A sacrifice?
Tao Hongying finally realized she was afraid. Her face turned deathly pale, and she asked, her lips trembling, "Mother, what should we do? Fu Niu'er absolutely cannot be sacrificed! Something absolutely cannot happen to her!"
Seeing her like this, Old Lady Li regretted scaring her daughter-in-law and quickly tried to make amends.
"I'm just guessing, it's not like someone's coming to arrest Fu Niu'er right away."
"In short, it's not good if everyone says bad things about you, but it's not good if everyone says good things about you either."
Tao Hongying nodded vigorously, "I understand, Mother. I will definitely go out more often in the future and listen to what's happening in the city."
"That's right!" Old Mrs. Li sighed. "Our Fu Niu'er is ten years old now. She should go out more often and keep an eye out for suitable boys if they come across one."
"Looking ahead, Fu Niu'er will be engaged in five or six years at the latest."
Tao Hongying couldn't bear to hear this. The thought of sending her precious daughter, whom she had raised with her own eyes, to someone else's home made her feel extremely distressed.
"Mom, let's not talk about that yet. Let's deal with the immediate issues first!"
Just then, Jiayin returned from the princess's residence, carrying a basket filled with strawberries.
Each strawberry is about the size of a child's fist, bright red, and particularly eye-catching.
"Grandma, Mom, look what I brought you! Strawberries, big and sweet."
Just as Jiayin was about to present the treasure, her mother snatched the basket away, put it aside, and then dragged her into the house to scold her.
"You still have the appetite to eat? Look at the situation outside! It's driving me crazy!"
Grandma Li settled her granddaughter beside her and asked, "Fu Niu'er, tell Grandma, do you know what's going on in the city?"
"Your second uncle hasn't come back for several days. Has he been busy with this matter?"
Jiayin knew she couldn't hide the news from them after hearing it.
So, she smiled and said, "Grandma, Mom, don't worry. I overheard a few words at the Gu family's house that day, and I felt something was wrong. I was afraid someone was plotting against me."
"So, after leaving the Gu family, I went to find my second uncle. He said he would send people to investigate. As a result, in just a few days, the whole city was talking about it."
"There's no need to guess, someone must be behind this, but I don't know what their purpose is."
"Don't be afraid, I won't be going out lately, my second uncle will handle everything else."
"You silly child, you didn't even tell the family about such a big thing!" Tao Hongying was so angry that she wanted to slap her daughter, but she couldn't bring herself to do it, so she could only tug at her daughter's sleeve.
Jiayin smiled and hugged her mother's waist, comforting her in a coquettish manner.
“Mother, this is not a big deal. Our family is no longer the poor peasant family we used to be. Now, anyone who wants to bully our family will have to think twice.”
"Besides, I used to have a terrible reputation. Now that my bad reputation has improved, it's a good thing, isn't it?"
Tao Hongying glared angrily at her daughter, "Don't try to fool me! I'd rather others fear you than scheme against you!"
Grandma Li also said, "Yes, although your second uncle is handling this matter, it will take some time, and we can't find out the truth immediately."
"We can't just wait here and let the rumors spread like wildfire throughout the city."
Helpless, Jiayin asked, "Grandma, Mom, do you have any good ideas?"
After thinking for a moment, Old Lady Li said, "Since everyone in the city says you are blessed, then you can just pretend you are not blessed."
"Do you ever think about those strange and unusual powders? Is there any medicine that can temporarily weaken someone?"
"Ideally, someone would be on the verge of death, clinging to life, with no doctor able to diagnose the cause?"
He's faking illness!
Jiayin thought about it and realized that this might be a good idea.
After all, family members can't go into the city, so they have to shut up those idle people one by one.
But if we let things continue like this, they might become even more difficult to handle.
Why not take a step back and try to appear weak to the enemy?
"Grandma, I do have a kind of medicine powder here, similar to a muscle-weakening powder. If you take it, you will be weak for half an hour and your life will be hanging by a thread. You definitely won't be able to find the cause by taking your pulse."
"But after half an hour, I'll be back to my usual lively self. Then, I'll apply some more powder to make it look more convincing, and I guarantee no doctor will be able to tell the difference!"
Jiayin took a medicine bottle out of her purse and weighed it in her palm.
"However, there is a problem that I'm afraid Grandma will have to solve."
"What's the problem? Tell me!" Old Mrs. Li immediately sat up straight, displaying an attitude of being unstoppable.
Tao Hongying nodded and urged, "Hurry up and tell me, we're not afraid of any difficult questions."
Jiayin pointed in the direction behind the village, "Grandpa Zhang cherishes his title of miracle doctor like a treasure."
"If I were seriously ill and told that he couldn't cure me and that's why I sought help from outside, he would definitely be furious!"
"You scared me to death!" Tao Hongying glared at her daughter, not taking the matter seriously at all.
"No problem, it's easy. I'll cook a feast right now and invite Doctor Zhang over for a meal. I guarantee he'll agree without hesitation."
Grandma Li also said, "Let's do it this way, Dr. Zhang will definitely agree."
"Moreover, after things in the city are settled, you still need to recover your health. Then you can just say that he was a miracle worker."
After saying that, the mother and daughter-in-law put Jiayin aside and began to carefully discuss the menu, which consisted of dishes that Doctor Zhang usually liked to eat, plus some new dishes that they had recently been thinking about...
Sure enough, Dr. Zhang was invited over for dinner.
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Old Lady Li told them in detail about the rumors circulating in the city and the countermeasures they had come up with.
Because he had accepted their food, and was being praised by Tao Hongying and Jiayin, and since they would eventually need him to "take action" anyway, which wouldn't damage his reputation, he reluctantly agreed.
The next day, Grandma Li busied herself with making arrangements.
You should secretly tell your closest relatives and friends.
For example, the Liu family, Madam Jia the Second, and Luo An's side, so that everyone wouldn't be unaware of the inside story and actually get scared out of their wits.
As for the village, the village chief and Uncle Zhao and the other old men knew that with them keeping the villagers in check, there was no fear of any mishaps.
Li Lao Er needed to be made perfectly clear so as not to delay his arrangements and plans.
In short, in order to protect her granddaughter from being "overpraised to death," Grandma Li mobilized all resources and strength.
You have to understand, she's getting old, and she hasn't been in charge of the household for the past two years.
With her son and daughter-in-law being filial, she could live a peaceful and comfortable retirement, eating and drinking her fill, dressing nicely and cleanly, taking walks around the village, and chatting with her old friends.
When things get boring, I'll go into town to visit the Earl's mansion or go to see my grandson in Luo'an.
Now, after all this turmoil, the old lady has rediscovered the courage and ruthlessness she once had when she gritted her teeth and led her children and grandchildren to escape for their lives!
Leaving aside the troubles caused by the Li family, in Xinduli, early one morning, someone brought a martial arts manual and a stack of papers and posted notices near the city gates and various taverns and teahouses throughout the city.
If someone with nothing better to do saw it, they would naturally ask, "What does this notice say? What's going on at the government office?"
The young boy, busy with his hands, was also talking as he posted the notices.
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