Chapter 23: Eldest Uncle.

墨渊阁的小厨房只用了三日便修好，而大舅也到了京城。

早在他们姐弟敞开心扉，定下计策的时候，林景元就给在扬州的外祖母去了信，希望大舅近期来一趟京城，又问外祖母讨要人手。

As soon as my elder uncle, Shen Huai Shan, arrived in the capital, he headed straight to the residence of Duke Ding'an.

Lin Yannan and Lin Yannan's younger brother went out to greet him, and they were overjoyed to see a group of people following behind their elder uncle, including Mama Li.

Originally, Li Mama was the person by the side of the maternal grandmother. When my mother married into the Hou Mansion, the maternal grandmother let Li Mama come along. When my mother was in charge of the household, most of the affairs were handled by Li Mama, who was a trustworthy steward. After my mother passed away, Yao Shi sent Li Mama away under the pretext of honoring her, but unexpectedly, the maternal grandmother sent Li Mama back again.

“晏晏，景元，你们是不是出了什么事儿？信中也不说清楚，害得你外祖母收到信后就没睡安稳过，让我赶紧带人过来。”沈怀山急切道。

"Uncle, it's not convenient to talk here. Let's go inside and talk. Aunt Li, please come too."

The four of them sat down, and Yanyan explained what had happened in the past few days.

"I was just afraid that the divorce wouldn't go smoothly, so I wanted Uncle to support me. I didn't expect things to be resolved smoothly."

Shen Huaishan stood up angrily and slammed the table: "Shameless, shameless, they are so shameless! I will go to my elder wife right now and demand an explanation. Are they trying to bully my nephew and niece? Does the entire Shen family have to be dead for them to stop?"

"Uncle, don't worry. My grandmother knows that you've come, and she will definitely come to invite you later. You can give them a good knock then, it won't be too late." Lin Yanyan advised.

It is necessary to give them a knock, otherwise, some people in the Marquis' Mansion might actually think that they can be bullied because they are without parents.

Shen Huai Shan sat down, angrily saying: "They will regret it later."

Lin Yannan looked at each other, feeling supported by someone.

"Yannan, how did you recover from your illness?" Shen Huai Shan finally remembered to ask Yannan. Translate the above Chinese into English and keep all @ matches.Only reply to the translated content.

He comes to the capital several times a year and each time he visits his two nephews and nieces. What's frustrating is that Yan Yan gets fatter every time. They have also consulted doctors, but the treatment is not working.

林晏晏莞尔：“庆幸遇到了个神医，用土方子把我的病治好了。”

别看大舅平时笑呵呵，也很好说话，但脾气上来，没人不怕他的。

If we tell your uncle that she was poisoned by Yao family, your uncle would immediately go and beat up Yao family.

So she and Jingyuan decided to keep it a secret from your uncle for now.

Shen Huaishan sighed: "I always said that your father devoted his whole life to the country and the people, and your mother is also a kind-hearted person. It's unfair that you have suffered so much. It shows that the heavens still have eyes."

“大舅说的是，以后我和姐姐的日子都会越过越好，如今祖母已经答应墨渊阁的事务由我们自己打理，算是自立门户了。”景元道。

"It's good to establish our own portal so that we don't have to deal with those shameless people in the future." Shen Huaishan only now understood why Jing Yuan requested manpower in the letter. It can be seen that neither Yan Yan nor Jing Yuan have anyone trustworthy or reliable in the Marquis's residence.

Indeed, Miss Hou, the second young lady of the Hou family, took advantage of Yan Yan's illness and mourning period to dare to seduce Yan Yan's fiance. He is absolutely unwilling to believe that Old Madam and the second wife, Yao Shi, are unaware of this. Even if we don't mention that they gave instructions, at the very least, they tacitly approved and connived at it.

这样的人家，礼义廉耻都不要了，如何信得过？

这定安侯府，就妹夫算个堂堂正正的人。

“这次我只带了李妈妈和四个丫鬟，四个家丁，四个护院，回头我再多派些人手来。”

"Uncle, we already have enough people. It's just Jingyuan and me at Moyuan Pavilion, we don't need so many attendants."

"You have to listen to your uncle on this matter, having more people has its benefits. By the way, since you have established your own household, where will the daily expenses come from? Will the old lady provide them?"

Lin Yannan said, "Grandmother has returned to us thirty percent of the dowry that mother left behind, which should be enough for our daily expenses."

Lin Jingyuan immediately took out the property deed to show to his uncle.

Shen Huaishan looked angry again: "You call this only three percent? Are you trying to deceive children?"

"Uncle, it's not three percent, then how much is it?" Lin Jingyuan asked.

"Not even one percent, your mother's dowry was prepared by me, a total of twenty-eight shops, six farms, as well as silk, cloth, gold, silver, and jewelry, all packed in eighteen boxes."

Li's mother proudly exclaimed, "When my daughter got married and arrived here, there were ten miles of red decorations, and the whole city of Beijing was in uproar."

The brother and sister gasped in astonishment, expressing that their maternal family was incredibly wealthy.

Lin Yannan went to hold the jewelry box left by her mother: "But my mother only left behind this box of jewelry."

She still remembered what Yao Shi said when she handed over this box of jewelry to her... "These are the jewelry left by your mother, they're all here, you keep them!"

她见母亲平日穿戴朴素，便信了，还道母亲的首饰本来就不多。

李妈妈冷笑：“一匣子？剩下的那些都被二夫人私吞了吧！”

Shen Huaishan couldn't sit still, so he went to Cien Hall without waiting for Madam. Lin Yannan couldn't stop him, so she had to let Jing Yuan go with him.

Li Mamma said, "I will also go. I must retrieve Madam's jewelry."

林晏晏点头，就让大舅去闹，姚氏委实太过分了，这么多东西，姚氏怕不是想留着给她自己的女儿当嫁妆吧！

Why? Those were left by mother for her and Jingyuan.

After about half an hour, Da Jiu came back with Jing Yuan following behind, grinning cunningly. Lin Yannan knew that the matter was successful.

If Da Jiu has other important matters to attend to, he bids farewell and says that he will come back again before leaving the capital.

等大舅一走，景元拿出几张票据：“姐，大舅真厉害，不费吹灰之力，又要回来四间商铺，一个庄子，说好三成就得三成，少一分都不行。”

“最搞笑的是，二婶贪了母亲留下的首饰，祖母并不知情，李妈妈一样一样报出来，祖母脸都绿了，二婶辩解说怕咱们年纪小，弄丢了，所以她先保管着。可你就算要保管，也得让祖母知道不是？又不是小数目。”

"My elder brother said that according to the Dashing's regulations, the husband's family is not qualified to use the bride's dowry. My sister has a kind heart and is willing to contribute it to the Hou family, and I have no objections. However, my sister's jewelry is meant to be passed down to her two children. If they want to sell or dispose of it, it's up to them. You don't need to worry about it. Return it as soon as possible, or else I will file a lawsuit and sue you in Shuntian Prefecture."

“把二婶吓得，说待会儿就送回来，姐，二婶这下完蛋了。”景元幸灾乐祸，哈哈大笑。

林晏晏道：“祖母对二婶的信任正逐渐崩塌，不过离完蛋还早，毕竟有二叔在，而且景文和景修都已有功名在身，他们就是二婶的护身符。”

“反正迟早会有完蛋的一天的。”林景元坚信，不是不报时候未到。