Upon learning of Prime Minister Sima's plan of adoption, the emperor was somewhat surprised. This plan seemed rather cumbersome. It would be much simpler to just eliminate the Xu family directly. There was no need to go through the trouble of finding a new family for Xu Yutang. It seemed like an unnecessary detour.
Shen Baozhu thought this was a great idea. "Sister Yutang's elder brother is a bad guy. Now she'll have a good elder brother. I hope Sister Yutang's elder brother will be as kind and loving to his sister as my elder brother is to me."
"The only son of the Xu family is only eight years old. He should be Yutang's younger brother," Prime Minister Sima recalled that the Xu family was his in - law family. Xu Yutang would soon be his granddaughter, which gave him more confidence.
The emperor remembered that the prime minister's youngest daughter had married into the Xu family. He immediately guessed the prime minister's intention. He laughed and said, "Prime Minister, you've got a good plan. I asked you to help, but you've simply lured the person into your own family."
Prime Minister Sima also laughed and said, "Please allow me to be so bold as to praise myself. As a grandfather, I'm much better than Xu Zeyuan."
"However, I would like to ask Your Majesty for an imperial edict to make Xu Yutang the legitimate daughter of the Xu family."
Such a small request was readily granted by the emperor with a wave of his hand.
...
Just as the sky was turning pale, Yan Mingli secretly pulled Shen Baozhu out.
Shen Baozhu was so sleepy that she could hardly keep her eyes open. She hugged Yan Mingli's arm and took a little nap.
Lin Yu: [Baozhu is getting up so early today.]
The Dragon King replied a bit later than Lin Yu: [It's still early. Why doesn't the little cutie sleep a bit more?]
Considering Shen Baozhu, the carriage slowed down and tried to be as steady as possible.
Soon, the carriage arrived at the Drunken Ballad Tower.
Yan Mingli carried Shen Baozhu into the Drunken Ballad Tower and went straight to the backyard.
In the backyard, an old man with white hair, beard, and even eyebrows was looking longingly at the delicious food in front of him.
He stared eagerly and murmured non - stop, "That stinky brat is going too far. He invited so many great chefs to cook delicious food but didn't even call me. Fortunately, I've got a good nose. Otherwise, I would have missed out..."
"Old man? What are you doing here?" Yan Mingli thought something was wrong. He immediately woke Shen Baozhu up and started putting food into her bowl.
Yan Mingli was very fast. By the time the small bowl was piled high, the old man finally realized what was going on. Just as he was about to reach out and accuse Yan Mingli of abusing the old man, he heard Yan Mingli plead, "Baozhu, these are all the masterpieces of the chefs in the Drunken Ballad Tower. Eat as much as you like!"
"As for what Chen Liang said yesterday, could you... not tell Miaochun?"
The Dragon King: [Pfft? The fool is trying to bribe the little cutie with delicious food. Hahaha!]
Lin Yu: [Isn't it a bit too early? Baozhu can hardly keep her eyes open. Is the breakfast that delicious?]
Although very sleepy, Shen Baozhu smelled the delicious food. By instinct, she picked up her chopsticks and tried to pick up the food in the bowl, but she missed three times.
Only then did Yan Mingli realize and pick up his chopsticks. He picked up a shrimp dumpling from the bowl and held it to Shen Baozhu's mouth.
Seeing this, the old man widened his eyes. "Where did this little girl come from? You're even feeding her!"
The Dragon King: [Where did this old man come from? He's even interrupting the fool from feeding the little cutie!]
Lin Yu was a bit helpless. "The Dragon King is even more childish than Baozhu."
The Dragon King got angry and was about to question Lin Yu about where he was childish.
Suddenly, he remembered the last time when the True Man Qingyun deliberately provoked him, making him use up all his speaking chances. He could only watch as they chatted with Shen Baozhu... The Dragon King narrowed his eyes, as if he could see Lin Yu hiding behind and snickering through the water curtain.
The Dragon King wasn't a fool. He would never be tricked again.
After Lin Yu sent out the message, he immediately regretted it. Baozhu got up too early today. He hadn't even looked at a few sets of data to wake himself up. That childish guy would surely be so angry that he'd flood the screen when he saw Lin Yu saying he was childish.
Just thinking about the last time's rows of messages made Lin Yu shiver.
If he got into a fight with the Dragon King, he wouldn't be able to watch Baozhu eat in peace.
To Lin Yu's surprise, the Dragon King wasn't angry this time. Instead, he was very quiet. He didn't say a word until Yan Mingli had fed Shen Baozhu the whole bowl of food.
The whole bowl of delicious food finally woke Shen Baozhu up. Her eyes showed respect for the food, and she ate every bite carefully.
Seeing Shen Baozhu open her eyes, Yan Mingli became even more enthusiastic about feeding her, which successfully made the old man beside them jump up in anger.
The old man angrily tugged at his beard. "You stinky brat. When I had a high fever back then, you didn't take care of me like this. You didn't even feed me my medicine! But now you're bowing and scraping to a little girl. I wonder which powerful family's daughter she is that makes you so obsequious!"
Shen Baozhu blinked her eyes. She sensed the old man's resentment and quickly covered her mouth. "Baozhu can eat by herself. Brother Mingli, go and feed the old grandpa. He's sick."
"What sick? It was a long - time - ago illness!" The old man was stunned and almost pulled out a few hairs from his beard. After understanding what Shen Baozhu meant, he got even angrier.
Yan Mingli knew Shen Baozhu's appetite. Also, he wanted to show off today, so he started putting the food she liked into her bowl again. "Eat more. Ignore this annoying old man. When he was sick back then, how didn't I take care of him? I ran to several pharmacies before I could gather all his tonics."
"He's just jealous that Baozhu has delicious food. Let's eat more and ignore him."
The Dragon King: [Hahaha, that old man is hopping around in anger. It's so funny!]
Lin Yu: [He looks a bit familiar?]
The True Man Qingyun: [Yan Mingli hopped like that too.]
The Dragon King: [Right, right. The fool hopped like that yesterday too!]
Following the messages, Shen Baozhu also remembered Yan Mingli hopping around yesterday. "Wow, Grandpa and Brother Mingli look so alike."
"Brother Mingli, is he your grandpa?"
The old man asked about Shen Baozhu's identity, but Yan Mingli didn't bother to answer. However, when Shen Baozhu asked about the old man's identity, Yan Mingli replied enthusiastically, "His surname is Gu. I picked him up as a sick old man on the road. Now that he's recovered, he gave me several streets in the city."
Afraid that the old man would make a scene, Yan Mingli quickly pressed on his shoulders and whispered, "Do you know who Baozhu is? She's the most important younger sister of my future wife. Do you want me to get married and have a child to carry on your business?"
The angry Old Man Gu calmed down. He also whispered, "Yes... But do you really have to be so humble?"
When it came to this matter, Yan Mingli felt extremely sad. "It's all because of the streets you gave me. A few days ago, when I went to the Nanfeng Pavilion to collect rent, someone saw me. That despicable guy actually slandered me in front of Baozhu! He said I liked men. If this gets to Miaochun's ears, what should I do?"
"I was engaged to Chen Ruxia before, and I even broke off my engagement with Miaochun. And now this..."
Old Man Gu gasped. "Is the situation really that serious?"
Yan Mingli nodded heavily. "So I've arranged four tables of delicious food today to bribe her."
Four tables?
The old man looked up at the table full of breakfast and held up one finger.
"There's also lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner. One, two, three, four tables," Yan Mingli said as he held up the old man's other three fingers.
Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Old Man Gu's face changed. He pushed Yan Mingli away and walked quickly to Shen Baozhu. "Little girl, you're so cute. What would you like to eat? Grandpa Gu will pick it up for you."
"Your name is Baozhu? What a nice name. Your family must love you very much."
"Wow, Baozhu is so young but already knows how to read and write. Grandpa Gu thinks you're the reincarnation of the God of Literature from the sky!"
"Is Baozhu's elder brother the reincarnation of the God of Literature? That makes sense. The sister of the God of Literature must also be good at reading."
Old Man Gu was really good at complimenting people. He made Shen Baozhu blush with embarrassment. "Baozhu isn't that great."
She added, "But my elder brother is really that great!"
Following Shen Baozhu's words, Old Man Gu started to praise Shen Heqing non - stop. Soon, the old man and the little girl became good friends.
Yan Mingli couldn't get a word in and could only stand there anxiously. He also wanted to praise the role model!