He was also a little frustrated at this point. Their group had many capable ministers and generals, but their combined gains were still less than what Zu An had gained alone. It was really embarrassing.

No wonder it's so popular in officialdom to take the wife's route; I need to find an opportunity to learn from my grandfather in this regard.

"Lord Sang, you flatter me. You all played a significant role. It's always necessary to understand a matter from different sources, otherwise it's easy to be swayed by one side of the story."

Hearing Zuan say this, the smiles on the others' faces became even more genuine.

Sang Hong stroked his beard with satisfaction. The other party was much more capable than his good-for-nothing son. He hoped that his grandson would inherit these qualities from his grandfather, so that his previous efforts would not have been in vain. "Grandfather, what do you think we should do next in this case?"

Zu An thought for a moment and said, "I think we can split into three groups. One group can investigate the site where the Duke of Yunzhong was in seclusion, and another group can investigate various parts of the Duke's mansion to see if we can find any clues."

"Another route involves questioning relevant individuals, not only the maids, servants, and guards of the Duke's mansion at the time, but also people from the Governor's Office and the Prefect's Office. Perhaps some of Jian Taiding's political enemies will provide some unexpected information."

"Finally, we will investigate the information of the guard who went to the capital to deliver the message but was silenced. Although he is dead, a person must leave various marks when he comes into this world. Let's start with the relationships around him and see if we can find anything."

Sang Hong nodded secretly. Azu's thinking was truly clear. He had sorted out the whole chaotic matter in just a few words: "That's very good. Gao Ying and Pei You will be in charge of investigating the scene, and I will ask all parties for their testimonies. Azu will be in charge of investigating the guard's relevant information."

Gao Ying is meticulous and Pei You is quick-witted; the two are perfectly suited to cooperate in investigating the scene. The second team needs to deal with the officials of Yunzhong County, and the others are obviously not enough, so only he can take charge. As for the guard who was silenced, Zu An was the one who knew him best.

He also wanted to arrange for someone to keep an eye on the Prince of Qi's son, but he learned that Zu'an had already arranged for Xiao Jianren to go there. He was very pleased, just like a father-in-law looking at his son-in-law, and he liked him more and more.

Over the next few days, everyone began investigating the matters at hand according to their assigned tasks.

Inside the Pei residence, a beautiful young woman was sitting at a table drawing her eyebrows, while a maid behind her was combing her hair.

The maid glanced enviously at her mistress's chest resting on the table and said, "Miss, has something good happened to you lately? You look much better than before."

"Really?" Pei Mianman stroked her face, looking at her beautiful face in the mirror, and couldn't help but smile.

"Miss has been laughing for no reason lately. It seems she's quite pleased with that Prince Qi's son." The maid thought to herself that her mistress's hair was so smooth that a comb could slide right off it, unlike her own dry and tangled hair.

"Him?" Pei Mianman snorted, but didn't want to explain further.

The maid didn't sense the disdain in her tone and continued, "That Prince Qi's heir is quite attentive to you, Miss. He's been coming to the manor every few days these days, bringing all sorts of snacks, rouge, and jewelry. How long are you going to ignore him? I think it's about time. After all, he's the heir of a prince's manor. It wouldn't be good if you angered him."

In her opinion, the young lady's continued avoidance was mostly due to a desire to play hard to get, but there's a limit to this, and the time should be about right now.

"I won't see him!" Pei Mianman was a little annoyed, thinking about that heartless man. He hadn't come over for several days after taking advantage of her that day. Men really are all big pigs; they don't know how to cherish what they have.

"Won't this offend the Prince of Qi's heir too much? And it will also put the master and mistress in a difficult position," the maid advised.

"What does this have to do with me?" Upon hearing the words of the master and mistress, Pei Mianman's expression turned cold. "You wouldn't have accepted bribes from the Prince of Qi's heir and come here to persuade me on his behalf, would you?"

"No, no," the maid hurriedly waved her hands in fright. "My mistress has been incredibly kind to me. How could I, Hongzao, possibly betray her?"

Because Pei Mianman was not the legitimate daughter, she was not favored in the household in her early years and was only served by a sickly maid.

Because her complexion wasn't very good, Pei Mianman often saved her share of red dates to help her replenish her blood and energy. Over time, she simply named her Red Date.

As Pei Mianman grew up, her unparalleled beauty began to emerge, and the Pei family gradually began to value her, wanting to assign her more maids, but she refused.

The master and servant had relied on each other for many years, and Hongzao was grateful and always thought of her master.

Pei Mianman said, "Hongzao, I know you mean well and want me to get out of this misery as soon as possible. For most women, the Prince of Qi is indeed a good match, but I just don't like him."

Red Date looked worried: "Miss, are you still thinking about that sweetheart in Bright Moon City? But it seems that both the Prince Qi's Mansion and the Pei family are interested in facilitating this marriage, I'm afraid..."

As the young lady's personal maid, although the other party hadn't explicitly said it, the changes after returning from Mingyue City couldn't be hidden from her eyes.

"Don't worry, he has his own way." Pei Mianman's eyes were full of smiles as she thought of Zu An's sly and mischievous nature.

Seeing her like this, Hongzao didn't say anything more, so she started talking about the situation at the manor: "The Prince Qi's heir came again today. It seems he was talking to Master about the imperial envoy. I overheard him saying that he was planning to ask Miss to do something, and Master was hesitant. That heir is really outrageous. Miss, you haven't even married into the family yet, and he already wants to order you around..."

Before she could finish speaking, Pei Mianman stood up: "What? Take me to the reception room right away."