"Whats wrong, old lady? Who dares... " Mr. Lis words were left unspoken as his eyes fell on the open trunk in front of the old lady, and he suddenly became tongue-tied, his voice dropping to the ground, "Old lady, you were seasick at the time, feeling very uncomfortable, so I didnt dare disturb you, this is the eldest son of that mansion... just a few pieces of clothing, I thought since fifth brother is going to school, he should..."

  "My goodness!" The old lady understood that it was the Li familys patriarch who had sent it, and with a sudden surge of energy, her cry of "My goodness!" shook the heavens. "That family is a den of villains! Theyve been waiting day and night for you to die! Havent they harmed you enough? Now that youre better, theyre looking for an excuse to come and kill you again! How can you be so foolish... Ah, my heart is going to break... I wont live much longer... Ah, Im done for..." The old ladys wails shook the sky, her thighs slapping loudly.

  Mr. Li slumped his shoulders, hung his head and remained silent, Mrs. Xus face was pale, leaning on Li Dong who had already come in, coughing non-stop, Li Dong lowered his head, tears dropping one by one.

  "Brother Ming, from young to old, how did I teach you? As a person, even if you have nothing, you must have dignity! We as people, this backbone must be hard! Those bad eggs... his money is his own, we dont want it! This thing... now that youre the esteemed County Master, you must have even more dignity! Say something! You speak! Speak up!"

  Mr. Li reluctantly lifted his head, glanced at the old lady, and moved his lips, but couldnt say a word.

  Shan Geer wore his old clothes and was ridiculed by others, his heart felt like being stabbed repeatedly with a knife.

  "Oh, my poor sister...!" The old lady slapped her thigh and wailed even more miserably, "My...sister...ai...ai...ah...how could you just leave like that...ah...Heavenly Father...why didnt you let me die in her place..."

  "Aunt... I... I didnt... didnt plan to... dont want to, these two days have been busy, no time to take care of it, I know, I know all about it, how can I want their things? This is..." Mr. Li heard her cry like this, and his eyes immediately turned red, he couldnt finish a sentence before tears fell down."

  "Call in the wutong and take these things out, throw them away! Burn them with fire! Throw them away! Turn them into ashes for me! We may be poor, but we have dignity! We have backbone!" The old lady suddenly stopped crying and slapped Li Laos shoulder with a mighty force.

  Li Xia was stunned, watching the paulownia tree respond to her voice and move forward. She closed the trunk, called two rough servant women to carry it, and left. Li Xia jumped up, ran out a couple of steps before realizing she wasnt wearing shoes, hastily turned back to put them on, took a few strides, and then rushed out.

  "Asha! Asha! Go and take a look at your sister!" Mrs. Xu was scared by Li Xia.

  Li Xia stared at the paulownia tree, running extremely fast. Just as she was about to chase out of the second gate, she bumped into Li Wenshan, her fifth brother. Li Wenshan grabbed hold of Li Xia and asked, "Whats wrong? What happened? You..."

  "That box of things was given by Uncle, and the old lady asked Wutong to take it out and burn it. You quickly follow him out and watch quietly, dont let Wutong discover you, see if he burns it or not. If he doesnt burn it, where did the things go?" Li Xias face looked extremely unpleasant, but her words were clear and logical.

  Li Wenshan sighed, "Again... I know, dont worry, Ill go now, you hurry back." Li Wenshan gave Li Xia a push and ran quickly to watch the paulownia tree.

  Li Dong caught up, his face pale, "A Xia, you..."

  "Sister, Im fine." Li Xia turned around and rushed into her sisters arms, murmuring sadly, "Asha hurts for sister."

  Li Dong panted heavily, not hearing Li Xias muttering, and picked up Li Xia. "Does Xia miss those good things? Xia, thats not our stuff, its not our stuff, we cant have it..."

  "Sister, I understand." Li Xia hugged her sisters neck and rubbed her face against her shoulder. She didnt care about the things; she only felt heartache for her sister. For this lifetime, she must use all her strength to protect her sister well.

  Before long, Li Wenshan returned, looking very unhappy. He quietly called over Li Xia and the two of them crouched under the pomegranate tree in the courtyard, whispering to each other: "After leaving the county yamen, he carried the trunk by himself, I followed him..."

  "Really burned?" Li Xia asked with a held breath.

  "Damn it!" Li Wenshan gritted his teeth, and the profanity slipped out. "He carried the trunk into the first pawnshop on Bazi Street, I didnt dare to follow him in, and waited outside for less than a minute. He came out, the trunk was gone, and he had exchanged it for a heavy load of cloth! Son of a bitch!"

  "What happened after that? Where did you go? Who did you give the money to?"

  "Ah!" Li Wenshan was stunned. "Who else can you give it to... You mean? The old lady? Hes her godson!" This time, Li Wenshan reacted extremely quickly.

  "Adopted son?" Li Xia narrowed her eyes.

  "Its all my fault! Cant even handle such a small matter..." Li Wenshan slapped his forehead in frustration.

  "Big Brother, is the old lady really Fathers mothers sister? His own sister?" As for this old lady, Li Xia could recall very little about her and had almost no impression of her.

  "Didnt you know she was your cousin? Auntie later... that thing?" A dead word, Li Wenshan didnt say it out loud. Li Xia shook her head, "I dont remember, after Father messed things up, I havent had any impression of her since then. Later on, neither of us thought about her or looked into what happened to her."

  "Is it because of Auntie that Father is in trouble?" Li Wenshan furrowed his brow, "A Xia, I dont dare say this to others, but I always feel that the old lady isnt a good person, not to Father and us... thats not right."

  "Just look at what happened today, its definitely not a good thing." Li Xias eyes were gloomy, looking like this, their family was being controlled by this old lady. Just looking at what happened earlier, this old lady was greedy, vicious and had no bottom line. Would the bad things that Father did, and the fact that they became so poor during the house search, have anything to do with her?

  "This isnt the first time, every time something is sent from the capital, the old lady would cry and scold loudly, then order people to burn or smash whatever it was... Looking back now, those things from before probably all ended up in a pawnshop too?" Li Wenshan thought to himself as he slapped his forehead repeatedly, wondering why he had never thought to follow them before.

  "...If it were in the past at the Bo Mansion, the old lady would have been like this too..." Li Wenshan thought further and further away, "A Xia, the Bo Mansion was not good to A Da, Im afraid it also has something to do with this old lady..."

  "Dont think so far ahead." Li Xias cold voice interrupted Li Wenshans increasingly distant recollections. "Auntie was a slave who entered the manor with a body contract, she must have been the same, also entering the Bo Manor as a slave with a body contract. Such a slave, if the Bo Manor didnt indulge her, would she dare to be like this? Could she be like this? Everyone has their own karma, no one is clean." Li Xias tone was icy.

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