I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 173 Secret Message
As the jailers urged the An family members to disappear around the corner, two figures suddenly darted out from the woods, wielding shovels and digging at the grave.

When they had dug almost out, Wu Yi jumped into the pit, wiped the mud off Old Master An's face, and pulled him out of the pit like a radish.

Old Master An had been suffocating for a long time, and his face had turned ashen. Tang Zhao, who arrived a step behind, immediately knelt down and began CPR, and forced Wu Yi'er to perform artificial respiration.

Wu Yier:
Wu Yier lowered his head silently, filled with grief, indignation, and grievance.

The scene was so beautiful that Tang Zhao turned her head slightly and pressed down hard with both hands for about two minutes. The old man, who had been lying motionless on the ground, suddenly resumed breathing and then coughed violently.

Exhausted, Tang Zhao plopped down on the ground and shouted to the stunned Dr. Zhong, "Don't just stand there, save them!"

Dr. Zhong suddenly came to his senses and stepped forward to administer acupuncture to Grandpa An.

Gu Ci took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from Tang Zhao's face. Only after Tang Zhao's breathing gradually calmed down did he ask, "Is this medical skill really that amazing?"

Dr. Zhong listened intently as he administered the acupuncture.

"CPR, for emergency use," Tang Zhao helped Gu Ci to his feet. "It can help people who have suffered cardiac arrest or respiratory arrest maintain blood circulation and oxygen supply, prevent organs from dying due to lack of oxygen, and buy time for doctors to rescue them."

Dr. Zhong was completely bewildered by all this nonsense.

Gu Ci looked thoughtfully at Old Master An, whose breathing was gradually stabilizing. "In other words, it can restore breathing to someone who has stopped breathing."

Bingo! Tang Zhao snapped his fingers, "But it's only effective within the golden five minutes, uh, half a cup of tea."

"If you want to learn, I'll teach you later."

Gu Ci nodded with a smile.

"Cough!" Dr. Zhong coughed heavily. "All done."

Tang Zhao understood the refined meaning behind the music and said, "If Dr. Zhong doesn't mind, I will also teach you this method."

Dr. Zhong nodded demurely, “Once we arrive in Wuwei, I will pass on this ancestral acupuncture technique to you.”

Tang Zhao:.
Thank you, but no need.

Seeing Dr. Zhong's expression of "you got a great deal," Tang Zhao decisively turned to Old Master An, who was sitting on the ground, and asked, "Old Master An, do you recognize me?"

Grandpa An shook his head with difficulty.

“You shouldn’t have met me in the first place,” Tang Zhao crouched down to meet his gaze, “but fate brought us together.”

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Tang Zhao, the grandson of the Protector General and the daughter of the First-Rank Duke of Wei," Tang Zhao continued, as Old Master An stared wide-eyed. "The mastermind behind your An family's downfall."

"I bribed Madam You, and I hired Boss Wu," Tang Zhao said playfully, blinking her eyes. "Surprised? Unexpected?"

"You wicked woman! You wicked woman!" Old Master An screamed, his eyes red. "Why did you do this to my An family?"

"Why? Why ask such a question when you already know the answer?" Tang Zhao stared into Old Master An's eyes and said, word by word, "The reason I harmed the An family is the same as the reason your daughter, An Shi, was made the official wife less than three months after my mother's death, and the reason why the old lady of the Duke of Wei tacitly allowed you to pin the crime of withholding my mother's dowry on An Shi."

Grandpa An's pupils suddenly contracted.

The gamble paid off! Old Master An knew exactly what was going on.

Tang Zhao felt a sense of relief, but her words pressed on, "In the thirtieth year of the Kangzhi reign, it seems that Old Master An did something significant."

Old Master An trembled all over, his hands braced on the ground as he desperately tried to move backward. "No, no, this matter is so secretive, no one will know."

Gu Ci suddenly looked at Tang Zhao.

"If you don't want people to know, then don't do it in the first place," Tang Zhao chuckled. "Or you should have cut the weeds and eliminated the roots. You should have killed me in the first place, just like you killed my maternal grandfather and my mother."

"I told you we shouldn't have kept you here, but Zhenniang wouldn't listen and insisted on letting you die on the estate," Old Master An said with deep regret. "If only I had known..." "If only you had known, you should have killed me yourself," Tang Zhao said, spreading his hands. "Unfortunately, there's no medicine for regret in this world."

Tears of regret streamed down Old Master An's face.

"I'm going to tell Hui Niang that she definitely has a way, she definitely has a way to kill you!"

"Grandpa An really has a deep bond with his sister," Tang Zhao clapped, a sarcastic smile on his lips. "But Grandmother might not think so."

Following Tang Zhao's gaze, Old Master An looked at the half-meter-deep pit beside him.

“What Old Master An knows, Old Madam Wei naturally knows as well,” Tang Zhao sowed, “Moreover, Old Madam’s methods are far superior to Old Master An’s.”

Throughout history, many people have died on the road to exile for various reasons, but there is only one recorded cause: death from illness.

Especially since Old Master An was over seventy years old, it was perfectly reasonable for him to die on the road to exile.

Grandpa An collapsed to the ground as if all his strength had been drained.

Tang Zhao stood up and looked down at the person who was like a lump of mud. "If the old lady is heartless, why should Old Master An be righteous?"

"Give me the evidence, and I promise I will send the Duke of Wei and his family down to reunite with you."

Looking at Tang Zhao's serious expression, Old Master An suddenly realized that she had never taken Zhenniang and Huiniang's harsh treatment and injustice to heart. Her goal from beginning to end was to avenge the Song family.

Anjia, however, is nothing but a useless piece.

Old Master An, who always regarded others as pawns, burst into laughter. "If you want evidence of the Duke of Wei's treason, go find it yourself! Aren't you very capable? If you have the guts, deal with the Duke of Wei's mansion the same way you dealt with the An family!"

"If you won't listen to reason, you'll have to suffer the consequences," Tang Zhao sneered. "Send Old Master An to where he belongs."

"Yes!"

Wu Yier picked up Old Master An and threw him back into the pit like trash. He then picked up a shovel and shoveled a shovelful of dirt onto Old Master An's face.

"Bitch, how dare you!"

Tang Zhao sneered, "Whether he dares or not, Old Master An will know once he tries."

Wu Yi worked swiftly and quickly, filling most of the pit in less than half a cup of tea's time. Old Master An shouted for help while trying his best to brush the mud off his face.

Tang Zhao glanced to the side, and Wu Bingsan picked up a shovel to help.

More and more dirt was piled on Old Master An's face and head, and the feeling of suffocation returned. The fear of death gripped Old Master An tightly, and the will to live outweighed everything else. "I'll talk!"

Tang Zhao raised an eyebrow. "Continue."

Wu Yi'er and Wu Bing's men kept moving.

"I'll tell you everything," Old Master An struggled frantically, "I have a secret letter that Tang Zheng wrote to Zhao Feng himself!"

Tang Zhao raised his hand, and Wu Yi'er and Wu Bing'san stopped what they were doing. "Where is the secret letter?"

Old Master An made a condition: "Promise me you'll spare my life, and I'll tell you."

Tang Zhao threatened, "If you dare to lie to me, I can bury you once, and I can bury you a second time."

"In the study in the front courtyard of the An family mansion, under the third sycamore tree from the door, under the particularly thick roots of the southern tree," Old Master An gasped, "there is a silver box buried inside, and the secret letter is in that box."

(End of this chapter)