Chapter 86: See You at the Old Place

"What hot search?"

She had woken up and gone straight to see Zaituan—she hadn't had a moment to slack off, okay?

Lin Lin went silent for a few seconds on the other end.

"It's photos of you taking a child to the hospital. Everyone's guessing whether you had a child out of wedlock."

An Luo was utterly speechless.

"I'm not some celebrity or influencer—why would anyone photograph me?!"

"Those two posts by Xu Jing earlier made our foundation quite famous, and by extension the public has been paying more and more attention to you. Besides, haven't you noticed? You already have over three hundred thousand followers on the Big Eyes social platform."

An Luo scratched the back of her head.

There were really that many?

"Really? I honestly hadn't noticed that."

But she caught on quickly.

"But whether I go to the hospital, or whoever I take to the hospital—that's my private business!"

Lin Lin's breathing quickened for a few seconds on the other end.

"So, you really did have a baby?!"

It wasn't Lin Lin's fault for thinking that way—in truth, she was the person at the foundation who knew An Luo best.

Apart from that scumbag father, her own boss had no other relatives, so there was simply no situation of her looking after a relative's child.

An Luo protested loudly.

"Of course not! That's my… it's my friend's child."

Although she was raising him too.

"Never mind that for now—what about the hot search? Can we get it taken down?"

"Of course we can… wait, no!"

Lin Lin let out another gasp.

"The one about you—why is it gone?!"

At that moment An Luo also opened Big Eyes, scrolling from the top all the way to the bottom.

"It really isn't there. Are you sure you didn't misread earlier?"

The moment the words fell, her phone received several messages.

"These are screenshots from before—there's absolutely no mistake."

After hanging up the phone, An Luo opened the images. They really were photos of her taking Zaituan to the hospital.

So it had indeed been on the hot search.

Then who had helped take it down?

……

Meanwhile, on the other side, Chen Ying found Cheng Old Madam and asked tentatively.

"On the way here just now, I ran into a few people nearby—they came from Muyuan Kingdom. There's only this one residence around here. Old Madam, have you seen them?"

Cheng Old Madam nodded with a smile, her face perfectly open.

"He did indeed come to see us."

Chen Ying's tone rose.

"Old Madam, do you know what you're doing?!"

Then he lowered his voice.

"This is the capital crime of colluding with a foreign nation!"

Cheng Chengxuan gave a cold laugh.

"But the charge already pinned on the Pingnan Marquis Residence includes colluding with an enemy nation."

"Besides, didn't Lord Chen's woolen sweater also find a Muyuan Kingdom merchant to sell it?"

"And the large amount of grain you bought not long ago—wasn't that also handled through that very person?"

Chen Ying protested loudly.

"How could that possibly be the same?!"

"We were simply doing business!"

Cheng Chengxuan looked at him with a smile and asked, his meaning unclear.

"Is that so?"

"Of course!"

After that categorical answer, a trace of doubt crept onto Chen Ying's face.

"What did you mean by what you said just now?!"

After asking, he instinctively recalled the scene from earlier.

The Muyuan Kingdom Prince had said:

'I often hear his name,' and also that line, 'I can also help.'

Spoken as if he himself had once received that person's help…

Thinking it over carefully now, it was indeed suspicious.

"Perhaps Lord Chen wouldn't, but what about your subordinates?"

Cheng Chengxuan's words sent Chen Ying into deep thought.

Right—just take those three hundred thousand shi of grain. Even if a merchant could sell it, there was no way it could have been transported out so easily.

Thinking of this, Chen Ying bowed with hands clasped to Cheng Old Madam and Meng Shi.

"Today this junior was too impulsive. Please forgive me, Old Madam and Master's Wife."

"This junior still has matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave first."

The moment he turned and stepped out the door, his face visibly darkened.

Striding onto the horse carriage, he eyed the steward.

"I recall the person in charge of the sweater business is your distant relative?"

Steward Zhao had been with the Chen Family for over thirty years. Even when the Chen Family had fallen on hard times and their home was confiscated, he had never left, following them all the way here to Beihuang City.

He naturally trusted Steward Zhao's character.

Hearing these words, Steward Zhao's heart gave a sudden lurch, rising straight to his throat, and he nervously rubbed his hands together.

Could it be that brat Zhao Kuan had done something wrong?

Surely it wouldn't drag him down along with it?

"That's right, my lord has a good memory. But that useless boy handles things poorly—what trouble has he caused you?"

"Just tell me, my lord. You won't even need to lift a hand; this old servant will go back and give him a beating!"

Chen Ying waved his hand casually.

"Don't be so nervous. This official merely recalled that his recent tasks have been handled well, so I asked."

Hearing him say this, Steward Zhao's heart eased slightly.

So that was it.

"That brat doing his job well—shouldn't that be expected? How would I dare trouble my lord to keep him in mind?"

Chen Ying spoke as if making idle conversation.

"I recall he came to seek refuge with you three years ago."

"Yes."

At this, a sorrowful look crossed Steward Zhao's face.

He let out a sigh first.

"Back then there was a great drought, and our hometown was struck by disaster. My younger brother and his wife died on the road fleeing the famine, leaving only this one nephew behind."

Chen Ying patted his hand.

"Speaking of which, Uncle Zhao hasn't seen his kin in over a dozen years. In the end, it's our Chen Family that has held you back."

Steward Zhao waved his hands repeatedly, his face full of alarm.

"My lord must not say such things. Old Master treated me with a kindness as heavy as a mountain. Back then, if Old Master hadn't been willing to take me in, and given us grain and silver, my brother and I would have starved to death long ago."

"At the time I swore in my heart that for the rest of my life, this life of mine belongs to Old Master!"

"Uncle Zhao, those words are too heavy. No matter how you look at it, all these years you've even foregone marrying and having children for our Chen Family's sake. Both Father and I feel we've wronged you."

"My lord must not say such things. All of this was this old servant's own choice."

Then a faint smile appeared on Steward Zhao's face.

"Besides, now there's Kuanzi, aren't there? Although that brat has no great ability and isn't particularly clever, he's at least generous and honest, a boy who knows to repay kindness."

"He even said he'd treat me like his own father and care for me in my old age."

Seeing his expression, Chen Ying opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing more.

The group hurried toward the city.

Meanwhile, over at Cheng Jia Xiaoyuan, watching the Chen Family's group walk off into the distance until they vanished, Cheng Feng and the others hurriedly grabbed their baskets, slung on their back-baskets, and rushed toward the Backyard in a great flurry.

No need to ask—ask and the answer is, they were going to harvest the corn.

At last they're gone. If they'd stayed a few more days, they'd have missed a whole harvest this month—that's several dozen *shi* of gleaming golden grain!

Meanwhile, in the room, Tian Qin was tidying up her son's room when she suddenly discovered a small box in the corner.

Opening it, she found inside the toy Yu'an liked to play with, something called a Klotski.

She handed the box to the little fellow and gently reminded him.

"Yu'an, you must remember to put your own toys away."

"Huh?"

Yu'an reached up to scratch his head, then glanced at the courtyard gate.

"I gave this to Yi Jiang. It must be that he forgot to pack it up."

Tian Qin ruffled his little head.

"Then next time you meet, Yu'an can give it back to Yi Jiang."

Meanwhile, in another room in the courtyard, Cheng Chengxuan stood by the window, where a carrier pigeon perched on the frame.

He took a small slip of paper from the carrier pigeon's leg, on which was written:

Little Xuanxuan, tonight at the hour of the Rat, same old place~