The maid's road to success

The weather was extremely hot in August. An Wenniang felt very stuffy sitting in the room. An Yun was so busy recently that he didn't even leave the room. Su Niang brought in meals. Nannan was grown up now. When she had nothing to do, she would help clean An Wenniang's room. Looking at the ice bucket in the inner room, An Wenniang felt that she had lived too luxuriously in the past few years. Ice in the summer and charcoal in the winter. When she was still a little girl, she had two catties of coarse charcoal per person in the winter. It was enough for her and Bihe to use sparingly. Now, An Zizhong brought the things from the Grand Princess's Mansion here in carts.

Now, she is very pampered. She would never have dared to dream of such a life in the past. Madam Su sat on the other side of the couch and looked at An Wenniang who was drawing. She was indeed getting more and more worried. The girl was not young anymore. Girls of the same age had already married and had children. She didn't know why, every time she mentioned it, the girl was fine and just didn't respond. But when the young master heard about it, he would always say that now was not the right time. The look in his eyes when he spoke made Madam Su very scared when he thought about it now.

It was Miss An Yun who told her not to get involved in this matter. The young lady and the young master were busy with important matters and could not take care of this matter at all. Besides, the young master also had his own plans, so she just had to pretend she didn't know.

Madam Su was very uneasy. How could she pretend not to know? Her life and that of her daughter were saved by the girl. If it weren't for the girl's kindness and willingness to spend money to buy her and her daughter, their bones would be piled somewhere by now.

But the girl is a good girl and she is smart too. She should have her own ideas. I should worry less about my master's affairs to avoid causing trouble.

"Have Baimei and Hongmei returned?"

Madam Su shook her head. She felt that the young master and the young lady had become busier recently. Even the servants in the mansion had been sent out. Now, only Madam Su, her daughter, and two lame boys in the backyard were left in the mansion.

Even An Yun was always busy. Sometimes the meal delivered to the door would not be touched when the next meal was delivered, which made Madam Su a little nervous. She looked at An Wen's mother with some trepidation.

"Girl, are we in danger?"

Hearing this, An Wenniang put down her pen and looked at Su Niangzi's face. Outside the yard, her daughter was washing clothes under a tree and humming a little tune.

"Madam Su, I can't guarantee that we will be safe, but I can tell you that if something does happen, I will definitely send you to a safe place in advance, so don't worry."

Madam Su knew that she had misunderstood her, so she reached out and took An Wen's hand and said.

"Girl, you gave us our lives. You are not the kind of person without conscience. I will serve you until the end. I am just worried about you. Although I don't know what you are going to do, I know you will not do evil. But girl, have you ever thought about yourself?"

An Wenniang knew that Madam Su had good intentions. She shook her head and looked at Nannan. Everyone has their own obsessions.

Madam Su's obsession is to serve them well in return for the kindness of buying them and providing them with a home, and her daughter's safety and health. Apart from that, she doesn't care about anything else. Even though she was bullied and oppressed by many people during the years she was away, she never gave up and always believed that she would come back.

An Yun's obsession is to take revenge, personally bury the remains of the Yuan family back to the ancestral grave, and to carry forward the Yuan family's medical skills. Secondly, An Rui can get married and have children this year and grow up healthily.

An Zizhong's obsession is to personally cut off the heads of those evil men and place them in front of the tablets of his father and brother, in order to clear the grievances of the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion and prevent the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion from being misunderstood by the people of the world. A loyal minister with iron will would not allow anyone to throw dirty water on him even if he dies.

Her obsession was to have the ancestors come back, so that she and her sisters could be the same as before, still the little maids of Fu Shou Tang, making tea and doing embroidery together. Before the ancestors came back, she would not consider anything else. Moreover, the ancestors had said before that the little maids of Fu Shou Tang were all her favorite children, and all marriages could only be made with her consent, and no one else was allowed to interfere.

In fact, the old ancestor said this deliberately just to prevent other masters from interfering in the marriages of the maids in Fu Shou Tang. But later, the old ancestor really chose husbands for each maid very seriously, and this sentence became something that An Wen Niang always kept in mind.

"Sister An, Baimei is back."

An Wen's mother came to her senses and asked Nannan to bring Baimei in quickly. Baimei entered the room, feeling extremely tired. She drank two cups of warm tea before she recovered. Madam Su quickly stood up and asked Baimei to sit in her seat.

"Sit down and talk slowly. I have the chicken porridge warming up in the kitchen. I'll bring it to you."

Bai Mei didn't even bother to thank Madam Su and started reporting the current situation to An Wen Niang.

"The Black Hawks have been ordered to keep an eye on the situation in Kyoto and Linjing. The Fourth Prince has now found out about the Royal Temple. The Queen Mother really gave birth there. It seems that she is planning to expose it in front of all the civil and military officials during the Mid-Autumn Festival family banquet. The Sixth Prince has now successfully established contact with the Grand Princess. With the help of the Grand Princess, the Sixth Prince has eliminated several important contact points of the Fourth Prince in Kyoto. Now the Fourth Prince seems to have noticed that the Grand Princess is behind him, but he can't take care of it now. Po gave up and just let it go, concentrating on winning over several clan elders in the royal family. The emperor sent three waves of dragon guards to Linjing City, and the young master felt something was wrong, so he also sent people to Linjing City. Duke Chengen's private soldiers were hiding in Linjing City. The largest gang in Linjing City was actually Duke Chengen's people, with more than a thousand people. There were 7,000 people hiding in the mountains and forests, and more than 2,000 people in the city defense army. If these 6,000 people rushed to Kyoto quickly, combined with Duke Chengen's people in the five Kyoto city defense armies, he was afraid that he could really succeed. "

Bai Mei said all this in one breath, then quickly drank two glasses of water, thought for a while, and continued.

"The Emperor agreed to choose an heir. During the Mid-Autumn Festival family banquet, the Empress Dowager was placed under house arrest by the Emperor and the Empress Dowager. Now Eunuch Cheng cannot come and go as he pleases. The Empress Dowager is not in good condition at the moment, but the situation is not very clear."

An Wenniang felt that the current situation was already very chaotic, but this situation was the most suitable for their people to be placed in suitable positions. The Mid-Autumn family dinner was a suitable opportunity. The Queen Mother's illegitimate child broke out, and the Sixth Prince took the opportunity to hammer out the fact that the Fourth Prince murdered his cousin's wife. If nothing unexpected happened, the Emperor would clean up the situation of Duke Cheng'en in Linjing as soon as possible. However, it was obvious that Duke Cheng'en could not watch the Emperor destroy all his plans.

Recently, several forces will try their best to get more capable people to join their camps, but An Zizhong and I are not at an advantage in this regard. Our only hope can only be placed on old friends we once had good relations with. Only a small half of them can be fully trusted, and the rest are not reliable. Among them, the person who can give them the greatest support in terms of both identity and strength is Prince Li.

"When did my brother say he wanted to meet Prince Li?"

Bai Mei did not see An Zizhong today. An Zizhong has been missing recently. After he started to arrange all this, he directly cleared out the people around him, and all the spies were not allowed to pay attention to An Zizhong.

"I don't know. I didn't see the young master today. Now only Zhushan and his men are left to guard the An Mansion."

An Wenniang nodded and told her to go down and rest first. According to An Zizhong's character, he would definitely talk to Prince Li before the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet. As for why Prince Li wanted to meet him, Zong Ge's poison was cured, but his body was still weak, so he still needed An Qing's care. An Yun said that An Qing's diagnosis and treatment and medication were the same as his grandfather's, and they used dangerous drugs. The patients they treated were not easily taken over by ordinary doctors, so for Zong Ge's sake, Prince Li would agree to meet with An Zizhong.

But what An Wenniang didn't know was, with what identity An Zizhong would negotiate with Prince Li? Was it An Zizhong's present identity as the Grand Princess's son-in-law and Princess Baozhu's husband, an identity that ostensibly belonged to the Fourth Prince's faction but actually had many connections with the Sixth Prince? Or was it another identity of his?

The fourth young master of Huaiyuan Marquis’ Mansion, Chen Luoxi, the younger uncle of Princess Yong’an, and the fourth uncle of Brother Zong?

According to An Wenniang's guess, meeting with Prince Li in the name of Chen Luoxi is actually the best way to gain Prince Li's trust, but there are also certain dangers. In the past few years, Prince Li's Mansion has been caught between several forces. Everyone wants to win over Prince Li, but no one can trust him completely.

Prince Li himself has always remained neutral, and no matter who tried to win him over, he was determined not to compromise. This led to the Fourth Prince and the Emperor being very dissatisfied with Prince Li, and they suppressed him in many ways in an attempt to force him to submit.

However, Prince Li has a special status and is not someone they can manipulate at will. He is also a direct descendant and is senior to the Emperor, not to mention the Fourth Prince. The late Emperor's ascension to the throne was inseparable from the contributions of Prince Li. Even the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager have to treat them with respect, not to mention the younger generations like them.

Although the emperor is the supreme ruler, they must also try their best to maintain good relations with the elders in the royal family. Otherwise, even if there is no substantial harm, it will be bad for their reputation. The people's hearts are very important.

What's more, Prince Li still has military power. The military token in his hand can control the Black Dragon Army, the most powerful army in the west. That was a privilege given to him by the late emperor. As long as Prince Li is alive, the Black Dragon Army will always be under his control.

Now Northwestern Liangzhou is controlled by the women of the Marquis's Mansion, and 30% of the navy in the east can be commanded by the Sixth Prince. As long as the Black Dragon Army and An Zizhong are united, there will be enough power to control the situation even if a fight really breaks out in the Chen Kingdom.

Takekawa once asked, since we have already set up such a big situation, why can't we just overthrow the royal family, overthrow the palace family, and become emperor ourselves? Wouldn't it be better to have the world in our hands?

But An Zizhong did not say much. An Wenniang knew very well that it was impossible for someone from Huaiyuan Marquis' Mansion to become emperor. If she did so, Huaiyuan Marquis' Mansion would really become a traitor and rebel, making the world laugh at them.

What Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion values ​​most is loyalty and righteousness. Loyalty is not to the royal family, but to the common people of the world. Righteousness is to the emperor they want to support. For Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion, their innocence is far more important than fame and fortune. Ever since Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion became rich, they have always been loyal ministers and have been fighting to protect the safety of the people of the world. They are not afraid even if generations of people sacrifice on the battlefield.

But they must not be framed by evildoers, or be smeared with dirty water and killed with infamy, so they will not fight for the throne, but their innocence must be restored and their enemies must be brought to justice.

An Wenniang arranged people in Xiaohe Lane to gather as much information as possible. On the other hand, An Zizhong also successfully met with Prince Li at his farm outside the capital.

"I wonder what Lord An wants to see me about?"

Prince Li has always been grateful to the servants of the former Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion for bringing An Qing, the miracle doctor, to cure his great-grandson. Only then could Yongan really feel relieved. However, he has always been very cautious. A former maid. Even if she is already a good citizen, she is just an ordinary citizen. Moreover, how old was the girl when the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion was in trouble? How could she meet such a powerful doctor? Even if it was really a coincidence, what about the Red Heart Jade Lotus? It is a family prescription of the Yuan family. The Yuan family once became the most prestigious imperial physician clan in Kyoto and made a name for themselves with the Red Heart Jade Lotus. It is really a deadly thing. If it were not for the generations of royal families who wanted to monopolize it and not allow the Yuan family to pass it on, I am afraid it would help many people.

This is very difficult to produce, and only a few can be made in a year. In the past, they were used by the emperor, the empress, and the queen mother. Otherwise, how could the late emperor, who had been indulging in women and taking elixirs for so many years, live so long, forcing the second prince to kill his father before he died.

At that time, he felt that there must be other things behind this, but after so long, Brother Zong's illness had almost recovered, and those people had not contacted him. He thought he really thought too badly of them. As a result, when An Qing saw Brother Zong for the last time, he received a letter from An Zizhong, asking for a meeting at a villa outside Beijing.

"Zi Zhong wants to make a deal with the prince."

Prince Li already had an unhappy look on his face. In his opinion, An Zizhong was the Fourth Prince's man, so he must want him to help the Fourth Prince. He hated this very much. Even if An Zizhong saved Zong Ge's life, he could not compromise.

"Your Majesty, are you worried that Zi Zhong came to you in order to get you to side with the Fourth Prince?"

Prince Li looked at An Zizhong with a puzzled expression. Isn't it true? He is the son-in-law of the Grand Princess. Although he doesn't like Baozhu, he is very lucky to have won over such a young talent for the Grand Princess through marriage.

An Zizhong looked at Prince Li's face and took something out from his arms with a smile. Prince Li took it and was immediately shocked when he saw it. He asked the servants to leave and close the door.