That day, when Su Heng went to court, he kept feeling that the Xu family father and son were watching him in a subtle way, which made him feel a little confused.

After the court session, Chuanhai stopped him again.

"Well, Lord Su, come to my place when you get back. I have something good for you."

Chuan Hai spoke mysteriously, leaving Su Heng completely bewildered. He asked, "What good stuff?"

Chuan Hai smiled awkwardly. This was not a matter that could be discussed in public, so he patted the back of Chuan Hai's hand and told him to go ahead.

When Chuan Hai pulled Su Heng aside to talk, Su Heng noticed that Xu Yunfei was craning his neck to look in their direction, but when he looked at him, Xu Yunfei quickly withdrew his head, pretending to be nonchalant.

Even Su Heng, who was almost superhumanly intelligent, couldn't figure out what these people were doing.

However, he didn't want to dwell on it anymore. He figured he could just go back to the Marquis of Changxing's residence and ask him for details. So he went to deal with his own affairs with peace of mind.

He searched around but couldn't find Dong Zhen. He went to ask his colleagues at the Censorate and learned that Dong Zhen had taken leave again today.

Su Heng knew that it must be Old Man Dong who had appeared to him in a dream again, so he left the palace and went to the Dong residence.

He has already obtained the records of that mortuary in Fengtai County from more than ten years ago, so it would be more convincing for him to tell Dong Zhen.

As he approached the Dong residence, he saw a manure cart parked outside the small gate, emitting a stench so strong that even the gatekeeper covered his nose and kept his distance.

Just as Su Heng was about to leave, he saw an old man with white hair carrying a bucket of sewage, huffing and puffing as he shuffled out through a small door. No one dared to approach him as he passed by.

However, just as the old man stepped over the threshold, his frail legs went too low, and he cried out in pain, falling down along with his excrement, the stench spreading instantly!

"Run! Run! Old Chen knocked over the manure bucket again! Ugh!"

The gatekeeper took off running, shouting as he ran, and vomiting as he shouted!

Several old women and servants working nearby quickly picked up their tasks and ran off. However, just as Su Heng came over to help, a young servant carrying tools also came over to assist.

"My lord, you mustn't! You mustn't!"

Su Heng came straight to Dong Zhen after leaving the palace, still wearing his official robes. The old man was flattered when he saw the robes and refused to let him help.

The servant also said, "Sir, you are of noble status, how can you touch such filthy things? Let me do it."

Su Heng didn't mind. In the past, it was just him and his sister at home, so naturally, his sister, being a woman, couldn't be left to clean the latrine. Therefore, he took on the responsibility entirely. Although it was a bit disgusting, it wasn't unbearable.

After quickly finishing the task, Su Heng asked curiously, "With so many servants in the mansion, why didn't you find some young and strong men to empty the latrines?"

The old man sighed, "When I was young, I made a mistake and was punished by the master to empty the manure every day. I've been doing this for more than ten years."

As he spoke, the old man's slightly cloudy eyes were filled with sorrow. He had been smelling the stench of excrement for over a decade; he felt like he had been pickled into excrement himself!

More than ten years?

Su Heng looked the old man over again. Could this old man be the servant who lost Dong Zhen's father's body?

Thinking this, Su Heng asked, "Uncle, what mistake did you make that warrants such a long punishment?"

Now the servant sighed along with the old man. The old man said, "Years ago, when my master first became an official, he sent me to my hometown to bring my parents to the capital for a family reunion. But on the way, my grandfather passed away. I first placed his body in the local mortuary, thinking I would send my grandmother back to the capital and then come back. But when I went there, the mortuary had caught fire, and my grandfather's body was burned to ashes. Alas!"

The old man sat on the doorstep sighing. Su Heng felt a little embarrassed. If they hadn't accidentally taken away Old Man Dong's body, the old man wouldn't have had to shovel manure for ten years. Sigh.

After bidding farewell to the old man, Su Heng entered the gate of the Dong residence.

In the backyard of the Dong residence, Dong Zhen was taking a nap under the eaves. He had another nightmare last night, and when he woke up this morning, he felt dizzy. Now that he had eaten breakfast, he was sleeping more soundly in the sunlight.

However, he had only been asleep for a short while when he heard someone calling him. It was so annoying that he didn't want to respond, but the voice kept calling.

Dong Zhen opened his eyes in annoyance and saw his personal servant standing beside him. Upon seeing that he was awake, the servant smiled and reported, "Master, Lord Su requests an audience and is waiting in the living room."

Dong Zhen really wanted to say no. He had finally been able to get some peaceful sleep, and he wouldn't see anyone who came!

But then he thought for a moment and asked, "Which Lord Su?"

"It's the former top scholar, Lord Su Heng, who just returned from the Kingdom of Liang!"

The servant spoke with great admiration and respect, and Dong Zhen had him helped up and headed to the main hall. Su Heng was now a favorite of the emperor, and he couldn't afford to offend him, especially since Chuanwen was his fiancée—she was even less likely to be offended!

Upon entering the living room, Dong Zhen greeted him with a broad smile, "Oh my, Lord Su, what brings you to my humble abode?"

However, upon getting closer, he sniffed and noticed a strange smell about Lord Su.

Su Heng laughed and said, "When I came here, I saw an old man knock over a bucket of sewage, so I helped him out."

Dong Zhen was stunned for a moment, then looked a little embarrassed and said with an apologetic smile, "Look at this, sigh, I've made Lord Su laugh at me."

Su Heng smiled but didn't say much. Seeing Dong Zhen's dark circles under her eyes and her forced smile, he couldn't help but feel some sympathy. So, without much small talk, he quickly got to the point.

"I have come to see Lord Dong to verify something."

Su Heng turned to a page in the notebook and handed it to Dong Zhen. “This is a record from the Fengtai County Charity Hall more than ten years ago. I saw a record of a Dong family member from Gangcheng, Huimu County, Meizhou. I thought that was the hometown of Lord Dong, so I came to ask if Lord Dong knew them.”

Dong Zhen took it and said with a smile, "Gangcheng is quite big, and besides, I haven't been back to my hometown for many years, so I might not recognize it."

As he spoke, he inwardly wondered if Su Heng was just making fun of him. But how could someone from his hometown possibly know about records from over ten years ago? This was ridiculous!

But when he saw the names on that page, he frowned. Why did those names look so familiar?

Dong Xiaocong... Dong Xiaocong... Dong Xiaocong!!!

Dong Zhen's eyes widened. Wasn't Dong Xiaocong his father's name?

Ten years ago, the servant he sent to fetch his parents said that his father had died on the way. He even went with the servant to retrieve his father's body, but when they arrived, they couldn't find it. He was furious and beat the servant severely, punishing him by making him clean the latrine every day.

Although Dong Zhen had been to the mortuary in Fengtai County, he had long forgotten the name of the place. He only remembered it when he saw his father's name!

However, he frowned and looked at Su Heng, "Does Lord Su have something to do with this corpse?"

"Well, how should I put it?" Su Heng smiled and said, "To be precise, I'm not looking for this corpse, but rather returning it."

"return?"

A big question mark appeared on Dong Zhen's round head.