Just then, Aunt Chen came out and said, "This old lady, our master has always been honest and just as an official, and has never oppressed the people."
"You are both the village head and the neighborhood chief. Our lord has always respected people like you who serve the people. How could he take your things without paying?"
After saying that, he had his maid take out a money bag, took out two silver ingots, about twenty taels, and handed them to Li Kaishan.
If someone didn't know her, seeing her so righteous and awe-inspiring would really make them feel good about her.
Li Kaishan's hand trembled, unsure whether to accept some silver. Yan Qingqing spoke up at the opportune moment, saying, "This lady is truly magnanimous, clearly befitting a lady of high birth. May I ask which household you belong to? And how should I address you?"
Yan Qingqing was asking a question she already knew the answer to. Aunt Chen looked smug when she heard this, because as long as she went out with the First Madam, no one would treat her as a concubine.
Of course, Aunt Chen didn't consider herself a concubine. After all, she had three sons to rely on.
Just as Chen's maid was about to introduce her mistress, Madam Shen replied with a dark face, "They say country folk don't have good taste, and it seems that's true."
She's no kind of lady; she's nothing more than a lowly concubine.
Upon hearing this, Aunt Chen clenched her fists tightly, her nails almost digging into her flesh, and bit her lips hard. However, she couldn't afford to argue with Madam Shen in this situation.
Upon hearing this, Yan Qingqing glanced between the two and then smiled, "Oh, so you are the second mistress of the manor. My apologies for not recognizing you."
The other ladies around covered their mouths and chuckled. They found Yan Qingqing quite amusing. A lady is a lady, and a concubine is a concubine. She was deliberately trying to annoy them.
As expected, Madam Shen and Aunt Chen's expressions turned somewhat unpleasant upon hearing this. However, they refrained from saying anything further.
Seeing that the ladies of high society had not made any further trouble, Yan Qingqing quietly waved her hand and had Li Kaishan "carried" out.
Before leaving, Li Kaishan glanced at Yan Qingqing with concern, and Yan Qingqing gave him a reassuring look.
No matter what, this is Canghe Village's territory, and Yan Qingqing can't let herself suffer a loss.
Madam Liu watched coldly as Li Kaishan went from being harassed to safely leaving with twenty taels of silver.
Madam Shen and her concubines, who initially shared a common hatred for Yan Qingqing but now tore each other apart, couldn't help but admire Yan Qingqing from the bottom of their hearts, and at the same time developed a lot of goodwill towards her.
Originally, Madam Liu was the wife of the prefect, and in terms of rank and power, she should have been above Madam Shen.
However, this Assistant Magistrate Shen, relying on being the eldest prince's man, did not take Prefect Liu seriously at all. The Liu family did not have any powerful backers in the capital, so when they were in the prefectural city, Madam Liu, a fourth-rank official, was always overshadowed by Madam Shen, a fifth-rank official.
She wouldn't have come out with Madam Shen and the others if it weren't for the need to prevent her husband from being harassed by Magistrate Shen.
Thinking of this, Madam Liu looked at Yan Qingqing and smiled, "I just heard that this garden belongs to this lady. We are new here and don't know anyone. I wonder if you could show us around?"
Yan Qingqing was a little surprised by her politeness, but she smiled and replied without showing any sign of it, "Of course, no problem. Please, ladies."
Yan Qingqing began to lead them on a tour of the garden. Apart from the occasional sarcastic remarks from Madam Shen and the Chen sisters, nothing else happened.
Yan Qingqing was very open-minded. A higher rank can always crush a lower one, and besides, the other person was a high-ranking official, much higher than her. Being ridiculed a few times wouldn't hurt her much.
Madam Shen and the others felt as if they were punching cotton.
Yan Qingqing originally thought that even if it was hard, it would only be a one-day thing, but who knew that these people would actually stay at the inn in their village.
They said they hadn't had enough fun in one day and wanted to continue their trip tomorrow.
What could Yan Qingqing do? Naturally, she arranged for them to stay, but the room fee was definitely not going to be less.
The people in the inn had probably heard about the ladies' tempers, and they were all trembling with fear.
Yan Qingqing comforted them, telling them not to be so afraid. Although they were ordinary people, they were law-abiding citizens, and even though they were wives of officials, they couldn't do anything to them without reason.
With Yan Qingqing's words, the workers at the inn felt more confident. Yan Qingqing was their major shareholder; what did they have to fear if she spoke up?
After spending the day sightseeing with the group, Yan Qingqing returned home and asked Ruyi to remove her headdress and change her into some comfortable clothes.
Seeing Yan Qingqing's eagerness to change her clothes, Ruyi said with concern, "Madam must be exhausted today?"
Yan Qingqing smiled and said, "I'm not tired. We're from farming families and we're used to doing manual labor."
"This outfit is just too hot to wear, and these things on my head are quite heavy. If I had known these people were so arrogant, I wouldn't have dressed so formally. They've really given them too much face."
However, Yan Qingqing then remarked, "Have these women been cooped up in the city for too long? They can really wander around. They've walked through the same garden over and over again, and some of them even tried to pick flowers from my garden for free."
Ruyi laughed as she listened to Yan Qingqing's complaints and said, "But in the end, we still gave the money to Guai Guai. Madam, you never do business at a loss."
Yan Qingqing gave Ruyi an approving look after hearing her words.
Just as the master and servant were talking, A-Da came in and reported, "Madam, Mu Xi has arrived."
Upon hearing this, Yan Qingqing quickly said, "Let him in."
Soon, a handsome young man with a tall and straight figure walked in.
Yan Qingqing's eyes were momentarily dazed. Was this still the Mu Xi she remembered? Not only had she grown taller, but her whole demeanor was completely different.
Upon seeing Yan Qingqing, Mu Xi quickly knelt down and said, "Mu Xi greets Master and pays respects to Master."
Yan Qingqing looked at him and smiled, "Get up quickly, you've all worked hard these past few days."
Mu Xi stood up and said, "It's no trouble at all. We all cherish this opportunity given to us by our master."
Yan Qingqing nodded upon hearing this and then asked, "Is there anything unusual about them?"
Mu Xi replied, "Nothing has been found yet, but the servants of the Shen family are trying to get close to the villagers and inquire about their master's situation."
I think they're looking for a way out. So, Master and all the young masters in the house need to be extra careful.
Yan Qingqing's face darkened upon hearing this. It seemed that these people did indeed have a purpose, and they were still haunting her.
However, Yan Qingqing is unaware of their plans and can only take precautions as a precaution.
After thinking for a moment, he said to Mu Xi, "Send two people to Xifeng Academy to protect the Fourth Young Master, and send others to keep a close eye on them. If anything happens, tell me immediately."
Mu Xi quickly agreed.
Yan Qingqing then instructed A'da, "Tell the embroidery workshop and the workshop to be extra careful these two days, and not to allow any strangers to enter. Also, have people on duty at night."
Upon hearing this, A-Da accepted the order and left. It wasn't that Yan Qingqing was being overly cautious, but rather that such a shameless person was capable of anything.
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