Chapter 669, Ruined Reputation
"This is the prefect's house. It's really grand."
Li Wangshi was supported by her two daughters-in-law. She kept looking at the backyard of the Yan family, looking here and commenting there, as if she treated this place as her own home.
"Among the Li family's brothers and sisters, the third sister is the most fortunate. She can live in such a big courtyard and has so many servants to serve her."
Li Wang's daughter-in-law immediately smiled and said, "Mother is so lucky to have such a good daughter. You can enjoy happiness in your old age." As she said this, she looked at Yan Wenxiu.
"Isn't that what the eldest master said?"
Yan Wenxiu looked indifferently at the woman in front of him whose eyes were full of calculations. He didn't know whether to say that this person was whimsical or extremely ignorant. Did she really think that his family could just deny anything they wanted?
Too lazy to waste time talking to them, Yan Wenxiu asked the servant to take the person to a guest house and turned to leave.
Daohua and Gu Jian did not return to Taohua Village until early December. If it were not for the fact that the year was almost over and there were many things to do at home, neither of them would have wanted to come back.
"Master, let's go out for a walk again after the spring next year."
"It doesn't matter to me, but will the elders in your family agree?"
"As long as I tell them I'm going out with you, they will definitely agree."
"Just use your master as a shield."
After chatting and laughing with Gu Jian for a while, Daohua began to pack the gifts she had bought during this trip. Before she had packed half of the gifts, Wang Maner walked in with a bad look on her face.
Daohua raised her eyes and glanced at her: "What's wrong?"
Wang Maner: "Miss, something happened at home while we were away."
Daohua's expression paused: "What happened?"
Wang Man'er quickly said: "Girl, do you know that you have a step-grandmother?"
Daohua pondered for a moment before remembering that Madam Li did have a stepmother. "Yes, there is such a person, but Mother and her haven't been in touch for a long time."
Wang Man'er said angrily, "But now, Madam's stepmother and her family are living in our house and won't leave. What's even more abominable is that when they came, they made a big fuss in front of our house. Now many people in the city are saying that Madam is unfilial. Madam has collapsed several times because of this."
After hearing this, Daohua's face suddenly darkened: "Who told you this?"
Wang Maner: "The village head said so. When he went to the provincial government to pay the bill, he heard many people talking about this matter."
Daohua frowned and said, "Go find Yan Shouhou for me."
Wang Maner nodded and just as she was about to turn around and leave, she asked again, "Miss, shouldn't we go back to the mansion right away?"
Daohua was silent for a moment: "No hurry, let's listen to what Yan Shouhou has to say first."
Wang Maner didn't ask any more questions and went to find someone quickly.
That afternoon, Yan Shouhou arrived at Taohua An.
Daohua looked at Yan Shouhou and said, "Tell me in detail what happened to the Li family."
Yan Shouhou immediately told Daohua what had happened at home in the past two months.
"The Li family came uninvited in October. Madam didn't want to see them, so Old Lady Li made a scene at the door, attracting many people to watch. Master didn't want to make a big deal out of it, so he had no choice but to call them in."
"After entering the mansion, Madam met Old Lady Li and told them to leave immediately. However, Old Lady Li shamelessly said that she would live in our house forever and that Madam would support her and her two sons."
"Mrs. Li naturally didn't want to, but Old Lady Li said that if Madam Li didn't agree, she would go out on the streets and say that Madam Li was unfilial and that she wanted to tarnish the Yan family's reputation."
Yan Shouhou spoke carefully, and from time to time he looked up at the silent Daohua. Because he couldn't tell what Daohua was thinking, he spoke even more cautiously, trying not to get his own emotions involved.
"On the third day after the Li family arrived, the two uncles received the news and immediately rushed over to take Old Lady Li and her family away. But Old Lady Li refused to go, no matter what. When the second uncle got a little tough, Old Lady Li started throwing a tantrum."
"The eldest uncle tried to take Mrs. Li away by force, but she screamed and tried to bang her head. Mrs. Li's two sons immediately started shouting, saying that the two uncles wanted to kill their stepmother."
"Although the two uncles were extremely angry, they didn't dare to go too far. After that, the two uncles came several times and said everything they could, both good and bad, but they still couldn't take Old Madam Li away."
Hearing this, Daohua asked, "What about father and elder brother? Can't they control Old Lady Li's family?"
Yan Shouhou: "Originally, the master and the eldest uncle wanted to send people to forcibly send Mrs. Li and her family away, but who knew that Mrs. Li's eldest grandson was actually a good friend of the second son of Fan Tongzhi's family."
"As soon as the Li family arrived, Second Master Fan came to pay his respects every few days, and even brought other students from the prefectural academy with him. The master was concerned about his reputation and didn't want to go too far."
Daohua's eyes flashed coldly, and she sneered, "So, the Li family has been living in our house for over two months, and no one can do anything to them?"
As he spoke, his eyes narrowed.
"The Li family's hometown, Fan Tongzhi, is at least several hundred miles away from Ningmen Prefecture. How could two people who have nothing in common be good friends?"
Feeling Daohua's anger, Yan Shouhou lowered his head and dared not speak.
Daohua continued to ask, "I heard that the rumor in the city is that my mother is unfilial to her stepmother?"
Yan Shouhou nodded, his face filled with confusion as he continued, "Although Old Madam Li made a scene at the gate that day, Master quickly summoned everyone back to the mansion. But somehow, the story kept getting more and more outrageous and outrageous."
Daohua snorted inwardly. Why else could it be? Someone must be fanning the flames behind the scenes. After a moment of silence, she suddenly asked, "I asked you to keep a close eye on the Guo family. Has there been any activity from the Guo family recently?"
Yan Shouhou was stunned for a moment, as if he didn't expect the topic to change so quickly: "There is no movement from the Guo family."
Daohua looked at Yan Shouhou, looked at his honest and simple face, and suddenly sighed. She was wrong. She shouldn't have let Yan Shouhou keep an eye on the Guo family. With his temper, if she let him keep an eye on them, he would probably just send someone to watch the gate of the Guo family.
"Go get Cao Chuan and Baldy for me."
Yan Shouhou left trembling with fear. For some reason, he always felt that the girl's eyes were filled with deep disappointment when she looked at him for the last time.
Daohua watched Yan Shouhou's departing back with her eyes narrowed.
The Li family were just ordinary people, with no achievements and no support. In their early years, they had such unpleasant experiences with their mother and uncle. Logically, they would not dare to appear in front of the Yan family again.
But now, they came anyway, made such a big fuss, and even got involved with Fan Tongzhi. She would never believe that there was no one backing them up.
Was it done by the Guo family?
Daohua let out a sigh. She could deal with the Jiang family without any scruples, but she could not ignore the Guo family because Governor Guo was Xiao Yeyang's uncle. She could ignore the Guo family, but she could not ignore Xiao Yeyang's feelings.
Soon, Cao Chuan and Baldy arrived.
Daohua said directly: "Go check whether anyone from the Guo family has contacted the Li family recently. Also, check the Guo family's private relationship with Fan Tongzhi's family."
Cao Chuan and Baldy took the order and left.
As soon as the two left, Daohua fell into deep thought. If it was really the Guo family who was plotting against the Yan family behind the scenes, what should she do?
The Jiang family framed my father for losing military rations in order to kill the Yan family.
The Guo family called Mrs. Li and her family to ruin the Yan family's reputation.
One of these two is rampant, the other is insidious, and both are so disgusting.
(End of this chapter)
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