The children who arrived were the ones Ye Zhen had raised in the nunnery in the south.
They were originally supposed to arrive tomorrow, but they were worried about Ye Zhen and wanted to see her sooner.
They reduced their rest time and arrived in the capital a day early.
Unexpectedly, they ran into Ye Wantang and Madam Wang on the street.
Wang had been bedridden for many days and felt bored, so she went out for a stroll in a sedan chair.
The old woman who accompanied her once went to the estate to fetch Ye Zhen and recognized one of the children who was with Ye Zhen.
They guessed that they had come to the capital to find Ye Zhen. They thought of what had happened at the Marquis's residence last time, and they also heard that the Marquis of Zhongyong had given half of his fortune to Ye Zhen.
The mother and daughter were extremely jealous and wanted to make trouble for Ye Zhen today.
As Wang passed by several children, she suddenly cried out that her purse was missing.
The servants then accused the child who had brushed past Wang of stealing it. The child was wrongly accused and naturally had to argue his case.
Wang was looking for trouble. The servants knew what she was thinking, and soon they started pulling at the children, saying they were going to take them to the authorities.
The children refused, and somehow, one of them was pushed and shoved into Ye Wantang.
Ye Wantang's guards immediately drew their swords and injured the child, a gesture known as "protecting their master."
The children then realized that the Wangs were deliberately causing trouble.
The oldest of the group, Ah Li, pretended to agree to see the official, while gesturing to the others to take the injured Sui Sui to find Ye Zhen.
They all learned martial arts from Ye Zhen. The others understood his meaning, and the strongest of them, A Niu, carried Sui Sui away like an eel.
Xing Ze happened to overhear them inquiring about the Marquis of Zhongyong's residence. He was paying attention to Ye Zhen and Wan Xing's movements and knew that a child from the south had come to find Ye Zhen, so he took the initiative to go forward.
When the children saw that he knew Wanxing and Yezhen, that he even knew they were coming to the capital, and that he even knew their names, they followed him into the mansion.
Upon seeing Ye Zhen, the group surrounded him and began to tell him what had happened.
"Big sister, I didn't steal her purse, she's framing me on purpose."
The child who spoke was named Chunni. She was twelve years old this year and was taken in from a mass grave by Ye Zhen when she was four years old.
She said guiltily, "An old woman once went to the village and must have recognized me. They want to use this to cause trouble for my elder sister."
When her eldest sister was taken back to the capital by the Ye family, she was really reluctant to part with her, so she pretended to be a child from the village and showed herself to her eldest sister, which was seen by the old woman.
Yinyue said that her older sister was having a hard time in the capital, and they had finally persuaded Yinyue to bring them to the capital.
I came here to help my older sister, but I've already caused her trouble since I arrived in Beijing.
The others also lowered their heads in remorse, saying, "Big sister, we're sorry."
Ye Zhen was angry with the Wang mother and daughter, but also felt sorry for the children.
She hurriedly took Sui Sui from Ah Niu and comforted them, "It's not your fault."
Who would have thought that, in the past three years, Chunni had grown up so much, yet the old woman could still recognize her.
The Wang mother and daughter were even more vicious in their treatment of the child. She said to Sui Sui, "Don't be afraid, your older sister will take you to see a doctor."
Sui Sui was pale from blood loss, but her eyes were bright. "Yin Yue said that only those who have seen blood are true warriors, and Sui Sui is a warrior now."
It only hurt a little at first, but after seeing the older sister, it didn't hurt at all.
Marquis Zhongyong was surprised that a little girl was so brave, and the others all seemed to have a background in martial arts, and they were all full of energy, which was really rare. Therefore, he looked at them with great curiosity.
I didn't ask any more questions at this time.
Wanxing invited the royal physician over, and Yezhen asked her to accompany Suisui for treatment. She took the initiative to explain to Marquis Zhongyong.
"They are all orphans who grew up in a nunnery next to the manor. After Yinyue was driven out of the manor by her mother-in-law, she also stayed in the nunnery. Over the years, the children have been learning martial arts from her."
A while ago, I tried to find Yinyue, and when the children found out, they all came to help.
But in fact, there were far more children in the nunnery than just these; those who came were older and quite skilled, and she was their true master.
"Yinyue was delayed by something, so these younger ones came first. I didn't expect to run into my mother and Wantang..."
Marquis Zhongyong recently investigated matters within his household and learned that Ye Zhen had a maid who knew some martial arts, but she was dismissed by Lady Liu.
Now that Ye Zhen is in charge of the household, it's understandable that he wants to find his own people. However, it's really uncomfortable to hear Ye Zhen still calling Liu Shi "mother-in-law".
He waved his hand, indicating that she didn't need to explain, and thought to himself that he would write a letter of divorce and send it to the government office the next day.
"Settle them in the manor. As for the child who was left behind, I will go to the house for you."
Ye Zhen had not originally planned to let the children live in the Marquis's mansion, but plans can't keep up with changes.
Sui Sui needs treatment for her injuries. After what happened today, the Wang mother and daughter might even lay a hand on the children.
But she was planning to leave...
Marquis Zhongyong didn't give Ye Zhen a chance to consider it; after he finished speaking, he strode out.
Despite all that has happened today, the knot in his heart has not completely dissipated. This woman, Wang, knew perfectly well that those children had come to see Ye Zhen, yet she still deliberately bullied them.
How could she be another unfit mother? He took the riding whip from the servant's hand.
It's unclear whether she felt indignant for Ye Zhen or for herself.
They happened to run into Xie Tingzhou on the street, and Xie Tingzhou's horse turned around with a single whip.
Xie Tingzhou had business in the palace in the afternoon and was busy until he just left. As soon as he left the palace, he heard Fu Guang talk about what happened on the street.
He originally intended to find an excuse to bring the person back to the Marquis's residence, but unexpectedly, the Wang mother and daughter took the person to the General's residence.
Just as he was trying to come up with an excuse to ask for the man back, he encountered the imposing Marquis Zhongyong.
After a moment's thought, Xie Tingzhou understood what was going on and spurred his horse to catch up.
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