Xu Yutang didn't feel much about it, but the Dragon King was the first to object.
The Dragon King: [Is this it? Is this all?]
The Dragon King: [The prime minister seems shrewd, but he's also a complete fool!]
Noticing that the Dragon King was angry, Shen Baozhu tugged on Prime Minister Sima's sleeve. "Grandpa Prime Minister, aren't we going to punish the bad guy?"
Prime Minister Sima didn't expect Shen Baozhu to bring up the topic of punishment on her own. This wasn't quite like her usual personality.
"It wasn't me. It was the immortal who asked," Shen Baozhu explained in a soft voice, gesturing with her hand.
Shen Baozhu could sense that Prime Minister Sima was somewhat in awe of and trying to please her, not as sincere as Chen Miaochun and Xu Yutang. So she only said it was an immortal without specifying which one.
Moreover, the immortal in the eyes of the emperor and Prime Minister Sima was precisely the Dragon King who had sent the ornaments and the large pearl. So Shen Baozhu wasn't really hiding anything.
Prime Minister Sima instantly became nervous and even a bit flustered. He pointed up at the sky. "Is it the immortal I'm thinking of?"
He also softened his voice when saying the word "immortal."
The True Man Qingyun: [Tell him that the Dragon King also wants to strike Shen Yunfeng with lightning.]
The Dragon King: [Huh? Is it that good? Then I'll reluctantly take credit for this.]
Shen Baozhu nodded at Prime Minister Sima and then motioned for him to bend down. She whispered in his ear, "Yes, the immortal doesn't like bad guys. He even struck Daddy with lightning last time!"
Prime Minister Sima was startled and instinctively looked around, afraid that he might also get struck by lightning.
He coughed lightly. "You guys chat first. I'll take Baozhu out for a while. Yan Mingli, don't worry. I'm on good terms with Baozhu. I just want to take her to buy some interesting things. Nothing bad will happen."
Yan Mingli still wasn't at ease, but Prime Minister Sima was the prime minister, and his official position was higher than Yan's father's. So Yan Mingli could only watch helplessly as he took Shen Baozhu out.
After leaving the private room, Prime Minister Sima told the guards to send Chen Liang to the Xu Mansion first and then got into the carriage.
In the carriage, Prime Minister Sima chose his words carefully. "Baozhu, do you know that the bad guy likes men?"
Shen Baozhu nodded. "I know. The bad guy likes men and doesn't like Sister Yutang. He only married Sister Yutang for the money. He's so bad!"
"Well, the grandfather of this bad guy also liked men and had a lover. This lover was Sister Yutang's grandfather," Prime Minister Sima said, using words that Shen Baozhu could understand.
"But Sister Yutang's grandfather was a bad guy. He didn't want to live a poor life, so he abandoned the bad guy's grandfather. He even drove the bad guy's grandfather's whole family out and almost forced them to death."
The Dragon King: [What a cheesy story!]
Lin Yu: [So this marriage was arranged by Yutang's grandfather for his own selfish desires?]
Lin Yu: [They both liked men but married women. This is marriage fraud!]
Shen Baozhu was also very angry. "Sister Yutang's grandfather is also a big bad guy. Grandpa Prime Minister, we should punish him too!"
Prime Minister Sima quickly agreed. "Yes, yes, yes. Sister Yutang's grandfather is no good, but I'm a good person!"
"So I secretly helped Chen Liang's grandfather settle down in another place and gave him some money to open an inn."
Shen Baozhu listened intently and let out an exclamation. "Grandpa Prime Minister is so great. Then what happened?"
Prime Minister Sima uncomfortably touched his nose. What happened next was a bit delicate.
Chen Liang's grandfather was Chen Bumian. His ancestors were imperial chefs of the previous dynasty. After the previous dynasty fell, he escaped with the recipe and made a living by working hard. He opened a restaurant, and the business was booming.
One summer was extremely hot, and Xu Zeyuan couldn't eat. The steward of the Xu Mansion invited Chen Bumian's father to cook for Xu Zeyuan. As the eldest son in the family, Chen Bumian came with his father to help and was instantly smitten by Xu Zeyuan.
Xu Zeyuan was good-looking and from an official family. It was easy for him to court an inexperienced Chen Bumian. After pursuing him for three months, they got together.
For Xu Zeyuan, Chen Bumian broke off his engagement, but Xu Zeyuan abandoned him. Not only did he arrange a marriage with the daughter of the then provincial governor, but he also wanted to kill Chen Bumian.
Prime Minister Sima was disappointed with his nephew. Unfortunately, the Xu family only had this one somewhat promising person. For the sake of his friend, he had to reluctantly help him.
That's why Prime Minister Sima felt even more sorry for the Chen family. He secretly stopped the people sent by Xu Zeyuan and also funded the Chen family to buy land and build an inn.
But the Chen family suffered a great blow. The elders in the family passed away one by one. After Chen Bumian raised his younger sister, he went crazy.
And Chen Liang's father was the child of Chen Bumian's younger sister and was adopted by Chen Bumian.
The Dragon King: [Poor thing. Then what?]
Prime Minister Sima coughed lightly. "Let me explain first. I only found out about this later. Chen Bumian was driven crazy by someone, but I don't know who it was."
Lin Yu: [This twist... Why?]
It was all because Xu Zeyuan was so out of line. After he abandoned Chen Bumian and got married, he acted like a lovesick fool, which made the provincial governor's daughter suspicious.
The provincial governor's daughter went through some trouble to find out about this and felt extremely humiliated. But she couldn't bear to leave Xu Zeyuan, so she found someone to spread the story around the Chen family.
Chen Bumian's younger sister was at the age of getting engaged. Because of these rumors, her reputation was damaged. A few days later, the news that Chen Bumian had gone crazy came out, and only then did the provincial governor's daughter let the Chen family go.
Lin Yu: [The Chen family really had bad luck when they met the Xu family.]
"I plan to send Chen Liang back to the Xu family and then tell Xu Zeyuan that Chen Bumian never married because of their feelings but was driven crazy by his sister, who is Chen Liang's grandmother. Xu Zeyuan will definitely take revenge on Chen Liang. It'll be good to let them fight among themselves," Prime Minister Sima said his plan to punish Chen Liang.
The Dragon King: [Is Xu Zeyuan Xu Yutang's grandfather? Shouldn't Xu Zeyuan also be punished?]
Lin Yu: [Yes. He seduced Chen Bumian, committed marriage fraud against the provincial governor's daughter, and wanted to marry Yutang to a rascal like Chen Liang. He should also be punished.]
The True Man Qingyun first sent a nourishing pill to Shen Baozhu's hand and then said, [This is the reward for punishing Xu Zeyuan.]
The True Man Qingyun: [It can nourish the body. Dissolve it in water, and it can be used by more than a dozen ordinary people.]
Prime Minister Sima watched as a round pill suddenly appeared in Shen Baozhu's hand. He instinctively stood up but forgot that he was in the carriage.
With a thud, Shen Baozhu looked up blankly and saw Prime Minister Sima covering his head. "Grandpa Prime Minister, you..."
"It's okay, okay. Baozhu, what's this?" Prime Minister Sima looked at the pill eagerly.
Shen Baozhu told him the truth. "It's a reward, a reward for punishing Xu Zeyuan."
"Dissolve it in water, and it can be used by more than a dozen people. It can nourish the body."
Prime Minister Sima, who had just sat down, instinctively stood up again. "This is the legendary spiritual pill... Ouch. Baozhu, I'm okay. Let's go to the palace now. The immortal can punish Xu Zeyuan however he wants! Even exterminate his nine clans!"
...
At the Xu Mansion.
Xu Zeyuan's wound on his head had been simply cleaned. He sat tiredly on the chair, thinking about Prime Minister Sima's words. A sneer appeared on his lips. Sima Bai thought he had a great relationship with his father, but he didn't even know the biggest secret of the Xu family.
The Xu family had a custom for generations. If the main branch gave birth to an eldest daughter, they had to strangle the baby girl to protect the fortune of the male descendants of the Xu family. This was also called the ritual of washing the daughter.
Among the younger generation of the Xu family, Xu Yutang was that eldest daughter. But when Xu Yutang was born, the Xu family was still in the capital. There were many people around, and she was good-looking and didn't cry or make noise. Everyone praised the Xu family for having a good child.
Xu Zeyuan was busy with official affairs, and Xu Yutang's father was too young. After hearing a few compliments from the neighbors, they kept Xu Yutang.
Later, Xu Zeyuan offended someone and was demoted. He took the whole family out of the capital and didn't have the time to kill Xu Yutang. After that, Xu Zeyuan's youngest daughter married the Marquis of Yong'an, and Sima Bai was promoted to prime minister and also promoted Xu Zeyuan.
By the time the Xu family remembered Xu Yutang, she was already ten years old and had grown up very well...
Xu Zeyuan was thinking that he should quickly arrange for Xu Yutang to marry Chen Liang. After their child was born, he would get rid of Xu Yutang to prevent his beloved grandson from remaining useless.
"Master, the Shen family sent an invitation, inviting you to the Zuiyin Tower tomorrow," a servant knocked on the door and handed the invitation to Xu Zeyuan.