Lin's mother's home is more relaxed. Li Yaonan, the good brother-in-law, has always been a guest of honor at the Li's house. Lin's mother loves him very much. Li Yaonan is touched and has a headache when he sees all kinds of supplements. It is said that after a period of imperial examinations, the husband was afraid that he would be tired, and he really didn't want to eat all kinds of supplements anymore. He felt that he not only did not lose weight, but gained a few pounds.
The couple stayed until the afternoon before returning home, and Lin's mother saw them off to the door as usual.
Lin Yixuan held her son in her arms and got on the carriage. She turned around and waved to her mother, "Mom, please go back soon. My husband and I will come to see you in a few days."
Mother Lin nodded with a smile, and only walked back holding Yang Yi's hand after the carriage had gone away. She kept a smile on her lips all the way. She glanced at her nephew beside her and sighed softly. People are all made of flesh and blood. When she knew about her son and nephew, she was actually against it. Even though she loved her nephew very much, to be honest, she was not willing to let Yang Yi be her daughter-in-law.
But now, her son has gone far away and she has divorced. Seeing Jiuer so happy, and then looking at Yier, she doesn't feel so repulsive in her heart. What's more, Yier has been with her all these days, and it is nothing unacceptable to think about her son becoming his daughter-in-law in the future. As long as her son and his wife can live in harmony and the family can be peaceful, it is better than marrying a troublesome man. She has really thought it through now.
As soon as Li Yaonan returned home, before he had time to drink a sip of tea, he heard the servant come to report that Zhang Qixian wanted to see him for something.
Lin Yixuan carried the child into the house and said with a smile, "You go and do your work first. I'll take Xu'er to sleep for a while. He didn't sleep much during the day."
Li Yaonan nodded and smiled, gently stroked the hair on her husband's forehead, and said gently: "Don't get tired, little bastard, you don't want to sleep, you are tired from playing, so you will naturally feel sleepy."
Lin Yixuan smiled lightly and gave him a glare: "I know, go quickly, your cousin is still waiting."
Li Yaonan turned and walked out of the room. Zhang Qixian was drinking tea in the flower hall, leaning back in a chair, without a trace of elegance in his eyes.
Li Yaonan shook his head and walked over.
Zhang Qixian stretched out his body and lay limply on the table. When he saw his cousin, he only raised his eyelids and said, "You're finally back."
"Is there something?" Li Yaonan raised his eyebrows. This cousin was never seen unless there was something important.
Zhang Qixian nodded: "I want to move out. You can accompany me to take a look tomorrow, and call your brother-in-law along."
"You are..." Li Yaonan thought about it and understood. After all, his cousin is a member of the Zhang family. Now that he has passed the imperial examination, he will be assigned an official position in the near future. It is only appropriate for him to have his own mansion. He nodded and said, "Okay, I will call my husband tomorrow, and you should also quickly bring my sister-in-law over. There must be someone to take care of her."
"I understand." Zhang Qixian originally had this plan. Men are not good at handling matters in the inner house, otherwise he would not have been waiting for Li Yaonan to come back so anxiously. His purpose was to ask his brother-in-law for help to tidy up his house, otherwise it would be uninhabitable.
The two brothers chatted for a while, and after dinner, Zhang Qixian said goodbye and left.
The next day, the group arrived at the gate of Zhang's house. Li Yaonan's lips twitched and he turned to look at his cousin: "Who introduced you to buy this house?"
Zhang Qixian was slightly surprised: "What's wrong? What's wrong?"
Li Yaonan shook his head and quickly calmed down: "No." It's just that there is a top-notch person living next door.
It turned out that Zhang Qixian's new house was right next to Zhou's house. Zhang Qixian didn't want to live too far away, so he asked someone to look for a house in West City. After choosing and choosing, only this one was the most suitable. A Hanlin scholar had lived there before. The courtyard was elegant and pleasant. Zhang Qixian thought it was good, so he decided to buy it immediately. Now it has been tidied up and people can live in it.
Lin Yixuan walked around inside and nodded. Although he disliked his third cousin, family members were family members after all. Internal conflicts could only lead to some minor conflicts. Once the door was opened, everyone was still a family. He remembered the friendship of the Zhang family in his heart, especially when Xuer was born. Thanks to the help of Zhang's eldest sister-in-law, he was able to rest assured during the confinement period.
Lin Yixuan was very efficient and took drastic measures that day. He first bought some servants from the human traffickers and arranged their positions. The next day he began to arrange the furnishings in the yard, purchasing whatever was missing.
Zhang Qixian sent a silver note of 1,000 taels early in the morning. Li Yaonan originally didn't want it, but Zhang Qixian insisted on giving it to him. Brothers should settle accounts clearly, and favors are favors, but this aspect cannot be confused.
Li Yaonan had no choice but to smile and accept it. Lin Yixuan felt happy. It was not about the money, but about the attitude. He didn't expect that his cousin was not serious in his daily life, but was quite thoughtful in his actions.
In a blink of an eye, the day that Li Yaonan and Zhou Qian had agreed upon arrived.
They agreed to meet at Yunxian Tower that day. Li Yaonan had already booked a private room. Zhou Qian seemed much more haggard after not seeing him for a few days. Li Mingzhang looked depressed, with a hint of melancholy between his brows. He no longer had the high spirits he had when they had a lively conversation in Yangzhou.
“What are you doing...?” Li Yaonan looked at them, trying his best to empathize with them. The differences in their expressions were so obvious that he didn’t even dare to laugh.
"It's nothing. A Qian's stepmother has arranged a marriage for him and will propose in a few days." Li Mingzhang said helplessly. Thinking back to his own marriage, he could not hide his sadness.
Zhou Qian had a blank expression on his face. Only after he learned to resist did he feel powerless. He was not Li Yaonan, and his father would not adopt him, so he could only stay in the Zhou Mansion until his stepmother died, or until he died himself.
Huh! Li Yaonan was so shocked that he couldn't even say the word congratulations. When he first learned that he was going to get married, he was just desperate. However, he made mistakes. Who would have thought that he, a straight man, would get along well with his husband.
Li Mingzhang went on to say, "My wedding date is September 15th, which is five months away."
Li Yaonan curled the corners of his lips. If he didn't know that they were indeed good friends, he would have thought there was something fishy going on. Look at these two people who are about to get married, their expressions are exactly the same.
Li Yaonan's mind raced, with two villains fighting in his head. Should he help or not? If he helped, it was someone else's family affair. If he didn't help, he still owed Zhou Qian a favor.
"Brother Li, do you have any ideas?" Li Mingzhang had been paying attention to his expression. Ever since the Qionglin Banquet, he felt that Li Yaonan was a smart man. Others might laugh at the third place winner for being stupid, but he believed that Li Yaonan had made the most correct decision. As the son of a marquis, he was well aware of the dirty tricks of the wealthy and powerful families. Li Yaonan's unconventional approach was also a way out, which was better than being dragged down.
"I don't have any good ideas." Li Yaonan quickly made up his mind. Zhou Qian and Li Mingzhang both had good connections. Even if Li Mingzhang became a son-in-law of the emperor, his status was still there. Except for not being able to serve as an official in the court, who would dare to look down on him? And Zhou Qian was capable. If he didn't have some skills, how could he have got the source of Lord Zhou's information
"But there is a bad idea." Li Yaonan saw the disappointment in the two people's eyes and joked with a smile.
Zhou Qian immediately raised his head, his eyes seemed to light up: "What do you think?"
Li Mingzhang was in high spirits, a rare moment of high spirits. He was destined to achieve nothing in his life, and he hoped that his good friend could display his talents and not be trapped in the small world of Zhou Mansion.
Li Yaonan smiled faintly, took a sip of tea, and said slowly: "Simple, split up."
Zhou Qian's eyes dimmed. If they could split the family, why would he have to suffer so much
Li Mingzhang's mind moved. Li Yaonan always took unconventional approaches. Maybe he had some good ideas. "Tell me about it."
"When you hit a snake, hit it at its weakest part. Everyone has a weak spot. Just seize its weak spot and you'll be fine."
Zhou Qian shook his head and said sadly: "My father is an old-fashioned person. He won't respond to any persuasion." He had no idea where to start.
Li Mingzhang nodded. It's not that they haven't thought about this method, but Lord Zhou is really a rock that can't be gnawed, let alone made to compromise. Lord Zhou is well-known for being old-fashioned in the court. If they let their son threaten him, A Qian's life will only become more miserable.
Li Yaonan curled his lips and smiled: "You are the ones who are in control of the situation. There is a saying that goes, the soft ones are afraid of the hard ones, the hard ones are afraid of the tough ones, the tough ones are afraid of the desperate ones, and the desperate ones are afraid of the shameless ones."
Zhou Qian looked puzzled: "What do you mean, Brother Li?"
Li Yaonan pretended to be mysterious and paused to whet their appetite before saying, "Lord Zhou's weakness lies in his reputation."
Li Mingzhang frowned: "So what?"
Seeing that they didn't understand, Li Yaonan continued, "Lord Zhou cherishes his reputation. If Brother Zhou behaves inappropriately, Lord Zhou will be angry and will punish him, but more often he will cover it up."
After all, they are all smart people, and they understood it immediately. Li Mingzhang suddenly realized it and gave a thumbs up. Amazing! The idea of the third place winner was really unexpected. This plan was not only a bad idea, but also a sinister one.
Zhou Qian frowned and thought deeply, feeling a little conflicted. Would it be too unfair to his father to do this? The more he thought about it, the brighter his eyes became. Family members understood their own affairs, and if his father was annoyed and angry, he didn't need to ask for anything, his father would definitely send him out of the house.
As for getting married, as long as he insists on his position, his father will be afraid of being embarrassed and will definitely let it go. Even if he is disrespectful to his stepmother, so what? His father will only help him cover up the label of being unfilial and will never publicize it, otherwise it will become a sign of a loose family tradition.
Zhou Qian looked at Li Yaonan with a strange expression. Who was so unlucky to have such an unfilial son who even led him astray? Although he felt very sorry for his father, he was really excited in his heart. As long as he thought about being able to leave that home, the blood in his body seemed to start boiling.
"What are you looking at?" Li Yaonan looked alert. He could tell from their expressions that they had bad intentions.
Zhou Qian curled his lips and said meaningfully, "I'm afraid it wasn't that simple when Brother Li was adopted."
Li Yaonan just smiled and said nothing. He didn't care if they caught him. There was no evidence anyway. What's more, they were all the same.
When the two saw his expression, they knew that they had guessed correctly. They were speechless for a moment, but more than that, they were filled with admiration. What a talented person!
In fact, this idea is not difficult, but the current social atmosphere has fixed their thinking and they dare not think in this direction at all. Today, after being enlightened by Li Yaonan, besides being incredible, both of them felt enlightened in their hearts, as if a skylight had been opened. As for the rest, there is no need for others to intervene.