Chapter 106
The next morning, Mu Heng had a visitor at dawn. They had co to request his help in building a separate house for Mu Tian. The Mu family sent her to live a bit away from the main house and the people. They allotted her a land for farming and building a house in the sa area, a total of just five rai, since Mu Tian asked for more money from the family.
Unfortunately, the two silver taels were confiscated from her initially, and no one dared to make a fuss to get it back. Thus, Mu Tian got three silver taels from the family, which was a considerable amount when compared to what Mu Heng had received...
In fact, they shouldn’t have disturbed Mu Heng’s household, but none of the villagers were willing to cooperate. No one wanted to help them build Mu Tian’s house. Everyone avoided them, so the task fell on the family itself. However, with only three n, including Grandfather Mu, they realized there was no way they could finish the job.
They had to swallow their pride and ask Mu Heng for help, even though they had just fought recently.
"Uh, A’Heng, are you free in the next couple of days? We need so help building a house for Mu Tian," said the eldest uncle.
His face was flushing with embarrassnt. But if there were only two of them building the house, it would be extrely exhausted. It was better to feel embarrassed asking the nephew to help than to work themselves to death. They still had their own fields, which were not yet finished. This was truly a hectic ti. They were so tired that their bodies were almost torn apart.
The second uncle was also present, but he didn’t put on airs. He respected Yueqian as the benefactor of his children. Thus, he was less concerned with appearances.
The incident where they fought over the granddaughter-in-law’s money from selling stead buns had indeed been shaful. Greed had blinded him at the ti, thinking that if the eldest brother’s family got the money, they could send their children to school, but it would be a pity if his own couldn’t. So, he had sided with his eldest brother against Mu Heng.
Looking back, if he had known that his children would have the opportunity to study with Yueqian, he wouldn’t have destroyed their future like that. If he had been kind to her and Mu Heng, she might have been more willing to teach the children.
"I need to prepare more vegetable plot and water and till the soil over the next few days," Mu Heng responded in a flat, unfriendly tone, which made the uncles feel embarrassed.
"Uh, well, we can help with that after the house is built. We still need to carry the woods. Doing it with just two people would be impossible," the second uncle said. The reason they had co to ask for help was because of this. Carrying the beams to erect the main structure would be too much for just two people. Otherwise, they might break their backs, being unable to walk ever again.
"Then why don’t you try asking the other villagers?" Mu Heng raised his eyebrows. This provoking deanor didn’t make the two uncles give up. This was because they had already asked others for help, but no one wanted to assist Mu Tian, so they rejected.
"We’ve already asked the villagers, but no one is willing to help her," the eldest uncle said wearily. He even thought to himself that if he were in the villagers’ shoes and not being a sibling, he wouldn’t get involved either.
"Uncles, may I interject?" Yueqian, who had been listening quietly for a long while, interrupted their conversation. Normally, when n were discussing matters, won were not supposed to intervene.
However, Yueqian disregarded such customs that treated won unfairly. It could not hold her back. This might have caused people to look down on her in the past, but she didn’t care for others and was perfectly happy.
"Uh, sure, Granddaughter-in-law, go ahead.”
"Regarding the help needed, even if my husband assists, it won’t be enough. Are the three of you going to lift beams all day or even until tomorrow?" Yueqian shook her head.
"I think so too. But we have no other options. No one else is willing to help when we ask," the second uncle said, resigned.
"That’s bound to happen," Yueqian smiled faintly.
"Mu Tian isn’t the type to help others either. However... since she values money above all else, perhaps others will value it just as much, right?"
"Use this opportunity to make her realize what kind of person she has been. Start with building her house. If she wants a nice house, she’ll have to pay people to help. Otherwise, you build only what the two of you can manage. What do you think?"
Yueqian smiled mischievously. Since letting her fall into others’ traps and nearly die didn’t make her repent, and since she dared to be selfish to everyone, then let her et with selfishness from everyone else.
In the end, Mu Tian would realize that having money doesn’t an she can do everything. Money can be spent and exhausted, but goodwill never runs out! Hopefully, this situation would make Mu Tian reflect on her actions.
"I understand," the two looked at each other before bursting into laughter.
At that mont, they still regretted losing the three silver taels of the household funds. During the ti they lived together, Mu Tian never helped with anything. Even the household chores were left to their wives. When their wives were pregnant, Mu Tian didn’t lift a finger and often spoke harshly.
Now, hearing this suggestion to teach her a lesson, how could they not do it?!
After stirring up, no, solving the problem for the two uncles, Mu Heng went to tend to his vegetable plot. He still had work to do until the day he had a plan with the Wang from a neighboring kingdom. It would be three more months before his younger sister arrived, so they still had to live here for a while.
Fortunately, the two princes had arrived, so the bandit problem was being handled without delay. Otherwise, Mu Heng would be quite annoyed if the Young General had too much ti to ddle with his Yueqian.
Moreover, due to the general’s shaful mistakes, he didn’t walk around the village as much anymore. He seed to be more reserved and tried to quickly finish his work. This was all good for Mu Heng and his family. According to his and his wife’s predictions, the bandits would be subdued within two days. Otherwise, the princes wouldn’t have ti to visit the valuable items at the Art Institute.
Yueqian spent her ti with the children, focusing on teaching them the characters. At least, once they moved to a different kingdom, the children should have as much knowledge as possible. As the siblings of the mayor, they should receive better opportunities, such as attending school. The children should get that opportunity.
The morning passed smoothly. In the afternoon, Yueqian received a letter from the Art Institute informing her about the schedule for the exquisite carved jade auction in two days. This ant the Young General and the princes had only one more day to quickly suppress the bandits.
Though the ti seed short, it wasn’t too challenging. The real bandits, the One-Eyed Bandits, had already retreated to their own kingdom. Any remaining bandits they could find were rely hired by the Young General. Those people knew their role well; they were paid to act as bandits and then surrender a couple of n as a display of subjugation.
There wasn’t much to it.
The only thing that hadn’t gone according to plan was that Mu Heng survived, and the Young General fell victim to the poison...
"Young Master Wu and Elder Luan said you should attend the event to ensure the item’s value is truly appreciated," the ssenger conveyed the instructions to the woman who was like his other young miss.
Yueqian pondered for a mont upon hearing his words but understood their intention.
If she was to elevate the item’s value, as Elder Ning, she should appear to enhance its value.
"Very well," the beauty waved her hand for once, agreeing to appear in the next two days.
The situation over the past two days unfolded exactly as Yueqian had anticipated. The soldiers, who had initially put in great effort, including the Young General who personally and cautiously went to suppress the bandits and devised plans late into the night, ultimately found no trace of the bandits when they executed their strategies.
All they discovered were remnants, mocking their efforts, akin to a direct insult. Only ashes from used firewood remained, with the thousand soldiers who wanted to hunt down the bandits left embarrassed. It seed they had failed, allowing the One-Eyed Bandits to escape.
This was because they had no clue that the One-Eyed Bandits were not ordinary bandits. They were not mountain bandits, but people from a neighboring kingdom, who, over the past few years, had smuggled quite a lot of valuable resources from their kingdom, including expensive herbs which they had secretly bought, and precious items like jade which they had purchased in large quantity at low prices.
Even if the soldiers realized this now, there was nothing they could do. Would they announce to everyone that they had let the bandits escape back to their kingdom? Then, what had brave soldiers like them been doing for the past few days?
The most infuriated among them was the Young General, the hero of this tale.
He was still bitter over being poisoned, a poison that even regular physicians couldn’t detect, which tarnished his reputation.
When the ti of revenge had co, the bandits had completely vanished. Not even a dog could be found.
Unable to return empty-handed, the general concocted a plan, instructing the large group of soldiers to return to tent while he would follow the traces to capture the bandits alone. Of course, how could there be a trace? The bandits had cleaned up everything, not even a single cloth was left behind.
In the end, the group of bandits that had been supported before returned to their work once again. The representative of the bandit leader was beheaded in exchange for money to ensure his family could live comfortably for a lifeti. Those who had lost hope in life but still wished for their families to survive devoted themselves to becoming ruthless bandits, sacrificing themselves and becoming another corpse that allowed the Young General to climb higher in rank.
The Third Prince and the Fifth Prince both praised the Young General’s capabilities, even stating that they would report his capabilities to their father, the Emperor, so he could receive a reward for his rits this ti.
Thus, the Young General’s battle reputation was substantial enough to overshadow any negative rumors about him. Of course, just “him.”
In an era where equality never existed, n could have as many wives and children as they pleased and still maintain their social status despite any violations of traditional customs. It was even likely that the scandal would tarnish the woman involved more than the man.For instance, the heroine would face the criticisms both openly and behind her back, accused of seducing the Young General into breaking traditional customs. No matter where she went, she would be t with constant criticism. If it weren’t for the fact that Liu Sun was the heroine of the story, it would be unbearable for anyone else to endure this. Ah... but now, even if it was Liu Sun, it was uncertain whether she could live comfortably in the Young General’s manor as she used to. Since her friends were likely to be punished by their own families, and in the worst case, they might be those friends who would bring even more disgrace to her in the future... This matter would need to be observed over the long term.
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