Looking at the table full of delicacies, Jiang Fuyi and the others, who came from the remote mountains, stared wide-eyed and dared not move until Jiang Mingtao told them to pick up their chopsticks. Only then did they cautiously pick up their chopsticks.

Because it tasted so good, something they had never eaten before, they soon began to feast on it.

Especially the Liu family, because they had no money on them, they had only drunk some water at the inn since they got up this morning, and had not eaten anything.

So everyone ate to their hearts' content, until they were all stuffed, and the whole room was filled with the sound of burping.

Jiang Mingtao felt utterly contemptuous of them, seeing their starving, resurrected appearance.

The most important reason why he made his parents believe he was dead and refused to go back to acknowledge his family was that he had caught the eye of the Princess of Rong'an County.

Even if he was a poor boy from a remote mountain village, highly talented, and became a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), it wouldn't be easy for him to climb the ranks further.

If he had no connections, he could only do odd jobs after entering the Hanlin Academy. After a few years, he might be sent to a remote area as a seventh-rank official. Even after struggling for many years, he might not be able to return to the capital. Promotion and wealth were unattainable dreams for him.

But if he marries Princess Rong'an, everything will be different.

In addition, when he went to the prefectural city to take the imperial examination, he was more careful. When he went to the county government to get a household registration certificate, he imitated the village head's handwriting and wrote a new certificate for himself, which did not mention that he was married.

Therefore, the household registration certificate issued to him by Weiyang County shows that he is unmarried.

To put it bluntly, Jiang Mingtao had long since become ambitious after his teacher, Ye Jinghuai, repeatedly told him that he would definitely pass the imperial examinations and become a successful person.

Before going to the prefectural city to take the imperial examination, he already disliked his own background and his wife, Ye Miaoyun, who came from an ordinary background.

He felt that his parents and wife were not good enough for him.

Later, he married Princess Rong'an without any problems.

After getting married, he considered secretly getting rid of Ye Xianya and her daughter, and bringing his parents to the capital, but after thinking it over, Jiang Mingtao gave up.

He knew that his parents and younger brother were uneducated and rough men, and that they would only be disliked by Princess Rong'an when they arrived in the capital.

She's a member of the imperial family; if she's unhappy, she'll definitely divorce him.

Therefore, Jiang Mingtao never contacted Jiang Fuyi and the others, preferring that they believe he was dead.

Seeing his parents and relatives today, Jiang Mingtao felt that everything he had done in the past was right, because their current, unsavory appearance was completely different from his own.

Princess Rong'an would absolutely not allow such a relative to enter their mansion.

"Father, Mother, Minghe, here is a thousand taels of silver. Please keep it safe. I will send attendants to accompany you on a tour around the capital for the next few days. After you have eaten and played to your hearts' content, you can return to Qingya Village." Jiang Mingtao placed the wooden box in front of Jiang Fuyi. Inside was a thousand taels of silver.

Jiang Fuyi and the others were dumbfounded upon hearing this.

Is this... is this a way of kicking them out?

"No, we're not going back to Qingya Village!" Jiang Fuyi reached out and took the silver note, glared at his son, and shouted, "Don't think that just because you're an official now, you can disown your parents and your own brother. Let me tell you, since we're here, we have no intention of going back."

The house they lived in in Qingya Village was too eerie; they dared not go back.

If I stay here any longer, it won't just be a matter of losing an arm or a leg; I might even lose my life.

Upon hearing his words, Jiang Mingtao's face immediately darkened: "You have no choice but to go back. How can the county magistrate look at you in this state? I have worked very hard to get to where I am today. If you disobey me and cause me to divorce the county magistrate or lose my official position, then you can forget about getting any benefits from me in the future. Obey me and go back to Qingya Village. I will have someone send you two hundred taels of silver every year."

“Son, we can’t go back. Someone has tampered with that house in Qingya Village. It might be that wretched girl Ye Xianya’s doing. If we go back, we’ll definitely die. If you don’t take us back to the manor, we’ll be fed and clothed… Your mother will go to the Jingzhao government office to file a complaint tomorrow,” Liu said loudly.

She has been in the capital for four days. Today, the innkeeper told her that if she encounters any problems that she cannot solve, she can file a complaint at the Jingzhao Yamen (the government office in the capital).

"Also, you were recently promoted to a fourth-rank official. I heard from the innkeeper that all officials of the court who are of the fourth rank or above have their mothers granted imperial titles. So now I am also an imperial title lady, and I even receive a monthly salary. I will stay in the capital and not return to Qingya Village. If you dare to drive us away, that would be unfilial."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Mingtao's forehead veins bulged.

That innkeeper must have had nothing better to do than tell all this to me.

Her mother was notoriously difficult in the village, but she was very good to her own family. She used to dote on him, her eldest son, but now she was going against him.

"Mother, it's fine if you don't want to go back to Qingya Village. Then go to Weiyang County. I'll send someone to buy you a big house there, and I'll send someone to send you money back every year. Your salary will also be sent back. What do you think, Father and Mother?"

"No way." Before Jiang Fuyi could speak, Liu slammed her hand on the table: "I don't care about anyone else, I'm going to stay in the capital."

The capital city is such a wonderful place. She has only been here for four days and already feels that it is the best place in the world. Her son is now a fourth-rank official in the court, and she is also a Lady of Imperial Decree. Why should she go back to that small place, Weiyang County?

Besides, the innkeeper told her that a titled lady's salary was very high, and if she left the capital, it would definitely be embezzled.

She had heard people say something like, "People strive to rise higher, water flows downhill."

Of course, she wants to move up in the ranks now.

“Eldest brother, I know you’ve been an official for over a decade, and now you’re a high-ranking official of the fourth rank. You’re all very much the airs of an official. But don’t forget… we are your parents. If you’re going to drive your parents away, how can you be an official if you’re so unfilial?” Jiang Fuyi tapped his pipe and said with a sidelong glance.

Before coming here, he and his wife had already discussed it and decided that no matter how much trouble they encountered, they would stay in the capital.

Only in this way can the second son's family benefit as well.

It's not like the eldest son is doing so well while the second son's family has to go back to that remote mountain village of Qingya to be tea farmers, is it?

Even if he doesn't think about his second son, he should at least think about his two grandsons and granddaughters.

Only by staying in the capital can their future be bright.

Before they arrived, they thought their son was a fifth-rank official, but now they know he is already a fourth-rank official, and his wife also has the title of Lady of Imperial Decree.

If that's the case, why would they go back?

When Jiang Mingtao saw that they refused to go back, he slammed his fist on the table in anger.