Upon arriving in the north, Yue Hengyi incessantly scanned the ground. From the air, he could easily observe the terrain. The land was a desolate yellow, devoid of any green. The reason was simple: prolonged drought in the north had led to a locust infestation. Once the locusts appeared, they devoured all edible vegetation, leaving no leaves on trees or grass on the ground. Many cities were devoid of human presence, and those who remained lived in abject poverty.
When Yue Hengyi reached Yanjing, he witnessed the situation firsthand. Although it was better than other regions, the people here appeared gaunt and emaciated, clearly suffering from long-term malnutrition.
Yue Hengyi found He Qiuan and stated his purpose directly: "I am here to help you deal with these locusts. My family and many friends were killed by these locusts, so I seek revenge. I hope you will not refuse my presence!"
He Qiuan was overjoyed when Yue Hengyi appeared. "Mr. Yue, it is wonderful that you have come to help us. To be frank, among our current ability users, while some are powerful, their area-of-effect attacks are not strong. Now that you are here, we have hope!"
He Qiuan understood that to combat the locusts, area-of-effect ability users were essential. Shen Feng rarely came to the north, and Yue Hengyi's arrival indicated his ability to do so. With his powerful gravity field, the immense gravity could instantly kill the locusts!
Yue Hengyi sighed, "Brother Feng is very powerful, but he is old! He is now timid and hesitant, content to guard his small territory and unwilling to move. As long as the insects do not threaten his domain, he will take no action. But he fails to understand that only by actively resisting can we end this apocalypse!"
He Qiuan responded with a wry smile, "Everyone has different choices. If we were in his position, we might make the same decision. Our environments differ. In the north, locusts cover the land, so we can only resist. But in the south, he only needs to clear the surrounding obstacles to guard his paradise and continue to live at ease."
Yue Hengyi nodded. "Since Brother Feng does not intend to act, we will save the north. Tell me now about the locust nests in the surrounding seas and plains. I must clear these locusts in the shortest possible time!"
Yue Hengyi was eager for revenge and wanted his two children to grow up carefree. However, without a stable environment, this was merely a wish.
Therefore, Yue Hengyi arranged for the two children to live in the Fengshen Palace in Yuzhou, where they would be safe and grow up without worry. When they were older, the north might be pacified, and he could bring them back to live.
...
However, Yue Hengyi believed his children would be safe in Yuzhou. But shortly after his departure, Yue Cangshan and Yue Bitao found Li Keyi. The two children were weeping uncontrollably and told Li Keyi, "We want to go home! We want to find Daddy!"
It turned out the two children had been bullied. Although they lived comfortably in the luxurious palace with plenty of food and companions, these companions refused to play with them and even bullied them. Thus, the children's choice was simple: to cry and demand to leave.
Upon hearing this, Li Keyi became distressed and asked the children, "Who bullied you? Tell me quickly, and I will get revenge for you! I will teach them a harsh lesson. These children are so ill-behaved!"
In Li Keyi's mind, the perpetrators of such scoundrel behavior must be boys, perhaps Xiao Long or Xiao Hu. However, Yue Cangshan revealed the truth: it was the well-behaved girl, Shen Hongxiu, who had done it.
Li Keyi was immediately perplexed. Shen Hongxiu had always been well-behaved. How could she bully these two children from outside for no reason? She had only recently arrived at Fengshen Palace and should not have done such a thing.
So, Li Keyi first comforted the two children and then found Shen Hongxiu to question her. "Yue Cangshan and Yue Bitao are younger than you and are like your younger siblings. How could you bully them? Your actions are not those of a proper elder sister!"
Shen Hongxiu replied guiltily, "I didn't bully them!"
Li Keyi frowned. She felt that Shen Hongxiu, having grown up outside, was also cunning. Even at this moment, she was still thinking of lying to deceive her. The two children had already reported the matter to her; how could it be false?
"If you don't tell the truth, I'll take you to your grandmother to question you about this!" Li Keyi threatened.
At this point, Shen Yishi stepped forward and stood in front of her sister. She said earnestly, "It's not my sister's fault. Sister was trying to defend me, so she scolded these two naughty children. They didn't expect them to complain to you. Third Aunt, Sister did nothing wrong!"
Hearing this, Li Keyi asked doubtfully, "What exactly happened? Explain it clearly. Did you hit them?"
Shen Hongxiu did not want to face her grandmother and quickly said, "These two snatched Shen Yishi's doll and refused to return it, so I scolded them. They were wrong first. If you want a toy, you should borrow it, but they were unreasonable and snatched it without returning it, so I scolded them. I didn't expect them to cry!"
"How did you scold them? Speak clearly," Li Keyi asked with a frown.
Shen Hongxiu replied guiltily, "I called them unwanted children, children their father didn't want... I didn't expect them to cry like this!"
"You little scoundrel!" Li Keyi shook her head and sighed, then criticized, "How could you say such things? These two children are already pitiful. Their mother just died in front of them, and now their father has to go north to fight. They were left here to take care of you. Instead of comforting them, you are rubbing salt in their wounds. This is too much!"
Li Keyi truly did not expect the usually well-behaved Shen Hongxiu to curse like this. She seemed quite clever, able to pinpoint others' pain when cursing and tear at their wounds. Now, Yue Hengyi's two children were crying incessantly, and resolving this matter would likely be difficult.
Shen Hongxiu lowered her head, saying nothing.
Shen Yishi, being loyal, whispered to her sister, "Sister, let's cry together now. Then Third Aunt won't do anything to us!"
Shen Yishi was very familiar with avoiding punishment. She knew she was doted on by her parents, so after causing trouble, she had to cry loudly, and adults wouldn't do anything to her.
Unfortunately for Shen Yishi, Li Keyi's hearing was very sharp, and she had heard everything she had said.
So, Li Keyi took a deep breath and said, "Both of you go back to your rooms. You will be confined for the next month because you caused trouble! You made two younger siblings, whom you should be taking care of, cry. Hurry back!"
Shen Yishi was still unconvinced. "We didn't do anything wrong. They made the first move. If they hadn't snatched my doll, Sister wouldn't have scolded them. Besides, we didn't hit them, so why should we be confined? They cried, but they received no punishment. Are we being punished just because we don't cry?"
But Shen Hongxiu was already nine years old and understood the atmosphere. She quickly grabbed her sister's hand and said, "Stop talking. Let's go back to our room. We can call each other later if we want to talk."
Then, Shen Feng's two daughters went back to their room together. Li Keyi felt a headache coming on. She was now managing the affairs of Fengshen Palace, and what gave her the most headaches was not the social obligations during festivals. Receiving guests during holidays was easy to handle. The real trouble came from the children in the family, who frequently caused mischief, forcing her to constantly clean up after them.
Yue Hengyi's parents, having heard about the situation at Fengshen Palace from someone, became distressed upon learning that their grandson and granddaughter were being bullied. They immediately rushed to Fengshen Palace, demanding to take the children home for their own care.
Li Keyi patiently explained to the other parents, "The disputes between the children are not a big deal; it was just a verbal argument. There is no need for such a fuss. I have already punished Shen Feng's two daughters, so let Yue Cangshan and Yue Bitao continue to live at Fengshen Palace. They will receive excellent education and training here."
However, Yue Hengyi's parents were adamant. "We know that the children will be well taken care of at Fengshen Palace. But they have angered the two little princesses of Fengshen. Even if they don't trouble the children later, Shen Feng's disciples might bully them. We would still prefer to take the children home for care!"
Li Keyi could no longer argue. After all, their meaning was clear: Yue Hengyi's two children had been bullied at Fengshen Palace, and it was Shen Feng's two daughters who had done it. This had given the other party leverage, and no matter how she explained, they would not agree.
Therefore, Li Keyi reluctantly agreed. "Alright, if the children are willing to leave with you, I will not stop them!"
Li Keyi felt disgraced. Yue Hengyi had entrusted the children to her care, and she had failed to look after them properly, allowing Shen Feng's two daughters to make them cry. Now that the other parents had come to take the children away, it clearly indicated her lack of discipline and her children's mistreatment of others.
However, despite the embarrassment, Li Keyi could do nothing but let the children be taken away, as the other party had expressed concern about the children continuing to be bullied.
During dinner that evening, Li Keyi couldn't help but quietly complain to Chang Jianyi, saying, "Why don't you go and teach these two children a lesson? They are girls, yet they act without considering the consequences and bully other people's children. If this continues, they will become even more spoiled!"
Upon hearing this, Chang Jianyi immediately shook her head. "I won't do such an offensive thing. You do it. You know as well as I do that Shen Yishi holds a high position in Shen Feng's heart, and her mother, Du Xinshi, is still frozen. Then there's Shen Hongxiu. Currently, Yu Renshu is unwilling to meet with us. If I criticize her daughter, who knows what she will think? So, I won't do this!"
Li Keyi sighed and said, "It seems that being a housekeeper is not that easy!"
Chang Jianyi could only encourage Li Keyi. "You keep going! When you have a child of your own, you will understand how difficult it is to raise children!"