Return to the An Family

The next day, they finally arrived in Anyuan County.

They had stopped in a small town the previous night and made do with a night at an inn. They set out early that morning and arrived in just half an hour. The farmers of Anyuan County were accustomed to rising early and retiring late; before dawn had even broken, their figures could already be seen.

Anyuan County was not particularly remote, and merchant caravans occasionally passed through. But they were, after all, merchants' convoys and could not possibly be too extravagant. Thus, most people stopped to stare for a while when they saw the carriage from Prince Fu's Manor. Only after it turned into the streets of Anyuan County did they withdraw their gazes, exchange a few words, and return to their farming.

The carriage soon stopped before the gates of the An Family residence.

The gatekeeper, who had been sitting at the entrance with an indifferent look on his face, sprang to his feet in fright. He stared nervously at the carriage. He had never seen such a luxurious carriage before, and the An Family did not own one this fine, so it had never occurred to him that the An Family's eldest young master had returned. It was not until Fu Wutian helped An Ziran down from the carriage that his jaw dropped.

"Eldest Young Master, you've finally returned."

The gatekeeper looked helplessly at An Ziran as he approached.

An Ziran asked, "Did anything major happen to the An Family while I was away?"

The gatekeeper first shook his head, then suddenly nodded after realizing something. "While you were away, the eldest master and eldest madam came once. They caused a huge scene at the An Family, but since you weren't here and Concubine Fang and the others couldn't make decisions, they left after making their fuss."

An Ziran nodded and walked inside without asking what they had come for.

The gatekeeper watched the man following the eldest young master inside and opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something. Though he was only a servant, he could tell that this man carried himself with extraordinary bearing and was likely of no ordinary status. He had not expected the eldest young master to bring such a man back after one trip away.

At first, Wang Qinglan and the others had not guessed why An Ziran had taken his younger brother and sister away from Anyuan County. No one had expected the old master to have concealed such an enormous matter, and he had not allowed anyone to speak of it, so few people knew.

Not until An Changde came to their door.

An Changde had learned from the county magistrate that An Ziran had gone to Gentlemen City to seek relatives, and he had been uneasy ever since. Jiang Prefect later learned of it as well. Since he could not determine the identity of that mysterious visitor, he no longer dared to rashly make a move against the An Family, and his plan was temporarily shelved. This left him feeling deeply stifled.

If An Ziran truly found a powerful backer in Gentlemen City, he might very well deal with him first upon returning.

Though he felt that, as An Ziran's uncle, that little brat would not dare lay a hand on him, what if he truly turned ruthless?

That was why he had gone to the An Family some time ago, hoping to probe Wang Qinglan and the others for information. Who would have thought that Wang Qinglan and the other two had been kept completely in the dark? He could not get a single word out of them.

Wang Qinglan and the others were extremely shocked by the news.

When An Ziran had taken his younger brother and sister away from Anyuan County, he had only said they were visiting relatives elsewhere. In truth, the An Family had very few relatives, so they guessed it might have something to do with their eldest uncle.

An Changde had once used local farmers to cause trouble for the An Family. This was no secret, because someone later admitted that An Changde had instructed them to make trouble in order to seize the An Family's assets. That person had been one of the farmers involved and a ringleader, so many people still remembered him. Once he spoke up, everyone believed him.

From then on, An Changde became a rat everyone wanted to beat.

Whenever he went out, people pointed and whispered about him. Though he had the title of scholar, his younger brother had not even been dead for a few months before he began coveting his nephew's property. Worse still, he had hired people to target the An Family. Even with scholarly honors, a person like that would be scorned by all.

An Changde had a fiery temper and could not endure those contemptuous looks. He had gone to the county magistrate, hoping the magistrate would arrest the commoners who spoke ill of him behind his back. Instead, the magistrate mocked him.

For someone who called himself a scholar, he did not even understand such basic reasoning. There were countless people in the world who spoke ill of others behind their backs. If they were all arrested, not only would Da Ya lack enough prisons, the cost of feeding prisoners alone would bankrupt Da Ya. Only an idiot could come up with such an idiotic idea.

No matter how An Changde struggled, his reputation had been completely dragged through the gutter.

However, An Changde had a wife from a scholarly family, and Wang Qinglan and the other two knew this.

The An Family dealt in business. After An Changfu died, some of the connections he had built through business were severed, while the rest could not compete with a prefect. Thus, they believed An Ziran had left to avoid this trouble. They had never expected it to be because of an engagement the old master had concealed long ago.

"Why? Why An Yuzhi? What does my daughter lack compared to An Yuzhi?"

In her fury, Fang Junping swept everything from the dressing table. It crashed to the floor in a clatter, the force scattering even some jewelry into several corners of the room.

The moment she heard that the other party was a noble figure from Gentlemen City, she reacted exactly as An Ziran had expected and became deeply indignant. Her daughter was already eighteen and still unmarried, so why should it be An Yuzhi? So what if she was Liu Meixiang's daughter? Liu Meixiang had still died early and gone to meet King Yama.

An Qiaoe stood to one side without speaking, but her face was dark.

On the other hand, Zheng Bi of the third branch was unexpectedly calm.

Zheng Bi was sharp-tongued and fierce. Unlike Fang Junping, she did not smash the whole room to pieces whenever she was angry. Ever since An Ziran took over the An Family, their expenses had been cut in half. If anything in the room was broken, the cost would be deducted from their monthly allowance.

"Mother, just wait and see. In the future, I will definitely marry a man with an official rank greater than Jiang Prefect's. Then let's see how he can still swagger around in front of us. Even if he is the local tyrant of Anyuan County, he will have to kneel before me." The person An Kexin hated most was An Ziran. Since they had been born only three days apart, she had hated him since childhood for taking their father's attention away from her. She had always believed that the reason their father did not value her was entirely because of An Ziran.

Zheng Bi immediately clasped her hand. "Daughter, you must win back this pride for your mother."

"Don't worry, Mother. I won't disappoint you." Having inherited her mother's beauty, An Kexin was extremely confident in herself.

As for Wang Qinglan, who had no children, she did not react as intensely to the news as the second and third branches. She only knew that her future depended entirely on An Ziran, and her mind was filled with calculations. Thus, when she heard that An Ziran had returned, she was the first to come out and greet him.

Standing at the entrance to the main hall, she spotted Fu Wutian walking side by side with An Ziran from afar. The sight left her stunned.