Besides sending the children to school, the old master also discussed with his two sons about buying a house in the county town.
The county town is quite far from Xiao Guan Village, and it is inconvenient for the children to commute daily.
Anning had talked to Old Madam and the old master about buying a house in the county long ago.
Last year, the old master had looked everywhere but did not find a suitable one.
Recently, Xu Zhiqin has been frequently visiting the county town, and the old master wanted him to find a residence near the academy. Even if the family mbers don’t move there, the children could stay.
Xu Zhiqin took on the task, and within a few days, he found a house.
It just so happened that a teacher from the academy’s son was an official in the south, and he wanted to move his father there. Not knowing when he would return, he decided to sell his house.
The teacher’s house was excellent, both in location and structure.
Anning also took ti out to view it and expressed her satisfaction.
The teacher left in a hurry; he didn’t pack up much, only taking so books and commonly used items, leaving the rest of the furniture behind.
Besides the furniture, there was a middle-aged couple who took care of the teacher’s daily needs; he did not take them either and left them for the Xu Family.
The house was a two-entry residence, not very large, but exquisitely built, perfectly suitable for the children.
Eventually, through an official interdiary, both parties signed an agreent, and the house was sold for 350 taels.
After purchasing the house, Xu Zhiyong and Xu Zhiqin took a letter of introduction from Zhou Xun and led several children to the academy to see the Mountain Master for school admissions.
By the end of the admissions process, it was almost the end of the lunar new year.
Anning prepared so clothes and commonly used items for Xu Minying and Xu Minchang, and Xu Zhiyong took them to the county town.
The old master was worried about the children and followed them; normally, he would take care of the children’s daily needs at ho and bring them back to Xiao Guan Village during school breaks.
Xu Erya’s days in the Lu Family were becoming increasingly difficult.
Mrs. Lu noticed Xu Erya’s true nature, and now she began to loathe her.
The maids, seizing the high ground and disparaging the low, also started targeting Xu Erya, noticing their masters’ displeasure.
Xu Erya indeed had so tricks up her sleeve, and was particularly ruthless at heart.
However, compared to those born and raised in the inner house, accustod to countless struggles, she truly couldn’t match them.
In the eyes of the senior maids, Xu Erya’s little tricks were nothing; with just a little effort, they made her life extrely difficult.
She was not only starving, but also had to consu leftovers daily, endure hard labor, and face ntal tornt.
By the ti the lunar new year ended, Xu Erya was skin and bones.
Without the support of the spiritual spring water, she feared she wouldn’t have survived.
Mrs. Lu was naturally aware of the maids’ tactics, but since she disliked Xu Erya, she naturally wouldn’t speak up for her.
Xu Erya knew Mrs. Lu was doing this deliberately; Mrs. Lu no longer wanted her to stay in the Lu Family and wanted to drive her away without explicitly saying so, thus employing these tactics, hoping to make her leave voluntarily.
But Xu Erya dared not leave.
She was afraid that once she left the Lu Family, she would have nowhere to go.
If she, a young girl, wandered out, she would be devoured by the outsiders.
Just when Mrs. Lu thought of intensifying her efforts, the Lu Family was confiscated.
It was an edict from the newly ascended Emperor Pingle, accusing the Lu Family of harboring a court felon and ordering their imprisonnt for investigation.
The Lu Family mbers were truly taken aback.
They had always maintained neutrality in the court and kept a low profile over the years. How had they suddenly provoked such retribution?
As the family heads of the Lu Family were imprisoned, their servants were naturally to be sold off.
At that mont, Xu Erya ca forward, claiming she was not a servant of the Lu Family, just soone who had previously saved Lu Ze, and she had been staying with the Lu Family temporarily.
Fortunately, she had never signed a servitude contract; she was still a free person.
The officials who ca to confiscate the property confird that Xu Erya was indeed not a servant of the Lu Family and drove her out.
After leaving, Xu Erya first found an inn to stay and began to ponder her next steps.
When she heard about the Lu Family’s confiscation, she hurried to Mrs. Lu’s room and gathered so valuable items and silver notes into her spiritual spring space, and she also searched through several senior maids’ bedrooms, collecting their accumulated valuables as well.
It could be said that Xu Erya made a fortune during the Lu Family’s confiscation.
Once she settled down, she took out the items from the spiritual spring space to count.
There really were a lot of valuable items; expensive jewelry, tens of thousands of taels in silver notes, a thousand taels in gold notes, and the senior maids’ savings included gold and silver ingots and various other gold and silver items and more jewelry.
Overall, the wealth Xu Erya accumulated from the Lu Family was enough for her to live a rich life.
After counting the money, Xu Erya put the items back into the spiritual spring space and couldn’t help but laugh loudly: "Let them bully , now what, they’re in jail, hmph!"
The Lu Family still had so good friends.
After the Lu Family mbers were imprisoned, those relatives inquired around and ultimately ca across so news.
It turned out, before Emperor Pingle’s ascension, the court was indeed in chaos, with several princes fiercely competing for succession.
The forr Crown Prince, in his bid for power, had rallied so military generals to rebel, was suppressed, and then imprisoned. To protect his family, he committed suicide in prison.
The late Emperor, moved by the Crown Prince’s tragic death, softened his heart and not only did not pursue the Crown Prince’s son’s culpability, but also posthumously titled the Crown Prince’s legitimate son as Prince Shun.
Recently, Prince Shun committed an offense, and while fleeing with the Crown Prince’s loyal confidants, he was injured during his capture by the court’s troops and ended up seeking refuge in the Lu Family.
The Lu Family, instead of handing over Prince Shun, covered up for him and even saved his life.
When the court discovered this, Emperor Pingle was infuriated.
He believed the Lu Family had colluded with the forr Crown Prince and considered them diehard supporters of the Crown Prince, thereby issuing the edict to imprison the entire family.
The Lu Family’s friends sent a letter to Old Master Lu.
Old Master Lu was bewildered upon reading the letter.
They had no connections with Prince Shun; how could they dare to shield him at the risk of offending the current emperor?
Old Master Lu did not know who saved Prince Shun and brought such calamity upon the family.
He asked his sons, and they all denied saving him.
Later, Old Master Lu sent a ssage to the won’s prison to inquire among the female relatives, but they also claid they had never seen this outsider.
The more Old Master Lu investigated, the angrier he beca, so he bribed the jailer to send a ssage to his friends outside, asking them to investigate who had saved Prince Shun.
anwhile, Xu Erya, who had caused such a catastrophe for the Lu Family, was still soundly asleep in the inn.
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