Divorced by her husband's family and rejected by her own! She defiantly turned her life around

Wei Yuanguang then shared his thoughts: "There are still several months until the charcoal burning season next year, so let's start planning now."

"Isn't the charcoal kiln right there in your village? Find a way to get hold of the construction method and the charcoal-making formula, and we can slowly figure it out. I refuse to believe we can't make charcoal."

Liu Maoquan pondered for a while, considering all the pros and cons. This charcoal-burning technique wasn't something only they knew how to do. Even if they were discovered, he could say he figured it out himself. What could the villagers do to him?

"Okay, I promise you, it's a deal."

Wei Yuanguang had grasped this very mindset of Liu Maoquan: as long as the benefits offered were sufficient, he would definitely agree.

Liu Maoquan was secretly delighted. If he wasn't allowed to participate in the profit sharing, then he would work alone.

Wei Yuanguang ate and drank at Liu Maoquan's place until it got dark before he went home.

He was in a good mood today, and as long as Liu Maoquan agreed, the matter would definitely be settled.

"Old man, why are you only coming back now? If you hadn't come back soon, I was even planning to have our son go looking for you."

"What do you want? I'm a perfectly healthy person, you can't possibly be lost."

"Isn't it almost dark? I'm worried something might happen to you on the way. How did things go at Liu Mao's house today?"

"He agreed to cooperate with us. Don't worry, as long as he agreed, he will definitely get the formula."

"Won't doing this cause trouble for our family?"

"What trouble could there be? Even if there is trouble, it won't come to us. The prescription was given by Liu Maoquan!"

Besides, they're not the only ones who know how to make charcoal; if they can do it, so can we.

"You're right. I was afraid of causing trouble for our family. Ever since you left, I've felt uneasy."

"What trouble could there be? Don't you trust your men to do things?"

Once we can make money by burning charcoal, we won't have to worry about our son's school fees. I'll support him wherever he goes in his studies. I refuse to believe that our Wei family can't produce a scholar or change our social standing.

"Alright, I know you're ambitious and must be tired after walking all this way. I'll go get you some water to wash your feet."

After washing his feet, Wei Yuanguang was perhaps a little drunk from drinking, or perhaps he was tired from walking. Soon after, he lay down on the bed and fell fast asleep.

The night was deep, and the entire sky was like a large black cloak covering everything, with wisps of cold wind swirling around in the darkness.

The villagers, exhausted from a day's work, slowly drifted off to sleep. The once bustling village fell silent, and even the sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking could not be heard.

A dark figure quietly approached the back of the Lu family mansion in the darkness of the night. He placed a piece of wood he had prepared in advance against the wall and climbed up the wall using the wood.

Not far from the wall in the backyard of the Lu family, there was a paulownia tree. The dark figure stood up, hugged the trunk of the paulownia tree, and slid into the Lu family's yard.

He found Lu Yunzhou's study, turned on the tinderbox, lit the oil lamp in the study, and saw that there were many books on the bookshelf. Granny Liu said that there are golden houses in books, and he wanted to see where these golden houses were hidden.

I picked up two books, glanced at them casually, didn't recognize a single word, and put them back.

He searched the study and found a dozen or so copper coins. He put the money in his pocket, blew out the lamp, and left the study.

He knew that Lu Yunzhou lived in the west wing, so he pressed his ear to the door and listened carefully. He could hear faint snoring coming from inside.

The door was bolted from the inside and he couldn't open it. But when he pushed the window, it was open. He quietly climbed through the window and crept into the room. He tiptoed to the bedside, squatted down, and scratched Lu Yunzhou with his hand. Yunzhou turned over and faced inwards.

The shadowy figure struck Lu Yunzhou squarely on the head, knocking him unconscious. He pushed him, but there was no movement. Only then did he feel relieved and turn on the tinderbox to light the lamps in the room.

He took Lu Yunzhou's clothes and felt them all over, but couldn't find the silver notes. He then felt Lu Yunzhou's body again, but still couldn't find them. Finally, he searched the entire bed and found the silver notes inside the pillow.

The shadowy figure kissed the silver note, stuffed it into his pocket, tidied up the messy bed, and then climbed out the window to leave, closing the window behind him.

He climbed up the wall using the paulownia tree, slid down to the ground while holding onto the log, and finally felt relieved the moment his feet touched the ground.

He picked up the wood and threw it into a pile of weeds some distance away, then quickly went home, doing all this without anyone noticing.

Knowing that her son worked hard studying every day, Granny Liu got up early to make him breakfast. Today's breakfast was three poached eggs in brown sugar water.

She carried the bowl to the study door and called out, "Zhou'er, Mother has brought you breakfast." There was no response from inside. She called out again, but still no one answered. So Granny Liu pushed the door open and went in. Seeing that her son was not inside, she felt a pang of heartache.

This child must be exhausted from getting up early to study every day. Let him sleep a little longer; he can eat whenever he wakes up.

Only after resting well can one have the energy to read. Granny Liu took the bowl back into the kitchen and kept it warm in the pot.

It was almost lunchtime, and Lu Yunzhou still hadn't gotten up, so Granny Liu started to worry, wondering if the child was feeling unwell.

Thinking of this, he quickly headed towards the house where Lu Yunzhou was staying.

She pushed the door open, but it was bolted from the inside. "Zhou'er, Zhou'er~" she called several times, but there was no response from inside. She pushed the window open, and peeked inside on tiptoe. She found that Lu Yunzhou was still asleep in bed.

"Eldest brother, eldest brother, come quick! Your younger brother is acting strange today. He usually gets up early to study, but it's already this late and he still hasn't woken up. I've been calling him here, but he's not responding. Please go in and check on him."

"Mother, don't worry, my little brother must be tired from studying and is sleeping soundly. Let's not disturb him. He'll wake up naturally when he's awake."

"No, no, your brother would never do that. Hurry up and open the door so your mother can go in and see him."

Having no other option, Lu Yunping climbed through the window and opened the door.

Granny Liu rushed to the bedside, taking three steps at a time. "Zhou'er, Zhou'er, wake up, wake up! Are you feeling unwell?"

Granny Liu shook and swayed him, shouting and yelling, and after a while, Lu Yunzhou finally woke up.

"Mother, what time is it?"

"It's almost lunchtime."

"Zhou'er, are you feeling unwell? Why are you sleeping so soundly today? I've been calling you for a long time but haven't been able to wake you."

Yunzhou sat up in bed, feeling a headache. He touched the back of his head and found a large bump that hurt a lot.

"Mother, please look at my head, why does it hurt so much?"

When Granny Liu saw it, she exclaimed, "Zhou'er, when did someone hit you on the head and give you such a big bump?"

"I don't know, I was fine when I went to sleep last night."

Did someone enter my room tonight?

He immediately thought of the banknotes and quickly turned the pillow over to check, only to find nothing there.

"Mother, my banknotes have been stolen."

"Look again carefully, are you sure you've remembered the place correctly?"

"Mother, I can't be wrong. I carried the silver notes with me during the day and put them in my pillow at night. How could I be wrong?"

A thief must have broken into our house last night. Quickly check everywhere to see if anything else is missing.

Lu Yunzhou rushed to the study to check. The books on the bookshelf had been moved, and more than a dozen copper coins that he had put in the drawer were missing.

He quickly came out of the study. "Father, Mother, Elder Brother, is anything missing from the house?"

"Nothing is missing. It's exactly the same as it was last night."

"A thief did break into my house last night. The thief only entered my study and my room. It seems that the thief was after my 100 taels of silver."