Li Qingmu looked at the woman crying like there was no tomorrow, furrowing his brows slightly. Someone next to him said, "It’s nothing new, this Guo Erniang comes to the Wu Family’s gate wailing every day, but what’s the point? The government is in cahoots with them..."

"Shh—be careful not to let the government people hear you, or you’ll be in trouble!"

Before the passerby could finish speaking, someone immediately signaled him to stop talking. If the members of the government heard that kind of talk about collusion, he would definitely have a hard time.

The man realized his loose tongue nearly caused a problem, quickly shut his mouth, and sheepishly retreated out, scared enough to run away.

This... is really too much, isn’t it?

The couple still wanted to hear more information.

"That woman and child are really pitiful."

Long Yue felt a surge of compassion, not because she had nothing better to do than play the savior all day, but because she saw that child.

The child was about the same age as Rui’er, who happily studies in school, living a carefree life, while this child faced the fate of being displaced, homeless.

Long Yue was a mother, and as a mother, she would feel some empathy!

She turned to the man: "Shall we go find out what’s happening?"

"That’s exactly what I was thinking!"

Li Qingmu had forgotten about it before but now that they’ve encountered the issue, it certainly must be handled.

"Get lost, get lost, hurry and get lost!"

Over there, a young steward was angrily scolding the woman. She was choking with sobs, crying so long she couldn’t quite stop, only quietly sobbing.

And the child next to her didn’t even think about it, just fiercely crying over there, the crying so intense that it could make one’s head burst.

"Get lost! Damn it, disturbing my lady and young master’s nap, are you looking for death?"

The steward’s expression was ferocious, and he was so annoyed, he even kicked at the child.

"Stop!"

Long Yue shouted loudly. This steward was simply heartless, hitting such a small child?

The steward was about to kick down when Long Yue’s shout instinctively made him pause, but unfortunately, his action had already been made, and this abrupt stop caused him to strain his back.

"Ouch!"

He yelled, clutching his aching lower back and turned to curse: "Which blind little girl... Ugh..."

Before he could finish speaking, something white and plump flew towards him, landing right in his mouth.

The man was ready to curse but smelled the intense mutton aroma filling his mouth.

Wow, it was a meat bun!

A mutton-filled one!

The man was delighted and directly took the meat bun out, taking bites as he looked around, loudly asking: "Who just did that? Who yelled? Who threw the meat bun? Stand out, I won’t beat him to death!"

"You want to hit me?"

Li Qingmu’s chilly voice sounded, as he slowly walked out from the crowd, positioning himself between the man and woman.

The steward looked at Li Qingmu, seeing him dressed appropriately, simple yet dignified, with elegant demeanor, knowing at least he was someone from a wealthy family, he slightly softened his demeanor.

"This one who spoke just now was a woman!"

"You mean her? She’s my wife."

Li Qingmu’s gaze shifted to Long Yue beside him, who walked over smiling, "We are a husband and wife, you said earlier, you’re going to hit who?"

The steward watched Long Yue and Li Qingmu warily, feeling inexplicably nervous just seeing the two of them.

However, losing in attitude is not acceptable, the steward stood upright, saying: "You two look unfamiliar, not like people from our Liuzhou City, this is a Liuzhou matter, if you’re just passing by, better roam and watch, don’t meddle in our affairs!"

Long Yue smiled charmingly: "What if I say, we insist on meddling?"

"Hey, to be honest, even the Zhou Government’s Lord must give our family some face! You insist on meddling? Hahaha, where will you interfere?"

Li Qingmu squinted his eyes slightly, this man was truly overbearing to announce in front of so many people that the Zhou Government would give their family face? Certainly disregarding the law!

"It seems, your Wu Family is quite powerful!"

Li Qingmu smiled dangerously.

Coming from a poor background, he understood the bitterness and hardship of the common people more. He had some good fortune; though surviving life-and-death scenarios a few times, he wasn’t often openly humiliated or bullied.

This was related to his encounter with Qi Jingyu; after the assassination attempt post-exam, he became intricately connected with Qi’s family, giving him a higher starting point than most.

Therefore, sometimes, blessing and misfortune are intertwined; fate is truly hard to explain clearly.

The steward raised his head slightly, very pleased: "Naturally, our Wu Family is indeed a prestigious family. The Prefect’s son’s wife is from the Wu Family, can’t you just leave smartly, go back where you came from, or else, you’ll never get away with it!"

Speaking of his family’s background, the steward gained more confidence, instantly losing that previous cowardly aura, replacing it with arrogance and dominance.

"Sir, Madam, thank you for speaking up for us, the mother and son remember your gratitude, but he’s right, we are just ordinary people, how can we compete with them? Wuwu..."

"Hey, stinky woman, good that you know, hurry up and get lost!"

"Waah—"

The little boy was harshly scolded by the steward again, wailing more loudly, tugging at the listener’s heartstrings.

Long Yue came beside the mother and child, crouched down, and asked, "Are you hungry?"

The woman was startled, then nodded, seeming a bit hungry, after all, crying and fussing for so long had consumed energy.

Long Yue smiled, reaching out to touch the boy’s head, "Hungry, then come with me, have some food first, how about it?"

The woman looked at Long Yue, her expression a bit reserved: "This... this... this might not be so good, Madam, this lowly one..."

"It’s just a few buns, there’s nothing wrong with that, come on!"

Causing a scene here was pointless, better to follow them and talk, clarifying the whole situation from beginning to end.

The woman tried to refuse, but seeing her child hadn’t had a proper meal for three days, these two seemed like wealthy people, surely they can eat a bit, right? At worst, she’d do some more work for them later.

Thinking this made her slightly reassured, leading her child to follow Long Yue.

"Hey, just like this and it’s all done, really so troublesome!"

The man curled his lip, snorted coldly, no longer bothering with the mother and child and Long Yue’s couple, proudly lifting his chin towards the spectating citizens, as boastful as a rooster victorious in a fight.

"The fox exploits the tiger’s might!"

Someone murmured among the citizens, but kept the voice low, afraid of being heard.

The crowd gradually dispersed.