On her wedding night, she went into exile with her pharmacy arsenal

Chapter 2246 Family Letter

The nostalgia on Zhou Lao Er's face gradually faded, replaced by a layer of sorrow.

He sighed and said, "The change happened a little over a year ago."

At first, the letters just started to decrease, and later the money was sent intermittently. I thought the teahouse was not doing well, so I didn't ask any further questions.

Until a year ago, something major happened.

"What is it?" Yan Ruyu's gaze sharpened slightly.

“Zhou Zhenghang’s father passed away a few years ago. According to our Zhou family’s rules, no matter how long a person stays outside, once they die, they must be brought back to their hometown to be buried in the ancestral grave.”

Zhou Lao Er slowly said, "His father's grave is in the ancestral cemetery. Last spring, some damned grave robber dug a hole in his father's grave. Although nothing was stolen, the grave being damaged is always an unlucky thing."

"I was also shocked at the time. I quickly led people to repair the grave and wrote a letter to Zhou Zhenghang, explaining the whole story."

Not long after, he received a reply from him, saying that he understood and would send someone back as soon as possible to rebuild his father's grave, and would also bring back more money to properly repair the ancestral hall and the ancestral graves.

At this point, Zhou Lao Er's tone carried a hint of grievance and confusion: "After receiving his letter, I felt much more at ease, so I quickly found people in the village and started making preparations."

Everything was ready, and they were just waiting for him to send someone to rebuild it. But they waited and waited, and not only did no one come, but they didn't even see a trace of money.

I wrote several more letters, but this time, I never received a reply from him.

“At first I was worried that something might have happened to him in Youcheng, but later I asked someone to inquire in Youcheng and they said that Baixing Teahouse was doing well and Zhou Zhenghang was alive and well. I just don’t know why he stopped paying attention to things back home.”

Zhou Lao Er's brows furrowed into a knot: "My family suffered a disaster this year, and I was really desperate, so I thought of coming to Youcheng to find him in person."

I would have been grateful if I could borrow some money to get through this difficult time, but to my surprise, when I saw him on the street just now, he said he didn't know me and mistook me for a beggar.

Yan Ruyu remained silent, her fingertips lightly sliding across the tabletop.

A year ago, it was precisely the time when Zhou Zhenghang's father's grave was dug up, and he broke his promise to rebuild it.

What exactly happened during that year that caused Zhou Zhenghang to completely sever ties with his hometown?

Looking at Zhou Lao Er's confused and helpless face, her doubts deepened.

Now the handwriting on the ledger doesn't match the tea order, and a third uncle suddenly appears claiming kinship, but Zhou Zhenghang doesn't seem to recognize him.

All of this seems to be intertwined, pointing to one answer.

Seeing that Yan Ruyu remained silent, Zhou Lao Er felt a little flustered and cautiously asked, "Madam, do you think... Zhou Zhenghang really doesn't recognize me as his uncle anymore?"

Or is he facing some difficulty that makes it inconvenient for him to see me?

Yan Ruyu looked up at him, her gaze deep, and slowly said, "I will help you find out the truth about this matter."

"You should stay in the side courtyard for now and wait patiently for news."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Lao Er's face showed gratitude, and he quickly stood up to thank her: "Thank you, Madam! Thank you, Madam! You are such a kind person!"

If I can find Zhou Zhenghang and get him to acknowledge me, I will definitely repay you properly!

Upon hearing this, Zhou Lao Er nodded hurriedly: "Yes, yes, I brought it!"

As he spoke, he reached into his robe and pulled out a tightly sealed envelope from the close-fitting coarse cloth of his coat.

"This letter was the last one that arrived. I was afraid it would get lost on the way, so I kept it close to my body."

Zhou Lao Er held the envelope in both hands and handed it to Yan Ruyu: "I originally thought of using it as a token, so that I would have proof when I met Zheng Hang, but I didn't expect him to not recognize me."

Sun Qing stepped forward, took the envelope, examined it carefully, and after confirming that there was nothing obviously wrong, turned around and handed it to Yan Ruyu.

As Yan Ruyu opened the envelope, the moment her fingertips touched the letter, a subtle warning signal suddenly rang in her mind: a spatial alert!

Her gaze suddenly turned cold, her movements abruptly halted, and she looked up at Zhou Lao Er.

Zhou Lao Er was staring at her expectantly when he saw her expression suddenly change, and a layer of frost appeared between her originally peaceful brows and eyes. He felt a chill in his heart and subconsciously shrank his neck. He swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue and didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

Yan Ruyu did not speak immediately, but gently rubbed the envelope with her fingertip. The rough hemp paper felt normal to the touch, and the space did not issue any warning.

She felt a little relieved. It seemed that the poison was only on the letter paper and had not touched the envelope. Sun Qing had only touched the envelope when he took it and had not been harmed.

She looked up at Zhou Lao Er again, her gaze sharp as a blade, but said nothing, only slowly pulling out the letter inside.

The letter paper was slightly brittle, and the handwriting on it was exactly the same as the previous tea lists, vigorous and powerful, with a sharp edge between the horizontal and vertical strokes.

"Who else has seen this letter?" Yan Ruyu asked casually as she looked at the handwriting on the letter. Her tone was unreadable, but it made Zhou Lao Er even more nervous.

"Besides my second son, there's no one else," Zhou Lao Er quickly replied, afraid of mispronouncing a single word. "My second son's name is Zhou Shuanzhu. He's meticulous, knows a few words, and can do accounting."

He helped keep the land deeds, money, and correspondence safe.

When I first received this letter, he read it to me first, and then he kept it.

It wasn't until I came to Youcheng that he carefully wrapped it up and handed it to me, repeatedly telling me not to lose it.

Yan Ruyu tapped the letter lightly with her fingertip: "Did you take out the letter to read it on your way to Youcheng?"

Zhou Lao Er shook his head, a simple and honest look on his face: "No need to look, Shuanzhu has read it several times, I've memorized it."

Besides, this letter is just a token. As long as I can see Zheng Hang and show it to him, he will naturally accept it. There's no need to take it out and fiddle with it on the way.

Yan Ruyu nodded, then turned to Sun Qing and whispered, "Inquire in detail, write down Zhou Shuanzhu's situation, and have someone go to Qing County, Chongzhou to verify it later."

“Yes,” Sun Qing replied, and went to the side to ask Zhou Lao Er about his second son.

Yan Ruyu spread out the letter and then took out the previous tea list and account book, comparing them one by one.

The difference in handwriting is immediately apparent.

The handwriting on the letter paper and the tea menu is exactly the same, with identical pen strokes, strength, and starting and ending stroke habits, clearly indicating that it was written by the same person.

The handwriting on the ledger is completely different from the previous two.

"Just as I thought." Yan Ruyu murmured to herself, a hint of understanding flashing in her eyes.

This family letter, along with the earliest tea menu, is Zhou Zhenghang's authentic handwriting.

As for this ledger, whether it was kept by Zhou Zhenghang after being handled by someone else, or...

And what is the origin of the poison mentioned in this book?

She tightened her grip on the letter slightly, a vague guess forming in her mind.

Meanwhile, outside the Baixing Teahouse on Youcheng West Street, Huo Changhe hid behind an old locust tree at the street corner, calmly scanning the flow of people coming and going from the teahouse.

The teahouse was packed with customers, and the sounds of vendors hawking their wares and laughing and talking drifted out through the open doors and windows, creating a lively scene that showed no signs of anything amiss.

Before long, a young man dressed in a gray cloth jacket came out from the side door of the teahouse, walked briskly around the street corner, and bowed to Huo Changhe, his voice very low: "Your Highness."

This man was one of Huo Changhe's secret guards, who had long been lurking in the Baixing Teahouse.

Huo Changhe nodded slightly, his tone concise: "Is there any chance to obtain Zhou Zhenghang's recent handwritten work?"