"May I ask what brings you here, sirs? I am Lin Zhenghong, the owner of this house."
In this era, ordinary people were very afraid of government officials.
Seeing his wife trembling and with pale lips, Lin Zhenghong worried that his wife and daughter were frightened, so he quickly shielded them behind him and walked forward.
The officials, however, ignored him.
Turn your gaze to what's behind him and shout:
Which one is Lin Yan?
"I am."
A crisp sound rang out, and Lin Yan slowly stepped forward.
The officer glanced at her, then at the document in his hand, and muttered under his breath:
"He doesn't look like an idiot!"
"We apologize for disturbing Miss Lin. We are constables from the county government. The magistrate is considerate of the people and, upon learning that you are seeking a husband, he has specially arranged a marriage for you. This is the marriage contract; please take it. We will now go to the groom's house to inform him."
"ah?!"
Not only was Lin Yan dumbfounded.
Lin Zhenghong and his wife, along with the neighbors who were secretly watching the show from behind their doors, were all dumbfounded.
They had always heard of the magistrate's formidable reputation.
I never expected him to help people find husbands!
Is this a county magistrate or the God of Love?
"Sir, my son is over thirty years old and still hasn't found a wife. Could you please give him a woman?"
Some bold villagers ran up to the officials and excitedly volunteered.
Lin Yan looked in the direction of the voice and saw it was Er Gou's father.
Ye Lan also realized what was happening, and all the color drained from her face.
I almost fainted.
Lin Yan quietly walked to her side, held her hands tightly, and silently encouraged her.
"Get out of here! You audacious scoundrel! Your son is so old and still can't find a wife. How worthless is he that he dares to beg the county magistrate? Are you from the capital? Do you think the county magistrate has nothing better to do? Anyone who dares to make a move on me, I'll chop them down with one stroke!"
With a "whoosh," the officer drew his broadsword.
The gleaming knife was particularly dazzling under the sunlight.
The villagers who had been harboring ulterior motives all abandoned their inappropriate thoughts.
After the officials left, Lin Yan helped the terrified Ye Lan into the house, poured her some tea, and patted her back to calm her down.
"Mother, you mustn't be afraid anymore, or it will all be exposed and our whole family will go to jail. Remember, you have never seen those two people."
Her voice seemed to have a spell on it.
Ye Lan's heart, which had been pounding wildly, finally calmed down. Facing Lin Yan's concerned face, she felt quite guilty.
"I'm so sorry, my daughter, it's all my fault, I almost gave myself away."
"Don't blame Mom, let's pack our things and cook, we're starving."
Because they had plenty of money, they bought a lot of things during their trip to town.
Besides meat, rice, and noodles, I also bought a lot of cotton and fabric needed for winter, which cost me a full tael and two mace of silver.
Since it was only late afternoon and dinner was too early, Ye Lan heated up the leftover pancakes from the morning, fried a few eggs, and ate that for now, planning to make something more substantial for dinner later.
After dinner, the family of five had a rare reunion and sat in the yard.
Lin Yan took out twenty taels of silver from her purse and placed it in front of Lin Zhenghong.
"Father, this is Master Wu's apology for the beating you received last time. Remember to hide it well."
"My goodness, twenty taels of silver! How come Master Wu is suddenly so kind? Oh my, so much silver! I'd be willing to take a few more beatings for him! Hehe... Wife, here, keep this silver safe. Let's buy some land. I won't go to work in town anymore; I'll stay with you every day..."
Although it was the first time he had ever seen such a large sum of money, Lin Zhenghong did not hesitate at all.
He happily stuffed all of it into his wife's hands.
Having not seen his wife for many days, he forgot that his children were beside him, and held his wife's soft hands tightly.
Ye Lan blushed under his gaze.
Seeing his oblivious display of affection, Lin Yan could only awkwardly touch her nose and look away, then told them about the land purchase.
“Father, there’s no need to buy land. I’ve bought thirty acres of wasteland to grow medicinal herbs. I’ve also made an agreement with Master Wu that if the planting is successful, he will buy all the herbs.”
"Thirty acres! My God, that's so much! Even wasteland would cost twenty taels of silver! When did our family become so rich?"
“It’s all thanks to our daughter’s talent. She said she wants to build a big house and has us as the housekeepers! Thanks to our daughter, Brother Hong won’t have to do such hard work anymore. Look how thin you’ve gotten these past two years…”
Thinking of the scene she witnessed in town today, Ye Lan felt as if her heart was being torn apart, and she tenderly stroked her husband's thin face.
Watching the two of them display their affection as if no one else was around, Lin Yan closed her eyes and exhaled a breath of stale air.
It seems she'll have to prepare cotton again tonight.
"Big sister, are we getting another brother-in-law? Who is it?"
A sudden sound came from beside me.
Reminded by Lin Muyan, Lin Yan remembered the engagement and hurriedly opened the engagement document to read it.
It was fine if she hadn't looked, but as soon as she opened it, Lin Yan's eyes widened instantly.
Staring incredulously at the name on the document!
How could it be him?!
At that time, the officials had already gone to the Xie family next door with a secret order.
They knocked on the door.
Just then, the women of the Xie family were all in their rooms, doing embroidery.
There are only two days left until the embroidery is delivered. Just a few finishing touches and it will be ready to be completed.
Upon hearing the knock, Madam Xie went to open the door.
When she saw several officials standing outside the door, unpleasant memories from the past flooded back, and she forced herself to calm down.
"What brings you here, sir?"
Where is Xie Muqing?
Upon hearing that they were looking for their son, Madam Xie panicked, her mind racing with all sorts of unpleasant speculations.
Because of the officials' authority, she could only lead them to the main room while anxiously asking them questions behind their backs.
“My son is already crippled and cannot come out to see you, sir. Please forgive him and move to the main room. What urgent matter do you have for my son? Since we were exiled here, our family has been law-abiding and has never harbored any disloyalty. Why do you need to see my son?”
The officers grew increasingly irritated by her relentless barrage of questions.
He couldn't help but make a motion as if drawing a knife.
They only put the knife back in its sheath after Madam Xie immediately fell silent in fright.
He answered impatiently:
"Don't worry about so many questions. Your son hasn't done anything wrong, and we're not here to arrest him. It's a good thing."
When the officials entered the room, Xie Muqing was half-lying on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) reading a book.
A ray of sunlight streamed in through the window, illuminating his delicate and handsome face.
It added an unexpected touch of allure to him.
Not to mention women, even the men who were also officials couldn't help but swallow hard when they saw it.
They unconsciously held their breath.
They were afraid of disturbing the immortal who had mistakenly entered the mortal realm.
Seeing someone enter, Xie Muqing slowly closed her book, her charming peach blossom eyes glancing at the few officials at the door, her expression indifferent.
"Young Master Xie, please forgive me..."
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