The Sinful Woman's Golden Branch: The Jade-Faced Yama is Actually Me (Seventeen)...

Although the first half was thrilling, it was still within expectations.

The second half of the attack involved a massive hammer slamming down, completely stunning Feng Yuzhu.

Make her the head of the Liu family? Let her daughter inherit the family business? And even appoint her to an official position?

As the head of a large family, Feng Yuzhu, like all patriarchs, was most worried about Princess Yongning's covetousness of their wealth and the threat to their lives after hearing about her series of actions.

Now she suddenly remembered that Princess Yongning had a new rule about establishing a maternal household. Didn't that mean that as long as the princess spared her, she could rightfully become the head of the Liu family, and even...

"Change your daughter's surname to yours. Wouldn't it be very sad if your own daughter didn't take your surname?"

"You clearly have your own daughter, yet a bunch of outsiders, who seem to come from nowhere, can use their own 'lower body' to openly and brazenly take what belongs to you and your daughter. Don't you feel ashamed?"

“You have given birth to offspring and continued the clan, yet neither you nor your daughter are members of the clan. The clan you have continued naturally treats you as nothing. Aren’t you angry?”

“From now on, these resentments and anger will no longer exist in Dengzhou.”

"The goddess of Wushan, whom the princess reveres, is a righteous goddess who protects mothers. With her protection, the princess will transform Dengzhou into a divinely blessed country that reveres mothers."

Feng Yuzhu: ...

Every single thing Ye Xiqing said was a thorn in her heart, but these thorns were so self-righteous that she had no energy left to think about where they came from.

She could only resent her bad luck; her husband died just a few years after she married him.

Why am I so useless, unable to give birth to a son for my husband's family to continue the family line?

The relatives and uncles are so hateful; they started to coerce her right after her husband's death.

If only her husband hadn't died, if only she had given birth to a son, if only she could be like His Majesty, eliminating all distant relatives and nephews, and firmly grasping her power in her husband's family as a woman.

But she never imagined there was such a trick: establishing a maternal household would directly make her the rightful head of the family, as engraved in the law!

If a person is extremely hungry, they will swallow chocolate mixed with feces without hesitation.

Moreover, the mother is a stubborn symbol that a patriarchal society tries hard to erase but can never erase.

No matter how much the status of the mother is diminished, so that the child does not regard the mother as the mother but as the father and wife, so that the child abandons his mother to serve his father and wife, the mother will still have a natural influence on the child at some point, especially in the vast lower class where there is no etiquette and only the mother.

Changing the household registration from the father's to the mother's will cause some unease, except for the original head of the household, who will likely have some reservations. Everyone else hopes he will shut up, saying, "We need to divide the land, there's so much to do, what will we do if we don't divide it now!"

The father, as a pseudo-mother created by male power, is actually a non-renewable resource. Once the father of the old world is exhausted, Dengzhou will have no father left.

Feng Yuzhu stood there stunned for a long time, her face showing a half-twitch expression, unsure whether she wanted to cry or laugh.

When she came to her senses, she kowtowed to the ground, her voice trembling with emotion: "This humble woman thanks the princess for her life-saving grace!"

Ye Xiqing helped her up again and smiled, "No need for that. From now on, we're colleagues. Please forgive me for any offense I may have caused before."

How could Feng Yuzhu dare to call her a colleague?

Putting aside her infamous demeanor, even if she were to become an official in the future, she would clearly be on a completely different level from the princess's personal attendant who came from the capital.

Feng Yuzhu declined repeatedly, and Ye Xiqing did not want to keep her any longer: "That's all I wanted to say to Madam. I wonder if Madam has anything else to say to me?"

Such an obvious invitation to leave was easily understood by a shrewd person like Feng Yuzhu. She quickly got up to take her leave, saying that she had something to attend to at home.

Of course, there are indeed many things.

Ye Xiqing finally felt at ease enough to focus on eating. Looking down, she noticed that the mutton was still roasting on the charcoal stove.

That doesn't make sense. She was grilling while she was talking to Feng Yuzhu, and she was still grilling after she left.

Looking up at Tu Si Niang, who looked completely innocent, she said, "Huh? The meat was already cooked, wouldn't it burn if you didn't eat it? So I grilled you a new one."

Ye Xiqing: ...

She had just spotted a particularly good piece of meat, and in order to get to eat it, she hurriedly sent Feng Yuzhu away, only to have you eat it for her?

Just as she was about to get angry, Wang Lijun handed her a piece of roasted meat on her plate with a smile: "I knew you wanted to eat this."

Ye Xiqing: ...

"Thank you, Mother."

When Ye Xiqing came to Sang County this time, he not only brought his usual physician Ding and Tu Si Niang, but also his mother and a concubine.

Of the original four major families in Dengzhou, only "Peng Dachuan" was truly a technical backbone. The technical elites were preserved and their merits were redeemed. Before coming to Sang County, the other three counties had already been pacified, and the three families were completely wiped out.

Liu from Sang County knelt down readily, without much effort.

Regardless of the county, the people waiting to receive their land were too lazy to seek revenge against the landlords.

Once the situation improved, Ye Xiqing reduced the number of imperial guards accompanying him.

The most powerful of the men Ji Siyin brought from the capital were the five hundred fully armored and armed Imperial Guards that Li Wenyuan had assigned to her.

In ancient times, when resources were scarce, iron was extremely rare. The further back in time the dynasty went, the more difficult it was to have an army fully armored. Armored soldiers, covered in armor, were like unkillable human tanks in front of ordinary civilian armed forces. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that one could take on ten.

This is also the source of their absolute confidence that they can do whatever they want to them, and kill whoever they want. Unless the major families can command the border troops, no one can resist them.

But Ye Xiqing didn't want to talk about the border troops.

Dayu adopted the Fubing system, where military households had to provide soldiers for service. Upon arriving in Dengzhou, Ye Xiqing and Ji Siyin naturally wanted to understand the situation of the Fubing. However, when they arrived at the military town, they found that the town was deserted.

The people on the roster were all ghosts whose whereabouts were unknown, only their souls were collecting salaries without actually working. The "garrison soldiers," who were of questionable appearance, were obviously just some laborers who had been dragged in from somewhere to make up the numbers, and there were also old men in their seventies and eighties.

Ji Siyin was truly angry this time. As a princess, she naturally valued border defense highly.

Although Dengzhou is not a major town, it is still a frontline of combat readiness as a border defense line.

If you've made such a mess of the military town, what are you going to do if the Rong people attack?

Enraged, Ji Siyin disregarded all procedures, drew her sword on the spot, and stabbed to death the three soldiers and officers who had been fooling her like idiots.

After stabbing them, he calmed down a bit, looked at the three corpses on the ground, and took a deep breath: "What do we do now?"

Ye Xiqing clapped her hands and said, "Well done! Princess, you are truly swift and decisive. These three are guilty of heinous crimes and deserve to die."

“I will immediately send someone to write to His Majesty, explaining the chaos in the military system of Dengzhou and Your Highness’s decisiveness. These three have already committed suicide, so there is no need to worry about them.”

After killing someone, not only is there someone to collect the body, but there are also people cheering on the sidelines. It's quite a unique experience.

Ji Siyin wiped the sword clean to prevent it from rusting, then sheathed it, and her mood improved.

However, the matter of the military town government does indeed need to be resolved urgently.

Ji Siyin released the laborers who had been forcibly conscripted to fill the quota; the outsiders went home, while the locals waited to be allocated land.

If they were to fight with their thin, skeletal bodies, Dayu would be doomed.

Therefore, following Ye Xiqing's suggestion, Ji Siyin abolished the military households, spent money to recruit soldiers from the prefecture, and reorganized the military town.

This move can guarantee the quality and loyalty of the soldiers. As for money, Ji Siyin is not short of it. Not to mention that she was originally rich, the huge fortune she amassed from the Huang, Qi, and Peng clans is enough for her to live on for a long time.

And so, Ye Xiqing led the Imperial Guards to kill people in the outer warehouse, while Ji Siyin reorganized the palace troops at home.

The soldiers were all recruited from the local households of Dengzhou. Their families re-registered their households and were allocated land according to the new law, while they served as soldiers for the government to earn military pay.

For people in ancient times, land was the most important thing. The imperial guards were envious when they saw the people of Dengzhou dividing up land, wondering if they could also get a share.

Ye Xiqing clearly told them that only those registered in Dengzhou could receive land, and since they belonged to the Imperial Guard, they would have to return to the capital sooner or later.

The princess will not mistreat you; she will give you high salaries and generous rewards, but she certainly will not give you any land.

Don't you yourselves want to go back to your hometown?

Those who had reservations quietly backed down, while those who had no lingering concerns, or those who had made a firm decision, directly stated that as long as they could receive land, they were willing to move to Dengzhou!

Ye Xiqing shook his head, seemingly regretting their decision: "Since you are determined to do this, I cannot stop you. But I must remind you that when the princess returns to the capital, she will definitely bring back all the Imperial Guards. If you are to settle in Dengzhou, you will no longer be allowed to wear armor, understand?"

"Once you lay down your armor, you will no longer be the noble Imperial Guards, nor will you be able to return to your homeland. In Dengzhou, you will have to live with women according to the law. Even so, do you not regret it?"

In ancient times, being a soldier, no matter what kind of soldier you were, was never a pleasant experience. Ye Xiqing spoke very seriously about this, yet some people still voluntarily resigned from their military service.

They are strong and powerful. Even if they marry local women and want to establish a female household, it would be fine if they found an orphan girl. But do they think that young woman can control them?

With land and a wife, what a wonderful thing! Who would want to go back to their poor home?

Despite their insistence, Ye Xiqing, always a democratic and free person, not only agreed to their application but also allocated them more land, which resulted in even more people being discharged from the army.

Ye Xiqing retrieved their armor and weapons, then turned to look at Tu Si Niang.

Tu Si Niang: Oh?

Unlike some of the Imperial Guards who wanted to resign, Tu Si Niang was born with a curse on her father, mother, relatives, and friends. She was a born jinx and was looked down upon wherever she went.

She harbored deep resentment and, in a moment of desperation, went to slaughter pigs. She finally began to live a good life, but it was still a lowly profession, and she was not respected wherever she went. Now, however, things are completely different!

Before Ye Xiqing could ask her if she wanted to wear armor, Tu Si Niang picked out a well-fitting set and put it on. It looked so majestic, how could she not wear it!

With Tu Si Niang in armor following her, Ye Xi Qing felt increasingly safe, and this time she brought her family along as well.

Before the Guan family's property was confiscated, Wang Lijun was a well-off young lady from a prominent family. However, in order to curry favor with Guan's father, who was then enjoying great favor, the Wang family did not have the demeanor of a noble family. They married their daughter to Guan's father, a villainous and newly rich man, and were looked down upon for their ingratiating behavior.

She only cried for a short while before marrying him. After the marriage, Guan's father rose through the ranks, and she lived a life of luxury. There was nothing wrong with her, so she settled down to be Mrs. Guan.

Guan's father was somewhat lustful, but Wang Lijun didn't want to get involved.

Despite his lustful nature, he couldn't conceive a single child. Wang Lijun was originally very worried about having offspring, but after discovering that no matter how hard her husband tried, nothing came of it, she couldn't help but feel a little secretly pleased.

Now she and her Yue Niang can live a more peaceful life. She will definitely choose a gentleman for her Yue Niang, unlike her father who is worse than a dog!

Guan Xianzhi's childhood name was Yue Niang, probably because she was born at the same one-month mark. Wang Lijun looked at the moonlight entering the house and hoped that the Moon Goddess, who was in charge of marriage, would bless her daughter to have a better life than she had.

But unexpectedly, when her daughter grew up, she was sold to the son of her enemy, and her situation was even worse than hers.

Wang Lijun was in despair; the suffering seemed to have no end.

She loathed her husband, but without him, she and her daughter would fall into an even worse situation.

Just when I was feeling utterly hopeless, an unexpected turn of events occurred.

At first, when her daughter corresponded with her and asked for things, she thought her daughter wanted to please Pei Yu, and she was overjoyed.

What she fears most is that her daughter, having read so many books, might be prone to making rash decisions. If her daughter could come to terms with it and settle down to live a peaceful life with Pei Yu, this newly rich man, that would be wonderful.

Women are like duckweed, drifting along. No matter what, living your own life well is what truly matters. Some things don't need to be cared about.

Unexpectedly, her daughter climbed up to a princess, and led her whole family out of the mire. How could she be so clever? She's really something!

Although Dengzhou was a poor and remote place with harsher material conditions than Beijing, Wang Lijun was happy to spend her time there and was in excellent spirits.

She placed another piece of grilled meat on her daughter's plate, looking at her expectantly: "Eat more, you seem to have gained some weight these days!"

Indeed, after tireless conditioning and health maintenance, the body has finally recovered some of its vitality. At least the menstrual cycle is much more normal, the flow is normal, and it is not as painful.

But we can't just watch her eat. Ye Xiqing put the meat back on her plate and said, "Mom, you eat it yourself. If I want to eat, I can pick it up myself."

Wang Lijun: ...

I feel like I'm not as close to my daughter anymore after all that big change she went through. Looking at the meat on the plate, I feel so disappointed...

Before she could continue to feel disappointed, Ye Xiqing spoke up: "Mother, after I finish dealing with the magistrate of Sang County tomorrow, you can take office as the magistrate of Sang County. I will be your clerk, and you can manage the affairs of Sang County together."

Wang Lijun was feeling lost and disillusioned by the estrangement between her and her daughter when she heard this pause: "Who?"

Ye Xiqing ate the roasted meat slowly and deliberately, only speaking after swallowing.

"This was decided long ago. Dengzhou will be completely under the princess's control. All officials, from top to bottom, will be replaced. There aren't many literate people, and even fewer women. I think the position of magistrate of Sang County is quite suitable for you, Mother, so I got it for you."

Wang Lijun: ...

"Me? A county magistrate? I don't know anything!"

"Does Mother think that one needs to have certain skills to become an official?"

"Of course! How can you become an official if you don't know anything!"

"Does Mother know what a county magistrate should do when there is a famine and the people have nothing to eat?"

"Uh... if there are reserves in the granary, open the granary and release the grain; if not, ask the imperial court for funds for disaster relief, or go to wealthy families to persuade them to lend us rice and grain, and pay it back when the situation is better next year?"

Ye Xiqing shook her head: "No, Mother's methods are too stupid. Do you know how the real magistrate of Sang County did it?"

Wang Lijun's interest was immediately piqued, and she looked at her curiously: "How did you do it?"

Ye Xiqing looked around and, seeing that everyone's attention was focused on her, announced the correct answer.

He issued a decree: prohibiting people from starving to death.

Wang Lijun: ...

Haha!

Caught off guard, everyone burst into laughter, their stomachs aching. Wang Lijun, in particular, was laughing so hard she could barely breathe. She scolded, "Yue Niang, are you telling me a joke? How can there be such a muddle-headed official!"

Ye Xiqing smiled and said, "My daughter also hoped this was a joke, but unfortunately, it was something our Sang County Magistrate actually did."

“If he could shamelessly serve as a county magistrate for so many years, what are you afraid of, Mother? At least you know this is a joke.”

Wang Lijun and the group laughed for a long time before hesitatingly saying, "But if you ask me to do it, I'm still a little..."

"Don't bother. People who have already secured their positions like to add a halo to themselves, making you think they've done something amazing."

"In fact, putting a pig in that spot wouldn't make a difference; in fact, it would probably cause less trouble."

“Mother, you are well-educated, knowledgeable, and love learning. You will definitely be able to become a minor county magistrate.”

"No matter what, you're definitely better than a pig. Go ahead and do it. This is a job even a pig could do."

Wang Lijun: ...

Even though your kind-hearted mother knows all this, can you please stop comparing her to a pig? It sounds disgusting...