"Hey, the Demon Lotus they just mentioned, is it something the Demon Lord has?"
Master Suotang interrupted Master Qingxu's lament, "Sect Leader, if you have time, why don't you go and ask that Demon Lord? It would save my disciple from worrying."
Master Qingxu glared at him: "Your master used to come here every day to curry favor with me for your sake. Now that you're the master, you're coming here to curry favor with me for your disciple's sake?"
"Do I owe you, master and disciple?"
Master Suotang said with a grin, "She's the first top scholar recruited by our Siyue Sect, aren't you worried, Sect Leader?"
"Were you genuinely worried that she would get married?"
Master Suotang pointed to the whisk that had been thrown aside, which Master Qingxu had already torn to shreds.
Those worldly cultivators might not know, but surely he, a person nearing the end of the Nascent Soul stage, does?
Master Qingxu sighed helplessly, "That was truly terrifying!"
The first top scholar recruited by Siyue Gate got married in less than a year. If word got out, they would be laughed to death by outsiders.
Being a sect leader is really difficult.
He angrily slapped Master Suotang again: "If you hadn't mistaken my Jade Dew back then, I would have ascended to immortality long ago!"
...
"Sister, Grandmother is very angry."
An Yirou was very uneasy after hearing the news from Lin Jing.
An Zhengzheng's expression was not good. She weighed the jade slip in her hand, which contained a message from her mother, Lin Jing.
Lin Jing said, "Zhengzheng, the things you asked Yirou to send over this month are all good things. It's kind of you to think of your mother every month. But..."
“Your grandmother has spoken, saying that you are a rebellious daughter, and the An family is no longer allowed to contact you. From now on, there is no need to send anything to you.”
Lin Jing wiped away her tears. What a good child her daughter was. After going to Siyue Gate, she started the Hundred Women's Pavilion. All the good things were sent to her first, so that she could share them with her aunts and cousins.
Having been married for so long, it was extremely difficult for her to pick up cultivation again, so Zhengzheng shared the pills from her top scholar reward with her...
It was precisely because I didn't affirm my relationship with my mother-in-law that I got so angry.
"I understand, Mother, please take care."
An Zhengzheng understood Lin Jing; back then, Lin Jing had already gone to the extreme by sending her away overnight.
In the past, when her mother was bullied by her grandmother, An Zhengzheng spoke up for her, but was instead reprimanded by Lin Jing.
Now that the An family is determined to make her pay, Lin Jing probably can't do anything about it, so An Zhengzheng doesn't blame her.
After a pause, An Zhengzheng sent another message asking, "Will this matter involve Yi Rou?"
He was still thinking about his sister at this moment!
Lin Jing felt both heartache and reluctance: "Your grandmother never mentioned her."
That meant it had nothing to do with Yi Rou, and An Zhengzheng breathed a sigh of relief.
Putting down the jade slip, she said to An Yirou very seriously, "This time, Grandmother is probably going to take drastic measures."
The fact that the third branch of the An family had two daughters but no sons was always a concern of the grandmother, and she made things difficult for the mother more than once because of this.
Now that she knows that as long as An Zhengzheng marries into the family, her beloved son will have an heir, she will definitely not let this opportunity slip by.
“Isn’t Father still alive?” An Yirou tried to comfort her.
But An Zhengzheng only slightly curled the corners of her mouth, closed her eyes slightly, and said with certainty, "Father will not help me."
If there were no possibility of a son, it would be fine, but the Zhou family just happened to have stepped on An Mao's Achilles' heel.
Just like An Zhengzheng did back then, she also gave An Mao, who was unable to have a son, the greatest hope.
Unfortunately, the Zhou family is now offering even greater hope.
"Sister, what should we do?"
An Yirou was somewhat frightened. She looked at An Zhengzheng in confusion and murmured, "No wonder, no wonder Father wouldn't let me go with him to look at the shop next month..."
This means they're giving up supporting the sisters' business!
“Yi Rou, you have to make a decision,” An Zhengzheng told her. “You now have three paths to take.”
"Which three?" An Yirou asked, somewhat flustered.
"First, continue doing things with me at the Hundred Women's Pavilion, but that will anger Grandmother and Father."
"Secondly, give up the Hundred Women Pavilion, focus on cultivation, and express your stance to your grandmother and father."
"Article Three..."
Before An Zhengzheng could finish listing them, An Yirou interrupted her.
"Sister, I choose the first path!" An Yirou's eyes seemed to shine as she said, "I don't want to go back."
“Before coming here with my sister, I knew nothing. But now, under my sister’s guidance, I have completely changed Madam Pei’s life.”
An Yirou will always remember that day. Before her sister spoke to her father, she personally instructed her to contact Lady Pei.
Lady Pei, who was worried about aging and losing her beauty, hugged the small, thin little girl not far away and wept with joy.
The little girl kept praising her mother, saying "Mommy is so beautiful," which made her feel as if she had returned to her youth.
An Yirou asked her about the situation, took out the price list compiled by An Zhengzheng, and purchased all of her medicinal herbs at the prices listed.
She would never forget the look of rebirth on Lady Pei's face.
“It’s not just Lady Pei, sister.” An Yirou’s heart pounded. “Every time I go to Zhang Guo’er’s place to collect things on behalf of my sister, I hear Zhang Guo’er say that the medicine cultivators in their sect are all working hard to cultivate…”
Unlike before, when there were no more surplus medicinal herbs to sell, and we had to spend a lot of money to make a trip to the outer city and ask people door to door if they wanted them.
Female cultivators often lack cultivation resources and mental strength, so few people want what they grow or make.
After all, most male cultivators in the world have the support of family cultivation methods and talismans and pills, which often makes them cultivate better.
Only their products have a market.
"It was my sister who brought me along, giving them the opportunity to earn spirit stones..."
Having gone through all that, how could An Yirou possibly want to live the kind of life she used to lead, where she was always afraid of getting old and focused on marrying into a good family and having children?
She found her purpose in life and said excitedly, "Sister, I know you want to help more people because your compassion runs so deep..."
Hearing these words, An Zhengzheng suddenly smiled with relief.
The suppressed anger stemming from his father's betrayal dissipated like smoke in the air.
With a mischievous smile in her eyes, she teased An Yirou, "I'm afraid we won't be able to inherit the An family business. Don't you regret doing all this with me?"
An Yirou shook her head, her eyes somewhat dim.
After a long silence, she sighed sadly, "Mother told me... Sister, you are so outstanding, but Father still gave up on you when he saw even the slightest sign of having a son."
"Perhaps in their culture, being born a girl is an original sin. That kind of family fortune was destined to be out of our reach from the moment we were born, and it has nothing to do with what my sister did."
An Zhengzheng rubbed her younger sister's head, comforting her, "This situation will change. We've been through it, so we must not let future female cultivators go through it too."
This is a relay race of generations of women.
They were willing to be the first to pass the baton.
\/\/
"Miss An, you guessed right, many people from the Hundred Women's Pavilion have left!"
Early the next morning, Madam Pei hurriedly sent a message to An Zhengzheng.
An Zhengzheng went to Ghost City alone that same day.
As soon as I entered, Madam Pei came up to me and said nervously, "Miss asked me to keep watch, so I came early, but I didn't expect to see this scene."
All the people An Mao brought, who originally belonged to the An family, were taken away. There were still two female cultivators and a boy cultivator watching her helplessly.
"You stayed?" An Zhengzheng raised an eyebrow.
Actually, the two sisters brought in more than just these three, but An Mao took them away at a high price.
One of the female cultivators, holding the boy's hand, said somewhat awkwardly, "We...we are indebted to Miss An and don't want to leave."
She was the chubby, round girl who had been dressed up in Tang Dynasty attire. Her name was Dong'er, and she was only eighteen years old this year.
An Zhengzheng later learned that she was an orphan and had taken in a younger brother who was also an orphan, so she arranged for her to work as a handyman at the Hundred Women's Pavilion.
The siblings are usually responsible for restocking.
Another female cultivator said, "Miss An is kind-hearted. She took pity on me when she went out with Master An and bought me. I also want to repay her kindness."
This is Zhao Xin, the girl An Yirou mentioned to An Zhengzheng before. She was almost sold by her father to support her younger brother. She is the same age as An Yirou.
These are the last people left at the Hundred Women's Pavilion. It seems that Father really showed no mercy.
An Zhengzheng asked them, "Where do you all live?"
Dong'er: "Xia and I rented a house."
Zhao Xin: "The second young lady cleared out a room for me in the backyard."
An Zhengzheng glanced at Xia, who was already a ten-year-old boy.
She said, "You all go with Zhao Xin to choose a room, one room per person."
Dong'er was flattered, realizing how much rent she could save, and she and her younger brother thanked her repeatedly.
After they left, Madam Pei said with great concern, "How...how can the Hundred Women's Pavilion ever open!"
Such a large shop, three stories high, how can it be managed by just three children?
She thought for a moment and said, "If Miss An doesn't mind, I'll bring my daughter to look after the shop for a few days."
An Zhengzheng shook her head. That wasn't enough. There weren't even any guards. A group of young girls like them would be easily bullied.
She said to Lady Pei, "I'm not without a way out."
An Yirou quickly arranged for someone to be transferred over.
"Are they really that heartless?" An Yirou's eyes stung with tears. She had just finished a group class at the Fu Sect when her sister sent her the message.
"Don't worry, sister. I'll message the people you asked me to investigate right away."
My sister originally planned to open a branch, but now it seems that it won't be possible. It's a pity about the shops she bought.
An Zhengzheng then asked Madam Pei, "Are there any people from Qilin Mountain who want to come to the Hundred Women's Pavilion?"
Madam Pei hurriedly went back to ask.
...
Anfu.
"Someone went?" Old Madam An's face darkened, her tone unfriendly. "She really has some skill at gathering people in one day!"
Because of An Zhengzheng's marriage, she moved into the An family mansion.
The person who came to report the news also said, "They are not powerful figures. They are mostly young women in the Qi Refining stage and women who have stagnated in the Foundation Establishment stage."
Miss, you're so foolish! A shop full of female cultivators, what can possibly get you anywhere?
Generally speaking, each shop should have at least a few people with advanced Foundation Establishment cultivation levels stationed there to prevent others from causing trouble or using underhanded tactics.
These are usually male practitioners.
An Mao sat beside Madam An, his expression not good either. He said to Madam An, "The clothes, cosmetics, and even magazines sold by Bai Nu Ge are all outsourced to the An family."
Originally intended as a benefit for the An family members, it has now become a tool to control her.
An Zhengzheng is responsible for writing magazine content on weekdays, which helps boost the sales of related goods.
Now that An family's goods supply is gone, An Zhengzheng's shop is likely to go bankrupt.
Old Madam An laughed heartily, her wrinkles piling up. Only after she had finished laughing did she say in a cold voice, "This is to let her know that without the family, she is nothing."
What kind of trouble can a little girl cause?!
An Mao didn't say anything either.
An Zhengzheng's words that day implied that she wanted to sever all ties with the An family.
This daughter... she used to be quite good, but now she's becoming increasingly reckless.
She can't break free from it.
The An family needs her for a marriage alliance, An Mao needs the Demon-Transforming Lotus, and Zhou Rongsheng needs An Zhengzheng, an excellent daughter-in-law, to save his family's most promising candidate for immortality, Zhou Xu.
An Mao said, "If we cut off the supply, the Zhou family will also take action."
This was something both families had agreed upon, and An Zhengzheng was bound to back down.
Madam An smiled smugly and looked at An Mao: "Those good things she developed, she can't sell them, so let's not waste them."
Those are truly excellent products. An Zhengzheng has already made a name for herself with her multi-colored cosmetics and lip balms, so she has no worries about sales.
An Mao shared this thought, but he was somewhat worried. Firstly, he feared that the female cultivators buying the items would only recognize those from the Hundred Women Pavilion; secondly, he felt a little guilty, since it was Zheng Zheng who had developed it…
Madam An said quite matter-of-factly, "Don't hesitate any longer, distribute all the things you've made to the major shops in the clan..."
Now that the third son is no longer at odds with the clan and has mastered the recipe and production process, this money can be handed over to the An family to earn.
“Zhengzheng is a naive girl. She has learned her lesson from this experience.”
Anmao consoled himself in this way.
At the Zhou family's place, Zhou Rongsheng was still drinking tea, while Zhou Xu, who was sitting opposite him, had recovered a lot after resting.
Zhou Rongsheng said, "The Zhou family has given the word that not only Anjia, but other shops will also stop supplying goods and raw materials to Bai Nv Ge."
Zhou Rongsheng wasn't worried at all about An Zhengzheng's ability to make it. What kind of success could a shop with no goods possibly achieve?
Everyone was waiting to see her make a fool of herself.
Zhou Xu's face was still pale, his brows were furrowed, and he coughed a few more times.
Zhou Rongsheng was very concerned about him: "The technique of severing emotions is useless, so don't practice it anymore."
Marrying An Zhengzheng would naturally dispel this obsession, since the novelty of a woman you've already won over will eventually wear off.
“I haven’t practiced it for a long time.” Zhou Xu stroked the table, his voice much lower. “Since I can no longer cultivate the Path of Ruthlessness, I have carefully learned other cultivation methods.”
However, when practicing, my mind always gets chaotic, so chaotic that my efficiency drops drastically, and it's no longer like before.
He never mentioned this to anyone, but Zhou Rongsheng already knew about it from the servants.
He admonished Zhou Xu: "You bear the responsibility of bringing glory to the Zhou family. For so many years, the clan has nurtured you with the best things. Don't let yourself be ruined by a girl."
“…Yes.” Zhou Xu’s dark eyes flickered slightly, and his lips parted slightly, as if he wanted to say something.
In the end, he lowered his head and said nothing.
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