Due to the conclusive evidence, and with the personal involvement of the Mo family head in handling the matter, the verdict was reached quickly.

Mo Tiangao and Shen Cuiwei were convicted of attempted murder and theft. Given the large amount stolen and their refusal to confess after being arrested, which was deemed malicious in nature with an extremely negative impact, they were given heavy sentences.

The crimes were punished concurrently, with the two ultimately sentenced to nineteen and seventeen years in prison respectively, required to return the money embezzled from Mo Qi over the four years, and pay an additional 4.5 million in compensation for the personal injuries caused to Mo Qi.

Although 4.5 million would only be the profit from a single order for Mo Lanyu five years later, it was a debt that the currently heavily indebted Mo Tiangao family was completely unable to bear.

After the verdict was announced, Mo Lanyu went to visit her parents once. Seeing how they had aged twenty years in just a few days, Mo Lanyu couldn't help but feel remorse and resentment in her heart.

The remorse was from hating herself for not having the ability, losing money on investments, which led to her parents taking a wrong turn in a moment of desperation and setting their sights on Mo Qi. The resentment, however, was because of Mo Qi's indifference when their family was in financial distress, and his mercilessness in reporting the crime!

Even if her parents had done something wrong once, it was only because they had no way out and acted foolishly. Their family had diligently taken care of Mo Qi for four years, yet Mo Qi didn't even give them a single chance to make amends, handling it so decisively.

In the end, her parents had realized the error of their ways and regretted it, not continuing to administer the drugs. Mo Qi hadn't actually suffered any harm. He clearly could have signed a letter of forgiveness so that her parents wouldn't face such heavy penalties!

But let alone a letter of forgiveness, Mo Qi didn't even show up, obviously determined to take revenge on their family!

Thinking again about the 4.5 million in compensation, Mo Lanyu couldn't help but feel a surge of resentment and helplessness in her heart. Mo Qi clearly wasn't short of that bit of money, yet deliberately used it to make things difficult for their family.

While packing up their things under police supervision, their family's jewelry and cars were all seized by the police. She could only take a few clothes and some basic daily necessities.

Their family's old house had already been ordered by the court to be used to pay off debts. Mo Tiangao and Shen Cuiwei's bank cards had also been frozen. Although her card wasn't frozen, it only had a few thousand yuan, which in this city with one of the highest costs of living and rents in the country, would only be enough to sustain one or two months of living expenses.

If she wanted to continue her studies, she had to find a way to make money.

Mo Lanyu took a leave of absence from school. After a few days of depression, she gradually faced reality. Even though the current situation was very difficult, she still believed that she could make something of herself through hard work and talent.

But trouble soon came knocking.

Not long after the sentencing of Mo Tiangao and Shen Cuiwei, Shen Cuiwei's maternal family heard the news and showed up at the door with IOUs signed by Shen Cuiwei, urging repayment. But Mo Lanyu only had a few thousand left to maintain her livelihood and couldn't squeeze out a single extra cent.

Faced with her uncle's family's aggressive demeanor, she could only humbly explain the situation and plead for them to give her more time. Knowing that Mo Tiangao and Shen Cuiwei's assets had all been frozen, and figuring that she really couldn't come up with the money, her uncle's family could only sarcastically mock and threaten her before leaving in a huff, slamming the door.

After they left, Mo Lanyu tidied up the rental house that had been left in a mess by her uncle's family, thinking sarcastically that blood ties were nothing more than this. Mo Qi, who they had raised for four years, was ungrateful and ruthless. Her uncle's family also kicked them when they were down without any consideration for their situation.

These were her relatives, each one more disgustingly cold-hearted than the last.

However, things were far from over.

When she returned to school after her leave, she found that her classmates suddenly started looking at her differently. Some girlfriends who had previously been on good terms with her averted their eyes when they ran into her, their words already carrying a clear sense of distance. As for those who had already been at odds with her, they openly displayed their disdain on their faces and in their words.

"Hehe, you don't know, that Mo Lanyu who always acted so high and mighty, her parents are murderers who poisoned their own nephew! Even the Mo family head was alarmed by this and personally reported it to the police!" The girl said with a mocking expression, gossiping with her companion beside her: "And that's not all. Their family was living off that nephew. The investment returns she had before that weren't bad? That money was also stolen from the nephew's family!"

Mo Lanyu stood not far from them, listening to the two people's gossip, her face alternating between green and white.

The companion noticed Mo Lanyu's figure out of the corner of her eye. The surprise on her face instantly turned to awkwardness. She lightly poked the girl beside her in the waist and said in a low voice, "Keep your voice down, the person is right behind you."

The girl turned her head and glanced at Mo Lanyu, whose face was filled with gloom. "So what, did I say something wrong? That look in her eyes, does she want to kill me? Forget it, the daughter of murderers, I'm really scared." After saying that, she pulled her companion and walked past Mo Lanyu with their heads held high.

Mo Lanyu stood there as if nailed in place, gritting her teeth fiercely, glaring at the two gossiping women with a look that could devour them. She watched as they slowly walked away with an arrogant air, but in the end, she didn't say a word.

The Mo family had caused such a major criminal case this time, and Mo Yitao had no intention of covering it up in the slightest. So the matter quickly drew a great deal of attention in the local wealthy business circles.

Many of the students at this school came from rich and powerful families, so the fact that Mo Lanyu's parents had attempted to murder their nephew soon became known to everyone at this nationally renowned economics university.

At the same time, Mo Qi, this unremarkable branch member, also drew the attention of the Mo family after this incident.

It should be known that the Mo family head had never been a caring person. The previous head, Mo Yitao's adoptive father, could still be said to have some intent to look after the clan members. But Mo Yitao was a cold-hearted authoritarian toward the clan.

Originally, when Mo Yitao first took over, there were still a few clan members who wanted to make trouble. As a result, not only did Mo Yitao swiftly and decisively ruin these few people, he also took the opportunity to consolidate the major shares scattered among the Mo family branches.

This led to the current situation where even if the Mo family wanted to get a handle on Mo Yitao, they had no way to do so.

A man who had been so indifferent to his clansmen suddenly made such a big fuss about the family affairs of a collateral branch. Even as the head of the family, this stance was not a big problem, but the issue was that Mo Yitao not only intervened, but also brought the young man from that collateral branch to the old mansion where only the direct descendants of the Mo family could live!

This made the Mo family explode with anger!

In an instant, the Mo family was restless, with all kinds of speculations.

Some people speculated that Mo Yitao might be thinking of cultivating Mo Qi as his successor. But more people, especially those who wanted their daughters to become the future mistress of the Mo family, recalled the information they had gathered about Mo Qi's weak and sickly pretty boy appearance, and secretly sounded the alarm in their hearts.

Perhaps, Mo Yitao had some unusual "interest" in this young man.

No wonder Mo Yitao was indifferent to the many charming young ladies in the family. It turned out that the head of the Mo family had a taste for this!

While they were regretting not having figured out the family head's appetite earlier, they also began to consider, without exception, how to get rid of Mo Qi, this stumbling block.

However, although they tried every means to make a move against Mo Qi, they couldn't find an opportunity as Mo Yitao protected him too well. Mo Qi spent most of his time enjoying life in the old mansion of the Mo family.

On the rare occasions when he went out, he was always accompanied by the head of the Mo family. Even if they had ten times the courage, they wouldn't dare to cause trouble in front of the head of the Mo family.

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, four months had passed, from the deep autumn of November to the Spring Festival in early February. It seemed to be just a short moment, especially for He Yan, who was enjoying the meticulous care of Nanny Mo Yitao day in and day out. It felt like only a few days had passed.

The traditional Spring Festival, which originated in the ancient Earth era, had been passed down to the era in which he lived, so he was not unfamiliar with it. However, this was the first Spring Festival he had spent since coming to ancient Earth, so it inevitably took on a different meaning.

People are indeed all prone to inertia, He Yan thought with mixed feelings as he held the warm milk tea in his hands and curled up on the soft sofa by the window, watching the gradually falling snow outside.

To be honest, after realizing the head of the Mo family's intentions, he had originally planned to take advantage of him and then run away. Anyway, with the technological level here being thousands of years behind the world he originally lived in, if he wanted to hide from the head of the Mo family and live freely, Mo Yitao definitely wouldn't be able to touch a single hair of his.

However, he had been corrupted and numbed by the Mo family's excellent food and Mo Yitao's docile and restrained attitude, and had actually started to think that this kind of life was also very good. Unknowingly, he had lingered in the Mo residence until now.

What a decadent life.

He Yan slurped up the last mouthful of sweet milk tea in the cup and thought with a heavy heart.

The head of the Mo family, whom he had just criticized in his mind, had already walked quietly to his side at this time. He placed the small porcelain plate he was holding on the small tea table in front of He Yan, and lightly rubbed He Yan's head as he withdrew his hand.

On the exquisite porcelain plate was a piece of light green peppermint green tea cake. The light and faint emerald green color was extremely cute, making people involuntarily crave it. Coupled with the refreshing yet sweet aroma, it instantly attracted the attention of He Yan, a sweet tooth.

Seeing the boy's originally lazy and squinting eyes instantly become round at the arrival of the cake, his jet-black pupils filled with the look of a greedy cat, the man couldn't help but reach out and gently rub his head. "Hurry up and eat. It will get noisy later when there are more people."

Today was the Spring Festival, the first day of the lunar new year. According to custom, the collateral branches of the Mo family would come back to pay their respects. This day could also be said to be the liveliest day in the usually quiet old mansion of the Mo family.

But unfortunately, the head of the Mo family himself didn't seem to like this kind of liveliness very much.

Swallowing the last piece of cake in his mouth and taking the napkin handed over by the head of the Mo family, for some reason, the image of a frog squatting in a pot, being stewed slowly over a low fire, suddenly flashed in his mind.

He Yan paused in his motion of wiping his mouth, suddenly feeling a little disheartened.