I was a stepmother in ancient times, and I led my whole family to wealth.

Chapter 198 They're all unfortunate kids

Jun Wenhui sneered: "Your father has a good plan. He wants to enjoy the beauty of two women at the same time."

Dongfang Jin nodded, but the Yang family really had a clever plan.

Gu Yumei was also furious: "Your father is a real scoundrel, and that woman really doesn't cherish herself."

Xia Lan continued, "Later, with my maternal grandfather's help and his own scholar's degree, he secured a position as a registrar in the Cheng'an County government."

My maternal grandfather also bought them a property in Cheng'an County, saying it was part of my mother's dowry...

Ever since I was born, my father has been shuttling between Yangjiagou and our home.

"When I was three years old, my father was also promoted to county magistrate and also received an official rank."

That day, my mother, who was pregnant with my younger brother, took me to the county government office to deliver food to him. There she saw my father arguing with another pregnant woman.

My mother and I rushed over, and only when we got closer did we realize that the woman was my father's other wife.

When my mother heard this, she got angry and scolded my father, asking what they were doing, what kind of behavior was it to be pulling and shoving each other in the street?

My mother's shout startled both of them and the people walking around nearby.

At that moment, the woman heard my mother call my father "husband" and me call my father "father," and she rushed over angrily, pushing my mother to the ground without saying a word.

My mother fell right on the main road, and just then a caravan of livestock passed by.

Hearing this, everyone became tense, and Xia Lan choked up.

Gu Yumei stepped forward and hugged her silently, comforting her. Xia Lan suppressed her sobs: "When my mother collapsed, it startled the livestock..."

The beasts were terrified and began to scatter in all directions, and just like that, my mother and my unborn brother were trampled to death by those animals.

After my maternal grandfather found out about this, he took my mother's body and all the dowry that the Fu family had given her, but he didn't take me with him.

Later, my father also approached my maternal grandfather, wanting them to return my mother's body so that it could be buried in the Yang family ancestral cemetery.

However, when he went to my maternal grandfather's house, he heard that my grandfather had already taken my mother's coffin and my uncle's family back to their hometown in Liangzhou.

Later, no matter how much my father inquired, he could not find any news about my maternal grandfather's family.

Without the support of my maternal family in the county government, he quickly became strapped for cash, and thus became a laughing stock in the county government.

He took me to live in the county for two years, until I was five years old. Then the county magistrate introduced him to another woman, saying that she was a relative of the magistrate's wife.

And so, she sent me to Yangjiagou and left me there without a care.

Less than two months after I returned to Yangjiagou, I was brutally beaten by the woman in my family in a fit of anger, and finally sold to a slave trader for ten taels of silver.

Jun Wenhui frowned: "The culprit who pushed your mother, hasn't been punished? She also beat you and sold you out?"

Xia Lan shook her head: "I heard from people in the yamen that the magistrate said this is my father's family matter and that my father should handle it himself. But how will he handle it?"

Without the support of my maternal family, he still has to rely on that family in Yangjiagou. Now that he's married a relative of the county magistrate's wife, he's even less likely to care about them.

Jun Qixian brought over the medicine she had drunk: "What's wrong with your throat?"

Xia Lan smiled bitterly: "After I was sold, I woke up in Liyang Prefecture, Jizhou. I was spotted by the young master of a wealthy merchant on the way..."

Although that young master was born out of wedlock, he was the only male in the family, and he would buy anything he wanted.

...After that, she stayed by that young master's side for more than a year.

The young master's mistress had a son and couldn't tolerate him. That night, they pushed the young master into the well, which I happened to see when I got up in the middle of the night.

Because I was young, they drugged me and sold me off..."

Gu Yumei was about to get angry, but after receiving a look from Jun Wenhui and glancing at Dongfang Jin, she sighed, "Every family has its own problems. How come the homes of such prominent families are so chaotic?"

As soon as she changed the subject, Jun Wenhui breathed a sigh of relief and followed up: "The more powerful and wealthy a family is, the more they want offspring. They want to have more children to expand their family."

Otherwise, such a large family business would need someone to manage it, and it's not the same as having servants manage it versus having one's own children manage it.

At the same time, they would also choose the most outstanding among their children to inherit the family business.

But most families value the eldest son.

Dongfang Jin...

That's good, these two are working together very well now.

I never expected this girl to have such an experience. No wonder she's so calm and mature.

Next, Linglan (Lan Fangjing) tells her about her background; her family is from Qingshan Prefecture in Qingzhou.

The Lan family was in the cloth business. Her father favored his concubine over his wife, and her maternal family was extremely patriarchal.

That's because once a daughter is married, she's like water spilled from a cup; she can no longer return to her parents' home after marriage.

This is also why her father favored his concubine over his wife.

The reason Lan's father married Linglan's mother was that he wanted to use the Yu family to establish a connection with their cloth purchasing channels.

The surname Yu is the surname of the head of Wolong Manor, one of the major powers in the martial arts world.

In several countries, most families with the surname Yu are protected by Wolong Manor.

Wolong Manor is famous for growing cotton, so they have almost monopolized the cotton fabric business in several countries.

Speaking of martial arts forces, there is also Dongyue Manor in the east, and the Shen family.

The Shen family is in the medicinal herb business and is famous for growing medicinal herbs, especially ginseng, in the Dongyue Mountains in the east.

In the west, there is Lanling Mountain Villa, owned by the Feng family, who are famous for raising horses.

In the south, at Jingxiu Manor, resides the Yun family, who are the most powerful among the major forces.

The Yun family is primarily engaged in jade, medicinal herbs, silk, and embroidery, and is a powerful force in the martial arts world that several countries dare not offend.

When Linglan's mother was pregnant, her father's concubine was jealous of her and feared that she would give birth to a legitimate son.

They bribed a servant in the manor to burn aphrodisiac incense in Linglan's mother's room. And just like that, Linglan's mother was caught red-handed by her father's favorite concubine and her entourage.

Linglan's mother was killed on the spot by her father with a wooden stool.

This is a scumbag who treats human life like dirt.

After her mother died, no one from her maternal family came, and the concubine was then promoted to the position of principal wife.

From that time on, she suffered all kinds of humiliation in the mansion. Later, she was taken to a temple by her stepmother to burn incense, where she was knocked unconscious and abducted.

When she woke up, the old woman who was watching over them said that she had received five taels of silver from her stepmother.

Tell her to buy the lily of the valley far away, preferably somewhere she'd never have to leave.

Chunlan (Liu Yingchun) was from Laiyang Prefecture in Qingzhou Prefecture, and her family made wine.

Her maternal grandfather was dedicated to researching wine, and the backyard of his house was always clean. Her mother was the only daughter in the family.

Her father was actually the son of her mother's aunt. Because there were many brothers in the family, her father was married into the Liu family.

After they got married, she was born. Her maternal grandfather, Liu Maolin, successfully developed a new wine and named her Yingchun in his joy.

At the same time, it was also the name he gave to the newly brewed wine. As soon as this Spring Festival wine was launched, it received unanimous praise from everyone.

Merchants came to visit our home in an endless stream, but as the saying goes, "Man proposes, God disposes."

While her maternal grandparents and mother were trying to salvage ingredients for making wine in the rain, the distillery suddenly caught fire.

The entire family of three perished in the fire; she was rescued from the flames by the family's servants...

They quietly returned home, and she discovered that it was all orchestrated by her father to obtain the recipe for the Spring Festival Wine.

Unexpectedly, the fire was too intense, burning not only all the treasured wines in the Liu family's cellar, but also all the recipes in the wine room, which were reduced to ashes.

Later, she asked the servant to take her to her mother's maternal grandparents for help, but unexpectedly she was imprisoned by her mother's maternal grandparents.

Their goal was also to get the recipe for the Spring Festival wine, but she was only five years old at the time and had no idea about those recipes.

Later, her father rescued her, but his purpose was the same as her mother's maternal grandparents: to get the formula.