An Ziran Makes His Move

"Young Master, there's been movement on Second Master's side."

The moment An Ziran entered the study, he heard Steward Su's lowered voice. With a glance, he signaled for the door to be closed. Steward Su immediately did so before returning to stand before him.

Ever since the grain robbery incident, An Ziran had sent people to watch An Changde's every move. Whatever he did each day would be recorded and placed on An Ziran's desk that very night. This was called taking precautions before trouble arose. An Changde and his wife were simply too dangerous not to guard against!

Sure enough, his decision had not been wrong.

After lying low for a month, An Changde and his wife had begun making small moves again.

This time, it was Wu Zhi's elder sister, Wu Yun, who had whispered in her husband's ear. Jiang Prefect of Yong Prefecture was no good official. He occupied his position without doing his duty, took bribes, twisted the law, and abused his authority to commit many vile deeds. He was a thoroughgoing scoundrel and an opportunist—plainly put, someone who fawned on the powerful—and Wu Yun often egged him on.

Wu Yun had revealed the An Family's circumstances to Jiang Prefect. As the landowners of Anyuan County, although An Ziran had paid out quite a bit of silver these past two months, An Changfu had accumulated considerable wealth before his death. Returning the promissory notes and lowering the price of rice had not been enough to cripple the An Family. They were still the largest landowning family in Anyuan County.

With An Changfu dead, only the young An Ziran remained. He lacked sufficient presence, and although he had resolved the recent case of the rioters stealing grain, most people would not regard him differently because of it. In An Changfu and his wife's eyes, as well as those of many others, he was still that sixteen-year-old boy.

Everything Wu Yun knew about the An Family had come from her younger sister, Wu Zhi. Thus, while whispering in her husband's ear, she did everything she could to urge Jiang Zhongting to move against the An Family. Jiang Zhongting lacked resolve and was greedy for money, so he was swayed at once.

Merchants held a low status in the Great Ya Dynasty.

But this was the feudal era. Landowners formed the backbone of many county towns. Even a minor landowner would surely have amassed considerable wealth, much less a major landowning family like the Ans.

Without much thought, Jiang Zhongting agreed to his concubine Wu Yun's proposal. He then joined forces with Magistrate Zhang of Anyuan County, planning to make a move against the An Family in the near future.

Da Ya was especially harsh toward merchants. Once a merchant broke the law, it was nearly impossible for him to recover.

After discussing it, they decided to start there. If they wanted to ensure the An Family could never rise again while seizing its wealth openly and lawfully, the best way was to have An Ziran convicted of a crime.

Upon reading this, a trace of undisguised surprise appeared in An Ziran's eyes.

It was not because An Changde and his wife were plotting against their own nephew. He had long seen through the pair; no matter what they did, he would not be surprised. What shocked him was how detailed this report was. It even described their conspiracy with the Prefect of Yong Prefecture with perfect clarity. The person who had written it was undoubtedly talented.

"Young Master?" Seeing him fall silent, Steward Su grew worried.

He had always thought that, no matter how excessive Second Master's behavior became, he should at least retain a shred of conscience. Yet he was actually willing to collude with outsiders for the An Family's wealth, plotting against the family and framing his own nephew. And he called himself a scholar! His so-called benevolence, righteousness, and morality had truly been chewed up by dogs!

Poor Young Master. Master and Madam had only been dead for two months. Not only did no one support him, even his relatives were eyeing the An Family's assets. He had truly suffered enough.

An Ziran closed the report and said calmly, "Keep people watching them. Let's see what tricks they intend to play."

"That's all? Young Master, shouldn't we make preparations first?" Steward Su could not help frowning. It might be too late to react when the time came. Once they were thrown into prison, getting out again would be difficult.

"How can we prepare? If the authorities are determined to target us, they can find an excuse no matter how much we prepare. For now, we can only adapt when the time comes. Otherwise, we would need to find the An Family a patron powerful enough to make even the Prefect of Yong Prefecture wary—but that is easier said than done!" An Ziran analyzed calmly.

Anyuan County was merely a small county. Although An Changfu had cultivated many connections in his lifetime, their positions could not have been much higher than a county magistrate's. If they learned that the Prefect of Yong Prefecture intended to deal with the An Family, there was an eighty or ninety percent chance they would distance themselves from the Ans. Forget helping them; it would already be good if they did not kick them while they were down.

"Are we just going to sit here and wait for death?" Steward Su sighed.

"Of course not," An Ziran said. "They want nothing more than the An Family's wealth, so before they make their move, I plan to transfer part of our assets. As long as the green hills remain, there will be no lack of firewood."

"But..."

Steward Su still wanted to say something, but An Ziran cut him off.

"Steward, this is currently the best course for the An Family. Commoners do not fight officials. You understand that principle better than I do. Besides, I have no intention of waiting for death. Since An Changde has been heartless, he cannot blame me for being ruthless!"

Steward Su stared, speechless, at the determined look in the young man's eyes. Anyone else would surely have been panicking by now, yet An Ziran had not shown the slightest trace of alarm. From the very beginning, he had remained utterly composed, handling things even better than Master had while he was alive.

He suddenly realized that the Young Master had truly grown up!