Transmigration: From Farmer To Empress
Chapter 96: Reward_1

Chapter 96: Chapter 96: Reward_1

Mrs. Bao accepted the silver, her mouth kept promising with a pile of sounds, her eyes squinting with joy.

She didn’t expect that this little maid looked so poor, but she really had money, Cai Wei directly prepaid her redemption money without even asking about Zhao Yun’s price. She was determined to rip her off by a couple of hundred taels later!

Zhao Yun saw that Cai Wei had prepaid her redemption silver, which eased her worries even more. She bowed down to Cai Wei, sobbed and said, "With this, I will feel safe waiting for you to save me, miss."

Zhou Laowu was anxious when he saw that Cai Wei had paid Zhao Yun’s price without even asking, and he immediately said, "Wei’er, this..."

"Uncle Zhou."

Caiwei interrupted him and said in a low voice, "Uncle Zhou, don’t worry, I’ve got Zhao Yun’s situation under control, it has nothing to do with Bafu Restaurant."

Seeing Cai Wei’s determined attitude, Zhou Laowu knew that he couldn’t change her decision. Taking into account Wei’er’s sensible temperament, he simply stayed silent and returned to the carriage in a huff.

The An Mansion

Early in the morning, festive decorations of lamps and ribbons everywhere, the An Mansion was filled with joyous atmosphere. Visitors with gifts came continuously to celebrate the birthday, including family members of the county magistrate, sons of the richest people in Bianzhou, almost all of them were people with identity and status.

One after another, decent birthday gifts were carried into the Mansion through the main entrance, dazzling everyone. The four An brothers, An Qi Yun, were standing on both sides of the entrance, greeting the guests who came to celebrate.

When Cai Wei’s group entered An Mansion, Zhou Laowu obviously became nervous. This was the first time he had seen such a big scene and been part of it.

"Wei’er, do we need to kowtow to the old madam? Oh no, we forgot to prepare a birthday gift!"

Cai Wei laughed and said, "Uncle Zhou, don’t be nervous. We are just here to roast meat skewers. Even if we wanted to wish a happy birthday or kowtow, we wouldn’t have the qualification to do so."

Hearing Cai Wei’s words, Zhou Laowu relaxed a bit. A few attendants guarding the second door heard that they were here to roast meat skewers, so they hurriedly helped carry the roasting oven and charcoal, and sent them to the garden in the backyard.

The birthday feast was set at noon. It was still too early to roast meat skewers. When they got to the back garden, Cai Wei had nothing to do, so she leisurely strolled around the garden.

An Mansion was a grand mansion with five entrances, surrounded by pink walls. The mansion was beautiful and luxurious, with three portal towers, surrounded by covered corridors on all sides. The path in the courtyard was dotted with rocks, and everything was exquisite and detailed. The entire house was grand and luxurious, showing its elegance!

While looking around, Cai Wei quietly admired in her heart. This was indeed a wealthy family. The luxury of this mansion was incomparable to her little courtyard!

While she was observing, a maid wearing a blue-green silk padded jacket, with a round face, came over and bowed, saying, "Miss Mu, our old madam would like to see you."

Old Madam An wanted to see her, which somewhat surprised Cai Wei. After all, the most respected person in this town was none other than Old Lady An.

Old Madam An had four sons. The eldest, An Qixiang, was the most famous doctor in the town. The biggest medical center in the town, Bao An Hall, was opened by him. In addition to that, he had also opened two herbal medicine shops in the town. With his excellent medical skills, noble medical ethics, and fair and reasonable business practices, he was highly respected in the town.

Second Master An Qiyun is the magistrate of Yushu County. He is a royal official, an important person who must be respectfully addressed as ’Master An’ by anyone in town. He is not someone to be underestimated.

Third Master An Qishan, after abandoning his literary pursuits for business in his early years, is now a wealthy person with tens of thousands of dollars through his painstaking management over the years. He not only owns businesses like Xinglong Inn, The Drunken Immortal Tavern, An’s Silk Shop, and Bai’s Silver Shop in town, but also conducts business in Yushu County Town and even as far away as Bianzhou Prefecture.

The fourth son, An Qilu, is even more outstanding. Although he and his third brother are in the same line of business, his operations are much larger and further away, with shops established throughout the country and even in the capital. It’s said that his business is booming to the extent that describing it as "making a fortune" would not be an exaggeration!

With her sons bringing honor to the family and her own charitable and kind-hearted nature, Old Madam An holds a high reputation in town and is considered one of the important figures.

Upon learning that Old Madam wanted to see her, Cai Wei gave a nod to Uncle Zhou and Jiujin and followed the round-faced maid.

They walked westward from the side gate, passed through a north-south alley, crossed an east-west hallway, and entered Old Lady An’s courtyard through the west gate.

Heading along the back veranda, the alert young maidservant raised the curtain as soon as she had informed of their arrival.

Upon entering the back door, a four-seasons Ruyi screen carved of agarwood greeted her. Laughter could be heard, indicating that the old lady’s room was full of people who were in a harmonious and cheerful mood.

Cai Wei took a quick look around the room and saw it was adorned with whole arrays of fine jewelry and beautiful dresses. There was a pleasant fragrance in the air. Old Madam An was leaning against a Luohan bed, surrounded by a group of young girls decked out in colorful attire.

Several chairs made of huanghuali wood were placed on both sides of the Luohan bed, and on the floor were many embroidered stools neatly arranged, occupied by a group of noble ladies adorned in gold and silver.

"Cai Wei pays respects to Old Madam. I wish you longevity as vast as the Eastern Sea, as enduring as the Southern Mountain, and perpetual youth and vitality like the pine and crane. May your days be bright as the sun and moon," Cai Wei greeted Old Madam An respectfully without hesitating, walking through the crowd to reach her.

"You must be the girl from the Mu family that my second son mentioned. Good child, rise," Old Madam An said kindly. Turning to the others, she said, "This is the girl I mentioned who runs the nursing homes. What do you think?"

Everyone smiled and said, "Indeed she is. Not only does this girl have a good heart, but she is also quite pleasing to the eye!"

Old Madam An chuckled, "Isn’t she? Considering her young age, she’s incredibly compassionate. I always wanted to do some good deeds for my descendants, but I never knew what I should do, so I ended up donating some money to the temple. I didn’t imagine that this young girl, with such a broad mind, has quietly set up a nursing home. She spent all her money supporting these people and she doesn’t even have any decent clothes for herself."

After speaking, she turned to one of her older maidservants and said, "Ruyi, fetch the keys later and find two vibrant fabrics from the storage. Give them to young lady Mu to make some decent clothes."

Cai Wei quickly bowed her head to express her thanks. A few of the Madams sitting on the ground, either daughters-in-law or wives of merchants who came to congratulate Old Madam on her birthday, seeing her appreciating Cai Wei, also stepped forward to join in the fun.

You gave her a purse, I gave her a pair of earrings, she gave a ring, and a young woman dressed in a luxurious rose-red brocade dress generously gave a valuable gold ruby hairpin.

In a short time, Cai Wei had accumulated over a dozen pieces of jewelry.

Old Madam An laughed heartily, "Look at her, with these items on, she immediately looks much more stunning. Young girls should be well-decorated. Being too plain is also considered inauspicious."