When Han Zhongyu heard that Xie Yushu wanted to buy land to build a mountain villa, he assumed that she was going to move her whole family, so he immediately analyzed the pros and cons for her.

Xie Yushu said

"I didn't tell my family that this villa was my private property, a way to leave myself a way out!"

"Leave yourself an escape route? Is your husband treating you badly? Or has something happened at home?"

"No, it's just that I made some money in Jinyang this time, and I was thinking of buying some personal property to protect myself. As the old saying goes, 'One is poor three times and rich three times, and one will live to old age.' A person without foresight will have immediate worries. It's better to have what others have than to have it yourself. Anyway, I feel more at ease when I have something in my hands!"

Han Zhongyu was speechless: You really talk too much!

Despite their inner complaints, it was normal for women to have their own businesses. Women from wealthy families would typically receive land, shops, gold, and silver as dowry when they married, to protect them, prevent their husbands' families from looking down on them, or to prepare for unforeseen circumstances.

It's normal for Xie Yushu to want to acquire land since she has money, so I seriously considered where it would be best to allocate land for her.

He had heard about Xie Yushu's situation from the Liu brothers. When he first learned that Xie Yushu had voluntarily married Xiao Yi, a cripple, to become his stepmother in order to save her family's lives, he thought she was a filial and righteous girl!

Then he remembered how she saved him, broke into the Zhang mansion alone to take the wine, and made it into alcohol. He sighed in his heart that this woman was no ordinary person!

Now! This woman is filial, knowledgeable in medicine, good at making money, skilled in martial arts, and knowledgeable. It's such a waste that she married a cripple from the village!

With a mix of admiration and regret, Han Zhongyu chose Luoxia Valley for Xie Yushu.

This place is located at the junction of three cities, and within the territory of Tai'an Prefecture under his jurisdiction. It is a small canyon that is no more than ten miles long, nestled against the mountains and beside the water, with beautiful scenery. However, because the place is small and the land is not fertile, wealthy families do not want it and ordinary families cannot afford it, so no one has been buying it. It is just right for Xie Yushu.

The valley has about ten acres of flat land, and the rest is hillside, about thirty acres, totaling no more than fifty acres.

Although it's much more than the twenty acres Xie Yushu wanted, it's mostly mountainous land, so the price is cheaper. It won't cost much more money. If Xie Yushu isn't farming, it would still be a good deal to buy it!

After Han Zhongyu finished speaking, Xie Yushu was very satisfied and immediately paid the silver. Han Zhongyu then had a land deed made for her. A small valley, about fifty acres in size, only cost two hundred taels of silver.

Apart from the ten mu of fertile land on the outermost edge, which were priced at the normal rate, the mountain land was only two taels of silver per mu. Xie Yushu knew that this was the lowest price Han Zhongyu had given her, probably their "internal price" because Xie Yushu had previously inquired and found that the normal price for buying mountain land was three taels per mu.

Having obtained the land deed, Xie Yushu and Han Zhongyu arrived at Xie's place and left happily!

Han Zhongyu shook his head with amusement as he watched her bouncy little steps.

"They're so easily satisfied!"

However, Xie Yushu's hopeful and indomitable spirit made him feel much more relaxed!

"Alas! The paperwork is exhausting!"

Han Zhongyu sighed, returned to his study, picked up his pen, silently wrote down the two poems Xie Yushu had just recited, folded them up, and sent them to his grandfather, the Imperial Censor Han, via carrier pigeon.

I wonder who the old man is busy criticizing this time! It's not easy for him! I've got a good poem, let the old man give it a try!

Who told his grandfather to be such a master of insults and such terrible at writing poetry! Thinking about how he was always being lectured by his grandfather, he decided to retaliate in a small way.

Han Zhongyu was in a great mood as he imagined his grandfather stroking his beard, holding the poem and praising it as excellent, while simultaneously regretting how badly he wrote poetry!

Han Zhongyu's grandfather, Han Wuyong, now heads the Censorate and holds the rank of Grand Censor, a second-rank official, ranking alongside the Chancellor and Grand Commandant as one of the "Three Dukes," equivalent to a vice-chancellor.

The duties of the Imperial Censor are

"Internally upholding the customs and traditions of this dynasty, externally assisting the Prime Minister in governing the realm," encompassing both administration and oversight.

He was in charge of correcting the crimes of all officials using criminal law and regulations, and the Censor-in-Chief served as his deputy.

The Han family father and son effectively control most of the Censorate. Han Wuyong and his son are always criticizing people, which makes the emperor somewhat afraid of them. This is why the emperor was so unwilling to let Han Zhongyu return to the Censorate after twenty years of service, and now he has been sent to the Procuratorate to do hard labor.

So, to be honest, even the prime minister of the court had to be restrained by him. That's why, even though he knew Zhangzhou was a hot potato, the emperor immediately sent Han Zhongyu. Sending anyone else wouldn't have been enough to deal with Zhang Zhidao and his corrupt officials!

Now that Han Zhongyu is here to suppress the chaos in Tai'an Prefecture and reorganize it, it's actually a boon for Xie Yushu. So Xie Yushu has just happened to latch onto a powerful patron!

After leaving Han Zhongyu's government office, Xie Yushu did not rush back. Instead, she found an inn to stay in and planned to buy a few people from a brokerage firm to send over.

She didn't specifically tell Xie Tianqi and Liu Qiang about this. Anyway, it was just the beginning, and she was only buying two people to go over. She didn't need them to do anything for the time being. Moreover, Tai'an Prefecture was in dire need of reconstruction, and they were busy at the time. So she didn't go over to bother them and went directly to the brokerage.

After the severe drought, many families sold their children or even themselves, so the brokerage shops were packed with people, and prices were much cheaper than usual.

In a normal year, a boy would receive eight to ten taels of silver, while an adult male would receive ten to fifteen taels. Those with skills or martial arts knowledge would receive even more.

Girls are priced between ten and twenty taels. If they have talents, special skills, or are exceptionally beautiful, they will be more expensive!

For women and old women, the price ranges from eight to twelve taels.

Nowadays, the overall price is generally two or three ounces lower than in a normal year!

Seeing these people in front of her, forced by the need to make a living, selling themselves or their families for a few taels of silver, Xie Yushu felt very bad. However, the situation was what it was, and it was not something she could change on her own, at least not something she could change with her current abilities. She could only helplessly accept the status quo.

When the matchmaker saw Xie Yushu and her group enter, she enthusiastically introduced the people for sale to Xie Yushu. The great disaster had just passed, and even though she had bought many people at rock-bottom prices, they were not easy to sell. Even though she had already transferred several batches to other prefectures, she still had quite a few left.

At this time, there were very few families who could afford to buy servants, and the wealth of the rich in the city had also shrunk considerably. She hadn't seen a single buyer for several days, and she was really worried!

So when they saw Xie Yushu and the others, they were incredibly attentive! They immediately called everyone out, and the courtyard, which was the size of a basketball court, was almost completely filled with people standing in rows!

Xie Yushu walked around and looked around, then chose five families together, three families of five, two families of four. The adults were all around thirty years old, two of the children were eleven or twelve, and the rest were around ten years old, totaling twenty-three people.

The woman received five taels, the man had previously looked after an orchard for a landlord and was in charge of some affairs, so he received nine taels, the rest eight taels, and the children were too young to do much work and still needed to eat, so they all received three taels!

These twenty-three people cost a total of ninety-seven taels of silver, and Xie Yushu planned to send them to Luoxia Valley.