Meng Anci walked in on his short little legs, his face stern as he sized Lu Chi up and down with great solemnity.
Lu Chi looked at the little runt who didn't even reach his knee, puzzlement in his eyes. "Are you part of this household too?"
"I'm your master."
"Little brat-" Lu Chi had barely finished speaking when Meng Anci suddenly moved in front of him, jumped up, and slapped him on the knee.
In his childish voice, he scolded, "You don't know master from servant." Then he secretly watched Lu Chi's expression. "I heard you were shouting at my aunt today. In our Meng Household..."
He recalled how Zhao Zhiyuan scolded the servants.
Straightening his back, he continued, "My aunt is the most important, my sister is second, and then comes me."
With that, he clasped his hands behind his back and paced up and down the room. "Oh, right, Dahuang and Xiaoli are important too."
Lu Chi laughed at the little fellow's solemn expression. One look at him was enough to tell he had never been a master before.
"Who else is in your family?"
Meng Anci stopped and said displeasedly, "Don't ask what you shouldn't."
Lu Chi felt like teasing him. "Even if you don't tell me, I know. There are only three people in your family: that woman, you, and your sister."
Meng Anci's little face flushed red. He realized that his earlier words had given away information. He silently reflected that he should talk less and think more in front of strangers from now on.
Lu Chi sat up straight and reached for Meng Anci. Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, he would move somewhere else? Surprised, Lu Chi reached for him again, only for him to move away once more.
"You know martial arts?"
At that, Meng Anci felt sad. His aunt had said she would teach him martial arts and made him catch Xiaoli every day. But Xiaoli ran infuriatingly fast, and after half a year, he hadn't even caught her tail.
Now things had changed: Xiaoli caught them instead, and she caught them every time. That huge body of hers could crush him half to death.
Meng Anci's big eyes darted around, and he asked in return, "I heard your name is Gouya?"
Lu Chi's face darkened. "My name is Lu Chi, not Gouya."
"But Gouya is what's written on your deed of sale, and your thumbprint is on it too."
Lu Chi felt a tightness in his chest and didn't want to speak. Meng Anci asked curiously, "You're good-looking and know martial arts, so why are you a servant?"
"How do you know I know martial arts?"
Meng Anci raised a finger and wagged it in front of Lu Chi's eyes. "There are no secrets in our Meng Household."
Hey, you little brat, you're even harder to deal with than my little nephew.
The villagers discovered that Jin Shanyao had brought three people back, and only after asking around did they learn they were servants. One stone stirred up a thousand waves.
Someone who worked in the county town revealed that Jin Shanyao had not only bought servants but also bought a shop in the county town and registered it under Meng Anzhi's name.
This undoubtedly ground everyone's faces into the dirt. They had always thought Jin Shanyao was after the third branch of the Meng Household's land.
Looking at it this way, Jin Shanyao wasn't clever; she was stupid through and through.
Even if they bundled up both Meng children and sold them, they still couldn't afford a shop.
The first ones unable to sit still were the first and second branches of the Meng Household.
"Elder brother, I asked around. Jin Shanyao spent three hundred taels of silver on a shop and put it in Meng Anzhi's name. Tell me, why put it in the name of a little girl? Once Anzhi gets married, the shop will take another surname."
Meng Hongde stood in front of a pile of wood, an axe in his hand. He tossed the split wood aside and picked up another large piece.
"Second brother, say no more. I swore I wouldn't set my sights on the two children again."
"Elder brother, what are you saying? Meng Anci is our Meng family's flesh and blood. If we don't look out for him, who will? Three hundred taels, elder brother! We couldn't earn that in a lifetime."
Diao Siniang, holding a winnowing basket, chimed in, "Jin Shanyao has some tricks up her sleeve. We can't use force. Doesn't she want to raise the children? Let her."
Meng Hongyi stood beside Meng Hongde with his hands tucked into his sleeves. "Sister-in-law, what do you mean?"
Diao Siniang set down the basket and raked the wild greens together. "Isn't Jin Shanyao paying for Meng Anci's studies?"
Meng Hongde glanced at her, signaling for her to go on.
Diao Siniang tied the wild greens into a bundle and moved closer to Meng Hongde.
"That brat Meng Anci is clever. He might even pass the examination and become a xiucai. Let Jin Shanyao pay for him. Once the little brat becomes a xiucai, we can sit back and reap the fisherman's profit."
Meng Hongde stopped splitting wood. "What profit is there for us?"
Diao Siniang gave him a speechless look and broke it down for him piece by piece. "Once Meng Anci becomes a xiucai, we can register our land under his name. That way, we won't have to pay taxes.
"If Meng Anci doesn't become a xiucai, we won't have lost anything either."
After hearing her out, Meng Hongde snorted. "Those two brats from Third Brother's family are sharp as can be. You think they'd let us register our land under his name?"
"Why can't your brain turn a corner? Meng Anci will only be five at New Year, and Meng Anzhi will only be seven. What do they understand?
"We just have to say a few nice things and coax them a little more, and won't that do it?
"When the time comes, we'll have the two children ask Jin Shanyao for everything they can. She knows how to tell fortunes and treat illnesses, so why worry she won't have money? Meng Anci can eat the meat, and we can drink the soup. We won't have to spend a penny or lift a finger. Wouldn't that be delightful?"
Meng Hongde hesitated. "Will those two children listen to us?"
"How will we know unless we try? We'll coax him along for the next few years. If that doesn't work..."
Diao Siniang's eyes turned cold. "Then, before he takes the imperial examination, we'll report him to the yamen for being disrespectful to his elders and unfilial, so he won't be qualified to register."
Meng Hongde's heart drummed. Ever since he had encountered something evil last time, he had hardly dared approach the two children.
But when he thought of how Third Brother's family was doing now, he steeled himself and decided to take another gamble.
The next day.
Meng Anci crouched beneath the roots of a tree outside the courtyard, using the method Jin Shanyao had taught him to observe a line of ants carrying a dead beetle.
The light above him dimmed, and a large foot came down squarely on the ants. In an instant, countless ants in the orderly line were killed or injured, and the rest fled in panic.
Meng Anci looked up into the faces of Meng Hongde and Meng Hongyi, both plastered with false smiles. He got up to leave, but Meng Hongyi stopped him.
He grabbed Meng Anci by the shoulder with his big hand, instinctively wanting to scold him. But remembering why they had come, he swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue and softened his tone as much as he could.
"Why are you running? Your first and second uncles missed you, so we came to see you."
As he spoke, he pulled a piece of malt candy from his robes and held it out to Meng Anci. "Look what tasty treat Second Uncle brought you! Go on, try it. It's sweet!"
Meng Anci didn't move, only studied him quietly.
His aunt had said that pies wouldn't fall from the sky, only traps would. No one would be good to you for no reason, unless they had some purpose.
Unable to break free, Meng Anci curved his lips into a big smile. "Hello, First Uncle, Second Uncle."
"Ah, that's more like it, isn't it? We're family. We should be closer."
Meng Anci nodded obediently. "Second Uncle, let go of me first. You're hurting me."
"Oh..." Meng Hongyi hurriedly let go.
Meng Hongde squeezed forward and said ingratiatingly, "Anci, First Uncle was wrong before. I didn't care for you two enough."
He pulled out a wild fruit, rubbed it hard against his clothes twice, and offered it to Meng Anci, a mixture of obsequiousness and calculation in his eyes.
"If you don't want to leave your aunt, we won't force you. As long as you're happy, that's better than anything."
Seeing that he wouldn't take the wild fruit, Meng Hongde took the malt candy from Meng Hongyi and forcibly stuffed it into his hand along with the fruit.
"Lately, I've been dreaming about your father all the time. Whenever I wake up, my eyes are red from crying. He said he was sorry to you and your sister and asked me to come look after you more often.
"But really, even if he hadn't come to me in a dream, I would have come to see you."
As Meng Hongde said this, he secretly watched Meng Anci. Seeing the dejected look on his little face, he couldn't help feeling pleased with himself.
He's a child after all. A few nice words were enough to coax him.