These three people are Uncle Wang, Aunt Wang, and Father-in-law Ding. Like Xu Qingyan, they were secret guards of the Zhou Mansion.
Few secret guards survived to see a proper retirement, and even those who did, few enjoyed a happy old age. Those with family often had their money swindled away by them. Those without family, once their money ran out, had no idea how to survive in old age. Unless they were lucky enough to have reliable family, or had a quick mind.
The main reason is that they were bought into the palace for centralized training at the age of five or six, and then isolated from the outside world. Besides being taught martial arts and how to protect their masters, they were not taught anything about human behavior. As a result, they only knew how to obey orders, lacking any independent opinions or common sense, and were not good at interacting with others.
There were a very small number of female Secret Guards, and Aunt Wang was one of them. She and Uncle Wang were injured and disabled while completing a mission together. Since they were both in their thirties, they were both retired and married, falling in love. They had no family and a combined 400 taels of silver. If they had been smart and had some knowledge of making a living, their later years would have been easy. But they were clueless, and they followed their neighbors' advice and made reckless investments. Adding to that, medical expenses and medication, they squandered all their money in a few years.
Ding Laozhang was cheated out of all his money by a relative. He was so angry that he almost beat the relative to death. The relative reported him to the government, but the officials still thought he was wrong. He was beaten dozens of times by the government and had to leave his hometown.
When Xu Qingyan was young, he was taken care of by Ding Laozhang and got along well with Uncle Wang. After becoming an official, he accidentally learned that they were living in poverty and seriously ill, so he took them to his farm to recuperate.
Zhao Wu and Li Luo thought further ahead. When their family became independent, they would have these people help train the secret guards. When they recovered from their illness, they would bring them to the farm, provide them with a monthly stipend, and promise to provide for their retirement.
Although they were old and disabled, their martial arts skills were unmatched by ordinary people. Hearing that they had to protect the Second Mistress and the Young Master, they rekindled their youthful spirit. They discussed setting traps and markings around the farm, taking shifts day and night to protect their master.
However, the food cooked by Aunt Wang was too bad, so Xu Lanyin's meals were cooked by Nanny Ye and Zhangqi in the kitchen. They were only responsible for looking after the farm and doing some rough work.
The farmhouse was not big, with two courtyards, and they lived in the front yard. The laughter of children from the back yard spread out, and their hearts melted.
Aunt Wang smiled and stood up, limping to the east wing. She took out a large bamboo basket that was locked. Inside was a golden pheasant with gorgeous feathers, a rope tied to its leg. She said, "I still want to give this chick to my little brother and cousin to play with."
Uncle Wang frowned and said, "Brother is so young, how can he play with a chicken? It would be better if we kill it and stew the meat for them to eat."
This chicken was caught by Uncle Wang in the mountains. The couple argued many times about whether to give their master a live chicken or meat.
Mr. Ding smiled and said, "Then go ask Second Grandma if she would rather play with chickens or eat meat."
Aunt Wang walked into the hanging flower gate with a red face and a chicken in her arms.
Xu Lanyin understood what she meant and smiled, "Thank you. I can't bear to eat such a beautiful chicken, so I'll keep it here so the children can watch it play when they have nothing to do."
Seeing that Xu Lanyin liked the golden pheasant, Aunt Wang smiled with joy and said, "Thank you, Second Madam," before she walked out.
Seeing them, Xu Lanyin mentally praised Xu Qingyan. He had ideas and ideals, and he had achieved the pinnacle of a secret guard.
Xu Lanyin built a small oven in the backyard. Zhangqi baked a small pot of cake, and Xu Lanyin asked her to take half to the front yard to feed Ding Laozhang and his friends.
Two days later, one afternoon, Li Luo sent He Xi to the village.
He Xi said that Zhao Wu had written to her, and after hearing about Zhao Wu's life story and seeing the real Yan Shangchai, Yu Ma told the truth. She was one of the palace maids who accompanied "Princess" Liu Ying out of the palace. Zhao You was Pu Ying, and Pu Ying was Liu Ying...
Zhao Wu had already brought her to the capital, and they would be heading directly to this manor in two days. She would explain the specifics of the situation in detail after she arrived.
It was also said that because Nanny Yu spoke up, Li Luo and Xu Qingyan discussed it and told the real situation to Grand Tutor Zhou, Princess Nanyang, and Commander Chai.
The Zhou family used the Wen family to distract the Pu family, then instructed a few of their followers to defend the Wen family. Commander Chai and Xu Qingyan watched over Aunt Zhang, while Chai Qingyan and Xu Lanting also moved to the Nanyang Princess's residence...
Wen Yan has been imprisoned in the Dali Temple. The Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple are investigating his case, as well as Duke Wen. With Wen Yan imprisoned and the Wen Mansion surrounded, it's more beneficial to saving their lives...
After seeing He Xi off, Xu Lanyin breathed a sigh of relief. This was a desperate situation. The fake Yan Shangchai had the Pu family anxious, and they wanted to quickly destroy the Wen family, but they didn't expect the opposite to happen. If the Wen family members died one by one in accidents or illness, and they pushed the blame for killing Liu Ying's family onto Wen Yan and his group, the empress dowager would probably be ruthless against her family.
The laughter of Zhao Mingxi and Xu Lanyue and the calls of the golden pheasants could be heard outside the window again.
Xu Lanyin walked out of the upper room and found herself under a large, leafy banyan tree. Mother Qian was sitting on a small stool, holding Zhao Mingxi in her arms, while Xu Lanyue was teasing a golden pheasant. The pheasant would occasionally cluck and flutter its beautiful wings before taking flight, much to Zhao Mingxi's amusement.
The image that emerged before her eyes was of Zhao Wushi's arrogant look when she first saw him, then his disfigured face, then the sunny young man whose appearance was partially changed by the Ruyu Regenerating Skin Cream, and finally the tall and straight figure and the resolute and handsome young man.
In nearly four years, the boy grew up, changed his own destiny, and also changed the destiny of many more people...
Zhao Mingxi saw his mother and reached out to her.
Xu Lanyin walked over with a smile and hugged Zhao Mingxi in her arms, kissing his chubby little face twice, which made little Mingxi giggle and a string of silver coins flowed down.
Xu Lanyue came over and asked, "Sister, when are we going back home?"
Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "Why, you don't like it here?"
Xu Lanyue really didn't like being stuck in this small courtyard every day. She said, "I can't go out here, and I miss my father, second brother, and aunt."
Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "Something happened at home, so you can stay a few more days." Then she asked, "What do you want to eat today? Big sister will go to the kitchen to make it."
She is happy today and wants to cook by herself.
Xu Lanyue smiled and said, "I want to eat pickled fish and braised pork slices."
Xu Lanyin likes pickled fish, but she also likes braised pork slices. This child is always so sensible.
Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "Okay, I'll do both."
She took Nanny Ye and the chess master to the kitchen.
In the study of the Pu Mansion, Old Uncle Pu was so angry that he smashed the tea bowl in his hand to the ground.
Pu Yuanqing had just sent a letter saying that Yu Ma had disappeared a few days ago and he had been searching for her for several days without success. The disappearance of a servant was not a big deal, but even Pu Yuanqing, no matter how clueless he was, knew that Yu Ma was not like any other servant.
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