Chapter 67
On the first night the Yao family arrived in Yichun, Yao's mother left her old husband and went to sleep with her daughter.
Yao's father lay on the spacious and warm kang, holding a brand new quilt in his arms with a wronged look, thinking about his old wife, and then fell asleep.
Yao Chunnuan's belly was growing large, so every night before bed she would apply tea oil mixed with olive oil, which the old house had in stock. Olive oil was actually better for removing stretch marks than tea oil, but olive oil hadn't yet been invented in this world, so she could only use it covertly, using a trick to sell something under the guise of selling something else.
The caravan she had sent out reported finding olive trees in the south. She planned to wait until the fruit ripened next year and then find a way to produce some crude olive oil. While crude, it was pure natural and therefore safe to use. Once she had it, she would bring the olive oil to the exchange house, where it would become a specialty. She expected a significant number of people to exchange it, such as the wives of high-ranking officials in the military settlements.
Yao Chunnuan and her mother slept together tonight, so her mother took over the job of applying the oil.
While applying the oil, Yao's mother felt distressed thinking about her daughter busying around with her big round belly.
"When you got married, I put most of my worries about you to rest, because you were marrying into the Wang family. Once you entered the family, at least you would be safe from the wind and rain for the rest of your life. I thought if you had another son, your life would be secure. What a pity, you have such a hard life."
While others only saw her daughter's glory, she saw her daughter's hard work. In the military settlement, she, a single woman, competed against a group of men and securely rose to power. If she hadn't said it, even her father-in-law and her eldest uncle wouldn't have been able to do it, but her daughter had managed it, which must have taken a lot of sacrifice.
Yao Chunnuan didn't agree with her mother's words. Was her life miserable? She didn't think so. Men weren't always guaranteed to protect you from the elements, and some of the storms were even brought about by men. She was pretty comfortable with the current competition.
All I can say is that everyone has their own hardships. Competing with men is hard and tiring, but isn’t it tiring to fight with women in the inner house?
When competing with men, it's all about skill and tactics. At most, there's the pressure of the emperor, but the emperor is far away, and the suppression of imperial power can often be ignored. But when women compete with each other, even if you win, you don't win. You might even face the judgment of the husband and the father. If they're partial to your opponent, you might even face unfair treatment.
"Have you really completely severed ties with the Wang family?"
"Is this true? After arriving at the military settlement, we've basically stopped communicating."
Yao's mother glared at him, "And they didn't care about it anymore? Didn't they send you any money or food?"
Yao Chunnuan was a little amused and confused. It was her request to sever the relationship, so why did her mother mean that Wang Lang should be a bootlicker?
"The Wang family got a great bargain. They don't have to worry about anything, and then they get a child for free?" Yao's mother muttered.
Did her mother think she would give the child to the Wang family after it was born? Yao Chunnuan said seriously, "Mom, I will raise this child myself after it is born. I will not give it to the Wang family. Its surname is Yao, not Wang."
"Also, I heard that the general wanted to help you get rid of the crime, but because the child in your belly is from the Wang family, that's why it's not possible..." Therefore, Yao's mother had complicated feelings about the child in her belly. She thought that if she gave the child to the Wang family, would her daughter be able to get rid of the crime and become a good citizen again?
"As for the matter of exoneration, I will find another way, but I will not give the child to the Wang family."
"But it is Wang Lang's child after all, this cannot be denied." In Yao's mother's old concept, children are born for men.
"Mom, think of it this way. Wang Lang simply contributed a seed, and it took root and sprouted in my belly. We will raise it to adulthood. What does the Wang family have to do with it? You can completely see it as the continuation of my bloodline. Mom, I'm so smart, and Wang Lang's brains are better than average. Plus, I'm beautiful, and Wang Lang is also good-looking. My child will definitely be good-looking. Just think of it as having a grandson or granddaughter. The glory and achievements he or she achieves belong to our Yao family, not the Wang family. If you think this way, you won't always feel that your daughter is at a disadvantage." Yao Chunnuan comforted Yao's mother. She knew very well that her attitude often influenced Yao's mother's. She hoped that after her child was born, she would grow up in a friendly environment, not be despised by her own family.
"My dear, let me think about it. Please let me think about it." Mother Yao lay down and murmured. The night talk between mother and daughter today had a great impact on her.
******
"Old Shi, why did you bring Wei Qiuyu back to the camp?" General Shao hurried back from outside. After learning about this, he came here without even washing up.
Shi Mei was very angry. Confucius was right. Only villains and women are difficult to raise.
Wei Qiuyu is a pretentious woman who doesn't know how to read people's expressions. He brought her back to the camp from the military settlement and put her under so much pressure. She doesn't want to start working early to demonstrate her value, so that he can give an explanation to his superiors and subordinates.
As soon as she returned to the camp, she started clamoring for a doctor. He summoned doctor after doctor, every renowned doctor in Yichun City, but each one shook their head, saying there was no cure for her muteness. She refused to believe him, crying and making a fuss. She could only utter meaningless syllables, but even that was annoying. When Shi Mei was annoyed, she was even grateful that she was mute.
After the doctor finished examining her, she seemed resigned to her fate. He thought she would calm down and do some work. But she stopped making noises, but she also ignored him, seeming to be immersed in her own world.
He had never seen such a person who had no sense of being a subordinate. She only cared about her own affairs and her own emotions. Seeing Wei Qiuyu like this, Shi Mei was furious. However, he couldn't hit her or scold her, for fear that she would not cooperate and say something bad to him.
After finally feeling better today, he took the opportunity to ask her what special purpose the work points and merit points Yao Chunnuan had earned had?
He had roughly guessed the purpose of merit points: they were used to record the merits of the soldiers. However, Wei Qiuyu was vague about work points, and it was unclear whether they could be used as a voucher for food distribution in times of scarcity.
After all, in the Yichun military settlement, work points could be replaced with money, yet Yao Chunnuan chose not to use them. He doubted she hadn't had some ulterior motive. He was eager to know how she had managed to maintain the value of her work points after developing this system. He had a hunch that the most valuable part lay within it.
Moreover, work points and merit points can be exchanged in military settlements, although it is only a one-way exchange. Merit points can be converted into work points at a certain ratio, but work points cannot be converted into merit points.
He had a vague feeling that this was a major internal cycle within the military settlement. There was a key point missing, but when he asked Wei Qiuyu about it, she only gave a few superficial answers and was completely clueless about the rest. He was furious.
She had said that everything Yao Chunnuan could do, she could do. After trying it today, he realized he had been deceived! Wei Qiuyu was only half-baked. He had traded Zhou Yushu for her, and it was a huge loss. He only hoped that she would behave better next time and show her own value.
General Shao was speechless after hearing his complaints, but he couldn't help but make things worse for him, "There are even more troubles."
"What?"
General Shao quickly recounted the story of how the Wang and Han families had exposed each other in court before being exiled, including Yao Chunnuan's accusations and hurtful remarks about the Han family. Previously, when he was stationed in the military settlement, he had avoided getting involved in any trouble and had adopted an indifferent attitude towards the Han family and Wei Qiuyu. He hadn't expected Shi Mei to actually pick her up.
"I don't know about that." Shi Mei said stiffly.
"It's my fault for not telling you." General Shao was also quite annoyed. This matter was not a secret in the Yichun military settlement. But the Yichun camp was not the Yichun military settlement after all. Moreover, Wei Qiuyu and the other prisoners had been in Yichun for several months, and the gossip about them had gradually faded. Shi Mei didn't know whether it was excusable.
Shi Mei asked nervously, "Wei Qiuyu believed the Han family could turn things around, so she stayed with them, even enduring hardships. Now that Wei Qiuyu has abandoned the Han family, will outsiders speculate that Wei Qiuyu's decision to approach him means that he or Marshal Zhu will have a brighter future than the Han family?"
General Shao nodded and said, "It doesn't matter what others guess, but the Third Prince will definitely guess this way." The Third Prince was very suspicious.
Shi Mei was in a heavy mood. He originally thought that this was a valuable talent, but now it seemed that this was just a jinx. He even spent a lot of money to invite this jinx back.
How dare she say that she knows everything Yao Chunnuan can do? Yao Chunnuan's scheme has trapped her in this pit. She's so brazen and so clueless!
Shi Mei thought about it and decided to put Wei Qiuyu's matter aside. "Let's not talk about this anymore. How's the investigation going on for you?"
"You guessed correctly. Xing Changfeng should not be at the military settlement, and along with his three or four thousand elite soldiers, he is also not here. Only about two thousand elite soldiers remain."
When the two men finished discussing things and came out, they happened to hear two soldiers chatting. When they heard it, they stopped.
"I heard that the Yichun military settlement sent people to the mountains to quarry rocks, but they encountered an avalanche. Three or four people were missing, and five or six died."
"What's going on with the Yichun military settlement? They're sending people up the mountain to quarry rocks at this hour?"
"The Yichun military settlement is currently constructing new barracks and housing for military dependents, so they're definitely short on materials. They've always had people quarrying stone, but the terrain survey and protective measures were done well, so nothing's happened until today... And those who died were all convicts working in the southern area. Their deaths aren't worth regretting."
"That's a human life, too."
"Well, I heard that among the four or five people who died, three were brothers. One of them slipped during the avalanche, and the other two went to save him. In the end, all three brothers were gone, except for the youngest. I heard that the youngest brother cried himself to death. It's impossible not to cry. Besides him, the rest of his family are women and children. When the brothers were still around, they could barely make ends meet, but now it's probably difficult."
"Isn't this too tragic? What's this family's last name?"
"I heard his surname is Han, and he was exiled to Yichun last year. It turns out his family is a military family in the capital."
When General Shao and Shi Mei heard this, they looked at each other. Could this unfortunate Han family be Wei Qiuyu's ex-husband's family?
General Shao asked his subordinates to ask the soldiers for more details.
Not long after, the subordinate who went to inquire came back.
"How is it?" Shi Mei asked hurriedly.
"It's that family."
"It's over, Old Shao, I'm done." The Han family's misfortune only confirmed Yao Chunnuan's initial suspicions and further confirmed Wei Qiuyu's ability to predict the future. She had left the Han family because she had predicted their impending doom, and coming to the Marshal was a pure attempt to avoid danger and seek good fortune.
"Old Shao, do you think Wei Qiuyu really has some ability to calculate?"
"Come on, if she really could tell the future, why didn't she figure out that Yao Chunnuan would poison her and make her mute?"
Shi Mei's last shred of hope was extinguished by his words. Wei Qiuyu was a trap; he and Marshal Zhu were about to be killed by her. Yao Chunnuan was also a bad person. Why didn't she kill a jinx like Wei Qiuyu earlier? Why let her live and hurt others?
"What do you think of me sending her back to Yichun Juntun?" Shi Mei asked. He now felt a chill about Wei Qiuyu, with only one thought: Don't get close to her, or you'll end up in misfortune.
General Shao looked back at him speechlessly, "Do you think the Yao family will take it back?"
Shi Mei shook her head, "What if she is killed?"
"Then Yao will probably thank you." Help her eliminate an old enemy.
What should he do then?
Wang Lang knew that Han Jinan kept asking the prince for help. He had always wanted to have a good talk with Han Jinan, but the other party kept avoiding him, and he was busy, so he kept putting it off.
Wang Lang hadn't anticipated this delay, only to receive news that the Han family's male members had almost all perished. Unable to believe it, he even went to the scene of the accident to investigate, but the bodies were nowhere to be found. After several days, he found only remains gnawed by wild animals. He refused to believe these remains belonged to the Han brothers, but with the facts staring him in the face, he could only remain skeptical, his doubts buried within him.
At this time, the three brothers of the Han family had already escaped and changed their identities, working for Yao Chunnuan in secret.
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