The maid's road to success

After getting the pass, Wen Niang simply dressed up Chen Luoxi and hired a gray-covered carriage to head south. Wen Niang did not tell Chen Luoxi that the ancestors were not dead but were exiled to the northwest wilderness. If Chen Luoxi knew this news, he would definitely go to the northwest, and if he was discovered then, he would be dead.

"Mrs. Wen, how did you get this household registration?"

Wen Niang pointed at herself.

"I can tell at first glance that she is a maid from a wealthy family. I said I was the maid of the young master of the prefecture in Linjing City, and I was asked by our young master to help two people with household registration documents. An Wenzhong was originally a good citizen, so he can just spend some money to get a new household registration book. It's not like I was freed from slavery before, so I still need the consent of my master."

"It's not like I spent that little money in vain."

Wen Niang concealed the fact that Yulan's brother was looking for help from others. When Wen Niang found Yulan's brother, she knew that he was going to the northwest to make arrangements so that the ancestors could have an easier time studying on the way and survive in the northwest. If the fourth young master knew about the existence of Yulan's brother and where he was going, how could she bring the fourth young master to a safe place?

Chen Luoxi stopped talking, picked up the book he bought in the bookstore, and studied it seriously. He only regretted that he only knew how to indulge in enjoyment in the past, never cared about the affairs of the mansion, and never studied poetry and books.

An Wenniang felt sad when she saw his appearance, but the most urgent task was to ensure the safety of the Fourth Young Master so as to live up to the trust of the ancestors.

For safety reasons, An Wenniang bought a carriage along the way and then sold it in the next town. She walked for a day, took a water route, and then bought another carriage. She even let Chen Luoxi wear women's clothes during the journey.

Finally, they arrived in Lin County safely. To be on the safe side, they first went to the coal mine of An Wenzhong, who had been sold by An's father.

"Excuse me, little brother. I'm looking for a young man named An Wenzhong, who was sold here by a couple seven years ago."

The gatekeeper waved his hands impatiently and refused to report back.

Wen Niang took out a dozen copper coins and handed them over.

"Please ask, how much does it cost to redeem An Wenzhong?"

"Okay, I'll go ask the steward for you."

The gatekeeper stuffed a few copper coins into the gatekeeper next to him and turned around to go in.

After a while, he came out with a sullen face, obviously having been scolded by the steward.

"Come on, come on, come on, it's already too late to come here to look for it. When I bought it, it was said to be a dead deed and cannot be redeemed."

As soon as Wen Niang heard this, she knew that An Wenzhong was probably gone. After all, they had been siblings for several years, and she felt bad. She walked back to the carriage with red eyes, not noticing the strange smiles of the two gatekeepers behind her.

Chen Luoxi noticed through the gap in the curtain that Shi Dan took out a long whip from his bag.

An Wen Niang drove the carriage towards Anjia Village in Lin County. Chen Luoxi listened to the sounds around him and called out to Wen Niang in a valley.

"Stop, there are some little guys following us."

When Wen Niang heard this, she didn't dare to stop and whipped the horse to get rid of the person behind her.

"Wait for me out front. I'll come after I take care of them."

Seeing this, Chen Luoxi thought that this was a good idea, so he got out of the carriage, gave the horse a hard slap on the butt, and jumped off the carriage. An Wenniang controlled the carriage that was somewhat out of control and turned back to call Chen Luoxi.

"Four, big brother, big brother, come up quickly."

Chen Luoxi didn't listen to her at all. He swung the whip and whipped the masked man.

An Wenniang managed to stabilize the carriage with great difficulty and immediately turned around to look for Chen Luoxi. The Fourth Young Master had some martial arts skills, so those people should not be able to harm his life, but he was the Young Master of Huaiyuan Marquis's Mansion after all, and she could not watch him face danger.

"Fourth Young Master, how are you?"

An Wenniang jumped off the carriage and ran towards Chen Luoxi. There were four people lying around them, unable to move. Chen Luoxi's arms and back were injured.

"Minor injuries, it's okay, I'll ask these people about your brother first."

An Wen Niang followed him closely, and Chen Luoxi stepped on the man who had just taken Wen Niang's money.

"Tell me, what are you doing here?"

The man's bones were broken and he was in so much pain that he couldn't move. He wailed for mercy.

"Please spare us, sir. We didn't know this young lady had a master like you by her side. We wanted to rob her of some money and be cool and cool."

Chen Luoxi looked at them with disgust and put more force on his feet.

"Be honest and don't shy away from the important issues."

"I say, I say, we are the gatekeepers of the coal mine. We don't have the chance to get the good women in the coal mine, so we want to kidnap this little girl, rob her of her money, and when we're done, we'll send her to the manager to get some benefits. We are bastards, please spare our lives, sir."

Wen Niang had been receiving so much protection from the old man of Fu Shou Tang and Yu Lan Bi He over the years that she had never seen anything like this before. She was so scared that her face turned pale. Fortunately, the fourth young master was quick-witted.

"Where is An Zizhong?"

After exchanging glances with the gatekeeper and several others, Chen Luoxi whipped them until their skin cracked, and they immediately told him everything they knew.

"That kid was in poor health. He couldn't stand going into the mines twice. We, our manager, played with him for two days and buried him."

An Wenniang staggered and was supported by Chen Luoxi and sent to the carriage.

"Wait for me inside and cover your ears."

An Wenniang looked at Chen Luoxi with tears in her eyes, her fingers tightly grasping his clothes.

"Be good, I'll be back soon."

Chen Luoxi looked at the girl in front of him. She was already fragile. The days of running around had destroyed the body she had built up over the years at Fushoutang. Her cheeks were sunken and her eyes were bigger. In order to prevent her from getting wronged on the road, she was busy running around.

Now she has no family and is alone, and so am I. The two of us depend on each other.

Chen Luoxi lowered the curtain and killed several people neatly with a dagger. Due to time constraints, he didn't have time to deal with the bodies, so he slashed their faces with the dagger, got on the carriage, and drove away from this place of trouble.

The government couldn't find out anything. The two people who were seen today who were guarding the illegal coal mine were both killed. Besides, the people in these illegal coal mines are not clean. The local officials just turned a blind eye in exchange for bribes. It's unrealistic to worry about a few minions.

An Wen Niang was very depressed along the way. She and An Wen Zhong did not have a deep relationship. Especially since An Wen Zhong was instigated by his stepmother, saying that it was his mother who killed his mother, and she had been bullying An Wen Niang.

But they are blood relatives after all, and they were brother and sister who grew up together. They were both sold one after another and both had miserable lives. Now she is still alive and has money, but her eldest brother died so tragically. How can she feel good about it?

"Sometimes fate is really unfair, but we have no choice but to accept it."

When Chen Luoxi said this outside, An Wenniang burst into tears. She had been branded as the one who killed her mother since she was a child. Her father hated her and her stepmother was mean. She had never had a good day. She was finally sold to the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion. The ancestors were kind and the masters of the Marquis Mansion were good-hearted. She had lived a good life for a few years, but she never expected that the Marquis Mansion would suffer a disaster.

She was carrying the instructions from her ancestors and dared not fall down, nor could she go to the northwest to serve. Why did God treat her like this?

In order to help An Wenniang recover her mood, Chen Luoxi stopped for a long time not far from Anjia Village in Lin County, and only told him after she stopped crying.

"Sister, we're here."

An Wenniang looked at the thin figure in front of the curtain, bit her lip, and looked at the white jade bracelet that the old ancestor gave her as a reward to thank her for agreeing to protect the future master.

He slowly took it off and held it in his arms. She couldn't give up on herself now, she still had the young master. She wanted to watch the young master grow up safely, give his wife children, leave the bloodline of Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion, and watch the young master return to the capital city using the identity of An Wenzhong.

The young master still needs her.

"Let's go, big brother."

At this moment, there was no Chen Luoxi and Wen Niang from Fushoutang, only two poor siblings abandoned by their parents, An Wen Niang and An Zizhong.

At the village head’s home.

"You said you were An Dahai's daughter? Wen Niang?"

Wen Niang nodded and bowed to An Gu.

"Fourth uncle, I was sold six years ago. Only my fourth uncle and fourth aunt felt sorry for us and tried to persuade my father, but he wouldn't listen. I saved the master's daughter a year ago and was released from my indenture and rewarded with silver. I couldn't find where my father and mother had gone, so I went to find my brother and redeemed him."

An Wenniang took out the household registration documents that had been prepared long ago. The Third Madam had specially re-drafted her household registration that day. She was no longer under the name of An Dahai. The An Zizhong under her was newly added. It was originally for the convenience of inspection at the city gate checkpoints on the road. Now that she was here, she could add another household registration for An Wenzhong to be legitimate in the Lin County Magistrate's Office.

"There is no problem with your household registration, but how did you end up with a household registration in the capital?"

When An Gu heard An Wenniang talking about the time when she was sold, he knew that it was An Wenniang in front of him. This girl had not changed over the years, but An Zizhong's appearance had changed a lot.

"Your elder brother doesn't look like he used to be?"

An Wenniang had long expected that someone would say this. After all, An Gu and An Wenniang were relatives. She had watched the two of them grow up since they were young, and would definitely ask about their appearance now that they had changed.

"I asked about Big Brother's whereabouts last month. Big Brother had a chance to work for the young master of the coal mine manager two years ago. He suffered a lot in the past two years. He has just gotten better in the past two years without doing hard labor. His temper has been hit, and it is harder to talk to than before."

An Gu nodded. He didn't know much about An Zizhong. He didn't like going out in the past and would hide at home. He was not as good as An Wenniang, who had to go out to pick grass for pigs and dig wild vegetables since she was a child.

"Now that you're back, what are your plans?"

An Wenniang sighed.

"Originally, my master gave me more than 100 taels of silver. I thought that if I couldn't find my father and his family, I would come back to build a house and use the rest as my dowry. In the end, I spent 100 taels to redeem my eldest brother, and the rest was just for us to build a small house to live in first."

An Gu's daughter-in-law Wang heard it and nodded.

"That's right. The people in the coal mine are more ruthless than each other. Once you go in, there's no way you can get out. If they hadn't cheated you out of so much money, Zizhong wouldn't have been able to get out either."

An Wenniang nodded in agreement.

"What Fourth Aunt said is true. We were sold for only five taels of silver each, and now we need a hundred taels to redeem us. Even so, that black-hearted manager was unwilling to let us go and wanted to rob me of my money. Fortunately, I was smart and hid the money outside early. I told them that I would redeem them and then took them to find the money."

An Gu sighed after hearing this.

"This illegal coal mine has been in Lin County for so many years, and the county magistrate has not cared about it. I don't know how many people have been killed. Fortunately, your sister is smart and saved the rich lady and earned money to redeem you. But you should not feel sorry for her. It is difficult for a girl to keep money in her pocket without a man in the family. After all, the two brothers and sisters will be together and there will always be a better day."

An Wen's mother nodded and took out the cotton cloth she had bought for the headman's family in Lin County.

"I haven't seen you for so many years. I came back rashly for a blind date. I need your help to find us a place to settle down. I didn't have much money before, but I could buy a home for us to live in."

"Why are you so polite, kid? You are still young. Why are you spending all this money if you don't want to save money to start a family in the future?"

An Gu was an upright person and refused to accept these gifts, but Wang was reluctant to give them up. She kept touching the cotton cloth with her hands. This was a good thing, costing ten cents a foot.

"Uncle, please accept it. We haven't been back for so many years. It's great that you are willing to take us in. We have to trouble you to buy land, build a house, and settle down. My sister Meihua is two years older than me. I calculated that she will be engaged soon. This is the dowry I bought for her. It will also look good when I make clothes for Sister Meihua and take them to her husband's family."

When talking about An Meihua, An Gu fell silent. Meihua was the couple's precious daughter, and she was not allowed to do any farm work since she was a child.