Chapter 285 Aunt Qian

Jinzhou Prefecture is very lively today.

The streets and alleys are full of people, the situation is almost the same as during the Chinese New Year.

"My God, this Jinzhou Prefecture is really bustling! It looks even more lively than Bianjing City! No wonder they say Jinzhou Prefecture is full of gold. All these people are full of silver!"

"Oh my god, there are actually female soldiers in Jinzhou Prefecture! They're wearing too little. Look at that person, their arms are exposed~"

Even in the bustling Jinzhou Prefecture, the man's voice was so loud that it attracted the attention of passers-by.

It turned out to be a few outsiders carrying bags, pointing and talking along the way, just like Granny Liu entering a manor, finding everything strange.

It's just that Jinzhou Prefecture is now overcrowded with outsiders, and the locals have long been accustomed to it. In addition, Xu Zhenying has always emphasized the importance of being warm and friendly to outsiders, so the locals of Jinzhou Prefecture are particularly tolerant of outsiders.

After all, guests are welcome.

What's more, my home is so nice, I have to be more enthusiastic when people come to visit.

Someone immediately chimed in, "Jinzhou Prefecture is holding its civil service examination these past few days. Oh, that's what you call the imperial examination in the Great Zhou Dynasty, so there are a lot more of us here. But we usually have a lot of people here too. I see some of you are carrying luggage, so you must be from out of town, right?"

"Hey! We're from Bianjing. We heard that Qianzhou Prefecture has some excellent tea, so we wanted to do some tea business. We happened to be passing through Jinzhou Prefecture, so we decided to take a look around!"

"Qianzhou tea, we have wholesalers in Jinzhou. Oh, and there's a special tea street. Why don't you go over there and take a look?"

Uncle Qian quickly thanked the man who spoke to him, and then turned around and told Mrs. Qian about the tea street.

Mrs. Qian didn't take it too seriously.

After Qian Zhenniang passed away, although they had swallowed up the several thousand taels of silver notes left by Qian Zhenniang's parents and lived a prosperous life for a few days, they later found themselves living worse and worse.

Business has been bad in recent years. There have been wars everywhere, heavy taxes and levies, and the cost of paying filial respects means that I can't make much money all year round.

There was one person who was quick-witted and went to the southwest. He came back to sell soap and tea. Seeing that his old friend was rich, Mrs. Qian was so jealous that her eyes turned red.

So she personally forced Mr. Qian to come out.

If Master Qian hadn't almost brought back a vixen when he went out last time, she wouldn't have wanted to follow Master Qian on the long journey to Qianzhou!

Qianzhou is so poor! Not only is the place full of natives, but it's also said to be the territory of the Green-Headed Bandits!

But, wealth and honor are achieved through risk.

Besides, rumors are just rumors after all. You have to see this place in person to know what it is like.

Madam Qian said that Jinzhou Prefecture was much more lively than Bianjing City. Take things like soap, pencils, cement roads, etc., for example—they were things that had never been heard of or seen in Bianjing City!

The people here all look strong and tall, and you can tell they live a good life.

Suddenly, there was a commotion among the crowd. It turned out that someone was posting a notice.

The Qian family could only follow the crowd upwards. They only heard someone talking about something about subsidies for westward migration on the notice. Mrs. Qian was not interested, but she saw a familiar figure!

She was so frightened that her face turned pale, and she hurriedly tugged at Master Qian's sleeve: "Master, look! Does the person who posted the notice look like that damn girl Feng'er?!"

"You are presbyopic!" Mr. Qian scolded, but glanced at him casually, and then cried out "Ah"!

Mrs. Qian immediately said, "Really? Looks like her, doesn't it? Look at that nose and those eyes, it's exactly like Feng'er!"

"Oh my God, is she... is she... following a thief?"

"Oh my god, why is she with the soldiers from Jinzhou Prefecture?"

"She's in Jinzhou, so where's Qian Zhenniang?"

"Could it be that she abandoned Qian Zhenniang and became a runaway slave?"

Unfortunately, Feng'er was surrounded by a group of soldiers. They stood outside the crowd and could only see her face from a distance. Then she was surrounded by a group of people and left.

Mr. Qian immediately grabbed a person nearby and said, "Hey brother, I'm from out of town. I'd like to ask, who was the female general who posted the notice on the bulletin board just now?"

"Female general?"

"That's the one with short hair and blue clothes!"

"Oh, that's not a female general! That's Minister Xu from the Ministry of Commerce!"

"Minister?" Mrs. Qian's eyelids jumped. "What minister? Is he an official?"

"No, why is her last name Xu?"

Seeing they seemed to be from outside the area, the man showed a bit more patience. "From outside the area, right? The Minister of our Jinzhou Prefecture is equivalent to the Shangshu of your Great Zhou Dynasty! Miss Feng'er is in charge of the Ministry of Commerce, which is a place where money is made. All the business profits of the eight prefectures in Jinzhou have to pass through her hands. She is a well-known God of Wealth!"

"Ah!" Madam Qian was so frightened that she almost fainted. "Oh my God, Minister! That girl? She...she...she used to be a servant in our family!"

Mr. Qian quickly scolded his wife, then put on a smile and asked, "Then may I ask if there is anyone named Qian Zhenniang in Jinzhou Prefecture?"

When Qian Zhenniang was mentioned, Master Qian noticed that the expression of the person opposite him changed significantly. "Who are you?! Why are you asking about the situation in our Jinzhou Prefecture?"

"Oh! That Qian Zhenniang is my niece! We were passing through Jinzhou Prefecture on business, and we didn't know she was here before! Just now, I saw Feng'er, who turned out to be our Zhenniang's maid, and I thought maybe my niece was here too!"

Mrs. Qian immediately told the whole story of her family, which made Mr. Qian glare at her, as if blaming her for speaking without restraint.

The man's expression suddenly warmed up when he heard this. "Oh, so you're Minister Qian's uncle?"

Mr. Qian has been in business for many years and is naturally a shrewd man. Now looking at this man's expression, he knows that Qian Zhenniang is indeed in Jinzhou Prefecture, and her position must be high, otherwise this man would not become so enthusiastic when he heard Qian Zhenniang's name.

Without time to think about anything else, Mr. Qian just wanted to find out the news as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Madam Qian had already explained her situation clearly. He could only follow Madam Qian's words: "Yes, but I still don't know what my niece's situation is. Could you please tell me a little bit?"

"Brother Qian, you're welcome! In that case, it's better to meet by chance than to invite each other. Meeting Brother Qian here is also fate. How about I host you and set up a table at Tianxian Pavilion? I'll send someone to find Minister Qian, how about that?"

Mrs. Qian immediately said happily, "That's great!"

Mr. Qian could see that the other party was trying to curry favor with the rich and powerful, but since he had just arrived, he was naturally curious about Qian Zhenniang's recent situation, so he could only agree without hesitation.

In the evening, the master of the Qian family was drunk and was helped back to the inn by Mrs. Qian.

Madam Qian sighed with emotion, "Your niece is truly thriving now, having become the city lord's right-hand man. I heard from Brother Liu just now that Xu Zhenying is going to be crowned king, and Zhenniang will be a high-ranking official! My God, why didn't I see that girl had such a good fate back then!"

Ever since Mr. Qian found out that Qian Zhenniang and Feng'er both became high-ranking officials in Jinzhou Prefecture, he couldn't stand his wife anymore.

It's all this woman's fault. If she hadn't instigated and whispered in his ears, how could he have ignored Qian Zhenniang?

Now that Qian Zhenniang has such a bright future, and Feng'er is in charge of the business department, if the two of them just sprinkle some rain through their fingers, it will be enough for them to live for the rest of their lives.

"It's all your fault, woman! If it weren't for you, how could I have embezzled my sister's thousands of taels of silver? Now that Zhenniang is in such a high position and has great power, how can we have the face to try to curry favor with her?!"

"Alas, my lord, Qian Zhenniang has no idea how much money her mother left her. How would she know if we didn't tell her?" Madam Qian felt a little guilty, but after all, she had established such a powerful relationship, so she naturally refused to give up easily. "Besides, we didn't treat her harshly in the past. If you want to blame her, blame her bad luck. It has caused our business to fail. We didn't kick her out, and we found her such a marriage. We are doing her justice! Don't you think that if it weren't for us, how could she have established a relationship with the Xu family? And she would never have joined Xu Zhenying in rebellion! After all, her current prosperity and wealth are all due to us!"

When Mr. Qian heard this, he immediately started to waver.

"Master, even if we weren't very kind to her before, we are her elders after all. That girl is soft-hearted and will listen to you the most. We can just say a few soft words to her when the time comes. If she refuses to forgive us, that's even better. After all, those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes. Let's make a big fuss and see who is more embarrassed! Don't forget, she is an official now and has dignity to protect! Even if she doesn't like us, won't she give us a little benefit to stop others from gossiping?"

Mr. Qian seemed to think that this was a bit too much, but when he thought about what Brother Liu said about Qian Zhenniang's promising future and that it was not impossible for her to be made a marquis or a prime minister in the future, he wanted to maintain this relationship no matter what.

"But in the end, we still forced her to go into exile with the Xu family."

"So what? Not to mention that she and Xu Huijia were already engaged, it was only natural for her to accompany him into exile. Besides, she didn't object at the time. If you're worried she'll hold a grudge, feel free to push the blame onto me."

Master Qian was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up. "That's right. When the time comes, I'll say it was you who ordered me to do it. She's afraid of you anyway. Why don't you just let me talk to her about this? Maybe there's room for maneuver."

Mrs. Qian was so angry that she fell backwards. Then she could only pinch her nose and accept it, "Then I will be the bad guy."

Early the next morning, the two men followed the address given by Brother Liu and found Qian Zhenniang's residence.

Xu Zhenying's subordinates did not like to employ servants, and the residences of important officials were concentrated together, with patrols from time to time, so it was safe.

When one reaches Qian Zhenniang's level, he will naturally be allocated an independent courtyard.

As a young woman, although she was busy with government affairs, she was used to being diligent. Therefore, there was only an old widow with nowhere to go and her daughter at home.

The two had nowhere to go, so they lived in a side room in Qian Zhen's mother's house.

The mother and daughter occasionally went out to work, and of course they also helped Qian Zhenniang with some housework, doing small things like sewing and mending, so that Qian Zhenniang could have a bowl of hot soup and hot rice when she came home late.

Qian Zhenniang liked the fact that the mother and daughter were quiet and loyal, and they didn't like to meddle in other people's affairs, so she let them take care of the house without any worries.

Just today, the old widow was cleaning the yard when she heard footsteps and then someone kicking the door outside.

This is quite a big commotion.

The old widow thought that everyone in Jinzhou Prefecture knew that this area was home to the high-ranking officials of Jinzhou Prefecture, so everyone held their breath when passing through this alley. She had never met anyone so arrogant.

Who knew that as soon as I opened the door, I saw more than a dozen people standing outside, both men and women, all looking aggressive.

The leader was a plump middle-aged woman. As soon as she entered the house, she looked the old widow up and down and said, "Is this Qian Zhenniang's home?"

The old widow replied, "Yes, it's Minister Qian's home."

"We are her uncle and aunt in Bianjing City. We came to Jinzhou Prefecture specifically to look for her."

The old widow was stunned, not sure about the identity of the visitor.

Uncle and aunt?

Why haven’t I heard Minister Qian mention it?

In just a short while, a dozen people came uninvited, walked into the room, and sat down in groups.

Qian Zhenniang's yard was not big, but it was full of people at once.

As soon as the leading woman entered the house, she looked around and even rummaged through Qian Zhenniang's boudoir, making a lot of noise.

The old widow immediately sensed something was wrong and quickly sent her daughter out to report the news while she herself stepped forward to serve. "Madam, Minister Qian values ​​privacy, and there are many confidential materials in this room. It would be best if you did not rummage through them."

Madam Qian was immediately enraged and shrieked, "You old bastard! I'm Qian Zhenniang's aunt! She came to my house when she was ten years old. I've provided for her, housing and food, and even arranged her marriage! She serves me like she would her mother. Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you try to teach me how to do things?"

The old widow's face flushed red after being scolded. She felt a little aggrieved, but she still refused to give in. "Let's ask Minister Qian to come back first. If this thing is lost, Minister Qian will come to find me!"

"You old bastard, you're such a rebel! Since you keep calling my niece Minister Qian, you know how high up she is now! You, a shrew, are disrespecting me, and that means you're disrespecting my niece! Forget it, my niece is young and easy to talk to, but as her aunt, I can't tolerate her! Someone, come and give this old shrew a good beating!"

The old widow hadn't expected such an arrogant person to exist in Jinzhou Prefecture. She burst into tears out of grievance, "I'm not Minister Qian's servant! I didn't sell myself to her! I just had nowhere else to go, so I helped Minister Qian with the housework! In Jinzhou Prefecture, this is just an employment relationship!"

"Oh, so you're staying at my niece's house! I thought you were a slave bullying your master, but I didn't expect you to be a poor widow begging for money! I've seen people like you many times. You're just trying to take advantage of my niece by being soft-hearted and easy to talk to! Humph, now that I'm in Jinzhou Prefecture, Qian Zhenniang has her own family now. She won't tolerate you bullying her like this! Quickly pack your bags and get out of this house! Otherwise, I'll report you to the police and say you're trespassing and trying to steal!"

"You! You! You're going too far!"

Meanwhile, Qian Zhenniang was still in the Propaganda Department office of the government office. She was discussing with Feng'er and Xu Huiming about placing secret sentries in the city of Bianjing. Unexpectedly, the little girl at home came running and staggered. As soon as she entered the house, she said that a master named Qian had come to the house and claimed to be Qian Zhenniang's uncle and aunt.

Qian Zhenniang and Feng'er looked at each other, and then they could not hide their astonishment.

Uncle and aunt?

Feng Er slapped her head and said, "Oh my God! Could it be that those two bastards from Bian Jing City are here?"

Although it was inappropriate to call Qian Zhenniang's uncle and aunt "bastards", Feng'er was so excited that she didn't pay attention and yelled it out like that.

Still, Xu Huiming secretly glared at her as a reminder.

But Feng Er wasn't afraid of the thief couple. She sneered, "Oh, they came at the right time. I had almost forgotten about what happened before, but who knew they would walk into their trap? You can't blame me for being so ruthless."

Qian Zhenniang was a little dazed.

Are your uncle and aunt here to see you?

Perhaps the news of Xu Zhenying becoming king spread far and wide, and Qian Zhenniang's name also caught the attention of the two of them?

Qian Zhenniang has not forgotten how she was kicked out by them.

Thinking about it now, it feels like a lifetime ago.

"Sister Zhenniang!" Feng'er tugged at her sleeve, then said with some worry, "Don't tell me you feel sorry for them. I'm telling you, since they've come to our door, they must be well prepared. Don't even think about running away until you've been skinned alive!"

Qian Zhenniang smiled bitterly, "I just haven't figured out how to face them yet."

"I think it's an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. We suffered so much from them before. In the winter they made us wash clothes, in the summer they made us fan their son, and I even had to ride her stupid eight-year-old son like a horse! You may have forgotten all these things, Zhenniang, but I haven't!"

Qian Zhenniang suddenly realized.

She seemed to realize at this moment that it was not only herself who was bullied in the Qian family, but also Feng'er who was implicated by her.

Feng'er is even more innocent.

Just because he followed such a cowardly master, he ended up being bullied by everyone.

She could forgive her uncle and aunt on her own behalf simply because of blood ties, and also because her mother only had this one brother.

But what about Feng'er?

She was almost betrothed to that lame boy!

She was afraid that she would not be able to swallow this insult no matter what.

Qian Zhenniang was also a little undecided, but when she saw Feng'er's slightly disappointed eyes, Qian Zhenniang immediately felt embarrassed.

She had followed the city lord for so long, but she showed her weakness at the critical moment. She had not learned any of the city lord's decisiveness.

After much thought, Qian Zhenniang said to Feng'er, "I'll follow your instructions on how to arrange it!"

Feng'er's expression softened slightly, and she whispered something to her. Qian Zhenniang frowned slightly, but in the end, she remained silent, as if agreeing. "Alright, go get Brother Zhao over."

"No, Brother Dazhuang just left the examination room and is probably checking his answers. Let Brother Daniu go. He happened to be here to accompany Brother Zhao to take the exam today."