Tian Jing's mood worsened.
This life was completely deviating from the script of the first life.
"Grandpa, please pretend you don't know. I'll discuss it when Zheng Ge returns."
Li Zhengguo brought his master back to look at the house and draw blueprints, only to see his wife looking troubled. He quietly asked, "What's wrong?"
"I'll tell you later. You go with Master to draw first. Have you found a construction master?"
"This master is the one. He's willing to bring his two apprentices."
"Good, you go ahead and get busy."
...
The master surveyed, measured, and sighed, commenting that many rooms in the courtyard had been poorly repaired.
Li Zhengguo indifferently agreed.
Before the courtyard was returned to its original owner, it was a communal dwelling, housing dozens of households. When repairs were needed, people would buy tiles, bricks, and lime and fix things themselves.
The second courtyard had been restored quite well. It wasn't that Grandpa lacked the energy, but rather the money.
He was never kept in the dark about the conversations between his wife and Grandpa.
After measuring, the master confirmed again, "Are you sure it's an exact replica?"
Li Zhengguo nodded affirmatively, "Yes, I guarantee all the timber will be from deep mountains."
"Alright, notify me in advance when you're leaving."
"Of course, absolutely."
...
After seeing the master off, Li Zhengguo hurried back to their room.
He sent the two sons to the east room and took their daughter, who was sucking her fingers, from his wife's embrace to the bed.
"What's really going on?"
Tian Jing returned from her daze, "Xiao Wei is pregnant."
"Shit!" Li Zhengguo couldn't help but curse, "Is it Jon's?"
"It should be. She's still dizzy and doesn't know yet. And, I just feel things are very chaotic."
"You mean compared to before?"
Tian Jing nodded, "Yes."
Li Zhengguo comforted her, "We're already different, so of course, we can't compare."
"No."
Tian Jing shook her head seriously, "Chen Guangfu alone is already a mess. Before, we thought he was holding back because he didn't want to alert me, who had already changed."
"But I think that guess is wrong. It's by not moving Chen Yaoming that he would alert me."
"Now there's an extra child. Don't you think it's even more chaotic? This child is in Xiao Wei's belly."
"If she really keeps it, do you think if I force her to give up her right to be supported, she won't latch onto me?"
"She's not someone who can endure hardship and live as an ordinary working person for the sake of a child. She'll only use this child to achieve her goals, like threatening Grandpa and deceiving him."
"Grandpa isn't muddle-headed, but he's too soft-hearted. He still believes there's room for salvage until his heart turns to ice."
"Just now, he wanted to use this child to save Xiao Wei's character. Even if I wanted to secretly abort Xiao Wei's child, he wouldn't agree..."
Li Zhengguo sighed and hugged his wife. His sweet Tian Tian was truly working too hard.
"Grandpa is right, it's Xiao Wei's right. If you interfere, she'll definitely latch onto you. How did the courtyard matter discussions go?"
Tian Jing pulled her husband to sit down and waved her hand, a supernatural energy shield enclosing the two of them.
"This matter is even more problematic... Xiao Er Laoye's desperation gave me more room for speculation. I offered them sixty thousand to go back and discuss."
"Then I discovered that Grandpa was likely deceived, including Tai Laolao, that woman who exchanged a lifetime to fulfill her father's dying wish, a kind woman who raised an even kinder son, was deceived by her benefactor."
Li Zhengguo was confused, "Get to the point."
"The point is, I searched the entire courtyard carefully. Several meters underground near the second gate, there's a fake rock layer."
"Beneath that rock layer, there are eight sealed spaces built with stones, each containing six iron chests."
"These iron chests are identical to those sixteen iron chests. Was Grandpa's so-called secret custom order truly secret?"
"The dowry prepared for Tai Laolao that was confiscated was sixty-four chests, is this a coincidence?"
"I believe, at the very least, Tai Laoye retrieved all of Tai Laolao's dowry but hid it due to selfish reasons."
"And Da Laoye and Er Laoye both knew about it. Otherwise, why would they travel such a long distance back? No matter how quickly they squandered their wealth, they wouldn't come to snatch eighteen chests of dowry that are currently not valuable, would they?"
"Among a woman's dowry in ancient times, anything that could fit into chests, besides paper and bedding, was only porcelain and bronze decorative items."
"Therefore, I suspect even more that Grandpa's father did indeed add some of the Xiao family's original property into those forty-eight iron chests, as he couldn't take too many things."
"The reason it was placed here is that the courtyard was under Tai Laolao's name. His escape would surely anger the warlords. The only thing that could hopefully be preserved was this courtyard."
"And the facts prove that the Xiao family's fixed assets in the country are indeed gone. Otherwise, wouldn't those two demand them back from the state?"
"I dare not tell Grandpa about all this. Grandpa wouldn't care about these worldly possessions. What he cares about is the deception and distrust from his father towards his mother and him."
"Even if his father was forced to conceal those forty-eight chests, why do Da Laoye and Er Laoye know now, but my Grandpa doesn't?"
"Grandpa and Tai Laolao wholeheartedly thought of the Xiao family, yet Grandpa's father never considered Grandpa as part of the Xiao family."
"Or, in his feudal mindset, an illegitimate son wasn't considered a proper son, not even as good as a concubine's son, but merely a tool to comfort the concubine, a tool to support the concubine in her old age."
Seeing his wife getting angrier, Li Zhengguo quickly patted her back.
"Don't be angry, don't be angry. No matter how Grandpa's father viewed Grandpa, we care about Grandpa, and that's enough."
"Why don't you quickly move everything away, leaving them with nothing, wouldn't that be more satisfying?"
Tian Jing sighed, "I'm just annoyed by Xiao Wei. Before, when I was helpless, she didn't care about me. Now, when I can manage, I still have to worry about her. It's too damn tiring."
Li Zhengguo quickly covered his wife's mouth, "No matter what, she's still your mother. You can't curse. Before, when she was unreasonable, you slapped her to vent your anger. From now on, you can't do that."
Tian Jing opened her mouth and bit him.
Li Zhengguo just smiled at his wife, who was like an angry kitten, "It's good that you're venting."
Tian Jing let go, "Sigh~ So frustrating."
"Alright, hurry up and get to work. I'll keep watch for you."
...
Li Zhengguo, carrying their daughter and accompanied by their two sons, played at the entrance of the three-courtyard passage.
Although those forty-eight chests were near the second courtyard, they couldn't operate in the second courtyard openly.
They had to continue operating in the three-courtyard space, which required more seeds and supernatural energy.
AFeng came to call them for dinner.
Li Zhengguo asked her to wait a moment, to let the food cool down before eating, as the weather was too hot.
AFeng had no objections. She knew the food was ready. However, "Can I go inside?"
"No. Go rest in the reception room."
"No, I want to pick some vegetables. The weather is too hot, and the old man likes to eat them raw."
"We'll talk about it later."
AFeng was sent away.
Xu Ma peeked out and beckoned to her.
AFeng flicked her hand and entered the reception room.
Xu Ma followed behind her. Seeing AFeng reaching for the teapot to pour water, she was startled and quickly interrupted her, "You can't drink it."
"Why?"
She couldn't even drink a pot of cooled tea?
Xu Ma leaned close to her ear, "There's medicine in here. From now on, you must never drink the tea you brew for Da Laoye and the others."
AFeng was so shocked she almost dropped the teapot, "Xu Ma, you?"
Xu Ma repeatedly waved her hands, "It's not me, it's the young miss who arranged it."
AFeng's face turned even paler.
Xu Ma glanced outside and asked in a low voice, "Didn't the young son-in-law ask you to return to the three-courtyard?"
AFeng ignored her and proceeded to tidy up the reception room.
Knowing the tea was unsafe, why wasn't Xu Ma quickly cleaning and washing it? What was her motive?
Did she think that by telling her a secret, AFeng would join her and her group?
Then, she would likely be replaced by someone else, just like Xu Ma.