After being reborn as a man, the woman improved her family's fortunes through education.

For some reason, Aunt Qin slept exceptionally well last night.

When I woke up, I habitually called for Liusu to fetch water, but no one answered after a few calls. Then I remembered that I had sent that girl out on an errand yesterday, but I didn’t expect her to leave so early.

Although she was a little annoyed that no one was helping her with her washing and grooming, she was also satisfied that the maid was so proactive and attentive in doing things for her.

Sigh, it's inconvenient to have only one maidservant. My two daughters need someone by their side, and I can't ask the two children's only wet nurse for directions.

She had dreamed of those days of being surrounded by admirers more than once.

She always felt that she was born to be noble, and shouldn't be living like this, stuck in a small landlord's house, as a lowly concubine who couldn't be brought into the open.

This is wrong, it's really wrong.

"Uncle, could you please hurry up a bit?"

"Girl, this is the fastest we can go. We'll definitely be in the city before dark, don't worry."

"Uncle, I have an urgent matter. I'll give you another 100 coins. Can you hurry as long as you can?"

"Even if you're in a hurry, this old horse of mine can't keep up."

"My elderly mother is seriously ill. Whether I can see her one last time depends on you and your old friend."

"What! Why didn't you say so earlier! I told Ah Huang to run fast! Giddy up! Ah Huang, run like the wind! I'll give you an extra treat tonight!"

"ah!"

Liusu was startled by the sudden acceleration and rolled to the back window of the carriage.

He clutched his bundle tightly to his chest, finally getting used to the bumpy ride of the carriage.

Linjiang County

Seeing that it was getting late, Li Dashan packed up his stall items into baskets. After filling two baskets, he picked up his carrying pole and prepared to leave the city.

A horse-drawn carriage sped past, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough." He choked on the dust, put down the carrying pole, and was about to start cursing.

Unexpectedly, the carriage came running back and stopped in front of him.

A pair of slender, white hands lifted the carriage curtain, and a look of surprise appeared on her delicate face.

"Brother Shan, I'm back!"

"Qing'er, you, how could you be? Didn't you enter the Jiang family?"

"It's a long story. Are you leaving the city? Get in the carriage, I'll go back with you. Your mother is waiting at home, hurry up!"

"Huh? What mother..."

Liu Su winked at Li Dashan almost imperceptibly.

"Oh, right, Mom's waiting for us, let's go home quickly."

"The carrying pole and baskets were loaded onto the cart. There was a driver with us along the way, and the two of them didn't say anything else."

"This is it, stop the car!"

Li Dashan deftly unloaded the baskets and helped Liusu down from the carriage. Liusu, as instructed, gave the driver an extra 100 coins.

"What exactly happened? Did your aunt let you come back?"

"Brother Shan, stop asking questions and hurry up and pack your things. We need to leave now."

"Go? Where to? It's getting dark."

"Well, it's a long story, but I'll keep it short. Here's the thing, the reason I came back this time is actually..."

"What! Isn't this murder?! We can't do such a despicable thing! It's heartless and immoral!"

"That's true, otherwise I wouldn't have asked you to pack your bags and come with me. We can't do this job, but I won't get any benefits if I don't."

My aunt won't let me off the hook. Now that I know her plans, she's even more likely to make me disappear without a trace.

"But your indenture is still in the Qin family's hands. If we leave, won't you become a runaway slave?!"

"Don't worry, Brother Shan, of course I thought of that. Look what this is."

"You! Where did you get this from?"

Li Dashan looked at the paper in his hand, which was none other than Li Qing'er's indenture. After being bought and sold several times, she ended up in the Jiang family. She was renamed Liusu after serving Aunt Qin.

Li Dashan was not her brother, but the son of her adoptive parents. They sold her to buy food when they were starving.

Li Dashan had loved Li Qing'er since childhood, but he couldn't go against his parents' wishes. After their deaths, he tried every means to earn money to redeem Qing'er.

Before they could save enough money, Qing'er ran away with the indenture and a secret that was a matter of life and death for ordinary people.

He was overjoyed and momentarily stunned.

"Brother Shan, what are you thinking? We don't have much time left. If I don't go back tomorrow, Auntie will definitely become suspicious, and then we won't be able to get far."

"But where can we go? We don't have any travel permits, where can we go?"

“Well… Brother Shan, you go and get your travel permit as usual tomorrow morning. As for me, don’t worry about me, I have a plan. Remember to buy a mule cart after you get the travel permit, and make sure the cart has a large cargo box.”

"Okay, we need to buy bigger ones, since we have a lot of luggage."

"No, we shouldn't bring anything we don't need to. We need to travel light. Too much luggage will make us too heavy and slow us down."

"Okay, I'll do whatever you say, sister."

After waiting for two days and two nights, Aunt Qin still hadn't seen her loyal maid. Could it be that the journey was difficult and she was delayed?

After waiting for two more days, Aunt Qin still had some questions and immediately thought of getting Liusu's indenture.

Who would have thought that the oak box that originally contained the indentures of the wet nurse Liu and Liusu would now only contain the wet nurse's box.

"You little slut! You traitor! Good, good, very good!"

Aunt Qin suffered in silence. After smashing a bunch of things, she finally remembered to check her jewelry box. Luckily, nothing was missing.

Little did she know that Liusu wouldn't be so obvious. She had indeed taken the jewelry and silver, but they were all outdated, things that Aunt Qin hadn't used in a long time, things that weren't conspicuous. They were now lying in Liusu's bag. Enough for her and her lover to elope.

When Aunt Qin bought the slaves, she was lazy and didn't register the official contract with the government. She only had a private contract. Now that she has no proof, she can't take the step of reporting to the authorities to arrest the runaway slaves.

The west wing was a mess, making the laughter and chatter from the main wing sound even more jarring, while the east wing was quiet.

"Mother, when will my little brother start talking?"

"My brother is still young; he won't be able to call me 'sister' for at least another six months."

"So long? Mother, were my sister and I this stupid when we were little?"

“Children usually start babbling around one year old, how can that be considered stupid? Look at your little brother, he's well-behaved, doesn't make a fuss, and is very sensible, how could he be stupid?”

Even though she was her own daughter, she couldn't say a bad word about her son. Lin Yueniang's blatant favoritism didn't make her two daughters jealous.

In the past six months, they have clearly felt that their family treats them differently, all because of their younger brother.

A few days ago, my grandfather actually asked the two girls if they wanted to learn to read, something they would never have dared to imagine before, since needlework and sewing were things that girls should learn.

Grandfather never asked about the illegitimate children, only about the two legitimate children.

Grandmother, who was in charge of the household, had actually made two or three new sets of clothes for the two sisters in the past six months. The younger sisters born out of wedlock didn't have any, so they could only wear the clothes that the two sisters had outgrown or worn out. The two concubines didn't dare to complain.

After all, it was the grandmother who was in charge of the household. If it were the mother who was in charge, she would definitely cause a scene.

All of this is because the younger brother is the only grandson and eldest son of the Jiang family.

Jiang Xiaoqi did try to speak, but his tongue was truly beyond his control, so he could only remain mute.

Fortunately, he can still read and recognize words in his dreams. He is probably the only baby in this era who cannot speak but has already begun to read the Four Books and Five Classics.

"It's terrible! Aunt Pan has vomited blood! Madam, please go and see her quickly, the old master and madam have already passed away." Cui'er rushed in anxiously.

"What? Where is my husband?"

"The master went to the bookstore early this morning and hasn't returned yet. The gatekeeper has already gone out to look for him."

"Granny Zhou, Granny Zhou, you don't need to go with us. Stay in our courtyard and look after the young master. Let Cui'er come with me."

"Wen'er, Xi'er, you stay with your brother. No matter who calls you, don't go out. Protect your brother."

"I understand, Mother. Don't worry."