The maid's road to success

When the first ray of sunlight shone on Kyoto the next morning, everything was the same as usual. The only noticeable difference was that there were fewer people on the streets.

Occasionally, there was a faint smell of blood in the air. Many elderly people noticed something was wrong. They had packed up their things to go out to buy snacks, but now they went back and closed the door.

When An Wenniang received the news, she knew that everything was going smoothly and An Zizhong had not shown up from beginning to end, so her safety was not a problem.

But he still took people out for a walk.

For so long, they have been cautious and stayed at home whenever possible, organizing information collected from all parties every day without rest, and finally waited for this moment. They have been waiting for this day for almost seven years, and they are already 19 years old.

An Zizhong’s registered age is 23, and Chen Luoxi, who uses this name, is also 21 years old.

The children of Kyoto's aristocratic families would have already had three wives and four concubines and their children would have run away by the time they were 21.

An Wenniang didn't know what she wanted to read, but she suddenly felt relaxed. There was no danger, no endless letters to deal with, and no things weighing on her mind.

She just wanted to go out, stroll around like a normal woman, enjoy the flowers and buy jewelry.

Unconsciously, she had spent seven wonderful years from the age of 12 to 19 with An Zizhong, staying in the house to take care of him.

But now that she is about to achieve her goal, she no longer has the life she wanted.

She had no friends. Bihe and Chunlu were both in Liangzhou. She had no family. Her parents came back from other places with great difficulty just to ask them for money.

Now I feel like I am completely empty. How should I live in the future?

When I was young, I saw too many maids fighting for interests in the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion, too many maids who wanted to change their class overnight, and too many stewards who competed with each other.

The Huaiyuan Marquis' Mansion is still the purest and simplest family in Kyoto. No one knows how chaotic the other dukes' are.

An Wenniang had always wanted to live a stable life, have a small courtyard, serve the old ancestors until she got married, marry a loyal and honest man who treated her well, and then serve the old ancestors for two or three years and raise a child.

When the children grow up and go to school, she can still be a housekeeper in front of the ancestors.

This is how I live my life, with an honest and capable child, a well-behaved and sensible child, who can accompany my ancestors and my sisters can often see them.

This was not difficult to achieve in the past, but it is indeed very difficult now.

If the Huaiyuan Marquisate could clear its name and return to its former glory, even if the ancestor had the final say.

It would be hard to find a truly diligent and honest man willing to marry me.

A 19-year-old girl, who used to be a maid, had a shop that did not make much money, but had a lot of servants around her.

Who would be willing to marry me?

The fourth young master?

An Wenniang never really took the fourth young master's words about marrying her seriously.

Even if the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion could not take revenge, the master-servant class engraved in her bones would be difficult to dispel. The old ancestor's kindness to her was too great, and An Wen Niang could not stay with the young master when the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion was in trouble.

This was what she hated the most in the past, and even now, she couldn't convince herself.

The fourth young master used to be one of the most famous young men in Kyoto.

He is dressed in fine clothes and rides a horse, he is righteous and handsome, who wouldn't praise him as a good man?

If the incident at the Huaiyuan Marquis' Mansion had not happened, the Fourth Young Master could have married a noble lady. Even if he could not inherit the title of Marquis, he would have a rich and prosperous life with his abilities.

Although it has gone through too many things, the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion is about to revive from the ashes. As the eldest son of the family, the Fourth Young Master will eventually have to take charge of everything in the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion.

After being oppressed for seven years, the Marquis' Mansion urgently needs a noble lady from an aristocratic family to help it regain its central position in the court.

She was not a suitable candidate, and she might even cause the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion to be criticized, and the female masters would also be pointed at when they went out to banquets.

An Wenniang was thinking as she walked, and she didn't even realize that she had walked to this place.

A desolate and lonely place, Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion.

You can still see how grand its main entrance once was, and the smooth bluestone steps. Even after seven years, you can still see what it once looked like.

The pair of large stone lions at the door have been covered in dust.

You can vaguely see the messy branches in the yard poking out.

"Girl, where is this?"

An Wen Niang looked at the empty seat where the plaque written by the founding emperor once hung, and said quietly.

"Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion."

Baimei and Hongmei also knew about the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion, and knew why Black Hawk was collecting information, but they didn't know what the relationship between An Zizhong and An Wenniang was with the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion.

Madam Su said that the young lady used to be a servant of the Huaiyuan Marquis' Mansion, but which servant would take the risk and fight so hard to avenge the master's family?

What's more, the girl and the young man's temperament and behavior are not like those of ordinary servants. Who among ordinary people has such ability?

Seven years, a full seven years, how much perseverance does it take to achieve this?

"Miss, the women of Huaiyuan Marquis's residence will be back soon, right?"

An Wenniang nodded, not knowing why her eyes felt so sore.

"Well, it's almost time. We can finally meet."

An Zizhong will definitely let our ancestors leave Liangzhou as soon as possible.

On the second day of court, the person sitting on the dragon throne was replaced in just one day.

Even the people standing below had disappeared. Seeing this situation, everyone knew what had happened.

They are all shrewd people who have been officials for many years. It is impossible for them to be unaware of what happened last night.

Houses surrounding the palace

After hearing the deafening sounds of fighting, some people were brought into the palace by Marquis Wu'an and the Sixth Prince and forced to be witnesses.

Many people witnessed with their own eyes how Duke Cheng'en raised private soldiers and forced the emperor to abdicate in rebellion, and how the Fourth Prince held the emperor hostage and stabbed him.

It was already a done deal, destined to be a capital crime, and it was simply to announce it to the world and give the Sixth Prince a reason to ascend the throne as emperor.

The emperor did not have time to adopt a son, and his two princes took more medicine than food. They would fall ill if they were exposed to the slightest breeze, and would feel uncomfortable if they sat for too long and could not bear to get tired at all.

As an emperor, he at least had to attend court every day, review memorials, take care of state affairs, and offer sacrifices to heaven and ancestors. They could not do any of these.

What's more, as an emperor, he must expand the royal family and train suitable heirs. Now the princes are young and have never learned anything about state affairs. They are also very weak. If they are forced to succeed to the throne, I am afraid they will not last long.

In addition, the Sixth Prince has a group of supporters, even more than when he was fighting with the Fourth Prince in the past. Now with the joining of Marquis Wu'an and Prince Li, no one will refuse to temporarily supervise the government.

The Fourth Prince was guilty of a heinous crime, poisoning members of the royal family. He was already a god among the common people, yet he colluded with street gangs to attack the palace with the intention of assassinating the Emperor.

From the moment he decided to enter the palace, there were only two outcomes: one was to successfully suppress Duke Cheng'en and become the new emperor, the other was to be caught and die. The officials of the former four princes' party were now in a panic, so who could raise any objections?

The emperor was stabbed by the Fourth Prince, and his body has been hollowed out by his indulgence in women over the years. If he had not been injured, he could have held on for a few more years, but the Fourth Prince's knife damaged his internal organs, and even the immortals could not save him.

"Since the ministers have suggested that I take charge of the government for the time being, it would be bad for me to refuse. I will do my best for the Kingdom of Chen and the court, and will return the government to my brother when he gets better."

The Sixth Prince was sitting on the dragon throne. If Prince Li had not been staring at him, he would have laughed out loud. After he had settled the matters of the trial of Duke Cheng'en and the Fourth Prince, Prince Li and Marquis Wu'an reminded the Sixth Prince, and then he remembered.

"This king heard a very shocking piece of news last night. I didn't know what to do for a moment, so I thought of telling you about it, and all the ministers should listen to it."

The Sixth Prince glanced at Prince Li, and seeing him nod, he continued speaking.

"Yesterday, Lord Cheng'en and the Fourth Prince said in person that the late emperor was poisoned by the Empress Dowager and the Emperor. This involves my brother, and I don't know what to do."

Everyone in the Bai family knelt on the ground and shouted in time.

"The emperor is a role model for the people of the world. He poisoned his own father for power. Such a person is not worthy of being the king of Chen. Please, Sixth Prince, take charge and thoroughly investigate what happened back then and clear the victim's name."

Everyone knows the Bai family's request. The daughter of the Bai family is the wife of Marquis Huaiyuan. She was convicted of the poisoning of the late emperor and is now exiled. If the emperor is really the culprit who poisoned the late emperor, then the Marquis Huaiyuan's Mansion is wronged.

As long as the truth can be found out, the Huaiyuan Marquisate can be acquitted, and the daughter of the Bai family can then come back, so the Bai family is the most anxious to thoroughly investigate the death of the late emperor.

As soon as the Bai family finished speaking, most of the relatives related to the Huaiyuan Marquisate knelt down and asked for permission to thoroughly investigate what happened that year.

An Zizhong looked at the people kneeling in the hall to ask for an imperial decree. There were at least twenty or thirty of them. He couldn't even remember what relationship some of them had with his family, but at this moment, they were all kneeling on the ground to ask for an imperial decree to clear the name of the Huaiyuan Marquis' Mansion and overturn the verdict.

Those who had participated in the persecution of Huaiyuan Marquis' Mansion were still attacking them, but this did not scare these people. No one wavered, and more and more people joined in requesting imperial decree.

"I, your humble servant, request a thorough investigation of what happened back then. The late emperor fought on the battlefield and died a righteous death, not being poisoned. The Huaiyuan Marquisate has been loyal and brave for generations, and they cannot be convicted without any clear reason. Please, Sixth Prince, conduct a thorough investigation."

Prince Li stood up and bowed to ask for permission. As soon as he said this, those who wanted to cover up the truth of that year shut up.

Everyone knew that Prince Li had a bad relationship with the Huaiyuan Marquisate and was the late emperor's brother, but he still stood up and demanded a reversal of the verdict, refuting all the objections raised by everyone.

Whether from a fair or personal perspective, Prince Li's request is reasonable.

"In that case, let's investigate. How much did our father contribute to the Chen Kingdom throughout his life? How could he be poisoned by his own son? This matter has too much influence. I will investigate it myself, and Marquis Wu'an will assist me."

The official who was writing the imperial edict at the same time had finished writing the imperial edict after the Sixth Prince gave the order. The imperial seal fell, and the matter was settled.