Chapter 120 You're the one who seduced my son
The Southwest Army broke camp and left, and the Prince of Han's vassal troops, having come up empty-handed, also left on the very day Yao Zhengliang surrendered.
Far away in the capital, the young emperor sat on his high throne in the imperial city.
He looked at the urgent memorial that had been delivered to him with a calm expression.
Eunuch Tian bowed slightly and said respectfully, "Everything is just as Your Majesty predicted. Your Majesty is indeed a prophet!"
"Those bandits all came under the command of Prince Cheng. The Prince of Han and his party got nothing, and even spent tens of thousands to buy a lot of grain from Prince Cheng."
"The King of Han is vengeful and will surely seek revenge in the future."
Her Majesty sat in the shadows, half of her face hidden, making it impossible to see her expression.
His eyes were indifferent. "Is that so?"
Is he incredibly prescient?
It's just that he's walking the same path again.
The country is about to fall, and its mountains and rivers will never be recovered.
The sins of the previous life can be repaid in this life.
Eunuch Tian glanced at His Majesty, then said, "Your Majesty, there is one more small matter..."
"Speak," His Majesty coughed several times, then focused on pulling out the reports from the border.
Eunuch Tian said, "The Lady Jiang you asked me to investigate was supposed to have died in the Zhou-Song conflict, but this young lady is audacious and faked her death to escape. She is now living in the county government office of her brother, Scholar Jiang."
Jiang Niangzi is just a small chess piece, not enough to shake, yet like thousands of chess pieces, she drives the entire game.
His Majesty happened to be holding the memorial submitted by General Meng.
In his previous life, Jiang Xingyao failed the imperial examination and was recognized as a member of General Meng's clan, forcing a mere scholar to the battlefield.
Talents meant for governing a peaceful era are lost on the battlefield.
On the day the city fell, memorials flew everywhere, and Jiang Xingyao's half-finished memorial landed in front of him.
Only then did he see the profound sorrow expressed by a scholar's ink splashes.
In this life, he put Jiang Niangzi on the chessboard, hoping to incite conflict between the Song and Zhou families and the Meng family.
Then, the Shadow Guard was dispatched to escort Jiang Xingyao to the capital for the imperial examination.
His Majesty gently put down General Meng's memorial, and then took out General He's memorial from the Southwest Army.
Everything is proceeding according to his plan; there's no need to worry about the minor details.
"A mere pawn, if it's not dead, then it's not dead."
Eunuch Tian lowered his head and said, "Yes."
His Majesty glanced at General He's memorial and ordered the magistrate of Ding County to repair the river and build dikes, and appointed Zhou Congxian as the naval commander-in-chief, ordering him to train a capable navy in Ding County.
Eunuch Tian looked up at His Majesty and said, "I've heard that the Jianzhou navy is brave and capable in battle."
His Majesty coughed several more times, and the corners of his eyes turned red.
“Those who are not of our kind, how could they be loyal and brave?”
"Give the order: these two things must be done simultaneously, without delay! Cough cough!"
Eunuch Tian immediately stepped forward, "Your Majesty!"
*
With the threat of bandits gone, Ding County began its spring planting season.
Yao Shisan changed into a neat set of clothes. "Shuang'er, I remember the Cao family also had some fertile land, which has now been taken back by the government."
“I rented it from my brother and pay rent every year as usual. Let’s go take a look today.”
Shuang'er used to be a maid serving people in the mansion, but she only saw the best people in the mansion.
This is the first time I've ever seen a grain of rice in my bowl grow from a seedling into a head, with my feet firmly planted in the mud.
Officer Shi led the two men into the fields.
Looking at the lush greenery, Shuang'er immediately felt much better!
"Sister, this place is so beautiful!"
Yao Shisan: "Yes, where in the capital can you see such a sight?"
She had never farmed as a child, but she and her friends had run along the ridges between the fields. One of them accidentally trampled on the ridge of the village chief's field, which led to a two-month-long argument between the two families.
It seems the village chief's wife is being domineering, moving people's field ridges little by little each day.
As a result, she stepped back and pushed it back, and the village chief's wife spent more than half a year working for nothing.
The head constable, who was walking in front, turned around and said, "In our small place, everyone is desperate to get out."
"You guys are something else, choosing to leave your nice big houses in the capital and come to this poor, remote place instead."
Yao Shisan asked with a smile, "Isn't this place nice? Aren't you still here?"
As he led the way, Chief Constable Shi turned back and said, "I have no choice."
“I was never good at studying when I was young. Now I can work as a constable in the county government and support my parents and children. That’s already a good path.”
Farmers have already started working in the fields.
"Shiwa is here!"
Officer Shi is from Ding County and grew up here.
The old farmers in the fields all watched him go from wearing open-crotch pants to becoming a county constable.
"Seventh Uncle, didn't Youzhi come back to help you?" Officer Shi skillfully started a casual conversation.
The old farmer smiled, his eyes crinkling. "He's a scholar, how could he possibly understand these things? He should just focus on his studies and pass the imperial examinations in the future; that would bring honor to his ancestors."
He was a childhood playmate of Captain Shi, and they often played together when they were young.
As they grew up, one studied in the prefecture and the other became a constable in the county government, so they had less and less contact.
"Then you go ahead with your work, I'll take some men to check out the fields of Cao Bapi that were seized up ahead."
"Hey, Stone Boy."
The old farmer called out to him, then glanced at the two young girls following behind him.
“There are two acres of land over there that Cai’s father gambled away to the Cao family’s casino back then. Now that Cao the Skinflint has been arrested, let’s return those two acres of land to their family.”
“Youcai has been in poor health since he was a child and has to take medicine all year round. His father is unreliable, and only his mother is left to rely on this land.”
Officer Shi frowned slightly. "Seventh Uncle, after the Cao family was arrested last year, they quickly seized the land and planted two seasons of rice."
"We adults only let them plant for a season for nothing because of their situation, and now they've started planting again without even asking!"
"If everyone did this, Ding County would be in complete chaos!"
The old farmer gave him a disapproving look. "Stone Boy, you can't say that."
"Youcai has been your childhood friend, and you've eaten at his house quite often. Now you won't even help with this little favor?!"
"Besides, Cao the Skinflint has hundreds of acres of land, but he only has a few acres. You can just turn a blind eye to it."
Officer Shi shook his head. "How can that be? We signed a written agreement with them, so you can't just turn a blind eye."
Knowing he couldn't reason with the old man, he stood up and said, "Seventh Uncle, you're busy, I'll be going now."
The old farmer, gripping his hoe, watched his retreating figure and scoffed, "If my son hadn't written your self-recommendation letter back then, would you have gained Lord Qin's favor?"
"You ungrateful wretch!"
Yao Shisan turned around and glanced at the unfriendly old farmer.
"Officer Shi, what is the relationship between that family that stole the seed and that old man?"
Officer Shi said, "That Seventh Uncle, Youcai's father, I call Ninth Uncle. They are cousins."
"Uncle Jiu loved gambling, and his family was almost completely destitute from gambling."
"Unfortunately, Youcai is in poor health, and now the burden of the family rests on Uncle Jiu and Aunt Jiu."
Shuang'er: "Then we'll rent a few less acres."
Officer Shi did not respond to that statement.
He naturally wanted to help, but he wasn't in a position to ask.
If the two of you could be so kind as to share two acres with Uncle Jiu and Aunt Jiu, that would be wonderful.
"No way," Yao Shisan refused outright. "Has your kindness from last year yielded any results?"
“If they really need the land, they should find a way to redeem it.”
“Now the land deeds are with the government, so they won’t raise the price like the Cao family did. You can redeem it at the original price.”
Officer Shi couldn't help but speak up, "Madam Yao, you don't know this, she wouldn't have done this if she weren't desperate to survive."
Yao Shisan knew they were from the same village and related by blood. Although he wouldn't do anything, he couldn't help but chime in with a few words.
"These were all taken back from the Cao family. Apart from the land that was forcibly seized and returned, and the land that is disputed and pending trial, the rest all have land deeds and documents."
“If your family occupies two mu today, and another family occupies two mu the day after tomorrow, wouldn’t the villagers think that these were all confiscated from the Cao family anyway, and now that they are ownerless, they can be seized at will? In the future, will the county magistrate be called to drive them away, or will you, Chief Constable Shi, drive them away?”
"A small favor is appreciated, but a large one breeds resentment. Even if a county magistrate had the merit of cutting off his own flesh to save a life, they could still drown you all with their spittle."
What you say comes true.
Besides Uncle Jiu and Aunt Jiu mentioned earlier, two other families are digging dikes in the fields, trying to enclose the land within their own boundaries.
"What are you doing! Is this your land?! You've dug it up!"
Just as Officer Shi spoke up for Uncle Jiu and Aunt Jiu's family, someone started stealing land.
He's so embarrassed he's lost face completely.
When Youcai's wife saw Constable Shi, she put on a bitter face and said, "Shiwa, you know, my family has no way to make a living and can only rely on two acres of land."
The remaining two companies immediately objected.
"Then why can her family grow it, but my family can't!"
"My two sons aren't married yet. If we don't cultivate more land, where will we get the money?"
Shuang'er had never seen such a shameless person before. "None of you are allowed to farm here anymore. We've rented this land; it's our land now!"
Yao Shisan produced the document, saying, "This is a document signed by the government."
One of them, who was originally standing on the edge of the rented land, returned to his own land upon hearing this.
Now, only Chunsheng from his family and Youzhi from the west end of the village are studying in the prefecture.
Others who are barefoot aren't afraid of those wearing shoes, but not in his family.
Sure enough, that family stubbornly refused to cooperate, saying, "I don't care. If Zhiniang can plant it, I can plant it too. Her family is poor, but my family is even poorer!"
Shuang'er: "I'm much poorer than you! Who's as shameless as you!"
That person had seen Shuang'er before. Last year, when the Cao family took grain but didn't pay, it was she who came to make up the difference.
"Hey! It's you, little girl, who seduced my son, making him infatuated with her every day, unable to eat or drink!"
Um?
Yao Shisan turned to look at Shuang'er.
Did Shuang'er suffer any injustice? I've never heard her say that.
At the time, I was only focused on excitedly sharing the good news with her.
"ah?"
Shuang'er looked completely bewildered.
The man threw down his hoe and shouted, "My son was injured by your men! His leg is now crippled! How dare you come to our village!"
He stepped forward to grab Shuang'er.
"You're coming back with me!"
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