The original Li Mansion is still there, but the name has been changed in front of the door. When Ye Xiaomu walked into the place he had been here, he would still feel it somewhat.

She originally planned to leave, but she came, thinking that Li Hongzhong also had a wife and daughter living here. I don't know how they're doing now. So I thought I'd go over and pay a visit.

She followed the current city lord Yan Zhongcheng to the original Li Hongzhong residence, but the house number was no longer called Li Mansion, but was replaced by Lin Mansion.

Ye Xiaomu thought: This is Li Hongzhong's wife's surname, right?

"City Lord Yan, the previous wife of City Lord Li is surnamed Lin?" Ye Xiaomu stood at the door and asked Yan Zhongcheng behind him.

"No, Brother Li's wife's surname is Fang, and we all call her Sister-in-law Fang."

Hearing the words of the city lord, Ye Xiaomu felt very puzzled: "That's strange, why is this house surnamed Lin?" Aren't Uncle Li's wives and daughters living here? ”

"Her mother and daughter are indeed here, because Brother Li has been dead for more than half a year, the Fang family is not very old, and the daughter is also young, the family of the Li family found her own relatives for her, and let her remarry and find a surname Lin, you also know that Brother Li, there is only one girl, such a big Li house wants a girl to inherit, and the relatives who put it there are also worried that the money will be taken by outsiders. When the man moved in, he asked to change the house number to a forest house. ”

After hearing what the city lord said, Ye Xiaomu understood. After all, in many places, men are inferior to women, and the phenomenon of preference for sons over women is very common. Sister-in-law Li and Uncle Li's daughter, the daughter of two women, have so much money and assets in their hands, it is inevitable that they will be dominated by the elders in the family.

Ye Xiaomu thought that if the man surnamed Lin was a good man, it wouldn't matter. Whatever? The Fang family was widowed at such a young age, and it was also difficult to take care of the child alone, but she always had to see the man with her own eyes.

Hearing the sound of someone knocking on the door, Fang put down what he was doing and went to open the door.

After a while, Ye Xiaomu saw an ordinarily dressed woman panting and running over to open the door.

Seeing the current city lord Yan Zhongcheng, the woman smiled and said, "Brother Yan, why are you here?" ”

Fang said politely to Yan Zhongcheng, and then glanced at Ye Xiaomu and Mo Chen on the side, as well as the guards outside the door.

"Who are these two?"

Looking at the two men and women who were dressed in extraordinary clothes and had distinguished status, Fang asked cautiously.

Because the last time Ye Xiaomu and Li Wei came over, it just so happened that Li Hongzhong's wife and daughter were not there, and the two had never met. Suddenly, the two came to visit and were puzzled.

"Hello Aunt Fang, I am a friend of Li Wei, and I also know Uncle Li, so I happened to pass by here to visit you and my sister."

Li Hongzhong's wife, hearing Ye Xiaomu's words, her eyes flickered, but she quickly returned to her original smile.

But her expression did not escape the eyes of Ye Xiaomu and Mo Chen.

"Thank you for your concern! Let's come in and have a cup of tea. ”

Ye Xiaomu looked at her rough body, nodded, and walked to the living room in the house.

There are no other major changes in the scenery along the way, but the lotus flowers in the original lotus pond are gone. There was only that pool of water, and there were fish. I didn't see anyone else on the road.

"Sit down."

The woman invited the three to sit down, then took the teapot herself and poured tea for them.

I didn't see anyone else in such a big house. Ye Xiaomu was puzzled.

"I remember the last time I came, there were a lot of people in the house, why haven't you seen them now?"

"Huh? Oh, that's right, my father-in-law said that it was not good to have a lot of people, and he fired all the workers in the family. Seeing Ye Xiaomo ask, Fang's eyes flickered, and he thought for a moment before answering.

When Ye Xiaomu was pouring tea just now, his eyes looked at the back of her hand, although it was not obvious, but it could be seen that there was a bruise on the back of her hand.

That's why she suddenly asked like this, after listening to Fang's words, as well as her demeanor, there must be something wrong with this.

"I heard that Aunt Fang is now married. Don't know what the other person does? ”

Fang nodded awkwardly, "A petty official, after all, it was arranged by the family." The implication was already obvious, and it was not what she wanted.

"Oh, by the way, I wonder how old your daughter is now? I didn't prepare anything good, but this is my gift to her. Why don't you call her out and let her see if she likes it? Ye Xiaomu said with a smile.

"No, girl, you come to see that the two of us already have a heart, and there is no need for a meeting gift."

Fang looked at the hairpin in Ye Xiaomu's hand, it should be worth a lot, and he was even more embarrassed to accept it.

At this moment, a man who looked like he was in his forties walked in from outside, looked at the things in Ye Xiaomu's hand, turned his head to Yan Zhongcheng and said, "Why is the city lord free to come over today?" ”

"I'm bringing a friend." Because Ye Xiaomu explained not to say his identity, he said that he was a friend.

"On behalf of my wife, I thanked two distinguished guests for coming to visit."

After the man finished speaking, he glanced at Fang Shi and said, "What are you doing?" This meeting gift is not for you, but for Xiao Ran, how do you know if she wants it, why did you refuse yourself? ”

He turned his head to see Ye Xiaomu's beautiful face, he was stunned for a moment, and then the smiling face became even more flattering: "Then I will thank the girl on behalf of Xiaoran." ”

After speaking, his hand stretched out to the hairpin on Xiao Mu's hand, but before his hand touched it, he felt a little cold behind him, which felt very strange.

"Since this thing is for Xiao Ran, why don't you call her over, I haven't seen her either, I want to see how she looks? Otherwise, you won't recognize it next time you see it on the road. Ye Xiaomu took back the things in his hand and said.

"Madam, why don't you call Xiao Ran out soon?"

The man's words were not very loud, but the eyes in his eyes were vicious.

After hearing this, the Fang clan immediately replied, "I'll go now." ”

Looking at Fang's nervous and reflexive look, he thought that he had been forced out for a long time.

Ye Xiaomu's fists clenched tightly, thinking: To figure things out, we must teach the surnamed Lin a good lesson.

Seeing that the Fang clan had already walked out, the man turned his head to look at Ye Xiaomu and Mo Chen and said, "You two don't know where they are?" It's rare for two people to come over, so why don't you eat here at noon? ”

The man invited with a smile, thinking: Even the city lord has to bring these two people in person, thinking that the status of the two is not low, and if they are flattered, maybe they can go to the imperial city or become a big official.

Ye Xiaomu didn't have a good impression of this person, but his face didn't show it.

"That's too much trouble, isn't it? How embarrassing. Ye Xiaomu said politely.

"It's okay, my lady's cooking is good."

"Oh? Could it be that Aunt Fang is cooking every day now? ”

"Of course, isn't it normal for the male protagonist to be outside and the female protagonist to be inside?" The man said disapprehantly.

Ye Xiaomu's face was even darker, and even Yan Zhongcheng on the side was not much better. Only Mo Chen still had an expression of indifference, and did not say a word.

"Hehe, it stands to reason that this mansion is so big, why do you have to ask a few people to take care of it, right? But I didn't see anyone when I came in, did they go out? ”

"What do you want so many people for? Just have your Aunt Fang do it alone, she is more diligent than other people, and she doesn't have to waste money, isn't it good? ”

Listening to the man's natural words, Ye Xiaomu wanted to stand up and slap him twice, but she endured: "I remember that Uncle Li was here before, but Aunt Fang had never done rough work with her hands. ”

Such an obvious irony, a fool, all understood.

However, the man shamelessly said, "What will happen then? At that time, he was the lord of the city, how many people stammered him? The money that came for nothing, of course, is not afraid to spend it to hire people. ”

"What do you mean by that? Feelings, do you mean that my brother Li is corrupt? ”

Yan Zhongcheng couldn't listen to it anymore, so he hurriedly stood up and scolded the surnamed Lin, if he hadn't seen that the Fang family was his sister-in-law, he would have turned his face with this man a long time ago.

And there is also Lord Mu Venerable here, she didn't say anything, and he didn't want to have a seizure in person, but now the man's words obviously framed Li Hongzhong, and he was so angry that he had to attack.

"No, how dare I, I mean I really don't have the same ability as the previous Li City Lord, I am very high, and it costs a lot to hire someone to work, and my little money can't support it."

The man was stunned when he saw the city lord angry, because he had seen the city lord swallow his anger several times, thinking that he was a paper tiger and dared to be presumptuous in front of him. I didn't feel it at all, it was because the other party was polite to him for the sake of the Fang clan.

At this moment, Fang led a little girl of eight or nine years old into the walk.

Looking at the little girl's appearance, her eyes are quite smart, with two small braids and two round hair rings on her head. looks very cute, just looking at her dark skin, some pale complexion, and thinner body bones than ordinary girls, the expression on Ye Xiaomu's face is even colder.

I remember that the lord of Mu once told her that he had sent 10,000 taels of gold to Li Hongzhong's family to appease him, no matter how he said that the mother and daughter could raise their children well even if they didn't work, it was impossible to raise the children like this.

She stood up and walked up to the child: "Your name is Xiao Ran, right?" This is a gift from your sister, do you like it or not? ”

When the little girl saw the gift, her eyes lit up, but she didn't take it immediately, but looked at the man, and waited for the man to nod before reaching out to ask for it.

Ye Xiaomu saw the interaction between the two in his eyes.

"Why are you so skinny?" Ye Xiaomu asked distressedly.

At this time, the man came over and pulled the little girl back to his side: "She is more picky and doesn't like to eat any meat, I have said that she has been several times." ”

"You see that I usually tell you to eat more, but you don't listen, look at how thin you have become?"

These words sounded like the words of a loving father, but it was obvious that Ye Xiaomu didn't believe it.

The city lord didn't have much time to come in, and he was busy recently, but he didn't pay much attention to it, and when he saw the little girl's appearance, he was also very distressed, this girl was obviously malnourished.

"Even if you are picky, you can't lose weight like this, right? Moreover, the lord of the country also sent back 10,000 taels of gold, and you can find delicious food if you pick and choose. Ye Xiaomu said.

"Where did all the money go?" The lord asked, pointing at the man.

"You don't know, there are a lot of people in their Li family, everyone came to ask for some, and the countryside wants to build a house or something, and they came to borrow it, and the ancestral hall also came to ask, no matter how much money there is, it's not enough, right?" The man surnamed Lin said with a look of embarrassment.

Ye Xiaomu looked at the Fang clan's face, and it turned white. But he didn't dare to say anything. Together with the little girl, she stood beside the man, her body trembling.

"Even so, it's ten thousand taels of gold, no matter how hard you spend it, you can't use it up, right?" Ye Xiaomu continued to ask.

"I didn't say that it was completely used up, but you also know that Xiao Ran is now nine years old, and in a few years, he will have to find someone to marry, and it's time to save the dowry, plus some small money for daily expenses, how can I say it now, I am also a petty official, and I have to go to some places to do it, so there is not much left." The man's expression looked very helpless.

"If you have real skills, why do you need to spend money on it? Besides, I am the city lord and the brother of Brother Li, and I will also help take care of his wife and daughter, if you have the ability, I will naturally mention it, and I don't need to spend any money. ”