Trouble Arises
On one side stood Lord Huainan, a royal relative; on the other, just a humble village woman, May Parker. Governor Yale, no fool when it came to official business, immediately ordered his men to withdraw. He barked at Lily Evans, "I will have my people verify the ownership of these fields. If you dare lie or deceive me, you will not get off lightly!"
Governor Yale left with his entourage. May Parker, unwilling to accept defeat, clenched her teeth as she passed Lily Evans, hissing venomously, "You wretch, the deed is in your name. The county office will see it has nothing to do with Lord Huainan's heir! I can't wait to see you crash and burn!"
"Save your concern for yourself. With your reputation in ruins, who would dare marry you now?" Lily replied with a sly smile, her eyes twinkling mischievously. May Parker stomped away in fury.
"Whew... That was a close call." Lily rubbed her brow and leaned lightly against Lucky, sighing. "These high-ranking officials really do throw their weight around. Good thing I brought up Leonard Li; otherwise, there’s no way our greenhouse would’ve survived today."
Behind them, Egghead curled his lip. Sure, Lord Huainan was noble, a royal relative and all, but compared to our General Alexander Hayes, he still fell a bit short.
Uncle Arthur said anxiously, "Lily, once Governor Yale gets back, he'll definitely investigate the ownership of these fields. What if we get exposed?"
Lily waved it off. "The deed may be in my name, but all Leonard Li needs to do is put in a word with Governor Yale. We'll just say the land is registered under me, but it's actually Leonard Li's property. I only need Lord Huainan's reputation to keep trouble at bay."
Lily’s plan was sound—too bad fate had other ideas. Leonard Li wasn’t even in Greenfield City; he’d left for the capital for New Year’s just yesterday!
"What about Mr. Wu, the steward at Li Manor?" Lily asked, her voice tight with worry as she questioned the returning servant.
The servant pulled a long face. "All the stewards who could make decisions at Li Manor left for the capital with Leonard Li. There are only a few maids and old women left—no one important at all!"
"Oh no, this is bad! Leonard Li, why did you have to leave right now? If only you’d waited a couple of days!" Lily covered her face in frustration. She’d always dealt directly with Leonard Li himself; the few stewards she knew at the Greenfield City estate were all gone now. If Governor Yale couldn’t find Leonard Li, he’d ask the other staff at Lord Huainan’s residence—and they didn’t even know who Lily Evans was!
She’d hoped to dodge trouble with Leonard Li’s name, but now it looked like she’d jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire!
Lucky scratched his head, looking just as lost as Lily. "What do we do now?" he mumbled.
Lily forced a smile. "Don’t worry. We’ll figure something out. We always do."
Egghead piped up, "If the officials come back, I’ll just pretend to be Leonard Li’s cousin again. Worst case, they’ll haul me off to the county jail for a few days. I can handle it!"
Lily shot him a look. "You? You’d last five minutes before crying for your mother!"
Egghead flushed and muttered, "I wouldn’t! I’m braver than you think!"
Uncle Arthur couldn’t help but laugh. "You two, stop bickering. We should be figuring out how to deal with Governor Yale’s investigation."
Lily straightened up, her expression turning serious. "First, let’s double-check the deed and make sure there are no loopholes. Lucky, go fetch it. Uncle Arthur, help me look it over."