After rebirth, she became the favorite of the powerful minister.

What a strange little maid.

She cooked some pretty good dishes, had a good brain, and had some good sense, but she was timid, like a frightened young bird, and would retreat at the slightest sign of trouble. She would never come out if there were outsiders around. Yuan Ge glanced at the direction she left and said casually, "I don't know what this girl has been through to become so timid."

She was just talking about it casually. Most of those who were sold to be maids came from poor backgrounds. Some of the better ones were just poor. For someone like Ling'er, perhaps she had a father who was a drunkard and a violent person and a mother who was submissive. She thought it would be better not to ask.

Unexpectedly, Song Wenyuan pulled her towards him and said softly, "She is Nanny Sun's daughter."

"Madame Sun?" Yuan Ge thought for a while before he thought of someone. "The personal nanny beside my mother... That's not right! She mentioned her to me when I first came in. I vaguely remember that she was fatherless and motherless, and then she was sold to the Song family because she owed debts..." It didn't match at all.

Song Wenyuan rubbed her head, "That's what was said to the public. Madam Sun fell in love with a driver in the mansion in her early years. They were together for a few months before they found out that the driver's family had already married and had children. But at that time, Madam Sun was already pregnant, so mother dismissed the driver. I heard that he left Shengjing with his wife and children not long after... Mother sent Madam Sun to another village to give birth, and the child was fostered in a nearby farmer's home until he was sent here in recent years. That woman is indeed addicted to gambling, and what the maid told you is not false. Not many people know about this, so don't let it slip."

Yuan Ge found it incredible, "Does Ling'er know it herself?"

"You don't know... the gambling-addicted foster mother would not take the initiative to cut off her source of income, as she receives the money sent by my mother every month." Song Wenyuan shook his head. Seeing Yuan Ge's sympathetic look, he asked with a smile, "What's wrong? Do you feel... sorry for her?"

"It's not pitiful, but just a pity... She is a house-born girl in this mansion, and a girl who is in charge of the mistress. Even if she is a maidservant beside the young masters, she is qualified. If she is smart and pleasing, maybe she can become a concubine, and be considered half a master... But it's because of the grudges of the previous generation, and it can be regarded as fate."

Song Wenyuan looked at Yuan Ge, who was acting so serious. His originally gentle expression suddenly darkened. He rolled his tongue slowly across the back of her teeth and called her by her full name in a sarcastic tone, "Wen, Qian!"

"Huh?" The other party was confused and tilted his head to look, "What's wrong?"

Song Wenyuan was so angry that his chest ached. Then he suddenly grabbed Yuan Ge's hand, pulled him into the carriage, and headed towards Old Man Liu's house. He had a gloomy face the whole time and didn't say a word. The Jinyiwei who had arrived a long time ago were instantly silent. They looked at Song Wenyuan, looked at Yuan Ge, and then at the distance between the two of them that was enough to fit a forest of trees. Tsk, the young couple is so pretentious. Just one moment they were holding hands and showing affection, and in the blink of an eye they were quarreling and ignoring each other.

Liu Mazi disappeared, and the old man of the Liu family went to the gambling house and met Song Wenyuan. This missing case had to be investigated - they had to act out the whole story. Song Wenyuan wanted to make the "witch doctor girl" believe that they arrested Ding Shengcai because of Liu Mazi's disappearance, and they came to find the old man Liu because of Liu Mazi's disappearance. As for the witch doctor clan, they had never heard of it and had no way of knowing anything about it.

Old man Liu looked even older. He sat in a small heap on the wooden board, huddled in a corner where no sunlight could reach him. He looked listless, exhausted, and about to die. He didn't even seem to have the strength to beat his legs. He only said in a hoarse voice, "This matter... is my fault. My wife, my eldest son, and my youngest son... are all my fault..." Before he finished speaking, he was already sobbing.

He was so emotional that his body was shaking with sobs. His wrinkled hands were tightly grasping the edge of the board, and his nails were full of black sawdust and dirt. He raised his head with great effort, his neck stretched out like some kind of wailing posture.

This disabled old man with gray hair and a haggard face had probably guessed that he would not live long, and he also vaguely guessed the fate of his youngest son. He was finally willing to reveal the secret he had kept for most of his life.

At that time, Old Man Liu was not yet Old Man Liu, but just a young shopkeeper of Liu's incense shop. He settled in Shengjing City with his wife and his newly born eldest son, with the best expectations for life.

The Liu family's incense-making is a family tradition, a unique skill, and the accumulation of generations. The business of the shop is becoming more and more prosperous, and their lives are becoming more and more smooth and prosperous.

However, Shengjing City was too prosperous, so prosperous that it was both fascinating and heart-stirring. The young shopkeeper Liu was dazzled by the extravagance and debauchery, and his desires grew day by day, like a man-eating beast that could never be satisfied... So, one day, when a disguised man appeared in Liu's incense shop, everything was just right.

This story was a bit long, after all, it involved two generations. He spoke slowly, and his mind seemed a bit unclear, repeating two sentences while speaking. Song Wenyuan asked someone to bring a chair. There were only one or two stools in the house that could be sat on. He wiped them with his sleeve with a cold face, and pulled Yuan Ge to sit without saying a word.

Miss Yuan was still confused as to what this guy was angry about. However, it was not Miss Yuan's style to not sit on a stool. Not only did she sit on it, she also directed the Jinyiwei beside her to get her snack box from the carriage.

Old Man Liu continued to tell his story.

"It wasn't Ma Zi who took the smuggling job. It was me... I was greedy and timid. After doing a few jobs, I wanted to get out of it. I thought the world was too high and the land was too far. I took my wife and children with me and left incognito. Who would be able to find me? In the end, I was gone." His head drooped on his chest, his neck felt as if it could not bear the weight and was about to break. He laughed and cried foolishly, in a trance. "I knew I was on board a pirate ship, and I became more and more frightened. I didn't dare to spend the money I earned. I hid it all for a few years. Now my eldest grandson was about to go to school... I let my eldest son take my wife and children away..."

He finally couldn't continue speaking. The trembling of his sobs became more and more obvious. His breathing became so rapid that he seemed to be about to pass out several times. The veins on his hands that were holding the wooden board were bulging, and his whole body was shaking along with the board.

Obviously, after that, Old Man Liu no longer dared to use his only youngest son to make mistakes, and he spent his whole life as a tool in the hands of others. When this tool became old and no longer worked well, they found a new tool - Liu Mazi, and Old Man Liu became a chess piece to check and balance the new tool.