"Everyone, eat more, don't be shy!"
At the dinner table, Liu Yingying politely greeted everyone. There were only five people at the table, including herself and Jiang Suyu.
Xue Ye, Xiang Lian, and the village chief.
The village chief was at this table mainly to witness her and Jiang Suyu's sworn brotherhood ceremony.
After everyone had finished eating, Liu Yingying took out a package wrapped in red cloth and gave it to the village chief.
"Uncle Wang, you are my elder, and from now on Sister Suyu will be my own sister. I will have to trouble you to take good care of me in the village!"
Her meaning was clear: in the past, Jiang Suyu and her son were not well-liked in the village and faced many difficulties.
Now that she is her acknowledged older sister, she should enjoy the same treatment as other villagers!
The village chief was always cunning; how could he not understand what she meant?
Especially after seeing the thing wrapped in red cloth, it became even harder to stop smiling.
"Alright, alright! Yingying, don't worry. I promise you here today, if anyone dares to bully the Jiang family mother and son again, I, Wang Delulu, will be the first to object!"
Liu Yingying then revealed a satisfied smile.
"Xiao Ye, from now on I'm really your aunt. Auntie has a gift for you today!"
Xue Ye suddenly looked up at her, still feeling resistant to the title "aunt".
Just as he was about to refuse her gift, a piece of black jade carved with a fish leaping over a dragon gate was stuffed into his hand.
Liu Yingying put down his hand and smiled kindly; "This is a small token of my appreciation, please don't find it offensive. I hope you will achieve great things in the future!"
Jiang Suyu, who was standing next to her, was very happy to hear this blessing. After all, who doesn't want their son to succeed?
Seeing that her son's reaction was rather indifferent, she glared at Xue Ye reproachfully.
"Xiao Ye, why don't you thank your aunt?"
Xue Ye's expression stiffened before he managed to utter three words with difficulty: "Thank you, Aunt!"
"Good girl!" Liu Yingying smiled, her eyes crinkling.
Xue Ye now wishes he could slap himself a few times. Why did he go to Qiao Yunshan in the first place?
If this woman hadn't personally gone into the mountains to rescue him, he wouldn't need to be called "aunt" today!
Just then, two more people entered from outside.
They are the village chief's two cousins.
"Uncle, Sister-in-law Zhu, I'm so sorry, the shop was so busy today, and the boss only gave me half a day off!"
The man who spoke was around thirty years old, short and stocky, with a square face.
Liu Yingying remembered that his name was Wang Dafu. He had attended school for two years when he was a child, and later went to the city to learn how to use an abacus from his master.
Now I work as an accountant.
The thought of the accountant's identity stirred something within her.
As her business grew, she actually needed an accountant!
After Wang Dafu came over and greeted them, he went to sit at Wang Dabing's table. However, after sitting down, his eyes kept glancing towards Liu Yingying.
Liu Yingying also sensed the ambiguous gaze and said to the village chief, "Dabing and the others have finished eating at their table. Why don't you invite Brother Dafu to sit at our table? There's still so much food left!"
The village chief nodded, beckoned Wang Dafu over, and slapped him on the head again; "You've been looking shifty ever since you came in. Tell me, did you get into some trouble in the city?"
"No! Absolutely not!" Wang Dafu quickly explained, then secretly glanced at Liu Yingying, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
Liu Yingying understood; it seemed to be related to her!
She smiled warmly and asked, "Brother Dafu, what happened?"
Wang Dafu mentally organized his thoughts; "Yingying, you'll find out about this sooner or later anyway, so I might as well tell you: Lord Shen has been imprisoned!"
"Clang!" The chopsticks in Liu Yingying's hand fell to the ground.
"What... what's going on?"
"Lord Shen was perfectly fine, how could he have been imprisoned?"
The smile vanished from her face, replaced by a solemn expression.
The others held their breath, their faces showing worry.
"Well, I heard it's related to the water park in Ningzhou. Lord Shen even submitted a memorial to the court about it, but he was accused of embezzlement... That's all I know..."
Wang Dafu told him everything he knew.
Everyone turned to look at Liu Yingying. Village Chief Wang Delu pursed his lips, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
Finally, Xianglian spoke up, breaking the deathly silence: "Sister Liu, your title of Lady of the Township was obtained for you by Lord Shen. Now that he has been framed, won't it implicate you?"
Jiang Suyu also spoke with great concern, "Yes, Yingying, what if you get implicated?"
A hint of worry also appeared in Xue Ye's eyes, but he ultimately said nothing.
"No, it won't happen!" Liu Yingying quickly calmed down.
"Let alone the fact that we don't know the specifics yet, even if what Brother Dafu said is true, and that Lord Shen and I are just casual acquaintances, it won't implicate me!"
In fact, Liu Yingying had a rough guess in her mind.
Lord Shen's matter must be related to that Prefect of Ningzhou, who is from the Yong'an Marquis's mansion.
She was merely a village lady, not even worthy of his attention!
However, since this has happened, she still has to go to the city to find out what's going on, and while she's at it, she can also take a bucket of milk tea out to promote, and maybe she can also expand new business opportunities.
After the banquet, Jiang Suyu found her and, for safety reasons, asked her to bring Xue Ye with her into the city.
Since they needed someone to move that big bucket of milk tea, Liu Yingying didn't refuse.
Along the way, Liu Yingying sat by the carriage window, looking at the lush greenery on both sides of the road.
After several heavy rains, the place finally regained its vitality.
Liu Yingying's eyes were getting tired from looking at him. Just as she was about to look away, she noticed that Xue Ye was staring at her expressionlessly. She reached out and touched her face.
"What, is there something dirty on my face?"
Xue Ye: "Are you very worried about him?"
Liu Yingying pursed her lips; she knew exactly what the other person was asking. "Lord Shen is a good official who cares about the people!"
Xue Ye was not satisfied with her answer; "But this has nothing to do with you, why not stay out of it?"
Liu Yingying was slightly taken aback.
Yes, Xue Ye is right, she can indeed stay out of it.
But... she was also a public official, and she was willing to defend her duties with her life.
Lord Shen, too, is willing to sacrifice himself for the people of Ningzhou.
In a sense, they are actually the same kind of people.
It's an instinct to uphold one's responsibilities even if the time and identity change!
She sighed softly; "If Lord Shen dies, there will be no one left to stand up for the people of Ningzhou."
Xue Ye hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.
What he really wanted to say was that this was the duty of a local official, and it had nothing to do with her, a woman.
But after thinking about it, I still didn't say it.
The carriage soon arrived in Furong County.
Liu Yingying delivered the milk tea to the Dragon and Phoenix Theater.
Bai Mudan had never seen this before and was very curious. "What is this thing? Why does it smell both sweet and like tea?"
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