A Good Country Wife
Chapter 451 - 445 - _1

Chapter 451: 445 Chapter_1

Because night had fallen, Zhao Erhu only had the servant deliver the items brought from Capital City to his room. Without haste to tidy up, worn out from days of travel, he ate dinner and then washed up to sleep, leaving everything else to be dealt with tomorrow.

Dalang and his siblings had been eagerly awaiting Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue’s return, too excited to even think about sleep. However, being sensible children, they empathized with their parents’ tiredness and went back to their rooms to rest, waking up early the next morning.

"How come you’re all up so early?" Zhao Erhu had by chance learned a new set of exercises in Capital City and needed to practice them for half an hour each morning. Rising early, he discovered his sons were already up, waiting for him by his door. He took them to the courtyard and taught them the exercises.

Lin Yue, who had gone to bed early the night before and had slept soundly without dreaming, felt the comfort of her own home. She didn’t indulge in a lie-in but got dressed and stepped out only to see Zhao Erhu and their sons practicing together. She watched them with a smile for a while before heading to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

There was much to do in the coming days: first, they needed to sort out the items they brought back from Capital City. Then naturally, they would visit familiar relatives and friends to deliver special products from their trip. These customary social visits were inevitable.

Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue had quietly returned home the previous evening, and the news had yet to spread. By morning, word of their return had circulated around the village, and familiar folks came by to visit. Lin Yue had anticipated this and had prepared tea and snacks, but she hadn’t expected Li Xiaomei, Zhao Cheng’s wife, to be the first to arrive.

"Sister-in-law, as soon as I heard you were back, I rushed over. It’s been so long, and you’ve become even more beautiful. It shows that the environment in Capital City is nurturing," said Li Xiaomei with her straightforward and cheerful tone, clearly delighted by Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue’s return. She had been about to dig soil in the fields with her hoe when she heard the news and immediately ran over, leaving the hoe she had been carrying somewhere along the way.

"We only got home last night, Xiaomei. Don’t stand at the doorstep, come in and sit," Lin Yue said cheerfully, ushering Xiaomei into the house. Having spent the previous days in Capital City engaging in exhausting intrigues with ladies of the Wei Family, Chen Ruyu, and Zhang Peilan, Lin Yue was feeling weary. Seeing Xiaomei with her candid and genuine nature brightened Lin Yue’s mood, and she warmly pulled her into the house.

"Sister-in-law, while you were away in Capital City, I missed you. The village felt so dull without you. Besides, our Magistrate is undoubtedly a corrupt and greedy official. Not content with corrupt practices and indifference to human life, he’s also increased the taxes in Xin’an City by twenty percent and found all sorts of excuses to extort money. Life was already hard enough for us common folk, and with these added burdens, it feels like insult to injury. Everyone in the village sighs and groans, making one feel utterly frustrated."

Li Xiaomei wasn’t entirely thoughtless; she knew there were things that shouldn’t be said in front of others, lest they bring disaster upon themselves. With Lin Yue’s return, Xiaomei found someone she could confide in, and her pent-up anger and frustration burst forth like a breached dam.

Lin Yue’s reason for going to the Capital City was also partly due to the greedy nature of the Magistrate. There was a sense that she wanted to avoid him for a while. Although she no longer feared the Magistrate, it was expected that he too would restrain himself and no longer target their family. However, being the incompetent official that he was, such actions by him were completely within Lin Yue’s expectations; it was only the common people within the borders of Xin’an City who suffered.

"There’s nothing that can be done about it. People can’t compete with officials; we just have to endure it for a while. The position of Magistrate changes every three years. Let’s hope that the next one will be a good official," said Lin Yue with a sense of resignation.

"What else can we do but endure? Once these three years pass, our family is actually quite lucky. Thanks to Zhao Lingxiang, who is the concubine of the old Master Wei, the soldiers show us a bit of flexibility. Now that Master Wei is in cahoots with the Magistrate, and since Zhao Lingxiang has given birth to a son, though frail and weak, it’s still a boy. Master Wei dotes on her even more. You don’t know how arrogant and complacent she has become. Every time I see her smug face, I feel sick. That old hag and her two sons treat Zhao Lingxiang as if she’s something special. I, and our Zhao Cheng, don’t care at all to have such a sister who aids and abets evil. We can’t be bothered to deal with her," Erhu said.

Li Xiaomei began to criticize the Wei family and Zhao Lingxiang again, her words carrying a certain amount of defiance. In the two months that Lin Yue had been gone, she had no knowledge of the current state of their home and thus refrained from commenting, merely smiling in response.

"Alright, let’s not talk about these disheartening things anymore. I’ve just returned, and I brought back quite a lot from the Capital City. I’ve no idea what you like, but you can pick out a couple of things to take with you," said Lin Yue as she took Li Xiaomei into the room to select the items. She had already organized everything she brought from the Capital City, and the items in this chest were specifically purchased to give to friends and neighbors in the village.

"Second sister-in-law, how could I accept this? You spent money to buy these. You should keep them for yourself," said Li Xiaomei, though her eyes betrayed her desire. She felt embarrassed to just take them, as if her visit was solely to collect things from others.

"What are you talking about? Why act like a stranger? When you visit the Capital City, you’re supposed to bring back something. Everyone has their share; it’s just that I haven’t sorted it all yet. Since you’re here, it’s perfect. Pick a couple of items you like, so I don’t end up choosing something that doesn’t suit your taste," Lin Yue said with a smile. Li Xiaomei was such a person, always liking to take a little advantage, but when someone actually offered her one, she would become bashful.

"Alright then, I’ll just pick two things." Being straightforward as usual, upon Lin Yue’s encouragement, Li Xiaomei chose two seemingly less expensive items from the pile: a box of rouge and a box of face cream, both intended for women. She wasn’t thinking only of herself; most items there were for women, and she naturally wouldn’t take anything too valuable. However, what Li Xiaomei did not know was that even the rouge and face cream were not cheap, costing one tael of silver for a box of rouge and half a tael for a box of cream. They looked small and unassuming, leading her to think they were inexpensive, ignorant of the fact that they were purchased from reputable shops in the Capital City, not the subpar goods that one could buy for a few dozen coins from village peddlers.

Seeing Li Xiaomei like this, Lin Yue simply smiled, said nothing more, and let her choose. She knew that even if she insisted, Li Xiaomei would feel uncomfortable about taking more. When Li Xiaomei left, Lin Yue would take some more items and give them to her to take back. With a personality like Li Xiaomei’s, Lin Yue was very willing to maintain a relationship with her.