When talking about her fiancé, Zhang Manniang blushed and felt a little shy, but her eyes couldn't contain the joy and happiness.

Seeing her happy little children's faces, Xu Lanyin was also happy for her.

Zhang Manniang asked again, "Sister Xu, you are older than me. Are you engaged?"

Xu Lanyin shook her head.

Zhang Manniang said, "Sister Xu, please hurry up. You're already seventeen. Brother Zhao is great. Has he found his cousin? If not, he'd be a good choice."

Xu Lanyin said honestly, "Well, he is indeed good."

Zhang Manniang laughed and said, "If he's good, you should grab him. Look at me, I saw that Brother Lin was a good guy, so I asked my father to find someone to introduce him to me. I didn't expect that Brother Lin was interested in me too, and it worked out as soon as I said it. Humph, Li Sanniang laughed at me for being ugly and always looking for gigolos, and said I would never get married. Later, I specially brought Brother Lin to Nanping County to show her, so that she could see that not only did I find a gigolo, but I was also going to get married. She was so pissed!"

Xu Lanyin looked at the happy Zhang Manniang and realized that people with simple ideas are indeed much happier.

As long as you are happy, why think so much?

Xu Lanyin couldn't help laughing, thinking that she had complicated a simple problem.

Before dinner, Xu Dashi rushed over.

He said that tomorrow was a day off, and that Old Lady Xu had invited the second wife to spend the day at the Xu family home in the north gate. He also said that she and Old Man Xu missed Xu Lanyin and her three siblings, and asked them to definitely go.

After Old Man Xu became ill from the shock of his illness, he allowed only Xu Lanting and Xu Lanyue to visit him once, bringing gifts. No one from the Second House visited him again. Furious, Old Man Xu lay on his bed, cursing Qin and Xu Lanyin for being unfilial. Xu Dashi quietly went to the Second House to ask for her help, saying that even if Xu Lanyin went back once, it would be nice to be called unfilial by the elders. But Xu Lanyin didn't go.

Xu Dashi whispered again, "Sister, just go back. It would be bad if outsiders knew about it."

Xu Lanyin said, "My mother is not in good health, and now it's cold, the doctor said it's best not to go out. Look, I have guests at home, and I need to accompany them. How about this, let Lanting and Lanyue go visit grandma and grandpa tomorrow."

She may not care about the reputation of being unfilial, but Xu Lanting, as her grandson, cannot help but care.

Xu Dashi had no choice but to say, "Okay, I'll explain it to grandma when I get back."

The next day, Min Jia returned home, and Xu Lanyin took the Zhang siblings to the teahouse. She had sent a message to Qin Hongyu, Min Nan, and Hu Yi the day before, inviting them to meet at the teahouse today.

They first went shopping at the department store. The Zhang siblings were wealthy, and unlike their last trip to the provincial capital, they weren't worried about their father in prison, so they bought a lot of things. The Zhang family had accumulated a lot of wealth when they were the dominant force in Nanping County.

Xu Lanyin also bought some things, mainly for her and her brother to take home. Not to mention the clues they provided about the He family mother and son, the mountain products they gave to the Xu family were worth a lot of money.

When I returned to the teahouse at noon, Qin Hongyu, Min Nan and Hu Yi were all there.

Today is a holiday, and there are so many people in the teahouse that there is not even a single empty seat. Several people are playing in the backyard.

Min Nan and Hu Yi had both crossed paths with Zhang Manniang during their time in Nanping County. Hu Yi didn't think much of it, but Min Nan was completely disdainful of Zhang Manniang, accusing her of being a gigolo and wearing frivolous clothes. Without mentioning Zhang Manniang's name, she wouldn't have noticed. He completely treated her as a joke.

Zhang Tiedan on the side was very unhappy, his face flushed with anger, but he dared not say anything.

Xu Lanyin calmly helped Zhang Manniang to resolve the situation with a few words. Min Nan saw that Xu Lanyin was really good friends with Zhang Manniang, so he stopped teasing her.

Qin Hongyu initially disliked Zhang Manniang's "vulgarity," but seeing Xu Lanyin's strong defense of her, she patiently spoke to her. After a while, she realized Zhang Manniang's genuine nature, her straightforwardness, and her willingness to stand up for the weak, and she truly began to like this straightforward girl.

The few of them played until the end of the afternoon before going home.

Xu Lanyin also told Zhang Manniang how to dress and put on makeup. In fact, she had told Zhang Manniang many times before, but Zhang Manniang would forget it as soon as she turned around.

Zhang Tiedan listened very carefully and said, "Sister Xu, I've got it in mind. I'll remind my elder sister often in the future. She's a bit of a fool. She has to repeat it dozens of times before she can remember even a little bit."

Zhang Manniang didn't take action this time. She pouted and said, "I just don't learn my lesson. What can I do?"

Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "You are lucky to have a father and brother who plan for you."

Zhang Manniang smiled brightly and said, "Not only my father and my brother, but also Brother Lin will make plans for me."

Xu Lanyin smiled. She thought to herself, Zhang Heizi's generous favor to Zhao Wu was probably to pave the way for this youngest son. His second son, Zhang Tongdan, lacked both ability and courage, and he himself was disabled, so it would be difficult for him to make a living in Nanping County. He had no choice but to find a way to help this youngest son develop outside the family when he grew up. Once he succeeded, he could then help his brothers and nephews...

Zhang Tiedan is smart and his character is much better than his father and two brothers. Zhao Wu will definitely help him.

On the third day, Xu Lanyin took them to Huangshi Street, the busiest street in Ningzhou Prefecture. On the fourth day, she took them to Hong Zhen's house.

Because of that case, Hong Zhen and Zhang Heizi kept in touch frequently and had even been imprisoned together, so they were already very familiar with each other. This time, the brother and sister came and brought some mountain products to the Hong family.

Mrs. Hu happily invited them to have dinner at her home and sent someone to invite Hu Yi.

Although the army Hong Zhen was in was outside the city, it was not far away, so he would go home after work every day.

After everyone had dinner, Hong Zhen brought back a jar of good wine for Zhang Heizi.

On the fifth day, Xu Lanyin took them to visit government offices and some famous buildings throughout the provincial capital. On the sixth day, the siblings were to return home by oxcart.

The Xu family gave the Zhang family many gifts. Xu Lanyin gave Zhang Manniang a piece of brocade bought in the capital and six palace flowers sent by the Zhou family as a dowry. Xu Lanting also gave Zhang Tiedan some school supplies.

When Zhang Manniang heard that the palace flowers were made by the Imperial Household Department and worn by the empress and princess, she smiled brightly.

Two days after sending the Zhang siblings away, Zhao Wu brought the He family mother and son back. He took the prisoners directly to the Censorate and asked He Dong to come back and report to Xu Lanyin.

The next morning, Zhao Wucai returned home from the yamen.

After washing up, he came to Xu's house. Xu Lanyin and Qin were anxiously waiting for him at home.

Zhao Wu said that the Fujian household interrogated the He family mother and son at night, and they had already confessed and taken hostage.

It was indeed they who kidnapped Chai Zixiao, and it was arranged by Old Shen.

He Mama, also known as Song, and her entire family were servants of the Chai family. When Chai Zixiao was six months old, his two wet nurses happened to fall ill. Song had just given birth to their second son, four months earlier. Although over thirty, she was beautiful and had an unusually abundant supply of milk. She couldn't finish her own son's milk, so she even fed other children. When Madam Chai learned of this, she transferred her to be Chai Zixiao's wet nurse...