Seeing his daughter's injured face, Magistrate Liu felt heartbroken. This was the daughter he was most satisfied with among all his daughters. She was beautiful, intelligent and quick-witted. He only hoped that her face was not badly damaged, otherwise how could she become an imperial concubine?
Although he was just a minor county magistrate, his eldest daughter was now the personal maid of the Crown Prince. He had spent a lot of money and used his connections to send his daughter there. Now, his fourth daughter was even more beautiful than his eldest daughter. If her face was ruined, how could she marry into the Crown Prince's mansion?
Thinking of those two low-ranking ladies, he began to plan how to get rid of them quietly. However, this matter required careful consideration and should not be rushed.
"Dad, let's go to the clinic first and have a doctor check my face!" I was so scared when the knife was at my neck that I only realized how much my face hurts now.
This is crucial to whether she can marry into the Crown Prince's household in the future; it can't be ruined.
"Let's go, let's go to the clinic first." Magistrate Liu also knew that right now, appearances mattered the most.
An Shuyi and Xia Hua left and went straight into the house. When they arrived, the oxcart outside was already loaded with things, and the two horses had also been fitted with carriages, which were also filled with things. The others were waiting there, pacing back and forth anxiously.
"Sister-in-law, what did you go to buy? Why did it take you so long? If you hadn't come soon, we would have gone to look for you," Lin Changwu said.
They thought the two sisters-in-law would only be gone for a short while, since they said they hadn't bought much and would be back soon. But after they packed up their things, they waited there for a long time without seeing them return. They were discussing that if they didn't come back soon, they would have to go look for them. Fortunately, they finally arrived.
"Something happened, we're late, let's go!" An Shuyi said, and sat down on the carriage shaft with Xia Hua.
"What's wrong, sister-in-law?" Lin Changyuan asked curiously.
"You drive the carriage first, then I'll tell you." An Shuyi waited until Changyuan drove the carriage away before telling him what had happened, since it wasn't something she couldn't tell him.
After listening, Lin Changyuan cursed, "This county magistrate's daughter is really no good. She doesn't even know the proper order of things and even hit her sister-in-law. Sister-in-law Xia is much better. She should have slapped that woman to death. It's a pity I wasn't here, otherwise I would have slapped her a few times too."
This county magistrate's daughter is just a bully. Her father is only a county magistrate, yet she's so powerful. If she were a princess or a noblewoman, she could beat up whoever she wanted.
An Shuyi smiled and said, "You can't hit me even if you're here. You're a girl, after all."
"Since she dared to hit my sister-in-law, in my eyes she's not a young lady, she's an enemy. Slapping her a few times is too lenient," Lin Changyuan said angrily.
In his eyes, there was no woman he couldn't beat. If she made a mistake, she deserved to be beaten. If you didn't want to be beaten, then don't make a mistake.
Seeing his reaction, An Shuyi smiled, neither taking it seriously nor disbelieving it.
When they slowly returned to the village, Xia Hua asked them to bring the sheep and piglets to be slaughtered. It was already past noon, but there was still rice in the pot, which was kept warm.
The men who had already eaten and were working in the workshop were called out to slaughter sheep and piglets. No one said much about the two women eating such small piglets; they did whatever was asked.
Xia Hua told An Shuyi to go eat while she watched the others slaughter sheep and pigs. "Wood, tomorrow you have Wen Yu call the villagers of Xinglin Village over to build some sheds for raising horses and cattle for us."
"Also, build another canteen next to the canteen, divided into five small rooms. If you don't have enough bricks, have someone buy some. And don't build the sheds for the horses and cattle too poorly; they must be sturdy."
Aside from the canteen needing bricks and tiles, the sheds for horses and cattle don't. Mud bricks will suffice, covered with straw. If they were all bricks and tiles, it would be too conspicuous. It's fine for people to live there, but if wounded animals live there like people, what will other people think when they see it?
Especially the villagers of Xinglin Village, who still live in mud houses. If they knew that they were building houses with bricks and tiles to keep horses and cattle, they would think how much money this village must have. Money can be a powerful motivator, and she dared not challenge people's bottom line.
Village Chief Lin nodded, "Understood, sister-in-law. I'll have Wenyu inform the people of Xinglin Village tomorrow, and I'll also have Changwu bring back the bricks and tiles early in the morning. I'll handle this, so don't worry about it."
With his two sisters-in-law so busy, he can handle things like building houses and sheds; they don't need to worry about it.
It was good that he was taking care of it. Xia Hua also let him watch the others slaughter the sheep and pigs. She went to eat first. After she finished eating, the five sheep and more than ten piglets were skinned, and then the internal organs were processed.
The Lin clan members, regardless of age or gender, had never processed internal organs before. Those that could be eaten were cooked and those that couldn't were thrown away. Now that they had internal organs, Xia Hua taught them how to process them.
When teaching them, make sure they remember that in the future, they can not only eat these offal themselves, but also sell them. Some people will like to eat them, although others may not believe it, since offal is too smelly and who would want to eat it? They might as well eat meat.
Once the sheep and suckling pig were processed, they started a fire. Fortunately, the village was surrounded by woods, so there was no shortage of firewood. There was a lot piled up outside the canteen, which they had found. They lit ten fires in an open area so that they could all be roasted together.
Besides roast whole lamb, there's also roast suckling pig, braised offal, stir-fried pork slices with bamboo shoots, stir-fried pork slices with mixed mushrooms, and tomato and egg soup. There are so many tomatoes now that we can't finish them all, so every day's dish is tomatoes.
The tomatoes that couldn't be eaten were picked and made into tomato sauce, but not much was made; the finished ones were all put into the cave dwelling.
Once the firewood is burning red-hot and there is no more smoke, the marinated lamb and suckling pig are placed on the fire to roast. Xia Hua also prepares the seasonings to be applied to the meat and places them aside, ready for brushing on.
Beside the bonfire were potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn, all freshly dug from the nearby field. To make it easier to eat, the tables and chairs inside the canteen had been moved outside.
The first thing to be roasted was naturally the suckling pig. After being taken off the fire, it was cut into small pieces and placed in a large bowl on each table. Then the meal was served. The remaining marinated suckling pigs were also put back on the fire to roast.
There were five whole roasted lambs and fourteen roasted suckling pigs in total. After finishing one bowl, there was more. Everyone then realized that the small pigs tasted better than the big fat pigs. As for the whole roasted lamb, they had never eaten lamb before, let alone roasted whole lamb.
"I never imagined that someone with half their body already in the grave could enjoy such blessings," Chief Lin remarked as he ate meat and watched the lively scene.
All of this is thanks to Lin Anshi and Li Xiashi; otherwise, they would have turned to dust long ago. How could they possibly have such a life? Just a few days ago, he was still scheming about how to get the two of them to protect the Lin clan in the future.
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