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Qian Yeejin had always harbored some concerns about this family's past and asked, "Who was your former master, and how did you end up in this state?"
Qian Hua said, "Our original master was the Vice Minister of Justice, Sir Lian, from the Lian family, and we were part of the dowry of his first wife..."
Qian Hua's family was originally from Huguang. They followed their grandmother, who married into the Lian family, to Capital City. The grandmother bore a daughter but fell ill and died soon after. The master then married his cousin as his second wife. This second wife was shrewd and vicious; to monopolize the grandmother's dowry, she found various excuses to kill those loyal to the old mistress or sell them off.
