Although he still couldn’t figure out how the people from the old residence had predicted the carriage accident, it was an undeniable fact that they had wanted to scavenge what they could, or perhaps even profit from the dead.

As Chen Song explained his theory, he didn’t notice Xu Suying’s gaze begin to drift.

Xu Suying had a rather unique background herself. She never believed she was the only one of her kind in this world, but the thought of actually encountering another transmigrator or reincarnator still made her heart pound with anxiety.

’Just who could that person be?’

’It must be someone from the old family, right?’

’But it definitely wouldn’t be one of the men from the old family.’

’No matter how old a man gets, he harbors ambitions of sleeping in a beauty’s lap by night and wielding power over the world by day. If they truly had such an opportunity, they wouldn’t be so subdued.’

’It couldn’t be the old madam either.’

’She’s been too conspicuous. Normally, to avoid anyone noticing something was amiss, a person in that situation would hide themselves carefully, determined not to draw any attention.’

Xu Suying was exceptionally sharp, and her mind raced. As she meticulously pieced the clues together, her thoughts quickly landed on Chen Wanyue.

Thinking of Wanyue brought to mind the whole series of events that had preceded this.

For instance, her insistence on breaking her engagement to Zhao Jing in order to marry Li Cun. And her repeated attempts to stir up trouble with Mrs. Zhao, trying to drive a wedge between Qing’er and her mother-in-law...

’But what if Wanyue had experienced all this before? If she knew the marriage to Zhao Jing was unsuitable, would she have gone through with it?’

’This "unsuitability," however, surely couldn’t mean that Jing’s life was in danger—that he was fated to die suddenly or from a sudden illness. If that were truly the case, Wanyue would have had no need to stir up trouble with Mrs. Zhao.’

’So, the problem must be related to Jing’s future prospects.’

’Was it that Jing was perpetually unlucky and could never pass the exam to become a Scholar? Or was it something else...’

In just a brief moment, Xu Suying had already considered a great many things.

She considered numerous possibilities, then ruled many of them out.

Combining what she knew with the current state of affairs, Xu Suying arrived at a conclusion that was very likely the truth:

’Jing probably never managed to become a Scholar. Wanyue couldn’t tolerate a life that started with such promise only to end in decline, which is why she broke her engagement to Jing and married Li Cun.’

’As for her repeated attempts to provoke Mrs. Zhao, enraging the woman to the point of collapse—that was likely her objective as well. After all, Jing is now my son-in-law. With his level of scholarship and with my husband Chen Song to guide him, it’s unthinkable that he would fail to become a Scholar.’

’Wanyue must be afraid of becoming a laughingstock, or of people saying she’d made a huge mistake. That’s why she wants to anger Mrs. Zhao to death—to force Jing into a period of mourning.’

The matter of Chen Wanyue claiming she couldn’t have children also threw Xu Suying’s thoughts into a tangled mess.

’In all likelihood, Wanyue must have married Li Cun in her past life.’

’To be married but unable to conceive... what could be the reason?’

’People would first assume the woman was barren. As for the actual truth of the matter, who would bother to find out?’

While Xu Suying’s mind was wandering, Chen Song had already changed his clothes and was preparing to go out. "I have to head back to the county government office."

Xu Suying immediately snapped out of her thoughts. "Go at daybreak. Waiting another couple of hours won’t make a difference."

"No, this is a serious matter concerning several lives." Seeing the bewildered expressions on Xu Suying and his son’s faces, Chen Song revealed a bit more. "That carriage that fell into the ditch has been hauled back to the county government. We found a number of things inside that could take a person’s life."

"Some of the furnishings and ornaments inside the carriage were already gone. They were either taken by the people from the old family or pilfered by passersby."

"The chances of recovering those items are slim, but the constables are already going door-to-door making inquiries."

"But the carriage had several hidden compartments. From them, we recovered things like sedatives, Aphrodisiac Powder, blood-stained hemp ropes, leather whips, and even a number of handkerchiefs and coin purses."

"Every single one of these items suggests that the carriage’s original owner, even if not a monster steeped in evil, has taken lives before."

"If we let people like that run free, they would threaten countless lives."

"We had no leads before, so there was nothing to be done. But now that we have clues, we have to immediately notify the constables at the county government to make the arrest."

"Otherwise, we risk tipping off these villains, and they might flee in the middle of the night."

Xu Suying and Chen De’an were both stunned speechless by his words.

’Don’t tell me they’re human traffickers?’

’Good heavens!’

’The old madam and her lot wanted to scavenge from the wreck, thinking they’d get rich by saving those people. If they’d actually managed to "rescue" them, who knows who would have ended up getting conned.’

’Given the cunning of those folks from the old family, they wouldn’t even be fit to carry those criminals’ shoes.’

’They’d get sold off to the mines in the northwest and probably still think their captors were good people.’