The maid's road to success

Thanks to An Yun's medicine, the plague did not spread quickly among the victims, but there were still hundreds of people infected.

Chen Luoxi deliberately used wood to enclose an area in the easternmost corner to separate the people infected with the plague from others.

An Yun came once to observe the conditions and symptoms of these people.

Although people take preventive medicine every day, some people still show symptoms.

An Yun stayed in his room every day to study, and finally perfected a prescription that could properly treat the plague.

After taking the first dose of medicine, people suffering from plague felt much better.

Seeing the hope of survival, everyone became excited.

"Miss, you are a benevolent doctor who saved our lives."

An Yun was not used to this kind of situation, so he made an excuse to go and boil medicine and ran away.

Zhushan stayed and said.

"That's our mistress, and the lady from the An family who has been giving out porridge to everyone."

Under the guidance of caring people, the name of the kind-hearted An family lady quickly spread among the people.

The daily bread to fill the stomach, the preventive medicine, and even the prescription for treating the plague were all provided by this lady.

It was already the third day when the prefect received the news.

Sitting in the room, he didn't look very happy.

"Mrs. An's reputation has now surpassed that of us local officials. Even people from Kyoto cannot compare to her."

The magistrate looked at the depressed prefect and breathed a long sigh of relief.

The prefect is not actually a very talented or capable person, but he has one great advantage: he listens to advice.

He is also sensible and able to distinguish right from wrong, and he can always choose the right one among a group of people's suggestions.

"Don't worry, sir. Madam An is the wife of the Duke of the Protectorate, so we should give her some respect. Besides, the Duke of the Protectorate has his own purpose for these actions, so why don't we help him more?"

Wu Guang looked at the judge with reluctance.

"I've been in Yuzhou for many years. I finally got a chance to move up. How can I give it up?"

The magistrate poured him a cup of tea, which was some sent by his wife.

"Your Excellency, do not worry. I have not heard of the Duke of the Protectorate getting married. The identity of this woman is probably unusual. The Duke of the Protectorate's move this time is probably to promote the An family lady. The Duke of the Protectorate is now the emperor's favorite."

"Why don't we use this matter to please the Duke of the Protectorate? Although the An family lady has the upper hand in terms of reputation, the good words of the Duke of the Protectorate are the real benefit. Are you still afraid that you won't be promoted?"

Wu Guang himself is a man who has been immersed in officialdom for many years. To him, women are a means of collaborating on interests, or of carrying on the family line, managing the harem, and raising children well.

He didn't believe that the Duke of Protectorate would be willing to remember their kindness and accept their kindness for the sake of a woman.

"My Lord, think about this, the Duke of the Protectorate never mentioned his own merits in front of others, but secretly arranged for people to spread the favor of Madam An and encouraged the people to praise Madam An. This shows how deeply he loves her."

"As long as we add fuel to the fire and let the Protector of the Country see our sincerity, we won't be afraid that he will ignore it."

Wu Guang sat in the chair and thought for a long time, and finally decided that he could give it a try.

If the Duke of Protectorate really wanted to monopolize all the credit for that woman, how could he, a local official, snatch it from the Inspector?

If he spends some time investigating, his shameful property can become evidence to bring him down.

"Do you think I should let the women in the family contact the An family lady?"

The magistrate nodded in praise.

"My lord, you have considered everything. It will be safer if my sister-in-law helps you."

Being praised by others, Wu Guang felt much better.

I followed the judge to where the female relatives gathered.

The courtyards where the women of their two families lived were separated by only a wall. In order to find his wife, Wu Guang tried to get close to the lady of the An family.

The magistrate came back to see his wife and daughter.

"Daddy, it's daddy who's back."

Jin'er hadn't seen her father for several days. She happily dropped her sewing basket, came over and pulled the judge to sit down.

"Jin'er has lost weight, and I'm sorry you've been wronged."

Jin'er shook her head and happily poured tea for her father.

"No, Daddy always thinks Jin'er is thin."

The judge looked at his daughter lovingly and took out a small straw grasshopper from his arms.

"The steward begged for this, you can play with it."

Now they have food and drink and some charcoal fire, which is good enough. The magistrate has no time to find something new for his wife and daughter.

"Thank you, Daddy. My daughter likes it very much. This is very interesting to watch."

Mrs. Tongpan felt relaxed when she looked at her husband and daughter.

"The Duke of the Protectorate has attributed all the credit to the woman who followed him. The prefect will ask Liu to befriend that woman."

"I think the Duke of the Protectorate doesn't like outsiders to have contact with that woman. You should stay out of this mess."

The magistrate's wife nodded.

"I know that the Duke of Huguo is not married, and this woman followed him to Yuzhou. Who would follow a man around? I'm afraid this woman is of a low birth, and Duke Chen has feelings for her, and wants to take this opportunity to gain fame and a good status."

The magistrate nodded. He thought so too. So this time, Duke Chen would definitely not let anyone meet the woman from the An family at will.

A woman whose status is not comparable to that of a Duke, although she may have a good reputation for being kind and helping the people, she does not want many people to know about the existence of the An family woman before she succeeds.

The common people did not know that Lady An was not the Duke's wife, but the officials knew it, and the female relatives could not hide it either.

If anyone is verbally offended, no one can bear the wrath of the Duke of Protector of the Country.

"Don't worry, Jin'er and I are here to claim we are sick and won't go out, so just go about your business."

A few people sat together and chatted for a while. Then the servant said that the prefect had gone out, and the magistrate also stood up.

"You just stay here. After this disaster, when the prefect is promoted, I think I can make a contribution of some magnitude. Then I can find a way to move up. In Yuzhou, you won't have to worry about other people's opinions anymore."

The magistrate's wife nodded shyly.

Since my husband came to Chunyuan, he knew that he had suffered some grievances because of Miss Wu, and even Jin'er was bullied.

I have always been thinking about getting the prefect promoted and fired.

She and her husband were childhood sweethearts and had been engaged since they were young.

After getting married, my husband was devoted to me. Although he had two concubines, one was sent away and the other was basically kept in the mansion.

The concubine she took in died early, and all the children in the family were born to her.

My husband is considerate and gentle, and my children are filial and sensible.

She is already very happy.

Wushan was restricted by Wen Niang and was not allowed to go out again. It was not until the government officials came to Chunyuan with medicine that he learned that the plague had been resolved.

"You must be tired after delivering medicine from such a long distance. Sit down and take a rest. Have a taste of our freshly cooked snacks."

These officials were ordered to deliver medicine to the people scattered in other places, which was a hard job.

If no one is doing the job, let them do it. After walking for a whole morning, I am exhausted.

Finally, there was a family that was considerate enough to let them sit down and rest for a while.

"Thank you very much. I've been busy all morning and I'm really tired."

Wushan came out with tea and red bean cake that had been made that morning.

"These sweet potatoes are freshly baked and hot. Please have some, my Lord."

Wen Niang stayed in the room with the girls, while An Ning and An Ping entertained the servants under the bamboo shed in the yard.

"This government is really amazing. They came up with a medicine to treat the plague so quickly."

The officer just thought the cakes were delicious, the ones they usually bought were not as sweet as this one.

Talk while eating.

"We don't have such a great doctor in Yuzhou. The great ones are those from above."

An Ning smiled and asked Wushan to pack some osmanthus cake.

"No wonder he's from Kyoto, he's so powerful."

The officer saw that they were generous and wanted to stay for a while, so he talked a lot.

"Not only that, this plague recipe was developed by a woman."

"You know, sir, when he came, he not only brought food, but also a woman."

"Snapped"

There was a sound of something falling in the house. An Ning was a little worried about what happened inside, but the police were still there and he couldn't go over to check.

"We only found out later that the Niu woman bought food so that the Yuzhou victims could hold on and wait for relief food from Kyoto. It was also because of her who distributed porridge and researched epidemic remedies that Yuzhou was able to survive the disaster safely."

Wen Niang felt a little sad when she heard the officer's words, and the bamboo basket in her hand fell to the ground.

Bihe looked at Wen Niang worriedly, picked up the things on the ground, and stood behind Wen Niang, not knowing how to comfort her.

"That woman is so powerful, I wonder whose family she is from."

When Wu Shan's voice came, Wen Niang couldn't help but clench her handkerchief tightly.

"It seems her surname is An, and her name is An Jiawen Niang. She is the wife of the inspector."

When Wen Niang heard the officer's words, her body shook, and Bihe looked at her in surprise.

"Mrs. Wen? What's going on?"

Wen Niang also shook her head in confusion.

"I do not know either."

They waited until the servants had drunk two cups of tea, eaten two plates of cakes, and then thought about how they still had several places to go before they stood up and prepared to leave.

"Brother officer, we don't have anything to show you. You can pack these cakes back and give them to your family to try. It's our token of appreciation."

The officers looked at each other with happiness in their eyes.

This is better and tastes better. They ate a lot of it. They took it back to appease their wives and children. I'm afraid it will make their family happy for a while.

This thing is rare nowadays. It would be great if every household could be as good at handling things as they are.

The officers, who had eaten and taken away everything, left happily, leaving a room full of stunned people.

An Ning and An Ping naturally knew why Wen Niang dropped things in a panic in the house just now.

They were bought by Wen Niang and Bi He, and were named after Wen Niang.

I named them An Ning An Ping, hoping that they will have a peaceful, happy life from now on.

Naturally, I also know Wen Niang's name.

The most bizarre thing is that the inspector of Kyoto now brought a woman with the same name as Wen Niang. This woman also provided relief to the victims and developed a plague prescription.

"Is there someone with the same name?"

Bihe shook her head and looked at An Ning and An Ping.

"No, the Protector of the Country will not tolerate a substitute for Wen Niang."

Bihe was not confident when she said this.

Wen Niang had a disagreement with him and ran away. Chen Luoxi had been looking for her for such a long time. If he got impatient, he might have just found a replacement for Wen Niang.

"There is something wrong with this woman. Chen Luoxi made such a big fuss to make An Wenniang's reputation praised by the people. I'm afraid she has other plans."

Bihe became even more nervous when she saw Wen Niang's complicated look.

"What's the plan? Why did we start a war? We just heard about it, didn't we?"

Wen Niang looked at Bihe.

"If we do a good job in disaster relief this time, it will be the best opportunity to reward people for their merits. The local officials of Yuzhou and the imperial envoys from Kyoto will all take advantage of the opportunity to grab more credit. Chen Luoxi can make An Jiawenniang's name known to everyone, but it is impossible for her to get it so easily."

Yes, among the people coming from Kyoto and the officials of Yuzhou, big and small, who wouldn’t want to take this opportunity to climb up?

Chen Luoxi was not originally an assistant in this disaster relief operation. For such a great credit to be attributed to a woman, she must have put in a lot of effort.

"So he did it for you?"

Wen Niang didn't say anything, but she couldn't tell what she felt in her heart.

"Among the people I know, An Yun is the only woman with good medical skills. I'm afraid she's coming along too."

An Yun? Bi He had heard of this woman, the daughter of the Yuan family, who had followed Chen Luoxi from Gongzhou to Kyoto.

It was of great help in the Chen family's revenge process.

"Could it be that An Yun and Chen Luoxi have something going on?"

Wen Niang shook her head and said firmly.

"An Yun is not that kind of person. She is thinking about repaying Chen Luoxi's kindness. She is also very likely thinking about following Chen Luoxi as a concubine so that she can do better for him. But she doesn't have that kind of thought about Chen Luoxi. She is only interested in poison."

Bihe felt a little uneasy when she saw Wen Niang's determined look.

It is very common for a man to have three wives and four concubines, but it is rare to see a man throwing himself at just one woman.

The Duke of Protectorate must have Wen Niang because it was Wen Niang who accompanied him all the way when he was at his lowest, most miserable and most helpless.

But An Yun can actually be considered a woman who has been with Chen Luoxi for a long time. Moreover, An Yun comes from a family of imperial physicians, so she can also be considered a girl from a noble family.

An Yun and An Qing are good at poison and medicine respectively. They have been Chen Luoxi's right-hand men and have contributed a lot in recent years.

It is hard to say that Chen Luoxi has no feelings for An Yun, but they may not be as strong as those for Wen Niang.

"Should we ask Wushan to go take a look?"

Wen Niang shook her head. She felt that in this incident, Chen Luoxi had seized An Yun's hard work and credit in order to improve his own status and make himself the biggest beneficiary.

This made Wen Niang feel very uncomfortable. She had always relied on her own efforts to get what she wanted, and if it was not something she should ask for, she would give up on her own initiative.

She never thought that one day she would steal other people's hard work.

It made her feel very guilty and that she was carrying a burden that she couldn't bear.

Jin'er sat in the yard reading a book while the weather was fine. The words of the servants from the Wu family next door made her nervous.

"The wife of the Duke of Protector of the Country is called An Wen Niang, which doesn't sound very elegant. My name is better than this."

Jin'er listened to a few words and hurried back to her room to find her mother.

"Mother, is the woman brought by the Protector of the Country called An Wen Niang?"

Seeing that her daughter was getting impatient, the magistrate's wife opened her mouth to remind her.

"Jin'er, your father said, don't ask about that woman and don't have any contact with her."

Jin'er hurriedly pulled her mother to sit on the kang.

"Mother, the lady from Yufuzhai is also called Wen Niang. I heard another lady call her that. It was the lady that my father took to the Tongpan Mansion because I was poisoned."

The magistrate's wife said with a frown.

"Maybe it's because of the same name. The wife of the Duke of Protector of the Country has been staying here all the time. Don't let your imagination run wild."

Jin'er shook her head and hurried to explain.

"I'm not imagining things. The other two boys in Yufuzhai have the surname An, and many of the children they have taken in also have the surname An."

"And didn't mother say that the two ladies at Yufuzhai have excellent manners and etiquette? They are good at making tea, housework, writing, and talking. The cakes they make are also like the flavors of Kyoto."

The more the magistrate's wife listened, the more panicked she became.

Jin'er was right. Those two ladies certainly didn't look like women from humble backgrounds.

"What do you say about the woman here?"

Jin'er shook her head when she heard her mother's words. She didn't know what to say. Could it really be someone with the same name? What a coincidence?

"No matter what, we should not have any contact with this woman. Don't spread these words when you go out. If it's a coincidence that they share the same name, that's the best. If there's anything wrong, it will cause trouble for those two ladies."

Jin'er nodded. She had never met An Jiawen's mother. No matter how nice people said about her, she had never had any contact with her.

But the ladies from Yufuzhai were very good to her, patient and kind. During the days they spent together, she liked the two ladies from Yufuzhai very much and naturally preferred them.

She would first see what was going on. If it was really bad, she would immediately ask Xier to notify the ladies in Yufuzhai.