Mother Tao slipped and if Tao Cheng hadn't been quick-witted, she would have fallen flat on her back.

"Who is so bold!" Her blood rushed to her head, "How dare they set up a trap for you to fall into!"

Tao Cheng shrank his shoulders again: "It's Ying Da from Daxing."

Mother Tao was speechless for a moment.

Yuanniang's farm was in Daxing, and Yingda was a idler in Daxing. He often helped the prefect to run errands and do small things, so everyone in Daxing gave him some face.

"That's why I didn't notice it." Tao Cheng was a little frustrated. "I saw three hundred acres of wheat fields sold for two hundred taels of silver, and I thought that Lord Ren got it from somewhere and was going to dispose of it quietly. That's why I bought it. Who knew that after I sobered up, the two hundred taels of silver turned into two thousand taels of silver."

Mother Tao looked a little stern.

Since Ying Da can run errands for Princess Changning's mansion, he should have seen some of the world. You have to look at the owner before you beat the dog. He got such a large sum of money for nothing, isn't he afraid that they will just go to the government and report him to the police, causing him to get into trouble with the lawsuit?

She asked unwillingly, "Have you seen Ying Da?"

"No." Tao Cheng helped Mother Tao sit down on the embroidered cushion in front of the table and poured a cup of tea for her. "His wife said that he hasn't been home for seven or eight days." He added, "Mom, I also felt something was wrong afterwards." Tao Cheng whispered, "That's why I came to you in a hurry. Could it be that we have offended someone and didn't know it? Or..." At this point, he paused and said meaningfully, "Could it be that someone wants to make things difficult for us?"

"You even need to ask that!" Mother Tao ignored her son's eagerness and said thoughtfully, "Two thousand taels of silver, ordinary people don't have the money to do that." Then she told her son, "Go and see if Lu Yonggui is home? He has many friends and ideas, maybe he can find out some information."

If it's not someone from outside, then it must be someone from inside.

Thinking of this, her teeth began to clatter.

Tao Cheng was a little hesitant: "Lu Yonggui is not easy to talk to..."

"You are the manager of a farm, but someone actually went to great lengths to ask Ying Da to deceive you. Maybe they were targeting the prince." Mother Tao sneered, "This is not our family's business. He can't shirk his responsibility."

Tao Cheng nodded and went to the west group room where Lu Yonggui lived.

Several women were standing in the yard, cracking melon seeds and gossiping. One of them, wearing a pair of golden willow-leaf earrings, saw Tao Cheng and greeted him with a smile: "Isn't this Uncle Tao? What brings you here today?"

Tao Cheng looked closely and found that it was Yang Huizu's wife.

He smiled and said, "I'm here to see Manager Lu. Is Brother Huizu home?"

"Yes, yes, yes." Yang Huizu's wife hurriedly replied, "I just came back from the storehouse and I'm home." He added, "You came at an unfortunate time. Uncle Lu went out early this morning. How about you come to our room and sit for a while?" As he spoke, he walked towards his own room and shouted, "Master, Uncle Tao from the farm is here!"

Yang Huizu ran out in his slippers: "This is a rare guest!" He pulled him into the house and said, "Come in and have a cup of tea."

Tao Cheng wanted to find out where Lu Yonggui was, so he walked into the house with a smile.

Yang Huizu's family brought up tea.

The tea water was green, the tea leaves were expanded, and the tea fragrance was everywhere. It turned out to be the top-quality Biluochun.

Tao Cheng couldn't help but laugh and said, "You're doing pretty well, kid!"

Yang Huizu's family listened and smiled until their eyes narrowed into slits, and said with a bit of satisfaction: "How can we be as generous as Uncle Tao..."

Yang Huizu knew that his wife was not presentable, so he frowned and drove her away: "...Why don't you go and cook some snacks so that Brother Tao and I can have a drink."

Yang Huizu's family went to the kitchen with a smile on their faces.

Tao Cheng explained his purpose: "...Do you know where he went? When will he be back?"

"I didn't notice that." Yang Huizu laughed, "The Fourth Madam seemed to have assigned him some tasks, so he leaves early and comes back late every day." At this point, he said, "He went to Daxing a few days ago. How come he didn't stay with Brother Tao?"

Tao Cheng's heart started pounding as he listened. He thought of what Ying Da's wife said when he went to look for Ying Da: "Uncle Tao, you and my husband are acquainted. You know him very well. Now that he has got a lot of money, he has gone somewhere to have fun. Even if you find him, I'm afraid you won't get the money back. I think you might as well go to the city to think of a solution. After all, you are the prince's manager. Your old lady is the wet nurse of the prince's biological mother. It's better than looking for someone without any reason like this."

At that time, he thought that Mrs. Ying wanted him to find a backer, but now it seems that he might have misunderstood.

Tao Cheng couldn't sit still any longer, so he said a few random words and stood up to leave.

Yang Huizu went to knock on Lu Yonggui's door.

The person who answered the door was Lu Yonggui himself.

"It's what you said." After the two entered the house, Yang Huizu said, "What if Tao Cheng makes a scene?" He was a little worried, "He's not someone who can tolerate it."

"Don't worry!" Lu Yonggui looked a little dull, "Mother Tao is smart. She won't let him make a fuss. Not to mention that there is no evidence now, even if there is evidence, the Marquis will not let Mother Tao make a fuss for the sake of his wife's dignity. Mother Tao knows this kind of thing best. Even if she knows, she can only swallow her anger."

"That's good." Yang Huizu sighed softly, "Cut the Gordian knot. Let's get this out as soon as possible, so they don't mess around and drag everyone down with it."

When Lu Yonggui thought of Shiyi Niang's smiling face, he shuddered slightly for some reason.

* * * * * *

Tao Cheng waited in the room where Tao's mother lived for a while before he finally saw Tao's mother.

He was shocked when he saw his mother walk in with a livid face: "What's wrong with you?"

Mother Tao did not answer, but asked him: "Why? Is Lu Yonggui at home?" Then, without waiting for Tao Cheng to answer, she said coldly, "I have just inquired. In the past half month, Lu Yonggui came to the mansion to see the fourth lady every few days." As she spoke, her eyes turned cold, "I am afraid he is involved in this matter!"

Tao Cheng didn't expect his mother to have some clues so quickly, so he hurriedly recounted what happened when he went to the west group room just now.

It's already obvious.

"Then, then what should we do?" This matter was related to Eleventh Lady, and he felt it was very tricky. "She and the Marquis are a couple. Once they roll into the same bed, all the grudges will be gone. Otherwise, why would the eldest aunt be afraid of the second wife?"

Mother Tao stood up suddenly and said, "Let's go see Lu Yonggui!"

"Yang Huizu said Lu Yonggui is not at home..."

As Tao Cheng was speaking, Mother Tao had already lifted the curtain and walked out.

He had no choice but to hurry and catch up to the west group of rooms where Lu Yonggui and Yang Huizu lived.

* * * * * *

Mother Tao exerted force and the door creaked open.

She was slightly startled and saw Lu Yonggui sitting at the square table.

The setting sun shone on his face, making his expression seem a little blurry.

Mother Tao was standing at the door.

"What good have you got?" She stared at Lu Yonggui with a ferocious expression, "Don't forget, without the prince, you are nothing."

"Without the prince, we are nothing." Lu Yonggui said calmly, "So I want to advise you to follow Brother Tao back to the manor! This will be good for you and the prince!"

Mother Tao said “Pah” to Lu Yonggui: “You ungrateful bastard! Don’t forget, if it weren’t for your aunt, you wouldn’t be where you are today…”

Lu Yonggui looked at Mother Tao, who was so angry that she was nagging all over, and shook his head gently: "Mom, my great aunt told me to manage the business for the prince well, and hand it over to him after he grows up. I have never forgotten it. My great aunt asked you to take good care of the prince and stay by his side no matter what. I wonder if you have forgotten it?"

Mother Tao was stunned.

Lu Yonggui had quietly closed the door: "Mom, we have different paths, so we can't work together."

Looking at the closed door, Mother Tao didn't come back to her senses for a long time.

After a long while, Tao Cheng, who knew that he had caused a big disaster this time, said anxiously, "Mother, what should we do? Two thousand taels of silver, how can we have so much money right now? The fourth lady is always watching us and will never give us time to collect the money. It will be a small matter if we have to explain ourselves, but it will be a big matter if all the reputation that mother has accumulated in her life is lost..."

When Mother Tao listened, she thought of Eleventh Lady.

It's really like raising a tiger to cause trouble.

Otherwise, how could there be so many twists and turns?

Mother Tao felt pain in her ribs and couldn't help but blame her son, "Now you have an idea, but why didn't you use your brain and drink yellow soup with that kind of person?"

Things had come to this point, not only was she the fish on the chopping board, but Zhun Ge as well... She suddenly felt as if her heart was being cut by a knife.

Seeing his mother's eyes moisten, Tao Cheng thought that she was worried about him, and hurriedly comforted her: "Mom, why don't we just tell our uncle directly? I accept it whether it's killing or cutting. Maybe our uncle will just send us away for our hard work over the years!"

"Send him out!" Mother Tao's eyes were gloomy. "But we have to wait until Uncle can get to Yanjing from Yuhang!"

This doesn't work, and that doesn't work! What should I do?

Anyone can shirk this responsibility, except him.

A thought flashed through his mind, and Tao Cheng had an idea. He thought of the furnishings in Yuanniang's room, and his eyes couldn't help but glance towards the yard where Yuanniang lived.

"Mom," he pulled his mother's skirt, "How about you lend me some things from my aunt's room first..."

"Don't even think about it!" Mother Tao interrupted her son's reverie with a firm tone, "Those things belong to the prince, and there are account books to check them."

Tao Cheng's lips twitched slightly, but he said nothing in the end.

He knew that no matter what happened to his mother, the first person she thought of was Zhun Ge...

Mother Tao looked at the figures peeping behind the window, her face becoming even gloomier: "Let's go back and talk about it! Don't stand here and make a fool of yourself."

Tao Cheng said "hmm" and hurriedly helped his mother back to the room.

Mother Tao whispered to her son, "Go back first and sell everything you can at home. Sum up as much as you can. We should find a way to fill the gap before she gets angry! That way, she won't have anything to say."

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I'll post a draft first and correct the typos later.

PS: The update will be very late, please get up tomorrow morning and read it!