Xiangzhou Chapter: Soul Transmigration to Another World Chapter 34: The Ancestors' Wisdom Truly Proves Effective!

Ye Qiaoqiao’s eyes rolled as she thought, "Isn’t this the very item given to me by His Highness the Crown Prince?"

A moment later, she realized that Hanxiang must be worried that Shen Jianzhou, with his immense power and status, might pose a threat to her. Thinking of this, Ye Qiaoqiao patted Hanxiang on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Hanxiang, it’s alright. The Crown Prince needs my help right now, so he won’t do me any harm."

"How could that be?" Hanxiang looked bewildered. How could her mistress be so formidable that even the Crown Prince had to rely on her?

"It’s true, though some things are inconvenient to explain in detail," Ye Qiaoqiao said, nodding nonchalantly.

Hanxiang seemed to half-understand; she figured her mistress must be so extraordinary that it wouldn't even matter if she were to curse the Crown Prince as a dog. Leaning closer to her mistress, she looked at her with pure admiration. "Mistress, you are amazing. I believe in you."

"Don't just focus on believing in me; we’ll be heading to the capital in a while," Ye Qiaoqiao said, shifting to the serious matter at hand.

Xiangzhou was quite a nice place, wasn't it? Why go to the capital? Hanxiang asked, "Mistress, what are we going to the capital for?" She wondered if it was for that scoundrel. But then she reconsidered—they had already divorced, so why would she go looking for him? Moreover, she firmly believed her mistress was not the type to be trapped by such emotional entanglements.

Looking at Hanxiang, Ye Qiaoqiao spoke with great gravity, "Let me tell you: the Crown Prince’s destiny has been stolen and swapped by someone, and I need to go and unmask the person behind it."

"Ah?" Hanxiang was stunned once more. She immediately retorted, "What kind of person could be so wicked as to dare to harm the Crown Prince?"

Ye Qiaoqiao sighed as well. "I don’t know either, but he has promised me 100,000 taels of gold, so I must go to the capital."

"Alright, Mistress, I will accompany you." Hanxiang reached out and clung tightly to Ye Qiaoqiao’s arm. Her resolute gaze seemed to say that no matter what difficulties or dangers they encountered, she would remain by her mistress's side. Ye Qiaoqiao smiled, feeling lucky to have such a loyal maid.

The carriage soon arrived at Ye Qiaoqiao’s residence, which also served as the Divine Calculation Pavilion. Before stepping down, she carefully tucked the jade pendant given to her by Shen Jianzhou into her clothes. Wrapped in the fabric, the pendant remained silent. Ye Qiaoqiao figured that this way, the person on the other end wouldn't be able to hear what she was saying, and she stepped out of the carriage with peace of mind.

However, before she even reached the door, one of her shop assistants rushed over in a panic. "Mistress, you’ve finally arrived! If you hadn't come, something terrible would have happened!"

His anxious demeanor made Ye Qiaoqiao’s heart skip a beat. Without a word, she quickened her pace toward the Divine Calculation Pavilion, asking, "What happened?"

The assistant followed closely behind, equally frantic. "A thief broke into the house, and for some reason, he fell into the trap beneath our floorboards. His foot is bleeding profusely—it’s basically crippled—and he’s still in there howling."

Ye Qiaoqiao: "..." So, someone actually tried to steal her property! The wisdom of her ancestors had truly proven effective.

Soon, Ye Qiaoqiao strode into the room, heading straight toward the wall where she usually stored her gold leaves. Seeing her, Uncle Zhang’s wrinkled face broke into a broad, uncontrollable smile. "Mistress, you are truly a master of prophecy! Someone really did come to steal things in broad daylight the moment they saw I wasn't in the room!"

The mistress was indeed worthy of the name "Divine Calculation." It was only natural that a thief would come and bring this misery upon himself.

Ye Qiaoqiao looked toward the man who was howling in pain. He had covered his face tightly, but even so, one could see the blood pooling beneath him and his contorted body. The miserable wailing echoing in the room sounded particularly grating. A petty thief dared to come to her Divine Calculation Pavilion to steal? This matter was likely not so simple; there must be someone behind it.

Ye Qiaoqiao looked at the man masked in black, squatted down, and demanded sternly, "Speak! Who sent you?"

The man, unable to straighten up due to the pain, saw it was Ye Qiaoqiao and, enduring the agony, tremblingly tugged at the hem of her water-blue skirt. He wept, "Mistress, please save me! This lowly one will never dare to do it again!"

Anyone else might have felt pity at such a miserable sight, but Ye Qiaoqiao remained unmoved. "You haven't said who ordered you to do this," she said coldly, arms crossed. In her view, if he was here to steal the wealth she had worked so hard to accumulate, he was clearly under someone else's instructions. If she were easily fooled by this act of feigned pity, she would never be able to unearth the mastermind.

The man, unable to stand for the pain, had no choice but to sob, "Mistress, I was entrusted by a lady in the capital to come and steal these treasures!"

"A lady?" Ye Qiaoqiao frowned in thought. The original owner had never been to the capital; she had grown up in Xiangzhou. If she had offended a woman in the capital, it could only be Xiang Ling'er, who was currently pregnant and living far away. Why would she send someone to steal her property?

Seeing the man’s foot covered in blood, Ye Qiaoqiao felt a twinge of hesitation but did not soften her heart. She turned to Uncle Zhang and instructed, "You and the assistants work together to pull him out, then send someone to find a physician to treat his wounds before handing him over to the magistrate." This was more than enough mercy.

"Yes, Mistress," Uncle Zhang replied. He then called over several assistants, and with much effort, they managed to pull the thief out of the pit.

Ye Qiaoqiao stood to the side, her gaze falling on the man’s foot, where blood continued to seep out. The shocking shade of red made her frown slightly. She marveled to herself that Uncle Zhang’s mechanisms were indeed formidable! The thief had been injured this badly the moment he fell in. It served as a good lesson for those with ill intent.

But thinking back to the last time someone came to cause trouble at her pavilion, who had sent those people? Magistrate Dong had invited her over, but he had only exchanged pleasantries and had not mentioned the progress of the previous case. At that time, she had been too focused on catching the thief at the pavilion, leaving the previous troublemakers aside. What a tactical error.

Thinking of this, Ye Qiaoqiao bit her lower lip. She felt more and more that this matter was not simple; these seemingly unrelated events might be inextricably linked. She felt it was necessary to connect these dots and sort them out properly to find the key clues and reach an accurate conclusion.

A guess formed in her mind: the Chen Bailei family had no intention of letting her go. Perhaps both the previous troublemakers and this thief were puppets of the Chen family. But why were they so relentless? Was it for money? Unlikely! Or were they trying to put her to death?

Ye Qiaoqiao’s eyes turned suddenly cold.