The original person never held any resentment towards Zhou Xun. Although Xu Zhiwen died because of Zhou Xun, and the original person had a hard time without her husband, the original person actually had a sense of chivalry deep down. She deeply admired Xu Zhiwen’s loyalty and sense of duty, and knowing the friendship between Xu Zhiwen and Zhou Xun, she never bore any resentment towards Zhou Xun. Even after she passed away and saw Zhou Xun taking care of Xu Er Ya’s family, she never held any grudges. If there was anyone to blame, it would only be Xu Er Ya for deceiving Zhou Xun. Since the original person never held any resentment, Anning naturally wouldn’t harbor any hatred towards Zhou Xun either. Knowing that Zhou Xun’s current situation was not very good, she thought of fostering good karma and had the waiter send Zhou Xun a fifty-tael silver note. But don’t underestimate these fifty taels of silver. Fifty taels of silver had a particularly strong purchasing power in ancient times, enough to support a large family for several years. This is also why Zhou Xun cried so much when he saw the silver note. The fifty taels of silver alleviated Zhou Xun’s somewhat embarrassing circumstances at the moment and also allowed him some spare cash. He could rent a better inn and, during these days, concentrate on reading a few more books and writing some articles. Moreover, Zhou Xun also knew that Xu Zhiwen’s family was not very well-off, so for Anning to come up with fifty taels of silver was really not easy. For more chapters visit N0v3l.Fiɾe.net He felt grateful in his heart and thought of catching up with her to return the money, but by the time he went out, Anning and Scholar Wen had already disappeared. Holding the silver note, Zhou Xun swore in his heart that once he passed the scholar examination, he would definitely take good care of Xu Zhiwen’s family. Scholar Wen highly approved of Anning’s action of leaving the silver note for Zhou Xun. "You being able to open your heart and not hold any grudge against Scholar Zhou is really not easy." Scholar Wen looked at Anning, feeling quite proud to have such a daughter. Anning smiled and said, "This is all thanks to what dad taught me." Scholar Wen raised his hand, intending to pat her head like when she was little, but then he remembered that his daughter was now grown up, with children of her own, and put his hand down. Anning and Scholar Wen stayed in Prefecture City for one more day, bought everything they needed, and then started to head back. When they reached the county, Anning found a human trafficker to purchase a household of servants. Coincidentally, not long ago in the county, a noble had gone somewhere for reasons unknown, and the Old Madam, in her anger, sold many of the serving staff. When Anning arrived, she saw the human trafficker inspecting and registering these servants. She then picked one household. This household was sold because their daughter had served that noble, implicating the entire family. Anning saw that this family was all honest and upright, even the girl had a clear gaze, so she decided to buy them. As they were sold by their master, the price for this family of five was not high, costing just over twenty taels of silver. After Anning got the deed to their ownership, she hired a ox cart to take this family back to Xiao Guan Village. Scholar Wen sent Anning to her doorstep, had the newly purchased servants move the things Anning had bought from Prefecture City, and then hastened back home. Anning directed a few servants to move the things inside the house, not distributing the items yet, and first took the family to meet the old master and the Old Madam. The old master and the Old Madam didn’t expect Anning to buy servants so quickly. They looked at the family of five kneeling on the ground somewhat at a loss. Anning introduced to the Old Madam, "This is Liu Bao, this is his wife Sun Family, this is his eldest son Liu Laifu, this is his youngest son Liu Laiqing, and this is his daughter Liu Chunmei." The Liu family immediately kowtowed to the Old Master and the Old Madam. The Old Madam quickly said, "All rise, our family doesn’t have so many formalities, and don’t kowtow in the future." Anning also smiled, "Did everyone hear that? From now on, as long as you do your work well, naturally you will not be treated unfairly." "We will definitely work hard." Liu Bao quickly assured. When their family was sold, they were very afraid, fearing that the Old Madam would split them up and sell them off in anger, afraid of being sold to a coal mine, and even more afraid of their daughter being sold to unspeakable places. Later, when Anning bought them, they were still somewhat uneasy, fearing that it would be difficult to serve their new masters. Now that they have arrived at the Xu Family in Xiao Guan Village, seeing that the household was simple and the masters did not seem harsh, they finally felt relieved. Afterwards, Anning arranged for Liu Bao and his family to live in the previously used residence of the third branch. Liu Bao and his wife lived in the eastern room, his two sons in the western room, and his daughter Liu Chunmei shared a room with Xu Minruo. Liu Bao acted as the steward, managing all miscellaneous affairs, his wife Sun took care of the kitchen, his two sons did the heavy chores, and Liu Chunmei did some cleaning work. After assigning the tasks, Anning then sorted out the items she bought this time with Xu Minruo. Items bought for the Old Madam and the Old Master were delivered to their room, items for Xu Minruo, Lan, and Ying Ge’er were let them take by themselves, the rest were placed in a newly organized storage room in the west wing. After dinner, Anning went to the Old Madam’s place. She talked about her trip to Prefecture City with the Old Madam. The Old Madam was very happy. "It’s unbelievable our family still has such luck, your embroidery of Guanyin actually caught the eye of a noble." Anning smiled and said, "It was fortunate, now that our family has some money, I was thinking whether we should buy some land. I want Dad to inquire about it and see where there is good land to buy. Also, Ying Ge’er should go to school too." "Yes, yes, it’s time to buy some land." The Old Madam was very delighted, "I’ll talk to your dad in a bit, your dad is good at farming, he can definitely pick some good land." Anning and the Old Madam talked for a while, then brought up her recent encounter with Zhou Xun. The Old Madam listened to Anning discussing Zhou Xun’s hardships over the years and remained silent for a long time. Anning then said, "When I left, I gave him a silver note worth fifty taels to help him get through the end of this rural examination." The Old Madam finally sighed deeply, "Well, Eldest’s death can’t be blamed on him. In the future... Since he remembers Eldest and wants to , we should accept his help, and if he becomes a scholar, our family’s days should also improve." The Old Madam was rational, knowing that the living are more important than the dead; now, she only hopes for her grandchildren to have a good life, so she buried all the sadness, grievances, and pains deep in her heart. Anning was silent for a while, "I was thinking the same way; my hopes now are all on Brother Ying, Mr. Zhou is knowledgeable, if he achieves high status, he can also help Brother Ying in the future." The Old Madam patted Anning’s hand, "Bringing you into our family was the biggest blessing for us, the Xu family." The Old Madam spoke earnestly. She saw everything Anning had done these days. Although the Old Madam was illiterate and hadn’t traveled much, she was a shrewd person. She could see that every action Anning took was for the benefit of this family; Anning was fair in her dealings and generous in her actions, most importantly, her broad-mindedness and capabilities were comparable to any man’s; with Anning here, the Xu family’s days were bound to get better. Although the Old Madam grieved the early passing of her eldest son, with Anning’s support over the years and Anning’s frequent comfort, she had also learned to let go. Now, all she wanted was for her grandchildren to be well, and for Anning, she had already accepted her and truly felt close to her from the bottom of her heart.