A few people turned their heads and saw Li Yue Shu and Shen Wei approaching with an ox cart.
Upon seeing this, the three children immediately ran over, completely ignoring Li Xiang Ru.
Li Yue Shu’s smile was gentle, and she habitually patted the heads of the three children, saying, "Sorry, I went to the county yamen, so I’m a bit late."
The three children subconsciously got used to her actions and did not dodge.
Shen Yi Min’s demeanor was always gentle; he nodded slightly without saying anything.
Shen Ting Wen also did not seem to be blaming her. In fact, compared to before, he felt that Li Yue Shu’s presence was already a tremendous favor.
It was Mo Lian’s eyes that lit up. "Madam, did you find someone?"
Li Yue Shu nodded. "I encountered some trouble. I’ll tell you more on the way home."
Li Xiang Ru noticed Mo Lian’s expression and couldn’t help but frown.
In her plan, the person Mo Lian should be profoundly grateful to was supposed to be her.
Li Xiang Ru thought about the information she had gathered earlier and her scrutinizing gaze fell upon Li Yue Shu.
Was this woman the kind person who helped Mo Lian and his mother?
She looked like someone she had seen before, somewhat familiar.
Li Yue Shu turned her head and their eyes met.
For a moment, she couldn’t help but curve her lips slightly.
If the original owner’s memory was correct, this person should be her sister, the heroine who was reborn in the original book.
Li Xiang Ru clearly didn’t recognize her and walked over proactively to greet her. "Are you their elder sister? I’ve heard for a long time about a kind person who helped young Master Mo and his mother. I didn’t expect it to be such a young lady."
As soon as she spoke, everyone’s expressions became somewhat strange.
It was Shen Ting Wen who kindly pointed at Shen Wei and introduced, "Miss Li, you’ve misunderstood. This is my father, and she is my father’s wife, not my elder sister."
Li Xiang Ru’s expression froze; she was somewhat surprised.
But after all, she was the original heroine. She quickly composed herself. "It was my mistake. I didn’t expect Madam to look so young, and yet her children are already this old."
Li Yue Shu’s smile remained unchanged, seemingly unaffected. "To be precise, I'm actually a little younger than you."
Li Xiang Ru didn’t recognize the person in front of her and couldn’t react for a moment.
But Li Yue Shu had no intention of explaining. She directly looked at the three children and said, "Let's go, we're going home."
The three children were very cooperative and climbed onto the ox cart in an orderly fashion, completely ignoring Li Xiang Ru, who was standing by the side.
It wasn’t until the ox cart’s silhouette grew distant that Li Xiang Ru frowned.
She remembered a rumor she had heard in her past life. It was said that the Prime Minister Mo Lian’s mother was critically ill when he was young. Being poor, he had to drop out of school to take care of her, and even had to shamelessly ask for his tuition back from the academy to buy medicine for his mother.
A year later, Madam Mo still passed away from illness. At that time, Mo Lian didn’t even have the money to bury his mother. He directly abandoned his scholar’s pride and sold himself on the street to bury her.
Those rumors never mentioned any kind person, and Mo Lian, in his current state, did not look like someone who would demand tuition back from the academy.
Where had something gone wrong?
As Li Xiang Ru pondered, a righteous voice suddenly sounded beside her: "Miss Li, why do you still care about that snobbish Mo Lian? After he latched onto that wicked woman Li Yue Shu, he’s become increasingly arrogant and rude to us classmates."
Li Xiang Ru subconsciously turned around and saw a dark-skinned boy with a square face walking towards them.
Li Xiang Ru frowned. "Who are you?"
"I am Shen Cheng Cai. Greetings, Miss Li." Shen Cheng Cai introduced himself simply in what he considered the most refined manner.
"Miss Li, you may not know, but that wicked woman is married to my third uncle. We should be family, but that wicked woman not only incited my third uncle against my grandmother but also drove our family to the point where we can't even eat a full meal."
Shen Cheng Cai’s face was filled with distress, portraying himself as extremely pitiful. In his words, the culprit for all this was Li Yue Shu.
After speaking, he added, "We both have the surname Li, but your kindness, Miss Li, is something that wicked woman can’t even catch up to!"
Li Xiang Ru paid no attention to his long explanation; she only focused on one name. "You said the Madam just now… what was her name?"
Shen Cheng Cai honestly replied, "Her name is Li Yue Shu."
Li Xiang Ru was surprised. She turned and looked in the direction where the cart was no longer visible, a flicker of expression quickly flashing in her eyes.
Li Yue Shu, who married into the Shen family?
It was her!
Li Xiang Ru’s gaze shifted, then she turned back to Shen Cheng Cai. "Is this young scholar also a student at the academy?"
Seeing the topic shift to him, Shen Cheng Cai eagerly replied, "My name is Shen Cheng Cai, and indeed I am..."
"Scholar Shen, you are classmates with Mo Lian, so you must know a lot about him. And also about Li Yue Shu just now, can Scholar Shen tell me more about her?" Li Xiang Ru interrupted him impatiently and asked.
Upon hearing this, Shen Cheng Cai’s eyes instantly lit up, and he nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, of course!"
Li Xiang Ru, with a gentle smile throughout, took Shen Cheng Cai to a teahouse and learned a great deal about Li Yue Shu and Mo Lian.
Shen Cheng Cai's words naturally carried a strong personal bias, but they were enough for Li Xiang Ru to understand the situation she wanted to know.
However, because of this, she couldn’t help but wonder if this Li Yue Shu was truly the foolish and shallow Li Yue Shu she knew?
With such doubts, Li Xiang Ru dismissed Shen Cheng Cai, and while pondering, prepared to go to Heng De Pharmacy.
But as she reached a street corner, she suddenly heard a strange sound.
She instinctively looked over and saw a group of children beating up another child who was slightly older, hurling various taunts.
"Fool, your mother is in prison, and your father is getting a new wife. No one will want you anymore!"
"Your father has already kicked you out. You're a beggar from now on!"
"The fool is going to be an orphan!"
...
The child being beaten in the middle looked about five or six years old, was somewhat stout, and was covered in dirt, looking exactly like a beggar.
But when faced with the scolding and hitting from children younger than himself, he simply held his head, looking at them with a silly smile, seeming to feel no pain at all.
Seeing this scene, Li Xiang Ru felt he was very pitiful and showed some sympathy.
Seeing that the children were about to strike again, she quickly walked over. "Stop, what are you all doing!"
Seeing someone interfering, the children scattered.
Li Xiang Ru walked up to the older child and squatted down, but kept some distance.
She even frowned instinctively when she smelled the odor emanating from him.
Li Xiang Ru sighed and asked gently, "Child, what is your name?"
The child tilted his head and looked at her for a while, then suddenly grinned. "Hu... Hu..."