Free Web NovelChapter 72: Chapter 72
Chapter 72
Yueqian smiled slightly. She knew what was most important to the royal family right now. It was, of course, about pleasing their father, the Emperor!
She heard that the man on the throne currently needed gifts to present to the distant Hu Kingdom, as he relied on this relationship to intimidate neighboring kingdoms from invading. Therefore, he sought the most precious gifts.
And what did the Emperor of the Hu Kingdom like? Exquisite carved fine jade, of course!
In the department store, there might be shortages of various items, but jade and gold shops were never lacking. If compared the craftsmanship of ancient artisans who had limited tools with the workmanship from her era, she believed they would not neglect such valuable items.
A jade Guanyin statue, one foot tall, priced at 55,000 coins, could be sold for 550,000 gold taels and still not considered too cheap of the price.
This was killing two birds with one stone! She would earn money, set up witnesses, and secretly save the villagers.
Ah..., this could give the Art Institute a chance to introduce themselves in such a remote area. They had been looking for a launch point to become well-known. This would eliminate suspicion about future trading trips. So, she would let the Guanyin bless them.
Consider it as the Art Institute’s connection discovering an ancient jade Guanyin from the poor’s primogenitor. Then, they would spread the news of its beauty, making it reach the Emperor’s ears. After doing so, many people would want to come without needing an invitation.
Additionally... with more people coming, the Qin family would have to mind the eyes of others before taking any action. Yueqian didn’t believe that the Qin family would dare to come and force her to divorce her husband anymore. This way, she could rely on the Qin family’s fear of losing face, causing them to never dare discussing divorce with her! frёewebnoѵēl.com
"Then I’ll leave it to you. If there’s anything you need my help with, just let me know," Mu Heng did not object. He didn’t have a better plan and wasn’t a meticulous man who could think things through like Yueqian.
His wife was exceptionally thoughtful. Having her as a wife was like having a powerful strategist at home. Even if they had to confront someone, they wouldn’t be easily disadvantaged. They might not even need to engage in a fight; the outcome might already show they had won.
Like this time, if Yueqian hadn’t warned them, they might have been targeted by the villagers for finding a way to avoid using polluted water. They might not have been able to stay in the village.
With the Qin family expected to cause trouble soon, they might have seen the large number of villagers’ death as a good reason for them to divorce.
The first thing was that Mu Heng, being a villager here, must have had deeper ties to the place. If an incident like this happened, and he let others die, he should not have the face to live. The Qin family could also use this as an excuse to force Yueqian to divorce. Since she was the daughter of a principal wife of Qin family, if she had such a vile husband, the Qin family could claim it was out of pity, snatching the wife away from this wretched husband.
Now, with Yueqian thinking everything through and turning the situation to get on their backs, Mu Heng felt relieved and didn’t worry further.
"Sister-in-law, will all these soldiers die?" Huan’er asked, the tone of the little girl’s voice was full of pity. Yueqian shook her head gently.
"Not all of them will die. The stronger ones might survive, but those who can’t withstand the symptoms will probably perish."
"Aren’t you feel pity for them, Sister-in-law?" Huan’er didn’t know Yueqian’s true nature, always thinking her to be gentle and very kind-hearted. Sister-in-law helped even those poor villagers.
The young girl didn’t understand that everything Yueqian did was for her own future benefit. Saving the 20 people from five families was to make them indebted to her, so they would help her and keep her secrets in the future.
Yueqian could also distinguish between good and evil, knowing who she owed a favor and who had grievances to settle.
These villagers, no matter how they behaved, had lived in the same village as her husband and his younger siblings. They knew each other and had helped one another. Moreover, they had never harmed the children or Mu Heng. So, even if they hadn’t done any good deeds, they would still be the people she felt comfortable to have them work for her.
As for the soldiers, even if they lay dying from an illness before her, Yueqian wouldn’t care.
Firstly, their presence here was due to the Young General’s orders. He had planned to hire people to act as bandits, killing many people, with Mu Heng as a clear target. He even intended to bring Mu Heng into the forest to kill him. Thus, this was the grudge against them for chasing and killing innocent people. Even if they were to say it was their master’s order, Yueqian would let them die due to their master’s orders. After all, they were willing to kill someone on their master’s command, weren’t they?
Therefore, those soldiers were only groups of people Yueqian had no intention to help.
But the young girl didn’t know this. She only saw her sister-in-law as a very good person, always ready to help others, unaware of how decisive Yueqian was.
"Huan’er, you are such a good girl, but do you know that being too good can make you easily deceived?" Yueqian didn’t explain everything to the girl. She also wanted to teach Huan’er how to choose her actions wisely.
Huan’er seemed confused. She looked at her big brother, who had always taught her to be a good girl, but now her sister-in-law was saying that being too good could lead to being deceived. What did that mean? Shouldn’t she be a good girl anymore?
"Huan’er, if Huan’er is a good girl and help a grandpa get home, and he thanks Huan’er, would Huan’er like that?"
"Of course, Huan’er would like that, Sister-in-law," the girl nodded with a sweet smile.
"Then, what if, after getting home, the grandpa invites Huan’er in for a drink but ends up poisoning your water? Would Huan’er like that?"
"Huan’er, Huan’er doesn’t like that. But the grandpa wouldn’t have any reason to poison Huan’er, would he?"
"And what if the grandpa succeeded his plan, he could make money by telling Huan’er big brother that bandits kidnapped Huan’er and demanded a ransom. Would Huan’er be happy then?"
"Uh... but... but..."
"Or worse, the grandpa might hand Huan’er to human traffickers, sending Huan’er off to become a slave to bandits for money? Would Huan’er be happy then?"
"Huan’er wouldn’t be happy. Huan’er would be scared..."
"So, if Huan’er could choose again, would Huan’er still help the grandpa when Huan’er didn’t know if he was truly good or not?" Yueqian asked another question.
This line of questioning came from the lessons she had been taught by the teacher when she was a child in the era she came from. Back then, news about child kidnappings for organ trafficking was widespread. Schools taught children about this. The most important part was that those criminals mostly used the elderly as a tool to make kind-hearted children feel sorry for them and help them, then it turned out those old people were the vile bandit gang.
Thus, the lessons from teachers at the time were all about a wolf that aim to catch a little lamb, luring the lamb to devour it later.
Yueqian didn’t want to tell Huan’er that her older brother had nearly been killed by these soldiers, fearing it would make her too scared that she didn’t have a courage to do anything or did not dare to face the soldiers in the future. Yueqian didn’t want Huan’er to become overly suspicious of everyone but wanted her to consider carefully before helping others.
If helping others put herself at risk, she shouldn’t rush into it. Just like the example she had just given.
The little girl clasped her hands together, her eyes brimming with tears, but she shook her head to respond to Yueqian’s question.
"Huan’er would not help.”
"Why not?"
"Huan’er is scared. If Huan’er get kidnapped, big brother and second brother will worry.”
"Mmm. That’s true. So, the first thing Huan’er should do is find a way to ensure your own safety before helping. For example, if Huan’er wants to help the grandpa, Huan’er doesn’t know if the grandpa really needs help or if he’s just pretending before Huan’er. When Huan’er encounters such a situation, Huan’er should come back and get your big brother and second brother to help, or call the nearby guards.”
"Yes, Sister-in-law.”
"Huan’er, remember this: helping others doesn’t always mean Huan’er have to do it yourself. Sometimes, Huan’er can rely on others to assist.”
"I understand, Sister-in-law. It’s like getting the guards to help instead, right?"
"Exactly. So, Huan’er.... about the soldiers Huan’er asked why I don’t help," Yueqian paused. The little girl thought along before she said her thought.
"It’s because Sister-in-law already had the physicians help them, right?"
"That’s part of it. But another reason is that your big brother and I know that those soldiers have ill intentions.” freёwebnovel.com
"S... Sister-in-law, what do you mean? Why do the soldiers have bad intentions?"
"I mean, they don’t like me. Even if I helped them, what difference would it make? Remember, their general wants your sister-in-law to marry him." Yueqian gently knocked the little one’s head to keep Huan’er from becoming too alarmed.
"I understand now. So, if Sister-in-law helped them, it would look like you want to become the wife of that Young General, right?" Huan’er voiced her thoughts again.
"Mmm, that’s right," Yueqian nodded.
The lesson she taught today would ultimately be one that Huan’er would remember and use till she was old. She felt grateful to her sister-in-law for warning her this time. Without it, she might have fallen victim to others’ schemes many times over.
The four siblings talked as they walked home, exchanging many thoughts along the way. In the end, both Huan’er and Xiao Long received strange lessons from Yueqian. Even Mu Heng did not expect her to teach his younger siblings this well. Until now, he and their parents had only emphasized being sincere and kind. It wasn’t until they grew up that they realized the world was much crueler than that!
