The outer door slammed shut, shutting out the annoying noise.
Although it can still be heard, it has become much quieter.
Yunniang sighed, wishing Xue'er were here.
I haven't seen my daughter for half a year, and I don't know how she is doing.
The Crown Prince is despicable. If it weren't for that Crown Prince, how could her daughter have secretly run away on her wedding day?
Although Han Luoxue said everything was fine, but...
She knew that her eldest daughter would only report good news and not bad.
Yunniang held Han Mingyuan's hand and whispered:
"Brother Yuan, you need to get better soon. My children and I are counting on you."
"And Xue'er, look, it's almost the New Year. Do you think our Xue'er will come back? If she sees you like this, she'll be heartbroken."
Yunniang is also heartbroken. She used to think that her family had finally started to have good days, and that they were living a prosperous life, but now...
The head of her household was only injured, not dead yet, but many people have already changed their minds.
Especially Han Jinghua, Yuan Ge used to treat her so well. Even after what they did, Yuan Ge still couldn't bear it and still helped her.
But in the end, she actually wanted to come over...
"Mother, Magistrate Zhu is here."
Han Luoyu rushed back, and perhaps because she ran too fast, her forehead was covered in sweat even in the middle of winter.
What is he doing here?
Two weeks ago, they said that because of the Chinese New Year, they had no seeds left for the time being, and they would talk about it again next spring.
In the past six months, the land in Wuling Town and several nearby towns has been busy.
Nowadays, almost no one goes hungry anymore.
This is all thanks to her son, Xue'er.
Yunniang may not know how many people know how to be grateful, but Magistrate Zhu shouldn't have come at this time.
Did they also hear about Han Mingyuan's injury and come to visit him?
If that's the case, then she'll need Magistrate Zhu to ask the Li family for help.
"Why are you in such a hurry? Yu'er, it's alright."
Yunniang gently wiped the sweat from Han Luoyu's face and sighed, "How old are you? You're still so clumsy."
In just a short while, Magistrate Zhu had entered the courtyard, accompanied by Han Qiang.
Han Qiang called out, and Yunniang got up and went out to greet him.
The group sat down in the outer room, and Han Luoyu thoughtfully went to make tea.
"Magistrate Zhu, is there something you need today?"
Normally, it was Han Mingyuan who handled the negotiations with the county magistrate, but now he was still unconscious. Doctor Xu had given him medicine, and when he woke up, he was in excruciating pain, so she couldn't bear to wake him up.
"Hey, I heard about Mingyuan's situation too. Is he alright now?"
Magistrate Zhu asked with a worried expression.
"The situation is not good, Magistrate Zhu. The Li family deliberately injured someone and then fled. You..."
Before Yunniang could finish speaking, Magistrate Zhu hurriedly said:
"They were in the wrong, and I will certainly teach them a lesson."
"Is it just education?"
Yunniang was a little disappointed. If her Xue'er were here, would Magistrate Zhu have dared to be so perfunctory?
"Well... Madam Han, you know the current situation in the government office. Everyone is barely surviving, and there's no food to supply the prison."
That's true. Nowadays, not only in Wuling Town, but in almost every other town, there aren't many people in the prison.
The prisoners are all dead, and even the constables are starving. Where can we find food for the prisoners?
Each of the prisons was surprisingly clean.
Magistrate Zhu's words caused Yunniang and Han Qiang's expressions to change, but they also considered the current situation and knew it was difficult to say anything.
But they were unwilling to let the Li family get away with it so easily.
"Mrs. Han, besides visiting Mingyuan, I have something else I'd like to discuss with you today."
Magistrate Zhu seemed extremely embarrassed. He hesitated for a moment, waiting for Yunniang to speak.
Unfortunately, Yunniang was still angry and had no time to care about what Magistrate Zhu said.
"Magistrate Zhu, what is it?"
Yunniang remained silent. Seeing the awkward atmosphere, and knowing that Magistrate Zhu was there and would eventually have to speak, Han Qiang took the initiative to ask.
"Mrs. Han?"
Magistrate Zhu called out to Yunniang again, and only then did Yunniang come to her senses, looking at Magistrate Zhu in confusion.
"Madam Han, it's like this. You see, the New Year is almost here, and we won't be able to plant anything until after spring, right? No matter what we plant, it takes about a month to mature."
Yunniang frowned. What did these things have to do with her?
"Magistrate Zhu, what do you mean by that?"
Why doesn't she understand?
"Ahem, it's like this, you see, there hasn't been a harvest for at least two months now. Although we've planted a few times and the people have some stored grain, it's still very difficult to get through these two months."
At this moment, Yunniang had already guessed what was going on. She pursed her lips tightly, remained silent, and stared straight at Magistrate Zhu.
Being stared at like that by her, Magistrate Zhu felt a little embarrassed.
"I'm not doing this for myself, I'm doing it for the people of our town. How about we collect the food we agreed on last time and keep it all next year?"
"Magistrate Zhu, isn't this inappropriate?"
Before Yunniang could speak, Han Qiang angrily retorted:
"Back then, Xue Yatou promised to provide you with seedlings and we agreed on a profit-sharing arrangement. How could you do this?"
I was just trying to take care of them, and then...
Is this a case of crossing the river and then burning the bridge?
"Hey, Han Qiang, your thinking is wrong. I'm not doing this for myself, but for the people of the county, aren't I?"
"Besides, Madam Han's family only has a few people, and they cultivate a lot of land. They should have enough food to eat, right?"
“They can’t eat too much if we give them too much. We can’t just have some people hoarding food and watch everyone else go hungry, can we?”
Magistrate Zhu spoke indignantly, looking at Han Qiang with a condemning gaze.
Han Qiang was speechless for a moment after being cornered by him.
Yunniang looked at the unreasonable Magistrate Zhu and sneered:
"Magistrate Zhu, are you trying to renege on the grain you owe my family?"
"Madam Han is joking. How could I possibly renege on my promise? Am I that kind of person? I just made it clear that if I collect the money next year, I will definitely give you every last ounce."
This is utterly outrageous. Han Luoyu, standing to the side, was also stunned. Could an official really renege on their debts like this?
No wonder they didn't hand it in the previous times, always saying they'd wait until next time, next time.
So, we have to wait until next year?
"you……"
Yunniang was so angry that her vision blurred. Han Qiang wanted to argue, but it was the first time he had encountered something like this.
"Hmph, you people are really heartless. You all just took advantage of my third son's injury and inability to get up to bully him."
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