Transmigrated into a minor official in a county government, with children at home waiting for rice t

Upon hearing this, Zhang Sanlang's lips twitched and his eyelids twitched. He looked at the old woman's face and asked, "Fang? Your surname is Fang?"

Granny Fang nodded like a chicken pecking at rice. "Reporting to Clerk Zhang, my maiden name is Fang, and my family is located in Chaicao Lane in the east of the city. My eldest and second eldest brothers worked at the post station in their early years, and several of my nephews also work at the yamen gate."

Zhang Sanlang asked her with a wry smile, "Fang Zhong'an is your nephew?"

Granny Fang quickly stepped forward, her face beaming with a smile. "Yes. My dear nephew! His father is my elder brother. Zhong'an has been mentioning you to me quite a bit the other day, saying you're a rare and wise person."

Zhang Sanlang leaned against a pillar in the corridor. "I wouldn't presume to call myself a wise man. He never mentioned that his aunt had worked as a handyman at Yongning Nunnery for decades."

Granny Fang chuckled awkwardly, "How could he dare to go around saying that he has an aunt who works as a handyman in the nunnery? He'd be too ashamed! Last time, when that Madam Zhang died in the latrine, he remembered me as his aunt and came to inquire about some news."

"He casually mentioned Zhang Yashi, saying that you have great abilities, and told his wife to burn more incense at the nunnery to pray for your well-being. Little did I expect that before the incense was even lit, I would hear words about killing you."

"If he hadn't said you were reliable, this old woman would have preferred to keep the secret to herself rather than come forward and confess. This is a blood feud..."

As she spoke, her voice lowered again, as if she remembered what she had heard outside the quiet room, and the smile on her face faded.

Zhang Sanlang stared at her for three breaths, several thoughts racing through his mind.

She is Fang Zhong'an's aunt, and Fang Zhong'an is now working for him. This relationship is more secure than that of complete strangers.

But he had experienced firsthand the sharp tongue of the Fang family.

Fang Zhong'an is a chatterbox, partly due to his interest in buying and selling information, but mostly it's just his nature.

If it weren't for the fact that they bought his information for profit and held the lives of his family of seven in their hands, he probably still wouldn't have been able to control his mouth.

The old woman in front of him seemed more composed than Fang Zhong'an, but they were still of the same blood. Genes are a powerful thing, and some things are hard to say.

Zhang Sanlang was still uneasy, so he sat down again. "Grandma Fang, do you know about my relationship with Brother Fang?"

Granny Fang nodded, "I know. He said that he is now working in the prison thanks to the help of Clerk Zhang. He also said that Clerk Zhang is a very capable, magnanimous, and resourceful person, and that following you will not be a loss."

Zhang Sanlang nodded. "Then I'll get straight to the point. The fact that those two people you mentioned have been able to operate in Juancheng for over twenty years without revealing any flaws shows that they are both patient and shrewd."

"You pulled your foot back from the door of the meditation room and meowed like an old cat. That's a clever trick. There's a granary in the nunnery, so it naturally attracts mice. It's common for raccoons to dart in. But you should know that they're outlaws."

Granny Fang's eyes darted around, and the smile on her face faded slightly.

"From now on, you will still be going in and out of Yongning Nunnery. If Jingchen becomes suspicious, even just a little suspicious, how will you deal with it? You can't avoid her, nor can you suddenly become attentive. You have to be exactly the same as before."

After listening, Granny Fang blinked twice, then grinned, revealing a shrewdness typical of old women from the marketplace.

She held up three short, stubby fingers and counted them down one by one. "Don't worry, Zhang Yashi. This old woman has worked as a handyman at Yongning Nunnery for thirty or forty years. What storms haven't I weathered?"

"Before Jingchen arrived, the old woman worked as a handyman in the nunnery. I could know her better than she did at any given time, even with my eyes closed. The moment she coughed, the old woman knew what she was up to!"

She lowered her fingers and leaned forward. "Zhang, the old woman gets up at dawn every day, first feeding the chickens in the backyard, then sweeping the front yard. At morning, she goes to the kitchen to help with cooking, and at noon she delivers meals to the abbess."

"I do laundry, collect and hang clothes to dry at Shen Shi (3-5 PM), feed stray cats at You Shi (5-7 PM), and mend their black robes by lamplight after dark. I've been doing these things for over thirty years; I could do them with my eyes closed."

She looked up at Zhang Sanlang and said, "If Jingchen comes to ask me if I was the one at the door of the quiet room that day, I will say that I had an upset stomach that day and went to the outhouse twice. The stray cats in the backyard were meowing so annoyingly that I chased them away a few times."

"If she asks again, I'll say she misheard. As the head of the temple, she can't possibly argue with a servant over a stray cat. If she still asks, I'll stare into her eyes and ask if she thinks I'm too old and useless and wants to find an excuse to get rid of me."

"Besides, I'm the lowest-ranking servant in the nunnery. The abbess and the others know me; I'm an old woman who was sold to the nunnery by my husband's family. They've never treated me like a human being, so why would they care about me?"

Zhang Sanlang listened, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. This old woman was far superior to his nephew.

Fang Zhong'an only knows how to shrink back and smile obsequiously when faced with trouble, but she's different; she's even prepared a way out to turn the tables.

As the saying goes, old people are shrewd, and old ghosts are clever.

"And another thing," Granny Fang added, her voice even lower than before, "that old nun Jingchen is always the most impatient with servants getting close to her. In all the years I've been in the nunnery, I've always kept at least eight feet away from her."

"She called me, and I answered. She asked me to serve tea, so I served it. I didn't say anything else. Even if she had any doubts, seeing that I was still like this, she would have let it go after a few days."

Zhang Sanlang looked at her for a moment. "Brother Fang mentioned me to you. Do you know that he works in the torture chamber now, and some of the information he passed on to me is from him?"

Granny Fang paused for a moment, then shook her head. "He didn't say any of that. He only said that if you have any instructions, he will do them."

Zhang Sanlang nodded. "Grandma Fang, just live your life as usual. You don't need to worry about whether Jingchen gets suspicious or not. When Master Wang makes trouble, you will naturally have a share of the credit."

He paused, then added, "There's one more thing. Don't mention your visit to me today to anyone after you go back. Don't tell Fang Zhong'an either."

Upon hearing this, Granny Fang'an smiled knowingly, as if she had been through it all. "Don't worry, Zhang Yashi. I know my Zhong'an's mouth better than anyone. I'm going to visit my grand-nephew in a bit, and I won't mention a word about him."

She stood up, patted her clothes, and resumed her hunched posture. "Zhang, this old woman is going now. I have to get back before the nunnery closes."

Zhang Sanlang escorted her to the entrance of the incense and candle shop.

It was already getting dark.

As soon as Granny Fang stepped out the door, her footsteps resumed the quick, hurried rhythm she had taken before. With her shoulders hunched and head bowed, she disappeared around the corner of the alley in just a few steps.

Zhang Sanlang stood at the door for a while, then turned and went back to the backyard. He sat down on the stone stool and mentally reviewed everything the nun had just said.

Fang Zhong'an had mentioned him before, which is why the old woman dared to come. Fang Zhong'an's mouth finally found its proper place this time.