Wu Momo made an excuse to avoid it, and He Lize finally managed to speak: "Miss He Liu, about Auntie's matter, I hope you——"

  "You also just heard what Wu Moumou conveyed, the meaning of Old Zhuo Yibo. He Lianan interrupted calmly, calling out in a somewhat self-mocking tone, "The matter of your aunt Shao Heshi is clearly not for me, an outsider, to intervene. Whatever it is, go to the Bo Mansion and discuss it with them. Whether or not they accept her is their decision, not ours at the Hou Mansion."

  From the very beginning, it was the mother and daughter who repeatedly provoked him. Even if she had a kind heart and knew that repaying kindness with enmity would only bring endless hatred in the end, it would still be exhausting and heartbreaking for her. As for pleading on their behalf, it's really hard to say with a clear conscience.

  After sending off He Lizhe, He Le'an took a nap and got up to change into men's clothing and go out. She went to the Fugui Wine House, but since her engagement, things have been busy, and she hasn't visited Master Xiong and his family for almost a month. When she arrived at the wine house, the other cooks said that Master Xiong had suddenly returned home due to a family matter. He Le'an was worried, so she bought some small items and went to visit him.

  It doesn't matter if you don't look, but when you do, you'll find that Uncle Xiong is beating a young and weak boy to death. His usual gentle and kind appearance has become extremely violent, as if he wants to skin the boy alive. The people around him didn't dare to intervene, they could only shout and call out in fear, scaring He Le'an into a daze before rushing over to pull him away, saying "Uncle Xiong!"

  Uncle Xiong, with his eyes red from anger, swung a punch onto He Le'an's slender shoulder, and a sharp cry of pain rang out, which slightly brought Uncle Xiong back to his senses. Then he saw that He Le'an, whose eyes had also turned red, screwed up his pale face in pain and said: "We can talk things over!"

  Uncle Xiong, who had always been very protective of this apprentice, saw her tightly grasping his arm and furiously throwing away the other boy she was holding onto. He fiercely spat out a mouthful of saliva, "I'm telling you, Peng, if you dare to say one more word that my daughter is willing, I'll punch your brain into tofu!"

  The young man who was beaten by Uncle Bear into a pig-like head, painfully shrunk to the ground, humbly and timidly dared not speak again. The men from the village who had been watching rushed over with ropes to tie him up. Some people indignantly accused him of being a white-eyed wolf, while the elderly women all showed a look of sympathy.

  Later, He Le'an learned from Zhang Dama, who had been taking care of Xiong Shu's daughter Xiong Lin's daily life, that this young man surnamed Peng was a villager. He lost his parents at a young age and was raised by a grandmother after her death. The villagers supported him to grow up, and the one who supported him the most was Xiong Shu. Unexpectedly, he took advantage of Zhang Dama's absence while working in the fields today to attempt to do something bad to Xiong Lin!

  Fortunately, Zhang's wife asked her neighbor to help keep an eye on Xiong Lin before she went out to work in the fields. This prevented a tragedy from happening, but poor Xiong Lin was left paralyzed and unable to speak. All she could do was cry and make sounds, unable to express her grievances. And to make matters worse, this man surnamed Peng claimed he would take responsibility.

  He Lianan entered the simple home of Xiong Shu and saw Xiong Shu slapping the table, scolding two big women who didn't know what to say: "This bastard takes nothing for my daughter! No money, no talent, lazy and wasteful, still whoring and gambling! My daughter doesn't need someone like him. I can support her for a lifetime! If he wants to marry my daughter, not only is the door closed, but even the window won't be left with a crack!!"

  She thought this was reasonable and was about to agree, when the two old women sighed and said: "How old are you now? How many more years can you take care of Linlin? To say something unpleasant, if you die, Linlin will still be taken advantage of. Can't you take advantage of your energy now to raise that scoundrel Peng into a decent person, so that Linlin's future is secure? Why are you being stubborn?"

  Uncle Xiong's face turned black and red with anger, "Handing Lingling over to such a scumbag is equivalent to pushing her to death, I won't do it!!"

  Those two women were persuading him again, but Uncle Xiong had his own thoughts and drove them away after a few sentences. He Lian saw him sitting dejectedly in the corner, suddenly looking ten years older. Wanting to comfort him, she didn't know how to start, and before she could speak, she heard Uncle Xiong muttering heavily: "Xiao Ke, you... do you think my persistence is right?"

  "Of course!" He Le'an firmly expressed his support, "I'm here too, I'll also help take care of Lin Mei, we're master and apprentice with one heart, raising a little girl together, how can we not do it well?"

  Uncle Bear didn't know whether he was moved or what. Those eyes, which were wide open and red, couldn't hold back the surging tears, and one by one, they fell from his eye sockets, which were full of age marks, but in an instant, he wiped them away with his hand, straightened his back, as if to strengthen his determination to raise his daughter for a lifetime.

  He Le'an's nose was sour as she looked at him. She said, "I'll go take a look in the room for Lin Mei."

  Xiong Lin was so frightened that she had taken the medicine and fallen into a deep sleep, but on her pale face, which had not seen sunlight for years, there were still visible traces of tears flowing weakly and fearfully. He Le An's heart ached as he wetted his handkerchief to wipe her face gently.

  The sun sets in the west, He Le'an cooked rice and porridge for her uncle and aunt, then went next door to remind Zhang's wife of a few things before returning to the Hou Mansion. She put into action what she had been thinking about all along - taking out the savings she had accumulated over the years. It turned out that there was still quite a bit of silver money, in addition to the monthly allowance given by Old Lady He, as well as occasional rewards and her own part-time earnings.

  After counting, there were exactly one thousand two silver coins. Buying a small house in the prosperous area near the Rich and Noble Wine House and getting two or three maids was not a problem at all. So she called for an experienced maid from the mansion to go out and look for a house, and then ran to Old Lady He's place to redeem two maids who understood medicine.

  After making all the arrangements, He Le lay on the bed with a satisfied smile, only to feel a slight pain in his shoulders. When he opened his clothes, he found that the place where Xiong Shu had accidentally hit him was swollen and bruised. He pressed it with his hand and felt a sharp pain, so he quickly called for Xing Yu and Li Yun to bring the medicine box to treat it.

  Apricot rain feared that she would hurt her bones and not be able to treat them in time, leading to a big disaster. She went to invite the doctor from the mansion to come over and do a simple check-up. After confirming that there was no major problem, she dared to let out a sigh of relief. She reminded her master with a big heart: "Miss, it's better not to go out tomorrow."

  "I had promised my ninth sister to accompany her to the garden party anyway." He Lian smiled and said, "It's not a big deal, don't worry, just sleep it off and you'll be fine." However, as it turned out, spraining an ankle doesn't take a hundred days to heal but several days are needed, and the next day her shoulder was even more swollen.

  He Le looked at her high and protruding shoulders, really couldn't bear to let her go out, stopped He Le An who still wanted to accompany her: "Sixth sister is better off resting at home, when I come back, my younger sister will bring you some delicious food." Before leaving, she also super anxiously reminded the maids not to let this idle master do anything else, saying that if her shoulders were not good and got hurt again, it would be even more severe.

  The maids took their orders seriously.

  However, He Le'an felt that they might have misunderstood the part of her injury, and even didn't let her get out of bed. Two consecutive days passed like a stiff corpse, when Xue Huiyu came to see her, she couldn't help but laugh: "I don't know, I thought you were seriously injured!"

  He Lian sighed heavily and said, "I'm starting to suspect that I've suffered some unknown injury. This shoulder is swollen, just like it was stabbed with a knife. And my grandmother even gave me a hundred-year-old ginseng to nourish my body."

  "Alright, alright, stop showing off how spoiled you are." Xue Hui said with a smile, and then pulled out a bright red invitation card. "You rarely attend banquets at various mansions. I don't know if you'll accept the invitation from the entire mansion, so Zhong Sun Si specially entrusted me to give you an exclusive invitation card - her wedding with Dongfang Shizi in mid-March."

  **

  Xue Hui had just left when Xie Xie arrived with several large boxes of precious medicinal materials.

  He Lian'an received the report from the maid. Before he could change into a decent outfit, he had already arrived in front of her with an air of nonchalance, looking down at her with a hint of a smile and saying, "Hmm, this shoulder also seems to be swollen. It's indeed a genuine camel."

  She drew a black line across her forehead with a flourish and said, "Who consoles the wounded like you?"

  "It's not consolation because of me."

  “……”

  "For those who get beaten up for others' fights, I have no words of comfort."

  "I'm not afraid that if I don't stop him now, Uncle Xiong will kill someone, after all, he's my second master!" she said with a pout.

  Xie Ming knew that her grievances were fake, but he just couldn't bear the sight of her pitiful appearance, and his heart softened immediately. Seeing her constantly shrinking into the quilt, he frowned and said: "An Er, are you very cold?"

  "No, it's not cold." He Lan An blinked and said.

  Look at that thin undergarment on her neck, she raised an eyebrow and said, "Why are you wrapped so tightly in the quilt, aren't you cold?"

  He Le'an's face was inexplicably a little hot, and she stuttered, "Okay, it seems to be a bit... a bit... cold." As soon as her words fell, he let out a 'pfft' sound, a very light and pleasant laugh. She raised her eyes and saw his handsome face getting bigger and bigger, then his sturdy arms tightly wrapped around her.

  Their eyes suddenly met at close range, and her face turned bright red.

  "Is it still cold now?"

  The low voice was like strong liquor, with a warm and fragrant breath that instantly intoxicated He Le'an, "No, no, no more coldness!"

  He suddenly leaned in, his voice low and gentle as he whispered in her ear, "What to do, I want to eat you up right now." His lips curled into a mischievous smile, "An'er is so adorable, can I endure until the tenth night..."

  A deafening heartbeat exploded into fireworks by her ear, and He Le'an only felt a faintly discernible softness brushing against her earlobe!