ld be embarrassing for the village.”The mischievous boys left the meat broth for their younger siblings to have with their rice, they only kept a few bones to gnaw on.Jiā'ān Jiāxǐ held his little sist..."Funiu ah, hurry and thank your godfather, for taking so much trouble to arrange all this." The old lady sighed and patted her granddaughter's shoulder.
Of course, Jiayin understood her stepfather's intentions. If he wasn't thinking carefully about her, he wouldn't have come up with such a sneaky way to keep things hidden from both sides.
And there were three more people, ladies-in-waiting from the palace, and a maidservant who had trained in martial arts since childhood. It goes without saying that these three must be special guards of some kind.
Her stepfather somehow pleaded with the emperor and managed to get her released, all for the sake of protecting her.
Jiayin knelt directly to the ground, "Thank you, father."
The Lord held her in his arms, stroking her soft hair and smiling: "What are you being polite for We're family."
"Well, a family," Jia Yin nodded heavily, her eyes crinkling at the corners with a smile.
Her stepfather never expected anything in return, what he valued most was the feeling of "being a family".
Everyone burst into laughter and chatted idly for a while. Somehow, the conversation turned to Li Zhensheng, who hadn't returned yet.
The Marquis then said, "Tomorrow I will dispatch someone south to greet them. Judging by the time, they should be not far from the capital."
"That's good," the old woman was also delighted, "I originally wanted the fourth one to go, but I couldn't bear for him to just come back and then have to go out again."
"Don't worry, my sister-in-law. The Hou Mansion is full of idle people. I'll have the steward arrange everything." The Marquis comforted her.
"The old woman raved about the housekeeper's kindness and thoughtfulness, "The housekeeper is a good person. He often sends things to our house. I heard that when Fu Niu celebrated her birthday, he even sent silk, chicken, fish, eggs. I invited him to have dinner today, but he couldn't come. When you go back, please bring him some food as a thank-you gift."
"Alright, mother," the marquis replied.
As they chatted, the sun finally sank completely below the western mountains, and the glow of the sunset gradually faded away. Night fell.
After everyone left, they washed up and rested.
Jia Yin kept thinking about asking her godfather Zhuangzi and his people about the details of their situation. She told Grandma she was going to stay at her neighbor's house for the night.
As a result, before she even left the hospital, she saw her younger sister pacing around in the courtyard. She ran over and hugged her brother's legs, "Brother, why aren't you sleeping Are you tired from cooking today"
Jia Huan squatted down, kneeling on one knee, holding his younger sister in his lap. He sat there, smiling with a guileless expression, “Today is our little Fu Nu’s birthday, brother hasn’t gotten you a present yet.”
"Here you go!" Fu Niu tilted her head and kissed her brother on the cheek with a smile, "Brother made so many dishes, they're especially delicious!"
Jia Huan blushed and hugged his younger sister gently, "Our Fu Niu is such a good child."
Having said that, he took out a small spool from his bosom.
In the night, it's not very clear to see, but the big red color is quite eye-catching. In the middle, it seems like there are pearls strung through, especially delicate.
"This is for you, Funiu. Your brother hopes you'll be safe and happy your whole life."
"Thank you, big brother!" Jiayin took his hands, then smiled and hugged her brother, "It's so beautiful, Funiu will wear it well!"
Jia Huan's face flushed even redder. She gently patted her younger sister's back and whispered, "Funiu, the people at home are asking where you got this ribbon from. Can you please not say that I gave it to you"
Jia Yin guessed that this item was very precious. The brother didn't want the family to know he had saved up to buy it, so he quickly nodded and agreed, "Okay, brother, don't worry, Fu Niu won't say anything."
Jiahuan secretly let out a breath of relief, feeling more at ease in her heart.
Although my younger sister is young, all of her brothers at home know that she is very smart and will definitely do what she promises.
"Are you going to the next room Big brother will carry you. It's getting dark, so don't fall."
"Okay, thank you, brother," Jiayin climbed onto her brother's back happily, the braid in her hand swinging before her chest, making him smile even brighter.
Dong Mei just came out of the house and, seeing her brother and sister approaching, smiled and said, "The Marquis just asked me to go pick up Miss. I didn't expect Miss to come over herself."
As she spoke, she scooped Jia Yin into her arms.
Jiahuan patted her sister's hair and said goodbye as she left.
Winter Plum couldn't help but tell Jia Yin, "Fu Niu is truly blessed. All her brothers love and pamper her."
"Of course, Funiu's older brother is the best!" Jia Yin replied with a giggle, tucking the string into her space.
The lord was sitting at his kang table, flipping through some documents.
The half-open window let in the night wind, swaying the candlelight and making his shadow on the wall stretch and distort.
Jia Yin climbed onto the kang and sat in her godfather's arms, directly knocking the book down. "Godfather, don't read," she said. "Grandma says reading at night hurts your eyes."
The lord found it amusing, but still replied, "I won't watch anymore later, but these tonight are for you."
As he spoke, he pulled over a ledger and said, “The estate I just gave you is the property of my maternal family, and it's managed by servants of my maternal family. Before, I didn't pay much attention. Now that I've discovered the ledger has accumulated for seven or eight years, I'll have it sorted out and hand it over to you.”
"There are also about a hundred people in Zhuangzi. Men, women and children all have some skills. What they are good at is also written down and taught to you. In the future, if you want to make something useful or need manpower, you will have a general idea."
Jia Yin was taken aback. She originally thought that having a farm would be convenient for her to smuggle things out of the space.
To his surprise, his stepfather didn't just give him a house, but a whole logistics team!
"Father…" She wanted to say this was too precious, too thoughtful.
But the Marquis fondly rubbed Jia Yin's little head, not giving her a chance to speak. "Funiu, don't feel burdened in your heart. You are my daughter, these things will be yours sooner or later. Giving them to you now, if anything were to happen to me, I would feel more at ease."
"Uncle!" Jia Yin frowned, pouting her lips. She particularly disliked how her uncle always seemed ready for battle.
The Marquis laughed ingratiatingly, quickly soothing the fuming little girl. “Uncle was wrong, I won’t say it again, okay”
Having said that, he spread out the ledger and let the little girl have a good look at it, but inwardly he sighed a long sigh.
Since the child is young, how could they know about the impermanence of the world.
No one can predict accidents or which will come first, tomorrow or the next. He is a military marquis after all, living on the edge of a blade. Having his head hanging by his belt is just normal for him.
This expedition, thanks to Li Laosi and Li Yong risking their lives several times to save him, he was able to return safely. Even so, his arm was still hit by two arrows, and Li Laosi and Li Yong each had five or six knife wounds.
Of course, they absolutely couldn't tell their family about this. It also strengthened his resolve to transfer the control of the maternal clan's power to the little girl as soon as possible, urging her to take control of it early on.
If he was truly unlucky and died young, then the Li family would have their achievements in providing grain, Li Zhensheng's business dealings would bring in silver, and Li Laosi would have established himself in the army. With Wen Yushi and the Liu and Cui families supporting them, the Li family would be invincible…
Jiayin didn't know that her foster father had made such deep plans for her and the family. She was only surprised by what was recorded in the ledger. The depth of this Zhuangzi estate was beyond her expectation...
This remote farm, a hundred miles away, had only two hundred acres of farmland and over a hundred workers. Yet, it also had a woodshop, a confectionery shop, and a general store outside the village.
Although the three shops are not large, their income is quite good. It is evident that over time, they have accumulated a good reputation.
No wonder my stepfather hasn't gotten involved for years, because he doesn't need to. Zhuangzi runs very smoothly!d to get him settled in the west room for a nap. Li Yong stayed by his side, afraid that the old man might want a drink of water or something at night.Hui Niang then took the child and slept in the ea...