Shen Wei’s hand holding the brush tightened, then he looked up, his face full of pleasant surprise.
“A Shu!”
He dropped his brush and ran happily toward Li Yue Shu.
Whether intentional or not, the brush landed squarely on Shen Yimin, leaving a deep mark.
Shen Yimin: “……”
“A Shu, you’re finally back!”
Shen Wei tugged at Li Yue Shu’s sleeve, shaking it in a wronged manner.
Li Yue Shu patted his head with her other hand and smiled, “Good boy, I bought you pastries, they’re still warm!”
The expression on Shen Wei’s face froze for a moment, but he quickly recovered.
He took the pastries and smiled even more happily, “Thank you, A Shu!”
Li Yue Shu didn’t notice, patted his head again, and then turned to leave.
Only when her figure disappeared did Shen Wei put away his foolish grin.
Shen Yimin walked over, still wiping ink off his clothes.
He glanced at the pastries in Shen Wei’s hand and raised an eyebrow slightly, “I remember Father never liked sweets. I didn’t expect his taste to change after losing his memory and becoming foolish.”
Shen Wei’s gaze flickered.
He had never actually liked sweets, but that woman treated him like a child and always liked these things.
When he was foolish, he would never refuse that woman’s requests, because Old Man Liu was always nagging him that a wife was someone you’d spend your life with, you must always listen to her, and your wife is always right…
With his incomplete mind, he took these words as ironclad rules.
So, it was all Old Man Liu’s fault!
Shen Wei consoled himself this way and then glared at Shen Yimin, “Are the characters I told you to practice finished?”
Shen Yimin: “……”
He suddenly missed the foolish father.
…
After distributing the items she bought from town to everyone, Li Yue Shu immersed herself in her work, unaware that someone, in an effort to deal with her, had actually found Li Xiang Ru.
At that time, Li Xiang Ru was playing with the child she had taken in when the stableman said someone claiming to be Shen Cheng Cai’s mother was looking for her outside.
Li Xiang Ru couldn’t recall who Shen Cheng Cai was and told him to send the person away.
But just as the stableman turned to leave, she suddenly remembered that Shen Cheng Cai seemed to be the nephew of Li Yue Shu’s husband’s family.
“Let her in.”
Li Xiang Ru told the child to play elsewhere, then tidied her hem, assuming a dignified posture.
A moment later, Mrs. Yang cautiously walked in.
Li Xiang Ru was staying at the best inn and the best room in town. Mrs. Yang, a country woman, had never stayed in such a nice place and appeared somewhat restrained.
Especially when she saw Li Xiang Ru’s dignified and noble demeanor, she became even more nervous.
Li Xiang Ru appraised her from head to toe, her gaze carrying a sense of superiority, and she did not speak.
Mrs. Yang put on a smile and spoke first, “You are my sister-in-law’s elder sister, right? You truly are as beautiful as a falling fish and a shy goose, even more so than any flower!”
She was illiterate and thought it was quite remarkable to be able to utter an idiom.
She took the initiative to sit opposite Li Xiang Ru, acting as if they were old friends, “I heard you are also from Tong Mu County? Looking at your demeanor, one would think you are a young lady from a wealthy family!”
Faced with her flattery, Li Xiang Ru gave a slight smile.
Ever since she arrived in Tong Mu County and made it known she was from Chong Zhou, and after spending a large sum to help the academy, countless people came to fawn over her daily. She was long accustomed to it.
Li Xiang Ru gracefully brushed her hair away from her ear and asked directly, “What business do you have with me?”
Mrs. Yang vaguely sensed her coolness but didn’t pay it much mind, “I am mainly here for my sister-in-law today.”
She also got straight to the point, “You are Li Yue Shu’s biological sister, and you also have a responsibility to admonish her. Since she married into the Shen family, she should consider the Shen family’s interests. It’s one thing that she’s not filial to her mother-in-law, but she even incited her husband to sever ties with his family, causing chaos in the Shen household.”
Mrs. Yang sighed, “If it weren’t for my nephew, I would have reported her to the authorities long ago. You have no idea how outrageous she is…”
Li Xiang Ru had already learned about their family matters from Shen Cheng Cai and naturally had no interest in listening to her ramble on. She interrupted directly, “Are you telling me this because you want me to help you deal with your own sister?”
Mrs. Yang paused, slightly bewildered by her attitude.
She had inquired, and these two sisters didn’t have a good relationship. Moreover, Cheng Cai had said that this Li Xiang Ru was kind-hearted and couldn’t stand to see the weak being bullied. Why did she seem different now?
Li Xiang Ru looked at her expression and had a thought, so she spoke first, “I heard that the Heng De Pharmacy that just opened in town belongs to my sister, and the novel medicines were also made by her. What’s going on?”
Mrs. Yang was stunned for a long time before belatedly reacting and recounting how Li Yue Shu earned three hundred taels by treating Zhang Yang, and how she adopted orphans to work for her, interspersed with her personal grievances.
Li Xiang Ru paid no attention to these details, only hearing that the Li Yue Shu she was hearing about seemed entirely different from the person she had known for over a decade.
Judging solely by her medical skills, her sister couldn’t even recognize a single character.
She had visited the Heng De Pharmacy, and given the current situation, Mo Lian could participate in the imperial examinations with peace of mind. Even if his mother died, he wouldn’t have been reduced to selling himself to bury her.
But it hadn’t been like this in her previous life. Had she missed some information?
Li Xiang Ru’s brow furrowed.
In her previous life, after being taken to Chong Zhou by the Second Prince, she was coaxed into becoming a concubine in his manor within a few days. Afterward, she spent her time in the inner court, vying for favor with a group of women, and the occasional news she heard was only gossip from the household servants. She never even had a chance to go out.
Her ability to return to Tong Mu County now was entirely due to her knowledge of the Second Prince in her previous life. She had dangled his appetite just enough for him to personally send people to escort her back.
Therefore, regarding the events before Mo Lian became the Grand Chancellor in her previous life, she only knew fragments.
But if Mo Lian consistently relied on Li Yue Shu, wouldn’t she lose a great opportunity to win over a future Grand Chancellor!
As Li Xiang Ru pondered with a furrowed brow, Mrs. Yang watched her cautiously, not quite understanding her situation with Li Yue Shu.
After a long silence, Li Xiang Ru suddenly sighed, “My sister wasn’t like this before.”
She looked up at Mrs. Yang, “If it weren’t for your Shen family, she would have eloped with her cousin long ago and wouldn’t have been forced to marry a fool and become the stepmother to four children. It’s understandable that she resents you.”
Mrs. Yang instantly noticed an important clue, “You have another cousin?”
Li Xiang Ru pursed her lips, her expression full of regret, “That was all in the past. Cousin is already married, they can’t be together anymore.”
She subtly sized up Mrs. Yang and then said, “My sister is a very soft-hearted person. As long as your Shen family treats her well, you will surely be able to resolve the resentment in her heart.”
Li Xiang Ru spoke many kind words, but Mrs. Yang didn’t hear a single one. Her mind was entirely occupied by the "cousin she could have eloped with."
After leaving the inn, she hesitated for a moment, then headed in another direction.
That was precisely the direction of the Li family’s village.