The news that the Qiao family had discovered a salt mine in Xianshui Town and had been rewarded handsomely by the saint spread like wildfire among the upper echelons of Weizhou Prefecture, and everyone was talking about it.
Fan Huairen looked at the letter in his hand and heard his son talk about Qiao Xin being rewarded and Qiao Yunqing becoming the top scholar. He felt mixed emotions.
"The Qiao family has completely risen."
"Yes, Madam became a sixth-rank lady in just half a year. Now, His Majesty has conferred her the title of second-rank lady. It has only been a short time. Others would not be able to reach that level in their entire lives."
"Your eldest brother wrote to me and said that the eldest and third sons of the Qiao family have made great contributions again. Their contributions cannot be suppressed even if others want to."
"Salt mine, this is such a great contribution, it is not excessive to confer a title of nobility. Why did His Majesty only confer the title of a second-rank lady on them, and did not intend to reward the three brothers of the Qiao family at all? This is unacceptable."
"This is the wisdom of Mrs. Qiao. She is self-disciplined and returns to propriety. Few people can do this."
Fan Huairen believed that if he were to encounter such a situation, he might not be able to do it to the extent that Qiao Xin did.
Fan Jihuai said with emotion, "It's a good thing that we decided to live in harmony with the Qiao family."
"We should get along the same way as we did in the past. There is no need to make any big changes. I don't think Madam Qiao is the kind of person who gets arrogant when she succeeds."
"Son understands."
Others who had the same reaction as the Fan family included Magistrate Wu and his wife.
Prefect Wu had just received the imperial edict and sent the messenger away. He immediately went to the back house and asked his wife to prepare gifts and go to Laohu Town.
When the prefect's wife heard that Qiao Xin had suddenly become a second-rank lady, she felt upset.
A few days ago, the old lady had to bow when she saw her, but now that they met again, she had to bow her head!
All these changes caught people off guard.
The couple looked at each other and were extremely glad that they had treated Qiao Xin well before and did not put their little plan into action. Now it is not difficult to get closer to each other!
"What should I do now?"
"Although the messenger said that Madam Qiao doesn't like to be ostentatious, we can't just say nothing. I heard that she hasn't returned from the capital yet, and there are only two daughters-in-law at home. They must be ill-prepared for such a big occasion. So we can take this opportunity to give her some more advice."
"Try to go there as early as possible. I think everyone in Weizhou Prefecture knows about it. There should be a lot of people going there to find out the news."
Prefect Wu thought for a moment and called the housekeeper to order him, "Go, go quickly, check how much food is sent from the farm. Transport two carts of meat, eggs, and vegetables first, and send them to Laohu Town as soon as possible. By the way, find out what the Fan family has sent."
"My dear, this may not be an appropriate gift, right?" The wife of the prefect said with disbelief in her eyes.
"It may not be appropriate to let the Qiao family go, it will solve their urgent needs. The news came too suddenly, and they were probably caught off guard.
Right now is a time of scarcity, and the Qiao family has no roots here. We have to buy everything to eat and drink. What can we prepare at home?"
After hearing this, Mrs. Wu felt that it made sense.
"Then I will go and prepare!"
The Fan Mansion was not far from the government office, and the two families visited each other frequently, so they were quite familiar with each other.
Nowadays, what people come to inquire about is not a secret, so naturally they can get the information they want by offering a handful of melon seeds and three or five snacks.
Not long after, the housekeeper came to report: "Master Fan has gone there with his family and several carts of food!"
Upon hearing this, the magistrate and his wife breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that they were right!
…
As soon as Qiao Xin got off the official road, she found that the area around Laohu Town was bustling with people. From the official road to their village, the more than two-meter-wide production road was densely packed with horse-drawn carriages and ox-drawn carts, and you couldn't see the end at a glance.
This is the ancient version of a traffic jam, and the gamblers are desperate!
The dirt road was dusty, with so many people coming and going, and so many cows and horses. The road would be marinated with dust from the daily excrement. What was even more outrageous was that some servants actually parked the carriage directly in the farmland that had already been planted.
The Chinese herbal medicine seeds she scattered on the roadside had just started to sprout when they were eaten clean up by the tongue that fell from the sky, including the roots and leaves.
Qiao Xin's mood suddenly became bad when she returned home. Only one in ten of the mosquito-repellent plants she had planted along the way remained, and all the fruits of her labor in the early spring were wasted.
It was just a waste of time.
Qiao Xin felt so distressed when seeing this!
She was driving a bullock cart, wearing a linen cloth, moving slowly forward, dressed just like the maids and drivers around her. It was normal that the servants who came to Laohu Town for the first time didn't recognize her.
Not only did she receive a lot of cold stares along the way, but seeing the crops being crushed by the wheels, her temper was already on the verge of exploding.
Half a mile away from home, my way was still blocked.
"Whose wife are you from? You really don't know the rules. Don't you know it's first come first served? Why are you in such a hurry? Don't you know there's no room in the front?"
"I live here. No matter how hard I work, I can't stay away from home, right? My family is waiting for the food to be cooked."
The man looked her up and down and said, "I thought you were really from this town. The number one scholar is going to get married, so you must know that, right?
"The road is temporarily closed to cars from the village, don't you know? The people who can go now are all important people, and everyone is following the rules. Why are you running forward?"
Qiao Xinmu's face showed that he was in a very bad mood.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!
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