Mother's presence in Li Minglou's life was very short.
Lien was as beautiful and short-lived as a flower in Li Fengan's life. After blooming, he was collected by Li Fengan.
The Tongjiang Lian clan seems to have never existed in Jiannan Road.
"I can't even remember it." Yuan Ji sighed, "Back then, the Lian family wanted to give the governor one of their daughters as stepmothers one after another. They resorted to various means and angered the governor. The governor cut off all contact with the Lian family, and even stopped contacting him.
He took over Lian’s business in Bashu.”
The Lian family was just a merchant, vulnerable to the ruthless tactics of Li Fengan, the governor of Jiannan Province. This is why Lian Xiaojun said his ancestral home was in Tongjiang, but he lived and did business in Shangzhou.
Li Minglou looked at the name post: "I still remember what made my father most angry was when my grandmother and several aunts and uncles threatened me, saying that my stepmother would scald my brother and me with boiling water to death in the future."
When Lian Qing passed away, Li Fengan protected Li Minglou very well and told her that her mother had just gone to heaven first. Although she could not always be around, she would still watch over her and her brother and they would meet again in the future.
So in order to be closer to his mother, Li Fengan built the tallest building for her. Living in the high-rise building, Li Minglou could talk to his mother at any time, take good care of his younger brother, and live as happily as before.
But her grandfather's family broke her dream and made her realize how terrible it is to be without a mother.
Li Fengan was furious and cut off relations with the Lian family. He also cruelly cut off the Lian family's foundation in Bashu and became enemies.
The Lian family never appeared in front of the Li family again, and Li Minglou never saw anyone from his maternal grandfather's family or heard from them until his death.
But that's fine, I guess I won't be implicated by the Li family and can live in peace.
"Miss, didn't Lian Xiaojun discover something?" Yuanji asked.
After the death of the Grand Governor, maybe Lian had some thoughts. He had not paid much attention to Lian in these years. It is not impossible that there was an oversight.
Li Minglou smiled and shook his head: "No, he doesn't recognize me."
Of course, just in case, she avoided it before Lian Xiaojun raised his head. She and her mother were also very similar. Thinking of this, she picked up the mirror and looked at it: "Uncle Yuan Ji, who is more beautiful between me and Lian Xiaojun?"
Yuanji laughed dumbly: "Of course the eldest lady is the most beautiful."
Li Minglou shook his head: "I don't believe it. Even Xiaojun changed his appearance when those children saw him, but they didn't change when they saw me."
Yuan Ji smiled and said: "The eldest lady is different from Lian Xiaojun. The eldest lady is the one they respect, while Lian Xiaojun is just a guest, just for viewing."
Li Minglou smiled. Of course she didn't really care about beauty. She never cared about looks. This man looked very similar to his mother. He didn't know if he was his grandma's nephew.
"I've already asked someone to inquire about it." Yuanji understood her thoughts and said, then paused, "Does the eldest lady want to continue talking about that rare treasure with him?"
The eldest lady will never do it to admit her marriage to him, and the eldest lady will not disobey her father.
"Yes, even if his surname is not Lian, he still convinced me." Li Minglou nodded and stood by the window looking at the snow in the yard.
Yuanji thought about what Lian Xiaojun said, and it seemed that he didn't say anything special, just like what Xiang Nan said.
"It's different." Li Minglou turned around and said, "Xiang Nan said that Danger is because I am harsh on the powerful people of the aristocratic family, while Lian Xiaojun said that I am harsh on the powerful people of the aristocratic family because I have no money."
Yuan Ji suddenly realized: "The danger he is talking about is that the eldest lady has no money. He is not being harsh on the wealthy family."
"Yes." Li Minglou said, "So I want to see if he has any good ideas."
Lack of money is indeed the biggest crisis now. To support such a military and civilian city, it can only be done unless there is a cornucopia. She is not a fairy, but a ghost who cannot see the light of day. It is not easy to get money from Jiannan Road.
"Okay, I'll find out more about him." Yuanji said.
There was a sound of footsteps outside the door, and Kumquat, whose face was covered, looked out: "Miss, madam, do you want to eat baked tofu?"
The lady never asked for it, she was obviously greedy. Yuan Ji shook his head. It was probably Li Minglou who took the initiative to choose the gifts, which made Jin Jue realize that the lady also knew how to do girly things, so he often led her to have fun.
"Okay." Li Ming said. The roasted tofu wouldn't delay things. She could think about things while eating, "Come over here."
Jinju lifted her mask and responded happily, then carefully covered her face and looked around vigilantly before running away.
Because of the shock caused by Xiang Nan, the people around Li Minglou changed as much as possible. Jin Jue only stayed with Mrs. Wu and covered her face.
Nowadays, covering one's face has become a special feature in the city. Women who cover their faces are considered beautiful by everyone. Of course, if someone ridicules them and says that they should not cover their faces if they are not as beautiful as Mrs. Wu, and imitate others, the women will not be angry.
"The slaves are not as beautiful as Mrs. Wu, so they are ashamed to hide their appearance." They replied.
This remark made the laughing idlers unable to refute, and it made the women even more generous, calm and witty.
In short, covering the face made women look more attractive, so it became a fashion.
The aroma spread throughout the house after the snow. The three people in the house were sitting around roasting tofu and various dried meats. There were felt mats spread out on the porch, and boys and girls were also eating and drinking around the stove.
"Don't burn your hands." Jin Jue warned her from time to time.
She is responsible for teaching these children, and she has a heavy responsibility.
But they can't learn other things. Eating and drinking are the natural skills of these children. No one burned their hands or mouth, and the roasting was fast and good. Their mouths were full of oil, and their hands and hands were filled with oil. Then they looked at each other with their hands and feet.
After the victory, a boy and a girl each held a plate and ran to Li Minglou. They put it down and ran out with a jerky look.
"Jinjie teaches well." Li Minglou praised.
Jin Jue hid her face behind her ears for the convenience of eating and drinking, rolled up her sleeves and turned over the grill: "It's because the young lady is so kind to them that they don't listen to my teachings."
Seeing how happy the inner house was here, Yuan Ji went to find out the news with peace of mind, and the news was delivered in the evening.
"Lian Xiaojun is the third son of my wife's seventh cousin." Yuan Ji said.
How many cousins does Li Minglou miss his mother? She cut off all contact with her grandmother's relatives before she could remember them clearly. The Lian family has been doing business for generations and has become a large family.
"The old man has three brothers, and the wife has seven sisters and five brothers." Yuanji introduced, "Since the incident with the wife, the three brothers of the old man have separated."
Lian Qing married Li Fengan, and the whole family was proud of it. Li Fengan and Lian Qing's family became enemies, and the whole family took Lian Qing's family as their enemy, so they all flew away when the disaster came.
"Lian Xiaojun's grandfather, Mr. Lian San, is also the wife's uncle. He moved his family to Shangzhou. Not long after they moved, Mr. Lian San passed away. The family's property was handed over to the seventh master, Lian Xiang, but he was not familiar with the place.
, it has been difficult to get things started.”
"Some of the Lian family in Shangzhou went to farm, and some went to school, but the seventh master insisted on doing business and refused to sell the shop. It was just because of his poor health that he could barely support himself for so many years."
"Now that there is a war, Shangzhou, which is close to the capital, is also affected. Business is even worse, so they come out to look for opportunities."
"Master Lian Qi was in poor health and could not walk, so Lian Xiaojun came out and walked around. He came to Guangzhou Prefecture ten days ago."
This is information Yuanji collected from businessmen. This is no secret, especially to businessmen.
The merchants traveled all over the country, passed through big cities and small towns, and learned a lot of news. In particular, the Lian family was a famous trader.
Li Minglou nodded: "Is he good at business?"
That's why Mr. Lian Qi let him go out in troubled times.
Yuanji looked a little strange: "Even Xiaojun has never done business or gone out. This is his first time."
First time? Li Minglou looked a little surprised.
"He is so beautiful that he was almost snatched away when he was a child. When he grew up and went into business, he was always coveted by..." Yuanji said, "So he could only be raised at home. This time he came out, and he was actually seeking refuge.
, because the local powerful took advantage of the chaos to rob him."