Isn’t this all the handiwork of Xu Erya?
When Old Master Lu found out about this matter, he almost spewed out a liter of blood.
He truly hadn’t expected that their Du family, such an illustrious clan, would actually be brought down by a little maid.
Was that little maid really so bold and reckless, or was she sent by opponents to specifically entrap his family?
Old Master Lu was so furious he vomited blood, but Mrs. Du was even more enraged than he was.
She had originally seen through Xu Erya’s venomous nature, yet she hadn’t paid it much attention.
She figured what sort of waves could a little maid possibly stir up? Yet she never imagined that such a little maid could land the entire Lu Family in jail.
Lu Ze was even more guilt-stricken.
Without hesitation, Old Master Lu reported up the chain, saying that the whole affair was stirred up by a little maid nad Xu Fangfei.
Consequently, the court began to issue docunts to capture Xu Erya, thinking that perhaps capturing Xu Erya would lead them to Prince Shun.
Anning and the others hadn’t yet entered the Capital when they heard the news.
Every governnt office in all prefectures had posted notices, and they were all arresting Xu Fangfei.
Upon hearing this na, Anning knew it was Xu Erya.
In the mories of her original identity, Xu Erya had later changed her na to this.
She quietly approached the Old Madam: "Mother, this Xu Fangfei is Erya."
The Old Madam was terrified.
If the Lu Family, such a grand household, could be tornted by Xu Erya like this, their small Xu Family certainly couldn’t withstand such a storm.
"Thank goodness."
The Old Madam tightly grasped Anning’s hand and said.
Anning replied as well: "Thank goodness we drove her out early, and her household registration was eliminated from the governnt office."
"The people in the village know her, do you think we should..."
The Old Madam was still very worried: "And there’s the Feng Family, they really hate our family now, if they get wind of this..."
Anning whispered reassurances to the Old Madam: "She changed her na, the villagers won’t connect the dots, and as for the Feng Family, they wouldn’t dare speak up. The stuff Erya stirred up can lead to the extermination of nine clans, and the Feng Family is her maternal relative."
The Old Madam considered this and realized it was indeed true.
Erya bore the surna Xu, but she ca from Mrs. Feng’s womb; as long as the Feng Family didn’t want their clan destroyed, even if they knew, they wouldn’t dare speak out.
The subject of Anning’s and Old Madam’s conversation, Xu Erya, was now skulking and hiding, truly not living any good days.
However, Xu Erya was still quite clever, plus she had a makeup skill that even modern people referred to as the Head Swapping Technique.
During her ti in the modern world, Xu Erya was very ordinary-looking. She learned to apply makeup in middle school and fully understood the wonders of makeup. Once she reached university, she used her exquisite makeup skills to make herself look incredibly beautiful and refined.
Nowadays, although there wasn’t the sa makeup available, Xu Erya still improvised with what was at hand to apply makeup to herself.
She was young, her features not yet fully developed, and she had been very thin before. Recently, she had eaten and drunk heartily, gaining quite a bit of weight, and with makeup on, she truly looked unrecognizable.
Of course, Xu Erya dared not use the na Xu Fangfei anymore.
She changed her na again, originally planning to find a household in the countryside with a small population, or perhaps an orphaned elderly person with no children, with whom she could purchase a household registration.
But who would’ve thought, before she could act, she encountered Prince Shun again.
Afterwards, Xu Erya followed Prince Shun and went with him.
Prince Shun was indeed a capable man.
The forr Crown Prince had already prepared an escape route for himself well before his rebellion. After his downfall, Prince Shun feigned being scared silly to put both the late Emperor and Emperor Pingle at ease.
When Emperor Pingle no longer regarded him as a threat, Prince Shun planned out all his escape routes and fled.
Had it not been for so missteps that exposed him while on the run, he wouldn’t have been pursued and killed, nor would he have been saved by Xu Erya.
Afterwards, Prince Shun continued to hide and flee, heading south. Along the way, he happened to encounter Xu Erya, who disguised him well enough to cover his famously handso face, making it easier for him to move around.
Prince Shun also rembered Xu Erya’s life-saving grace.
Moreover, since Xu Erya’s current plight was due to him, he could not just ignore her, so he took her with him as he headed south.
At this ti, Anning had already entered the Capital.
After settling down, Anning tidied up both the Old Master and Old Madam, and then visited Imperial Censor Hu’s family.
Imperial Censor Hu was a very upright man. Although his family was not wealthy and still lived in a modest two-courtyard house, the Hu Family’s character was comndable.
Anning also t Hu Huiniang, Imperial Censor Hu’s daughter, who was truly a gentle and dignified lady.
Afterwards, Old Madam and Zhou Xun discussed their opinions about Hu Huiniang, and Zhou Xun was very satisfied.
With both families agreeing, the marriage was set, followed by a series of wedding arrangents.
Zhou Xun was due at the Hanlin Academy, and having no ti to attend to the wedding matters, entrusted everything to the Xu Family.
Zhou Yu’er was young and inexperienced in managing a household, definitely not up to the task.
During the arrangents, Anning took her and Xu Minruo along to help them develop their own ho managent skills.
These two young ladies learned a lot following Anning, and they both grew more confident.
Zhou Xun and Hu Huiniang were married as sumr gave way to autumn.
Since neither family was a major clan and both had few mbers, the wedding was not very grand, but still quite satisfactory.
After Zhou Xun’s wedding, Anning began to look for a suitable house in the Capital.
Later on, with the help of Mrs. Hu, a three-courtyard house in the eastern part of the city was found.
Upon inspection, Anning was very pleased and bought it after negotiating a reasonable price.
Houses in the Capital were truly expensive, incomparable to those in the county.
A two-courtyard house in the county along with furniture could be had for just over three hundred taels of Silver, while a similar one in the Capital would cost several thousand taels.
And the price of a three-courtyard house was even more exorbitant; this house cost Anning over ten thousand taels of Silver.
The Old Master and Old Madam were quite distressed when they heard the price.
However, Anning reassured them that the house was bought for future generations, as Brother Ying would also need to co to the Capital for the exams, and it was not acceptable for him to lack a place to stay.
Besides, the Capital was indeed prosperous, and their family couldn’t always be holed up in the countryside. Perhaps they would like to visit the Capital soday, and having a house would be much more convenient.
Recently, other than being busy with Zhou Xun’s wedding, Anning was also working hard to finish embroidering the landscape painting.
Coincidentally, autumn was also the Empress Dowager’s thousand-autumn birthday.
Last year Emperor Pingle had just ascended to the throne, and this year, he planned to celebrate the Empress Dowager’s birthday in a grand manner. Now, the Capital was busy preparing for her birthday celebrations.
Even the Hanlin Academy, where Zhou Xun was, was bustling.
They were mainly busy with writing birthday couplets and such for the Empress Dowager.
During this ti, Anning visited the Zhou Family. She found Hu Huiniang and handed over the embroidered landscape painting to her, asking Imperial Censor Hu to present it as a gift.
Why not have Zhou Xun present it as a birthday gift instead?
Mainly because Zhou Xun’s official rank was too low, and he had no chance of being admitted to the court.
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