Free Web NovelChapter 18: Chapter 18
Chapter 18
"Having money is good, but you must also think about your children’s future."
"When that time comes, if there’s no money left, I could sell the land that you have leased. After all, the contract must be renewed annually," Yueqian said with a satisfied smile. Aunt Liao flinched slightly; she looked at the contract possessively.
"Well, by then... you all would have plenty of money," she said before folding the precious contract and tucking it into her chest, as if fearing Yueqian would be angry and seize it to cancel with the authorities.
Seeing her like this, Yueqian chuckled softly. Teasing the elderly was now another joy for her, unaware that Mu Heng was watching her adoringly. Yueqian, who enjoyed teasing others, had become a little devil that Mu Heng was hopelessly enamored with.
The atmosphere among the three made Fu Yu feel quite heartbroken, but in front of Aunt Liao, she didn’t dare to do anything. If the other said something was good, she had to restrain herself from disagreeing, or else she would be reprimanded for hours.
The sad glances Fu Yu often shot at Mu Heng didn’t garner sympathy from anyone; instead, Yueqian felt annoyed by such behavior. No matter where, there are always those who suffer from love.
She once declared she wouldn’t fall in love, but now, she wasn’t sure she could keep that promise. Unfortunately, her husband seemed to be everything she wanted, and Yueqian feared she might already fall for this honest man.
The journey back was joyful. Everyone was eager to share the good news with their own villages. When they arrived at their respective homes, they parted with happiness. The villagers were puzzled.
They wondered why everyone was so favorable towards Yueqian, but once they heard the news, they all wanted to ingratiate themselves with her. Fortunately, she had already informed the authorities that she wouldn’t handle the contracts herself; they should be managed by the village chiefs or the authorities.
Otherwise, it would have been chaotic.
"I’m very grateful to Miss Mu for this help. I make a living by driving a cart and selling goods from our village outside. My parents are poor and left no land for us. Now, I have a chance to lease some land myself, maybe even earn enough money for my son to marry."
The cart driver said after dropping off at Mu Heng’s house last.
He volunteered to take them there as a gesture of gratitude. Yueqian and Mu Heng simply smiled and accepted his thanks without keeping exchange kind words.
After bidding farewell, the first person Yueqian looked for were the two adorable siblings who had volunteered to sell steamed buns. It was already evening, why there was still no one at home?
"Where are your siblings? Why isn’t there a fire started in the house yet?" Yueqian asked, her eyebrows furrowed. Seeing his wife’s expression, Mu Heng realized something.
He gritted his teeth and quickly walked ahead.
"Wait here. I’ll go and bring the people back along with the money from your steamed bun sales," Mu Heng said with a hint of angriness.
With that expression, Yueqian could guess what might have happened. It seemed likely that the two children had been taken by the Mu family, and the money from the steamed buns, probably wasn’t going to be returned.
The 200 steamed buns, if sold for 3 brass coins each, would amount to 600 brass coins—a significant sum for ordinary people, though for Yueqian, it wasn’t much.
The young woman shook her head to herself. This chaos really caused her a headache. Even though her husband had handled family matters before she moved in, she hadn’t expected such issues to arise again.
Yueqian entered the house, tidying up many things and lighting a fire to prepare dinner, taking more than half an hour. Suddenly, there was a call at her doorstep.
"Is A’Heng’s wife here? Hurry up, something has happened." The shrill voice that had just parted ways was now screaming in front of her house again.
"Aunt Liao?" Yueqian looked at the woman who rushed in breathlessly, raising an eyebrow in surprise when she saw it was the loud-voiced woman.
"Don’t just stand there in confusion. Your husband has already gone to speak with the village leader. Your vast wealth has been stolen again by the main household," Aunt Liao said painfully, unsure when the issues with Mu Heng’s family would ever end.
The two women of differing ages, half-walked, half-ran to the village hall, where even in the evening, a crowd had gathered to watch with interest.
Yueqian squeezed through, seeing two young children crying, their bodies covered in bruises. Mu Heng also had bruises on his face as if he had just been fighting.
Beside him were three men, one older with a stressed expression, and the other two middle-aged men similarly bruised. Next to them were four women, one significantly older and three middle-aged women who looked familiar.
Seeing everyone gathered like this, Yueqian felt weary on his behalf.
"What is it with you Mu family? Always have an issue, will you have to fight out until it reaches the courts?" the village leader said, tired of this matter
He looked disappointedly at the elderly man, the head of the family, who seemed ashamed but too afraid to speak up.
"Don’t even start. If there’s blame, it’s ours for having such ungrateful grandchildren. Our descendants could have gone to study and become scholars, but they refuse to lend money despite having plenty. Who else is to blame if not us for raising them poorly?" an elderly woman spoke out, making a scene, acting as if she took a heavy burden upon herself.
"Whether it’s about being ungrateful or not, I recall we settled this matter months ago. And now you bring it up again. Aren’t you ashamed in front of these children?"
The village leader tapped his cane in anger, frustrated that the Mu family seemed never to settle matters. How long would they kept taking advantage of the children. They took their old land then never returned, now they’re after the money earned from the goods their granddaughter-in-law sold.
"Dear, what has happened that you look like this?" Yueqian, annoyed and concerned for the children and her husband, covertly took out an ointment for bruises from her storage dimension, pretending to pull it from her chest, and approached them.
She first looked at the children, who were already crying and now sobbed even harder at their own failures. Yueqian gently patted their heads before applying the ointment to their bodies, ignoring the stares of the onlookers. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
"Sister-in-law, we’ve sold all the goods, but the money..."
"Sob, sob, Sister-in-law, I am so sorry," the children blurted out, feeling guilty that even though their efforts were futile. The sister-in-law still applied ointment to them.
"It’s okay, don’t cry. Dear... let’s apply the medicine and head back," Yueqian said, ignoring those around her. She did not belong here and did not want to be a part of something like this.
She was worried about them and wanted to attend to their wounds as soon as possible.
"But about the money..." Mu Heng felt guilty too.
He wanted to retrieve the money even though he knew it was a small amount for Yueqian. It was still her money, and he didn’t want her to lose it because of those selfish people.
"There are many witnesses to the money issue. If it doesn’t snow tomorrow, I will hire someone to go to the town. We will complain to the mayor to handle this matter. Today, the mayor has already said the guilty must be punished. Stealing money like this must be whipped and imprisoned. I will not let those who dare to mess with them get away with it.
I am not from here and have no feeling of attachment to them. Moreover, a villainess like me has never been merciful. Everyone, even the old or the young, must be punished. Anyone involved with the money must be punished."
Yueqian declared sternly. She definitely would not compromise. freёwebnovel.com
"Ha! Complain to the mayor? Go ahead, I really want to see if the daughter-in-law from the capital can do it," the elderly woman wanted to laugh.
Who is the mayor? He is already responsible for many things, and why should he take care of such a trivial matter?
This granddaughter-in-law thinks she is so significant.
"Hehe, you know nothing yet. Wait until you are arrested, then I will laugh," Aunt Liao, who came with her, laughed heartily. She liked Yueqian’s resoluteness; although boastful, she meant every word she said.
"Miss Mu... this is a village matter; you want the officials to arrest them for real? If so, wouldn’t all the elders of the Mu family be arrested?" the cart driver said worriedly.
"So you agree with her? Do you think she can really report to the mayor?" Yi Fan said scornfully, but the middle-aged man shook his head.
"You all must be clueless. Something happened in the town today. The mayor has already come out in support of Miss Mu. He declared that from now on, anyone who dares to harm Miss Mu, every issue must be brought to him for judgment. Anyone who does wrong will be punished, regardless of who they are."
"Really? Did something like that really happen?" Ji Chuang, a coward, asked with a high pitch voice.
"True or not, you can ask the people who went to town today," the cart driver didn’t want to be involved any further. He tossed the responsibility to the others who had gone to town with him, and certainly, everyone nodded in agreement.
"What... has happened? Why would the mayor..." the village leader faltered, unaware of what had happened in the town, and not understanding how the mayor and this lady from the capital could have become so closely aligned, the mayor even protected her.
"I’m just warning you. If the Mu family thinks that way, it’s up to you. If you all want to end up in jail, that’s your choice. The punishment for stealing money, apart from whipping, your records will stay with the authorities forever. It will be hard to send your children to school.”
The cart driver walked away after he finished. He didn’t want to watch others’ downfall, he just wanted to speak out of sympathy for his fellow villagers.
"Husband, kids, let’s go. Aunt Liao, please look after the children for me, it seems like Huan’er doesn’t’ have a strength to walk," Yueqian didn’t care anymore. No matter what, she would see today’s matter through to the end for sure. She wouldn’t compromise with those who harmed her family like this.
