Xiao Yi looked intently at Tao Wanniang and said with a smile, "I believe you can do it!"

She couldn't, she had no choice! Tao Wanniang finally walked away in frustration.

"Bang bang bang!" The annoying knocking startled Tao Wanniang, who had just come out of the stone cave, so much that she almost tripped and fell. Could it be that someone had really discovered her?

"Open the door, open the door for me!" It was a woman's voice outside the door, and Tao Wanniang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The rest of the Ling family members inside the house were also disturbed by the loud knocking, and the Ling brothers all came over.

Tao Wan's mother opened the door before her two sons, and she almost stumbled from the push.

"Where is that young lady surnamed Liang? Quickly bring her out so my lady can have a look at her."

The woman pushing the Taowan girl was a burly servant woman. Behind her were a heavily pregnant woman and two young maids.

"Who are you?" Tao Wanniang asked unhappily. "Is this trespassing in broad daylight?" She could roughly guess who this woman was. She was looking for Xiao Qiao'er, so she must be related to Xiao Qiao'er's father!

"Bring that little girl out here. I want to see what she looks like." The pregnant woman, Zhang Xinlan, was the daughter of the prefect, and also Liang Laifu's wife.

Li Jianghai told Zhang Xinlan that there was a young girl here, a fellow villager of Liang Laifu, but more likely his biological daughter, so she wanted to come and see her. How could her husband possibly have other children?

"I wonder which noble family you are, madam? We are just refugees who have fled here. We are not worthy of your attention," Tao Wanniang said with a slightly more restrained tone, speaking in a self-deprecating manner.

"Don't you know the rules? The lady has spoken, so how dare you make excuses!" The burly maidservant saw that Tao Wanniang dared to make excuses, and as she spoke, she raised her hand to slap her.

Tao Wanniang dodged the attack. Just then, the Ling brothers arrived. Seeing their mother being beaten, the two brothers were outraged.

"What are you doing? What are you doing? Why are you hitting my mother!" Ling Dahu, a tall and strong man, strode forward, shielded Tao Wanniang, and shouted angrily with a stern face.

"Mother, are you alright?" Ling Dapeng, along with his brother, glared fiercely at the burly maid.

The Ling brothers were both tall, and with their improved diet, they were no longer skin and bones. Their imposing presence made the burly servant woman feel intimidated and take a step back.

"Do you know who I am?" Zhang Xinlan asked. "My father is the prefect of Shanhai Prefecture. Is that girl surnamed Liang? Who is her father?"

"So you're the prefect's daughter. What a coincidence! I met a fellow villager surnamed Liang earlier, who said he was the prefect's son-in-law. I wonder if he's the one you're marrying?" Tao Wanniang said with a tone of sudden realization.

“Um… Madam, Xiao Qiao’er doesn’t have a father, really. Her grandmother entrusted her to me, and from now on she is a member of the Ling family.”

Although Tao Wanniang said this, she was clearly revealing Xiao Qiao'er's identity.

Zhang Xinlan frowned angrily. In other words, Liang Laifu had already met the little girl. What, he didn't dare to acknowledge her?

"Hmph, I understand. Since you say you don't have a father, then you don't need one anymore."

"Old man, you'd better keep a close eye on this girl. Let's go!" Zhang Xinlan said with a cold smile, a hint of ruthlessness in her eyes.

As soon as the group left, Tao Wanniang sighed heavily. What a mess this all is!

"Mother, who is this? What is her relationship with Xiao Qiao'er?" Ling Dahu asked. "She looks so fierce, and she doesn't seem to have any good fortune despite having such a big belly."

“Say less, or someone will beat you to death if they hear you say that,” Tao Wanniang said bluntly. Her eldest son was all height and no brains.

"Go ahead and get busy, let me think about what to do next!" Tao Wanniang sighed heavily, feeling like she really couldn't stay in Shanhai Prefecture any longer!

When Tao Wanniang set up her stall that evening, she really didn't expect that the prefect's daughter would do such a thing.

That is, during the day, the maidservant led several servants to smash up the stall.

"My wife said that this little girl and the child in her womb are incompatible according to their birth charts. If you know what's good for you, pack your bags and leave. We'll compensate those who caused this damage!"

As the maid spoke, she took out some loose silver from her purse and tossed it around the messy shop like a fairy scattering flowers.

"We'll give you a generous reward." After smashing everything, the group walked away arrogantly, showing no fear of resistance from Tao Wanniang and her entourage.

"This is outrageous..." Tao Wanniang was about to explode. Just as she was rolling up her sleeves to say something, Xiao Qiao'er grabbed her hem.

Turning around, I saw Xiao Qiao'er's tearful eyes.

"Grandma Tao, did I cause trouble?" Xiao Qiao asked, her voice choked with fear.

All her anger vanished instantly. What had Xiao Qiao'er done wrong? She was just born to the wrong father!

"Little Qiao'er, it's none of your business. It's alright. Grandma Tao will just consider it as having money without having to work!" Tao Wan's mother patiently comforted her.

"Mother, we found it!" the Ling brothers said in a low voice. Although they were really angry, it seemed like there was a lot of silver.

"Pick it up! Pick it all up! Don't we need money for these tables and chairs? Don't we need money for the minced meat and wontons?" Tao Wanniang said through gritted teeth. They had suffered such a great loss today, so they would try to salvage as much as they could.

Since the business couldn't be done, they naturally went home. The two daughters-in-law were quite surprised to see them return so early.

"Mother, should we still do business tomorrow?" Ling Dahu asked worriedly. Even though he had made ten taels of silver tonight, he was still upset because his family's livelihood had been destroyed.

"Pack your things and rest at home tomorrow," Tao Wanniang said solemnly. All the circumstances—the right time, the right place, and the right people—were urging her to leave Shanhai Prefecture!

"What happened? What's going on?" Wang Hongyu asked Ling Dahu in a low voice.

"We'll talk about it later. Come help me get everything sorted out." Ling Dahu glanced at Xiao Qiao'er but didn't speak immediately.

Tao Wan's mother pulled Xiao Qiao'er back into the house, and the little girl was extremely disappointed the whole way.

"Little Qiao'er, you don't need to worry about this. It's really not your fault."

"Grandma Tao, who are those people? Why did they talk about me?" Xiao Qiao asked, puzzled. No one had told her about what happened at noon.

“There are always some self-righteous people in this world, like some irrelevant people. Little Qiao’er, remember, you didn’t do anything wrong, so you don’t need to blame yourself,” Tao Wan’s mother comforted her. “It’s okay if we can’t do business, we can find other ways to make a living.”

“Mother, someone’s here! It’s someone I’ve met before, the prefect’s son-in-law!” Ling Dapeng rushed over and shouted from outside the door.

Tao Wanniang was taken aback, then laughed. "Great! She actually came up with a way to send the inspector out of the city. They can leave openly and honestly!"