The maid's road to success

In June, Qi Yangchuan took Madam Qi and two concubines to Kyoto to take up their posts via the official road. Madam Qi had recently been sending people to the villa to cause trouble, and had quarreled with Qi Yangchuan many times, but still had not met Jin Yue. Now that she saw Qi Yangchuan actually brought Jin Yue with him, she didn't care that there were many relatives and friends around to see them off, and rushed up to tear Jin Yue's face.

"Be quiet. If you continue to embarrass yourself, you'll have to stay in Gongzhou and not go anywhere. If you dare to cause trouble again among so many people, don't blame me for turning my back on you and divorcing you."

Qi Yangchuan lowered his voice and spoke in Madam Qi's ear. Looking at the disgusted expressions of the people around her and Qi Yangchuan's cold words, Madam Qi finally woke up from the madness of so many days. Now Qi Yangchuan is no longer the husband who is considerate to her. He has been drugged by Jin Yue. If he really continues to make trouble, she will end up in a bad way. Wouldn't it be a bargain for Jin Yue, the vixen? Her You'er is still in Gongzhou, waiting for her to gain a foothold in Kyoto and find a good doctor.

The wet nurse beside her pulled her back and let her go back to the carriage to rest.

"Madam, please stop arguing with the master. Jin Yue is so charming. The more you make a fuss, the more you push the master to her side. After entering the capital, you are the proper mistress and the first wife. After all, the master has just arrived in the capital and has to be very busy. You have no say in other matters. A lowly woman cannot buy property. You will be in control of it when the time comes. Please don't be confused again."

An Zizhong watched them and finally they did not make a fuss, but walked away calmly. Qi You stood beside Li Changan, crying, and Li Changan whispered to comfort her.

Qi Yangchuan was in a hurry to go to Kyoto. He had been working as an outside official for many years and Kyoto was probably very busy. He could not take care of Qi You, who was sick. Li Changan was also left to take care of Qi You. After half a year, when the Qi family settled down, Li Changan and Qi You would go to Kyoto together. Wen'en Pavilion could not be opened in Kyoto for the time being, but Li Changan could stay to stabilize more students. The loss was not too great.

What's more, with the surprise given by Wen Niang, Zhiyuxuan can be opened in Kyoto first. Although the relationship between Jin Yue and Simian is not very strong, Jin Yue has to rely on Simian to get her money, and Simian has to rely on Jin Yue to open a shop under the name of Qi Yangchuan. Even if An Zizhong has arranged Cheng Gonggong to be the person who actually protects them, it does not prevent them from using Qi Yangchuan's reputation as a cover.

The advantages of Zhiyuxuan are not available in Wen'en Pavilion. Their management method is very convenient for collecting information from Kyoto. In this way, Li Changan does not have to rush to Kyoto.

However, we must quickly let An Lan take a group of people to Kyoto first. Even if they are just ordinary people from other places who come to make a living, they cannot have too many of them rush in at once during the Spring Examination. It will be too conspicuous. It is best to send them in waves.

We simply registered those people in advance. The children in the charity also have names, so it is not difficult to register them.

As soon as Qi Yangchuan left, An Zizhong was busy opening an escort agency and a grocery store. These two types of businesses were most suitable for him to carry things and people to various places. The escort agency had to escort people and things, and generally would not arouse too much suspicion. The grocery store needed peddlers to deliver goods before buying things, which was also common.

Most of the people arranged in Kyoto and Liangzhou took Wuxin Powder, and they needed to deliver antidotes regularly. Escort agencies and peddlers were the most suitable. After Simian officially handed over Gongzhou's Zhiyuxuan to An Zizhong's people, he took the people and things he often used and went to Kyoto before Qi Yangchuan.

Nan Yu is already preparing for the opening of the escort agency. He is still using the name and old address of the escort agency from An Lan's maternal grandfather's family, but the people inside have been replaced by reliable ones. The northwest has already received the first batch of Wuxin Powder and the Qingsi Chanmian that Wang gave to Hu Yan. After all, Wang is the woman that Hu Yan likes and keeps outside, so it is easier for her to get him than Jin Yue. The county magistrate of the area where the ancestors lived has been successfully replaced by someone sent by the Bai family.

Although they were implicated by the Huaiyuan Marquis's Mansion, the Bai family was a prominent family after all, and Mr. Bai had a good reputation among the literati. It was not difficult to secretly arrange a reliable person for Liangzhou, a place where no one wanted to go. And they were sure that the superiors would not be able to find any evidence.

An Zizhong was not worried. His ancestor had the secret help of his mother, Mrs. Bai, the third wife's family, and Prince Li's Mansion. Although his own family had fallen into decline, they were still strong. The most valuable thing for a family that had gone through several dynasties was not power but secret methods that many people in the world did not know.

For example, the art of sutra, something that An Zizhong is unable to obtain, but the ancestor can, it may not be used for a long time, but it is most suitable to give it to An Qing and An Yun.

An Zizhong was sitting in the study, and An Wenniang was also beside him, concentrating very much. Now that Kyoto was about to be in turmoil, the emperor was now in the same situation as the late emperor. The late emperor was seduced by beauty during the struggle, and later did many ridiculous things, just like the current emperor. The empress dowager and Duke Cheng'en were too ruthless when they were plotting to usurp the throne, and they aroused the hatred of many people. The Huaiyuan Marquis's Mansion and several other officials ended up miserably, and Princess Fu'an also suffered a lot. Many forces were eliminated, and the Empress Dowager's family was suppressed. These two people were once powerful enemies competing with the second prince for the throne. How could they really suffer in silence?

The second prince was even more lustful than the late emperor. Even the precious woman who was supposed to be buried with the late emperor was renamed by him and resettled in the palace. She is now Rong Guipin. The Zhou family gained a lot of benefits because of being ridiculed this time. It's a pity that Zhou Guangshu was not happy. The second prince was even more shameless than the late emperor. The late emperor was lustful but did not dare to make a move on a married woman. After enjoying the precious woman, the current emperor brought people to bring Zhou Guangshu's eldest daughter and third daughter into the palace. The second daughter had been treated with drugs by Bai and was no longer beautiful, so she escaped. But it was a pity that his eldest daughter was almost thirty years old, and was kept outside the palace by the current emperor for enjoyment.

Zhou Guangshu and his wife begged for mercy countless times and were nearly executed. They dared not speak anymore and lived cautiously in their mansion.

The fourth and sixth princes were ordered by the current emperor to go to their fiefdoms immediately, but Princess Fu'an and the Empress Dowager were not pushovers either. They still remain in Kyoto. In contrast, the current emperor has ruthlessly dealt with many people, and the people's hearts are unstable. The government is controlled by the Empress Dowager and Duke Cheng'en. The second prince's health was ruined by the beauty deliberately sent to the palace, and now he is unable to do anything. It's a pity that An Zizhong will not give him a chance to ease up.

"An Qing has prepared the latest aphrodisiac. I plan to have it sent to Kyoto. I'm just wondering how I can get the Emperor to use it."

An Zizhong was sitting in a chair, while An Qing, Anyun and An Lan were standing in front. An Wenniang thought of Zhou Guangshu. His youngest daughter, Zhou Ruoyuan, was now the emperor's concubine Rong Guipin and was very favored in the palace. If she could be given to Rong Guipin, maybe he could use her.

"No, Zhou Guangshu is timid. He can plot against others, but he doesn't dare to murder the emperor. He still needs to find a way to pass the medicine to the Princess and the Empress Dowager. These two are capable of delivering the medicine to the palace without being discovered."

After all, anything the emperor comes into contact with will be strictly investigated, and once it is discovered, there will be big trouble.

"Why not make it into incense? The ladies in the palace can use it easily, and it contains a lot of fragrant medicine, which can also cover up the smell of this medicine."

An Zizhong nodded and asked An Lan to arrange someone to send it first. They couldn't send it to Eunuch Cheng. Eunuch Cheng could provide help to the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion, but he was also a close attendant of the Empress Dowager. His every word and action would attract a lot of attention. It was already a risky move for Simian to go to Eunuch Cheng.

"Go and get close to Princess Fu'an's legitimate son Bai Shoude, and have him ask you for the medicine. Give it to you all at once and then retreat without leaving any traces."

An Lan arranged to go to Kyoto after getting the things. Now would be a perfect time for him to follow Qi Yangchuan.

Bai Shoude was the legitimate son of Princess Fu'an and her husband. He became lame due to an injury while riding a horse when he was young and could not become an official, so he always hung out with his friends in casinos, brothels and bars.

An Zizhong had played with him for a while before, but unfortunately he was a little weak in that aspect. Like his father, he always used drugs to play with women. Considering so many people, Bai Shoude was the easiest to fall for.

Princess Fu'an was so smart that she could find clues from her son without anyone's deliberate guidance, and thus thought of arranging this medicine for the emperor.

After all, the emperor cannot die too soon. The Fourth Prince she supports and the Sixth Prince supported by the Grand Empress Dowager are now subject to too many restrictions and are not as strong as before. The emperor has passed away and the court is in turmoil. They may not be able to send the people they want to support to high positions, but they can make the emperor indulge in women and hurt his foundation. The court can't control too much. Only the Empress Dowager and Cheng'en Palace can deal with them. After all, many times what the emperor says is the imperial edict, and they cannot disobey the imperial edict. However, the Empress Dowager's words are suppressed by the Grand Empress Dowager, and Duke Cheng'en is just a minister. Why should he make demands on her, the eldest princess? Even if the eldest princess would suspect the source of the medicine, she would not be able to find anything. Who would have thought that there were other people in Huaiyuan Marquis' Mansion?

In October, Simian's first secret letter was delivered. The emperor ordered a beauty contest. This was the second time this year. The previous year, the empress dowager scolded him, saying that it was not three years since the death of the previous emperor and it was not appropriate to select a large number of beauties. Only five or six fifth-rank officials in Kyoto were selected, and many palace maids were used. Now, he is determined to let the whole country of Chen offer girls aged 13 to 17, obviously to expand the harem.

"Brother, I think the princess has successfully used the medicine on the emperor, which made him feel very powerful and that there are not enough women in the palace for him to play with, so he wants to hold a beauty contest, right?"

An Zizhong nodded, looked at the yellowing leaves outside the window, and snorted coldly.

"You are half right. The Princess and the Empress Dowager want to take advantage of the chaos to place people in Kyoto. Now Kyoto only has five city defense armies, which are basically in the hands of Duke Cheng'en. They are too passive. Letting the counties send beautiful girls can take advantage of the chaos to follow the selected eunuchs to other places to win over local officials, and they can also place their own people in Kyoto. By then, a large number of people from the counties will flood into Kyoto, and it will be easy to mix in thousands of people. And they also think that the emperor will not keep an eye on them after he has so many new women."

An Zizhong was very satisfied with this arrangement. The more women there were in the harem, the more chaotic it would be. The empress dowager would not be able to watch these women scheming against each other and making the harem a mess. The empress dowager, whose attention was distracted, would not be able to unite with the people inside and outside Cheng'en Palace.

It would also be convenient for him to take the opportunity to send another group of people into Kyoto. With the large number of people deployed by the eldest princess and the Empress Dowager, his own people would be ignored. Isn't this convenient for himself?

An Zizhong has already settled things in Xishan. He will take advantage of the large-scale selections in October to go to various places to select beauties. There is a group of people in Xishan with good looks who can be used. They should be sent to the palace before the end of December. After all, the emperor can't wait.

At that time, he will be able to follow a group of people into the capital, but it is not convenient to enter the officials' mansions. Entering major restaurants, red-light districts, and docks are places that will least attract attention.

The others can be sent to Zhongqiu first to see if they can be sent to the mansion where they want to be interrogated.

An Wenniang is almost fifteen years old now. It has been almost three years since she brought An Zizhong to Gongzhou. The situation in Liangzhou is much better now, so she can relax and take good care of An Zizhong.

An Zizhong is focused on revenge and rarely cares about other things. He will only listen to An Wenniang's reminders. There are more people in the family. Now only An Hongzhi usually follows An Zizhong, An Lan and An Huang are both in Xishan, An Qing runs between the two, and An Yun is basically stationed in Xishan. For the Black Hawk of Xishan, it is enough to know some medical theories to save lives. What is more important is to master more useful poisons, such as hallucinogenic, aphrodisiac, cartilage-damaging poisons, blood-damaging poisons, etc.

There were only a few slave guards, the Queen, An Rui and An Nian in the mansion, and there really were not enough people.

An Zizhong had four people sent from West Hill, two guards in the front yard and two maids in the back yard.

He is a student with relatively low qualifications in Xishan, and his family has enough food. An Wen Niang asks Queen Wang to prepare meals for An Zizhong every day, and asks the guards in the front yard to deliver three meals a day. The academy is not rigid about the formalities for these students now. If students feel that it is useful to go out and have a look around, they can be allowed to go out according to their situation.

Many top students will stay on the second floor of Wen'en Pavilion. This is the latest activity of Wen'en Pavilion.

With three academy evaluations, students can go to the second floor to read books for free. Wen'en Pavilion has never stopped collecting books and putting them in. Students have been in the academy for a long time and have read a lot of books there, so changing to another place will give them more freshness.

Moreover, An Zizhong would treat them very well, giving each of them two pots of tea and a plate of snacks a day, which all tasted pretty good. Many of the students who really did well in the academy came from ordinary families, and only the students who were rated as excellent could go there for free, and a special area would be set up for them to use.

He calmly displayed his excellence in front of a group of wealthy businessmen, so many students would go to him.

And students who have only been evaluated for excellence twice will work harder. After all, every time they go to Wen'en Pavilion, everyone can only talk on the first floor. It is very face-saving for these few people to go upstairs directly with the evaluation papers.

This is not the same as paying money to go there. It indirectly boosted the learning atmosphere in the academy, and the teachers and the dean only support it.

In order to have the opportunity to go in and out freely, the students studied hard and tried to get an A grade, because only students with an A grade had the opportunity to ask the teacher for leave to go out.

The weather was getting cooler day by day, and An Zizhong had grown a lot taller in the past three years. Many female relatives wanted to marry him, but they were all rejected by An Zizhong, who insisted on studying hard and passing the imperial examination.

An Zizhong is known as An Wenniang's elder brother. He is 19 years old. Even the kids in the village can run and jump, but many educated people get married late, so it is not too strange.

In fact, Chen Luoxi is only seventeen this year and will be coming of age next year, but the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion has long since disappeared. Without his father and brother to help him wear the cap, it is estimated that he will not be able to perform the ceremony of coming of age.

"Hongzhi, you have learned almost everything you should learn, but it's not solid enough. You still can't concentrate on studying even when you are with me. You should go back to Anjia Village and study hard for a few months. Next year, you can take the exam for the scholar. You are not young anymore. Fourth Aunt has arranged a marriage for you. Hurry up and pass the exam and get married."

There are many things that An Zizhong cannot let An Hongzhi know. The man around him often needs to be able to send him away. Moreover, An Hongzhi is too sincere. If he participates in An Zizhong's road to revenge, he will inevitably be hurt or even lose his life.

An Hongzhi felt that he was originally here to be An Zizhong's servant, and he had never really helped An Zizhong in any way, but he got a lot of credit instead. He always felt embarrassed. Besides, although he was just a servant, An Zizhong actually taught him more.

"Go back. It's unrealistic for you to follow us all the time. I may go to Kyoto next year. You are newlywed, so it's not appropriate for you to leave your wife behind and follow us. We may not come back for many years. If you feel embarrassed, then work hard to pass the imperial examination. You may not be able to become a county magistrate, but you can still be a legal advisor or a chief clerk. Then you can be really useful to us."

An Wenniang naturally knew that An Zizhong had been slowly shifting his focus to Kyoto. Revenge was too dangerous. After all, An Hongzhi was An Gu's child. Returning to Anjia Village had helped both of them a lot. It was best not to let An Hongzhi fall into danger.

Helped to persuade An Hongzhi to reconcile and go back. Li Changan has been selling off the Qi family's property recently. Qi Yangchuan and Madam Qi wrote to them hoping that they could return to Kyoto before the New Year. It seemed that Madam Qi wanted Qi You to go back and help coax Qi Yangchuan to stop him from staying with that woman Jin Yue.