"Miss, she's just a girl who sells cooked food. Perhaps we've misunderstood Young Master Liu," a maidservant said cautiously.
After Zhao Lanshan got into the carriage, her expression changed completely. Her face turned gloomy, radiating an aura that said, "Keep away."
"Follow Young Master Liu's carriage and see where they're going." Zhao Lanshan ignored the maid's words and closed her eyes after speaking.
Zhao Lanshan knew that she could never lose her dignity, no matter what. Even if Liu Zhiyuan really liked that food-selling girl, she couldn't let it get to her heart.
Which man in the world doesn't have multiple wives and concubines? Even if Liu Zhiyuan likes that girl, so what? At most, she'll just be a concubine. Given her status and position, she can't possibly become Liu Zhiyuan's wife.
Liu Zhiyuan's wife can only be herself. She and Liu Zhiyuan are a good match in terms of social standing, and she has the support of her family.
Thinking this way, Zhao Lanshan's mood calmed down a lot, but she still couldn't suppress the thoughts deep in her heart. She wanted to find out who Li Youran was and why she could attract Liu Zhiyuan.
Liu Zhiyuan's carriage stopped in front of a small steamed bun shop. Liu Zhiyuan jumped down from the carriage and then reached out to help Li Youran get off.
However, Li Youran refused, and jumped off the carriage with a bouncy gait, patting her skirt, completely lacking the demeanor expected of a woman.
But Zhao Lanshan saw appreciation and joy in Liu Zhiyuan's eyes, without any disdain or dissatisfaction. Could it be that Liu Zhiyuan likes this kind of woman?
Zhao Lanshan couldn't do it. She felt that girls should act like girls, being dignified, gentle, and generous, instead of being so rude.
"Let's go back."
Zhao Lanshan's carriage turned around directly at the street corner.
Because Liu Zhiyuan had ordered 90 jin of cooked food, Li Youran had to make another trip to the pork shop to ask the owner to send an extra 90 jin of meat.
"Shopkeeper, you'd better hurry to Willow Lane. Someone just came to deliver a message saying there's a commotion at the old house."
Before Li Youran even got off the carriage, she quickly drove it to the old house in Liushui Alley.
"Your Liu family is going too far! You're clearly trying to smear my daughter. If you're so capable, show us the evidence! You're just making baseless accusations, do you think you can just say whatever you want?"
“My daughter gave birth to and raised children in your Liu family, and you just kicked her out like this? How can our Zhou family survive? Have you no shame?”
As Zhou Yingying's mother, Zhou Niangzi, spoke, she sat on the ground and started throwing a tantrum, slapping her thighs with both hands and crying and shouting, "Are you trying to drive my daughter away to make room for someone else? Your Liu family is utterly heartless and has gone too far."
The onlookers, unaware of what had happened, pointed and whispered among themselves.
“My dear in-law, others may not know, but don’t you know yourself? Do you really want me to reveal this in front of so many people and drag your daughter to see the officials?” Madam Liu said, frowning.
"Mother, what happened?" Li Youran hurriedly jumped off the carriage and asked, shielding Li Niangzi behind her.
It turns out that after Zhou Yingying returned to her parents' home after the divorce, her family was frightened and quickly came to apologize. However, Li Haoran was determined not to live with Zhou Yingying anymore, so Zhou Yingying threw a tantrum and acted like a rogue.
"The reason we didn't report it to the authorities back then was because we were concerned about my elder brother's feelings. Now that they've divorced, our Li family has no reason to continue to tolerate Zhou Yingying. Since you're here today, Madam Zhou, let's go to the yamen together!"
As Li Youran spoke, he pretended to pull Zhou Niangzi away, looking as if he would not give up.
"Why are you pulling me? Don't think I'm easy to bully just because I'm old." Madam Zhou wasn't stupid. Seeing that Li Youran was serious, she said this while pulling away.
"You just wait, we'll settle this score later!"
As she spoke, Madam Zhou jogged away.
Li Youran looked at everyone and sighed helplessly. Her parents and brother and sister-in-law were always too kind.
"Auntie, Niu Niu wants to eat steamed buns." Just then, little Niu Niu tugged at Li Youran's skirt and whispered, "Daddy can't cook, and his cooking is terrible. I want to eat the steamed buns Auntie makes."
"Come on, let's go eat steamed buns with Auntie." Before Li Youran could speak, Liu Niangzi picked up Niu Niu and said with heartache, "From now on, whatever you want to eat, Grandma will make it for you."
The poor child, not even as tall as a table, had lost his mother. Liu Niangzi's tears fell like beads from a broken string.
"Oh dear, did they chase Sister-in-law Li away so quickly?" Just then, Wang Xiangyu came out, swaying her hips.
After a few days apart, Wang Xiangyu seemed like a completely different person. She was dressed in gaudy clothes, had many silk flowers in her hair, and her face was covered in makeup.
"I said from the beginning, these aren't blood-related siblings after all, who knows what kind of misunderstandings might exist?"
"Which brothel's madam did you come from?" Li Youran glanced at Wang Xiangyu with disdain and said, "Sister, you've come to the wrong place!"
As soon as Li Youran finished speaking, it caused a burst of laughter, with people pointing and commenting on Wang Xiangyu's attire.
“What do you know? This is how everyone in the capital dresses now.” Wang Xiangyu adjusted the hairpin in her hair and said, “I’m planning to start a business selling rouge and face powder, so I went to the capital to get the latest stock. I heard from people in the capital that there will be a large-scale beauty pageant before the end of the year, and all unmarried girls will have the opportunity to participate.”
Wang Xiangyu's words were like a drop of water falling into a hot oil pan, and the crowd instantly erupted in chaos.
"Wang family girl, you can't just say things like that."
"Aunt Zhang, I'm telling the truth. Hurry up and get ready, don't you have two unmarried girls of marriageable age?"
Wang Xiangyu then proceeded to promote her cosmetics, which Li Youran found uninteresting, so she left.
Wang Xiangyu, looking victorious, raised an eyebrow and glanced at Li Youran as she walked away.
"Don't worry, sir! We brothers are known for our integrity in this area. We'll make sure you complete whatever you ask us to do."
The thug, reeking of alcohol, grinned as he took Lu Chuan's money.
"Just wait at the agreed time and place."
This was Lu Chuan's first time dealing with this kind of person, and he felt very uncomfortable. Once things were settled, he hurriedly left.
Because the eldest brother, Li Haoran, was in a bad mood, his parents simply called all the brothers back to the old house and sat down to eat together.
Li Dazhu and his two sons drank cup after cup, while Li Youran played with Niu Niu in the yard.
The door wasn't closed, and she saw two people acting suspiciously outside. Although she was suspicious, she didn't make a sound and simply closed the door.
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