A few days later, the authorities still hadn't found out who set the fire, and Lingyunzhou arrived again, the three-day deadline had arrived.

Tao Wanniang sat in the main seat of the living room, with her two sons on either side, along with their respective wives and children.

"Tell me, what are you thinking?" Ling Yunzhou glanced at Tao Wanniang beside him, who seemed quite relaxed.

“Mother said you are our father,” Ling Dahu said first. “Father, please accept my bow.” As he spoke, Ling Dahu stood up and knelt down in front of Ling Yunzhou.

Wang Hongyu immediately pulled her son and daughter and knelt down behind Ling Dahu.

"No need for such a grand ceremony, get up. So, you're acknowledging me as your father?" Ling Yunzhou's brows relaxed slightly as he asked in a deep voice.

“Father, you are our father, but I will still stay with Mother from now on.” Ling Dahu stood up and said, “It was not easy for Mother to raise us two brothers to adulthood, and we will always be filial to her.”

Ling Dapeng also stepped forward, gave Zhou Xiaoyun a wink, and knelt down together, bowing to Ling Yunzhou.

“Dad, I call you Dad just like my older brother, but we also have to follow Mom,” Ling Dapeng said with a straight face.

Ling Yunzhou glanced at Tao Wanniang, a hint of resentment in his eyes. This was all within her expectations.

“Don’t look at me, the children are all grown up and have their own opinions.” Tao Wan’s mother said calmly.

“Very well, it’s enough that you acknowledge me as your father. Since you feel that life here is more suitable, I won’t force you.” Ling Yunzhou said with a stern face, “I also won’t force you to move to the General’s Mansion and live with me.”

The Ling brothers breathed a sigh of relief. This was for the best. But, does it make a difference whether they have a father or not?

"Now that you all know I am your father, have you dealt with your memorial tablets?" Ling Yunzhou said in a deep voice.

"How did you know there was a memorial tablet in my house?" Tao Wanniang was startled and immediately asked.

“Didn’t your sons say that you have a mourning hall set up at home?” Ling Yunzhou replied immediately, his expression serious, showing no sign of guilt.

Tao Wanniang scrutinized Ling Yunzhou. She suspected that Ling Yunzhou had found out about the fallen memorial tablet in the family and was responsible for the incident. She even wondered if Ling Yunzhou was the one who had injured her that night.

Ling Yunzhou met Tao Wanniang's gaze without flinching. "Or do you think you can keep deceiving yourself and pretending forever?"

“Remove it, definitely remove it, Da Hu, Da Peng, did you hear me? Remove the memorial tablet. Our living father is right in front of us, there’s no need to worship him.” Tao Wan’s mother looked away and said to her two sons.

“Okay, Mother, then the memorial tablet… should we put it away or…” Ling Dahu asked, “This thing can’t just be thrown away anywhere.”

"Why are you putting it away? Are you planning to use it after your father passes away?" Tao Wan's mother laughed. "Times have changed. He's a great general now, not someone our Tao family can afford to have a memorial tablet for. I think we should burn it as firewood!"

Ling Yunzhou frowned again; these words were very unpleasant to hear.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, although we've been separated for seventeen years, your father and I have officially divorced. From now on, we'll each marry our own spouses and have no further contact with each other," Tao Wan's mother continued, giving off the feeling of a couple announcing their divorce as their child grows up!

Ling Dahu and Ling Dapeng looked somewhat confused, but Ling Dahu awkwardly responded with an "oh".

"Look how quickly the children accept this, General. Now that we've laid this out, let's... avoid suspicion from now on!" Tao Wanniang was giving them the order to leave.

Do they dislike him that much? Do they really want to sever ties with him? Ling Yunzhou felt like a great general was being disliked.

"And what about my grandchildren? I haven't even had a proper look at them," Ling Yunzhou said with a stern face.

"Oh, Ling Rui, Ling Zhi, Ling Xiaofeng, take a good look." Tao Wanniang seemed to be letting Ling Yunzhou do as he pleased.

Wang Hongyu and Zhou Xiaoyun led the child forward, but the child clearly resisted when he saw Ling Yunzhou's expression.

"Mom, I'm scared!" Ling Xiaofeng said, her little face scrunched up and her voice trembling with tears.

Ling Yunzhou's face darkened even more. Was he really that scary?

"General, the child is young and doesn't understand, please don't be offended," Wang Hongyu said somewhat embarrassedly.

Ling Yunzhou waved his hand, signaling everyone to leave. The child was young; how could he possibly hold a grudge?

When the Ling family reunite, Bai Yumei and Xiao Qiao'er both avoid the situation, and Jiang Youfu, who is staying there, naturally doesn't want to be in the lead either.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Ling Dapeng immediately stood up and said, "A guest has arrived. I'll go answer the door." His father's stern face made people feel a little uneasy.

"Is Tao here?" Ling Dapeng opened the door and saw two government officials who had met him before; their names were Su Ren and Zhang Yi.

"Yes, sirs, please come in. Have you found out who was responsible for the fire at our little restaurant?" Ling Dapeng asked as he called inside, "Mother, the officials are here!"

"The officials have arrived. Has the arsonist been found?" Tao Wanniang immediately stood up.

Ling Yunzhou's heart tightened. Tao Wanniang had hinted that this was related to him, but he found it hard to imagine that the Eldest Princess was behind it. The Prince Rui's heir had also mentioned this matter to him a few days ago.

He also sent people to investigate the Kyoto prefectural government, and it seems there's more to this arson case than meets the eye.

"Sirs, have you caught the arsonist?" Tao Wanniang stepped forward and asked directly.

"Tao, I'm here today to have you meet a few people. The yamen has arrested a few suspects, but we need you to identify them," Su Ren said. But then he saw Ling Yunzhou and looked surprised. What was this general doing here?

Ling Yunzhou naturally didn't recognize the two officials, but others recognized him!

"How many people? Were there several people who set the fire?" Ling Yunzhou asked.

"That's right, there are a few who say they have some grudges against Manager Tao. They only admit that they were guarding the door closed that day, and that they got greedy and wanted to go in and steal things, but they don't admit to arson."

"There's another one, who's said to have a grudge against Manager Tao, accusing you of stealing his daughter. We found out he bought kerosene that day, and some people saw him looking around the restaurant, but he doesn't admit to setting the fire."

In front of Ling Yunzhou, the official explained the matter he had investigated in a simple and clear manner.

Tao Wanniang was quite surprised to hear this. Was it Liang Laifu, with whom she had a grudge?

“Let’s go take a look,” Tao Wanniang immediately replied. “I’m sure I can tell who the real arsonist is.”

“I’ll go with you,” Ling Yunzhou said immediately. “Is this person being held in jail?”

"Because no conviction has been made yet, we can only detain them temporarily. If it is found that they are not related to these people, we will have to release them. Therefore, the magistrate specifically sent the two of us to ask Manager Tao to identify them," Zhang Yi explained to Ling Yunzhou.

"Then let's go!" Tao Wanniang glanced at Lingyunzhou, thinking, "He's just a tool, let's go!"