"Madam, you'd better calm down first. I only heard her discussing this matter with the master, but what the master thinks about it is still unknown."

  Mrs. Xu heard this and felt a sense of relief in her heart, knowing that Master must not agree to such a thing!

  "The old master is also a doting father, but he might not agree. However," Hong's nurse paused and let out a long sigh, "all these years, the mistress knows that in the old master's heart and eyes, that old lady is perfect, without a single flaw. If there was even a tiny flaw, it would be because the old lady had a moment of thoughtlessness, not because she was bad."

  What kind of temper does that old lady have, you know best, she can do whatever she says, if she has made up her mind, the master will not agree with her once or twice, but what about the third time?

  "Even if she didn't dare to move the old master, she would secretly deceive the old master and mistress, use her cunning, ruin Dong Jie's reputation, or directly send Dong Jie to some man's bed in a small sedan chair. Mistress, this matter, can it be prevented?"

  Upon hearing "sent to the man's bed", Mrs. Xu's face instantly turned pale and her forehead was covered in cold sweat.

  Li Dong's face was filled with fear, and what Old Lady Hong said was all true.

  "There's something else," said Hong, moving closer to Mrs. Xu, "that day we arrived at the county yamen, that old lady had a big box of clothes, fabric, headwear and jewelry thrown out and burned, but Qiong took them out secretly, sent them to the pawnshop, exchanged for silver, and delivered it into the hands of that old lady. Qiong said this was an old rule since they arrived in Taiyuan Prefecture."

  "Does Master know about this?" With the prior knowledge of sending Li Dong as a concubine, Madam Xu listened to this matter very calmly.

  "Wutong said the old master doesn't know, but even if he did, what could he do? In the old master's eyes, Old Lady is more dear to him than his own mother. Pointing at the old master... Dong Jie and Xia Jie will both have to become someone else's concubine, not one of them can escape." Hong Yayi rudely retorted.

  "Ah Nang." Li Dong leaned against Mrs. Xu and called out in a low, frightened voice.

  "Get her out of here!" Mrs. Xu's whole body was tense, squeezing out the words from between her teeth.

  Hong's eyes lit up and she secretly let out a sigh of relief.

  "We must drive her away! Master... She won't leave, I will! I'll take Shan Ge with me... I'll take the child and go! We... we..."

  "Let's go back to the capital!" Seeing Mrs. Xu didn't know where to go, Old Lady Hong quickly added a sentence. "It's just right, Shan Ge should take the imperial examination for children and become a Xiucai this year. Madam can bring the four siblings back to the capital to live, Shan Ge is 15 years old this year, Master was also at Shan Ge's age when he started taking charge of the family, I think our Shan Ge is even better than Master by a bit."

  "Alright." Madame Xue took a deep breath and gradually regained her composure, "If he doesn't drive her away, we'll return to the capital, we..."

  "Madam, the old master is a doting father, although he's extremely muddled...” Hong's expression changed as she saw Madam Xu make up her mind, and she began to think seriously. "It's just that he's too muddled. That Clock Mother is a piece of work, everyone can see right through her. It's just that the old master has a layer of lard covering his heart, and you, madam, are someone who only knows about the Three Obediences and Four Virtues, always going along with whatever he says... To put it another way, if the old master could see clearly what kind of person Clock Mother is, perhaps that layer of lard on his heart might melt away."

  "How can he be clearer? It's already like this, and still not clear? What else does he want to see?" Mrs. Xu was now filled with resentment towards County Magistrate Li.

  "Zhong Baozhen has a mouth that can talk a lot, and she's not afraid to show her face. I was thinking, if we could let Master hear Zhong Baozhen say a few words from the heart, maybe he would understand." Hong Yiniang continued.

  "Clock... She's now more cautious, how can she say what's on her mind?" Li Dongxian picked up the sentence, a sentence of doubt was not finished, and immediately changed the subject, "What good idea does Auntie have?"

  "I mentioned to my wife the other day that Wang's wife and Yang's wife from Alley 69 often drink together, chatting for half a day or even a whole day. They just went again, I heard they've known each other for a long time, both are from Yangzhou families."

  "Even if there were a few sincere words in the conversation that lasted half a day, who knows when they would be said? How could it be so coincidental that Master heard those exact words?" Madam Xu smiled wryly, this was an unexpected stroke of luck. "Let's just take Shan and the others back to Beijing..."

  "Mother Ah, it's up to people to try, after all." Li Dong looked at Hong Niangniang, vaguely sensing something.

  "Dong Jie's right, let's do our best first. Let's think this through carefully and see where the difficulty lies... is there a way to solve it?" Hong Yini took over the conversation, seamlessly transitioning into the main topic.

  After discussing for a short while, Hong Yiniang emerged from the curtain and stood under the corridor, taking a deep breath. From afar, she saw Zhen Yiniang's face was slightly flushed, clearly having had five or six parts of wine, glancing at her as she dusted off her sleeves and headed towards the back door in another direction.

  ………………

  On the busiest street in Hengshan County facing the government office, there stands the only two-story teahouse in Hengshan County.

  On the second floor of the teahouse, Mr. Qin and Guo Sheng sat facing each other by the window. Guo Sheng was in his thirties, with a wheat-colored complexion, slender and robust, wearing a white fine linen long gown, sitting upright.

  Mr. Qin looked at him with one glance after another, and at first glance, he didn't think much of him, but the more he looked, the more he felt that he was extraordinary, after seven or eight glances, Mr. Qin's heart was moved, and also a bit chilled, such a person, it's likely that neither the Li family nor the Fifth Master can keep him.

  "Have you seen County Magistrate Li?" Mr. Qin asked Guo Sheng while looking at him.

  "Honest man." Guo Sheng nodded.

  "That Li Wu Lang..." Mr. Qin's words were cut off as Guo Sheng gestured downstairs, "He's here."

  Mr. Qin hastily turned his head and looked towards the county government office.

  On the main street, Li Wenshan was walking hand in hand with Li Xia, strolling along.

  Two people looked at the two people downstairs.

  Li Wenshan led Li Xia into a pen and ink shop, and soon came out with a roll of Xuan paper, and the two returned.

  "Wolong is very rare." Mr. Qin looked at Guo Sheng and sighed.

  Guo Sheng's eyebrows slightly furrowed, and he asked in return, "The little one, is she his sister? Five years old this year?"

  "Yes, Gorō is particularly fond of this little sister." Mr. Qin was slightly taken aback, "What's wrong?"

  "That little girl... " Guo Sheng paused, "Just now they came over, and in front of them passed a vendor carrying goods on a pole, and then they walked past a candy store, a bead store. That little girl didn't even give them more than a glance, she's only five years old."

  Mr. Qin was even more stunned, "I really didn't notice, Brother Guo is indeed meticulous."

  Guo Sheng was smiling and talking when there were a few knocks at the door of the room, Mr. Qin called out to come in, and Ji Da pushed open the door and entered.

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