Chapter 61 Lucky Star
It turns out that Majia Village and the surrounding villages were a huge den of thieves involved in human trafficking.
Because of poverty, women from good families in the surrounding villages would not marry into those villages.
Although women in several villages could intermarry, the number of women was extremely small due to the preference for sons over daughters.
In order to continue the family line, many families with brothers would even choose to share a wife.
However, there were also those who did not want to share a wife and could not find a wife nearby... so they chose to buy a wife from another place.
Over the decades, thousands of women and children have been abducted to these villages!
Among these abducted women were even daughters of wealthy and powerful families!
Upon hearing this, Madam Yao was shocked: "How could this be? Don't the local officials know? Haven't any of the families who lost their children gone looking for them?"
Prime Minister Du shook his head: "Of course not."
"Ordinary people may be helpless, but wealthy and powerful families can always find some clues."
"But these leads will be lost once they reach the local area."
"Because of human trafficking, an industry chain has been formed in the area. Whenever a stranger from out of town is tracked down, everyone in the area, including the government, will help cover it up."
Moreover, Majia Village and the surrounding villages are all located in the mountains and forests. Without locals to guide them, outsiders would have no idea where to go.
Prime Minister Du sighed deeply: "If the Duke of Dingguo hadn't led the army there directly, I'm afraid we wouldn't have been able to rescue those poor women."
The word "rescue" sounds like a light, casual term to ordinary people. Only those who have experienced it firsthand can understand how much danger and helplessness it entails.
Madam Yao suddenly realized: "No wonder Yi'er didn't directly reveal Old Madam Tian's whereabouts, but instead followed You Bingyue's words and mentioned Ma Family Village..."
Prime Minister Du nodded: "Yes, Yi'er is a kind-hearted and intelligent child."
“Our Great Sheng Empire is no longer the one that rejected women from holding official positions a hundred years ago. Yi’er is very capable, so I, along with the Duke of Dingguo and the Marquis of Wu’an, recommended her to His Majesty.”
"When His Majesty heard us talk about this matter, he was also deeply aware of how badly the government's inaction would affect the people's livelihood. That's why His Majesty made a last-minute decision to change the original test question 'People and Grain' to the later 'People and Officials'."
Coincidentally, on the eve of the exam, Prime Minister Du discussed this matter with Du Ziheng.
Unfortunately, Du Ziheng's heart was full of the wronged You Bingyue. Although he did not deny Yu Zhiyi's excellence, he was unwilling to look at her with admiration.
Otherwise, he might have won the championship this time.
There's no point in saying anything now that things have come to this.
In conclusion, Prime Minister Du said, "In short, Yi'er is the lucky star of our Prime Minister's Mansion. I have a premonition that our Prime Minister's Mansion will surely last for a hundred years, and our Du family will also be able to join the ranks of a family that has lasted for a hundred years."
Yu Zhiyi had no idea that Prime Minister Du had such high expectations for her. At that moment, she was fiddling with the official seal in her hand, her pretty face almost contorted in distress.
Zi Yuan finally looked up from her precious official robes and saw that her young mistress's expression was not one of joy, but rather one of grief as if her mother had died. She was puzzled and asked, "Miss, isn't it a good thing that you've been promoted?"
Yu Zhiyi put the official seal back into the box and sighed, "You don't understand."
Since her rebirth, she has been thinking about her sudden death in her previous life.
The more I thought about it, the more I felt that it was probably because she was unworthy of her position that she was punished by Heaven.
She used her abilities to help Zhang Tianshun gain higher official ranks and titles. In this process, not only Zhang Tianshun gave the instructions, but also his soldiers and the civilians who survived after Zhang Tianshun won the battle.
Her master once told her about a fellow disciple.
It is said that after that master descended the mountain after completing his studies, he took it upon himself to save the common people and made many contributions.
His greatest achievement was that he foresaw a massive earthquake that would strike a certain area, killing hundreds of thousands of people and burying them forever in the dark underground.
After calculating the matter, the uncle insisted on saving the hundreds of thousands of lives despite the objections of the grand-uncle.
He first notified the government and asked them to disperse the people.
He also personally went to persuade those people who refused to believe that an earthquake was coming, and used his real skills to convince them and get them to agree to move away.
A few days later, the city that once housed hundreds of thousands of people became a ghost town.
The earthquake struck as predicted the day after everyone had moved away.
The result, naturally, was a happy ending for everyone.
Except for that senior uncle.
Everyone in the area, from officials to peddlers, survived.
However, on the very day the earthquake struck, in a place that should have been peaceful and unaffected, he was smashed into a bloody pulp by a falling rock.
Whenever this matter comes up, her master would earnestly remind her that she should always act within her capabilities.
Merit is a good thing.
But when you yourself are not able to bear so much merit, it will become a death warrant.
At first, Yu Zhiyi didn't think about it in this way. It wasn't until after her rebirth that she saw the golden light of merit falling on her body and saw these merits gradually changing her physical condition and improving her cultivation. Only then did she vaguely understand that her death in her previous life was because her virtue was not commensurate with her position.
The reason she was able to be reborn is probably because she had accumulated too much merit, and Heaven was willing to give her a second chance.
Having figured all this out, Yu Zhiyi decided not to get involved in the court's decisions anymore.
After all, these decisions can affect the fate of tens of thousands of people.
As for the fact that she rescued everyone in Majia Village with the help of the Duke of Dingguo, the real merit that fell on her was only the merit of the Tian family.
As for those women who were trafficked, they were rescued by the Duke of Dingguo, so what does it have to do with Yu Zhiyi?
But she never expected that despite all her precautions, she still couldn't escape the gears of fate.
"Forget it, we'll deal with whatever comes our way."
Since the emperor gave her the official position without asking her opinion, it's quite reasonable for her not to accept it, right?
Having understood all this, Yu Zhiyi slept soundly that night.
As for how chaotic the Duke of Yongguo's mansion is now, and how much You Bingyue is grinding her teeth, it has nothing to do with her.
The next day, the Qionglin Banquet was held.
As the emperor's birthday banquet and the banquet for bestowing titles upon the top three candidates in the imperial examinations, this annual banquet was the most lively time in the palace, even more festive than holidays.
Yu Zhiyi didn't feel any urgency, since her position as a noblewoman was practically guaranteed.
Even if the assassin hadn't appeared today, she could still use this fifth-rank official position with real power to exchange for a title that was merely nominal.
However, Madam Yao was very nervous and came over early in the morning to supervise her makeup and styling.
Under Yao's supervision, Yu Zhiyi changed into ten beautiful dresses in a row: "..."
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