Gu An'an first went to Butcher Jia to get the meat, and then took Jiang Mingxu to the shop.

Su Sanniang had been waiting for a long time. "Why did it take you so long to get here? I heard you almost got into a fight with that woman from Taibai Restaurant yesterday?"

"No." Gu An'an put down the bamboo basket, carefully explained a few words to Jiang Mingxu, and handed the person over to Su San Niang.

Su San Niang wanted to get closer to Gu An An, but she didn't expect the person to be so cold and unapproachable.

As she walked to the door, she added, "I heard something before, I don't know if it's true or not, just take it as a story."

The protagonist of this story is a young woman, who is said to be the wife of an official.

However, she wasn't a proper official's wife; her birth mother was someone she raised outside the family.

Later, this official committed a serious crime, and the men in his family were exiled to the frontier, while the women were sent to a brothel.

The mother and daughter could have escaped unscathed, but they were reported by the woman in the backyard.

"I heard that the woman was later rescued by a nobleman, while her sister, who reported her to the authorities, died in the brothel for no reason."

Su Sanniang looked at the young woman standing there, "Actually, it wasn't without reason. Although the brothel wasn't a brothel, it wasn't easy to survive there. Many women were thrown out by the madams to serve high-ranking officials and nobles. I heard that the woman's older sister was originally going to be a concubine for a wealthy merchant, but then she suddenly met a scholar and secretly pledged her life to him, even trying to run away. Somehow, the madam caught the older sister and threw her and her sister, who knew but didn't tell anyone, into a brothel to be the lowest of prostitutes. Not long after, the two sisters contracted diseases and died."

With Gu An'an's intelligence, she shouldn't be unable to guess who this woman is, right?

However, a smile appeared on that pretty face, which puzzled Su San Niang. "What are you smiling about?"

"It's nothing. Since we've all become prostitutes, what difference is there between high and low status?"

These words startled Su San Niang.

Immediately, a mocking voice was heard, "It's just that Meixiang has become sworn sisters."

How can there be a hierarchy or social status among prostitutes?

Aren't they all oppressed?

Su San Niang was taken aback. "You can't say that. In wealthy places like Jiangzhou and Yangzhou, there are plenty of rich merchants and romantic scholars, as well as famous courtesans who have entered brothels."

"Is that so?" Gu An'an chuckled. "It seems I am not a fish, so I do not know the joy of fish."

Su San Niang felt quite awkward hearing this. She had kindly offered a reminder, but Gu An An's response made her somewhat unhappy.

"It seems I was too talkative. Madam Gu, just let it go in one ear and out the other."

"Thank you for reminding me, Third Sister."

Society is the one that preys on people; what does that have to do with Su Sanniang?

She was just another person oppressed by this feudal society.

The young woman Su San Niang was referring to must be Bai Qiaoyin. So, is Bai Qiaoyin's ruthlessness not only directed at herself, but also at her half-sisters?

As for the feud between the sisters, Gu An'an had no interest in knowing.

She simply hoped that the daughter of Minister Fu in the capital would receive her letter soon.

...

It was only a few days into April before Emperor Longqing's birthday, and the entire Daye Dynasty was bustling with activity.

The customers at Gu's Food Shop were also chatting idly.

"I heard that the emperor is going to promote Consort Lin to Imperial Noble Consort, who is second only to the emperor in the harem."

"Is it to win over the Lin family? In the earlier battles in the three border cities, it was thanks to the Lin family's organization of supplies that General An was able to win the war."

"But it seems there's been no news of General An. Everyone says he's from our Anping County, but I've never heard of him before."

"Who knows? Anyway, his fief is Anping County, and he's exempt from taxes, which is a blessing for the people of Anping."

As the diners showered General An with compliments, Gu An'an drifted into a daze.

Imperial Noble Consort?

If she remembered correctly, the Longqing Emperor did not have any Imperial Noble Consorts.

The Lin family's daughter was a beautiful but short-lived imperial concubine.

Jiang Mingzhu, on the other hand, was later conferred the title of Imperial Noble Consort and almost became Empress.

Unfortunately, villains are fine when it comes to their careers, but they're doomed once their emotions get involved.

The plot of the novel has changed.

This is a good thing.

Gu An'an didn't care about any plot rules.

She's already a Mary Sue character, so why bother trying to reason with her?

Coming to her senses, Gu An'an overheard the diners talking animatedly, "They say that our General An has several scars on his face from his battles, which terrify anyone who sees them. That's why he always wears a mask when he goes into battle."

Gu An'an couldn't help but laugh when she heard this.

"What are you laughing at?" Jiang Yong'an asked, having worked for five days but had three days' wages deducted for being late and absent.

"It's nothing. I just feel that the General doesn't need to lead the charge into battle anymore, does he?"

The diner laughed when he heard this. "Our General An is different. He started from the bottom and has always lived and eaten with his soldiers."

"Really? Maybe I don't know enough about it."

Gu An'an had no interest in the general, except that he was wearing a mask...

She knew that Lanling Wang was too handsome, so she wore a mask when marching and fighting. Unexpectedly, she encountered a strange person at this time.

wrong!

Gu An'an suddenly felt that something was wrong.

There's no trace of this General An in the novel either.

How could such military figures not appear?

unless……

He died.

When the thought crossed her mind, Gu An'an took a deep breath.

It is not uncommon for someone whose achievements overshadow the emperor to be feared and eliminated by him.

From the execution of Han Xin at Weiyang Palace to Zhu Yuanzhang's annihilation of the Lan Yu group, nothing was more feared by emperors who rose from humble origins.

Only Zhao Kuangyin, who famously relinquished military power over a cup of wine, was relatively friendly to military generals. However, during the Song Dynasty, military generals were almost completely suppressed.

How did General An die?

Gu An'an couldn't figure out what to do for a while.

But even if she could guess it, so what?

I don't even know this general, so how could I possibly remind him?

Gu An'an smiled and shook her head, then looked up to see Jiang Yong'an staring at her.

She frowned. "What's wrong?"

nothing.

I was just curious because of her appearance just now.

"Pearl said she wants to be a female general when she grows up."

Gu An'an coughed lightly, "Kids always have strange and wonderful ideals, it's not strange, don't discourage her."

Because there are two employees in the shop, Gu An'an has now started offering delivery services.

Liu Jiuniang had just gone to deliver food to the shop across the street, leaving Gu An'an and Jiang Yong'an alone in the backyard.

Jiang Yong'an looked at the person busy in front of the stove and asked, "Do you really think she can be a female general?"

"Why not? It doesn't matter if we can't do it."

Gu An'an said matter-of-factly, "I'll take care of her."

It's better than being a concubine who brings ruin to the country and marries a decrepit old man with one foot in the grave.