CH 134

The courtyard was in a mess. Tan Lingyin and Qingchen didn't go far outside, they had to turn back when they heard crying and shouting.

Looking at her demented father, Tan Lingyin was a little helpless. She stepped forward to stop him and persuaded, "You want to beat her, do it when you get home. You are now a guest at someone's house. Even if they tell you to 'feel at home', can you really regard yourself as part of this residence?"

Tan Nengwen was a little disheartened. He picked up all the money on the ground, and stuffed it back to Tan Lingyin. "Take the money back, I never asked for Qingchen to give me any money. I don't have that face." He walked to Madam Tan and found a couple banknotes on her. "This was originally for Qingchen, who would have thought that this prodigal..."

Tan Lingyin pushed all the money back. "Father, I will not take back the money that I’ve already handed out. As your daughter, I want to sincerely advise you. This is not the first time you’ve seen her do something unfit for as a noble. She is doing something wrong, but the root problem lies in all the spoiling she has received. Not only the adult, but the child has been spoiled to become unfit as well."

Tan Nengwen let out a long sigh as streams of tears suddenly fell from his eyes.

After Tan Lingyin said what she had to say, she left with Qingchen.

—

Tan Lingyin didn't dare to tell Ji Zhao about the farce. She was afraid that the Empress would end the Tan Family in a fit of anger when she found out her brother was being bullied. Even if the Empress was soft-hearted and didn’t do anything, she also had a henpecked husband...

But even if Tan Lingyin and Qingchen didn't talk about it, this matter couldn't escape Ji Heng's ears.

Ji Heng was very angry. A Zhao finally found her long lost brother and was elated because of it, Ji Heng almost wanted to prostrate to Qingchen. But now there were people who wanted to rile him up. From this incident alone, he could already deduce how Qingchen was treated in the Tan Family before. No wonder he ran away with Tan Lingyin later.

If it were any other person, Ji Heng would definitely have taught them a lesson. However, the Tan family was Qingchen’s benefactor, and he was Tan Lingyin's biological father. In the end, Ji Heng did not take any immediate actions as he did not want to harm innocent people. He asked Tang Tianyuan to invite Tan Nengwen and his wife to the Retreat Hall. He told the couple that he brought his wife to look for his brother-in-law, and that Qingchen was A Zhao's long-lost brother.

This kind of coincidence was so bizarre that Tan Nengwen and his wife didn't believe it at first. Until Ji Heng took out five thousand taels of silver notes to repay Tan Nengwen's kindness in raising Qingchen.

Tan Nengwen was awestruck. He didn't expect Qingchen to be related to such a noble person. This Ji gongzi was very generous, he must have a lot of background. Tan Nengwen faintly felt that his decision was a bit hasty; he was afraid of offending someone who shouldn't be offended.

Madam Tan regretted it very much. She originally had her own plans. Although Tan Lingyin was going to marry up, this girl had always been unrestrained. She didn't even pay attention to her own father, so Madam Tan didn't dare to expect her to be kind to Xiaobao in the future. Moreover, a young daughter-in-law wouldn’t have much power in a Chief Minister’s residence. So Madam Tan remained a bystander and did not try to please Tan Lingyin. The two have been secretly competing for so many years, it would be difficult for her to readjust her own thoughts so quickly.

Qingchen was different. The Tan Family had always been kind to Qingchen, so no amount of repayment asked was too much. Madam Tan had always feared that Qingchen would steal Xiaobao's property, but now she realized that this silent dull gourd turned out to be a big piece of fatty meat. It turned out that they had missed such a great opportunity. Ji gongzi claimed to be doing business in the capital. His every move was bold and daring, maybe he was an imperial merchant...

The more she thought about it, the more she regretted it. When they went back, Madam Tan talked to Tan Nengwen. Shouldn’t they ask Qingchen to come back as an adopted son?

Tan Nengwen seemed to have really met the true face of this prodigal. He sneered, "If you want, then go. Qingchen is a soft-hearted child. If you kneel down and kowtow to him, I'm sure you can coax him back."

"Since you don't want him back, why didn’t you take the five thousand taels of silver?"

"You just want to take– Take! Take! Take your uncle! Scram!"

—

It snowed heavily in the evening, and it was still fluttering in the morning. The plum trees in the courtyard bloomed overnight. When Tan Lingyin opened the door early in the morning, a faint fragrance floated into her nose, it caused her to feel carefree and relaxed.

Ruyi chased Tang Tang in the courtyard, leaving a series of footprints. Ji Zhao gave him a snowball and asked him to throw it at whoever he liked. Ruyi decisively threw the snowball into Ji Zhao's arms. Ji Zhao started a snowball fight with Ruyi, and later Tan Lingyin also joined the battlefield. Zheng Shaofeng soon joined in the fun, and then Tang Tianyuan, Ji Heng...

At first, everyone could still recognize which side they were on, but then it became chaotic. No one was able to escape without having every part of their body hit. Having played enough, Tan Lingyin and Ji Zhao went to find Qingchen together. As soon as they came out the gates of the county government office, they saw two people passing by on the road carrying a black iron grate.

Ji Zhao was a little curious. "What is that for?"

Tan Lingyin explained. "I know, it's for barbecue."

Ji Zhao's eyes lit up. "Why don't we eat barbecue today?"

She had successfully hooked Tan Lingyin's gluttonous side. The two went up to strike up a conversation with passers-by, and finally with a piece of silver, they bought the iron grate back.

Passers-by held the silver exchanged for scrap iron and were moved to tears. The world was always full of surprises.