Cailian hesitated for a moment, and her expression became slightly conflicted.
No one else saw it, only Anke saw it clearly! Ha, selling herself to bury her father? It's more than that!
Cailian accepted Anke's money, feigning gratitude, and said, "Thank you, Miss, thank you, Miss."
"Then you should go and bury your father!" An Ke said meaningfully, then stared at Cai Lian without blinking.
Cailian simply responded with a "yes," without letting Anke notice anything amiss.
There's always someone who suddenly appears out of nowhere. This time, a fat man led a large group of servants, intending to forcibly take Cailian back and make her his concubine.
Cailian, of course, would rather die than submit, but how could that fat man let it go? He ordered his servants to forcibly take her back.
"What are you still standing there for? Take all this stuff. Go back and be my concubine in peace." The fat man kicked her sign off the bridge with a menacing look, like a tyrant abducting a woman.
Xiao Yanzi's sense of loyalty and justice surged again, and she went up and gave him a left hook.
The fat man rubbed his slapped left cheek, his eyes filled with disbelief. "Who do you think you are? Daring to mess with me? You don't want to live anymore?"
“She’s selling herself here to bury her father, and you’re here to forcibly take her away. Even if you take it to the authorities, you’re not in the right.” Ziwei knew that Xiaoyanzi wasn’t good with words, so she could only act as her “spokesperson” again to speak for her.
“I bought her with my own money. I just gave her the money a while ago. So she’s mine now. Where did you two come from? Mind your own business.” The fat man gave the two of them a very unfriendly look.
The fat man seemed to only then notice the person next to him. But when his beady eyes caught sight of Qing'er, they lit up. He hadn't expected that such a beautiful woman would appear in the small town.
When he saw Anke beside him, he felt as if all the sound around him had disappeared. In this vast world, only he and the woman before him remained. He thought the woman he had just met was already stunning enough, but this woman was even more stunning and radiant.
An Ke frowned. The fat man's lewd and stern gaze kept sizing her up and down. This look made her feel extremely uncomfortable, even somewhat disgusted.
The fat man rubbed his hands awkwardly, forced a smile, and tried to strike up a conversation with An Ke. "Whose daughter is this? I don't think I've ever seen you before."
An Ke merely glanced at him coldly, and the fat man felt as if a heavy pressure was pressing down on him. Involuntarily, he stopped a foot away from An Ke.
The fat man was also quite self-aware, knowing that this young lady was not someone he could afford to offend, and that it would be safer to take this unfounded Cailian home.
Cailian kept punching and kicking the servant. The servant was in pain from the kicks. As soon as he put her down, Cailian tried to run away, but the fat man with quick eyes and hands grabbed her hair.
Cailian cried out in pain as her hair was gripped in the fat man's hand, her head forced upwards, and two lines of tears streamed down her fair face.
"You took my money, so you're one of my men. You think you can run? Where do you think you're going?" The fat man was extremely fierce, but his expression was lewd.
"Ladies, please help me!" Cailian pleaded with Anke and the others. "He gave me money, but I have already returned it to him."
"So what? I gave it to you, so you're mine now. I don't care if you give it back or not. Besides, I didn't see the money I gave you back then." The fat man tightened his grip on Cailian's hair again.
"Stop!" Upon hearing this, Xiao Yanzi rushed forward without saying a word and kicked the two servants who were holding Cai Lian.
The two servants immediately fell flat on their faces, one of their teeth was knocked out, and their mouths were full of blood.
Seeing this, the fat man waved his hands and shouted, "Go! All of you, go! Teach them a lesson!"
The master saw this scene from not far away and told Yongqi and the others to go forward and help Anke and the others.
"I think An'an and the others seem to be in some trouble. Yongqi, go and take a look." After saying this, the master walked over at a leisurely pace. Yongqi cupped his hands in a fist salute and readily agreed.
Yongqi used his lightness skill to flip forward and kicked a servant who was about to sneak up on Anke from behind.
An Ke turned her head and smiled, "Thank you, Fifth Brother." Yong Qi smiled slightly, saying nothing, everything was understood without being said.
The two of them were perfectly in sync, entrusting their backs to each other with complete confidence. It was as if they had returned to their childhood days of practicing martial arts, when they were in the same boat.
The two worked together flawlessly. The moment the master arrived, they had already taken down all the servants. They completely subdued them, and the fat man promised not to bother Cailian anymore. Then, he led his gang of lackeys and fled in panic, not daring to look back—quite sensible indeed.
Seeing that the girl was very filial (after all, she had sold herself into servitude to bury her father), the master asked the younger generation to help bury her father and lend a hand when needed.
They would have done it even without the master's orders. In less than a quarter of an hour, they had buried Cailian's father.
Even though it was Anke who gave her the money, Cailian still relentlessly pursued Yongqi. Just like in the drama, she always followed behind the main group.
This time, however, Yongqi was a little more hardened and showed no sympathy for her. He had helped her as much as he could, which was more than enough. Besides, the person who helped her was her cousin, and instead of following her, she kept wandering around with him aimlessly. Yongqi felt that this was not someone he could afford to mess with; it would be a big problem.
Out of sight, out of mind, he galloped straight to the front of the main force.
Upon reaching the front of the main group, Yongqi felt that even the air there was fresh. Although he didn't want to provoke her, she kept following behind him, and he was worried that he might soften his heart. So, to prevent that from happening, he had no choice but to resort to this tactic.
Ertai's eyes darted around, his mind racing, before he suddenly realized. When they were helping out, these younger folks had all addressed Yongqi as "Young Master." It seemed she wanted to get on his good side. Looks like women on the street can be quite dangerous!
Ertai shuddered deeply, becoming even more determined to stay away from women in the future.
The afternoon sun, like tongues of fire, licked the earth. The scorching sun was unbearable even inside the carriage, let alone for Cailian, who was chasing behind it.
An Ke glanced back and saw that Cai Lian was still following behind, but her body was already swaying, and she was walking with uneven steps. Her clothes seemed to be soaked with sweat, and beads of sweat kept appearing on her forehead.
A dark glint flashed in An Ke's eyes, then she lowered the curtain, no longer looking at Cai Lian following behind the carriage.
The old man looked at Anke with interest, but he wouldn't touch her brow when his niece was so agitated. He simply picked up the teacup in front of him and took a small sip of tea.
They finally arrived at a grove of trees, which was very cool and quiet. The master suggested that they rest for a while.
Humans are already so tired, let alone horses!
The master had already drunk two cups of tea when Cailian gradually walked to the back of the group. However, by this time, she was already feeling rather unwell.
Her lips were starting to dry and turn pale, her face was flushed from the sun, and her hair was soaked with sweat and plastered to her ears. Her eyes began to glaze over, and as if finally relieved, she fainted.
Physician Hu, adhering to the principle of treating the sick and saving lives, went to examine Cailian. He found she had simply fainted from heatstroke; drinking some water and resting in a shady place would alleviate the symptoms.
Xiao Yanzi had initially felt quite sorry for her, but when she peeked out from behind the curtain, she saw her clinging to Yongqi. Although she had always considered Yongqi a buddy, she felt inexplicably uneasy. As soon as she got off the carriage, she pulled Ziwei to sit down beside her, their backs to Cailian.
An Ke didn't notice Xiao Yanzi's strange behavior. She only glanced at Cai Lian and then looked away.
Physician Hu was right. He fed her some water and gave her an acupuncture. Cailian opened her eyes, feeling dizzy.
She tried to stand up as soon as she opened her eyes, but of course, she felt dizzy again. Cailian quickly grabbed a tree trunk and almost fell flat on her face.
She shook her head, then pounded her forehead. After a moment, her vision cleared, and the scenery gradually became clearer. She walked towards Yongqi again.
"Young master, would you like some water?" Cailian asked, adopting a humble and subservient manner, like a maidservant.
In Yongqi's eyes, this appearance was like a monstrous flood. "No need. Do you have any family left?"
Upon hearing the mention of her family, Cailian, who had just been so enthusiastic, immediately drooped her head like a wilted eggplant. "I was originally going to Beijing to stay with my uncle's family, but now that my father is gone, and you've bought me, can I stay in your house and be your maid?" As she spoke, Cailian raised her bright eyes.
“But my family doesn’t lack maids, really.” Yongqi was very puzzled. Since she had relatives in Beijing, why didn’t she go and find them? Why did she have to become someone else’s maid? Did she have masochistic tendencies? (After all, Yongqi had been with Anke since childhood and was deeply influenced by Anke in some ways.)
"Young master, please let me follow you." As she spoke, Cailian was about to kneel down.
Yongqi didn't help her up, after all, it's considered impolite for men and women to have close contact when traveling. Besides, what if Cailian tried to extort him? She already seemed like she was trying to extort him. Moreover, Yongqi was a prince born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He could easily accept a kneeling bow. He couldn't possibly help everyone who bowed to him.
Yongqi is currently facing a major headache. Just when he decided to leave Xiaoyanzi, he encountered an even more clingy Cailian, making him almost afraid of women.
Yongqi could only look to Anke for help. Anke sighed and slowly walked over. After all, she was the one who had caused this, so she should put an end to it herself.
“We really don’t lack maids. Just look at how many people are in our line of work, and you should know how wealthy we are.” An Ke calmly said something that would drive most people crazy.
"Miss, please take Cailian with you." Cailian clung tightly to Anke's clothes, as if she were her last hope.
Anke sighed and slowly uttered a question, "Do you know why I helped you?"
"Cailian doesn't know." She answered very honestly. She really didn't know, but after seeing their clothes and how lavish they were, Cailian felt that it was good to latch onto such a powerful figure.
“That’s because you’re kind. You’d rather sell yourself than not bury your father.” Anke looked down at Cailian, who was kneeling on the ground. “Take the man who forcibly took you, for example. He gave you money too. Why didn’t you cling to him desperately? Why did you have to follow our carriage so tirelessly?” Anke looked at Cailian’s feet, which were already bleeding.
Cailian awkwardly pulled her feet back, lowered her head, and remained silent.
"There are only two reasons," Anke said, since she wouldn't say. "First, you think Beijing is too far away and don't want to endure that hardship. Or maybe your relatives in Beijing aren't very reliable. Second, you think we're generous, and you know he's our young master, so you want to cling to us. If you could become his concubine in the future, that would be even better, right?"
Cailian's thoughts were exposed, and she didn't know where to look. Her face turned bright red instantly, and even the tips of her ears turned red.
Upon hearing this, Yongqi took two steps to the side. Really? His cousin was indeed clever; but why did he only attract undesirable suitors?
Cailian felt ashamed when her secret was exposed, and seeing Yongqi's reluctance to get involved with her, she couldn't help but shed two tears.
"Why are you so fixated on this?" An Ke coaxed patiently. "Wouldn't it be better to take the money to Beijing? Even if they don't treat you well, so what? This money is enough for you to buy a shop in Beijing. Wouldn't it be better to be self-sufficient?" An Ke picked up the money bag that Yong Qi had just handed her and shook it.
Wow, it's quite heavy!
"But what kind of business should I start?" Cailian's eyes were full of confusion. "I'm just a woman, I can't easily show my face in public. Maybe if I see the shop owner is a woman, I won't even come here."
This world is still too harsh on women.
“So what?” An Ke said firmly. “Didn’t Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty also create a completely new world? Didn’t Hua Mulan also take her father’s place in the army? Wasn’t Fu Hao the first female general? Didn’t Mu Guiying also lead an army? Heroines have existed since ancient times. Why are you afraid of the world’s views?”
These words attracted everyone's attention.
At this moment, An Ke seemed to radiate a powerful light, inspiring awe. The old man was also pondering his niece's words.
Cailian was so shocked that she couldn't speak; this was different from the knowledge she had received since childhood.
From a young age, she was raised according to the traditional virtues of obedience, submission, and filial piety. Her mother, even while she was alive, often told her that men were the pillars of the family, and that men were the sky for women. But today, this well-bred young lady uttered such unconventional words, leaving Cailian utterly dumbfounded.
“Never confine yourself to the small world in your backyard, and never let yourself be defined by others. Be brave enough to do things boldly, and don’t compromise easily, then you will have overcome your past self.” Anke added, “Do you want to be a slave for life, or confined to the small world in your backyard, or do you want to forge your own path to success? Think about it carefully, this money bag is yours.”
Anke handed her the money pouch and turned away gracefully.
Although Yongqi was quite excited, he was still a little worried that Cailian would keep pestering him.
To Yongqi's surprise, Cailian only pondered for a moment before walking towards Anke, bowing deeply to her, saying a word of thanks, and then walking in the opposite direction.
She went off to forge her own path to success; an independent woman has risen up.
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