After hearing Jiang Tangtang's words, Village Chief Song finally felt relieved.
However, the fact that the two secretly left the valley caused a considerable shock to the Fang family, the Cui family, and Guo Xinyi.
Jiang's parents are kind and respectful people who are considered relatively open-minded in this era. They will not have any opinion about Guo Xinyi because of Guo Xuantong's situation.
However, the Jiang family has many members, and not everyone is like Jiang's father and mother.
At that moment, Jiang's second daughter-in-law, Yang Zhaodi, glanced at Guo Xinyi and said to Cai Chunrong, "Sister-in-law, is Fifth Brother really going to marry that meddlesome sister?"
Before Cai Chunrong could even return, Jiang's third daughter-in-law, Bai Liu, said sourly, "They're about to get engaged, how can they just call it off?"
Although the parents-in-law said that all the brothers would be treated equally and given the same dowry, they told Jiang Laowu to figure out the extra demands made by the Guo family himself.
But since everyone eats from the same pot, does it really mean he's the one who comes up with a solution?
If it weren't for the Guo family's exorbitant dowry, the extra income that the fifth son earned in his spare time would have been public funds.
It was one thing to say that Guo Xinyi's status was different from theirs before. But if Guo Xuantong could do something like that, who knows if Guo Xinyi is just as troublesome as her sister?
Yang Zhaodi thought much the same thing as Bai Liu. She sighed and said, "I hope that one of them doesn't end up like her sister, or we sisters-in-law will have a hard time."
Bai Liu nodded in agreement, "That's right! You didn't see how much Lao Wu protects her like the apple of his eye. His parents say they're not biased, but they see that she comes from a good family, can read, and is good at needlework."
"It's like a golden phoenix falling into a chicken coop—a phoenix raised in a wealthy family has come to live with us. When she marries in, won't we fawn over her? And if anything happens, won't we side with her?"
Cai Chunrong, being the eldest daughter-in-law, was more composed than the other two.
She scolded, "Alright, you two, shut up. I think Miss Guo is a very nice person, completely different from her sister."
The other two sisters-in-law scoffed at Cai Chunrong's words, saying, "Sister-in-law, you actually believe that? It's just putting on a show; anyone can do that."
Not to mention that the Jiang family's wives often gossiped about Guo Xinyi behind her back and began to doubt her character, the villagers also often secretly talked about the two Guo sisters and Cui Shi while doing laundry and other chores.
The Fang family, who had faded from public view, has been brought up again by the villagers.
Tian Guizhi was furious and scolded Guo Xuantong harshly behind her back.
However, he dared not clash with the villagers on ordinary days, and could only bury himself in his work, trying to minimize his presence.
Jiang Tangtang did run into the villagers gossiping a few times.
If she sees people going too far, she'll offer a few words of advice.
In summary, Guo Da Niang is Guo Da Niang, and Guo Er Niang is Guo Er Niang. Don't let Guo Da Niang's actions affect Guo Er Niang and damage their harmony.
After Jiang Tangtang reminded them several times, the villagers became much more restrained.
As long as nothing goes wrong, Jiang Tangtang doesn't bother with such matters. With Zhu Daman in charge of managing the earthen fortress, she doesn't need to worry too much and can focus her attention on making gunpowder.
Worried that the gunpowder might explode and frighten the villagers, and also concerned about damage to property, Jiang Tangtang always went to the mountains to conduct her experiments.
Even so, the commotion in the mountains terrified the villagers.
On this day, as the villagers were building their earthen fortified houses as usual, a loud noise suddenly rang out from the mountains.
The villagers were startled by the noise and stopped what they were doing to look in the direction of the sound.
The sound stopped, but plumes of black smoke began to rise from the spot where the sound had originated.
"What's going on?" a villager asked worriedly, looking at the black smoke.
"Could it be a fire?!"
"Even a fire wouldn't make that much noise! Could it be that the mountain collapsed?"
...
Just as people were discussing the matter, a villager suddenly said, "I've been seeing Gu Chang walking that way a lot lately. I hope Gu Chang is alright."
When everyone saw that Jiang Tangtang was not in the valley, they panicked and rushed towards the place where the loud noise had come from.
Jiang Tangtang was in a very sorry state at this moment.
She had failed several times following the methods in the book, so she hadn't held out much hope this time. Unexpectedly, she succeeded this time, and with such great power.
However, she was caught off guard and unable to dodge in time, and was the first to experience the power of gunpowder.
Looking at her tattered clothes and the black ash covering her body, Jiang Tangtang didn't know whether to be happy or not.
Just then, the villagers came running towards them, shouting.
"Chief Gu, is that you?"
"Chief Gu, are you alright?"
"Little sister, how are you?"
"Third sister-in-law, what happened to you? What happened to your face? Are you disfigured? What should we do?"
...
The villagers surrounded Jiang Tangtang, showing their concern. Luo Taohua even helped Jiang Tangtang to check her face.
Jiang Tangtang: ...
They didn't need to care about her when she was in such a sorry state.
She took a deep breath and tried to calmly avoid Luo Taohua's hand, saying, "I'm fine."
Luo Taohua remained unconvinced: "Are you really alright? Third sister-in-law, don't be stubborn. Appearance is of utmost importance to us women. Why don't you send someone to deliver a message to your third brother and ask him to bring Doctor Li back for you to see?"
Madam Su nodded, "Eldest daughter-in-law is right. Third daughter-in-law, you shouldn't be careless. It's best to have the doctor take a look."
Wang glanced at her daughter's dark face, her heart filled with worry. "What happened to you? How did you get like this?"
Like Wang, everyone was not only worried but also full of curiosity about what Jiang Tangtang was doing.
Meeting everyone's curious gazes, Jiang Tangtang sighed and rubbed her forehead in exasperation. How could you all stare at a woman so disheveled with such curiosity?
And are you really not here to laugh at us?
She inwardly grumbled, but out of respect for the head of the valley's high-class demeanor, she had to put on a show, saying, "I'm really fine, I just have some black ash on my face, I'll wash it off in a bit."
As for conducting experiments to make gunpowder, she would select suitable people to do it, but she couldn't openly tell the villagers.
But if we say nothing, the villagers will only become more curious.
So, on a whim, she came up with an excuse: "I thought that thatch was not as good as roof tiles, so I thought I'd try to find a place to make roof tiles. But... instead of making roof tiles, I made a fool of myself."
The villagers were so moved they almost cried. "Chief Gu, you've worked so hard! You're always thinking of us."
"Chief Gu, next time you let us handle this kind of thing, please be careful."
"Yes, yes, you are our pillar of strength, so you must take care of yourself."
...
Hearing the villagers' words, Jiang Tangtang was also somewhat moved. She waved her hand at everyone and said, "I know your good intentions. Alright, everyone go back now! Don't delay important matters."
Seeing that she was really alright, everyone went back to their work without lingering.
It rained a few days ago, and it's not as hot as before. Autumn is just around the corner, so we need to hurry up, whether it's building houses or clearing land for planting.
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