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Chapter 111

Ms. Liu handed Mrs. Lu a booklet. Mrs. Lu took it and opened it. The booklet contained detailed records of the personalities, preferences, and relationships among the ladies of various families in the Capital City.

This was exactly what Mrs. Lu needed at the moment. After leaving the Capital City for more than a decade, many people's preferences had changed. It wasn't easy for Mrs. Lu to grasp these changes immediately.

"Sister Liu, I don't know how to thank you enough," Mrs. Lu said gratefully, holding the booklet.

"If it weren't for you and your husband back then, I wouldn't have known where to find my child," Ms. Liu said. She would remember the kindness that allowed her and her son to reunite for the rest of her life.

"In a couple of days, I'll host a banquet and invite all the prominent ladies in the Capital City..." Ms. Liu shared her plan.

"Sister Liu, with this booklet, I can manage the rest myself," Mrs. Lu said. She couldn't let Ms. Liu take the lead in handling these matters.

Mrs. Lu actively went about visiting and establishing connections with the ladies. There was much gossip about Mrs. Lu's interactions with various families shortly after her arrival in the Capital City.

Some said that husband and wife are like two birds from the same tree, but they fly off in different directions when faced with great adversity. Some even made severe accusations, like the Ning Family using the phrase "imprisoning a woman to stop her from misbehaving," questioning how Mrs. Lu could abandon her husband's principles.

Many families refused to accept the invitation cards sent by Mrs. Lu. Some received her but treated her with disdain, mocking her efforts to rescue her husband as a joke. The one who mocked her the most harshly was Madam Wu. Even before her marriage, Madam Wu had been at odds with Mrs. Lu.

However, some listened earnestly to Mrs. Lu's words. The more emotional ladies were touched by Mrs. Lu's actions to rescue her husband and promised to speak to their husbands about it.

Mrs. Lu was extremely grateful to these people and wrote down their names, determined to repay them in the future.

Mrs. Lu wasn't just talking - she was taking real action. Through her connections, she made a statement to the court that the Li family was willing to donate their entire fortune as military funds, solely for the sake of the court sending troops quickly to defeat the rebels and rescue the Liuzhou citizens and her husband.

Li Hui sold off all his shops and estates, raising a large sum of silver. With Cao Fugui's introduction, he met with various major grain merchants in the Capital City to arrange for the purchase of grain. Li Hui divided the grain into two parts: one to be donated to the court, and the other to be transported to Liuzhou at a high cost by hiring escorting guards, in order to alleviate the situation of the trapped Liuzhou citizens without food.

Mrs. Lu's series of actions made her efforts to rescue her husband known throughout the Capital City. Many ladies who were moved by her actions voluntarily contributed money to donate to the court, hoping for a swift military response.

The wealthiest people in the Capital City were these wealthy and idle ladies. With their assistance, the court, which had been worried about military funds and grain supplies, suddenly received millions of silver taels and enough grain to feed one hundred thousand people for two months. This covered more than half of the required amount.

The Emperor was very pleased with this. The Empress issued an imperial edict to commend Mrs. Lu and bestow upon her the title of Third-rank Virtuous Lady. Those who actively donated funds and assisted in the efforts were also rewarded.

Not only did this bring Mrs. Lu great fame, but it also motivated the ladies to become even more proactive.

The court promptly dispatched personnel to Liuzhou.

Secretly, the bounty for the rebel leaders' heads was repeatedly increased by Li Hui, and the Tian Yi Pavilion eventually took on this task.

Of course, the Tian Yi Pavilion would agree to accept this assignment. Apart from the generous reward, another important reason was Li Xia's consecutive night visits.

Li Xia had beaten up everyone in the Tian Yi Pavilion from top to bottom. Initially, even after being beaten, the head of the Tian Yi Pavilion, Luo Shan, still refused, citing the longstanding rule of not interfering in court affairs as the reason for declining Li Xia's request.

However, when Li Xia executed the fish-scale flaying technique on the person who had ambushed her, inflicting 108 cuts in front of Luo Shan, Luo Shan changed his stance. With each cut, Li Xia's icy gaze was fixed on Luo Shan, as if implying that he could be next. Death didn't scare him, but he couldn't bear this kind of death.

With Prince YongKang's reward of tens of thousands of silver taels, a bounty of thousands of silver taels for rebel commanders, and hundreds of taels for small squads, assassins infiltrated the rebel forces to collect heads. This caused chaos among the rebels, buying Liuzhou some much-needed time.

Once the court set the date for dispatching troops, Mrs. Lu brought her family to the city gates to bid farewell. Watching the great army depart, a heavy burden was lifted from Mrs. Lu's heart. But the strain caused her to collapse from illness.

Upon learning of Mrs. Lu's illness, the Empress specially dispatched imperial physicians to diagnose her. They determined that Mrs. Lu had fallen ill due to excessive worry and exhaustion, and they prescribed medication, instructing her to rest well and avoid overexertion, or it could impact her lifespan.

After receiving the physicians' report, the Empress granted Mrs. Lu numerous medicinal herbs to aid her recovery. When word spread of Mrs. Lu's illness, many came to visit her, and upon seeing her haggard appearance, they sighed and encouraged her to take care of herself.

After receiving a group of visitors, Mrs. Lu would close her doors, citing the need to rest and recover.

With Mrs. Lu ill, Li Hui kept a close watch on the Liuzhou situation from the outside. Li Xin had to manage all affairs within the residence.

When Li Xia had no duties, she accompanied Auntie Mei to attend to Mrs. Lu. Aunt Wang did not come to the Main Courtyard, using the excuse of caring for the ill Li Yao and the injured Li Shan. Auntie An came twice, but her clumsiness annoyed Mrs. Lu, who asked her not to come again.

As Li Xia left the Main Courtyard, she could hear the sounds coming from the West Wing Courtyard even from a considerable distance. It was as lively as a theater performance every day.

Li Xin had visited once but couldn't stand it. She suggested that Li Xia move to her residence instead. Li Xia refused. If she went there, Li Shan would undoubtedly insist on going too. With Li Shan's petty personality, both of them would cause a lot of trouble.

Although the West Wing Courtyard was noisy, Li Xia didn't mind being able to watch the show. More importantly, the reincarnated Li Yao had a habit of whispering to herself ever since she could speak. Despite her constant babbling, Li Xia had learned some interesting information from Li Yao's self-murmuring.

For instance, the late Heir Apparent Lu had died young in Liuzhou. Later, she married the deceased Heir Apparent Lu and became a chaste widow. Afterward, she went to the frontier to fight in battles and even earned the title of Female General. That sounded quite impressive.

Li Xia also heard that she [Li Shan] was actually betrothed to Cao Fugui, which seemed truly unimaginable. However, this cheap fiancé was later taken away from Cao Fugui by Li Shan with the help of Li Yao. Li Shan married into the Chengen Marquis Residence, making the situation quite interesting. If Li Yao was telling the truth about his previous life self not swapping bodies, Li Xia was confident that she would not have allowed Li Shan to successfully steal someone else's husband, unless she herself was unwilling.

Next, Li Xia heard that Li Xin's marriage was not going very well, and she was having a difficult life. Li Xia thought that Cao Fugui seemed decent for the time being, so why not pair him up with Li Xin? Li Xia felt that the calm Li Xin and the lively Cao Fugui were well-suited for each other. As for Li Shan, since she had taken Li Xia's husband anyway, it would only be fair for Li Xin to take him back.