 dan to be 50 taels of silver, and a medium-sized boat of 150 dan grain was 70 taels of silver. The two head workers then asked the smaller one for a deposit. The smaller one, because the grain transport on that side had not been confirmed yet, did not dare give the silver, so the two head workers slammed their fists on the table to intimidate me. Later, I could only give a deposit of 50 taels of silver for a small boat, but when I went to look for them the next day, they were nowhere to be found!

  Xie Wan fell silent for half a day before saying: "Are you certain they are all head workers under the Chao Gang?"

  Luo nodded: "I'm absolutely sure!"

  Xie Wan hummed softly. "Although there are rules in the boatmen's guild, it's a mixed bag of good and bad people, and it's hard to guarantee that everyone at the bottom is following the rules."

  Lu Sheng nodded silently, speechless.

  Xie Wan stood up and walked towards the stairs: "Continue searching."

  To be honest, she had great expectations for Luo Sheng's trip to Cangzhou. Although Chang Wu didn't seem very reliable, he was still the most likely person to lead them into contact with the internal affairs of the Fu department at present. Luo Sheng's failure couldn't help but make her feel disappointed, but saying more now would be pointless, this was originally a helpless move.

  Luo Sheng also did his best.

  Indeed. She can also go directly to the dock and follow the usual procedure for grain transportation, but in the middle, she doesn't know how much silver will be deducted, especially since she started with small business, it's really unbearable to be exploited like this. If she gives all her earnings to the boatmen, why not continue to do other small profitable businesses?

  Due to this delay, it was already dark when they went out, and at this time on a normal day, she would have finished washing up and gone to bed.

  At this moment, except for a few wine houses on the road, almost all of them have closed down.

  She got on the carriage with a heavy heart. She knocked on the wall of the carriage and asked Luo Ju to drive.

  Yu Fang pulled down the car curtain, so mosquitoes wouldn't fly in. But this way it might be a bit stuffy. Yu Fang looked around for a fan. Not finding one, she asked Xie Wan: "Where is your round fan?"

  Xie Wan listened to her say that, and also interrupted her thoughts to flip the chair, where was there a fan. After thinking for a moment, it turned out that she had used it to fan herself earlier when she was in the shop, and remembered putting it in the pen holder on the attic - for women in the boudoir, fans and handkerchiefs were private items second only to their undergarments, and could not be left outside.

  She knocked on the car wall again, "Turn back."

  Luo Ju turned his head and obediently turned the car around.

  The mule cart returned to Li Zi Alley and soon approached the silk shop.

  Luo Xiang should have gone back too, the shop is already out of lights.

  Luo Yu got out of the car and knocked on the door, Xie Wan, who was sweating profusely, was supported by Yu Fang as she got out of the car to catch her breath, waiting for Luo Yi to open the door from inside.

  The door opened, and Luo Yi saw Xie Wan return again, and he couldn't help but reveal a hint of surprise. He was about to go out to welcome her, but before he could even lift his leg over the threshold, several black shadows had already fallen behind Xie Wan! Luo Yi's eyes widened suddenly, and immediately afterwards, seven or eight masked men rushed up from behind, holding down the door and blocking Xie Wan and the others inside!

  Yu Fang was frightened by this sudden change and screamed, one of the masked men immediately covered her mouth and slapped her.

  Xie Wan was choked from behind by someone's arm around her neck, and she couldn't even breathe, let alone scream.

  Several people were surrounded in the shop.

  "Miss!"

  Luo Yi and Luo Fang were flustered but when faced with the gleaming blade, they didn't dare to make a move!

  Xie Wan was not only choked by someone, but also had two long knives on both sides of her neck, with the blades resting under her chin, looking like she could be cut at any moment.

  Luojian glared at these seven or eight people, his eyeballs red to the point of bursting: "Who are you? What do you want to do?!"

  "Never mind who we are! We just want money! Put out five hundred taels of silver, otherwise you'll have to wait for your third sister to find you at the brothel!"

  PS: Thanks to Xiao Jianzhong, Zuo ← Meng x﹎, Alien Baby, Devil Save Me, Female Sovereign, Da Mouth, Kind Little Concubine for the pink votes ~~ Thanks to Ping Anfu who is facing the sun ~~