Father, who is both a heir and a descendant, is still biased; the bound system has gone berserk.

"The couple, Liu Youcai and his wife, who had lost their son, took the child back with them."

Then they said they had found their lost son, but everyone in the village knew that it wasn't their son at all, but no one said it aloud.

The prince asked, "How did everyone know that the child they found wasn't the one their family had lost?"

The village chief glanced at the handsome young man who looked like a god and said, "His son is dark-skinned, but the one he picked up is fair and delicate."

Their facial features were also different. The baby in his family had short eyes, a flat nose, and light-colored lips, while the one they found had long, slit-like eyes, thick eyebrows, and a high nose. Even though it was a newborn baby, you could still tell at a glance that they looked different.

The village chief suddenly looked up and scrutinized Marquis Xuanwu. The more he looked, the more astonished he became.

"To be honest, Ah Niu's current appearance really does resemble yours, Your Excellency... especially his eyebrows and nose!"

"The facial features are similar too."

"Oh my, the ears look alike too!"

The more the old village chief said this, the more agitated Lady Xuanwu became.

Marquis Xuanwu hurriedly asked, "And then? What happened after they took the child back?"

"And then..."

The village chief sighed, "They took that child back, but they're still thinking about their lost biological son. They're not treating Ah Niu well at all."

When I was little, things were alright; I was fed rice porridge and survived.

Once Ah Niu could walk and talk, they stopped taking good care of him. They beat and scolded him, didn't feed him, and didn't give him clothes. This became commonplace for them.

The villagers, seeing Ah Niu's pitiful state, would occasionally give him a bite to eat or a piece of old clothing, and that's how Ah Niu grew up, stumbling and falling along the way.

The faces of Marquis Xuanwu and his wife immediately turned extremely ugly.

"Later, they had Liu Hongxing, and they disliked A Niu even more."

They treated Ah Niu like a laborer, without any regard for his well-being.

Just like in spring, summer, and autumn harvest, Ah Niu would go to the fields before dawn and not return home until the moon was high in the sky. After a long day, he still had to serve them their washing and meals. After the meal, Liu Youcai and his wife would not only do nothing, but they would also give him a cold shoulder.

Even in the dead of winter, when the mountains are already covered in snow, they keep saying they want to eat meat and ask Ah Niu to go to the mountains to hunt for it.

The snow in the mountains was so thick it reached up to his thighs, and Ah Niu waited there all night.

And that was it. Lu Zhaodi even complained that A Niu hadn't eaten enough; they were eating porridge, while A Niu was only drinking soup; they were wearing cotton-padded clothes, and A Niu's single-layer shirt was patched several times!

Not to mention the Marquis of Xuanwu and his wife, even Ying Yufu and the others frowned as they listened.

These Liu Youcai and his wife are truly despicable.

"This is outrageous! How could they treat a child like this? Even if he's not their biological child, they still raised him!" Ying Yufu clenched her fists in anger.

Lady Xuanwu immediately wiped away her tears.

"Who can argue with that? We villagers all feel sorry for that child and help him out from time to time. Those Liu Youcai and his wife are really no good."

Not only are they scoundrels, but Lu Zhaodi's family is even worse.

Unfortunately, his nephew passed the imperial examination with top honors and became an official, even more powerful than the county magistrate. Although we all share the surname Lu, none of us dared to offend his family.

Two days ago, the Lu family returned from the capital in disgrace. It was said that the top scholar had sold his wife and daughters to curry favor with the powerful, was dismissed from his post, and returned to his village with his entire family to become peasants!

The village chief was initially angry, but then he became gloating.

Ying Yufu and the Crown Prince exchanged a glance. Why does this sound so familiar?

Ying Yufu asked, "Village Chief, what was the name of that top scholar who was dismissed from his post?"

Village Chief: "His name is Lu Changshen. Listen to that! Doesn't that name sound unlike anything we have in our village? Scholars are different, aren't they? But what good are scholars? Selling wives and daughters, they're practically inhuman!"

The village chief was filled with righteous indignation.

The village chief is also a straightforward person.

Ying Yufu and the Crown Prince exchanged another glance; what a coincidence!

Isn't this Lu Changshen Yue Niang's ex-husband? It turns out that his hometown is also this Xiaoxi Village, and he's related to A Niu's family.

Along their journey from the east to the west of the village, people from every household peeked out curiously at the group of distinguished people, but no one dared to come out and watch them directly.

As they spoke, they arrived at the west end of the village and knocked on Liu Youcai's door.

Liu Youcai and Lu Zhaodi had just finished hiding the silver when they heard a knock on the door. Lu Zhaodi grumbled as she opened the door, "Who is it? What do you want?"

She looked up and saw the village chief standing outside the door. Then she saw a group of people who looked like gods behind the village chief.

Lu Zhaodi was immediately dumbfounded. "Village...Village Chief, what's the matter?"

As she asked this question, her eyes were fixed on the group of noble-looking people.

It's all gold, glittering gold, she's determined to squeeze a good amount out of them.

Lu Zhaodi's face immediately lit up with a smile, especially when she discovered that Chong'er was just a maid, her heart burned even hotter.

If even a maid is so generous, then the master must be even more so.

They've struck it rich! They're going to make a fortune today!

Lu Zhaodi ushered the group into the house, "Old man, come quick, we have guests, go pour some tea!"

"No need!" Marquis Xuanwu said indifferently. He had no good feelings towards this family after hearing what the village chief had said along the way.

The village chief immediately stepped forward and asked, "You're talented, but where's A-Niu?"

Before Liu Youcai could answer, Lu Zhaodi said with disgust, "Village chief, why are you asking about A Niu? He's incredibly lazy. I just sent him to town to deliver game to his sister."

When Ying Yufu and the others first came in, they saw a wild pheasant hanging above the kitchen of Liu Youcai's house.

That must have been Ah Niu who hit him.

The village chief frowned upon hearing this. "Is it possible to bring them back now?"

Lu Zhaodi frowned and said unhappily, "Village Chief, why do you have to find A Niu? Just tell us what's wrong."

The old village chief said, "That really won't work."

Just then, Pang Jian stepped forward and said to Marquis Xuanwu, "My lord, I will go and bring A Niu back."

Marquis Xuanwu immediately nodded: "Go!"

Lady Xuanwu urged, "Master Pang, hurry and bring that child back."

"My lord, my lady, rest assured!" Pang Jian turned and strode out to fetch the horse.

He could catch up with people very quickly on horseback.

No sooner had Pang Jian ridden away than the system's voice rang in Ying Yufu's mind.

"Ding! The face-slapping mechanism has been triggered. Please protect Liu Aniu's life and prevent the Empress's spies from succeeding."

Ying Yufu: "!"

Her eyes widened. What did that mean? Could that martial arts master Pang be the Empress's mole?

So, the hidden plot is to kill Liu Aniu?

Her expression changed instantly, and she turned to walk out.

But the Crown Prince pulled her outside first, saying, "Fu'er, the scenery in this village is very beautiful, let's go out and take a look."

Seeing their expressions, Wushuang knew there was probably some excitement to watch, so she followed them out.