I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 169 The mantis stalks the cicada
"Madam!" Granny Sun stepped forward to support Madam Sun, but was pulled to the ground and used as a human shield. Ignoring the pain in her body, she pinched Madam Sun's philtrum desperately, "Madam, you must hold on! The young master's matter still needs your decision."

Madam Sun suddenly came to her senses and slapped the servant hard across the face. "How dare you! Who gave you the audacity to slander the young master like this?"

The servant's face swelled even more, and he kowtowed repeatedly, begging for mercy, "Madam, please understand, how dare this servant slander the young master? Everything this servant said is true."

Seeing that Madam Sun still refused to accept reality, Granny Sun said loudly, "Madam, the most urgent thing is to redeem the young master. If word gets out that the young master is having an affair with a married woman, his future will be ruined!"

Is it all over? Her son is finished? Madam Sun kept shaking her head. No, this is her only son, her hope for the next life.

How much money do the kidnappers want?

The servant replied truthfully, "Three thousand taels. It will be delivered to the wild woods fifty miles west of the city at dawn the day after tomorrow. Someone will come to meet you then."

Three thousand taels. Sun gritted her teeth. The harvest from the estate hadn't come in yet, and the public funds didn't even amount to a thousand taels.

"Granny Sun, pawn all my dowry."

"Madam, in order to raise enough dowry for the Song family, you sold off most of your dowry. What's left now is not worth much."

Granny Sun didn't say the last few words, but Madam Sun understood. She gritted her teeth and pulled out the pearl hairpin left by her deceased mother from her hair. "Take it to the pawnshop and pawn it immediately!"

Granny Sun accepted it with tears in her eyes.

Having pawned her last valuable hairpin, Sun had no other way to raise the money and had no choice but to go to Old Master An and cry her heart out.

"Grandpa, Bin-ge'er has been framed! Please save Bin-ge'er!"

"Framed?" Old Master An sneered. "Who has the ability to frame a grown man and put him in the bed of a married woman?"

Madam Sun dared not make excuses for her son any longer and wept uncontrollably.

“Bin-ge’er is young and his mind is not stable. He will inevitably be led astray by those bad kids outside,” said Madam An, feeling sorry for her grandson. “Now that Bin-ge’er is in the hands of those scoundrels, I don’t know how much suffering he will endure. Old Master, please think of a way to rescue Bin-ge’er quickly.”

“Those troublemakers were clearly prepared, and they immediately got hold of Bin Ge’er and the An family’s Achilles’ heel.”

Now, An Jia's reputation is ruined outside, and he is short of money at home. Buying an official position is not an option. If he wants to revive his family, the only way is to rely on his real talent and pass the imperial examinations to enter officialdom.

It's a pity that among so many sons in the An family, only Bin Ge'er has the talent for studying. Therefore, he supervised Bin Ge'er's studies every day, and Bin Ge'er did not disappoint him and successfully entered the Imperial Academy.

Seeing that years of hard work are about to pay off, how can we let it all go to waste?
Grandpa An stroked the beaded bracelet on his wrist, remained silent for a long time, and finally said, "Go and take the money out of the box."

Old Madam An was reluctant to part with it, but she felt even more sorry for her grandson, so she personally led people to bring the box full of silver ingots to Sun Shi.

"Here are two thousand seven hundred taels of silver, our old savings for our funerals; the remaining three hundred taels..."

Madam Sun quickly replied, "I've already sent someone to pawn the dowry; I'm sure I can raise three hundred taels."

Madam An nodded reluctantly.

Just as Madam Sun was happily accepting the money box, she heard Old Master An say, "After Bin-ge'er comes back, let him study with me. You can then focus on managing the household affairs."

Mrs. Sun was struck dumb, but as a mother, she felt responsible for her son's grave mistake. Therefore, she dared not argue and said aggrievedly, "I know, daughter-in-law."

After Madam Sun left, Old Master An went to his study alone and wrote the character "忍" (patience/forbearance) on several pages before he could finally suppress his anger.

As the old servant ground the ink, he said, "Master, please don't be angry. The young master is inexperienced and that's why he was set up. When the young master returns, you can teach him slowly."

"It's true that he's naive and inexperienced, but it's even more true that he's blinded by lust!" Old Master An put down his pen. "A young master from an official family, what kind of woman couldn't he have? Why did he have to seduce a married woman!" Seduce her and then be tricked by a mere woman and a scoundrel, it's truly a disgrace!
“In ordinary families, young masters are arranged to have servants in their rooms when they are fourteen or fifteen. However, when the young master is about to come of age, there are only servants in the courtyard. At this age, he is full of vigor and passion, and the women outside have many tricks up their sleeves. It is only natural that the young master would fall into their trap.”

"The Sun family plans to wait until Bin-ge'er passes the imperial examination and marries a woman from a prominent family. With the support of his in-laws, Bin-ge'er's future career will naturally be smooth."

Old Master An sighed, "Although it is customary for officials and noble families to have a wife before marriage, and they don't mind if the woman they raise doesn't, it is easier to win the favor of the bride's family if she doesn't have one."

That's why he acquiesced to Sun's arrangements.

The old servant worried, "What if those thieves break their promise and take the money but still spread the word about the young master..."

This was also what he was worried about. Old Master An turned the beaded string on his wrist and said, "You go and select guards with high martial arts skills. After we redeem Bin-ge'er the day after tomorrow, leave none of them alive!"

"Yes!"

"And that woman who seduced Brother Bin!"

"Don't worry, sir," the old servant said, and left to carry out his orders.

October 24th marks the Empress Dowager's birthday.

At the hour of Chou (1-3 AM), the gates of Luoyang were opened wide, and people from surrounding prefectures and counties flocked in, hoping to share in the Empress Dowager's blessings.

Among the throngs of carriages and people entering the city, only one carriage was going in the opposite direction.

The gatekeepers were extremely busy, and after a cursory inspection, they let the person out of the city.

Old servant Yu sat in the carriage, urging the coachman to hurry on their way and arrive at the woods west of the city three quarters of an hour ahead of schedule. "Change your clothes," he said.

The guards of the An family nodded, changed out of their prepared night clothes, covered their faces with masks, and each found a hidden hiding place to lie in ambush.

Old Yu looked out the car window and watched as the night gradually faded and the sky gradually brightened.

At the stroke of dawn, footsteps suddenly echoed through the woods.

Old servant Yu helped the coachman down from the carriage and bowed to the dozen or so men who strode over. “This old servant is the steward of the An family. I have prepared three thousand taels of silver. Please, gentlemen, return my young master to me.”

The old servant waved his hand, and the guards of the An family carried a box off the carriage. When they opened the box, they found fifty taels of silver ingots neatly stacked on the ground.

The leader went up to check it himself, and after stumbling and checking it seven or eight times, he finally counted the number of silver ingots.

After confirming that everything was correct, the man blew a whistle, and a man dressed in hemp clothing ran out of the woods carrying a sack to the group, throwing the sack to the ground with a thud.

The groom untied the sack, and An Shangbin, naked and with not a single good spot on his body, appeared before Old Servant Yu.

"Young Master!" Old servant Yu rushed forward.

"Grandpa Yu," An Shangbin called out weakly as he opened his eyes, then closed them again and fainted.

Old Servant Yu glared fiercely at the man opposite him and ordered the guards to help him into the carriage. "The money has been given to you all. Please keep your promise, otherwise the An family is not to be trifled with!"

The man sneered, "I keep my word!"

The carriage quickly drove away, and as a group of men were discussing how to divide the money, seven or eight men in black suddenly emerged from the woods, brandishing large knives and slashing at them.

(End of this chapter)