The two assassins today were disguised, posing as an old woman from the Zheng family and a maid from the Chu family.

They had to explain the situation to the two men now, otherwise, if they went home and found their servant missing, they might cause trouble.

Li Lao Er was good at socializing, so he didn't beat around the bush and said directly to the two men, "Brother Zheng, Brother Chu, I've been busy at home today and some small things have come up. I was planning to talk to you about them, so I'll keep you from going home for a little while."

Lord Zheng and Master Chu were puzzled, wondering what the Li family's "trivial matter" had to do with them.

But the two nodded nonetheless, and Lord Zheng said, "Lord, please speak freely."

Li Lao Er then said, "Today, an old woman from Brother Zheng's house secretly sneaked into the kitchen, intending to poison the soup pot."

“A maid in Brother Chu’s household is wearing a ring that can fire poison needles and is plotting to harm the princess.”

"What?!" Lord Zheng and Master Chu stood up in shock, almost knocking over their teacups.

"Impossible!" Lord Zheng was the first to retort. "I have no grudge against the Earl, and I never instructed anyone to poison him!"

Master Chu waved his hands frantically, explaining, "That's right! Zhen Sheng and I have been friends for many years and have always gotten along very well. How could I possibly plot against the princess?!"

Li Lao Er quickly reassured Lord Zheng, "Brother Zheng, don't be impatient, I haven't finished speaking yet."

Li Zhensheng also pulled Master Chu down to sit and advised, "Brother Chu, please calm down and listen to a few more words."

Although Lord Zheng and Master Chu sat down, they were still very uneasy.

Their families weren't without connections, but they were still far behind the Li family today.

Whether in terms of imperial favor, power, or prestige, the Li family was superior.

If the Li family believes they were responsible for the murder, then the two families will definitely have a hard time from now on!

Seeing their uneasy expressions, Li Lao Er quickly said, "I had someone check them; the old woman and the maid were both in disguise."

"In other words, the servants in your household are probably in grave danger."

"We will find out exactly who attacked our family, but we also ask that you two help cover it up when you get back and not cause too much of a commotion."

Disguise and impersonation?

Lord Zheng and Master Chu breathed a sigh of relief, and the cold sweat on their backs stopped.

As long as it's not a genuine feud with the Li family, it's fine.

Lord Zheng was the first to speak up, "Your Excellency, rest assured, in the end, it was our family's carelessness that allowed someone to take advantage of the situation, almost causing trouble for your household."

"After I get back, I will handle it properly so that no one will suspect anything and there won't be any big commotion."

Chu Yuan followed suit, saying, "Me too, Your Excellency, please rest assured."

Li Zhensheng smiled and bowed in thanks, adding, "We haven't investigated our family yet, and we don't know who is behind this elaborate scheme. So, please keep it a secret."

"Once things are settled, I will host a banquet to apologize to you both, since it was because of our family that you had to go through so much trouble."

"No, no, you're too kind, sir," Lord Zheng and Master Chu said in unison.

In fact, neither of them liked this unexpected disaster.

But the Li family's politeness dispelled their slight unease.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, the two of them took their leave.

To avoid being watched outside, the two went out one after the other, their steps unsteady, leading everyone to assume they were delayed because they had drunk too much.

Sure enough, their wife was sitting in the carriage, frowning.

Madam Zheng was a cold and austere person, and she didn't have a good relationship with Lord Zheng. She didn't say much and then ordered the carriage to leave.

Madam Chu, however, was gentle and relied on her husband in everything. She was looking forward to her husband's return, so she quickly said, "Master, one of my maids has gone missing."

"What should we do? Should we talk to the Li family and ask them to help look for him/her, to see if he/she fell into the water or got drunk and passed out somewhere?"

Master Chu waved his hand, feigning impatience, and said in a gruff voice, "A servant girl, she's gone, so what? What's the rush? Maybe she's gone off to slack off somewhere, she'll come back on her own soon."

"Hurry home, I drank too much and my head is killing me. Make me a bowl of hangover soup!"

Madam Chu dared not say anything more and quickly took care of her husband and went home.

The carriages in front of the Earl's mansion gradually left, and the peddler selling groceries on the street corner finally packed up his stall...

The lunch was very lavish, but because they wanted to entertain the guests, the Li family didn't eat well.

At this moment, Shuiyun cooked some small wontons, and everyone ate a bowl. Their stomachs were warm, and they finally regained some energy.

Grandma Li had been entertaining guests inside and was unaware that someone was causing trouble today, so she asked, "Where are Zhensheng, Lao Er, and Jiaren? Have they had too much to drink?"

Tao Hongying and Zhao Yuru didn't know how to talk to the old lady, so they looked at Jiayin.

In Jiayin's heart, her grandmother is an incredibly reliable mountain. She has weathered all kinds of storms, so how could she be frightened by such a small matter today?

So she said directly, "Grandma, sure enough, bad people came to cause trouble today."

"One of them tried to poison the soup, but his second sister-in-law caught him and, after some effort, caught him. Unfortunately, he committed suicide by taking poison."

"One of them tried to attack me while I was alone, so I threw out some powder and caught him alive."

"What?!" Old Mrs. Li exclaimed in surprise.

She had been thinking that today's banquet was going very smoothly, but she never expected that there would be so many things going on behind the scenes.

Madam Wen and Wan'er's expressions also changed.

Tao Hongying only knew what was happening in the kitchen; she had no idea that a maid had almost laid a hand on her daughter.

She pulled her daughter into her arms and examined her closely. "Fu Niu'er, are you hurt?"

Jiayin quickly shook her head and comforted her mother, saying, "Mom, don't worry. Shuiling was there too, and I wasn't hurt at all."

At this moment, Li Zhensheng, Li Lao Er, Li Lao San, Mr. Wen, and the Jiaren and Jiahuan brothers all came in from outside.

Seeing that everyone was looking at them with uneasy expressions, they obviously knew that someone had come to cause trouble, so they didn't need to hide it anymore.

Li Lao Er said, "Those two old women and maids were disguised and impersonated. The real old women and maids have probably already been murdered. I have already instructed their master to do so."

"In addition, the maid that Fu Niu'er risked her life to capture has also been sent back to the village. We'll be heading back soon, and with Doctor Zhang there, we should be able to get a lot of useful information out of her."

Li Zhensheng also said, "I want to hear why they would do such a cruel thing to our family and Fu Niu'er!"

The more Old Lady Li thought about it, the more panicked she became. She had made many arrangements for the family these past few days, but someone had still managed to sneak in.

Whether it's poisoning or physical violence, if either method succeeds, it will be a catastrophic disaster for the Li family.

The city is too unsafe. It's much better in the village. Hundreds of villagers gather together, and anyone who wants to do something will have to think twice!

Especially now that the family is full of people of all ages, with women and children making up more than half of the household.

If someone comes to cause trouble at night, and we can't attend to everyone, it will hurt us if anyone gets hurt.

“Let’s go home. Let’s all go back to Suijintan together. It’s not comfortable living in the city. The wedding banquet is over, and there’s nothing else to do.” Old Mrs. Li immediately started making arrangements.

The sun hasn't set yet, so it's not too late to set off now.