The Farm Girl’s Charismatic Fortune
Chapter 148 - 144 You Solve It!

Chapter 148: Chapter 144 You Solve It!

"Someone must have taken silver under the table to have sold the land in advance! Before, a mu of wasteland was a taels of silver, buy one get one free. Now, it’s two taels per mu, and this piece of wasteland is several thousand mu. That’s thousands of taels securely pocketed!"

...

The commoners’ speculations grew more and more outrageous.

The Ruo brothers arrived at the Governor’s Office only to hear these disgruntled voices.

They knew then that they could no longer purchase the land, so after listening for a while, they hurried back home.

Ruo Shui relayed the incident at home.

Granny Lei frowned, "Won’t this implicate Zhang County Magistrate? After all, we know him, and he gave us a discount when we bought the wasteland. If people with ulterior motives find out, they might dig this up and use it against him."

Ruo Shui said, "Shouldn’t be the case, right? Lady Xuanbao’s decision to purchase the land was spontaneous. When we went to buy it, the officer even suggested that we consult with Lord County Magistrate to see if we could get the previous price. We refused at that time. I reckon Zhang County Magistrate doesn’t even know that we bought the land outside the East City Gate."

Ruo Jiang also expressed concern, "A multitude of tongues is as destructive as gold, and some might distort the truth for their own benefit. Besides, Zhang County Magistrate has only recently assumed office, and there’s no telling how many are waiting for him to slip up before he gets a firm footing."

What Ruo Jiang had not yet said was that in the dark corners of the officialdom, some higher-ups deliberately engineer problems to manipulate the newly appointed officials and make them follow orders.

Otherwise, why would there be the saying ’officials protect one another’ and ’collusion between officials and businessmen’?

Officialdom is a dark place! Many scholars with the intention of becoming upright and incorruptible officials, harboring a desire to do good for the people, eventually change. How many are forced by circumstances, and how many are blinded by wealth and rank, is unknown.

The Ruo Family understood all this.

Ruo Hai said, "For now, it is just some commoners talking, without any commotion. At the time of the purchase, Lord County Magistrate was unaware, and buying the land happened a month ago. Such a major project as constructing the moat wouldn’t have been decided by Lord County Magistrate alone. Who proposed it, when the final decision was made, and the timing are all traceable. If one is upright, they need not fear a crooked shadow. We did not bribe Lord County Magistrate, so we are not afraid of any investigations."

That was all well and good, but with two mouths representing the character for ’official’, Zhang County Magistrate had just taken office and hadn’t yet secured his position in Shaxi County, nor had he won over his subordinates, and who knows how many above were waiting to put him in his place. Everyone in the family was worried they might have caused him trouble.

In recent times, the Ruo family had had more interactions with Zhang County Magistrate and often heard from his children, Zhang Jie and Zhang Lian, about his daily whereabouts and activities. They believed Zhang County Magistrate to be a good official and naturally did not want him to fall into trouble.

Ruo Xuan too was unaware that her purchase of a piece of land could even bring trouble to Zhang County Magistrate, but she wasn’t very worried. After all, Zhang County Magistrate had fortune’s favor. In her childish voice she reassured, "Don’t worry, with Lord County Magistrate’s auspicious stars shining on him, nothing will happen. He will deflect whatever comes."

Her words brought laughter to the family.

Granny Lei laughed, "After studying, Xuanbao knows so much more now!"

The family no longer dwelt on the issue. Since nothing had happened yet, and they believed Lord County Magistrate would have ways to deal with it, Ruo Shui brought up that the bookstore would stop acquiring books and shared his plan to write couplets and paint New Year pictures to sell in the city for some silver for the New Year.

The family was somewhat regretful to hear that the bookstore would no longer accept books, as it was a way to earn a good amount of silver every month!

However, they had no time to dwell on it as the New Year was nearly upon them, and couplets and New Year pictures could only be sold for these few days.

Ruo Jiang immediately said, "Then what are we waiting for? Hurry and write couplets, paint New Year pictures!"

Madam Liu and Madam Jiang also said, "We will cut paper decorations."

...

So, the family quickly sprang into action.

Ruo Hai and Ruo Zhou were responsible for writing couplets. Their handwriting was quite decent; though not as good as Ruo Jiang’s and Ruo Shui’s, it was certainly good enough to sell on the street.

Ruo Jiang and Ruo Shui, both skilled in calligraphy and painting, took charge of painting the New Year pictures, as these were more valuable than the couplets.

Xuanbao certainly hadn’t forgotten her promise to paint a Guanyin Bringing Children picture for her aunt. "Dad, you paint the Guanyin Bringing Children picture for aunt first, and I’ll help you mix the colors."

Baby daughter’s requests were never refused by Ruo Shui; he naturally agreed to them.

So, Ruo Xuan secretly added a bit of "ingredient" to the paints, mixed a few colors, and then simply waited without further intervention for the painting to be finished.

Ruo Xuan thought since the trouble with the Lord County Magistrate was provoked by her, it was naturally up to her to solve it.

Therefore, Ruo Xuan took advantage of the remaining daylight and trotted up to the mansion with her short little legs going "thump thump thump."

The Mansion

Madam Xuanyuan had just received a letter from the Capital City, urging her and her grandson to return as soon as possible for the New Year’s celebration.

She came to Xuanyuan Que’s room and asked, "Xiaojiu, are we going back to the capital for the New Year? If we’re going back, setting off tomorrow should get us there by New Year’s Eve."

Xuanyuan Que turned a page of his book and said indifferently, "I’m not going; Grandmother can go back."

New Year’s was no different from any ordinary day to him; he couldn’t be bothered to make the trip.

Upon hearing this, Madam Xuanyuan said, "If you’re not going, Grandmother won’t go either. It just so happens I can’t be bothered to move, so let’s just have a New Year’s celebration here together."

There was no point in going back; her son was surrounded by his wife and concubines, so she wasn’t worried about him feeling lonely.

If not for the daily letters urging her from the Capital City, she wouldn’t have come to ask her grandson today.

She was also worried that her grandson might change his mind at the last minute and decide to return to the Capital. If they left tomorrow, a fast horse and a cracking whip could still get them there in time; any later than tomorrow would be too late.

"Hmm."

At that moment, Shopkeeper Gu entered the room: "Madam, young master, the shops confiscated from General Zhuangyong’s residence have been sorted out."

Madam Xuanyuan quickly replied, "They’re all sorted out? Xuanbao said she wanted to buy some shops, didn’t she? Take them to show her, let her choose which ones she wants first, reserve those for her, and then we can release the others."

"Yes, I will go down the mountain now to inform Lady Xuanbao."

Xuanyuan Que glanced towards the garden and said indifferently, "No need."

Seeing this, Shopkeeper Gu also turned to look toward the garden, and sure enough, a light orange figure soon appeared.

"Granny Xuanyuan, Brother Xuanyuan, Shopkeeper Gu, I’m here!" Ruo Xuan ran in like a gust of wind.

Madam Xuanyuan laughed, "Xuanbao arrived just in time. Shopkeeper Gu has found the shops; take a look and see which ones you want to buy."

Ruo Xuan’s eyes lit up; with shops available, she could open her bookstore after the New Year!

"Great, thank you Granny Xuanyuan, thank you Shopkeeper Gu."

Madam Xuanyuan didn’t want to disturb the children, so she left with a smile, leaving the two to talk.

Shopkeeper Gu also left behind the shop information and then departed.

Ruo Xuan temporarily put aside the matter of the shops; she immediately mentioned how she had bought a piece of land and inadvertently implicated Zhang Jie along with it.

After finishing, Ruo Xuan added, "Anyway, Brother Xuanyuan, you already know why I bought that wasteland, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Zhang Jie. I can’t openly state my reasons for the purchase, and you won’t allow me to use Immortal Technique, so as for Zhang Jie’s matter, you can handle it!"

Xuanyuan Que: "..."

This flower, was she taking it for granted that she could boss him around?

Why should he solve a mess that she had created?

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