Mo Yan steadied her heart, and her expression gradually beca serene. She nodded at Xiao Ruiyuan and extended her hand to receive the Imperial Edict from him.
The villagers kneeling around looked on with envy, thinking Mo Yan was too happy to think straight and let out good-natured laughter.
A County Lord personally appointed by The Emperor, after all, held more prestige than those World Family young ladies. If she were to deal with the Governnt Office in the future, even the Jingzhao Yin would have to treat her as an honored guest!
In Great Chu, the Emperor’s own daughters were uniformly called Princesses, the primary daughters of Princes were referred to as Commandery Princesses, and if a commoner woman could gain favor from The Emperor, the Queen Mother, or the Empress, she might be awarded the title of County Lord; otherwise, she would remain an ordinary mber of the Royal family without entitlent to a stipend.
The title of County Lord was specially added at the founding of the nation by Emperor Taizu, ant only for won who contributed significantly to the state and the people. They not only enjoyed a stipend from the Court but also a prestige comparable to that of a Prince’s legitimate daughter, aning County Lords were honored as much as Commandery Princesses.
And once soone was bestowed the title of County Lord, it ant their contributions were significant enough to be recorded in History, riting a ntion in the annals. This was sothing even the high-born Princesses could seldom achieve!
Over two hundred years later, the number of won granted the title of County Lord could be counted on one hand, which showed just how difficult it was for an ordinary woman to receive this honor!
Facing the villagers’ congratulations, Mo Yan smiled and thanked them, yet she felt an overwhelming sense of powerlessness. She could already imagine the curious or malevolent stares that the title of County Lord would draw. The world was full of clever people; she had willingly credited Yan Junyu with the achievent of high-yield rice cultivation precisely to avoid drawing attention and revealing her own unusual nature.
If anyone were to investigate the origins of the high-yield rice, what could she possibly explain? The more mysterious and unclear a matter, the more it could spark intense curiosity in others. Over ti, it might lead soone to catch on, just as her father and Grandfather Li had realized.
What worried her most, however, was Emperor Huian’s attitude. He had the option to feign ignorance, pushing the credit onto Yan Junyu or the Crown Prince to solidify the latter’s position, yet Emperor Huian had instead returned the unwelco accolade to her.
Even though she genuinely deserved the title of County Lord for her contributions to the developnt of high-yield rice, Emperor Huian’s disposition of forgoing an obvious advantage made her deeply suspicious that this was a "poisoned pie."
With pressing matters at hand, Mo Yan had no ti to delve into Emperor Huian’s intentions. After giving a generous red envelope to the Eunuch with the Duty of Announcing Edicts and seeing him off politely with her father, she ordered the governnt officer and villagers to help apprehend the six individuals who had falsely accused the Rui Beast of injuring people, attempted to extort her family, and were planning to flee.
Before Mo Yan could start the interrogation, the six individuals, intimidated by her status as a County Lord, spilled everything like beans from a bamboo tube, revealing the mastermind behind the scenes.
When the crowd heard that Mo Yongxi was behind it all, they exploded:
"My goodness, so it was Mo Yongxi who orchestrated this! She married into such a good family, instead of enjoying a life of luxury, why would she pick a fight with the Mo Family?"
"Ha, who knows what goes on in that woman’s head? But now, this venomous woman has kicked an iron plate, as the Yan girl is now a County Lord!"
"Don’t celebrate too soon, haven’t you heard what those six said about that malicious woman having ties to a World Family young mistress? With her strong backing, the Yan girl may not be able to handle her."
"That’s true, the woman is lucky indeed, this complicates things..."
The villagers whispered among themselves, not very optimistic about the Mo Family. That Young Mistress Lin’s grandfather was The Emperor’s own teacher, her aunt held a revered position in the palace as the Lin Imperial Concubine (though her demotion to the Cold Palace was not known among the common folk), and she also had a connection to a Prince.
Any one of these three heavyweights would be too much for the Mo Family to handle, let alone all of them being from the sa household. Not using their power to bully and bite back at the Mo Family and taking the opportunity to strike at them would already be considered fortunate.
Upon learning that the Lin Family was involved, Mo Yan’s countenance soured. Thanks to Chen Ji’s "blessing", she had co to know quite a lot about the Lin Family recently. Even Emperor Huian held them in awe; if she now went to demand justice, she would undoubtedly be smacking a stone with an egg. One misstep and just like the villagers said, the Lin Family might just bite back at her.
However, she was very curious about how Mo Yongxi could have ford a connection with Young Mistress Lin. Unlike the low-profile Lin Family, this young mistress enjoyed attending various poetry and flower gatherings, possessed so literary fa in the Imperial Capital, and her nature wasn’t especially good either; she was very arrogant, dismissive of the noble daughters from ordinary World Families.
It was indeed curious that such a person could be connected to Mo Yongxi.
Noticing her puzzlent, Xiao Ruiyuan by her side hinted, "There are plenty of influential people who fail to control their servants, allowing them to bully others and ruin their masters’ reputations—it’s not uncommon!"
So, Mo Yongxi was using Young Mistress Lin to target her family, but Young Mistress Lin might not even be aware of it? Mo Yan caught on in an instant!
With this in mind, the next steps were much simpler. Mo Yan had the officers bind the six culprits and personally drafted a complaint against Mo Yongxi, which she handed over to the chief governnt officer. After he respectfully accepted her complaint, she said with a aningful look, "Mo Yongxi has wronged my family more than once. In the past, I’ve let it slide, given our familial ties, but this ti she has dared to harm the Rui Beast personally bestowed by The Emperor and harbors malicious intentions against my family. I simply cannot tolerate it any longer. I hope your superior will handle the matter impartially, so that this vile woman does not go unpunished!"
The chief officer clasped his hands solemnly and said, "With all the evidence confird, my superior will certainly deal a heavy punishnt to the wench who plotted against Princess Hejia and the Rui Beast. Please rest assured, Princess Hejia!"
Even if this County Lord lacked actual power, on account of her being the first County Lord personally appointed by Emperor Huian, the officer’s superior wouldn’t dare to be negligent. Even if that venomous woman did have the backing of Young Mistress Lin...
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