Zu An snorted: "Sang Hong's words are ostensibly aimed at all families, but in reality, they are targeting the Chu family."

The Zheng and Yuan families were already in cahoots with the Sang family, so of course they were just going through the motions.

As for the Xie family, Xie Yi, that old fox, most likely hopes to use Sang Hong to further pressure the Chu family, making them submit and choose to side with the Qi King's lineage.

When the group rushed back to the Chu residence, they found that the Chu family was being searched by soldiers led by Sang Hong.

Seeing that many places had been ransacked, Zuan secretly rejoiced that he had kept all his shady things in the Glass Pearl, otherwise it would have been troublesome if they had been found out.

"Mother~" Chu Huanzhao had already seen Qin Wanru and hurriedly ran over to throw himself into her arms.

"Little Zhao, be good~" Qin Wanru gently patted her daughter's shoulder to comfort her, then coldly looked at Sang Hong beside her, "Lord Sang, have you finished investigating?"

“The Chu family is quite large, so it may take some time. I hope Madam won’t mind,” Sang Hong said apologetically.

Qin Wanru's expression grew even colder: "Lord Sang, are you taking advantage of my husband's absence to bully a woman like me?"

“Madam, what are you saying? This is a city-wide manhunt for thieves. Every household is being searched. It’s not just targeting your family.” Sang Hong remained calm and composed.

The more she did this, the angrier Qin Wanru became: "Fine, I'll remember this debt."

Sang Hong smiled slightly and stopped explaining. Since they had already fallen out, he couldn't be bothered to put on a show.

Just then, some commotion came from the back courtyard. Sang Hong asked in a deep voice, "What's going on? Have you discovered something?"

Soon, a subordinate reported: "Reporting to the lord, we have searched all other places, but there are three places they will not allow us to investigate."

Soon, the Chu family guards also said, "Those are the master and mistress's rooms, and there are also the eldest and second young ladies' boudoirs. How can we allow so many men to enter?"

Qin Wanru's brows were furrowed with anger: "Lord Sang, aren't you going a bit too far?"

Sang Hong laughed and said, "This is just a routine matter, and it's also for your safety. What if there are bad guys hiding here? Wouldn't that endanger you? Besides, we've checked all the other places. If we don't check yours, wouldn't it be like I, Sang Hong, am abusing my power?"

Qin Wanru was furious, but the other party kept using official business to pressure her, making it difficult for her to lash out.

Zu An stepped forward and asked, "May I ask, Lord Sang, are you looking for a person or an item?"

Sang Hong frowned: "Of course we need to find someone."

“But why did I see so many rooms ransacked just now? Some places that were obviously not safe to hide in were turned upside down,” Zu An chuckled twice. “Anyone who didn’t know better would think that Lord Sang was using the excuse of looking for someone to search for something in the Chu family, like account books or something?”

Upon hearing his words, Sang Hong's expression changed slightly, and the Chu family members beside him looked at him with suspicion.

Sensing that the Chu family members were like a suppressed volcano about to erupt at any moment, Sang Hong laughed: "I didn't expect this trip to cause a misunderstanding. Well, with the Chu family's tight defenses, those thieves can't get in anyway. There's no need to search the rest of the place. Let's call it a day."

He was able to openly search the Duke's mansion because he had a legitimate reason to do so. Now that reason was flawed, it gave the Chu family an excuse to rebel. He dared not take that risk. In any case, he had almost achieved his goal for today. There were only three places where the account books could be hidden.

The rest was left to that person to do.