"Look! The young lady, Zhou Cishi has brought Suzhou officials to welcome her three miles outside the city, and relatives and gentry from various towns in Suzhou are also present."

  Lin Qingwan lifted the curtain and looked ahead, seeing only green trees and no people in sight. She asked, "How much farther is it to the city gate?"

  "Ten miles!"

  That's still seven miles away.

  Lin Qingwan thought for a moment and said: "Pass it down, from today on, big sister is the young lady of the Lin family, I am the aunt."

  The house servant on horseback was taken aback for a moment, then said loudly: "Yes, young lady!"

  The housekeeper turned around and went down to instruct, in less than a minute, the servants of Lin's mansion in the convoy had all received the order. During the break, Housekeeper Lin even divided the servants into groups to come forward and kowtow to Lin Qingwan and Lin Yubin.

  Lin Qingwan saw the situation and let Bai Mei take out a big bag of copper coins from the car, which were strung together in strings, all of which were fifty cents per string, as a change fee for the people below.

  This is also a convention, originally wanted to go back to Suzhou and let them change their mouths, but since there are so many people coming to pick up, they might as well take this opportunity to fix the title, so that they don't have to change it later.

  Lin Run watched quietly by the side, no wonder Second Brother dared to hand over the family business to Ruan Jie, she had indeed grown up a lot.

  Three old men were also deep in thought, and Eighth Uncle couldn't help but mutter: "Another Hao Yu, indeed."

  Sixth Uncle sighed, "The direct descendants have always produced intelligent people, even the girls are the same."

  Eleventh Uncle smiled and his eyes swept over Lin Yong and Eighth Uncle, smiling with deep meaning.

  Shang Mingyuan and Shang Mingjie, the two brothers, were much simpler. They just followed along to join in the fun and also ran to Lin Qingwan's place, calling out "Auntie" twice, successfully getting a reward.

  The three members of the Lin family, all of whom were bedridden with illness, heard the commotion outside and couldn't help but feel anxious. Lin Yong gritted his teeth and said, "Lin Qingyu, just you wait until I return to Suzhou..."

  Lin Lun let out a loud "hurl" and rushed over to the basin, vomiting violently. After she finished, she weakly said: "Dad, don't talk big anymore, or else we'll both fall ill again."

  Lin Yong's face changed again and again, finally suppressing the anger in his chest, and asked in a low voice: "I told you to go find Sixth Uncle Gong, did you go?"

  Lin Lun's eyes were brimming with tears, "I found it, but Sixth Uncle didn't believe me at all. He said we're just not used to the local water and soil, and even took my pulse, saying that Dr. Xu's prescription was correct. We also showed him the medicinal dregs we had collected with great difficulty, and he said there was nothing wrong with them either. He also said that we have a petty mind, so everyone looks like they're trying to harm us. Now Sixth Uncle frowns at me from afar, how can I still dare to approach him?"

  "Father, let's not stir up trouble anymore. Until now, we still haven't figured out how they're harming us. Every time you scold them, afterwards we suffer. We're about to return to Suzhou, and we can't afford to have something go wrong at the last minute."

  Lin Yong's face changed color, and after a moment of silence, he gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, I'll listen to you. We'll talk about it again when we get back to Suzhou."

  The coachman driving the carriage in front shook his mouth slightly, and continued to drive without looking sideways. Hmm, don't think that just because he lowered his voice, he couldn't hear it. The steward was assigned to follow them precisely because his ears were more sensitive than ordinary people's.

  As expected, after resting, Lin Qingyan received the latest news of Lin Yong and his two sons. She thought for a moment: "They're almost in the city, let's not bother with them for now to avoid unnecessary trouble."

  Lin Guan's family should be blamed for letting someone replace the tea water sent over in a timely manner.

  The journey of seven miles was soon over, and not long after noon Lin Qingyan saw a horse-drawn carriage parked by the side of the road ahead, with a simple grass hut built on the adjacent lawn, with only one roof, but surrounded by light curtains, and seats were arranged underneath.

  As the carriage drew closer, Lin Qingyan could still see the fruit and tea cups on the seats with her excellent eyesight now. Lin Qingyan quietly lowered the curtain.

  Lin Yuhbin sensitively perceived Xiao Gu's bad mood and couldn't help but ask in a low voice: "What's wrong?"

  Lin Qingwan smiled and said softly, "It's okay, you're still a kid. When we arrive at the destination, don't get off the car. Let Xiaojie go down and talk to them for a bit before leaving."

  Lin Yuhong's face showed confusion, on the way back, many of the people who came to see them off were not few, every time they arrived at a place, there would be people spontaneously coming to pay their respects to his father, and even in the rain, he would get out of the car and bow to thank them, so why wasn't she allowed to get out this time?

  Lin Qingwan didn't explain, but instead patted her head and said: "It's getting late, we need to send your father to the temple to stay first, then go home. However, the Suzhou mansion has been uninhabited for many years, and there are many things we need to take care of, so it's not good to linger on the road."

  Lin Yuhbin pouted, "But didn't you already let Zhong Daguantie come back and take care of things? He's always been diligent, he shouldn't give us any more trouble. Little sister, you're deceiving me."

  Lin Qingwan winked at her and whispered with a smile, "Silly child, this isn't deception, it's just courtesy to outsiders. As long as you understand in your heart, there's no need to say it out loud."

  Lin Yu Bin has a big mouth.

  "When I was young, I was very clever. Once your father went out to meet friends and took me along, at that time I was only three years old, you were still in your mother's belly. Because your mother often read your father's poems to you, I listened a lot and remembered them, so I recited them at the banquet for everyone to hear. Everyone praised my cleverness, and I thought I was clever too, but your father said that I just had good memory, not particularly intelligent, and everyone was overpraising me."

  This story was told by Yu Bin's mother, Shang Shi, to Wan Jie Er, and then Wan Jie Er told her. At that time, Wan Jie Er was seriously ill and knew that Lin Qing Wan would replace her, so she often talked about her affairs with her.

  Lin Qingyuan remembered it very clearly.

  "At that time, I was very angry and had a falling out with your father. I didn't speak to him for the whole day. Your father couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time, and explained to me that he also thought his own sister was the smartest in the world, but saying so in front of others would be arrogant and annoying, so he could only make polite conversation, not because he didn't think I was intelligent." Lin Qingwen gazed at her and said: "What I just said was just polite talk."

  "My aunt and I still have to exchange pleasantries,"

  "I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to the elder who just happened to be walking alongside our car."

  Lin Yuhbin was startled and hastily turned his head to look, only to discover that the window on her side was open, while Lin Run was riding a horse in front of their carriage, seemingly talking to someone inside.

  That is to say he just walked outside her window.

  Lin Yuhong's heart sank, and she quietly asked, "Does the young lady dislike Governor Zhou and his men? Why else would she not let me go down to bow and thank them?"

  "When others treat me with sincerity, I naturally respond with sincerity. If they just pretend, why should I take the initiative?" Lin Qingyan sneered: "Moreover, you are not in good health, and after several days of rushing on the road, you're still a child, isn't it normal to get off the carriage?"

  Lin Yuhbin immediately recognized that the second half was a polite phrase spoken by his sister-in-law earlier.

  She pursed her lips and stopped asking questions, but she remembered all these words in her heart.

  The horse carriage stopped quickly, and Lin Guan's family came forward to report: "Young lady, Governor Zhou is leading the gentlemen waiting ahead."

  "Drive the horse carriage up there."

  Lin Guanjia was also stunned, but he quickly came to his senses and immediately arranged for the car in front to give way to Lin Qingwen's carriage, which delayed it for a moment before it moved forward.

  If I had walked, I would have arrived earlier.

  The old gentlemen waiting in front did not expect that the new head of the Lin family's main branch would be so bold, and they couldn't help but look at each other in surprise.

  Lin Guanjia had already agilely walked to the side of the carriage and, when it stopped, took down the horse's saddle and bowed: "Young Mistress, we've arrived."

  The voice was not loud, but it was enough for several rows of people in front to hear.

  Everyone's face turned serious, and they all stood solemnly.

  Lin Qingwan stepped down from the carriage with a stern expression, and Zhou Cishi hesitated for a moment before bowing his head to greet her: "Zhou Cong, Governor of Suzhou, leads his subordinate officials in paying respects to the Duchess."

  Lin Qingwan accepted his courtesy without bias, nodding her head and saying: "Governor Zhou has been polite, and it's a pity that everyone has come out three miles to welcome him in such hot weather. I'll thank my brother on behalf of our family first, and when we return home and burn paper money together, I'll report the details to him again."

  Everyone's forehead almost sweated, and Zhou Cishi shook his lips: "The county master doesn't have to be too polite, this is what the lower officials should do, no need to specially inform Wen Zheng Gong."

  Lin Qingwan smiled slightly, glanced around the circle, and after sweeping her gaze across everyone's face, she said: "The time is not early, thank you all for waiting here for a long time. We just returned to our hometown and are busy at home, so we won't invite you in for now. Let's catch up another day."

  Having said that, he turned around and was about to get on the car to leave.

  Everyone is stunned, and that's it?

  They've been waiting since morning just for this sentence?

  Shouldn't they be allowed to cry their hearts out in front of Lin Jiang's coffin first?

  Zhao Sheng didn't expect Lin Qingwan to suddenly become so overbearing, but after scanning the crowd with his eyes, he became excited. This was truly a case of "a pillow arriving just as one is dozing off", and he had been worried about not being able to find an opportunity.

  Zhao Sheng stepped forward and said, "Miss Lin, everyone has come from afar without complaint, and has been waiting in the scorching sun for half a day. At least let them offer incense to Lord Lin and pay their respects."

  He said with a somewhat sorrowful expression: "Don't worry, it will only take the time of one incense stick, I definitely won't delay Lin's daughter from returning home to rest."

  Lin Qingwan's foot had already stepped onto the stirrup, and upon hearing this, she didn't stop in her tracks. Instead, she directly mounted the carriage, standing on the shaft to look down at Zhao Sheng with a mocking smile: "Zhao Er Ye, let me remind you of two things. Firstly, I'm now married and am the Madame of the Lin family's ancestral home. You can address me as Madame Lin or Princess, but please don't call me Miss Lin anymore. Secondly, it's indeed been arduous for all of you, and it must have been a struggle to wait for us under this scorching sun for half a day. I'm sure everyone is parched and famished by now. Fortunately, my carriage has some dry rations and tea that can be used to treat all of you."

  Everyone's eyes involuntarily swept towards the curtain and the tea seats on one side, their faces flushing with heat as they instantly understood why Lin Qingwan had this attitude.

  This, this, they didn't mean to either. This morning when they came, they were all very sincere, it's just that they didn't think the Lin family's motorcade would be slower than expected, and after waiting for a long time, there was still no sign of them arriving.

  The sun was getting bigger and bigger, and it's unknown who instructed the servants to set up a thatched pavilion and lay out tea and snacks, so they could learn from each other...