Upon hearing this, Li Lao Er immediately ordered Zheng He and Zheng Feng to guard the gate.
The house has no back window, so there's no need to worry about someone eavesdropping from behind.
Li Lao Er recounted how Wang Zechen had tried to find fault with the Li family at every turn but failed, and then made a foolish move by sabotaging the Hundred Flowers Garden, only to be exposed on the spot and lose face.
Finally, he added, “Nowadays, although there are Zhiheng and Mr. Wen in the court, Zhiheng is responsible for planting corn and potatoes and is often away from home. Mr. Wen is an imperial censor, so he cannot openly take sides when there is a problem, thus losing his neutrality and impartiality.”
"Since you and the fourth prince are away on campaign, the court cannot be without support and voices for you. Therefore, I've been thinking about getting a position with real power."
"Unfortunately, I did not take the imperial examinations and did not have any official rank, but just then, the Hundred Flowers Garden opened, and I donated some grain and medicine to the Relief Department."
"I found that the Relief and Relief Agency was like a scalp irritating a person's head. It didn't affect life or death, but it was extremely unsightly, and no one dared to touch it. However, if managed well, it could be a good stepping stone, so I mustered up my courage and took it on."
"Although we have the money and grain allocated by the court, we are still struggling to make ends meet. We still need to sell flowers every month to raise money and grain to supplement our income. However, things should improve before winter."
"At that time, I plan to take the elderly and children of the Relief Department to the streets to shovel snow and do some simple chores. Of course, these are not the most important things. The most important thing is..."
Li Lao Er paused here, and the Marquis, understanding, smiled and said, "The most important thing is the omnipresent eyes! It's the Li family's reputation for utmost goodness and loyalty in the hearts of the Emperor, the court officials, and the people!"
Li Lao Er immediately beamed with joy, "I knew the Marquis would guess what I was thinking."
The Marquis nodded, raised his hand to refill his tea, and said in a low voice, "In fact, most wealthy and powerful families have people secretly working for them. Even our manor has a few taverns or general stores in the city, which can come in handy at critical moments."
Jiayin, who was standing to the side, suddenly realized that when she checked the ledgers that morning, there were indeed ledgers for several taverns and grocery stores, but the managers had not come.
She was also puzzled as to why the Marquis's mansion would get involved in such a small business, which only yielded a profit of a dozen taels a month.
It turns out it wasn't for making money, but simply to serve as the eyes, ears, and mouth of the Marquis's household...
Li Lao Er listened with envy.
The foundation accumulated by wealthy and powerful families over the years has never been gold, silver, or industry; rather, it lies in their connections and resources.
In truth, the Li family is very lucky.
The reason we were able to defeat the Wang family before was firstly because Li Zhensheng was the living evidence of their crimes, which the Wang family could not refute.
Secondly, the hatred that the Li family had endured for twenty years made them risk everything, causing a great uproar throughout the city. Even the emperor in the palace knew that the Wang family could not possibly do anything.
Thirdly, the Wang family also had to consider the Marquis's position.
Therefore, due to a combination of factors, the Wang family was forced to retreat step by step by the Li family under the watchful eyes of everyone, unable to hold their heads high.
Otherwise, for a behemoth like the Wang family, it would be extremely easy to cover up their own scandals and quietly deal with the Li family.
This is also the root cause of Old Master Wang's illness and Third Master Wang's madness.
They were so frustrated!
It's like a lion facing a rabbit. It could easily kill the rabbit with one bite, but it just can't bring itself to bite it and ends up getting kicked in the face by the rabbit!
Even now, I have to put up with this rabbit hopping around happily in front of me every day...
The Li family achieved an impossible victory, while the Wang family suffered an impossible humiliation!
After figuring out these details, Li Lao Er was truly filled with lingering fear.
Ignorance is bliss!
Fortunately, he realized his mistake and began to address the shortcomings of the Li family, striving to catch up and hoping to close the gap as soon as possible.
The sheep are not dead yet, but they've already started mending the fence...
The Marquis slowly sipped his tea, then placed a pastry in the chubby girl's palm. He didn't speak, giving Li Lao Er ample time to think.
The Li family's rise from humble farming families to the elite was inevitable, marked by numerous detours, setbacks, and even mishaps.
In his view, the Li family has been lucky enough and worked hard enough; the rest is just a matter of time, and there's no rushing it.
Sure enough, Li Lao Er understood, let out a long breath, stood up and bowed to the Marquis, "Thank you, Marquis. You must have secretly protected our family many times before."
The Marquis pulled him down to sit and said with a smile, "We're family, no need to be so polite. When I was in dire straits, if it weren't for your family's help, I'd be buried with weeds three feet tall by now. This is because your family sowed good seeds and reaped good results here..."
After saying that, he ruffled the chubby girl's hair, remembering how she could trade with him even before she could speak, with silver in one hand and pills in the other...
His smile gained an extra touch of warmth and affection...
At this moment, Jia Huan brought over a tray and personally delivered the food.
With everyone's help, the family members didn't need to stand on ceremony and started eating.
Jia Huan served her younger sister half a bowl of vegetables and picked out a piece of fish before heading back to the kitchen to get busy.
Jiayin called out to him and asked, "Second Brother, are you going home tonight?"
Jia Huan shook her head and replied, "I can't leave here. I'll go back tomorrow night."
Jiayin, thinking of her sister-in-law who was suffering from morning sickness and vomiting, said, "Second brother, you should go home. Mother and I have come up with two new dishes that we can teach you and put on the menu."
"Really?" Jia Huan was overjoyed. "Okay, okay, I'll definitely go back tonight."
"Don't forget to buy some pickled plums from Jiaji in the south of the city for your second sister-in-law. She's been craving them lately," Jiayin reminded her with a smile.
This made Jia Huan blush, but he still agreed, "Don't worry, I'll remember."
Li Lao Er picked up a piece of meat for his little niece, who also loved it. "Fu Niu'er, you've been eating meat lately and you've lost weight. Should your second uncle go back and talk to your grandma and ask her to reduce your schoolwork a bit?"
"No, Second Uncle." Jiayin's little mouth was all greasy from eating, and she struggled to eat the braised pig's trotters while mumbling, "If you don't work hard when you're young, you'll regret it when you're old. I'll learn these first, and later I'll add painting and playing the piano. Oh, and martial arts too!"
Li Lao Er felt sorry for her and teased his little niece, "You have to get up early to practice martial arts. You have to start practicing before dawn!"
"Oh, so early?" Sure enough, Jiayin immediately backed down. "Then let's wait a few more years. If I don't get enough sleep, I'll stop growing taller!"
Both Li Lao Er and the Marquis couldn't help but burst into laughter.
This lazy girl has so many excuses.
The Marquis took a clean cloth from the table to wipe the lazy girl's mouth and hands. Thinking of the Third Princess in the palace, he said, "You must learn martial arts. At least when others bully you, you can fight back directly."
"Even if you get injured or even killed, it doesn't matter. Your godfather and family will take care of it for you. But just remember, you must never be bullied or get hurt, understand?!"
If Grandma Li and Tao Hongying heard this, they would probably laugh and cry at the same time, saying that they had taught the child bad habits.
Unfortunately, Li Lao Er was sitting next to him.
He shared the same thought and had already given this instruction to his niece long ago.
At this moment, he chimed in, "Like last time when you went to the palace, the Empress locked you in a dark room. You should have cried your heart out and let the whole harem know that the Empress was bullying a child! You should have made her lose face so that the whole capital knew about it. But instead, you didn't utter a single word!"
"A dark room?" The Marquis immediately put down his chopsticks, his face as black as ink.
Previously, when Jiayin mentioned it, she only briefly touched on this part.
Ye Shan and Dong Mei did not go into the palace with them, and they did not know the specific situation, so they did not give a detailed account when they spoke of it.
So much so that the Marquis only realized it now, and he said coldly, "It seems that the punishment I arranged for the Wu family was too lenient!"
Served at midnight~~
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com