Li Xin set aside her needlework and sent someone to notify Li Hui, who happened to be on leave at home. Li Hui recalled his promise to build a horse farm for his two sisters. He had forgotten about it during the busy years. On the way to the West Market, Li Hui instructed Zhang Hu to look for a horse farm to purchase.
The livestock market didn't smell pleasant. Li Xin and Li Xia were excited as they looked at the horses.
After listening to Li Yu's explanations about selecting horses along the way, Li Xin pointed to a brown horse and said, "Xia Xia, this horse has smooth and glossy hair. It should be a good one."
Li Xia looked at the horse Li Xin mentioned, "Its eyes are bright and lively."
"This horse looks good on the outside, but its teeth are severely worn. It's an old horse. Not suitable for purchase," Lu XuanNing's voice came from behind.
Li Xia turned around, "What are you doing here?"
"I heard there's a new batch of horses, so I came to take a look," Lu XuanNing was also a horse enthusiast.
"My sister and I are here to buy horses. It's perfect that you can help us choose," Li Xia didn't know much about horses.
"Alright," Lu XuanNing was naturally willing to help his fiancée buy horses. He explained to Li Xia how to examine and select horses. After inquiring about their requirements, he chose a black stallion for Li Xia and a chestnut stallion for Li Xin.
When Lu XuanNing offered to pay, Li Hui disagreed. How could he let Lu XuanNing pay for his sisters' horses? He paid for them himself.
They left someone behind to handle the remaining procedures.
"I have a small horse farm that I'm about to sell. You can take a look if you'd like," Lu XuanNing spoke up when he heard Li Xia mention buying a horse farm.
The three Li siblings couldn't believe such a coincidence – they wanted to buy, and Lu XuanNing happened to be selling.
"It's true. That horse farm is a bit small for me, so I'm planning to sell it and buy a larger one. If you don't believe me, we can go take a look now," Lu XuanNing hadn't expected things to align so perfectly either.
As it was still early, the three Li siblings agreed. The group changed course and went to Lu XuanNing's horse farm on the outskirts of town. This farm was about half the size of the public farm they had visited before. Disabled veterans who had followed Lu XuanNing into battle and had no homes were settled here to raise and care for horses. With the increasing number of horses, the farm had become somewhat crowded.
If the Li family bought it, it would be suitable for keeping a few horses for leisure. After seeing it, Li Hui immediately agreed to buy and asked Lu XuanNing to name his price.
Seeing Lu XuanNing hesitate, Li Xia laughed, "Brother has money, no need to be frugal on his behalf."
Li Hui glared at Li Xia, thinking she was already taking her future husband's side before even getting married. Li Xin smiled silently beside them.
Lu XuanNing quoted a price slightly lower than the market rate. Li Hui paid promptly and arranged for someone to handle the transfer of ownership.
When the three returned home, Li Xin couldn't wait to tell Mrs. Lu about buying the horses and the horse farm. Mrs. Lu was surprised that her three children had not only bought horses but also a horse farm during their outing.
"Mother, when you have time, our family should go horseback riding to relax," Li Xin suggested, worried that her parents might scold her brother.
"That sounds wonderful. I used to be quite good at horseback riding when I was young. It's been about ten years since I last rode," Mrs. Lu reminisced fondly.
"Mother, tell me what happened? When I came in, I saw you wiping away tears," Li Xin asked.
"It's nothing," Mrs. Lu didn't want to elaborate.
"Mother, is it about me?" Li Xin persisted, fearing it was related to her.
Seeing Li Xin's insistence, Mrs. Lu sighed, realizing her daughter had grown up. She told Li Xin what had happened.
Zhang Qiming had returned to the capital. Years ago, the incident involving the Li, Zhang, and Sun families had led to the Li family and Li Xin being ridiculed. Li Xin had no choice but to leave Liuzhou for the capital.
Zhang Qiming had been injured, rendering him infertile, and Sun Yiliu was forced to marry into the Zhang family to be a childless wife. Zhang Qiming's physical injury had also changed his attitude towards Sun Yiliu, especially after learning that she had caused a fuss about breaking off the engagement while he was injured and unconscious. He couldn't stand the sight of Sun Yiliu and found every way to torment her.
While Sun Yiliu appeared glamorous on the surface, she was living a life worse than death in private. Upon arriving in the capital and hearing that Li Xin had become engaged to the second son of the Chengen Marquis Residence, and seeing the sweet interactions between Li Xin and Cao Fugui, she compared it to her own miserable life.
Her heart filled with hatred for Li Xin, and at social gatherings, she would make ambiguous remarks about how Li Xin had desperately tried to marry into the Zhang family but failed. She also spread rumors about Li Xin being jealous of her and other such gossip. Sun Yiliu was skilled at leaving things half-said. Many young ladies in the capital were already envious of Li Xin's engagement to the transformed Cao Fugui.
These people embellished the stories, and by the time Mrs. Lu discovered it, the rumors about Li Xin had become increasingly wild. Mrs. Lu was anxious, fearing it would affect Li Xin's marriage, and she hated the Zhang family to death.
To make matters worse, Uncle Lu, in an attempt to curry favor with the Zhang family, sent a message to Qingyue Street. He wanted Mrs. Lu to attend the Zhang family's chrysanthemum appreciation banquet and ask for Old Master Zhang's help in changing his official position. One of Old Master Zhang's students worked in the Ministry of Personnel, responsible for evaluating and promoting officials.
Uncle Lu wanted Mrs. Lu to sacrifice her own daughter for his promotion. Mrs. Lu naturally disagreed and felt deeply disappointed in her natal family.
"Mother, Father is the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, and Brother is highly regarded in the Supreme Court. Our Li family is no worse than the Zhang family. I'm not afraid of them," Li Xin had long since come to terms with the situation.
"I'm worried the Cao family might have second thoughts," Mrs. Lu was concerned about the impact on Li Xin's engagement.
"The Cao family knew about my situation before proposing. They won't believe these nasty rumors," Li Xin reassured her mother not to overthink.
"The Zhang family is going too far," Mrs. Lu couldn't help but slap the table.
"Mother, let people say what they want. We should just live our lives with dignity," Li Xin's words surprised Mrs. Lu. She wouldn't have been surprised to hear such words from Li Xia, but Li Xin rarely spoke like this.
Noticing her mother's confusion, Li Xin smiled, "I've learned a lot about being open-minded from spending time with Xia Xia."
"Then I won't attend that chrysanthemum appreciation banquet," Mrs. Lu had no desire to go anyway.
"Didn't we say we'd go horseback riding? That day, our whole family should go to the horse farm to ride," Li Xin had a strong aversion to the Zhang family.
In the Orchid Courtyard, Li Xia also heard from Qiu Ling about the rumors circulating about Li Xin.
"Hasn't Cao Fugui done anything? His fiancée is being bullied like this, and he's just sitting idly by?" Li Xia asked.
"General Cao led his men to break Zhang Qiming's right leg," Qiu Ling's words made Li Xia scoff.
"Just broke his right leg? Go to Tian Yi Pavilion and place an order to break Zhang Qiming's left leg as well." Li Xia couldn't be bothered to deal with a scum like Zhang Qiming herself.
"Yes, Young Miss. What about that Sun Yiliu? Should we also..." Qiu Ling made a leg-breaking gesture.
"Not for now," Li Xia replied. If Sun Yiliu's legs were broken, she wouldn't be able to take care of Zhang Qiming. Besides, what Sun Yiliu cared about most was her face and figure. Rather than breaking her legs, it would be better to ruin her face and figure.
At night, Li Wan went to Tian Yi Pavilion.
"I'm worried, so I plan to take matters into my own hands," Zhou Heng said as he stood up to pour tea for Li Xia.
"Do you have any medicine that can make someone fat and ugly?" Li Xia didn't answer Zhou Heng's question, but instead made her own request.
"Who are you trying to deal with? That's quite harsh," Zhou Heng rose and took a medicine bottle from the cabinet, handing it to Li Xia.
Li Xia didn't respond to Zhou Heng again. She took the medicine and left, saying, "Zhang Qiming's legs. Break them as soon as possible."