The Zhao family's superficial work has always been done well, so Lin Jiang had never discovered their malice towards the Lin family before. If it weren't for the Heaven Observation Mirror, they wouldn't have been on guard against the Zhao family.

  Even when Zhao Jie was appointed as the Jiangnan Surveillance Commissioner at first, Lin Jiang might still have supported him.

  After all, he has the ability and is also Uncle Lin Jiang's uncle. The relationship between the two families is not shallow.

  Perhaps it was because of the Jiangnan observation mission, Lin Jiang offended the other party, or maybe it's because now there are only two women in the Lin family, so they don't bother to put on a show, after the tofu incident, they even more openly targeted the Lin family.

  Even Shang Mingjie's siblings, who usually don't ask about external matters, knew about it.

  The siblings couldn't understand why their uncle wanted to take revenge on the Lin family; weren't they all relatives?

  Mrs. Shang was very annoyed about the previous matter and said discontentedly, "How could it be that your uncle treated her like this? It's clear that she didn't care about familial relationships. If it weren't for her, your uncle's restaurant wouldn't have closed down."

  Shang Danzhu whispered, "The method of making tofu is an ancient recipe, and it's not just Uncle's secret recipe. Moreover, Lin Aunt rarely goes out, she doesn't know about the affairs in Pao Yu Lou either, how can we distance ourselves from her because of this?"

  Shang Mingjie added, "Uncle was wrong from the start. The cost of tofu is not high, but he sells it for such a high price, which is dishonest. After the incident came out, if he had apologized sincerely, everyone would still be angry, but they wouldn't make things too difficult for him. But instead, he forced Lin Aunt to cut off business with her subordinates, which was wrong."

  Mrs. Shang II coldly said: "Your uncle did make a deal with her, she took the benefits but didn't keep her promise."

  Shang Dan Zhu was silent and didn't speak.

  Shang Mingjie couldn't help but raise his hand to interrupt her, "Mother," he said with a piercing gaze, "I've been wanting to ask, didn't Uncle and the others start targeting my cousin's bookstore earlier? I remember Lin's Bookstore started doing poorly from April."

  Shang Dan bamboo looked at his brother in surprise, then stared at his mother and asked incredulously, "Why is this? Aren't we all relatives?"

  "What relatives?" Shang Er's wife said angrily: "Your uncle is your relative."

  Shang Dan Zhu couldn't help but redden her eyes, "But Lin Jie is also our relative, she's Auntie's own daughter!"

  "Your aunt is already dead, and now you're calling out for Aunt Lin! Danzhu, don't forget that during Mid-Autumn Festival, your second uncle gave you a lot of beautiful fabrics and jewelry. What could your aunt have given you?"

  Shang Dan's eyes widened as she looked at her mother.

  Shang Mingjie pursed his lips and suppressed his temper, asking, "Does Father know about this? Does Grandmother know?"

  "This is grown-up business, you kids don't need to worry about it."

  "My cousin is also a child," Shang Mingjie said angrily, unable to hold back his temper: "Then why do you want to implicate her? How old is Lin Auntie anyway? Auntie and Uncle have passed away, we don't even take care of them, how can you still target them?"

  Shang Dan's lips pursed tightly as she gazed at her mother with equal stubbornness.

  Mrs. Shang II did not expect both children to be against her, and she angrily said: "What do you know? The Lin family has always been cunning. Do you think those two aunts are good people? If they didn't have any ability, could they have established themselves in Suzhou? It's just that you two children were foolishly deceived by them."

  "Mother!" Shang Mingjie looked at her disapprovingly and said, "If all the Lin family members are cunning, what about Auntie? She's also a member of the Lin family. If she's not good either, then what about us who share the same bloodline as her?"

  "What's going on here?" Mrs. Shang Er finally couldn't help but say after holding back for a while: "Do you know why your uncle targeted the Lin family? It's because our two families have been enemies for a long time, and your great-grandfather was killed by someone from the Lin family. And your grandfather, who lived an unfulfilled life, was also suppressed by the Lin family."

  Shang Ming Jie and Shang Dan Zhu's mouths were agape, both of them had never heard such a statement before.

  Shang Mingjie's first reaction was, "This can't be, haven't the Lin and Zhao families been friends for generations?"

  "What a wonderful relationship," Mrs. Zhao sneered: "It's just because the Lin family is powerful, and our Zhao family has no choice but to swallow our anger."

  Shang Dan's eyes flashed with a bright light, and he muttered to himself: "In the past, I had to hold my breath and swallow my voice, but now that Uncle is gone, so the uncles are starting to deal with Lin Auntie and Lin Big Sister?"

  Mrs. Shang's lips were pursed and she didn't speak, but her eyes flashed with a cold light.

  Shang Mingjie shook his head and stuttered: "But what does this have to do with Aunt Lin and Cousin Lin? They didn't even exist back when Great-Grandfather Zeng was around!"

  "What does it have to do with anything?" Mrs. Shang Er shouted excitedly: "They are surnamed Lin, so there is a relationship."

  Shang Mingjie was about to retort when his sister pulled him back, Shang Danzhu said: "Mother, no matter what Uncle does, it's best if you don't interfere. We are related to the Lin family after all, and Lin is Auntie's only daughter. If Grandmother finds out that you're targeting her, she'll be very angry."

  After saying that, he pulled his brother and left.

  Arriving at the courtyard, Shang Mingjie pulled back his hand and covered his mouth, saying: "Why didn't you let me speak? This matter has nothing to do with Aunt Lin or Cousin Lin."

  Shang Dan bamboo looked around and saw that there were only the two siblings, so she couldn't help but scold him in a low voice: "How can you be so stupid, believing everything mother says?"

  "What?" Shang Ming Jie looked bewildered.

  Shang Dan sighed, "I may not know what happened between the seniors, but I've heard more than once about the great righteousness of Lin's ancestors. Think about it, the imperial family almost wiped out the main branch of the Lin clan, yet Lin Gong chose to endure and not rebel for the sake of the dynasty and the people. Do you think such a person would harm his uncle and suppress his grandfather?"

  There's another thing that Shang Danzhu didn't say: if the Lin family really did such a thing, how could they still marry their aunt as a daughter-in-law?

  Making friends with the enemy's family is like asking for death, isn't it?

  According to Shang Danzhu's understanding of the Lin family, the Lin family should not be so confused.

  Moreover, the Shang family was also under Lin Gong's command, just like the Zhao family. The three families were colleagues. If the Lin family really killed Grandfather Zeng, the Shang family wouldn't have been unaware of it. And with Grandmother's shrewdness, how could she possibly have married Mother as her daughter-in-law?

  Shang Mingjie also quickly thought of this point, he was just worried and confused, but as soon as his sister mentioned it, he immediately reacted, "I'll go ask Grandma."

  The three of them are now older than Mrs. San's age, and they are still in the generation of their great-grandmother, so she should know something about it.

  "Be careful, don't let Grandma know about the trouble between the Lin and Zhao families, or she might get heartbroken."

  Shang Mingjie thought of his mother's silence earlier and secretly thought: Grandmother and Father may not know, but they might be aware and just didn't ask.

  At this moment, I felt both worried and pained in my heart, how could good relatives become like this?

  Shang Mingjie's mouth was sweet, and he was also clever. When he wanted to ask about something, he would often get twice the result with half the effort. And when facing his beloved grandmother, it was even more convenient for him to pry into things. As soon as he mentioned a topic like "the past deeds of our great-grandfather", Old Lady Shang would start talking non-stop.

  Shang's ancestors were farmers who tilled the land, but they had a lot of strength and got along well in Suzhou because of their sense of justice.

  Lin was a member of a large clan in Suzhou, and Lin Li was the young leader of the clan at that time. He loved making friends, and one day they became good friends by chance.

  Later, Lin Li followed the founding emperor Shi Qian of Daliang to start a rebellion. When the imperial army came to Suzhou to quell the rebellion, many people were moved by Lin Li's kindness and went to protect him, including the ancestors of the Shang family.

  Lin Li led the troops back to annihilate the imperial court army, and took these people with him. At that time, the country was divided into four or five parts, and there were wars everywhere. The Shang family had only three brothers left. The ancestor of the Shang family gritted his teeth, leaving all the land and money to his two younger brothers, and he himself shouldered a hoe and rebelled with Lin Li.

  "What about our great-grandfathers then?" Shang Mingjie took the opportunity to ask: "I remember that our three families' ancestors worked together, shouldn't they have rebelled together too?"

  The old lady smiled and nodded, "It's together, but your great-grandfather was a bit later. The Zhao family is a scholar-official in Jiangdu, and it was Lin Gong who brought your great-grandfather to Jiangdu when he fled."

  It's actually an exaggeration to call them gentry, the Zhao family was just a small landlord with a bit more land than ordinary people at that time. When Lin Li led his troops to occupy Jiangdu, the Zhao family took the opportunity to surrender and join him. The ancestors of this branch of the Zhao family enlisted in the army and followed Lin Li to fight battles all over the place.

  Later, Shi Qian established the Great Liang State, and Lin Li also began to reorganize the Lin family army. The Shang family was divided into another army due to their military achievements, while the Zhao family remained under General Lin as a deputy general.

  The friendship between the three families was formed at that time. After all, they had been through so many years of life and death together, their feelings were not ordinary deep.

  Shang Mingjie and Shang Danzhu couldn't help but exchange a glance, "Did that great-grandfather also die of illness?"

  The old lady narrowed her eyes, sighed and shook her head: "No, he died in battle, and was beheaded by the enemy general while fighting against the rebel army. Your great-grandfather was heartbroken for a while back then."