Mr. and Mrs. Wen were also concerned, so they went home to deliver Crescent Moon, changed into some casual clothes, and came back to check on her.
The crowd invited the couple to sit down.
Li Zhensheng was the first to speak, asking, "So, second brother, did you get any information?"
Li Lao Er opened his mouth, but felt his throat was extremely dry. He snatched the teacup from his elder brother's hand, gulped it down, and then looked at his niece.
A young girl in her teens is at the most innocent and beautiful age of her life.
The mere thought of someone wanting... drove him to madness with hatred!
"Second brother, say something!" Li Zhensheng urged when his younger brother remained silent.
Grandma Li also said, "Yes, what exactly happened? Tell me quickly!"
"Is it because that maid refuses to confess? Is there nothing Dr. Zhang can do?" Tao Hongying was also anxious and subconsciously stretched out a hand to shield her daughter behind her.
Li Lao Er thought for a moment and said, "That maid spoke up and got some information out of her."
"She and the old woman who poisoned the food in the kitchen were both assassins, and their master was the Wu family of the Marquis of Jiangning. They acted on the orders of the eldest master of the Marquis of Jiangning."
“We had previously suspected that the Marquis of Jiangning’s family was plotting against Fu Niu’er. Now that it’s confirmed, it’s easier to deal with.” Li Zhensheng frowned and asked, “Why exactly is the Wu family trying to harm our family, or rather, why are they trying to harm Fu Niu’er?”
Li Lao Er took a deep breath. "The orders given to the assassins are to kidnap Fu Niu'er and deliver her to the Wu family. If they cannot capture her alive, then... send a bowl of their heart's blood back to the Wu family."
"It is said that the Empress needs to consume Fu Niu'er's heart's blood in order to conceive and give birth!"
Heart's blood?!
Pregnancy and childbirth?!
Everyone was stunned for a long time, wondering if they had misheard.
How cruel, and how absurd!
"These beasts! They're going to kill my sister!" Cat Brother, who had been sitting with his brothers at the door, was the first to jump up, his eyes red, and he was about to rush out.
Jiaren and Lige'er grabbed him and pulled him away. Jiaren, with red eyes, scolded, "Don't run around. Listen to the family's arrangements!"
Li Zhensheng grabbed the teacup in his hand and smashed it to pieces. He stood up abruptly and cursed, "This is outrageous! The Wu family has no guts! How dare they plot against our Li family's children!"
"If I cannot bring about the destruction of the Wu family and make the Empress pay the price this time, I, Li Zhensheng, will smash my head against the palace gate and die!"
"No, if anyone should go, it should be me!" Old Mrs. Li stood up, leaning on the square table, her face pale and her lips trembling with anger.
"I want to go to the palace and ask the Emperor! All the things our Li family has done for Tianwu over the years, isn't that enough to keep Fu Niu'er alive?"
"Her father and brothers are working hard outside right now! Our Li family doesn't ask for great wealth or domineering behavior, we just want to keep a little girl safe, why is it so difficult!"
"If the Emperor doesn't care, let's leave! Let's go into the mountains and live in caves. There are jackals and tigers in the mountains, but the people in Xindu are all wolves in human skin!"
“We, the Li family, are not going to serve you anymore. If things don’t work out in the mountains, we’ll go to the foreign lands to find An’er and Xi’er!”
Old Mrs. Li was truly heartbroken.
The Li family may not claim to have made any significant contributions to Tianwu, but they were at least loyal and devoted to their work.
As a result, the Empress and the Wu family were so arrogant that they openly wanted to tear out the "heart" of the Li family!
Tao Hongying wanted to speak, but as soon as she opened her mouth, tears streamed down her face. She hugged her daughter tightly and it took her a long time to choke out a few words.
"Fu Niu'er, Mother was wrong!"
Yes, she was wrong.
She was originally a peasant woman; being a little diligent and a little feisty was already quite competent for her job.
These past few years, living in Xindu, my family has been living a life of luxury. Inside, there is an old lady in charge; outside, there is an elder brother who is an official; my husband is a general; even my daughter is a princess; and there is a marquis as a powerful backer.
She let herself be lazy, thinking that as long as she took care of her family's food, drink, and clothing, and pondered the menu when she had nothing to do, she would be fine.
But she never imagined that someone would want to cut out her daughter's heart for such an absurd reason!
Jiayin was so angry that her head was spinning.
After all, anyone would be furious if they suddenly heard that someone wanted to drink their heart's blood!
What did she do to deserve this? She's trying to rip out my heart right off the bat!
In an instant, Jiayin thought of a thousand ways to take revenge, wishing she could crush the Wu family and the Empress to death right away!
But she quickly came to her senses.
Because her mother was holding her so tightly, she couldn't breathe...
"Mom, don't be afraid, I'm fine. At least I'm still alive and kicking! And we know who's trying to harm me, so things are much easier!"
She quickly patted her mother, then grabbed her grandmother's cold hand and continued to comfort her.
"Grandma, don't worry. Even without our family's help, I have ways to protect myself, and even take revenge..."
Unfortunately, before she could finish speaking, the old lady guessed what she meant.
The old lady interrupted her abruptly, "No way! There are so many people in the family, we'll never need you to come up with your own ideas. You stay home and behave yourself!"
The old lady was afraid that her granddaughter, in her anger, would lose her temper and display those amazing abilities in front of outsiders.
Even if you get your revenge, you'll still be seen as a monster and won't have a good ending!
“The old lady is right!” Chief镖头 Liu also stood up and said, “There are so many villagers, so many people. If we can’t protect the princess, then we will all have no face to live.”
The village chief and Uncle Zhao and the others were even more excited and stood up as well.
The village chief, his face dark, shouted, "We've survived to this day, what dangers haven't we seen, what hardships haven't we endured?"
"It doesn't make sense that now that life is better, with plenty of money and manpower, we should just watch others bully our children!"
Zhao Yuru, Wan'er, and Wenjuan didn't know what to say. The three of them walked weakly to Jiayin and surrounded her tightly.
Zhao Yuru was still unwilling to give up and asked, "Eldest brother, second brother, can't we take this matter to the Emperor?"
Both Li Zhensheng and Li Lao Er shook their heads.
Li Lao Er said, "We are all just guessing right now. Apart from the testimony of a maid, we have no solid evidence."
"Even if we take the little maid to complain, the Wu family and the Empress will say that we are framing her. After all, the Empress is the mother of the nation. A single act of disrespect could ruin our family's efforts."
"Moreover, there are still many details to be investigated. I suspect that the Empress and the Wu family were used as pawns, and that someone else is actually harming our family."
"Even if our family brings down the Wu family and the Empress, the person behind them will remain unscathed and will continue to target our family..."
Just then, Zheng He rushed back and dutifully reported the news.
"Lord, the information has been found. The rumors about the princess that were spread earlier were indeed the work of the Wang family."
"Moreover, Chu Heng, the Junior Minister, Zhang Jian, the merchant Liu family, and several distant relatives of the Wang family all got involved and fueled the fire."
Shaoqing Chu Heng?
Yuanwailang Zhang Jian?
The Liu family of merchants?
Everyone was puzzled, wondering where these people came from and why they were joining the Wang family in targeting the Li family.
Li Lao Er frowned and began to explain to everyone.
"When I was first granted the title of Earl, Chu Heng and Zhang Jian once lured me to drink at brothels."
"Moreover, they are both lackeys of the Wang family, obeying the orders of Wang Laosan!"
Jiaren added, "That merchant family, Liu, should be the home of my former classmate, Liu Kui."
"That time, he and Wang Sheng tampered with the wooden plaque, trying to ruin my scientific expedition. In the end, he was expelled from the academy and harbored resentment ever since..."
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