Sure enough, after giving these instructions, he entered the study and saw his master huddled on the bed, wrapped in a blanket, yelling, "Bring me a blanket! Are you trying to freeze me to death?! And hurry up and serve the food! I'm hungry! I want to eat!"
Chang Sui sighed inwardly. The once spirited and extremely proud Third Master Wang was completely ruined.
Such things happen frequently after he gets out of prison.
In reality, the master was neither hungry nor cold; he was just terrified, fearing that he would be thrown back into prison, where he would suffer without food or water and endure hardship and cold!
For a time, the whole courtyard was in chaos because of the master's anger. It wasn't until the second watch of the night, when the drunk master fell asleep, that everyone finally quieted down.
A lowly servant who swept the courtyard quietly slipped to the back door and slipped a handful of copper coins to the gatekeeper.
The old woman at the gate skillfully opened the back door and asked in a low voice, "Gui Zi, is your mother still not better?"
The young man shook his head with a wry smile, "My cough is still bad. I'm worried about her, otherwise why would I keep going back to check on her? My sister is still young, and I'm afraid she can't take care of my mother."
"Okay, go early and come back early. Make sure you're back before my shift ends tomorrow morning, so I don't get scolded because of you!"
"Don't worry, Auntie, I'll bring you meat buns tomorrow morning!" The boy darted out the back door and disappeared into the night...
The next day, when the sun was high in the sky, the cyclamen slowly began to see customers, and Li Zhensheng finally received the news he had been waiting for. He couldn't help but smile.
Li Lao Er carried Jia Yin over from the front. Seeing his elder brother's strange smile, he asked, "Brother, is something the matter?"
Li Zhensheng took his niece and led his younger brother into the room where he usually rested.
Today is the day Tao Hongying comes to Xiankelai to cook her second table of private dishes. The old lady is worried, so she left her home and brought her granddaughter to help her daughter-in-law.
Grandma Li was sitting by the kitchen door picking vegetables when she saw her two sons carrying their granddaughter into the house. She instructed them, "Don't give Fu Niu'er any snacks. She ate quite a bit just now, and she'll have to eat a full meal later. Be careful not to overfeed her and cause indigestion!"
"Okay, Mom," Li Zhensheng replied, but as soon as he entered the house, he opened the snack box and gave it to his little niece. "Pick what you like to eat, but don't eat too much. Your uncle and second uncle have something to discuss."
"Okay, thank you, Uncle." Jiayin sat on the soft couch, picked up a piece of horseshoe pastry, and ate it in small bites. She picked up the crumbs that fell with her two chubby fingers and put them in her mouth.
The niece's adorable appearance made Li Zhensheng and Li Lao Er both smile.
Li Zhensheng poured tea, explained the situation of Third Master Wang, and then said with a smile, "I had already guessed that something was wrong with him. Given his proud temperament, he would never have asked the Second Steward to handle such a matter. Even if he was caught doing something wrong, others would be unable to do anything to him because of the Wang family."
"But this time, he was clearly scared, turning from a proud rooster into a rat in the gutter. So, I specifically asked around, and sure enough, what happened last time terrified him."
Li Lao Er squinted and thought for a moment before asking, "Brother, are you planning to start from here and get revenge?"
“Of course, he should have been prepared when he had bad intentions! Considering we’ve known each other for so many years, I might have let him off the hook if he schemed against me. But now that he wants to scheme against you and against Suijintan, we absolutely cannot let him get away with it so easily!” Li Zhensheng sneered.
A flash of ruthlessness crossed his eyes, then he instructed his younger brother, "You are now an earl, and you have to attend court. You are also a matter of face for our Li family. You don't need to get involved in this matter; I will arrange it. But you must be clear about everything from beginning to end."
"After all, as our family's life gets better and better, there will be more people like Master Wang San. Our Li family may not provoke others, but if anyone dares to covet us, you'd better have the ability to chop off their hands and feet, understand?!"
"I understand!" Li Lao Er nodded quickly, knowing that his elder brother was teaching him with all his heart.
"Alright, let's talk about how to deal with Master Wang! Since he's scared out of his wits, maybe this time we can teach him a lesson without bloodshed!" Li Zhensheng took a sip of tea. "Tonight I'll contact Huo Ming and send some constables to the Wang family to stir things up when they have nothing else to do!"
"Is your eldest brother going to slowly torture him and scare him?" Li Lao Er asked, vaguely understanding his eldest brother's plan.
“Yes, now it’s our turn to be in the shadows, while the Wang family is in the open.” Li Zhensheng laughed, toying with his teacup. “So we’re not in a hurry, we can take it slow. Some seemingly insignificant matters can be a catastrophe in the eyes of a terrified person, and that’s exactly what Third Master Wang is like now…”
"A bird startled by the twang of a bow!" Jia Yin, who was halfway through eating a snack, couldn't help but interject when she heard this, which made Li Zhensheng and Li Lao Er look over in surprise.
Li Zhensheng hugged his niece tightly and laughed, "Oh my, my Fu Niu'er is so smart, she's just a scaredy-cat! We won't hit her or kill her, let her scare herself to death!"
Jiayin smiled, revealing two rows of small white teeth, her eyes sparkling like little stars. She nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes, Uncle is the best!"
After listening for so long, her admiration for her uncle was as boundless as the Yellow River!
Therefore, she specially offered up the remaining half of her pastry.
Li Zhensheng didn't mind at all, and ate the pastry in one bite. He smiled and looked at his younger brother, "I was worried before that the children in the family were being taught to be too kind and honest, but now I'm not afraid anymore! Fu Niu'er is so smart, one of her is worth ten of them!"
Li Lao Er was also ashamed; he needed his elder brother to explain things in detail before he could understand.
My little niece was munching on a snack and listening to the commotion, and she understood everything. He's not even as good as a child!
Li Lao Er ruffled his little niece's hair and laughed, "So, if I hold on for another ten years, I'll be able to relax once Fu Niu'er grows up!"
"You're useless!" Li Zhensheng glared at his younger brother. "As an uncle, you don't know how to protect your child, but instead you expect your child to protect you."
That's what he said, but he still felt sorry for his younger brother and sighed, "As you know, our family is just a farming family. What you've learned and seen since you were a child is nothing compared to the children of those aristocratic families. It's really too much to ask you to support the family."
"But we have to look forward. Our family is getting better and better. The children are still young, so the four of us brothers will inevitably have to work harder! You should be a good official, talk less and observe more. Take the lead in anything that brings honor to the family."
"I'll handle matters like the Wang family's. The third son is honest and hardworking; he just needs to take care of his family. The fourth son is determined to follow the Marquis to the battlefield. If we brothers work together, in three to five years, at least in this area of Xindu, no one will dare to bully our Li family anymore!"
"Big brother..." Li Lao Er's nose tingled and his heart felt heavy.
He knew that his elder brother planned to take on all the dirty work and trouble in the family. If something happened in the future and the Li family couldn't handle it, they would just abandon him, their eldest son. The Li family was known throughout Tianwu as a kind and virtuous family.
In other words, like a gecko shedding its tail to survive, the eldest brother is willing to be that tail that can be discarded at any time, protecting the family from harm...
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