Taiping County has 37 villages in the surrounding area, each of which is quite large. Compared with other counties, it has produced the most scholars, and every few years there will be a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examination). Many years ago, it even produced a Tanhua (a third-ranked scholar in the imperial examination). Therefore, the atmosphere of studying and taking the imperial examination is very strong.
Families with two sons would send their children to school.
Other counties only had one school, but Taiping County had two. There were also many more private schools and classes run by scholars.
Iron Sword Village is relatively poor, so there is no private school in the village. Other villages are better off and have them.
“Sometimes we’d go wine tasting, sometimes we’d bring chrysanthemums, and sometimes we’d eat. Over time, the shops and stalls over there all started selling calligraphy, paintings, and antiques. We farmers don’t know anything about those things,” Zhao Dashan explained.
Yin Lan asked Zhao Dashan to stop the oxcart. She had only seen the winding stream party in books and had never seen it in person. Moreover, the place was very lively. Yin Lan saw that it was early and was tempted to go and take a look.
Zhao Dashan naturally had no objection.
He had heard that a certain runner's wife seemed to like scholars, and it seemed that was indeed the case.
He was worried for Chen Yourun again.
Yin Lan walked into the crowd. On the high platform in the distance, all kinds of scholars in fine cloth robes stood, gathering in groups to talk loudly. The surrounding shops were also very lively. The stalls and vendors sold writing brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, folding fans, turbans and other things used by scholars, as well as some elegant food.
Yin Lan saw a pastry stall that was doing very well, but the presentation was...
Suddenly she remembered that when she was in the countryside, she had built an earthen stove to use as an oven. The bread and cakes she made were incredibly delicious. The people here must never have seen anything like it. And these scholars were all rich people. Such an ordinary pastry cost five coins a serving.
Yin Lan suddenly had a brilliant idea to make money.
There was nothing else to see, so Yin Lan was about to leave when she passed a street stall and heard a crowd exclaiming in amazement, "Strange stones! Strange stones!"
"Ten taels would be more than enough; in my opinion, twenty taels would be just right."
"Twenty-five taels, I'll take it!"
Looking over, Yin Lan saw a stone called "strange stone" through the gaps in the crowd. The stone was just a pebble with pretty patterns, but its peculiarity was that it was naturally shaped like a calligraphy brush. Although it didn't look quite right, it was considered an auspicious omen.
"Brother Li, with this stone, you will surely pass the imperial examination this time!"
Yin Landuo glanced at it, then, as if struck by a thought, hurried away.
On the way back, Yin Lan kept thinking about the stone.
She had read in a book that stones could be softened. She herself had studied carving and could carve stones into any "auspicious" shape, which could be sold for tens of taels of silver!
It's incredibly profitable.
However, she still needs to test whether the stone can actually soften.
Thinking of this, Yin Lan felt a surge of emotion.
The journey back seemed to be much faster than in the morning; the oxcart arrived at Iron Sword Village just as the sun was setting.
A few women were sitting at the village entrance twisting hemp rope. They stared intently at the oxcart, and after noticing what was on it, they exchanged glances and began to chatter, "I heard the Yin family is here again. Is this a gift for the maternal family?"
"The Chen family really lost out by marrying this daughter-in-law. She's unfilial to her parents. This slut swallowed all the allowances and wouldn't give them a single penny."
"Do you think Chen Yourun will divorce her when he comes back? His three kids don't even have enough to eat, tsk tsk tsk..."
When the original owner heard these words, he probably felt somewhat guilty, so he would usually avoid them in a hurry. After that, he rarely went out and would avoid crowds when he did leave.
But the current Yin Lan is not the original owner of this body. Faced with the discussions, she simply swept them away with indifference and sharpness.
"Instead of worrying about whether I will be divorced, I should worry about whether the cabbage at home can survive. The leaves are so yellow, and I'm just being idle."
The women were completely taken aback when Yin Lan confronted them, and their expressions immediately turned ugly.
Widow Ye, in particular, always looked down on Yin Lan, saying things like, "What's wrong with us saying a few words? Wasn't it you who gave things to your family? Wasn't it you who made your child starve and have to scavenge for food?"
As for the vegetables in the fields, even the village head couldn't solve the problem, so what could they do?
Water has been poured and fertilizer has been applied, but strangely enough, in previous years the cabbage seedlings would have grown plump and large long ago. This year, however, it is quite odd. Considering that Tiejian Village has been exceptionally lucky this year and has not been greatly affected by the drought, the rice is still weak and the harvest is poor.
The women naturally didn't know why, but they were already tightening their belts to make ends meet this winter, and they really couldn't stand Chen Yourun's wife being so ostentatious.
Unfortunately, Widow Ye had taken a liking to Chen Yourun in the past, and even had a matchmaker come to her door to propose. However, Chen Yourun had no interest in her at all. What a big deal it was for a burden from out of town!
What angered her even more was that he turned around and married Yin Lan.
Later, her husband and Chen Yourun were conscripted and left. Widow Ye longed for her husband to finally achieve success, and for Chen Yourun to die like everyone else.
Instead, she received news of her husband's death in battle. Meanwhile, Yin Lan lived a very comfortable life thanks to Chen Yourun's allowance of one tael of silver—a whole tael of silver! She didn't care about her children, farming, or her in-laws and husband's family, and she was very close to her own family.
How could she not be jealous?
Yin Lan glanced at her indifferently. "Oh, you're so well-mannered, aren't you just picking up trash too? Oh, by the way, the ink that went missing from the village school last time, you found it at your Tie Niu's place, right? Tsk tsk tsk, you're really well-mannered, you've even become a thief..."
"What did you say?" Having hit a sore spot, Widow Ye's face turned bright red, but how could she refute her son's disappointment?
"Are you deaf? Do I have to tell you again? You've raised a thief..."
Those around her pulled back Widow Ye, who looked like she was about to attack, saying, "Forget it, forget it, why bother talking to her?"
Whether the Chen family will intervene once the operation is launched is unknown, but the families of those who were conscripted are treated well by the village.
Widow Ye's husband died, and she received a pension, so she was no longer considered a military dependent and therefore could not receive preferential treatment.
Besides, her son is indeed...
Widow Ye gritted her teeth, "Let's see how long she can be so smug! When the Chen family comes back, I'll make sure she gets a divorce!"
Widow Ye suddenly had a flash of insight. That's right, Chen Yourun divorced her, so she...
Thinking about this, she felt her soles getting warm.
He exchanged a few pleasantries with the people around him and then headed home.
But when she reached a less crowded ridge in the field, she suddenly turned and headed in another direction.
Sun the Scoundrel is a notorious scoundrel in the village. He got a soldier's wife from a neighboring village pregnant, and after being confronted by the villagers, he was kicked out of the village and now lives in a thatched hut at the west end of the village.
Widow Ye looked around to make sure no one was there before quietly going inside.
A moment later, a startled cry came from inside: "What do you want me to do? Are you crazy?"
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