Everyone laughed.

Cat Brother poured hot tea for his sister so she could hold it to warm her hands.

Li Ge'er moved the charcoal brazier to his sister's feet, and then put a cover over it to prevent her from accidentally burning the hem of her skirt.

Li Zhensheng then continued from where he left off, saying, "Originally, we thought that the Emperor would definitely protect the Wu family and make our family suffer in silence."

"At that time, our family will pretend to be disheartened and set up more businesses in Quanzhou to have a way out."

"Unexpectedly, the Emperor actually took such a ruthless approach to the Wu family, completely disregarding the Empress's dignity. This is truly unexpected."

"The news hasn't spread yet, but it probably won't stay hidden for long. Everyone will know that the Emperor punished the Wu family because of our complaint, and our family will definitely be thrust into the spotlight."

"The Marquis and the Fourth Prince will be back soon. The shop in the south also sent word that Jiayi and Liu Yang have made contributions in Hailan County..."

"This combination of things, like flowers in full bloom and oil on a hot stove, is not a good thing for our Li family!"

Li Lao Er nodded in agreement, saying, "Fortunately, before leaving the palace, the Emperor took all the witnesses, and also intentionally concealed the reason why the Wu family had a grudge against our family."

"I think the Emperor doesn't want to involve the Empress, and he doesn't want to depose her."

"That's the only good thing, at least Fu Niu'er won't get involved in the rumors..."

Everyone nodded.

Mr. Wen thought for a moment and then said, "Everything has its limits, and our family is currently going too far."

"The Wu family's affair has already occurred. In the eyes of outsiders, our family is enjoying great favor, and there is no way to clarify this matter for the time being."

"What if the Emperor has other plans and needs our family to act as a cover? We shouldn't ruin the Emperor's plans."

"Based on this calculation, the only way is to start with the Northern Expeditionary Army and Jiayi's side, and try to find a way to balance this 'degree'."

Jiaren shook his head. "Teacher, I'm afraid the Northern Expeditionary Army won't work."

"The victory of the Northern Expeditionary Army was not only won by my fourth uncle and Uncle Dayong, but also by tens of thousands of soldiers who sacrificed their lives. We cannot bury their achievements just to protect our family from the limelight..."

Li Lao Er sighed, poured himself some tea, and said, "Jiaren is right!"

"How about this, I'll write to Jiayi tomorrow to ask what his plans are, and then we can discuss it further."

"Okay," Li Zhensheng joked, trying to reassure everyone, "Other families are just annoyed that their children and grandchildren are not successful. If they heard what we were saying tonight, they would probably be green with envy!"

Everyone laughed.

There's no way around it, living too well can also be a hassle!

After exchanging a few more casual words, the group quietly dispersed.

The next day, as soon as the city gates opened, Jia Huan rushed home to deliver the news.

The Northern Expeditionary Army has achieved a great victory, and the Marquis will be returning soon!

This news spread like wildfire, instantly reaching both the new and second villages.

Everyone was beaming with joy and couldn't be happier.

Especially in the second village, almost half of the men in the households were the Marquis's personal guards.

The family's "pillar of strength" is coming back, which has almost made the women and children in the family go crazy with joy.

The women were busy airing out bedding, cleaning the house, and slaughtering chickens.

The children were even more extreme; aside from eating, sleeping, and reading, they would stay at the crossroads all the time, hoping that their father would suddenly appear on horseback...

In the new village, the village chief was also organizing the villagers to shovel snow.

He wandered around the pigsty again, planning to slaughter a few fat pigs to give the returning heroes a good feast and help them recover.

The Li family is also extremely busy.

Not only did they have to help clean the Ye family's yard inside and out, but they also had to prepare plenty of food.

Tao Hongying's face was beaming with joy as she kept going in and out.

Grandma Li was dizzy from watching, and occasionally complained a few words, but then she couldn't stop laughing!

The stars and crescent moon, dressed like chubby balls, rolled around inside and outside the yard.

They could only be quiet for a moment when they were called to the kitchen, sat in a row, and ate meatballs from bowls.

Every time Jiayin sees them, she is reminded of her childhood, lamenting the downsides of growing up, and then grabs a bowl and tries to snatch some food from them...

In this way, they were busy for three or four days. Everyone estimated that the time was almost up and became more and more anxious and eager.

Neither Li Zhensheng nor Li Lao Er went into the city.

I rarely get to rest at home for a few days, and I'm looking forward to my brother coming back.

As a result, at noon that day, while everyone was having lunch together, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the courtyard.

Everyone assumed that the Northern Expeditionary Army had returned, so they threw down their chopsticks and rushed out in a swarm.

As it turned out, someone did return, but it was completely unexpected!

Liu Yang was being talked to by the village chief and others, while many villagers watched from the side.

Seeing the Li family rushing over, he grinned, revealing a set of big white teeth.

The Li family was taken aback for a moment, but they weren't disappointed.

Grandma Li quickly asked, "Liu Yang, when did you get back? Were you traveling with Jiayi? Where is Jiayi?"

Reminded, Liu Yang immediately remembered why he had run back so frantically. He quickly grabbed Li Lao Er and said, "Lord, Jiayi is in trouble! He's been arrested by the officials of the Prefect of the Capital!"

"What?"

The Li family was startled and asked in unison, "What exactly happened?"

Liu Yang hesitated for a moment, but Li Zhensheng understood and immediately pulled him into the courtyard. The others quickly followed.

The village chief was thoughtful; when he dispersed the villagers, he didn't forget to send someone to call out to Liu the镖头 (bodyguard) and his wife.

Inside the room, Liu Yang had already begun explaining the whole story.

It turned out that they had wandered around the city for two days and found out quite a lot.

Although the specific details are unknown, it is absolutely true that the Wu family bullied Fu Niu'er, which led to the family going to the palace to file a complaint.

Jiayi was furious and determined to take revenge.

But the Wu family was all in jail, so Wu Yan, the eldest son of the Wu family who was on the run, became the only target.

It's really unlucky of Young Master Wu.

On the day his house was raided, he was out having a great time when he suddenly heard that his family had committed a crime, so he quickly hid.

He wasn't a particularly clever or decisive person to begin with. After secretly inquiring around and finding no clues, he assumed that his sister, the Empress, had angered the Emperor, which led to the family's misfortune.

So he went around looking for people, hoping to ask them to go to the palace to plead for his family.

He was lucky, too.

Everyone was mindful of his status as the emperor's brother-in-law and was unwilling to help, but no one took the initiative to report his whereabouts.

This only made Young Master Wu more convinced that nothing would happen at home, and he hardly bothered to hide his whereabouts at all.

Jiayi and Liu Yang didn't have to put in much effort to find him.

In the morning, Jiayi deliberately drank some wine and acted drunk, guarding the alley near Wu Dashao's villa.

Then, when Young Master Wu went out, Jia Yi pretended to bump into him and started fighting with him.

Young Master Wu, whose body had long been weakened by wine and women, was no match for Jia Yi.

With just a few kicks, Young Master Wu was kicked so hard by Jia Yi that he coughed up blood...

When passersby noticed, they exclaimed in surprise, attracting onlookers, and then summoned the officials of the Prefect of the Capital.

Young Master Wu had already stopped breathing, and Jia Yi had been taken away by the lock.

Liu Yang witnessed the whole thing and quickly rode back to report the news, just as the two had agreed beforehand!

After saying this, Liu Yang noticed the extreme surprise on the Li family's faces and, worried that they might anger Jiayi, quickly added, "Jiayi wants to avenge the princess, but he also has other considerations..."