Transmigrated into the role of the matriarch, I ensured my family had enough to eat and wear during

County Magistrate Lu sat in the carriage, lifted the curtain, and coldly ordered Lu Hao: "Stay obediently in Yangqu Village for about ten days. Do whatever Tang Chengyu does, and don't slack off in the slightest."

"If you dare to act recklessly, flaunt your power, or disobey Madam Yang's discipline, I will send you to the Lu family ancestral home to guard your mother's memorial tablet!"

No one knew that County Magistrate Lu was not a native of Fuzhou, but was sent here by the imperial court to take up his post.

The Lu family ancestors were originally farmers. Their ancestral home was in a remote mountain village and had long been dilapidated and almost collapsed. The clan members had also scattered and few remained.

Lu Hao lost his mother at a young age and had vague memories of her. He loathed the dilapidated ancestral home and had no desire to go there to guard his mother's memorial tablet alone.

Lu Hao turned pale with fright and rushed forward, clinging tightly to County Magistrate Lu's arm. His eyes reddened, and he choked out, "Father! Don't you love me anymore? Did you pick me up? I need to see Grandmother! I need to tell Grandmother!"

Magistrate Lu forcefully pulled his arm back and retorted coldly, "Your grandmother is worshipping Buddha and practicing diligently in a temple outside the city. You won't find her."

Seeing that Lu Hao remained stubborn and refused to compromise, he added, "Since you're so disobedient, then you don't need to stay for ten days or so. It'll be a whole month, not a single day less!"

Lu Hao froze on the spot, his aggrieved expression instantly turning into panic.

He immediately changed his demeanor, pretending to be frail and sickly, rubbing his chest, and pleading softly, "Father, I have been weak since I was a child. The Yang family's house is dilapidated and the conditions are harsh. I am worried that living here will make me sick and interfere with my studies."

"I promise I'll study hard when I get back and never be naughty again. Please don't leave me here, okay?"

Magistrate Lu's expression shifted slightly. Feigning relent, he waved his hand at him and said, "Come here."

Lu Hao's eyes lit up, thinking that his father had softened and wanted to take him with him, so he quickly stepped forward.

Tang Susu stood aside, secretly pondering whether Magistrate Lu was truly reluctant to part with his only son and was about to change his mind.

But to everyone's surprise, as soon as Lu Hao walked to the carriage, Magistrate Lu reached out, grabbed his collar, and began to search him thoroughly.

A considerable amount of loose silver was found in his pockets and belt; a gold pendant was torn from his neck; an exquisite fan was pulled from his bosom; and a jade thumb ring was removed from his finger—all of Lu Hao's valuables were taken away, leaving nothing behind.

Lu Hao stared in disbelief, frozen in place, before he could react. Magistrate Lu turned and climbed into the carriage, ordering the driver, "Drive! Go quickly!"

The carriage sped away, raising a cloud of dust, leaving Lu Hao standing there in a daze.

A moment later, Lu Hao finally came to his senses, broke down in tears, and chased after the carriage in the direction it had gone, crying out pitifully, "Father! Father! Give me back my things! Take me away!"

He hadn't gone more than a few steps when his servant, A-Gui, grabbed his arm tightly from behind.

Ah Gui, panting heavily, softly advised, "Young master, don't chase after him. The magistrate has made up his mind; there's no use in resisting."

"Why don't we behave well here and be obedient? Maybe if the magistrate is pleased, he'll send someone to pick you up and take you back to the county office in about ten days."

Tang Susu stood in the courtyard, looking at the scene before her, and felt utterly desperate.

She knew perfectly well that County Magistrate Lu was clearly using his authority to force her to discipline Lu Hao, and she had no room to refuse.

If we don't first curb Lu Hao's arrogance and temper his arrogance, he will definitely be difficult to control in the future, and will only allow him to act recklessly in the Yang family, causing us endless trouble.

She composed herself, stepped forward, and looked at Lu Hao, who was still crying and making a fuss, and said insincerely, "Young Master Lu, if you really don't want to stay here, that's fine too."

"I'll go to the village entrance right now and find an oxcart to take you back to the county government. It'll be there in the time it takes for two incense sticks to burn, and I won't delay you at all."

Lu Hao's crying stopped abruptly. He lowered his head in silence, his eyes flickering.

He knew in his heart that if he really returned to the county government, his father would be furious.

In the past, when his grandmother was alive, his father would only lock him up for a whole month and make him reflect on his mistakes. But now that his grandmother is no longer in the county office, and no one is protecting him, his father will probably get serious and spank him or even punish him with more severe punishments.

After much deliberation, he ultimately dared not go back and could only grit his teeth and stay in the dilapidated Yang family home.

Seeing that he remained silent, Tang Susu knew his concerns and said in a cold tone, "Since you have decided to stay, you must abide by the rules of the Yang family without any ambiguity."

Lu Hao suddenly raised his head, snorted coldly, and said with disdain, "You, a peasant woman, dare to set family rules and govern me? I am the son of the county magistrate, a precious child, and I will only listen to my father, never you!"

As he spoke, he even wanted to ask Tang Susu to arrange comfortable accommodations and exquisite meals for him, and not to let him do any rough work.

Tang Susu stopped arguing and didn't want to get entangled with him.

Just then, Tang Liqiang returned to the courtyard from the fields, carrying a heavy load of rice.

Tang Susu immediately spoke, her tone firm: "Li Qiang, come here, hold him down!"

Tang Liqiang always obeyed Tang Susu's every word. Without saying a word, he put down the rice on his shoulder, rushed forward, grabbed Lu Hao's arm, and slammed him down onto the pile of rice, rendering him unable to move.

Upon seeing this, the servant A-Gui turned pale with fright and rushed forward to stop them, shouting, "What are you doing? Don't touch my young master! He is the magistrate's son. If you hurt him, the magistrate will not let you off!"

Tang Susu glanced at him coldly, her tone calm yet threatening: "Insolence! Before he left, Lord Lu specifically instructed me that if Lu Hao disobeyed or made a mistake, I could scold or beat him without regard for his status. If you dare to obstruct me again, you will be dealt with according to the rules!"

Having said that, she looked at Tang Liqiang and ordered sternly, "Do it! Teach him a lesson, let him know who's in charge in the Yang family!"

"No! Don't hit me!" Lu Hao was terrified and quickly covered his head, shouting for him to stop. "I'll obey! I'll follow your family rules! Make him let me go first, and then I'll ask you, what are the family rules!"

He was furious inside, gritting his teeth and secretly determined to take revenge on Tang Susu and Tang Liqiang when he returned to the county government. But on the surface, he had to back down and dared not be arrogant in the slightest.

Tang Susu gave Tang Liqiang a look, signaling him to release her grip. Then she looked at Lu Hao and said clearly, word by word, "My Yang family only has two family rules. Remember them well."

"First, everyone must do their job well. No one is allowed to be lazy, shirk responsibility, or let others do it for them. Second, you have to work to eat. If you don't work, don't even think about eating."

She then turned to look at A-Gui beside her and emphasized, "And you, in the Yang family, you and Young Master Lu have the same status and position, no different from my brother and my son. You are not allowed to act like an official's son, and you are not allowed to put on airs."

"If you dare to disobey or act arrogantly in the village, I will immediately find an oxcart to send you back to the county government and hand you over to Lord Lu for punishment."

Lu Hao rubbed his arm, which was sore from being pressed, and secretly thought to himself: He could let A Gui do his job; he had to work to earn a living, so there was nothing to be afraid of. He had a lot of money on him, so he could just spend it to buy food.

But then he realized that all his belongings had been confiscated by his father, and he didn't have a single penny on him, so he couldn't buy anything.

But he still held onto a sliver of hope, thinking that as the son of the county magistrate, and with Dongtai Town under his father's jurisdiction, there must be someone in the village who wouldn't dare offend him, and that he would eventually be able to borrow money and buy food.

After thinking for a moment, he nodded and said impatiently, "I know, I know, I'll abide by it, stop nagging."

Seeing that he agreed, Tang Susu let Tang Liqiang completely release his grip and said calmly, "It's already past noon, so there's no need for you to do any more work. Today, each of you will husk four catties of grain. You can only rest after you finish. If you don't finish, don't even think about having dinner."

After saying that, she stopped and picked up the straw hat that was placed aside. She turned around and walked out of the courtyard to continue to the fields to help Tang Lifu and others harvest rice.

As Tang Susu walked to the courtyard gate, she ran into the village head, who was covered in sweat and panting heavily. He was holding a hoe in his hand, clearly having just come from the fields.

When the village head saw Tang Susu, he immediately stopped, wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve, and asked anxiously, "Mrs. Susu, I heard from the villagers that Magistrate Lu came by and left his son at your house? Is Young Master Lu really in your yard?"

Tang Susu turned to the side, pointed to the courtyard, and said softly, "Here, look, he's learning to thresh grain with a flail from Cheng Yu."

The village head looked in the direction she pointed and saw Lu Hao clumsily swinging a flail, trying to thresh grain like Tang Chengyu. Although he looked unwilling, he also had a bit of curiosity on his face and looked very serious.

Seeing this, the village headman panicked and quickly pulled Tang Susu aside, whispering, "Susu, you can't let Young Master Lu do such rough work!"

"Young Master Lu is the only son of the county magistrate, a man of noble birth. He's probably never even touched a hoe in his life. How could he possibly endure such hardship and do such strenuous work?"

"Lord Lu is a good official. He has reduced our Yangqu Village's taxes considerably and even helped us divert water to combat the drought. We must serve Young Master Lu well and not neglect him, lest we offend the lord!"

Tang Susu gently shook her head and lowered her voice, saying to the village head, "Village head, you've misunderstood. Lord Lu didn't leave Young Master Lu at my house; he specially sent him to the village for reform, hoping he would suffer a bit and temper his temper."

"Lord Lu specifically instructed me that anyone who dares to secretly help Young Master Lu by sending him money or food, or by indulging him in his tyranny, laziness, or shirking his duties, is going against him and he will certainly not let them off easily."

"I implore you to tell the villagers in private that they don't need to treat Young Master Lu like some noble prince. They just need to do their jobs and call him 'Young Master Lu' when they see him. That's already giving Lord Lu enough face. Please don't meddle in other people's business, lest you bring trouble upon yourselves."

Upon hearing this, the village head suddenly realized what was going on.

He was well-informed and had long heard rumors of Lu Hao's unruly and disobedient nature. He had always wondered how such an upright and capable official as Magistrate Lu could have such a mischievous son.

He nodded and quickly said, "Madam Su, don't worry, I'll take care of this. I'll go to the fields right now and convey your instructions to the whole village. I will make sure no one interferes and delays Lord Lu's plans."

After saying that, he didn't go into the courtyard or greet Lu Hao. Instead, he turned around and hurriedly ran to the fields to deliver the message to the villagers.

In fact, even if the village head didn't specifically convey the message, none of the villagers had time to pay attention to Lu Hao during the busy farming season.

In their minds, the most important thing right now is to hurry up and harvest the rice to secure the year's harvest. As for whether the county magistrate's son lives in the Yang family or does manual labor, it is none of their concern and is far less important than the rice in the fields.

The afternoon sun grew increasingly intense, scorching the ground and making even the wind feel scalding.

Lu Hao had only been in the courtyard for a short while when he was covered in sweat from the intense heat, and his arms were sore and weak from swinging the flail.

He couldn't hold on any longer, so he simply threw down the flail, slumped to the ground, and gasped for breath. He subconsciously reached for the fan in his arms to fan himself and cool down.

But when he reached into his pocket, it was empty. He then suddenly remembered that all his belongings had been confiscated by his father, not even a single fan.

Seeing this, the servant A-Gui quickly ran to the big tree in the courtyard, tore off a large leaf, and hurried to Lu Hao's side. He gently fanned him and said in a low voice, "Young master, don't worry, let me fan you. You rest for a while, and I'll do the rest for you."

He calculated in his mind that he and the young master needed to husk eight catties of grain, which wasn't too much. As long as he sped up, he should be able to finish on time and wouldn't delay the young master's meals or rest.

After saying that, A-Gui picked up the flail that Lu Hao had thrown down, and imitating Tang Chengyu, he raised it high and then brought it down heavily, vigorously beating the rice ears.

But he had been pampered since childhood with Lu Hao and had never done any heavy work. After swinging the flail for a few moments, he felt unbearably hot. Small blisters appeared on his palms, and he felt sharp pain in his waist and shoulders. His whole body ached and he was weak. He could barely lift his arms.

He gritted his teeth and painstakingly finished knocking down the small pile of rice in front of him. He carefully collected the grains, put them on the scale, and weighed them. They only weighed eight ounces, less than a pound.

Even when he was so tired that his vision blurred and his body was weak, he dared not stop. When his palms were sore from being rubbed, he would spit and rub them to relieve the pain, and then continue to swing the flail, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

Lu Hao remained seated on the ground, holding a leaf and slowly fanning himself as he strolled around the courtyard, showing no intention of helping.

He strolled over to Tang Chengyu, watching him methodically turn over the rice stalks and thresh them, and asked with a puzzled look, "Tang Chengyu, you're clearly a member of the Tang family, why aren't you working at your own home? Why are you coming to the Yang family to do this dirty and tiring manual labor?"

As Tang Chengyu bent down and turned over the dried rice stalks, he responded calmly, his tone utterly devoid of emotion: "The Yang family is my eldest sister's home. It's only natural for me to come here and help her with the work."

Lu Hao raised an eyebrow and pressed on, "Since you're determined to take next year's provincial examination and become a scholar, why don't you study properly at Chongwen Hall and prepare for the exam instead of coming here to do manual labor? Aren't you afraid that this will interfere with your studies and prevent you from passing the examination?"

Tang Chengyu stopped what she was doing, looked up at Lu Hao, and gently asked, "And what about you? Didn't you also give up your studies at Chongwen Hall to stay here and do manual labor?"

"You should think carefully about why Lord Lu sent you here, and what his intentions are."

Upon hearing this, Lu Hao's lips curled into a cold smile, and a hint of resentment flashed in his eyes.

He muttered to himself that the reason his father left him in this dilapidated village, making him suffer such hardship and do such tiring work, was all Tang Chengyu's fault!

While studying and taking exams at Chongwen Hall, Tang Chengyu always achieved top marks, earning the headmaster's favor and praise. In contrast, Tang Chengyu himself consistently performed poorly in exams, falling short of Tang Chengyu in every way and appearing utterly inferior and vulnerable in comparison.

If it weren't for Tang Chengyu, his father wouldn't have always compared him to Tang Chengyu, nor would he have thought he was unruly and insisted on sending him here to temper his character!