The maid's road to success

This time, the dean of the academy and several teachers will accompany them, and An Wenniang will also set off with the academy's team. This courtyard is rented, so there is no need to worry too much. Reliable people will be left to take care of Zhiyuxuan and Wen'en Pavilion. An Zizhongjue's An Lan and An Huang can stay to take care of them. After all, Xishan still needs people to continue training Black Hawk. An Huang is smart enough, ruthless enough, and more meticulous than An Lan. So An Lan takes care of Xishan, and An Huang takes care of the two stores. The business of the escort agency and the grocery store is also relatively safe.

An Qing and Anyun will be taken to Kyoto, while An Rui and Anyan will stay in Gongzhou. An Qing and Anyun are older and have relatively stronger self-control. After experiencing so many things, they know what to do and what not to do. However, An Rui and Anyan still grit their teeth when they mention the people who robbed the Yuan family. Don't let them do anything really when they meet them, otherwise it will be a waste of time.

However, An Huang did not know how to take care of the children, so An Zizhong entrusted them to An Gu's family. After all, An Hongzhi benefited from An Zizhong's help, and An Gu's family was willing to treat An Zizhong's family well. The two of them were kind and honest, and would take good care of the two children. An Huang only needed to take time out every month to visit them and give them some gifts and money.

An Qing and his sister also agreed. After all, their master was already trying his best to preserve the Yuan family's bloodline and create a more peaceful and normal growth environment for their younger siblings. What else could they be dissatisfied with? Revenge should be handled by them, the two older siblings.

An Rui disagreed and wanted to go with them, but was scolded by An Qing. An Yun told her that An Nian was still young and asked An Rui to stay and take good care of her. After all, An Rui knew medicine and was able to take care of herself and her brother. Everyone in Kyoto was busy and no one would care about An Nian. An Rui finally agreed, and with red eyes, she watched everyone send them to Anjia Village and leave.

An Gu and Wang were good people, and they took good care of the two children. That night, they cleaned up Meihua's room and changed the bedding for them to use. An Rui hugged her brother and thought to herself that she had to be brave, protect her brother and grow him up, not to cause trouble for An Qing and his sister, and not to worry the masters.

After the New Year, a group of people packed up their things and set off. The Spring Examination would begin in March, and many candidates would come from all directions. They had to rush to the capital as soon as possible to find a clean courtyard to rent so that the students could study with peace of mind.

Although it was not very convenient to travel in such cold weather, it was much better than rushing there before the exam. The team this time was large and they hired an escort agency, the Nanyuan Escort Agency that An Zizhong recommended to the dean.

Students who could afford it drove their own spacious carriages and brought their servants with them, while those who couldn't afford it packed their own boxes and rode in the carriages provided by the academy. The group arrived in Kyoto safely in mid-February.

The dean of the academy had already sent people to rent a house when they were about to arrive at Linjing City. When they arrived at the Kyoto city gate, An Zizhong and An Wenniang looked at the tall and majestic city gate and the passers-by coming and going, and they felt so much resentment in their hearts. An Zizhong's eyes were bloodshot and his nails dug into his flesh. An Wenniang was afraid that he could not bear it, so she pulled his arm.

"Master, my sister and I have asked Li Changan to help us rent a house in Kyoto. It's the fourth house in the alley behind Suzaku Street. If you have any questions, please send someone to find us there."

The house that An Zizhong and the others were talking about was the courtyard that An Weniang bought when she was still a maid in the Huaiyuan Marquis's mansion. They said it was rented, but after Simian came to Beijing, Wen Niang entrusted her to go there to check out the situation. Who would have known that Su Niang, who was bought by An Weniang, was still guarding the house well and said that her master was An Weniang and the house would not be rented or sold.

An Wenniang felt that she was just helping Madam Su and rescuing her and her daughter from the robbers, and Madam Su had kept the courtyard for her for four years. She left in a hurry at that time, and she left a letter for Madam Su, telling her that the house was a gift to her and that she had important matters to attend to and would not be back.

It seemed that Madam Su did not listen to her. The two of them brought Hongmei, Baimei, Zhushan and Zhuchuan to a familiar alley. Hongmei knocked on the door, but it took a long time for someone to open it.

When Madam Su saw the familiar face, she excitedly walked forward and hugged An Wenniang, crying very sadly. Although she was not the same as before, it had been four years, and Wenniang had grown up, but from the expression, it was still An Wenniang. She would always remember the look in An Wenniang's eyes when she brought them out of the sea of ​​fire, and she would never forget it for the rest of her life.

"Girl, where have you been? I've been looking for you in Kyoto for a long time but couldn't find you. You just said you were leaving but didn't tell me where you were going. I was afraid that one day you would come back and stay here forever."

Madam Su pulled An Wen Niang aside and talked a lot. Nannan was also pulled over by her. When she left, she was still a little baby girl who could only crawl. Now she has grown into a little girl who can wear flowers. She shouted in a crisp voice, "Miss An Wen Niang, how are you?" It seems that Madam Su has brought her up very well.

"This is my brother. He was in trouble at the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion before. I fled because I was afraid that I would be implicated. I went back and found my brother by accident. He even passed the imperial examination. We came back this time to participate in the Spring Examination."

After briefly introducing An Zizhong, Madam Su began to arrange rooms for everyone.

"That girl said, 'Miss, please come back,' so I packed up in advance. Our house is not big. The young master is the head of the family, so he lives in the main room in the middle. The side room on the left is used as a study, and the right is the bedroom. Miss lives in the left wing, which I have divided into two rooms, one large and one small. There is a small bed and a dressing table inside, and a soft couch outside for entertaining guests. The wing on the right can be used by these two girls. Nannan and I will live in the kitchen, and these two boys will live in the gatehouse."

An Wenniang nodded. She bought this courtyard at the beginning because it was cheap and elegant. She and Bihe didn't need such a big house. Now that there are more people, even Su Niang and her eight daughters can't live there.

"Let's live like this for now. Later we can ask the two neighbors if they have anything to sell or rent. We can have more space."

Madam Su had already inquired from Miss Simian before, and now that Wen Niang had found her brother and a few servants, she went to inquire around.

"We don't want to buy the one on the right, but we can discuss renting it. The one on the left is willing to sell, but the price is a bit high. It's a little bigger than ours, but the yard is small, and there are two more rooms with annex rooms on the left."

An Zizhong nodded and asked Zhushan to inquire about the purchase right away. After all, Wen Niang was too old to live with a man, and she was squeezed in that small room.

At least I had a comfortable night's rest. An Zizhong didn't come back after going out yesterday afternoon. He must have gone to meet someone to arrange the next things.

Zhushan has already negotiated a price with his neighbor. He spent 120 taels to buy this yard. After four years, the price has increased a lot. The neighbor's house is bigger than theirs and wants 220 taels.

An Weniang paid the money directly, and the family was quick to go to the government office with Zhushan in the afternoon to sign the deed. An Weniang discussed with them to add another ten taels of silver and vacate the house within three days.

The family also had a house in Linjing City, and they were planning to sell it and move to Linjing City to reunite with their son's family. So they were naturally willing to do so, and they moved in two days instead of three.

Zhushan hired a number of bricklayers and rushed to finish the work of repairing the house. A moon gate was built between the two courtyards.

When An Wenniang and the others went to Zhushan to take care of things, she gave Su Niangzi extra wages.

"Girl, I can't accept it. I was in a life contract at the beginning. I haven't paid any money for living here all these years..."

An Wenniang pulled her to sit beside her, and without letting go of her hand, she held the silver in her palm.

"It's not that you don't get paid monthly for a dead contract, it's just a little lower. Other servants in our alley get 100-300 taels a month. You're a dead contract, so I won't overestimate it, 150. You get 7 taels for four years. You helped me take care of the house when I was away, and you didn't embezzle it. It can't be replaced by a lot of money. Now I'm also paying you the monthly allowance according to the rules of the master's house. Madam Su, are you blaming me for letting you stay alone to look after the house for so many years? Are you angry with me?"

Madam Su had no choice but to take the twenty taels of silver. Only a kind-hearted person like An Wen Niang would lose money to buy the two women and give them so much silver. Even the maids in wealthy families could not afford so much.

"From now on, you will be our housekeeper. You will receive six coins a month. White and red plums will each receive four coins. My daughter is still young, so you can use 100 copper coins to buy flowers to wear."

Madam Su waved her hand and refused. There was no servant in this street who received six cents a month as allowance, not to mention that her daughter was so young and only received one cent. Didn't that mean she should receive seven cents?

"Okay, my family still keeps its word. My brother and I have money, so we don't need this. Don't worry."

Madam Su didn't say anything else, knowing that An Wen's mother wanted to subsidize them.

They could only cook more delicious meals for the brother and sister. Hongmei and Baimei knew their identities. They came from Black Hawk because they had no talent to learn poetry and musical instruments, so they were sent to serve the master by Lan Ye. They didn't expect to become the most comfortable people in Black Hawk, without having to train day and night and getting paid. They were afraid that the masters would dislike them and send them back to Xishan to work hard.

The west courtyard had been cleaned up, but the bedding had not yet been packed away. An Zizhong came over with the students and teachers from Gongzhou Academy.

Because of the talent show this year, many people came to Kyoto, and the housing was very crowded for a while. The people from the academy rented a courtyard, but it collapsed in the past two days due to years of disrepair. The inn was already full of students from various places and failed beauties, and it was difficult to find a quiet courtyard for a while.

An Zizhong brought everyone here first. Li Changan was now squeezed in the outer courtyard of the Qi family and had no time to take care of himself.

"Everyone, put down your luggage and take a rest. I'll go order some food and bedding, and then buy a few servants."

An Wenniang was relatively familiar with this place. She took Su Niangzi to a nearby restaurant and ordered four or five tables of food. There were 17 students of Mr. Lian and 13 servants who came this time.

I ordered 35 sets of new bedding, and the cloth shop sent someone to deliver them on a cart. I also went to the merchant's and hired five servants to do laundry and cooking.

There were also pens, ink, paper, inkstone, candles, tea sets, bowls and chopsticks. The yard had just been cleaned up and there was nothing left.

The two men's legs were almost broken from walking, and they finally went back with large and small bags of things.

There is a large hall in front of the west courtyard, with two side rooms on the left and right, which An Zizhong gave to the three teachers and the dean to live in.

There was a large wing on each side, where eight students were accommodated, and none of them had any servants to serve them.

The two side rooms with ear rooms on the left were just right for the five students to live in. Only one of their servants was left to serve at night, and the other eight servants, three in the woodshed, five as gatekeepers, and the serving maids all lived in the kitchen first.

At least they all have a place to live, although it's a bit crowded. The yard they rented originally also had three people in a room. At least this one was newly cleaned and wouldn't collapse, and the newly bought bedding was very nice.

It is very difficult to rent a house in Kyoto now.

An Zizhong had been negotiating a three-month lease with the family on the right when everyone arrived. They were very generous and offered five taels of silver a month. Although it was a bit expensive, it was very difficult to rent a yard in Kyoto now. Moreover, this alley was quite remote and no one knew about it, so An Zizhong took the initiative to strike first.

At least the next day the owner of the house vacated a room and moved in with his daughter who lived in West City.

Only then were the five people with their attendants settled here. With the five of them and ten servants, the house was full. Fortunately, after these people vacated the house, the other students were accommodated in rooms of three, and the teacher also moved into a side room.

The five old women also moved into the gatehouse, which became much more spacious. At least they didn't have to feel squeezed and uncomfortable the moment they opened their eyes.

The teachers wanted to give them rent, but An Zizhong refused. He had always been determined to win people's hearts, so this time the help was an opportunity that came right to his doorstep.

The 13 students here are the ones who have the greatest hope of being admitted to Gongzhou Academy. Other academies will not care about them.

An Zizhong could only continue to live in the east courtyard and lock the moon gate to prevent anyone with bad intentions from coming into the west courtyard and offending An Wenniang, and he also left someone to guard it.

Li Changan was finally able to come out and meet An Zizhong. He brought gifts to his home to visit the teacher and the dean. They sat and chatted for half an hour, and finally went to the East Courtyard with An Zizhong to An Zizhong's current residence.

"The situation is not good now. The emperor is getting more and more absurd. He selected more than 1000 beauties in total, and kept more than of them. How could he keep so many at a time in the past? There were already more than in the palace, and now the palace is in chaos. He even asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs to rush to make clothes, jewelry, tables, chairs and benches day and night. There is no money to do that. He also wants to hire more people to serve and repair the palace. Anyway, there is no money in the treasury now."

An Zizhong nodded. This was what he had anticipated long ago. In fact, there was no need to worry about money. At this time, all he needed to do was to suggest a few noble families to the emperor.

Unfortunately, the situation in Kyoto is now on ice, and one move can affect the whole body. It seems that the eldest princess has allowed the emperor to come into contact with something that forcibly increases his blood and makes the emperor think that he is now very strong and powerful.

There were more than a hundred women. When the late emperor was in power for more than twenty years, he probably only had more than a hundred of them. The late emperor preferred quality over quantity.

This man was much dumber than the previous emperor, but fortunately so many people went in at once, including two of his Black Hawks.

One time, Black Hawk rescued several beautiful women from the hands of human traffickers, so he released them on purpose and sent them to the palace.

An Qing had already given these people medicinal baths for three months, and their bodies couldn't help but emit a fragrance, especially when they sweated.

Her skin is smoother than that of a baby. Now, this kind of woman is not good enough in front of the concubines who are all beautiful women. But once she serves the emperor in bed, the clouds will be cleared and the sky will be bright.

They had memorized the foods and flowers that would make a man more powerful in bed long ago, and any food sent to the emperor by the palace would be checked, so they couldn't take any risks now.

The two were also very happy. In the past, they could only go to brothels at the hands of money-mongers, but now they can enter the palace and become the emperor's women. Although this emperor is not a good guy, they still have power.

"Now, seven or eight maids have been sent to the palace. Six servants and seven maids have been sent to Cheng'en Kilometer. Eleven have been sent to the Princess's Mansion. Eight have also been sent to the Empress Dowager's mother's family, the Duke of Yuan."

Li Changan briefly told An Zizhong what happened after he came to Beijing. But why did they just let people in and leave them alone?

"We are not even Jinshi now. We can only get a ranking after the palace examination. If we are in the top three, we can enter the six ministries. Then those talents will be useful."

Li Changan nodded, chatted a little more and left quickly. The Qi family was a little outrageous now. The mansions in Kyoto were very expensive. A courtyard with five courtyards in Dongcheng District cost 20,000 taels. Qi Yangchuan loved Jin Yue more and more, and directly bought the first two courtyards of the courtyard next door, which was just connected to the front yard of the Qi family.

After the direct connection, Qi Yangchuan stayed there more often. Madam Qi had been trying to get rid of Jin Yue, but unfortunately Jin Yue was too cunning. Not only did Qi Yangchuan send her a lot of bodyguards, but she also rarely let Madam Qi have the opportunity to contact her and was also very cautious about eating.

Only once, when Jin Yue went out to buy clothes, she was scratched on the face by someone who rushed out in the chaos.

Madam Qi thought that if she got angry with Qi Yangchuan, he would abandon her, and then she would torture Jin Yue. However, Jin Yue relied on medicine to make Qi Yangchuan stay with her all the time, and getting angry with him would only make him feel more distressed.

Now Qi Yangchuan and Madam Qi have completely broken up, Qi You has not been able to adapt to the climate in Kyoto and is sickly. The Qi family's backyard is now managed by Li Changan.