Expelled from the Duke's mansion, the fake heiress is richer than a country.

Yu Wanran helped her family move two truckloads of goods to the cave. As dawn broke, she told her family to continue moving things while she immediately took a car and headed to Tongcheng.

Fearing that she might attract the attention of those secretly monitoring her family, she specially changed into her elder brother's clothes, put on a straw hat, and dressed up like an ordinary male villager so as not to attract attention.

Wu Jian was somewhat surprised to see her.

His years of experience as a镖师 (bodyguard/escort) immediately made him realize that something was amiss. He led Yu Wanran to a side hall, dismissed his men, and asked, "Miss Yu, has something happened?"

Yu Wanran didn't mention her suspicions about Xiao Yao, but simply described how someone was eyeing her batch of goods.

"Chief Escort Wu, I have a contract with a cloth merchant in the capital for this shipment. If it cannot be delivered on time, I will suffer a great loss. Could you hire some men from your escort agency to help protect it?"

If we were to transport the goods into the city now and seek refuge with a security escort agency, Wu Jian would suspect that we were trying to shift the blame. Therefore, we have no choice but to hire more people to protect the goods and our families.

Wu Jian never expected that someone would covet such a worthless straw mat in his mind. He immediately thought of Young Master Yan.

Could it be that because Yu Wanran saved Young Master Yan, the mastermind behind the assassination is blaming the Yu family? This matter was also caused by the escort agency, which dragged the Yu family into this mess.

Feeling guilty, he readily agreed.

“Miss Yu, you have done our escort agency a great favor. What are you talking about hiring? As friends, we should help each other in times of trouble! I will immediately gather our men and go with you to Qingping Village.”

Yu Wanran didn't stand on ceremony and thanked Wu Jian. The two then discussed their plans for the night, including how to set a trap and ambush him.

Both were seasoned veterans who spent years traveling, and when they got together, they felt a strong sense of camaraderie.

The reason Yu Wanran dared to ask the escort agency to intervene was because she knew that the Zhenyuan Escort Agency had a very strong backing, and Wu Jian might not be afraid of the Duke's Mansion's power.

Wu Jian, accompanied by seven or eight skilled bodyguards, disguised himself as an inconspicuous farmer and quietly arrived at Qingping Village in the afternoon, hiding in the Yu family's new thatched hut.

Some curious villagers came over, wanting to see the newly bought cow again. Ji Chunhua, holding a large broom, rudely chased them away.

"My dog, Ta Xue, was taken to the mountains to find tender grass to feed it! Look, what are you looking at? If you want to see, each of you has to pay ten coins first! Standing here like this, you're really getting in the way of my work!"

The honest Yu family father and son were gone, the ox was gone, only the fiery Ji Chunhua remained. Despite her physical limitations, her sharp tongue didn't stop her from scathing remarks. Those who wanted to watch the spectacle, or borrow the ox, could only leave sheepishly.

They planned to borrow the ox after the second branch of the Yu family had finished spring plowing. By then, the Yu family's novelty about their prized ox would have worn off.

Yu Wanran stood in the courtyard, coldly observing the villagers, trying to determine if there were any suspicious individuals among them. However, apart from Su Li coming over to deliver a message saying that Grandma Yu wanted to see Yu Man and asked her to go to the main house, there was nothing else unusual.

When Yu Man and Yu Wenbin returned with the empty oxcart, upon hearing the news, Yu Man immediately told his eldest son to continue moving things while he rushed to the old house, fearing that the eldest son's family might have something important to discuss with him.

The Yu family's new home is located in a very remote area, situated on a few acres of wasteland, adjacent to the mountains.

Privacy is absolutely guaranteed, but it's also extremely insecure. If someone were to set a fire at night, several thatched huts would likely burn down before the villagers rushed to put it out.

Ji Chunhua never expected that Yu Man would buy such a piece of land because he was greedy for cheap prices.

All of this was thanks to the eldest and third branches of the Yu family. Seeing that her husband still treated the old house with the same unquestioning urgency, she was furious.

With disaster looming and their own belongings not yet moved, the head of the household had run off to serve the eldest son's family. Who was more important, their own family or the eldest son's family? The old man, too frail to tell the difference!

But with distinguished guests her daughter had invited sitting inside, she couldn't embarrass her husband in front of outsiders. She could only watch helplessly as Yu Man hurriedly left.

Wu Jian noticed that the Yu family was short-handed. After the villagers who had come to watch the commotion left, he immediately brought his bodyguards to help. With many hands making light work, they quickly delivered more than a thousand red mats and some valuables to the cave in several trips for safekeeping.

Yu Man returned from the old house near dusk.

Ji Chunhua, along with her children, was busy preparing a simple meal for the bodyguards. Upon seeing the man, her face darkened, and she asked in a low voice, "What do you want with me?"

Yu Man looked worried and his face was full of sorrow.

“My mother said we had a car and offered to help take my sister-in-law to the city to see a doctor. She’s bedridden now and can’t be left alone to poop or pee; it’s making her life so hard.”

Ji Chunhua slammed the bowl of food she had left for Yu Man onto the stove with a loud "bang!"

"How could Mother say such a thing? Someone must have taught her!"

Seeing Yu Man's expression, he was seething with anger: "You agreed?"

Yu Man buried his head in his rice, trying to hide his embarrassment.

“I said that we just bought the cow, and we are not very good at driving. The cow also needs to get used to the environment… We’ll postpone it for a few days until Ranran arrives in Beijing.”

Ranran's trip to Beijing to deliver goods is a big deal, and I can't let it distract my daughter.

Ji Chunhua, mindful of the presence of outsiders, was seething with anger. She glared at Yu Man as he ate half a bowl of rice, then suddenly realized what was happening and couldn't help but raise her voice.

"Where would the eldest son's family get the money to treat that shrew's illness? They're even planning to send her to the city to find a doctor?"

Yu paused, his chopsticks still in his hand, and lowered his head even further. After a long while, unable to withstand his wife's watchful gaze, he whispered his instructions.

“I…I promise to give twenty taels of silver to help the eldest son’s family through this crisis.”

Before he could finish speaking, Ji Chunhua's eyes widened. Anticipating his wife's outburst, Yu Man immediately put down his bowl, stood up, grabbed her wrist tightly, and pleaded with her.

“Wife, I know what I’m doing is going too far! But those are my mother and my older brother! When I went there today, I found that my brother’s family was eating rice bran mixed with vegetable porridge, and their food reserves were almost gone…”

Rubbing his red eyes, Yu Man held back his tears.

"I know where you are. Ranran gave you over a hundred taels of silver. Giving your elder brother and his family just twenty taels would be enough to help them survive... Wife, I'm begging you!"

Ji Chunhua trembled all over, wanting to lash out, but worried that people outside the kitchen would hear. Suppressing her anger felt like her chest was about to explode.

Seeing her husband's red eyes and conflicted, pained face, her tears suddenly burst forth!

"you you……"

“If it weren’t for Ranran, do you think our family would be living a comfortable life now after being kicked out? This money was earned by Ranran with her life on the line, to support us and to help our fourth son get married…”

Ji Chunhua gritted her teeth and tried her best not to cry out. If the bodyguards outside heard her, it would be a huge scandal for the family.

"You have no bottom line in helping the first wife, yet you abandon your own wife and children? During our most difficult times, not one of them ever brought us a single grain of rice!"

Ji Chunhua felt nauseous, so nauseous she felt like vomiting.

"I promise, this is the last time!"

Afraid that she would speak too loudly, Yu Man hurriedly covered her mouth and put his arm around her shoulder.

"Wife, in the future, I'll help my elder brother's family plant red grass. Slowly, things will get better! Do you know? The price of red grass bought by cloth merchants in the capital is five hundred coins per catty!"

Eager to appease his wife, he disregarded his previous promise to keep it a secret from his children and revealed the matter.

"what?"

Ji Chunhua stopped crying abruptly and looked up at her husband in utter shock.