Facing the dumbstruck servant, Grand Commander Luo nodded with dignity and stepped toward the Luo residence’s main gate.

Though his appearance was disheveled and his clothes tattered, in the servant’s eyes he appeared exceptionally imposing.

The servant kicked away the obstructing stick and rushed toward the main gate, shouting as he ran, “The Grand Commander is back! The Grand Commander is back—”

Grand Commander Luo felt a gust of wind blow past him, nearly knocking him over. Hearing the servant’s pig-slaughtering shouts, he actually found them somewhat endearing.

He stretched his lips into a smile. His dry, cracked lips hurt a bit.

But this didn’t affect his joyful mood.

Finally home. During his time in prison, the people at home were what he worried about most.

Grand Commander Luo straightened the corners of his clothes. Though he couldn’t smooth them properly, he still felt somewhat reassured. Just as he stepped through the doorway, he saw a group of concubines rushing over.

Before Grand Commander Luo could react, he was embraced by one of the concubines.

“Master, you’ve finally returned!”

Another concubine pushed this one aside and hugged Grand Commander Luo, continuing to cry. “Sob sob sob, Master, this concubine thought you wouldn’t come back…”

“Master—”

Grand Commander Luo was made dizzy by the concubines’ clamor and shouted, “All of you be quiet!”

The crying stopped. All the concubines looked at Grand Commander Luo with tearful eyes.

Grand Commander Luo scolded with a stern face, “Why are you crying? I’m not dead!”

“Tut tut tut, it’s almost New Year’s—Master, don’t speak nonsense.” After Sixth Concubine finished tutting, she became worried again. “Master, why did you suddenly return? Hiss, could it be—”

Had Master escaped from prison?

Grand Commander Luo directly gave Sixth Concubine a cold glare.

This woman had only a face but no brain. It was only his tolerance that kept him from beating her.

Pushing through the encirclement of concubines, Grand Commander Luo saw the young man standing not far away, as well as the Luo Ying sisters rushing in this direction.

“Father.” Luo Chen called out once. His eyes held excitement, though his face remained relatively calm.

Grand Commander Luo strode over and patted Luo Chen’s shoulder. “Were you frightened?”

Luo Chen smiled slightly. “No. It’s good that you’re back.”

Grand Commander Luo patted Luo Chen’s shoulder again, his gaze moving past him to look ahead.

The three Luo Ying sisters ran over quickly, their eyes red as they called out “Father.”

Grand Commander Luo nodded with satisfaction. “Good, good. As long as everyone is well.”

His eyes roamed and saw the young woman approaching at a steady pace. The corners of his mouth lifted.

Luo Sheng walked close and bent her knees slightly. “You’ve finally returned.”

Grand Commander Luo looked at her deeply and nodded. “Yes, finally back.”

Father and daughter gazed at each other and both smiled.

“It’s cold outside. Let’s go in and talk.”

A large group of people surrounded Grand Commander Luo as they walked inside.

Grand Commander Luo waved at the concubines. “You all go do what you need to do. Oh, and I need to bathe and change later. Prepare that for me.”

The concubines had no reluctance and scattered in a flurry to arrange various household matters.

In their view, the master didn’t favor any one of them anyway, so there was nothing to compete for. Competing might even result in kneeling on an abacus.

Most importantly, the master had returned safely. As long as this towering tree of the Grand Commander’s household hadn’t fallen, that was enough. What use was clinging to this big tree? Were melon seeds not fragrant enough, or was mahjong not interesting enough?

In the depths of winter, staying in a warm-as-spring room eating melon seeds and playing mahjong was proper business. As for the master’s legal troubles, them worrying as concubines was useless anyway—there were still Third Miss and the young master.

Facing the concubines’ tactfulness, Grand Commander Luo was quite satisfied and quickly entered the room with his children.

Luo Ying personally served Grand Commander Luo tea and water, while Luo Qing ordered a maid to fetch a dampened soft cloth and requested Grand Commander Luo wash his hands.

Luo Yue couldn’t hide her joy and kept talking around Grand Commander Luo. “Father, are you hungry? Why don’t you bathe and change first, eat something, then we can talk…”

Looking at his youngest daughter who was even more lively than usual, Grand Commander Luo’s expression was gentle. “I’ll eat later. First tell me how the household has been these past days.”

Judging from what he’d encountered coming home, the children had not had an easy time.

Of course, with Sheng’er here he was relatively at ease, but he still wanted to hear whether the children had encountered any troublesome matters during the time he was in trouble.

Hearing Grand Commander Luo ask this, the warm atmosphere suddenly cooled.

Several people couldn’t help but look toward Luo Sheng.

Luo Sheng smiled. “Nothing major. There is one minor matter worth telling you about.”

Grand Commander Luo straightened his expression. “Sheng’er, speak.”

Luo Sheng glanced at Luo Ying and said, “Some days ago, the Tao family came to break off the engagement.”

“What?” Grand Commander Luo’s complexion changed drastically, his eyes filling with fury. “With such a major incident, why didn’t you think of a way to send me word?”

Luo Sheng smiled. “Your daughter felt this wasn’t a major matter. The Tao family rolling far away is a good thing. If eldest sister had truly married over there, they’d want to bask in wealth and glory, but at the first sign of trouble they’d be the first to flee far away. That would be a great loss for our family.”

Grand Commander Luo glanced at Luo Ying. Seeing she was relatively calm, he relaxed slightly and said, “Though the Tao family’s action lacks righteousness, you all shouldn’t dwell on it too much. You must understand that adding flowers to brocade and throwing stones down a well is human nature.”

Saying this to his children wasn’t because he wanted to swallow this insult, but because he didn’t want his children’s temperaments to be too unyielding.

If you want to be forceful, you need the capability to back it up.

“Your daughter understands.” Luo Ying lowered her eyes in acknowledgment.

Luo Qing also nodded.

Luo Yue pouted in dissatisfaction but said nothing.

Father had just returned—best not to upset him.

Luo Sheng, however, said unhurriedly, “Throwing stones down a well is nothing. What your daughter is mainly angry about is that the Tao family’s eldest son wanted eldest sister to be his concubine—”

“Concubine?” Grand Commander Luo shot to his feet, kicking away a small stool with one foot, saying through gritted teeth, “Seeing me in trouble, they want to change my daughter from wife to concubine? Excellent. The Tao family is truly excellent!”

Grand Commander Luo’s teeth ground with audible clicks. He was truly quite angry.

Hearing about the broken engagement made him furious, but having seen such things often, it wasn’t that shocking. At most, he’d give Tao Shaoqing a beating and knock him down from his position as Junior Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

That position was something that Tao fellow had clung to him to obtain back in the day. So he’d make that Tao fellow spit back out what he’d swallowed.

As for whether others would throw stones down the well and kick him while he was down after being pulled off his horse, he’d just watch the show.

But what had he heard?

He hadn’t even been convicted yet, and they were already rushing to make his daughter a concubine.

This was no longer throwing stones down a well—this was something only beasts would do.

Toward beasts, what mercy was needed?

Seeing Grand Commander Luo had become angry, Luo Ying felt somewhat uneasy. “Father, don’t be angry anymore. It’s all in the past.”

Grand Commander Luo sneered inwardly.

In the past? No, it had only just begun.

However, there was no need to tell the children this. What he worried about instead was his eldest daughter’s state of mind.

“Ying’er, Father has wronged you. Back then I was blind—”

Luo Ying quickly said, “Don’t say that. Such a family, such a man—your daughter is lucky not to have married over there. Don’t worry about your daughter. Your daughter thinks not marrying and being able to stay with you forever would be quite good.”

Grand Commander Luo suddenly fell silent.

Not marrying?