The woman's face betrayed her surprise; she seemed somewhat uncertain: "Are you Han Luoxue?"
You know me?
Han Luoxue had never met her before.
Upon hearing this, the woman hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed Han Luoxue's hand, anxiously saying, "Han Luoxue, why are you here? You should leave quickly, get out of here!"
“Yesterday, I heard my man say that he wanted to sell you!”
"You should leave now, there's nothing I can do to help you!"
Hearing the woman's words, Han Luoxue was still a little surprised. Putting everything else aside, this woman's values were quite sound.
"Are you worried about me?"
Han Luoxue never expected that this aunt would be so different from Chi Hongcai.
"I... I just think your uncle did something wrong. You'd better leave quickly, or you'll be in trouble if she comes back and sees you!"
The woman looked anxious.
Han Luoxue smiled and said, "Don't worry, he won't come back!"
The woman paused for a moment, not understanding what the sentence meant.
Nightingale stepped forward and recounted what had just happened, including that Chi Hongcai had been imprisoned and it was uncertain when he would be released; he would probably be locked up for at least a few years.
The woman staggered and fell to the ground with a thud.
She didn't cry, but tears rolled down her cheeks one by one.
Several children rushed over and surrounded her, anxiously asking, "Mommy, Mommy, what's wrong?"
"Mother, let me help you up!"
"Mom, don't go on the ground, it's cold there!"
...
Han Luoxue sighed softly. Although her uncle was a scoundrel, her aunt and children were still quite nice.
"Don't be sad. He's addicted to gambling now. Even if I can help him pay it off once, what about the future? He'll still gamble, right? Staying in there for a while isn't a bad thing. Don't worry, I can assure you he won't die anytime soon!"
The woman nodded. She knew all too well that getting into gambling was a bad thing. She had told Chi Hongcai this many times, but the man just wouldn't listen. What could she do?
"By the way, what are your plans?"
Han Luoxue remembered the purpose of her visit.
"I... I don't know either! My family doesn't want me anymore, but I will try my best to raise these children. Don't worry, I know they are the flesh and blood of the Chi family, and I will never sell them!"
The woman raised her hand, roughly wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes, and looked at the children with a determined expression.
"Mother, we'll help too!"
"That's right, Mother, will Father be gone in the future?"
"He's a bad person, we don't want our father!"
"Then I'll help you find a job! The salary won't be high, but it'll be enough for you to eat! This place..."
Han Luoxue looked around. The courtyard was very simple and a bit far from her shop, making it inconvenient to go there to work.
"I'll try to find you a place to stay."
The woman nodded gratefully. After thinking for a moment, she felt it was inappropriate, so she simply knelt down with a thud and was about to kowtow to Han Luoxue.
Han Luoxue quickly stepped aside and reached out to support her arm. What a joke! This woman was, after all, her aunt; she had no intention of being forced to kneel before her.
"If you're willing, that's fine. I just hope you won't hate me in your heart!"
The woman hurriedly said, "No, no, I'm so grateful to you! Chi Hongcai, he only got what he deserved..."
She's figured it out these past two days. If Chi Hongcai can scheme against even his niece whom he's never met, what are she and the other children compared to him?
She might sell herself and her child at any time. There was no way to survive if she followed Chi Hongcai. If Han Luoxue, whom she had never met before, gave her a way to live, she would be grateful.
When Han Luoxue returned, she thought the matter had gone quite smoothly and was resolved satisfactorily. However… her aunt's attitude still surprised her a bit.
That's fine too; it's better than having an entire family full of scoundrels.
She wouldn't take extra care of them; she'd already done enough, since the two of them hadn't really interacted much before.
"Sigh, I think Chi Hongcai is really a bastard!"
Nightingale sighed, "Actually, that woman is really good. She's made a bad choice by being with your uncle!"
Han Luoxue wholeheartedly agreed.
"That's good. Without Chi Hongcai, their lives should be better."
...
Back in the palace, Han Luoxue inquired, but there was still no news.
Zhou Yuan hasn't arrived yet; once she gets there, the progress should be much faster.
Han Luoxue was still clueless; she genuinely didn't know who had done it.
Almost a month has passed in the blink of an eye, and it's almost time to announce the rankings.
Nightingale had gone out to inquire early on, and Zhou Jie ran over excitedly: "Xue'er, have you seen that ranking list? I didn't expect everyone in the capital to be so rich. You have no idea, the national treasury is suddenly overflowing!"
Zhou Jie felt those families had gone mad; she truly didn't understand what they were thinking. They were all going to great lengths to get their daughters into the palace. Didn't they consider that even if their daughters entered the palace, would they necessarily gain the Emperor's favor? Would the Emperor even value their families?
"I haven't gone to see it yet, but Nightingale did. What's the situation now? How many are in first place?"
Han Luoxue only donated some money at the beginning, and then she stopped donating, because she wanted to give everyone some room to work harder.
"Oh, Xue'er, you have no idea how lively it is over there! Why don't we go take a look? By the way, have you prepared all the food?"
Han Luoxue smiled; she had plenty of food and had prepared it long ago.
"Then let's go check out my family's grain store first!"
I remember she once told the people there that they shouldn't sell any grain today, but just send it directly to the state.
"Alright!"
Of course, this also depends on the quantity; if the quantity is insufficient, she can replenish it at any time.
...
At this moment, the entrance to the national treasury was unusually lively, with many young ladies from noble families having come today. Each of them was graceful, their faces covered with silk scarves, and their beautiful eyes were fixed on the ranking list.
At this point, the numbers on the leaderboard had changed very little, and the top ten people on the leaderboard donated an astonishing amount of money.
"Oh dear, where is the Empress? Where is the Empress?"
Many people muttered to themselves, their eyes searching the leaderboard from top to bottom. After searching for a long time, they finally discovered that the Empress was the last one.
Everyone was stunned. All the women who signed up were initially dumbfounded, but then they were so excited they almost shouted.
"What do you mean? Why did Her Majesty the Empress only donate such a small amount?"
A woman asked incredulously.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
