The letter did not say it explicitly, but the words between the lines expressed the hope that Xu Lanyin would go to the provincial capital to accompany Min Jia.

Xu Lanyin also felt sorry for the little girl and had originally planned to wait until the beginning of winter to take Xu Lanting with her for a follow-up visit. But the boss wrote to her and said that the little girl was not well, so she had no choice but to go.

There was another letter with a few incomprehensible words and a small red dot in the upper left corner. This was a secret letter to Hong Zhen, written in code that Xu Lanyin couldn't understand.

She grabbed a handful of brown rice and fed it to Ma Zi, and told the family not to tell anyone about Ma Zi's return. She smiled at Zhao Xingchen and said, "You missed Sister Fang, didn't you? Auntie will take you to her house to play now."

Zhao Xingchen jumped for joy and said loudly, "I miss Sister Fang so much."

They took Ho Tung's car to the Hong family.

Hong Zhen was also unexpectedly at home, and Liu Yong was sent to the capital for something. Xiao Chan was sick and resting in her room.

Mrs. Hu asked the maid and the chess master to take Fang Jie'er and Xiao Xingxing to the east wing corridor to play with the parrot in the cage.

Xu Lanyin gave Hong Zhen and Hu a look, and Hong Zhen went into the side room first, followed by Xu Lanyin. Hu was sitting in the living room doing needlework, listening to the noise outside the door.

Hong Zhen read the small note and then lit a fire to burn it. He whispered to Xu Lanyin, "I'm increasingly confused by Hong Huanxi and his son. They're colluding with the Yiju Restaurant to bring disaster upon the Crown Prince. I heard that our border troops suffered a lot in several conflicts with the Western Xia Kingdom. A while ago, the imperial court's grain shipments were also intercepted... Isn't this just giving them something to hold against them? Why doesn't the Crown Prince punish that father and son?"

Hong Zhen hated the Crown Prince for selling out his country and crippling the previous Crown Prince for the crown prince position, and even more so, he hated Hong Xihuan and Hong Wei for selling out their country for personal gain and bringing ruin to the entire Hong family. Hong Zhen was happy to see them commit suicide, but he couldn't understand why they were doing this, and why the Crown Prince didn't restrain them...

Xu Lanyin was certain that this was information obtained by Yiju Restaurant from the Hong family father and son, and that the Third Prince, not the current Crown Prince, was behind the operation. The question was why Hong Hee-hwan and his son were willing to be exploited. The Crown Prince's downfall implicated the Hong family and their daughter. In the book, Hong Hee-hwan and his son committed suicide early, but now it seems more likely that they were silenced.

She was a little suspicious. Could it be that because of her arrival, the planned trajectory had been changed? Was the Third Prince constantly causing trouble in order to get rid of the current Crown Prince in advance?

Xu Lanyin couldn't directly reveal the Third Prince's involvement. Min Hu only shared his suspicions with a few of his closest confidants. He could only say, "The Hong family can shift the blame, claiming they knew nothing and that the Yi Ju Restaurant obtained the information through other channels. Even if the Crown Prince gets angry, there's nothing he can do. He can't personally go to Manager Jin to settle the score."

Hong Zhen continued, "Brother Zhao is not here, so it's not easy to send a letter to that person. They are going to cause trouble again. I was planning to ask Wang Li to find an excuse to go to the provincial capital, and it just so happens that Ma Zi is back."

Wang Li was a secret agent in the Xu family shop. Although the Hong family also had a secret agent, it was not easy to let him go to the provincial capital.

The two exchanged a few more words before going to the living room. Xu Lanyin picked up Wen Ge'er and teased him. Wen Ge'er was almost eight months old, dark and strong, and very lovable.

The laughter of Fang Jie'er and Zhao Xingchen could be heard outside the window.

Mrs. Hu smiled gently and said, "Whether it's your family members, your dogs or your birds, Fang'er likes them all."

She was especially grateful to Xu Lanyin and Zhao Wu. Without them, her man would have been killed long ago, and she and her children would have been killed by them at any time.

Suddenly, Hong Zhen blinked his eyes and rubbed his lips, meaning that something was happening.

Xu Lanyin immediately smiled humbly and said, "Sister Fang is a daughter of an official family. How dare we pretend to be her? I want to ask Brother Hong, my brother is very good at riding and shooting, and his studies are also good. Can he go to the training ground next spring..."

Before Xu Lanyin could finish her words, Xiaochan pushed the door open and walked in. Her face flushed red, her lips chapped, yet she still came to monitor him. This indicated that Xu Lanyin's relationship with Minhu had made the Hong family and Yiju Restaurant uneasy, perhaps even suspicious.

Hu suppressed her disgust and said distressedly, "Oh, you're not feeling well, are you? I'll ask someone to call a doctor."

Xiaochan panted slightly and smiled, "I am feeling better now. Come and serve Master and Madam."

Mrs. Hu raised her voice and called Wen'er's wet nurse over, asking her to carry Wen'er back to the house.

Xiaochan blushed, knowing that people were worried that she might have passed away. She smiled and said, "Grandma, there's nothing to do here, so I'll go back to my room."

Mrs. Hu nodded.

Xiaochan glanced at Hong Zhen before turning around and walked slowly again.

Xu Lanyin and Hu exchanged a glance. It was truly disgusting to have such a fly circling around them. Furthermore, Xu Lanyin noticed that Xiaochan's gaze towards Hong Zhen was quite warm.

Hong Zhen didn't look at Xiaochan, but smiled at Xu Lanyin. "We have a lot of military affairs to attend to, so we don't have much time to teach Lanzhou. I've mostly asked Captain Ding to teach him. Captain Ding said Lanzhou has a good understanding and is quite good. Let him work harder and put more effort into his strategy. He can try next year. If he doesn't pass the exam for a Wu Xiucai, at least passing the exam for a Wu Tong would be good too."

Xu Lanyin expressed her gratitude, and Hong Zhen went to the outer courtyard.

When no one was in the room, Xu Lanyin whispered, "Sister-in-law, you have to be careful. That girl is very arrogant."

Mrs. Hu had seen through it long ago and cursed angrily, "That shameless woman is still trying to get close to my master even when she's sick, and she's even more attentive when she's healthy. My master is so fed up with her, and she can't refuse too obviously."

Xu Lanyin asked, "What if the higher-ups really let Brother Hong marry her?"

Mrs. Hu's eyes were red as she said, "My master is kind and treats me very well. Unlike other men who like to have affairs, he has never had other women. If those two evil men insist on making him take in that shameless slave girl, there's nothing we can do. Even though we know it's just a fly, we have no choice but to swallow it. We can't let a small loss lead to the whole family being implicated."

This is the helplessness of the secret agents.

Thinking about Hong Zhen, who always looks righteous, but has to sell his looks for his career, I really sympathize with him and the woman who has to sacrifice her husband.

Xu Lanyin and Zhao Xingchen had lunch here and then said goodbye.

Mrs. Hu said that Fang Jie'er liked to play with Xu Lanting and Xiao Xingxing, and asked them to come visit her more often when they had nothing to do... She lowered her hand and stuffed a rolled-up small note into Xu Lanyin's hand. This was the note that Hong Zhen had quietly handed to her just now.

Xu Lanyin held the small note tightly in one hand and held Zhao Xingchen's hand with the other. After getting on the mule cart, she pulled out a handkerchief from her bosom to wipe her face, then stuffed the handkerchief and the note back into her bosom.

Back home, Xu Lanyin quietly took Ma Zi into her room. She also wrote a few short words, saying that they could go to the provincial capital in two days. She then rolled up the two small pieces of paper and stuffed them into a small bamboo tube, which she then tied to Ma Zi's leg.