There Must Be a Spy

Princess Jade Hayes turned around and looked at the two terrified people, took a deep breath, and said, "This is not the place to talk. Follow me."

After speaking, Princess Jade Hayes headed toward the Female Supervisor's office, with Sean Hayes quickly following.

The Female Supervisor and the Shadow Guard Captain were petrified, exchanging panicked glances, unsure of what to do.

Sean Hayes glared at them and lowered his voice, "Lady Chancellor told you to follow. What are you waiting for? Move!"

Only then did the Female Supervisor and Shadow Guard Captain snap out of it. Trembling, they scrambled up from the ground, ignoring the mud on their clothes, and staggered after Sean Hayes and Princess Jade Hayes.

Princess Jade Hayes walked in silence, her face dark and unreadable, lost in thought.

The three behind her were so frightened they didn’t dare breathe, obediently following along.

Princess Jade Hayes entered the Female Supervisor's office and sat down, gesturing for the three to come in.

Sean Hayes stood beside Princess Jade Hayes, while the other two immediately knelt and began kowtowing repeatedly.

They all knew very well that such a serious production accident was a capital offense—heads could roll for this.

Right now, all they could hope for was mercy from the Lady Chancellor—punish them if she must, but please, don't drag their families into it.

Princess Jade Hayes watched the two kowtowing as if pounding garlic, rubbed her brow, and said, "Enough with the kowtowing. What's done is done—the goods are ruined. Kowtowing won't fix anything."

The two instantly froze mid-kowtow, stiff as boards.

Princess Jade Hayes's mind was racing. After a moment, she said, "Sean Hayes, I suspect the saboteur in this factory hasn’t been fully rooted out. Last night’s fire must be connected to them."

Sean Hayes was stunned. "Lady Chancellor, everyone in the factory has been checked twice. We caught several spies already."

Princess Jade Hayes shook her head. "Some saboteurs are cunning—they’re not so easily found. We need to know exactly how last night’s fire started. Bring in anyone who knows anything."

Sean Hayes immediately summoned the patrol guards from last night, questioning them one by one in detail. When done, he sent them out, closed the door, and Princess Jade Hayes’s face grew solemn. "You all heard every detail just now. Last night, with the wind and rain, it was pitch dark outside—you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. And the fire broke out right at the shift change. Isn’t that a little too coincidental?"

Sean Hayes and the other two looked thoughtful. Princess Jade Hayes continued, "I suspect someone took advantage of the foul weather last night to sneak into the warehouse and set the goods on fire. Only someone inside would know the guards’ shift schedule. Whoever did this knows the factory inside out—knew the goods were stored in the warehouse, knew our deadline is just days away, and picked the perfect moment to burn everything. Tell me, who else but an insider could pull this off?"

Princess Jade Hayes’s analysis was logical and convincing.

Sean Hayes immediately knelt. "Lady Chancellor, it was my failure—I didn’t root out all the saboteurs. Please punish me."

Princess Jade Hayes shot Sean Hayes a glare. "This was indeed your oversight, and you can’t shirk responsibility. But now’s not the time for punishment. We have more urgent matters. First, we must catch this saboteur. If she stays in the factory, she’ll keep causing trouble. More importantly, our goods are gone and we can’t deliver the order. We have to find a way to meet the deadline in the next three days."