Chapter Sixty-One
Fifty taels of silver was a huge sum of money for a peasant family, enough to support their entire family for two or three generations.
Therefore, as soon as these words were spoken, everyone who had rushed to help Qin Zhining looked at Zhou Fuquan.
Zhou Fuquan's face turned deathly pale instantly, his legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground. "You...you're talking nonsense, I don't know you at all."
"We're not lying!"
Another man in black said, "You met us at a tavern in the city yesterday and gave us a deposit of three taels of silver, agreeing to give us another forty-seven taels after the deal was done!"
Zhou Fuquan wanted to argue, but then he saw Qin Wenzheng and Jin Chun walk in from outside, followed by two constables.
It turned out that when Qin Wenzheng went to the city to buy grain, he learned about what Steward Zhou Fuquan had been doing at the estate. Fearing that he might get into trouble if the accounts were checked, he went to the yamen and asked two constables to come over.
As soon as the constable entered, he saw the three men in black being held down on the ground, as well as Zhou Fuquan, whose face was deathly pale, and immediately understood what was going on.
One of the constables asked, "Miss Qin, what's going on?"
Qin Zhining pointed at Zhou Fuquan and the three men in black and said, "These three men were sent by Steward Zhou to drive me away so that he could continue to occupy the estate."
Moreover, Steward Zhou embezzled the farmers' grain wages, misappropriated the farm's silver, and kept the accounts in a chaotic and unclear manner.
The constable walked up to Zhou Fuquan, took out the shackles, and shouted sternly, "Steward Zhou, come back to the yamen with us and explain things clearly. Afterwards, we will report this matter to Grand Secretary Zhang."
Zhou Fuquan collapsed to the ground, his previous arrogance completely gone. He muttered, "I didn't mean to. I just wanted to continue managing the estate..."
The constables ignored his explanations and immediately chained him and the three men in black together, then led them away.
The villagers stood around, watching Zhou Fuquan being taken away, their faces showing expressions of relief.
Qin Zhining watched their departing figures and breathed a sigh of relief.
So many problems have arisen so soon after we took over the estate; there will likely be many more troubles to come.
But as long as we can keep the villagers in line and sort out the accounts, the village will eventually recover.
“Miss, the grain has been bought, and the bricklayers have been hired. They’re repairing the wall now.” Jingchun walked over with a smile on her face. “Although there isn’t much money left in the accounting office, if we use it sparingly, it should last until the autumn harvest.”
Qin Zhining nodded and looked at everyone, "Everyone has worked hard. This incident today must have been frightening for you all. I'll have the kitchen prepare a couple more dishes tonight to help you all recover."
The villagers thanked them profusely, their faces beaming with genuine smiles they hadn't seen in a long time.
Seeing their smiles, Qin Zhining felt a little more at ease.
She knew that as long as she treated these farmers sincerely, they would definitely work hard for her, and the farm would definitely get better and better.
As the sun sets, golden rays spill onto the blue brick floor of the manor. The birdcages under the eaves still sway gently. But now, the manor is no longer as oppressive as before, and has become more peaceful and lively.
Qin Zhining stood in front of the moon gate, watching the busy figures in the distance, a faint smile appearing on her lips.
This estate will be her home from now on, and she will definitely protect it well.
However, once she's settled into her new home, she also needs to quickly resolve the sordid affairs within the Qin County Magistrate's residence, otherwise it will affect her earning speed.
"Xiaoxiao, come back to the county magistrate's mansion with me tonight. Jingchun, Jingqiu, and Qin Wenzheng will stay behind to familiarize themselves with everything on this estate as soon as possible, and to make separate accounts and register the names of personnel and landowners."
Qin Zhining, with complete trust, let go of all responsibility and said to the newly acquired Jingchun, Qin Wenzheng, and the others, "After the spring harvest, I will teach you all how to grow high-yield grains that can earn money."
"Yes, Miss." Qin Wenzheng, Jin Chun, Jin Qiu and the others were very excited and moved to be valued so much by their master, and hurriedly bowed and agreed.
At that moment, Qin Zhining took Xiaoxiao back to the Qin County Magistrate's residence.
At this moment, inside the Qin County Magistrate's residence, Aunt An was furiously yelling at Granny Liu, throwing a bowl of hot tea at her, which covered Granny Liu's face with tea and tea leaves, and gave her a large bump on her forehead.
"Useless, useless—you old hag, you're just useless." Aunt An was furious, repeating the same few curses over and over again.
Aunt Liu gently advised from the side, "Madam, you must calm down, don't hurt yourself. Let me tell you, when Master returns, you can ask him to make the decision, right?"
"Hmph, that little bitch, she got lucky." Aunt An's chest heaved, her face contorted with rage as she cursed.
"Once the master returns, we must arrange a marriage for her as soon as possible. I refuse to believe that she will still be so arrogant and lucky once she gets to her husband's family."
"What Madam says is true." Aunt Liu was gentle in appearance and soft in tone, swaying her waist as she smiled and complimented Aunt An.
"If you ask me, sister, don't worry. She's just a little brat, not even half a block of tofu tall. How could she possibly compete with you, Madam?"
This time she really did escape by sheer luck. Next time, Madam, if you plan more meticulously, let's see if she can escape even if she grows wings. Madam, don't be angry. Let's discuss this further when Master returns later.”
As they were talking, Qin Zhining led Qin Xiaoxiao into the county magistrate's residence.
However, as she entered, she took out a chipped earthenware jar from her spatial storage, weighed it in her hand, poured out some spiritual spring water, and then calmly entered her home with Qin Xiaoxiao.
Ji Wu, the other gatekeeper, saw that she was carrying gray wild vegetables and a broken earthenware pot. He wanted to laugh but didn't dare, and just assumed that she was just used to being poor and crazy.
Xiao Chunlan, who was waiting not far away, saw her return from afar and ran towards the inner courtyard in a flash to quickly deliver a message to Aunt An and Qin Zhiyu.
Qin Zhining pretended not to see it, and did not return to Tinglan Garden or the woodshed. Instead, she went straight to the overgrown vegetable garden in the backyard.
In order to earn money in interstellar space, she wanted to try her luck and see if there were any unexpected surprises in this garden.
In the original owner's memory, this place was where Qin Youming's grandfather, Old Master Qin, planted various medicinal herbs.
The most common ones are mint, long pepper, dogwood, ginger, and pepper.
Later, the old man took his whole family back to their ancestral home, and the small herb garden became overgrown with weeds.
However, since medicinal herbs were once grown here, how could there be no remnants?
[Ding—Host, there are medicinal herbs needed by humans in interstellar space three steps ahead. Would you like to sell them?]
"Oh? So there really are medicinal herbs, right?" Qin Zhining was overjoyed. She pushed aside the waist-high weeds and took three steps forward.
Sure enough, a few wild mint plants, a few horsetail plants, and a few plantain plants were found in the corner, all with lush green leaves and a medicinal fragrance.
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