"Don't worry, brother. I know what I'm doing this time," Zhao Yuman said softly, her eyes downcast.
...
Wazi Town, the Ning Family estate.
The August sun was scorching, and even the air in the study felt dry and hot.
Ning Xuezhi was hunched over his desk, checking this year's land rent ledgers. Fine beads of sweat dotted his temples. He had just wiped them away with a handkerchief, but they reappeared almost instantly.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK. There was a knock at the study door.
"Come in," Ning Xuezhi said without looking up, his brush tip gliding across the ledger.
The butler, Li Zhong, pushed the door open and entered. Behind him was a young servant dressed in a coarse linen tunic—Second Young Master Ning Wenbo's personal attendant.
The young servant had a panicked look on his face, standing awkwardly by the door and wringing his hands.
"Master," Li Zhong said with a bow, "I have an urgent matter to report."
