They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 234 Buying Land

"Why was Cuiqiao taken away by the government? What happened? Mingzhu, what did you make Cuiqiao do?"

Even the government was alarmed!
They even went so far as to come to the door to arrest people.

It should be noted that the Zeng family was a prominent local family. Even if Lord Lu was incorruptible, the Zeng family could not possibly be completely unrelated to other officials. Unless it was something serious, the government would not refuse to give the Zeng family any face.

Zeng Mingzhu, feeling guilty, stubbornly insisted, "I... I didn't ask Cuiqiao to do anything. I don't know what happened!"

Madam Zeng quickly chimed in, "Yes, son-in-law, Mingzhu is a perfectly well-bred young lady. How would she know what's going on outside? She just found out about this herself and is terribly frightened. We're just comforting her now. That girl Cuiqiao, so glib and smooth-talking, is always chattering away. She's frivolous and scheming. If it weren't for the fact that she's served Mingzhu for so many years, I wouldn't have let her come as part of her dowry. I repeatedly told her to be mindful of her duties, just to serve the young lady well and not to do anything else. Who knew she'd still be so carefree and finally cause trouble?"

Madam Zeng felt guilty, sighed, and was heartbroken, blaming everything on Cuiqiao.

Zeng Mingzhu lowered her head to wipe away her tears, a deep bond between master and servant.

Neither Master Zeng nor Young Master Zeng refuted Madam Zeng's words.

The Zeng family had to maintain their dignity in front of their son-in-law.

There's no question about that.

What is Cuiqiao, just a maid?

Young Master Zeng sighed and had no choice but to tell Young Master Qi the whole story of how Cuiqiao took the blame, never forgetting to defend his precious little sister.

Even so, Young Master Qi was still very dissatisfied.

Young Master Qi glared at Zeng Mingzhu: "No matter what, Cuiqiao is your head maid. If she causes such a thing, how can you expect outsiders to believe that it has nothing to do with you? Who would believe that? Even if they did, like servant, like master. How are you going to be seen, how are you going to be seen, and how are we in the Qi family?"

The Zeng family members looked visibly upset and embarrassed.

The Qi family is showing the Zeng family absolutely no respect.

What kind of in-laws are these?
Unfortunately, they were in the wrong, so even though they were unhappy, they had to keep it to themselves.

The family quickly tried to explain, saying all sorts of nice things, and repeatedly insisted that Zeng Mingzhu was innocent.

Madam Zeng then subtly advised the eldest son of the Qi family to keep the matter a secret, otherwise, if word got back to the Qi family, he, as the husband, would lose face.
Young Master Qi: "."

It sounds reasonable, but I'm really annoyed.

Young Master Qi accepted the matter with great dissatisfaction.

He didn't say anything in front of his parents-in-law, but when he returned to his room, he immediately questioned Zeng Mingzhu: "Tell me honestly, was this really Cuiqiao's idea on her own? Or was it not yours? Don't try to fool me. Many families do this. When something goes wrong, the servants take the blame. Do you think I don't know that?"

Zeng Mingzhu was already annoyed enough, how could she stand his questioning? The two almost got into a fight and parted on bad terms.

Young Master Qi stormed off, and Zeng Mingzhu collapsed onto the bed, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Zeng Xiaoyan! Xu Zhichun!"

At this time, Xu Zhichun, along with Chunfen and Steward Qin, had arrived at Loujia Village to inspect the land that the local gentry, Lou, had sold to her.

Xu Zhichun was very satisfied.

The three hundred mu of fertile land, plus the small courtyard and the surrounding thirty mu of land, totaled two thousand five hundred taels of silver, which Xu Zhichun handed over on the spot.

These 300 mu of fertile land were originally cultivated by the servants of the Lou family, and were not leased to farmers. Now that Xu Zhichun has taken over, he will inevitably have to consider this issue.

Xu Zhichun immediately realized that the matter of hiring people could not be delayed any longer. She simply couldn't handle it all by herself.

The villagers of Loujia Village had been watching this matter closely. The money and goods had just been handed over, and Xu Zhichun hadn't even had a chance to properly look at the layout of the courtyard, wander around inside and outside, or figure out how to tidy it up, plant flowers and trees, raise chickens, ducks and fish, etc., when a swarm of villagers from Loujia Village swarmed around him.

"Your wife wants to rent her land, right? Give it to me."

“Madam Xu, our family is honest and hardworking. We guarantee we’ll take good care of your fields.”

"We're here too! We're here too! We want to rent too!"

"Madam Xu, please consider us if you want to rent land."

The crowd was chattering and jostling, giving Xu Zhichun no chance to speak.

This is the reality for small, unaffiliated families. If the Qin family were buying the land, no one would dare to approach them with questions. Because the Qin family would never lack people to farm.

Xu Zhichun couldn't just agree to the people of Loujia Village without thinking, but he also couldn't simply refuse outright.

Because these fields are all in Loujia Village, where the locals are powerful, if she refuses, there's no guarantee that someone won't hold a grudge and cause trouble for no reason.

She needs to think carefully about how to handle this matter.

Unexpectedly, Aunt Lou, Lou Da, and Jiang Shi suddenly pushed through the crowd and squeezed over.

Aunt Lou waved her arms and shouted loudly, "Make way, make way! I'm telling you all, hurry up and put away your little schemes. Madam Xu is our family's friend. Of course, she'll tell us first if she has any good news. What are you all arguing about?"

Xu Zhichun: "."

Good guy!
When did she become friends with Lou Jiacheng? How come she didn't know?
However, she didn't say anything.

The scene was too chaotic at the moment. The Lou family members took the initiative to jump out and help shield her from the bullets, so why should she refuse?

Dealing with one family is always much easier than dealing with countless chattering mouths, even if it's a truly awful family.

Seeing that Xu Zhichun did not object to their words, Aunt Lou and her family became even more emboldened, shouting and yelling to force the crowd to retreat. Jiang even grabbed Xu Zhichun, saying, "Xu Madam, let's go to our house and talk!"

Xu Zhichun gently withdrew her hand, but did not refuse to go with the Lou family.

"Ugh"

Everyone felt very sorry.

The Lou family was extremely pleased.

After thinking for a moment, Butler Qin hurriedly followed.

The master and mistress specifically instructed him to help Madam Xu settle things today. Judging from his discerning eye, the Lou family members didn't seem like good people at all; they had calculating faces, like abacus beads were practically jumping out of their faces.

He followed her everywhere, determined not to let Madam Xu suffer any loss.

Upon arriving at the Lou family's residence, Aunt Lou San smiled and said, "Madam Xu, it's easier for us to get things done since we're acquaintances, right? You can rest assured that you can entrust this land to our family. We'll take good care of it for you. You just need to wait to collect the rent every year. You won't lose out."

Jiang chuckled and said, "Yes, you're so far away in Liangjia Village, how can you possibly manage this? You don't know the people in this village, they're very xenophobic and cunning. If you're not careful, you'll get scammed. They also stick together, so if they cheat you, you have nowhere to complain. Leave it to us, and it'll be no problem for you, and you'll have peace of mind."

Lou Da's gaze was intense: "If Madam Xu doesn't speak, does that mean she agrees?"

(End of this chapter)