Chapter 57 Understanding
"My dad seems to be sick."
Guan Zhiwei lay on the carved bed, her hands crossed behind her head, looking at the sky-blue curtains hanging on the four corner pillars, hooked with silver hooks, not yet opened, but one could vaguely guess that they were decorated with auspicious cloud patterns.
The bed was quite large, enough to sleep two people. The low railings on the left and right sides of the front were carved with peonies, and the moon gate on the apron connected to the pillars was decorated with elaborate relief carvings. This was far superior to the small bed that Gouya had made with his rough craftsmanship.
Throwing a daughter who has suffered greatly outside into a life of comfort and intimacy, letting her see how happy someone else has been living in her place all these years, is meant to ignite her ferocity.
Guan Zhiwei chuckled, "He thinks he's raising a venomous insect, and that only those who can survive and fight their way out deserve to be his daughter."
[So how do you plan to kill Guan Liuliu? Poisoning? Or stage an accident?] The system was excited and eager to get started.
Okay, I'm talking about the city gate tower, and you're talking about the hips.
"...What do you think about me kissing her to death?" Guan Zhiwei said in a sinister tone.
【Huh? Is this okay?】
Guan Zhiwei's eyes narrowed: "Of course not! Do you really think I'm an insect? Who would fight each other to be Old Deng's daughter? Who do you think you are? I'd rather put a bunch of dads in a basin and let them devour each other. If they survive, who will be my dad?"
The system thought for a moment: "That works too."
"Zhizhang, you're really not a human being!" Guan Zhiwei cursed loudly, gesturing wildly, when she suddenly felt someone watching her.
After washing up, Guan Liuliu lingered in bed, watching Guan Zhiwei talking to herself, terrified. The maids, not wanting to get involved in their mistress's conflict, had all run away, leaving her helpless.
Guan Zhiwei showed no embarrassment at being caught in her madness; she beckoned, "Come here."
Guan Liuliu walked over and forced a smile: "Sister."
Guan Zhiwei corrected: "I'm younger than you. Your mother gave birth to you first, then it was my turn."
Guan Liuliu immediately burst into tears: "Sister, I'm so sorry. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have had to suffer so much. I can't eat or sleep when I think about how sinful I am..."
Guan Zhiwei ignored her sob story and asked, "Why don't you explain? To show humility and obedience, older people refer to themselves as younger brothers or sisters. Are you not telling me this because you don't want to help me grow?"
Guan Liuliu was somewhat surprised that she knew this etiquette. Faced with the unreasonable argument, she could only explain, "If my sister is unhappy, my explanation will be seen as arguing. I just think that I will know what I need to know in time, and there is no rush."
"Oh?" His tone was full of doubt.
"I'm sorry, my mother fantasized that I could steal your life and rise to the top, but I will definitely fall back to a class that doesn't belong to me. As a commoner like me, I may only be able to repay you by working like a cow or a horse."
The new China liberated the people, the slaves were emancipated and sang songs of triumph. I couldn't inform her, but I was sure she was informed.
Guan Zhiwei wasn't really bullying anyone; she just wanted to put some pressure on them so she could get information out of them later.
She said, "I'm not interested in you working like a slave for me. I just want you to teach me how to integrate into a prominent family."
"I will do everything I can to help you."
"Then tell me some trivia about aristocratic families, such as which family is the richest, which family has the most grain, and where their grain warehouses are located?"
Guan Liuliu was prepared to be challenged, but she was still stumped.
She was dumbfounded: "How was I supposed to know that?"
"Do you know if the Guan family is wealthy? Do you know where their granary is?" Guan Zhiwei raised an eyebrow, clearly doubting her abilities, and drawled out her words: "You, the second young lady of the Guan family, are you just sitting around doing nothing and know nothing at all?"
Guan Liuliu straightened her back amidst her repeated questions: "Of course I know these things. My mother taught me how to manage household affairs."
"Then tell me."
Why are you asking this?
Guan Zhiwei casually made up a story: "I want to see if there's any food in this house. I'm afraid we'll go hungry."
This reason seems reasonable; she was wandering far from home, and all she wanted was a full meal.
But Guan Liuliu found it absurd and hesitated.
Guan Zhi narrowed her eyes and questioned, "Are you afraid that if I knew about my family affairs and learned how to manage them, I could marry into a better family and get ahead of you? Are you deliberately keeping this from me? Isn't that right?"
Guan Liuliu felt her scalp tingling from the weight of the hat on her head. "No! I'll tell you!"
Guan Zhiwei listened intently; the Guan family was quite wealthy.
In Yong'an City, there are two other families this wealthy: the Jiang family and the Liang family.
"The Liang family has power. He serves as the Prefect of Yong'an, with a rank of two thousand shi, the highest administrative official of the prefecture; the Jiang family..." Guan Liuliu paused slightly when she mentioned the Jiang family, but quickly moved on, "The Jiang family has soldiers. He serves as a Commandant, with a rank equivalent to two thousand shi, second only to the Prefect. He is in charge of the soldiers in the prefecture. He makes all decisions regarding weapons and equipment, bandit suppression, garrisoning, and maintaining local order; as for our father, he serves as the Prefectural Scholar, responsible for the cultural education and etiquette of the prefecture. It is no exaggeration to say that he has students all over the world."
Besides these three, there was also the Imperial Censor Sui Xing, who was originally sent by the court to patrol the prefecture and supervise officials such as the prefect. However, now that the court is weak, the Sui family has long since formed kinship ties with the people of Yong'an City.
Guan Nannan then married her nephew, Sui Ying.
They are connected by marriage and have long formed a strong alliance, forging a solid barrier through power, wealth, culture, law, and blood ties that is difficult to break through.
Guan Zhiwei pondered for a moment: "Then let me test you again. Do you know where their ancestral graves are?"
Guan Liuliu felt this was a rather dangerous topic, and she hesitated, "Why are you asking this?"
"Oh, I want to marry them? I'd like to know about their dwelling place a hundred years from now. The burial site is very important. I'm a Taoist priest, so I value this. If you have any needs, I can also pick a good burial site for you a hundred years from now."
"..." She was talking nonsense, Guan Liuliu realized.
“I really didn’t know about this. My family is very strict. I never leave the house, and I’ve never even visited our own family graves.”
Guan Zhiwei clicked her tongue: "Then you should know who among your close friends is dressed the most lavishly and wears the most expensive jewelry. Don't misunderstand, I have no intention of robbing you. I'm just an ordinary woman, and I just want to marry into a wealthy family. These are all reasonable requests."
"...I wouldn't have such a misunderstanding."
"Then you can begin."
Guan Zhiwei sat cross-legged on the bed, deep in thought, as if she was prepared for a long talk that would last all night.
Guan Liuliu anticipated that the days would be harder to endure than she had imagined, but she didn't know that this "endurance" would mean staying up all night.
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