Hearing Chen Pozi’s curses, Yu Tang’s brows furrowed slightly.

Come to think of it, Chen Pozi’s scolding actually made some sense.

The household had been burglarized twice, both times when Yu Wen was away.

How could it be such a coincidence?

Chen Shi also found it coincidental. She took Yu Tang to Yu Bo’s home, hoping to ask Yu Yuan to stay at their house for a few days while Yu Wen was away.

Yu Bo was still busy with shop matters. Wang Shi agreed readily and discussed with Chen Shi: “How about settling A’Tang’s marriage sooner rather than later? Once your family has a man around, those people won’t dare come and go as they please.”

Their household simply had too few people.

Chen Shi sighed and said: “We should at least wait until the seventh seven-day cycle after the Wei family’s child passes. They’ve been generous—we can’t be too hasty. A’Tang can afford to wait.”

Wang Shi sighed and had the household servants move some of Yu Yuan’s commonly used belongings over.

When neighbors saw this, they inevitably asked a few questions.

Chen Shi told the neighbor about the household situation. The neighbor also sighed along with her and comforted Chen Shi: “Things will be better once you’ve brought a son-in-law into the family.”

“May your words prove true!”

Chen Shi exchanged pleasantries with the neighbor, then returned home and tidied up the guest room.

Yu Tang, meanwhile, crouched in the covered walkway playing with Little Yellow, but her mind was occupied with thoughts of Pei Yan.

This man was truly arrogant and conceited—jumping to conclusions based on superficial understanding without listening to explanations. With the Pei family’s vast estate in his hands, she wondered how he managed to sustain it all.

Yu Tang sighed faintly, feeling that her fortune had been unfavorable lately and her luck very poor.

She held Little Yellow, gently stroking its fur, when two yamen runners came to the door. They said they had received instructions from the legal secretary and would patrol the streets more frequently in this area from now on.

Chen Pozi thanked them profusely, invited them in for tea, and instructed Shuang Tao to go buy refreshments.

These two men had not only lived in Lin’an for generations, but their positions were also hereditary. Though they served at the yamen, they acted with considerable discretion—unrelenting when it came to taking what they could, but also willing to help when help was needed. In daily life, they interacted with the prominent families in the city as neighbors.

Seeing Chen Pozi’s sincerity, and knowing that Yu Wen had always had a reputation for kindness in Lin’an, they accepted without ceremony. They sat drinking tea in the front courtyard’s entrance hall, chatting idly with Chen Pozi.

“Strange to say, this area has always been quiet and peaceful. How is it that only your household was robbed, and twice in a row at that? Could it be that having succeeded here the first time, someone’s taken a liking to your place?” one of them surnamed Li asked.

Chen Pozi said: “That shouldn’t be! We didn’t lose anything the first time. Besides, who doesn’t know our family has performed several good deeds and used up all our silver? To say nothing else, just for Scholar Lu’s funeral arrangements, our master had to borrow several taels of silver from Shopkeeper Tong! If they wanted to steal, they shouldn’t be targeting our house!”

The other yamen runner, surnamed Wang, said: “Something must have been lost that you don’t know about. In my experience, if nothing was stolen, it’s impossible that they’d return to your house twice in just a few days. Most likely some item has caught someone’s attention—they failed to steal it the first time, so they came back again.”

Yu Tang deeply agreed with this assessment.

However, what item could have caught someone’s attention?

She thought of Yu Wen’s study.

Could their family have some heirloom that even her father didn’t know about?

She mentioned this to Chen Shi.

Chen Shi laughed outright and said: “Before your grandfather passed away, he had already divided the family property clearly. Only after observing the mourning period for your grandfather did your eldest uncle and your father formally separate their households. Your eldest uncle is meticulous—when dividing the family, fearing things wouldn’t be clear, he not only invited the village head but also invited two neighbors as witnesses. If there were something valuable, people would have had their eyes on it long ago. Would they wait until now?”

Yu Tang recalled her previous life—the neighbors who had newly moved in next to the Li family had disliked the camphor tree planted in the courtyard and, while digging beneath the camphor tree, had unearthed a box of silver…

In any case, she had nothing better to do. These past few days Chen Shi hadn’t been urging her to embroider either, so she simply went to help her father organize his study.

The lion playing with an embroidered ball that had been tossed under the bookshelf, the dust-covered copy of “Abandoned Golden Hairpin” on top of the cabinet, the “Stele Rubbing of Lady Wei” spread out on the small desk nearby… Yu Tang even found a box of Cao family purple cloud ink sticks in a corner of the study.

She took the opportunity to categorize and organize her father’s usual manuscripts and calligraphy paintings.

When Chen Shi came in, she saw books, paintings, paper, and ink all over the floor—poetry collections and illustrated novels in complete disarray, as if the house had been ransacked by thieves. Meanwhile, Yu Tang was leaning against the bookshelf, laughing cheerfully while absorbed in reading a book.

“You child!” Chen Shi collected the books from the floor while smiling and chiding: “I think you’re even more formidable than those thieves. Look at this room—there’s not even a place to set one’s foot.”

Yu Tang put down the book in her hand with a grin, casually picking up a dirty little pouch and saying: “Mother, guess what’s inside this?”

“What is it?” Chen Shi smiled as she cleared a path.

“It’s a flower pattern I drew for you when I was small.” She ran over happily to show it to Chen Shi. “I still remember saying I’d keep it safe, but later somehow it went missing. Today I actually found it! Look, it even has the characters I wrote on it.”

Chen Shi took it and looked—written crookedly on it were the two characters “number one.”

She remembered it too and couldn’t help laughing: “This was the first flower pattern I had you draw.”

Yu Tang nodded repeatedly, saying: “I never expected I’d hidden it in Father’s study back then.”

Chen Shi smiled: “Your father’s study really does need a thorough organizing.”

Mother and daughter chatted and laughed as they sorted through the study’s belongings.

The counterfeit painting that Lu Xin had sold to their family tumbled out from a hidden compartment.

“How did this end up here?” Chen Shi murmured, wanting to put it back in its original place.

Yu Tang, however, felt it was inauspicious and said: “The person is already gone—why keep it? Tomorrow I’ll take it to Shopkeeper Tong’s pawnshop. Shopkeeper Tong said this painting could still sell for a few taels of silver. At least it can help supplement our household expenses. To arrange his funeral, Father even borrowed silver from Shopkeeper Tong. If we can fill that gap for Shopkeeper Tong, this painting will have returned to its rightful owner.”

Chen Shi thought this was a good idea and smiled: “You’re the one full of clever schemes.”

Yu Tang wrinkled her nose mischievously and took the scroll back to her own room.

In the middle of the night, they were awakened by Little Yellow’s barking. From the direction of the study came Yu Yuan’s angry shout: “Who goes there? Coming to our house to steal!”

Yu Tang threw on her clothes and ran out, only to see Yu Yuan fighting with a small, thin person in black.

“Catch the thief! Catch the thief!” Yu Tang shouted loudly.

The neighbors heard the commotion and were all awakened.

Lights gradually lit up, and the quiet Bamboo Alley became clamorous.

Neighbors came running over, some carrying sticks, others carrying kitchen cleavers.

The person in black was caught.

Chen Pozi brought an oil lamp over.

The thief turned out to be a young man from their Bamboo Alley.

Everyone exclaimed in surprise.

Old Master Wu angrily had someone summon the young man’s parents and said: “We must notify your clan. Someone like you must be expelled from the family register.”

The young man was so frightened he burst into loud tears, hugging Old Master Wu’s leg and begging for mercy: “Please don’t tell my clan! I, I was framed by someone. I just wanted to steal a few taels of silver to use. I had no intention of harming anyone—I wouldn’t dare harm anyone!”

Old Master Wu remained unmoved, saying: “Framed?! Who could frame you? I think you’ve been no good all along, which is why you developed wicked intentions. People like you—keeping you around only harms others and yourself!”

He was in the midst of his angry rebuke when the young man’s mother arrived. Seeing the situation, she fell to her knees before Chen Shi with a “thump,” kowtowing repeatedly like a pecking chicken and pleading for her son: “As long as you don’t report this to the authorities, I’ll agree to anything you say!”

Chen Shi was extremely conflicted.

If they didn’t punish this young man, their family couldn’t just let themselves be robbed like this. But if they did punish him, they had been neighbors for so many years—they’d see each other constantly. How would they interact with his family members in the future?

Yu Tang watched, her heart stirring.

She didn’t know this young man well, but just now when his mother had been kowtowing, he had turned his face away with an expression of being unable to bear watching, and he had stopped pleading with Old Master Wu.

She walked over.

The young man was crying silently.

Yu Tang pondered in her heart—such a major incident had occurred, yet his father hadn’t come.

Did he have no father? Or did his father not care?

Regardless of which it was, both situations could be exploited.

She tugged at Chen Shi’s sleeve and said quietly: “The neighbors have all been a great help. Why don’t you invite them inside for tea first? With Elder Cousin here, we can tie up this young man and have A’Tiao guard him. We’ll deal with it when Father returns.”

Chen Shi thought this was a good idea. After consulting with Yu Yuan, she invited everyone inside for tea.

Everyone saw the matter was concluded. In the middle of the night, who had the mood for tea? They all expressed their thanks and took their leave from Chen Shi.

Chen Shi gratefully saw each of them out.

Only the young man’s mother remained, sitting collapsed on the ground like a mourner, weeping silently.

Old Master Wu was somewhat worried and said: “Why don’t I have our servant come over to help?”

“Thank you, thank you!” Yu Yuan respectfully bowed to Old Master Wu again, saying: “I can manage. It’s already late. Tomorrow when my uncle returns, my uncle and I will come to your door to express our thanks properly.”

Seeing that Yu Yuan handled matters thoroughly, Old Master Wu nodded, clasped his hands behind his back, and returned home.

The young man’s mother kept kowtowing to Chen Shi, begging for mercy.

The young man cried until his whole body was convulsing.

Yu Tang pointed at the young man’s mother and said to him: “Look—what you’ve done has implicated your mother. If the people don’t accuse, the officials won’t investigate. Tell me the truth: what exactly did you come to our house to do? If you’re honest with me, I’ll help you plead with my father to let you go. Your mother won’t have to suffer others’ contempt or live the rest of her life unable to hold her head up.”

The young man looked up at Yu Tang, his expression revealing hesitation.

Yu Tang knew she had him and continued: “Stealing is the most useless thing. Look at all those family rules and clan regulations—which family can tolerate thieves who steal? My father is like Old Master Wu—he detests this sort of thing most. He may not report you to the authorities, but he’ll definitely have your clan expel you from the family and remove your name from the register. When your mother passes away, you won’t even have anyone to make offerings and burn incense for her…”

Tears suddenly flowed from the young man’s eyes again. Choking with sobs, he said: “My father gambles outside and sold our ancestral home. I, I just wanted to get a few taels of silver to rent a room.”

Yu Tang sighed: “Then I have nothing more to say. Just wait for my father to return and have you sent to the authorities, then go find your clan elders.”

“No, no!” Hearing this, the young man hurriedly said: “Miss Yu, if, if you give me five taels of silver—no, three taels will do—I’ll tell you.”

Yu Tang remained composed and said: “You’re still trying to deceive me! Not even one tael of silver. Tell me or don’t—it’s up to you.” With that, she stood up and made as if to call someone.

The young man panicked and hastily said: “Someone gave me five taels of silver and told me to come to your house to steal a painting… Don’t send me to the authorities—I didn’t even succeed in stealing it…”