"Young lady, you're too delicate to go. I'll make you some mung bean soup." Chen's two maids took their hands and feet and headed to the kitchen.

Amber immediately caught up, "Grandma, let me help you."

Seeing this scene, Yunzhu felt helpless and looked down at Shufan and Pan'er, saying, "Young Master, Miss, shall I take you into the cellar?"

The two children nodded obediently and were led to the cellar by Yunzhu.

Since the robbery by Qinggang Mountain, the people of Dingshui Village have been digging cellars for their homes.

Thankfully they were all dug up, otherwise everyone would have fainted from the heat this year.

Now, village meetings are no longer held under the big locust tree, but instead in the cellar near the ancestral hall.

If each family sends one person over, they can squeeze in enough to fit everyone.

The biggest change during Jiang Qinyu's absence was at Wang Pozi's house.

Sure enough, at midday when the sun was blazing, Granny Wang braved the scorching heat to deliver a basket of cucumbers to Old Man Lu's house.

"Young lady of the Lu family, the cucumbers I planted before are ripe. I'll bring you some. You can add some vegetables for the children." Granny Wang called out from outside, then put down her basket and ran away quickly.

When Chen heard the noise, she came out, but didn't even see a figure.

At the same time, the door of Lu Yancai's house opened, and Ma came out. She took a few steps to Chen and her eyes lit up when she saw the cucumbers in the basket.

"Mom, my Tianbao hasn't eaten vegetables for days, here's some cucumber..." She reached out to grab it.

Chen, carrying the basket, turned away to avoid the mud-covered claws under her fingernails, and frowned, glaring at her, saying, "If you want to eat, grow your own! This was given to Shufan and Pan'er."

Madam Ma was displeased. "Mother, those two little brats have the surname Jiang. Tianbao is your eldest grandson!"

"How dare you say that?" Chen Shi was furious when she heard this. "Lu Tianbao spits when he sees your father and me. We can't afford to have a grandson like that!"

It's obvious that Lu Tianbao's behavior was definitely influenced by Lu Yancai and his wife.

Moreover, they had told Madam Ma countless times before that Lu Yanzheng's affairs as the eldest son's family had nothing to do with their second son's family, but the two of them seemed to have selective amnesia and simply didn't remember saying that.

They kept brainwashing Lu Tianbao, saying that Lu Yanzheng and Jiang Qinyu had no children, and that everything in the main house would belong to Lu Tianbao in the future.

Lu Tianbao was initially frightened by Lu Yanzheng, and when Ma brought it up, he quickly waved his hand to refuse. But as time went on, his old habit resurfaced.

Just recently, because Lu Yanzheng hadn't been back for a while, Lu Tianbao got cocky. Especially when he saw Shufan and Pan'er come back, and Yunzhu and the other two serving him, the jealousy in his eyes was impossible to hide.

"Oh, Mother, why are you arguing with Tianbao, who's just a child? What does he know? Besides, you and Father are so biased. You treat your sister-in-law's nephew so well, even hiring servants to take care of him, but you won't even give our Tianbao a sip of soup. Do you think the child can feel good about that?"

Mrs. Ma launched into a tirade of complaints, her voice growing louder and louder.

Aunt Qin from next door and several other families living nearby came out to see.

Upon hearing Ma's words, Aunt Qin immediately retorted sarcastically, "I don't know if Old Lu and his wife are biased, but I do know that Yunzhu and the others are hired by A-Zheng and his wife. What does it have to do with your family?"

"That's right, and besides, your Lu Tianbao doesn't respect his grandparents at all, and he expects them to give him a sip of soup? Bah! If it were me, I'd just spit on him and ask him if he wants it!" A man from somewhere chimed in.

Madam Ma was enraged by these words and glared fiercely at Aunt Qin and the others, "You are all a bunch of snobbish people! Fine, fine, you all go and fawn over their eldest son's family, I don't care anymore!"

After saying that, she turned around, slammed the door, and went back inside.

Aunt Qin spat towards Lu Yancai's doorway, then looked at Chen and laughed, "Sister, don't listen to her nonsense. Do you think we don't know what kind of people you and Old Lu have all these years?"

"Yes, it's so hot today! Who wants to stand outside in the sun with those ungrateful kids? Auntie, you should go back quickly. Cucumbers are a good thing; you should wash them and give them to the two children!"

The cucumbers that Granny Wang brought were supposed to be a basketful, but there were only six in total, and they were only about the length of a palm, so they must have been dehydrated.

Chen thanked everyone and took her basket home.

She sighed as she closed the door, "What a tragedy!"

"Grandma, aren't you the old lady next door? How can you let her act so wildly?" Yunzhu couldn't help but ask.

She's come to understand things better these days. Lu Yancai and his wife are like troublemakers, never giving anyone a peaceful day.

And that Lu Tianbao is really despicable. He took advantage of the fact that she and Amber had just arrived and didn't know the situation. A few days ago, he even ordered the two of them to wash clothes and clean the yard for Lu Yancai's family, and made Aping fetch water for them.

That day, the old lady and the old man went to the fields. When they came back in the evening, they saw that the old man was still working in the second house of the Lu family. He was so angry that he took a carrying pole and beat Lu Yancai and Lu Tianbao.

It was only then that she learned that the second branch of the Lu family actually had a feud with the general's family.

Of course there's a grudge. The second wife even tried to sell the young master and young lady back then. That's an absolute grudge.

How dare Ma order them around? She has absolutely no self-awareness.

“Originally, his father and I thought that we could live a peaceful life after separating from the family, but they still…” Chen sighed again, “We are old and can’t control them anymore.”

As he spoke, he carried the basket into the kitchen.

Yunzhu found it strange. Why did she feel that the old lady's attitude towards Lu Yancai and Ma Shi was not like that of a mother towards her son or a mother-in-law towards her daughter-in-law?

If this had happened at her home, her brother would have had his legs broken by her father, and her mother would have given her sister-in-law a complete makeover, making sure they both knew that even after separating from their parents, they couldn't treat them like this.

But the old lady of the General's family didn't seem to care much about the second branch of the Lu family. Even Lu Tianbao, the only grandson of the Lu family, didn't seem to be of much concern to the old lady and the old man.

In short, it was a bit strange, and Yunzhu couldn't quite put her finger on what it felt like.

However, she soon had no time to think about these things.

"Ah Zheng is back!"

"Ah Zheng's wife is back too!"

With two excited shouts, Yunzhu immediately ran out of the yard.

At the village entrance, Lu Yanzheng and Jiang Qinyu's carriage stopped, and Chen Shao and Liu Yazi, who were in charge of patrolling the lookout tower, surrounded the carriage.

"Brother Zheng, why are you back? Is there no fighting over there? Didn't they say we shouldn't leave the army easily?" Chen Shao asked, his eyes shining.

Lu Yanzheng is his idol, so shouldn't he ask him more questions?

Liu Yazi nodded vigorously, then asked Lu Yanzheng and Jiang Qinyu, "Sister-in-law Lu, shouldn't the sweet potatoes in the border town be harvested by now? What's their yield like?"