The men and women behind him followed his lead, bowing in respect.
Yue Fuguang accepted their gesture with graceful composure, smiling lightly. "It was a matter of chance and timing that we happened upon the situation. It was also good fortune for your young son and daughter. As for saving their lives, I wouldn't go that far."
[Master, why wouldn't you go that far? Among these kidnapped children, aside from the rare few sold to families desperate for a child, most meet a rather grim fate. You've altered the tragic destiny of his grandchildren. How is that different from saving their lives?]
'I'm just being modest. Besides, they don't know that if we hadn't passed by, their two children would already be missing by now.'
Ling Yinghua: I, however, know everything. Therefore, this life-saving favor must be repaid handsomely!
Upon hearing this, the expressions of Madam Ling and his son behind him changed instantly. But mindful of Yue Fuguang's presence, they held their tongues, merely gazing at her with grateful eyes as if she were a living Bodhisattva.
Yue Fuguang had done all this for the mission and couldn't quite bear such looks. Time to make an exit, off she went!
The Ling family watched as Yue Fuguang and her group walked into the distance. Ling Yinghua turned around, his smiling face instantly turning stern the moment his back was to them. His sweeping gaze over the crowd was cold enough to freeze, his skill in switching expressions practiced to perfection.
"Ah Wu, seal the manor gates. Without my order, not even a mouse is to enter or leave."
"Yes, Master!"
Ling Yinghua continued, "Send two men to escort Ah Bao back to Yingda's residence and explain everything that happened to him clearly."
After giving these instructions, he turned to look at the five individuals bound tightly. "Bring a few men and follow me to the Ministry of Justice!"
He surmised that Wei Ping and Cai Xian were likely already waiting for them in the ministry's prison cells. When it came to interrogation and extracting confessions through force, there was no place more suitable than there.
Ling Yinghua looked at the three men and two women as if they were already dead. In the original history, it was these very people who had kidnapped his pair of grandchildren. In this lifetime, they must repay with their lives to appease the hatred in his heart!
"Madam, I leave the household in your hands!"
"Rest assured, Master!" Madam Ling's face, usually kind and gentle, was now equally icy.
Seeing the husband and wife like this sent a shiver of apprehension through the gathered servants.
Meanwhile, for Yue Fuguang and her siblings, it was a scene of peaceful tranquility.
"Fuguang, it's all thanks to you this time. Otherwise, those Ling children would have suffered terribly!"
Yu Ningxuan still felt a lingering fear.
The youngest, Yu Ningjin, added, "Is the outside world really this dangerous? No wonder Grandmother rarely lets us go out."
Yu Ningrong disagreed and retorted, "Don't be silly. Can't you just bring more people when you go out?"
Yu Ningxuan said, "Little Eighth's words aren't pleasant, but the reasoning is sound. We can't possibly stay cooped up at home forever. However, bringing more guards when going out is a must. All of you remember, never go out with just a few maids and old nannies. In a critical moment, they are utterly useless."
Yu Ningzi, Yu Ninglin, and the other sisters all nodded hurriedly.
The others were fine, but the situation for the few from the third branch was a bit awkward. As Yue Fuguang's closest blood relatives, because of their father and his official wife, their relationship with Yue Fuguang remained rather distant. This was especially true towards Brother Ningchen and Brother Hao; even her own brothers seemed invisible to her.
Yue Fuguang: Indeed, she treated those two brothers like air, just as they had treated her in the beginning. As for these two sisters, she truly treated them the same as her cousins from other branches, with impartiality and no favoritism.
Aside from exchanging a few more words with the naturally sociable Yu Ningxuan on usual days, she mostly stayed in her own courtyard, having little interaction with these siblings.
In her previous life, she was an only child at first. Later, after her parents remarried and she had half-siblings from both sides, she still managed to live as if she were an only child. High school friends scattered and rarely kept in touch; in university, she didn't live on campus and never made close friends. So, when it came to fostering sisterly bonds, she really had no experience.
Well, it mainly had to do with her personality. Ultimately, it boiled down to the 'solitary' nature within her character.
Yue Fuguang had no desire to change. After all, their sisterly bonds, with or without her, didn't affect her life.
Nevertheless, she added, "Guards are important, but you yourselves should also learn more skills. Whoever masters them well, in the future, I'll take them along to make a fortune."
Yu Ningxuan was the first to play along eagerly. "Fuguang, making a fortune sounds great! Tell us quickly how you'll take us to do it!"
Yu Ningxin and the others, even the most proud and defiant Yu Ningrong who was usually full of objections, pricked up their ears.
This was one good thing about the Yu family young ladies: they didn't treat money as if it were dirt. If they liked it, they liked it, without any pretense.
Yue Fuguang briefly outlined her plans: growing flowers, fruits, and vegetables; making perfumes; brewing wine; planting cotton, weaving cloth, and building factories.
The Yu sisters listened with exclamations of amazement, their eyes sparkling with obvious interest.
"Let me be clear first. I treat everyone equally here. I only want capable people. What I'll give you isn't wages, it's a share of the profits."
She said with confidence, "Believe me, these profit shares will be enough for you to secure your footing in your future husbands' households, even without using your family dowries."
In any era, wealth can become a person's backbone. With money and resources in hand, one can even speak louder—of course, this doesn't apply to those hopeless cases who can't be helped no matter what!
Hearing this, the sisters grew even more excited, twisting their handkerchiefs into knots, especially Yu Ningrong. She understood better than the others the importance of money in the inner courtyards.
The Yu Qingyu brothers watched with envious eyes. Their younger sister was usually rather aloof with all her siblings, and that included her three own brothers. Now that she was planning to 'play' with their other cousins, they felt quite envious. When would she include them too?
Was it because they weren't useful enough yet?
After some self-reflection, the brothers all felt they needed to study harder. Meanwhile, Yu Boming, who had been tossed into the military camp, suddenly felt a surge of superiority. He was surely the most useful among the brothers! In the future, he would definitely help Fuguang guard the cotton fields!
Yu Qingyu glanced at Yu Boming, who looked as if he thought he was the greatest, and silently turned his head away. He didn't know this brother!
Chatting and laughing, the siblings arrived at Vermilion Bird Street, where the lantern festival was held.
From a distance, Yue Fuguang saw a massive Ao Mountain Lantern, five or six meters high, placed before the Vermilion Bird Gate. Artisans had fashioned a celestial mountain with pavilions from bamboo frames, covered with thin silk that emitted a hazy glow. The revolving lanterns inside depicted stories like the Jade Emperor riding clouds and Chang'e flying to the moon, the images shifting within the light and shadows.
In the adjacent Jade Belt River, lotus flower lanterns floated, their candle wax dripping into the emerald waves. They carried the lantern-releasers' beautiful wishes for the future and earnest hopes for their families' smooth sailing, drifting far away with the current.
Yue Fuguang walked on and suddenly stopped before an old man selling dough figurines. His fingers flew, and in the blink of an eye, he had molded a colorful figurine of a chubby baby in a red bellyband holding a carp.
Beside him, a lady skilled in paper-cutting wielded her scissors like the wind. Colored paper fluttered down, and in moments, the unfolded pattern in her hands revealed a window decoration of magpies alighting on plum blossoms.
Further ahead were various food stalls. She noticed one particularly popular wonton stall, common yet surrounded by a crowd. In the depths of winter, steam billowed from the boiling pot, shattering the light from the lanterns overhead into fragments.
Further afield were vendors selling puppets, shadow play performers, and craftsmen blowing sugar figurines. The clang of gongs, the cries of hawkers, and the cheers of the crowd wove together into a bustling symphony of the marketplace.
"Master!"
"Be patient, Little Pearl!"
