The women initially screamed, but stopped crying after being beaten. As they were being driven away, they deliberately took off their clothes, revealing their red underwear.
"It's disrespectful in broad daylight. If you want to show off, then hang it upside down so that passersby can have a good look."
I straightened Su Ling's cloak. Her little hands were always fidgeting, so I carried her back. Once we were in the carriage, we heard two little ones calling outside.
"My lord, we really can do anything. We may be dressed in rags now, but we'll be beautiful when we grow up."
They still wouldn't give up. Even though Niu Niu's mouth was swollen like a pig's intestine from being beaten, she could still shout. Su Ling and Xi Zhi looked out curiously. When I tried to stop them, they rushed into my arms.
"Mother~" Xi Zhi clung to my arm, refusing to let go. There was a hand scraping against the carriage. Xie Yuancheng said something, and the horses outside neighed a few times before falling silent.
I lifted the carriage curtain to look, and the women, having gotten their wish, emerged revealing their red underwear. Niu Niu and the chubby little boy were dragged to their sides. Even after the cavalrymen left, they still followed them.
Just as I was about to ask them to stop me, the two of them somersaulted in the air and rolled onto the edge of the paddy field. There were haystacks on the edge, and they stretched out their hands and feet, but they couldn't reach the roadside.
Niu Niu started kicking the chubby boy's bottom, and the two started wrestling. No one in the family did anything about it; he's so young and already out here scamming people.
After I could no longer see them, I closed the carriage curtain: "How did they know the news? We didn't send any messages out at all."
I picked Xi Zhi up and let him sit against me. It's so strange. Don't these people know how to work hard to make money? Why do they have to be parasites?
“Ying’er, if I’m not mistaken, they should be people from Liu Family Village who were all driven out. They heard that Linyang is better now, so they came up with this idea.”
"You must have been the one who spread the news about Linyang?"
"Of course! My masterpiece should be known by more people. Anyone who works under me must be capable. Why should I support someone who can't be self-reliant and just wants good things? It's not like I have too much money to burn."
"That's true, no wonder they knew you were a marquis. If they were more diligent, they wouldn't have needed to bring a child to deceive you."
"Never mind them, I'll tell the carriage to speed up, we might run into more people later."
Xie Yuancheng said something to the cavalry outside, and they immediately started running much faster. Su Ling and Xi Zhi stretched and then rubbed their eyes, wanting to go to sleep.
After I had put them to sleep and covered them with the blanket, I said to Xie Yuancheng, "The children are rubbing their eyes, why don't you slap their little hands?"
"Ying'er~" Xie Yuancheng leaned closer to me: "This is a small thing I did for you. They are still young. They will have someone they like to remind them in the future."
"You always like to find loopholes in my plans~"
"Hmm~ I'm sleepy too. Ying'er was so brave today. I'm going to be your fanboy. Let me lean on you. I need to take a nap too."
Xie Yuancheng leaned against my lap to rest. I can say I'm a winner in life now. All that's missing is for my parents and Yu'er to come and reunite with me. That would be even better.
That evening, I saw people repairing the city wall, which was exceptionally high. They were very respectful to Xie Yuancheng, not just greeting him. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was the very outermost city gate he had drawn.
"It's been repaired so quickly?" I got off the carriage to take a look. There was a house that had been repaired. Fifty meters away, someone was standing guard. The house was covered with broken porcelain. If someone wanted to come, the gate would not be opened and they would definitely not be able to get in.
"This is considered slow. It will take another half month for the model to appear. The people of Linyang have been almost completely cleared out. This is just the first city gate. I have set up nine city gates. Soon, Linyang will be an easy-to-defend city and a small country."
"Yuancheng, won't you get into trouble by doing this?"
"How could that be? The fiefdom has already been divided. I was just protecting the fiefdom and didn't go to Zheng Tao's other places. There's no evidence to convict me."
"How did you come up with these ideas?" I felt he must have met with the shopkeeper.
"Ying'er, you guessed it already. Last time, Master said he would grant our wishes. This is what I was planning when we came back."
Now that our parents' names have been cleared and we have a place to settle down, you can live with me in Linyang in peace and won't always think about leaving.
"I've always enjoyed being with you; it's just that you're always overthinking things."
I leaned on his shoulder and looked at the city wall. It was truly exquisite. The teachers must have been involved too. Xie Yuancheng, that little fox, always knows how to surprise me.
No wonder those people have no shame and insist on bringing their families to become parasites. But they are too lazy and greedy. We are not money-making machines. If we let them come, we will be usurped in the future.
Before dawn, Xie Yuancheng told them to hurry on their way back so we could rest. On the carriage, Su Ling and Xi Zhi stared at me; they couldn't speak yet, but they could call out to people.
Sometimes their calls aren't very clear, but I can tell who they're calling. I hold them at my legs and give them toys to play with. I guess they want to know about those people.
She's so young, she sometimes falls while walking, and she already knows how to care about things around her, even if it's just worrying unnecessarily.
Once inside, the road was clear, completely different from when I came before. Last time, Xie Yuancheng took me out via another route, saying that the entire route was blocked off and no one could possibly get in.
“I remember now. The people in that village must have heard rumors, otherwise why would they be so eager to invite you to their village?”
"Who cares? I don't like it anyway. Even if that's the reason, why should we grant their wishes?"
"That's true, our little ones are still very young, it's not easy to raise them."
"Mother~" Su Ling and Xi Zhi leaned against my legs. I touched their little faces, which were so tender and soft to the touch.
"Ying'er, let me hold them." Xie Yuancheng had barely reached out when the two of them crawled over to him.
I told them they were all like Yu'er, opportunists. When I was around, they would come over, but if Xie Yuancheng showed up, they would all go to his side.
We arrived in Linyang City at the hour of Xu (7-9 PM). As soon as we entered the mansion, Li Ruowei pulled Yan'er over.
"You're finally back. The sacrificial offerings are all ready. Go and bathe and change. I'll have Yan'er take Xizhi and Suling to play."
"Xi Zhi." I saw Xi Zhi hiding behind. Su Ling had already reached out to hold Yan'er's hand. This little sweetheart of his was actually shy.
"Giggle." Yan'er laughed and reached out her hand. Xi Zhi glanced at her, then looked up at me before reaching out her hand.
"Granny Su, you must take good care of them after you take them in. They can play in the courtyard and not come out, understand?"
Li Ruowei started making arrangements, and Xie Yuancheng dragged me to take a bath. No wonder he rushed there so quickly; it turned out he had planned this all along.
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