Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

The gatekeepers of wealthy families have always been lucrative jobs. These people can get some money from the gifts and purchases that come in and out, not to mention that if someone wants to ask a favor from the master, they must pay them to see the master, so that these second-rate guys will do a good deed and not withhold their name cards.

Therefore, the servants of the Xiangfu are well-informed and wealthy, and they really don't care about a piece of silver. It's just that a timid little beauty asks you to do something in a nice voice, and anyone who sees it will have to straighten their backs a little: "The eldest lady has been invited by the Princess of Xiangyang to play, and you don't have to wait. Why don't we pass a message to the sisters who serve in her room and see which one is free to meet you, and you can tell them what you have to say?"

Li Ah Man didn't know which sisters they were talking about. She thought that the respectable ones must have followed them out, and the rest must be little maids like Liu Cui - each of them had been severely offended by her and her sister in the past, so how could she dare to see them? Moreover, this time she had made up her mind to seize this opportunity to sell herself well in front of Wen Jiao, so as to gain a stable future for herself. What if she didn't see the real god, but was ridiculed by a few little ghosts in front of the palace, stopped and sent away, wouldn't it be a waste of time?

She could never go back to the Chen family, and her sister had disappeared without a trace. This time she was determined to make a desperate move, and if she failed, she would jump into the Wei River.

Li Aman immediately smiled and said, "Don't bother me, brothers. I'll just wait a little longer."

The doormen smiled at each other and said, "Young lady, the women in the mansion receive countless visiting cards every day. Why don't you write a visiting card and hand it over first? We will put you in line and see when it will be your turn. If you just stand by the door and wait, isn't that making things difficult for us? It's not nice for others to see you, isn't it?"

The words were polite, but the inner meaning was two words, "Get lost." Li Ah Man had no choice but to leave and stand at a corner of the street, watching the passing cars. She waited until her legs were sore, and then she saw a group of maids surrounding a carriage and it slowly stopped. One of the maids tilted her head, and it was Ming Xin.

Li A'man's eyes lit up, and she ran over in a hurry, shouting as she ran: "Madam, I am Li A'man, I have something important to tell you!"

Who is your mistress? Mingxin and Suxin recognized her voice, and their faces darkened immediately. They called out to the other wives and wives: "Who is this crazy woman, yelling here? Stop her, don't let her scare our young lady!"

Wen Jiao was now very sharp-eyed and could hear Li A-man approaching before any of her subordinates. However, she was not a hypocritical saint with good intentions. Although she had no grudge against the little girl who was being ordered by Chen Guangrui to bully Yin Wenjiao, she was even less concerned about her. She was naturally even less interested in the important matter mentioned by her former colleague. However, when she saw that she was being blocked and several maids were pushing her very hard, she frowned slightly and finally ordered, "This woman is pregnant, be careful not to let her fall." Then she was about to go in.

Seeing this, Li Aman shouted: "Chen Guangrui wants to harm you!"

Among the Li sisters, the elder sister Li Xiaoman is good at playing the pipa, while the younger sister Li Aman is good at singing. Li Aman's well-trained voice, when she shouted loudly, the sound was really brisk and loud, and half of the street could hear it clearly, not to mention the servants surrounding Wen Jiao. Su Xin said unhappily: "Take her away, it's not good to block her here."

Ming Xin also spat, "Who does he think he is? He has harmed our young lady and his whole family is almost going to have to eat dirt. The first thing we should do is to arrest his concubine who has stolen the master's property."

Wen Jiao paused: "Bring her in."

Li Ah Man struggled for half a day before she was able to enter the house. She had lost her spirit from last night. She followed the maid and walked through the hall for a long time before she arrived at the Wanhua Tower where Wen Jiao lived. She did not dare to look up the whole time. Unexpectedly, the maid did not take her to see Wen Jiao, but took her to the side room and said coldly, "Miss, you are kind-hearted. You look very tired, so I asked you to take a rest first. If you have anything to say, we can talk about it after dinner." She whispered, "Back then, you relied on the support of that Chen man to do so many frivolous things. Now that Chen man is down, you turn against him and sell him out. What kind of person is he?"

Li Ah Man recognized her as Bi Tao, having seen her before at Chen's house. At that time, Bi Tao was holding the newly made jewelry by Yin Wenjiao, and her elder sister wanted to see it, but she refused to give it to her. Her elder sister got angry, snatched the hairpin and deliberately threw it on the rockery, knocking off two beads. The girl was so anxious that she cried and her eyes were swollen on the spot.

Chen Guangrui heard this and came over. After knowing the whole story, he gave Bi Tao a good scolding: "You idiot, it's just two beads. You're being nice to me by throwing them. If you cry again, I'll beat you out and sell you off. My Chen family is a clean place and we won't tolerate someone like you who doesn't know the difference between the noble and the humble!"

Bi Tao was so frightened that she stopped crying and kowtowed repeatedly begging: "I will never dare to do it again." The look in her eyes when she looked at her sisters secretly was like a knife.

It's really a narrow road.

Li A'man felt uncomfortable with her glaring eyes. She wanted to straighten her back and refuse Wen Jiao's "charity", but before she could say anything, she heard her stomach growling. She immediately lost her temper and put down her bag obediently, then took the towel handed to her by Bitao and wiped her face.

Bi Tao brought a white porcelain powder box with a cold face: "This is mine, use it if you like it. I am embarrassed to let you meet the young lady with your yellow face. If people know that you look like a dishevelled ghost when you come to my house, they will think that I am mad at you."

Li Ah Man held back her anger, took the powder box, and did not dare to use it too much, only applying a thin layer of powder. After a while, the guest meal was served. The Xiangfu had its own custom of entertaining guests, and Li Ah Man's was the third-class guest meal, which also had fish, meat and snacks as usual. The table was full, and it made people's mouths water just by looking at it.

Li Ah Man's belly was already three months old, and no one dared to let Old Lady Zhang spoil her appetite, so she had plenty of meat for every meal. However, she had a bitter taste in her mouth during pregnancy, and she often wanted to eat some fresh fruit, fried with honey. Old Lady Zhang was used to a frugal life when she was young, and she thought that meat was good food, so she never thought it would be so delicate.

Li Ah Man was afraid that she would think she was being hypocritical and that she was taking advantage of her pregnancy to bully others. She also knew that fresh fruits were precious, so she dared not say anything. She had been holding it in for a month and was almost dying of cravings. As soon as the dinner was served, she accurately caught a wisp of sweet fruit scent. She glanced over and saw a plate of coconut meat fried in honey on the table. It was neatly arranged on a white porcelain plate, and it was as lovely as transparent amber. Her eyes were immediately fixed.