The maid's road to success

After leaving the Qi family, Mrs. Qi took two boxes and went to find Qi You.

"Where's Chang'an? Why are you alone at home?"

Qi You felt uncomfortable again when he saw that Madam Qi seemed to be finding fault with Li Changan. However, he did not want to contradict his mother, so he pulled her to sit beside him.

"My cousin's colleague asked him to go out, and my cousin said that Zhenxiu Pavilion has a medicinal diet that can replenish qi. It is only sold for one hour every day, so he went out early to make a reservation for me."

Mrs. Qi's face looked better then. She took Qi You's hand and looked at her expression carefully.

"You should know that mother is going to Gongzhou with father. You must take good care of yourself when we are not in Kyoto. Your father has always been very good to us, but Jin Yue showed up and ruined everything. Don't trust Li Changan too much. Hold on to the money and the man. Don't be blinded by a man's coaxing. You must know that a woman must have money and reliable servants, so that she can live well even if a man doesn't love you."

Qi You became impatient when he saw his mother starting to nag about these things again. Ever since her mother and Jin Yue had a fight, she had been saying these things in front of him. She had been nagging even more since she got married, and she had been reminding him to be on guard against Li Changan from time to time.

"Oh, mother, you're starting over again. I've already told you that my cousin is not that kind of person. Stop saying bad things about him all the time."

Mrs. Qi looked at her daughter and saw that she was unwilling to listen again. She sighed and blushed as she took Qi You's hand.

"You'er, don't think your mother is nagging. Your father was confused and bewildered by Jin Yue. He did such a thing and was impeached and demoted. You have been weak since childhood. We are all leaving now. I am afraid that we will not be able to take care of you when you are wronged in the future. Mother knows that you like Chang'an, but You'er, you are not in good health. Chang'an will get better and better in the future. By then, the gap between you will be big. What should I do if I am afraid that he will hurt you?"

Although Qi You really didn't like the fact that his mother would criticize Li Changan and scold him every time she came over, Li Changan now hides away whenever he hears that someone from the Qi family is coming.

But she rarely saw her mother like this, and her heart softened a lot. She took Mrs. Qi's hand and talked to her.

"Mother, I understand. Don't worry, I'll listen to you. Keep the money. But mother, our courtyard only has three entrances, and most of the servants are from the Qi family. Besides, they are all elderly. I can't control you if you leave. It's good now. Can you see that I look better recently?"

Mrs. Qi had naturally noticed that although her daughter was still weak, she looked relaxed and her temperament was still as arrogant and willful as before. She knew that her daughter had not been wronged, and she felt a lot more relaxed.

"Here's twenty thousand taels. Your father sold Jin Yue's jewelry and gave you ten thousand taels. The rest is from mother. You can use it to buy a farm and a shop. The annual income will be enough for you. When we are not around, don't be too willful. Men still like gentle and considerate women. You can't lose your temper all the time. Take care of yourself and take your medicine on time. Don't be petty and refuse to take it."

Qi You felt very sad as he listened to his mother's endless instructions. No matter how others said that his mother was jealous and mean, she was always a kind mother to him and his brother. Even though she did a lot of bad things because of Jin Yue later, Mrs. Qi always protected her children carefully.

"Mother, I will. You and father go to Gongzhou. Remember to take good care of yourself and don't always quarrel with father. Your body is not in good condition. Take your brother to your grandparents' home to relax. I will write to you every month."

Madam Qi and Qi You hugged each other and cried. They were so sad that they couldn't express it in words. The servants quietly left, leaving the sad mother and daughter room to talk.

"Tell me the truth, mother. Did Li Changan ask you not to take the servants sent by the Qi family?"

Qi You and Madam Qi finally calmed down and washed their faces and put on makeup again.

"My cousin doesn't like the people from the Qi family who come to serve him, but he didn't say anything. I just don't want them. Mother, you don't know that when you're not around to take care of it, these people rely on being servants of the Qi family and don't even listen to my cousin. And I found them drinking and begging for money several times when they were on night watch, and they also said some dirty words about me and my cousin. If my cousin hadn't persuaded me, I would have sent them back."

Mrs. Qi didn't expect that these people would become so unruly after marrying Qi You. She felt regretful and hateful.

"Well, bring those people who dare to gossip about the master behind his back to me later. I will sell them out and let others see that this is the result of not serving well. But You'er, mother will punish you this time, and you will have to do it by yourself from now on."

Mrs. Qi just felt that her daughter was still a little girl, and she was very worried. She wanted to tell her everything she could think of.

"Madam, my boss has called me back to the Ministry of Justice. There is a case to be investigated. Madam Qi, please stay overnight to accompany you."

When the servant beside Li Changan came back, he brought a medicinal meal and brought back Li Changan's words.

"My cousin has been called back again. Forget it. You take some thick clothes and go over to serve him. It's cold at night."

This was not the first time that Li Changan was called back by his superiors to do some work. Li Changan was very diligent and studious, and was well-liked by the superiors in the Ministry of Justice.

He is tight-lipped and careful in his work. His boss admires Li Changan very much and always asks him to help when there is something.

"Chang An is often too busy to come back?"

Mrs. Qi naturally wanted to stay and talk to her daughter, but she was also worried that her daughter might feel uncomfortable if her son-in-law didn't come back for a long time.

"Not really. When things get busy, he will be called back. Every time he is called back, he will be told to come back. Don't worry, mother."

Seeing her daughter happily eating the reheated medicinal food, Mrs. Qi finally let go of the worry that had been hanging in her heart. Fortunately, Qi Yangchuan was reliable in the past and found a reliable and capable son-in-law for her daughter.

Madam Qi and Qi You chatted until midnight before going to sleep. They woke up at dawn when it was not yet completely light. However, the Qi family still had a lot of things waiting for Madam Qi to make decisions on, and she couldn't stay any longer. Her daughter was weak, and she didn't know if she would be able to see the family off when they left Beijing in two days. Madam Qi felt that she could never see her daughter enough. Fortunately, her daughter might be really happy since she got married, and she was much more cheerful than before.

When An Wenniang received the news, she had already sent a letter to Gongzhou in advance. Qi Yangchuan's return to Gongzhou was a sweet treat given by An Zizhong to Li Changan. An Zizhong wanted to overturn the case of Huaiyuan Marquis' Mansion, and he could not do without the Ministry of Justice. Normally, the case of a noble like a marquis should be tried jointly by the Dali Temple and the prince, but at the beginning, Duke Cheng'en and the Queen were a certain Chao who usurped the throne. They were anxious to convict the Huaiyuan Marquis' Mansion, which was loyal to the emperor, and seize the military power. They did not send the case of Huaiyuan Marquis' Mansion to the Dali Temple, but had been torturing them in the prison of the Ministry of Justice.

The people in the Ministry of Justice have always been on the side of Duke Cheng'en, so the Marquis Huaiyuan's Mansion was like stepping into hell in the Ministry of Justice. They made up a false confession and then used the Marquis Huaiyuan's severed finger to press his fingerprints on it as evidence. A relative who was already five generations away from the deceased, a gambler who sold his wife and daughters, could also be used as evidence. A paper bag filled with poison that was found from somewhere could be used to accuse the people in the Marquis Huaiyuan's Mansion of a crime.

The current Minister of Justice is very cautious. He has been around for many years and seldom goes to unfamiliar places when he leaves the places he is familiar with. An Zizhong has no way to start with him for the time being, but Li Changan is the head of the Ministry of Justice. Although he is not a high-ranking official, Li Changan is not a mediocre person. He is talented, ambitious, capable, and willing to endure hardships, so the Yuanwailang and Shilang of the Ministry of Revenue appreciate him.

When he is busy, Li Changan can take the card to the document library of the Ministry of Justice which is specially used to collect case records to read the documents. An Zizhong needs Li Changan to first record what was written in the case record of Huaiyuan Marquis' Mansion, and then find the omissions of Duke Cheng'en and the Queen Mother in it.

What An Wenniang needs to do is to ask Gongzhou to keep a close eye on Qi Yangchuan, to ensure that Li Changan can show his talents in Kyoto, quickly gain more power, and help An Zizhong obtain the letter of confession.

Li Changan came out of the Ministry of Justice only after hearing that Madam Qi had left. His boss did not keep him that long. He hid out because he did not want to return to the mansion and see Madam Qi. The bed in the Ministry of Justice was not comfortable to sleep on. Li Changan almost did not sleep all night. He tossed and turned thinking about how An Zizhong had helped him drive away his uncle this time. Once again, Li Changan was surprised at An Zizhong's strength.

When he was in Gongzhou, he was very sure that An Zizhong was just a powerless villager with no money and no connections, and his biggest backers were himself and Hua Yesheng. However, before he realized it, An Zizhong had already established a firm foothold in Gongzhou, and had shops and staff. Before he brought Qi You to Kyoto, An Zizhong had already grasped a lot of information about Gongzhou.

On the other hand, because Qi Yangchuan's change reduced his control over himself, he spent more time on Jin Yue and Madam Qi, or was bent on climbing up the social ladder. That was when Li Changan really relaxed himself. He went to the yamen every day, recited poems, and drank with a few classmates. He clearly felt the estrangement between An Zizhong and himself. At that time, he still believed that An Zizhong had become the son-in-law of the Grand Princess, and his status had changed, so it was inconvenient for him to get along with everyone. Now it seems that he was disappointed that he relaxed his mind without the Qi family's surveillance.

Li Changan never thought that he really had such great charm that could make a capable person like An Zizhong inexplicably like and admire him. An Zizhong saw that he might be useful, and he was very decadent during that time, until Madam Qi discovered that she had neglected Qi You in the fight with Jin Yue, and once again put her focus on the Li family, herself and Qi You.

He was back to the time when he was restricted, scolded and interfered with in everything he did. Li Changan felt that he was as confused as Qi Yangchuan. He could have taken advantage of the chaos in the Qi family to replace the Qi family's spies around him, or made some arrangements, but he was so flattered by his classmates who were not as good as him that he ignored these things and put himself in an embarrassing situation again.

But this time, Li Changan could no longer tolerate the housekeeper sent by Madam Qi saying in front of his classmates in the yamen that he had been living in the Qi family for many years and even wronged Qi You.

Li Changan swears to God. Although he knew that he became what he is now because of Qi You, Qi You is a willful person after all. Many things were not because she wanted to make things difficult for him, but because Qi Yangchuan and Madam Qi thought that Qi You was bullied and treated him harshly.

So when Qi You begged him to marry her and take her away from the Qi family, Li Changan did not refuse. He was destined to marry Qi You. The people he hated were Qi Yangchuan and Madam Qi who wanted to ruin his future career. He always took good care of Qi You and obeyed her whenever he could, but Qi You was too spoiled by the servants of the Qi family. He was humiliated by the servants in front of so many people just because he did not accompany her to eat the peach blossom cheese she had been thinking about for a long time. Li Changan also thought about sending away all the people sent by the Qi family, but his mother was still in the Li family, and the Li family was Qi Yangchuan's dogs. In order to ensure the safety of his mother and brother, he could not openly go against his uncle.

So he began to think about separating from Qi Yangchuan. Initially, he thought that he could try his luck and get sent to a distant place as a county magistrate for two years, which would earn him some money and allow him to leave Kyoto and the Qi family.

But the Qi family has the Grand Princess behind them, and Qi Yangchuan has been working for the Grand Princess and the Fourth Prince. Moreover, he has made Bai Shoude very satisfied, so as long as they don't want him to go out, they can stop him. After all, a seventh-rank county magistrate can be replaced with a little trick.

An Zizhong's reminder made Li Changan realize that if he wanted Qi Yangchuan to no longer be able to control him, the only way was for Qi Yangchuan to leave.

This cooperation was simply perfect. It truly allowed Li Changan to see that this was the battle in officialdom. It was the first time that he felt such a strong sense of pleasure. From now on, he could rely on his own strength to carve out a world for himself.

After returning to the Li family, Qi Yangchuan had almost packed up. Madam Qi wanted to leave the three-story mansion they lived in to Qi You. Although they both had three stories, this one was as big as two of the Li family's. However, Qi Yangchuan considered that he would need a large amount of money after returning to Gongzhou, so he sold it.

Because of Jin Yue's incident, Mrs. Qi can no longer return to her former loving and unsuspicious relationship with Qi Yangchuan. Jin Yue's incident made Mrs. Qi realize that Qi Yangchuan would also change. Even though he has now recovered his former sober self, when he has to make choices for many reasons, Qi Yangchuan always thinks of himself first.

When he sold off Jin Yue's large pile of things and the mansion's stuff, he said at first that he would give half of the money to Qi You for self-defense. In the end, he got more than 40,000 taels, and he gave 10,000 taels to Qi You. It was because the money from the sale was less than he expected, so he used it on himself first and gave the rest to Qi You.

But she couldn't say these words. As long as Qi Yangchuan didn't divorce her, Madam Qi would still be the mistress of the Qi family. Her daughter and her son still had to rely on her. Madam Qi hinted to the wet nurse to take people to carefully put the gold leaves and silver bills she had hidden away in the luggage so that they would not be discovered.

Qi Yangchuan was still forcing himself to smile and say goodbye to Li Changan. Only Mrs. Qi knew that Qi Yangchuan was furious. As soon as he left the city gate, he smashed the carriage. Mrs. Qi felt that the person in front of her was becoming more and more unfamiliar.