The maid's road to success

By November, the weather had gradually turned cooler, and An Wenniang packed out the thick clothes early to prevent everyone from not having enough time to change them. There were many children in Xishan, and An Wenniang also helped buy new cotton-padded clothes for the children to use in the winter. It was much colder in the mountains than in the city.

An Wenniang was doing the accounts with Hongmei and Baimei in the mansion every day, recording the things they wanted to buy, and she didn't notice that An Zizhong hadn't been home for several days.

An Zizhong was at An Gu's house in Anjia Village, looking at a strange family in front of him. The man, who was about 40 years old, looked very old, with his eyes rolling around An Zizhong. Behind him stood a mean-looking woman, wearing coarse linen clothes, looking at An Zizhong with disgust. Behind her were three children of different ages, big and small. They must be the children of An Dahai and this woman.

"An Dahai, please don't be so harsh. It was you two who sold the child to move away, saying that the child would be a burden. Wen Niang redeemed herself and saved Zi Zhong. Now the two children are living a good life with their own abilities. Why are you coming back like a vicious dog smelling meat?"

An Gu was very angry. When An Dahai sold the children, everyone in the village advised him against it, but he didn't listen. For the sake of two dollars, he sold one to a coal mine to suffer, and sold the other to a middleman who specialized in selling children from other places. How could such people be qualified to be parents? Somehow he found out that the two children were capable now, and came back to be raised by the brother and sister?

"Uncle, don't be angry. They came back just to get money. It's not impossible. I can give you money. Don't say 100 taels. I'll calculate it by head. Five hundred taels for the five of you. But there is one condition. You have to write a letter of severance of relationship. After taking the money, you have to leave here and never come back. How about that 500 taels as we buy out our relationship?"

Just as An Dahai was about to agree, he was stopped by the woman behind him. The woman looked at him and asked what he wanted to do.

"We went too far. We had no choice at the beginning. We really didn't have the ability to support you. Now that you and Wen Niang are back safely, we naturally want to make amends. After all, you are children, and many things still need to be taken care of by adults. When we live together, I will definitely take good care of you."

Liu is smarter than An Dahai. An Zizhong could easily take out five hundred taels, which must be a lot of money. The two little bastards are so lucky that they came back alive and earned such a big fortune.

It's a good thing. If I could have persuaded An Dahai to sell them, I might as well sell them again. But I have to get back the money I deserve first.

An Zizhong sneered, his face showing contempt. It was really funny that a vulgar and vicious woman dared to plot against him openly. If his friends who used to play with him knew about this, they would laugh at him.

"I heard the beads on the abacus. You think I can come up with 500 taels so I must be rich. Do you want to follow me to Gongzhou to calculate my property? An Dahai, when you were asking around, didn't you also ask about my identity? Do you believe that if I really piss you off, I will make sure you can never set foot in Gongzhou again?"

When Liu saw that An Zizhong dared to threaten her family, she immediately tore off her disguise and looked at her fiercely. She had a life in her hands. How dare An Dahai, that idiot, threaten her? It was a pity that filial piety was taken too seriously in this world. It was not illegal for a father to sell his son. At most, he would be cursed. If a father beat his son to death, he would only be sent to labor in a kiln for three years. But if a son sold his father, he would be beaten with thirty sticks. If a son killed his father, he would be killed.

"An Zizhong, you'd better agree when I talk to you seriously. No matter who you are, you must respect your parents. Otherwise, I will sue you. If you don't believe me, just try it."

When An Gu heard that this woman was really planning to plot against An Zizhong and his sister, he immediately became furious. How could Anjia Village tolerate such a vicious woman? He immediately wanted to open the ancestral hall to get rid of An Dahai's family. However, they were not afraid at all and even threatened to get rid of them, so An Zizhong and his sister became the ones to be expelled from the clan.

"Don't be angry, Uncle Four. You just want to go to Gongzhou with us, right? I promise. Pack your things and I'll take you there today."

An Gu and An Hongzhi tried to persuade them but Liu pointed at their noses and scolded them. The words were as unpleasant as they could be.

An Zizhong is not really An Dahai's son, so how could he have any feelings for him? He just thought of An Wenniang.

He rarely heard An Wenniang mention An Dahai's family, and he didn't know if she would still care about the family relationship and want to see An Dahai? If so, it would be more troublesome.

But it's not impossible. I can keep them near Anjia Village, provide them with fine clothes and food, and have someone watch over them. After all, if An Wenniang is upset, I won't feel good either.

But if they hurt An Wen Niang too harshly, she wouldn't mind dealing with them harshly.

In the end, An Gu watched An Zizhong leave with that group of leeches. An Dahai was a little embarrassed to see An Zizhong. After all, he had been in love with his first wife for a while. When Liu instigated him to sell the child, he never thought about meeting her again in the future.

This time, someone mentioned that there was a scholar in Gongzhou named An Zizhong. Liu came back specifically to inquire about him and made a fuss to bring her whole family back with her so that she could be supported by An Zizhong's brothers and sisters.

An Zizhong passed by Xishan and knocked out several people who stopped to rest. He asked the two guards who were sent down from Xishan to find people in Xishan, carried the people to Xishan and controlled them first, and then rushed back to Gongzhou.

When An Wenniang saw An Zizhong coming back when he had time, she asked someone to prepare food.

"Don't bother, I'm just here to ask you a question and then I'll leave."

An Zizhong held An Wenniang's hand. An Wenniang unconsciously pulled her hand back and took two steps back, looking at An Zizhong and letting him just stand there and talk.

"An Dahai's family is still alive. They have heard the news that I passed the imperial examination and are planning to come back to join us. I came to ask you if you want to buy another place for them to live?"

An Wenniang looked up in surprise and looked at An Zizhong in astonishment. Seeing that he didn't seem to be joking, she shook her head in horror.

"No, don't let them come back. Just let them live where they were before. I don't want to live with them."

It's not that An Wen Niang is an unfilial daughter who doesn't want to support her parents, but she is really afraid. She was sold at the age of six and doesn't have many memories of her family, but every memory is not a good one. People in the village say that An Wen Niang's mother is An Dahai's second wife. She is not good-looking and can't speak. An Dahai doesn't like her, and she is not liked even though she has her by force. She has been mixed up with Liu, who is still a widow. An old woman in the village said that her mother's death was strange.

Not long after her mother died, Liu came into the family. An Dahai liked Liu very much and allowed her to bully the two children. At first, she made them work harder and eat less. Later, she would find all kinds of reasons to beat them. An Wenniang remembered that when she was very young, she was standing in front of the stove to cook. The dishes that day were not cooked well, so Liu beat her half to death with a bamboo stick. She also made her kneel on the charcoal fire, leaving scars on her knees. In winter, she was made to wash clothes, and in summer, she was made to dig wild vegetables. An Wenniang did not have a bed to sleep on at home, so she slept on hay in the woodshed.

Thinking of how Liu abused her at that time, An Wenniang couldn't help but shudder. She was also frightened when she was first sold to the Marquis' Mansion. She dreamed that Liu was chasing her and beating her. It was the maids in the Marquis' Mansion who felt sorry for her for suffering so much injustice at such a young age, and hugged her to sleep for more than three months. Only then did An Wenniang realize that the Marquis' Mansion really would not beat or scold people, and that it was a truly charitable family.

An Zizhong saw that An Wenniang was so scared just by hearing that they were coming back, so how could he let those people go? He wanted to go up and comfort Wenniang, but he was afraid that she would hide more and more, so he finally held back.

"Don't worry, they just want money. I'll give them some money and ask them to write a letter of severance. They won't come and disturb our lives."

An Wenniang nodded uneasily. She was really afraid that the group of people would come to her house. Firstly, she had a heavy psychological trauma from her childhood, so she didn't dare to do so. Secondly, she was worried that An Dahai would find out that An Zizhong was a fake, and it would be terrible if he caused any more trouble. She was so scared that she couldn't sleep all night, anxiously waiting for news from An Zizhong.

Originally, An Zizhong planned to let Zhushan and two other people go to Xishan to pass on the message and quietly deal with those people, but looking at An Wenniang's appearance just now, he decided to deal with it himself.

When An Dahai woke up, he found that his family was tied to chairs, with several teenagers and An Zizhong standing in front of him, and the walls were hung with torture instruments.

"An Zizhong, how dare you do this to us? Let us go, do you want to die?"

An Dahai knew at that time that An Zizhong was going to do something to hurt them. When Liu woke up, she started shouting and her three children were crying and swearing.

"It's noisy."

After An Zizhong finished speaking, An Qing distributed several pills to everyone and asked the teenagers to take them. Liu was quite skilled and bit one of the teenagers' hands to pieces. After taking the pills, the people finally calmed down.

An Zizhong sat calmly writing something. He did not respond even though some people were sobbing. When he finally finished, he handed a piece of paper to An Lan, who put it in front of An Dahai and asked him to sign it. When An Dahai saw the words "Severance of Relationship Letter", he refused to sign it. An Lan slapped him more than ten times in the face, knocking out his teeth, but forced him to swallow them. Only then did he tremblingly pick up the pen and write three very ugly words. An Lan grabbed his hand and used a file to file it, and the skin on his fingers disappeared. Blood seeped out and he made a handprint underneath.

"I'll make you understand once I get the letter of severance. You could have left Gongzhou with 500 taels and lived a rich life, but it's a pity that you were too greedy. You've done so many bad things to An Wenniang and An Zizhong, you should pay the price."

Liu finally showed a horrified expression and wanted to beg for mercy, but she couldn't say a word. An Zizhong walked to An Dahai and whispered in their ears.

"If it's really An Zizhong, I'm afraid you can really scheme against him. It's a pity that I'm not An Zizhong, and your son would have died a long time ago."

An Dahai looked at An Zizhong and felt that he was a devil. He struggled violently to escape. An Zizhong didn't even want to look at them and told An Lan and An Qing.

"Don't let them die too easily, take it slow!"

An Lan rubbed his hands excitedly and began to select tools. He picked up a blade as thin as a cicada's wing from the wall, walked up to Liu, pulled off her clothes, and cut a thin piece of skin under her shoulder. He explained while doing it. Seeing this, several teenagers also picked up blades and imitated An Lan's movements. It was obvious that he was using several people as test subjects. An Qing felt a chill when he saw this, but his master said that they must not let them die too easily. He had to keep an eye on them, and when these perverts were about to torture people to death, he would give them timely medical treatment to keep them alive.

An Wenniang was at home and when she saw the letter of severance brought by An Zizhong, she finally burst into tears. It was the first time that An Zizhong saw her cry like this. An Wenniang had always lived like an old lady, always calm, not fighting, gentle and patient. But today she cried like a child.

An Zizhong held her in his arms and waited until she stopped crying, only to be pushed away by this heartless man.

"How did you get them to sign the severance agreement?"

An Wenniang knew An Dahai and Liu. They were greedy and would not easily write the letter of severance of the relationship unless they had squeezed An Zizhong dry.

"I went to An Lan and threatened her. After all, she is old and timid."

An Wenniang nodded, thinking that An Dahai was a disaster. He had killed his two daughters-in-law and sold his two children in the past, and now he dared to target them. She began to feel sorry for the 500 taels of silver they had taken.

At the beginning, he and An Zizhong were sold for a total of ten taels of silver. They had suffered so much, and now they were cheated out of another five hundred taels.

An Zizhong didn't dare to respond after hearing her complaints. He didn't dare to say that he had hired someone to kill An Wenniang's parents and their family, and that they died miserably. He certainly wouldn't give her any money. He gave An Lan five hundred taels of silver and asked him to give extra meals to the children in Xishan.

After Li Changan dealt with the Qi family's property, he also used Qi You to deal with many servants, and took the opportunity to arrange the dozen servants given to him by An Zizhong into the Qi family's team. These people will be brought directly to the Qi family in Kyoto.

As for whether Madam Qi would deal with these people, Li Changan just said that Madam Qi was not living a happy life in Kyoto now. Qi Yangchuan was transferred to Kyoto, and he was not as bold as he was in Gongzhou area. He would not let Madam Qi make trouble. He would directly have Madam Qi placed under house arrest in the room after one or two times.

After all, he was a member of the Censorate, a very attractive position for supervising all officials. If the women in the harem continued to cause trouble, countless people would submit memorials even without the emperor having to deal with them. Qi Yangchuan was smart and relied on his own strength to get in touch with the eldest princess. Everyone thought that the officials of the Censorate were neutral, they only took care of their own jobs and did not participate in party disputes, but who would really not participate at all?

Qi Yangchuan knew that the Chief Censor was the Empress Dowager's man, so he introduced himself to the Princess's army. As expected, the first time he surrendered, the Princess was very satisfied with the secret he reported. Qi Yangchuan finally had someone he could rely on in Kyoto.

Besides, he is very secretive, because Jin Yue asked the sisters of Zhiyuxuan to get close to Bai Shoude, and any news will be passed through Zhiyuxuan, so no one knows that Qi Yangchuan has already got in touch with the eldest princess's secret line.

Wen'en Pavilion has already selected the shop floor and staff, and it can be opened directly when Li Chang'an goes there. It is still the same as Wen'en Pavilion in Gongzhou, but lacks the most attractive articles from the academy students. But there is no need to be afraid. With the old man of the Bai family here, it is not a problem to get some rare good articles, good poems, and good couplets. It is attractive enough. Fortunately, the Emperor suddenly announced in the court that he would hold a beauty contest, which caught the Queen Mother and Duke Cheng'en off guard. Recently, a lot of people have been withdrawn to guard against Princess Fu'an and the Empress Dowager, and many spies who used to be friends with the Bai family and the Huaiyuan Marquis' Mansion have been withdrawn, so they can finally communicate.

An Lan sent another group of people to Li Changan and asked him to take them to Kyoto. Someone in Kyoto would take over and make the arrangements.

According to the letters sent from Kyoto, the first two groups of people have been arranged to become peddlers, chamber pot emptyers, night watchmen, food deliverymen, restaurant waiters, pawnshop accountants, brothels, young monks in temples, flower girls on the river, young girls singing in teahouses, etc. The other people who were sent to the hands of the mercenaries have also entered many noble families. After all, their people have been trained by the devil and can always stand out from a group of ordinary boys and girls. Several of them have already begun to get close to the masters.

Everything is going according to plan. An Wenniang and An Zizhong also have to settle Gongzhou's affairs as soon as possible and go to Kyoto. After the New Year, they will prepare for the spring examination. It has been almost two years since An Zizhong passed the examination, so it is time for him to take the test.