The maid's road to success

Bihe knew that she could not compare with Wen Niang in this kind of thing, so every day she accompanied her grandmother to turn the land and plant some vegetables, or went out through the back door to pick some wild vegetables. She almost always avoided people when going out and never met anyone from the village.

Wen Niang was a stranger. Every day, she would pay someone to chop firewood for her family, or go to the village to buy some fresh vegetables to inquire about things or observe the people in the old house.

The people in the old house had rashes on their faces. Except for the old lady and Wang Erhu who didn't care about their appearance and went out to do some work every day, the others stayed at home and refused to come out. They found a traveling doctor, but the doctor said they were allergic to something and would be fine after a while.

Even so, Wen Niang could hear Aunt Wang cursing at home. She mentioned in her words that Lianhua was about to get married, and now her face was like this. If she couldn't get better before the wedding, she would have to bear the consequences.

Wang Lianhua has always complained that her family has benefited a lot from her future husband's family, but they don't treat her well and feed her the wrong food.

The two of them would always start arguing while talking. Wen Niang was standing not far from the door with a basket of vegetables, preparing to go back. After all, such quarrels could be heard almost every day.

Unexpectedly, she ran into Wang Erhu and the old lady of the old house, and their words caught Wen Niang's attention.

"Lotus' temper is getting worse and worse. I have told her so many times before that son-in-law Liu likes gentle and kind people. I finally hooked him up, but she didn't even tell me to maintain her image for a while. Won't it be exposed after we get married?"

"Don't worry, mother. I'll have a good talk with them when I get back. This son-in-law Liu is a rich man. We worked so hard to arrange this marriage, so we have to let Lianhua get pregnant."

When the two men saw Wen Niang in front of them, they stopped talking, smiled at each other and walked away. Wen Niang walked on the road and began to analyze the quarrels she had heard in the past few days and what Wang Erhu and his mother had just said.

Afraid of being exposed? Why should she be afraid of being exposed? It is impossible that she is simply worried that Wang Lianhua's true colors will be exposed. After getting married, even if the new wife's temperament is a little different from before marriage, Wang Lianhua's status is not lower than her husband's family after all, so it won't be too much. Even if it is revealed, it will not cause much harm to her husband's family, and the other party will not drive her away. Why is she afraid of being exposed?

And why wait until she gets pregnant? Could it be that Liu, the son-in-law, doesn't like Wang Lianhua that much, but will put up with it for the sake of having children?

Wen Niang had long been skeptical about this marriage. After all, marriages are arranged by parents and matchmakers, and what matters is whether the two families are well matched.

After all, Liu's son-in-law has quite a bit of money, so he could find any woman he wants, but he insisted on finding a village girl who wasn't particularly beautiful, just pretty.

It would be almost impossible if there was a matchmaker to introduce them. With their own family background, they would not be able to marry into the Liu family, unless there was something strange going on.

But now it’s just speculation, we’ll know everything when An Ning comes back.

Wen Niang went back and briefly told Bihe and her grandmother about her guess. Her grandmother suddenly put down the bowl of soup in her hand and said in surprise.

"No wonder. One day, your uncle came back and told me that Wang Lianhua had become successful and hooked up with a wealthy businessman. The businessman protected Wang Lianhua and helped her. He even went to your uncle's shop and bought a lot of things. He also asked your uncle not to bully her and her anymore."

"There were other guests at the time, so your uncle couldn't say anything. Your aunt scolded him a few times, but Wang Lianhua was very different from usual. She looked like she had been wronged. The rich businessman even said that your uncle and aunt were cruel and scolded them a few times. Now I think it's really wrong."

"Wang Lianhua really likes to act nice in front of others, but once someone bullies her, she will not tolerate it. She will tear her face off and scold the other person on the spot, and dare to say any dirty words. But at that time, your aunt scolded her for being pretentious, pretending to be a lady with a worthless life, and a toad sticking on a flowered cloth and thinking it is a flower, but Wang Lianhua cried at that time and did not refute."

Wen Niang analyzed after hearing this.

"Perhaps this wealthy businessman Liu really likes the kind of innocent, kind, and weak women, and Wang Lianhua used this illusion to seduce him, so this marriage came about."

Grandma thought Wen Niang’s analysis made sense, nodded, and said to Bihe.

"That's good. You don't know how much your second aunt and Wang Lianhua care about this marriage. Eight out of ten things they say are about how rich their son-in-law Liu is, how big his business is, and how good he is to Wang Lianhua. Let's expose her shame and let the Liu family find out that she is not a good match and break off this marriage."

Wen Niang shook her head. Bihe also understood her point of view. After serving the Marquis' Mansion for so many years, they all knew that if Liu Fushang was really a capable man, there would be many women he liked for him to choose from, and there would be no Wang Lianhua. Even if Wang Lianhua pretended to be very good, she could just be a concubine or a maid. Why bother to marry a wife with such fanfare?

Such a disparity in status is the strangest thing, and there should be more to it than just that.

Fortunately, An Ning came back with An Ping and Wang Ershun in the evening, and brought a lot of good news.

"I went to the county and found out that the Liu family is indeed well-known. They make wine and have dozens of servants. There must be a reason why they can get engaged to Wang Lianhua."

"This wealthy businessman Liu's real name is Liu Xi. He was just an apprentice who was bullied by his master. At that time, he had a crush on a girl named Cai Lian, who was his master's niece. She had been secretly taking care of Liu Xi, but later her family married her to a gambler and she was abused to death. Liu Xi could not forget Cai Lian and never married. Wang Lianhua looked a bit like Cai Lian and pretended to be as kind and innocent as that girl, which confused Liu Xi."

Bihe immediately understood why someone as despicable as Wang Lianhua could marry into a family like Liu Xi.

"Then how did the Wang family know about Cai Lian?"

An Ning took out a painting from her arms and spread it out on the table.

"This matter is related to that official, the family that Miss Bihe's aunt wanted to sell her to. That official was related to Liu Xi's former master. When Liu Xi returned to Huai County, he wanted to get close to Liu Xi, but he also had a grudge against Liu Xi in the past. He was worried that Liu Xi still held a grudge, so he thought of Cai Lian. Cai Lian was dead, but he could find someone who looked like Cai Lian. He remembered that Aunt Wang Er had described Miss Bihe's appearance to him before, so he found her at that time, and she really looked like Cai Lian."

Bihe's grandmother immediately stood up and said.

"Bihe has already been sold out by their scheme, what else can they do?"

Bihe comforted her grandmother to sit down and let An Ning continue speaking.

"So they were planning to find Miss Bihe's relatives. Miss Bihe looked like Cailian. At the same time, there might be someone in the family who looked like Cailian. So they found Wang Lianhua. It happened that she looked about 40% similar to Cailian, and her name also had the word "Lian". So they made the following arrangement."

"Wang Lianhua deliberately exposed herself in front of Liu Xi, pretending to be kind and saving a child, then being bullied and being saved by Liu Xi."

Wen Niang looked at Cai Lian's portrait and asked if An Ning was safe.

"Where is that official?"

"Mr. Qian's income has been low and his expenses high in the past few years, so he has been thinking about Liu Xi and trying to get his wine-making recipe. That's why he teamed up with Aunt Wang and Wang Lianhua to perform these plays. Liu Xi is quite determined and it was successful, and Mr. Qian also made a lot of efforts. Aunt Wang also took 20 taels of silver from Mr. Qian and promised to steal the wine-making recipe for him after they got married."

Wen Niang didn't expect An Ning to find out so much in just three days, and nodded with satisfaction.

"In fact, I was able to find out so much thanks to Ershun's help. He had previously been lurking in the Qian family to investigate the sale of Bihe, and he met two good brothers who helped me find out. They also stole the portrait of Cailian, and I asked someone to paint it for me."

Bihe looked at Wang Ershun sitting on the back chair with his head down, like a child who had made a mistake, and she didn't hate him as much anymore.

"Er Shun, where is Wang Jinwang that you are investigating?"

When Wang Ershun heard his name, he stood up suddenly and stood there awkwardly, not knowing where to start. It was only when Anping spoke first that his embarrassment was relieved.

"We followed Wang Jinwang for two days and found that he often went to a cloth shop and a small alley. After asking, we found out that there was an underground casino behind the cloth shop and a prostitute in the alley who opened a business. Wang Jinwang was a frequent customer."

Wang Ershun continued.

"Wang Jinwang wouldn't have that much money, and he was gambling and looking for women, so there must be something wrong. I watched the people around him for a while and found a suspicious one. There was a student whose family was quite wealthy. It seemed that he had opened two restaurants. I don't know what leverage Wang Jinwang had, but he kept giving Wang Jinwang money. The student also wrote a lot of articles in advance for the test, and Wang Jinwang had to recite and write them down in order to pass the test."

Wen Niang nodded and signaled Wang Ershun to continue.

"That, that, that student who was threatened by Wang Jinwang, has a relationship with Long Yang. So..."

Wen Niang nodded, signaling him not to say anything more and to sit down first.

There were six people sitting in the main hall. Wen Niang was thinking secretly about what to do, and the others were looking at her, waiting for her to speak.

"Bihe, go find an antidote and take it. Reveal your true face. Since Aunt Wang cares so much about this marriage, you should ruin it. If she knows, she will be so angry that she will vomit blood."

Bihe nodded and turned to get the antidote. Grandma never expected that Bihe's current appearance was not her real appearance. She was shocked and wanted to go and see.

Wen Niang looked at Wang Ershun again and asked.

"What is the character of the student that Wang Jinwang threatened?"

Wang Ershun shook his head and said with a look of disgust and hatred.

"What a scumbag. When I was asking about this, I met an old man who was hit by him. The old man said that the young man raped his grandson and then threw his grandson into the lake. If the grandson hadn't bitten the young man's jade pendant in his mouth, no one would know the cause of his death. The government officials took his money and didn't care."

Wen Niang nodded and asked Anping and Anning to take Wang Ershun and the medicine back to Huai County.

"This kind of incense has the effect of confusing the mind. You can let Wang Jinwang use it and lure him to tell the good things about the student Long Yang in public. Don't worry about the rest. The student will naturally solve it. There is one more thing. I will draw a portrait of Bihe later. You can take it and find a way to let Liu Xi see it. If he asks about it, you must not disclose the news that Bihe is here. Just confuse the matter."

After understanding what Wen Niang said, the few people simply ate something, changed their clothes, and set off again.

In fact, Bihe and Cailian are not very similar, she is only slightly better than Wang Lianhua. After all, Bihe is beautiful and has excellent temperament, while Wang Lianhua's appearance is a little worse.

With a little bit of dressing up, it would not be difficult to look 70% similar to Cailian. As long as Liu Xi sees her, he will be attracted to her even if Bihe's temperament is different from Cailian's.

As long as he doesn't care about Wang Lianhua, he can be lured into discovering the collusion between Wang Lianhua and Qian Yuanwai little by little.

People like this are really easy to deal with. They do dirty things themselves and are quick to hand over evidence.