An Changde

"My short-lived little brother, how could you leave us so soon..."

Before he even reached the mourning hall, An Ziran heard the wailing of an unfamiliar middle-aged man coming from within. As though afraid no one would hear him, the man cried far too dramatically, making it sound rather fake instead.

When he arrived at the entrance and looked inside, the wailing middle-aged man was getting up from the floor. His clothes were somewhat rumpled, as if he had just been rolling around on the ground. Noticing someone at the door, he immediately turned around.

The middle-aged man was the First Master mentioned by Steward Su. He was An Changfu's older brother, An Changde. The two brothers looked rather alike—broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, likely because they had worked in the fields in their younger days. However, An Changde's complexion was rosy and healthy, making it obvious that he had been living quite comfortably.

His eyes were slightly red from crying. Someone unaware of the truth might really have believed he was grieving for the prematurely deceased An Changfu, but An Ziran could tell that An Changde was merely putting on an act. The calculation in his eyes was all too obvious, especially when he saw his nephew. His eyes practically lit up.

"My poor nephew, your father and mother have passed away, and look how pale your little face is. You must have suffered greatly too. It's all right. With your uncle here, I'll support you. No one will dare bully you!"

An Changde immediately walked over to An Ziran, looking at him with paternal affection as he reached out to pat his head. An Ziran lightly dodged aside. When his hand missed, An Changde immediately shot him an unhappy look.

An Ziran saw it all, yet his dark eyes remained exceptionally calm.

Support him? Support the An Family?

The two An brothers had divided the household as soon as they each took wives. The old master of the An Family had treated them fairly, favoring neither side. Everything An Changfu possessed had been earned through his own efforts and had nothing to do with An Changde.

An Changde was merely An Ziran's uncle. There were no property disputes between their households. Was he not afraid of attracting criticism by saying something like that so openly?

"Thank you for your concern, Uncle. Father and Mother have already passed away. I am now the An Family's only heir, and I will pull myself together. I will manage the An Family well and not disappoint Father and Mother in the afterlife."

An Ziran put on a sorrowful expression. His complexion had already been pale to begin with, and this performance immediately made people believe him eight or nine times out of ten. However, An Changde was dissatisfied with his words.

In An Changde's eyes, An Ziran was an ignorant, good-for-nothing wastrel. Fat and bloated, he looked nothing like his parents and possessed not a single redeeming quality. If the An Family's vast estate were handed to someone like him, it would sooner or later be squandered away. It would be better to let An Changde have it.

Three days ago, when An Changde learned that his younger brother and sister-in-law had died, his first thought had been that he absolutely had to seize control of the An Family. As for the second, third, and fourth branches of the An Family, they had only borne two daughters for the family and could not even receive a share of its property. In his eyes, they posed no threat at all.

"Ziran, it isn't that your uncle wants to criticize you, but how can you manage the An Family in your current state? Your illness has not even healed yet. You should rest properly, lest you exhaust yourself and allow certain people to take advantage of the situation and seize the An Family's property." As An Changde spoke, he meaningfully glanced at Wang Qinglan, who had just finished mourning and was preparing to leave to avoid suspicion.

Wang Qinglan's expression stiffened. The "certain people" he referred to clearly meant her. Though she was displeased, she could not openly fall out with him, so she said in a strange, mocking tone:

"Uncle is absolutely right. The master's estate should naturally be inherited by Ziran. Even if 'outsiders' bear the surname An, they should not dream of touching so much as a fraction of the master's property. Uncle, don't you agree?"

The moment she finished speaking, she regretted it.

An Changde's face immediately darkened. Was he not precisely one of those An-surnamed "outsiders"? And the one with the worst intentions, at that. Yet he could not directly refute her. Otherwise, before tomorrow arrived, word that he coveted his younger brother's estate would spread throughout Anyuan County, which would be extremely unfavorable to him.

"Since they bear the surname An, they are naturally members of the An Family. Compared to those outsiders with different surnames who seek to divide the family property, they are far better. In the end, it still belongs to the An Family." An Changde wore a righteous expression. He had read many books and could barely be considered well-informed, and his tongue was far sharper than Wang Qinglan's.

Wang Qinglan's face stiffened again. She did not reply further and turned to An Ziran. "Ziran, I'll leave this place to you. Your Fourth Concubine will take her leave first."

An Ziran nodded. From beginning to end, he had merely been watching.

After she left, An Changde immediately put on a kind expression and said to him with a smile, "Ziran, your uncle has matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving first. If anything happens to the An Family in the future, come find your uncle, or your aunt. You are my own nephew. Now that Changfu has passed away, our relationship is the closest there is. Don't ever stand on ceremony with your uncle!"

After stuffing him with a great deal of advice about how relatives should support one another, selflessly devote themselves, and depend on each other for survival, An Changde left in satisfaction.

In his view, An Ziran was still that same easily fooled fat fool from before. As long as he made him distance himself from An Changfu's three concubines and draw close only to him, would the An Family's property not be his for the taking?

Only in his dreams would it be so easy.

After leaving the mourning hall, An Ziran did not return to his room. Instead, he went to see his younger sister, An Yuzhi.