"Young Master, this old servant should have stopped you back then!"
Beside a lone grave at the end of the Li family village, a dozen or so figures stood solemnly. The old man with the surname Li stroked the cold and rough tombstone, his expression sorrowful and full of self-blame.
Not far behind the crowd, the villagers of the Li family village gathered in groups of twos and threes, discussing in low voices.
"Are these nobles really here to see Scholar Li?"
"That old man called himself 'this old servant'. Could it be that Scholar Li was also from a wealthy family?"
"Do you even need to ask? If he wasn't from a wealthy family, how could he have so many attendants on horseback and armed with swords? The first time I saw Scholar Li, I knew he wasn't an ordinary person. "
"Of course, my second son was working in a tailor's shop at that time. He said that the clothes on Scholar Li were enough for us to eat for several years."
"And that lady from the Li family, she was so pretty and well-mannered, but … what a pity!"
The villagers spoke one after another, fully unleashing their imaginations.
Gossiping was human nature, especially for these uneducated villagers who liked to squat under the locust tree at the entrance of the village and gossip when they had nothing to do.
In just a short while, several versions of Scholar Li's story had circulated.
Some time ago, a brothel had been built on an empty plot of land not far from the village. The villagers who had nothing to do would sometimes go there to listen to the stories. At this time, the storytellers had mixed the stories together and created a new and moving story.
The lady of the Li family was originally the daughter of a rich and powerful family. In order to resist the marriage arranged by her family, she eloped with her lover and escaped thousands of miles away. To avoid being found by her family, she lived in seclusion in such a remote mountain village. She lived a simple life with tea, rice, oil, and salt. She hid for ten years until the couple passed away.
Twenty years had passed, and the lady's family had declined, while the lover's family had risen day by day. Now, the lover's family had finally found traces of the couple and happily wanted to bring them back. However, they could only lament at the lonely grave — what a sad story!
Of course, the story did not end here.
The woman's family, who had previously suppressed the couple, did not expect that twenty years later, the young miss's child would become a great person and be personally rewarded by His Majesty. In just a few years, he rose to the top and was ranked in the imperial court. When he learned of his parents' past, he flew into a rage and swore to clear the name of his parents …
Yep, I'll write it like this. If I sell it to the theater, I'll be able to earn quite a bit of money …
The head of the Li family sighed and patted the old man's shoulder. "The world is unpredictable. My condolences, old brother."
Suppressing the images that appeared in his memory once again, the old man wiped away his tears with his sleeves and looked at the village head with a smile. "Old brother, can you tell me about what happened to him during these years?"
"Of course that's not a problem." The village head nodded and stroked the beard on his chin. A look of reminiscence appeared on his old face as he slowly said, "This matter, we have to start from twenty years ago …"
"When I first saw them, I knew that they were not ordinary people. I'm afraid that they came from some incredible place. At first, they didn't know how to do farm work. In the end, my son couldn't stand it anymore and went to help …"
As the village head spoke, the bitterness on the old man's face deepened.
Although the Li family could not be considered a wealthy family, twenty years ago, when the husband was still alive, the young master, as the eldest grandson of the direct line of descent, had lived a life of luxury since young. When had he ever suffered like this?
One could imagine what kind of life he had led all these years …
"The wife of the Li family passed away early. Scholar Li raised the child by himself until he was over ten years old before he passed away. That child is very promising …"
"Child?"
The old man grabbed the village head's arm and asked excitedly, "Young Master has a child?"
The village head nodded and said, "If he doesn't have a child, I'm afraid that when the wife of the Li family passed away, Scholar Li followed her …"
The old man with the surname Li was no longer concerned about why he did not find out that the young master had a child in the household office yesterday. He hurriedly asked, "Where is the child now?"
…
…
Li Yi busied himself in the kitchen.
Ever since Xiao Huan inherited some of his culinary skills, Li Yi rarely came to the kitchen.
"Eggs."
"Sugar."
"Milk …"
Li Yi used chopsticks to stir in a large bowl while Xiao Huan helped him. The ingredients and steps to make butter were very simple. However, milk was not easy to find. People in this era did not drink it often. It took Li Yi a lot of effort to find a small jar of milk.
Without light butter, he could only settle for the next best thing. After tasting it with chopsticks, he found that it was sweet. Of course, the taste could not be compared to real butter, but it was passable.
"Young Master … Is it delicious?" The servant girl blinked her eyes and looked at him.
"If you want to eat it, go get a spoon yourself. Remember not to eat too much, or you'll get fat." Li Yi could tell what she was thinking at a glance and waved his hand.
He got some butter on his hand and planned to go out and get some water to wash it.
Ruyi's birthday was coming up soon. He originally planned to make a butter cake, but he did not have enough ingredients and tools. If he made it too ugly, it would have the opposite effect. So, Li Yi decided to make a new plan.
After wiping his hands and returning to the kitchen, he saw that Miss.Liu was also eating the butter with a spoon. He walked over and shook his head. "That's not how you eat butter."
Xiao Huan raised her head and looked at him in confusion. Didn't the young master just tell him to eat it with a spoon?
"First, you have to wash your hands." Li Yi raised his hands and scooped a spoonful of butter into his palm. He shook it in front of Miss.Liu. Under her confused and curious gaze, he quickly smeared the butter on her pretty face.
Because they were too close, Miss.Liu was waiting for Li Yi to tell her how to eat it. Before she could react, Li Yi's figure had already disappeared from the kitchen.
"Haha, this is the correct way to use butter!"
"Bang!" An arrogant laughter came from outside the door. Miss.Liu's beautiful eyes were full of anger. She bent two fingers slightly and the wooden spoon broke into two halves in her hand.
"Haha, Second Miss, your face …" Xiao Huan looked at her and laughed. After Liu Ruyi glared at her, she immediately covered her mouth and smiled from her eyes.
Li Yi walked out of the yard in a happy mood. Considering her face, Miss.Liu would definitely wash her face before coming out. At that time, he might have almost reached the county government office.
Life should be fun like this. Occasionally, it was a good thing to let Miss.Liu, who only knew how to make trouble for him, suffer.
Humming a light tune, he couldn't help but be stunned when he walked out of the door.
"Uncle Li, why are you here?"
Li Yi looked at the Li family's villager standing at the door and asked in confusion.
"Your Excellency, why did you move here? If it weren't for Arrester Liu, I wouldn't have found this place." The villager said with a smile.
There were two other people standing beside the villager. Before Li Yi could say anything, the old man on the right suddenly became extremely excited and murmured, "Yes, yes, it must be him. He looks 70% similar to young master when he was young. His eyes are so lively. He must have taken after Miss He …"
The old man suddenly took a step forward and grabbed Li Yi's arm. He looked him up and down. Because he was too excited, even his voice was trembling.
"What are you doing?"
Seeing a man grabbing his son-in-law at the door from a distance, Fang strode over and shouted harshly.
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