Mrs. Niu pursed her dry lips and squatted silently near the city gate, staring at the people entering and leaving the capital.
Mrs. Niu is having a miserable time, but Old Madam Niu is living a very comfortable life.
.........
"Madam, the village chief is here."
Cuixiang pouted and said to Old Lady Niu who was leaning in the yard to enjoy the cool air.
Madam Niu raised her eyelids and glanced at Cuixiang.
"What's up? Have you forgotten your manners again? Don't you want to live a good life anymore?"
Luzhu, who was massaging Old Madam Niu's legs, paused slightly and quickly glanced at Cuixiang.
Cuixiang pouted and bent her knees slightly, "I understand."
Madam Niu's gaze fell from Cuixiang's face to Luzhu's face, and she said with a sullen face,
"Remember, you two are now the maids of the old lady of the Ding family, not the concubines of the Niu family. Don't act like a spoiled brat. If anyone finds out, we'll all be killed..."
Old Lady Niu raised her hand and made a beheading gesture, which frightened the two concubines so much that their faces turned pale instantly.
Old Madam Niu was very brave and stole a lot of banknotes and silver from the dead officials.
Relying on the silver in her pocket, she changed into an official uniform and touched the official's official certificate.
She tricked two concubines into working as her maids, and then she swaggered into the town, saying that she was sneaking out to play in her son's clothes. She fooled the clothing store owner and bought her some new clothes.
After some thought, Mrs. Niu did not dare to go to the county town, and even did not dare to stay in the town for long.
She used her official credentials to sneak into Chunquan Village near the East City Gate, deceived the villagers, and pretended to be an old lady from an official family who had come to the countryside to retire.
The head of Chunquan Village looked at Madam Niu's demeanor without any doubt and was extremely polite to Madam Niu and the other two.
Old Lady Niu gave the village chief a lot of benefits, and the village chief directly gave the best house in the village to Old Lady Niu.
There is a lot of land in the village, and the money given by Old Lady Niu is enough for him to build two more houses like this.
The two concubines were so frightened that they nodded repeatedly and became even more respectful to Madam Niu.
Cuixiang hurried over, bent over and supported Mrs. Niu's arm.
Luzhu followed behind with a fan and fanned Old Lady Niu.
If these two young women had not followed Old Madam Niu, who knows how miserable their fate would have been.
Even if they have money, they can easily be targeted by people with malicious intentions.
On the contrary, it is safer to follow Madam Niu. The villagers don't know Madam Niu's background and dare not disrespect her.
Madam Niu has not been the head of the household for so many years in vain. When she is serious, she still has the aura of an official's wife.
When the village chief saw Mrs. Niu, he immediately bowed and greeted her.
"Mrs. Ding, the well diggers will be here tomorrow, but..."
"Village chief, just speak frankly." Old Lady Niu raised her eyelids and looked at the village chief.
She told the villagers that her husband's surname was Ding and that her name was Old Lady Ding.
She didn't lie. Her real name was Ding Qunfang, and her surname was indeed Ding. There was nothing wrong with it.
She is not stupid, so she has to hide her identity and keep a low profile to survive.
The village chief smiled ingratiatingly, "As you know, it hasn't rained for over a month, and many shallow wells are basically dry. If we want to dig a well now, we have to dig very deep to get water."
"Because of the drought, many people have recently wanted to dig wells, so the price is much higher than before..."
The well in his family is the deepest in the village, and it has almost run dry in the past few days.
When the well diggers come tomorrow, he will ask them to deepen the well at home for free.
"How much?" Old Madam Niu said lightly.
Oh!
The village chief's appetite is getting bigger and bigger. In the few days since he came to the village, he has taken more than fifty taels from her openly and secretly.
If she hadn't often mentioned her son who was an official in the capital, who knows how many people in the village would have had evil intentions.
Forget it, spend money to buy peace. Even though she now knows that these people deliberately cheated her of money, she can only pretend not to know.
Aren’t all the old ladies from official families so otherworldly? She has to pretend to be one.
Of course, she was originally an old lady from an official family, but she was an old lady who climbed up from the peasant class.
She understands the villagers' twists and turns better than anyone else.
"Thirty taels." The village chief raised three fingers, his expression slightly stiff, staring at Old Lady Niu, watching her reaction.
In fact, the person who dug the well wanted 20 taels. Since he helped to find the well, he should ask for some benefits.
These wives of officials are not short of money, and a little bit of money exposed between their fingers is enough for them to eat for a year.
The weather now looks like it's going to be dry.
The crops in the fields have all dried up. The taxes were paid not long ago, and several families in the village have no food to eat.
In the past, a family could live comfortably with ten taels of silver for a year, but now we can’t even buy much food, and we’re lucky if it can last for two months.
Alas, he didn't want to cheat these officials' wives out of their money.
But he couldn't just watch his whole family starve to death.
Besides, this isn't cheating. At most, he's making a profit from the price difference, as long as both parties are willing.
Seeing the village chief's slightly evasive look, Old Lady Niu naturally knew that the price was false.
Even though she knew the price was wrong, she had no choice but to accept it.
There was no way. Her current status did not allow her to conflict with the villagers.
"Okay, let them come early tomorrow to dig."
"Okay, come over as soon as it's light tomorrow morning."
The village chief left Mrs. Niu's house with a smile on his face and satisfaction.
Madam Niu's eyes flickered slightly, she looked up at the dazzling sun in the sky, and frowned slightly.
"Go, call a carriage, and go to the town now to buy provisions."
The silver in her hand seemed to be a lot, more than 1,500 taels, enough for a normal life in the village.
But it doesn't look like it's going to rain. If there's a famine, this little bit of silver won't be enough.
She has to stock up on more food while the food prices are not too outrageous now.
Cuixiang was stunned for a moment, and seeing the expression of Madam Niu that did not allow for rebuttal, she moved her lips twice, knelt down and responded.
"Yes, I'll go right away."
Soon, the only carriage in the village came back with Cuixiang.
Old Lady Niu paid the driver ten copper coins to send him away, and drove the carriage to the town with her concubine.
She must not let the villagers know that she is hoarding food.
............
"Sir, sir, it's me, I..."
Mrs. Niu stopped the spy's horse, looked back nervously at the official at the city gate, and whispered to the spy who was in contact with him,
"It's me, Madam Niu, who helped you monitor the Xiao family..."
Mrs. Niu was so excited that she originally thought she would have to wait for several days.
She didn't expect her luck to be so good. Before the city gate closed, she suddenly saw the spy who had contacted her before riding towards the city gate.
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