The next day, after breakfast, Xu Rao told Guard Cheng about the matter and asked him to accompany him. Guard Cheng, along with his subordinate Guard Zhou, accompanied Xu and his father to the address on the note.

The address on the note was in the west of Ganzhou City. Ganzhou City has always been a place where the east side is rich and the west side is poor. The east side is full of large houses with straight alleys on both sides. The west side, on the other hand, is full of low houses. Some people build haphazardly inside their houses, which gradually encroach on the originally spacious alleys, making them narrow and small.

Walking through the narrow alleyways, which were also riddled with puddles, Xu Di whispered to Xu Rao, "Lord Xu, we really need to address the issue of the city's appearance. Look at this place, it's impossible to even step in it."

Xu Rao remained silent. After leaving the alley, near the west city wall were some small courtyards. They were probably built later, as this group of courtyards had their own separate paths leading to the west city gate. The address on Xu Rao's note was for one of these courtyards.

After knocking, a young girl opened the door. Seeing Xu Rao standing behind the guard Cheng who had knocked, she didn't say anything, but turned and ran into the courtyard, leaving Xu Rao and her group completely bewildered. Guard Cheng peeked into the courtyard and, seeing that there was no danger, led the way into the courtyard. Xu Di was the last to follow. After looking around and seeing that no one was following him, he closed the gate and followed the others into the courtyard.

The courtyard is slightly larger than a traditional courtyard house. Upon entering, there is a screen wall. Turning past the screen wall, a path paved with blue bricks leads from the courtyard gate all the way to the steps in front of the main house.

There are three main rooms with a covered walkway in front of the door. There are moon gates on both sides of the walkway, indicating that there is a backyard. In the yard, there are east and west wing rooms. A pomegranate tree is planted in front of the window of the east wing room. The pomegranate tree is full of green leaves with a few red spots emerging in the middle. In front of the window of the west wing room, there is a small flower bed made of bluestone, in which several common flowers and plants are planted, but none of them have bloomed yet.

Although the courtyard was small, it was very uniquely designed. Xu Rao nodded in approval and couldn't help but feel more curious about the person who had invited her.

The child ran into the main room, and then the curtain of the main room was lifted. The first person to come out was an old man with white hair and beard. When he saw Xu Rao, he quickly bowed and said, "Lord Xu, I am sorry for not greeting you properly. Please forgive me."

Xu Rao quickly packed his bags and thanked him, saying, "Sir, you're too kind."

The old gentleman said, "Master Xu, please come in."

Upon entering the room, it was discovered that the three main rooms had not been separated and were being used as a study, arranged from east to west.

Upon entering, one arrives at the banquet area. On the wall directly opposite the entrance hangs a central scroll, below which is a rosewood octagonal table. On either side of the octagonal table are two rosewood official hat chairs, with two chairs on each side. Between the chairs is a small table.

On the east wall, there were several tall bookshelves filled with books. Near the bookshelves was a large desk and several chairs. On the west wall, there was an even larger desk, which was covered with many books and papers and looked somewhat messy.

After the old gentleman invited Xu Rao to sit down at the octagonal table, Xu Rao sat down at the lower end with the two guards. The little boy who had opened the door earlier was already helping to serve tea and water. The boy, who was only seven or eight years old, looked shaky as he carried a tea tray with four covered bowls. Xu Di quickly stood up to help him, and the boy smiled at Xu Di and said, "Thank you, big brother."

Once everyone was seated, Xu Rao went straight to the point, asking, "Sir, is there something troubling you that you invited me here?"

The old man nodded after hearing Xu Rao's words and said, "Lord Xu, although you have only been in Ganzhou for a little over ten days, I have heard that you are a diligent and benevolent official. I have also heard about your deeds in Hexi. I invited you here because of something that happened to my family."

Xu Rao was right. The old gentleman's surname was Liao, and his ancestors came from Jiangnan. His ancestors came here to serve as officials, and the whole family stayed here. Mr. Liao's ancestors were in charge of repairing waterways, and his children were influenced by this from a young age. Many of them even passed the exams for the Ministry of Works.

The waterways in the Ganzhou area were all under the responsibility of Mr. Liao's son, Liao Zhiqi. Two years ago, when the waterways were being repaired, Liao Zhiqi learned about the Ganzhou prefect's corruption of waterway funds with his subordinates. Originally, the former Ganzhou prefect wanted to drag Liao Zhiqi into the corruption, but Liao Zhiqi refused. After the flood, Liao Zhiqi was made a scapegoat by the Ganzhou prefect.

Liao Zhi Qiu naturally denied it. Just then, the Third Prince came to Ganzhou to take charge of disaster relief. Liao Zhi Qiu was still imprisoned in the government jail at the time. Old Master Liao fell ill due to his son's arrest and anger. Liao Zhi Qiu's sister, Liao Zhi Xia, went to the government to plead her case. The prefect sent someone to invite her to the back of the government. A few days later, Liao Zhi Xia was sent back at night. She was already confused and could not understand anything.

Mr. Liao invited doctors to examine the child, and they all said that the child had taken some kind of medicine that had damaged his brain, and that he would have to rest from now on.

Liao Zhiqi's wife was furious and wanted to fight someone, but Mr. Liao stopped her. There were only a few people in the house, and they really couldn't afford to cause any more trouble.

Several months later, Liao Zhiqi's wife, Zhao, noticed that her sister-in-law's belly was swollen. She asked a doctor she knew to come and examine her, only to find that she was several months pregnant. Liao Zhiqi was still in prison and could not go in to see her. Now that Liao Zhixia was pregnant again, and Liao Zhixia was already engaged, Mr. Liao had no choice but to cancel the engagement for Liao Zhixia. With the baby growing bigger and Liao Zhixia's health in this state, the doctor advised her to give birth to the child.

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