Chapter 17: Chapter 17
Chapter 17
"It really is so. I think if you only had your niece, you would have been in trouble. I noticed it right from the start when you collapsed, your niece couldn’t do anything but cry. Only the lady from the horse cart hurried down to take care of you. Look at her white hands; she used a lot of effort to untie your knots and prevent your clothes from coming off."
"I saw the same efforts." As one spoke, others followed.
The doctor listening also looked at Yueqian with admiration.
"Excellent, a lady of competence. Mu Heng, having a wife like her is truly your good fortune. Previously, when I saw you secretly buying tonics for pregnancy preparation, I wondered if you really thought it through about having a child with your wife, considering the not-so-good rumors I heard. Today has been an eye-opener; indeed, sometimes, rumors can’t be trusted."
The physician spoke with a teasing and joyful tone, having rushed to assist someone. After seeing the patient safe, he felt even more inclined to jest with others.
However, his words made Mu Heng feel quite embarrassed. He flinched and looked at Yueqian with a worried gaze, fearing she might overthink him secretly buying the tonics for her.
Yueqian was also surprised. When he entered the health facility alone, she thought he must have a secret, but who would have thought he would secretly buy her tonics?
"So, it turns out Madam Mu was the one who helped the patient, and this niece here seems a bit irrational. I understand you were shocked about your aunt’s illness, but next time, please educate yourself a bit more. Otherwise, you might wrongly accuse others and causing a misunderstanding like this again.
This time, I won’t punish you out of respect for your concern for your aunt, but if I hear such thing happen again, exploiting your own misconceptions to accuse Madam Mu, I will handle it myself...
Oh, Mu Heng, you also take good care of your wife. If anyone speaks ill of her, I will judge the matter myself. If she is wrong, she will be punished according to the law, but if anyone accuses her just because she is from the capital, they will be punished as well."
The governor looked relaxed as the situation unwound. He also spoke highly of Yueqian. In his view, Yueqian was a commendable woman; she invested a great deal of money to improve the livelihood of the needy, even though others with such wealth might choose to live comfortably in the city or even move to the capital.
But she did not.
Instead, she used her funds to help villagers make a living. Afterward, she collected rent from them, taking only a small portion of their produce. For him, this was not just an investment; it was an act of reaching out to help.
"Oh, and... Madam Mu has plenty of land to lease. She contacted me at the office today. If you are interested, try listening to the news from your village chief again. She lets you rent it by deducting only 20 parts from every 100 parts of the produce you make as a rent. If you perform poorly, she hasn’t set strict terms; she will share the risk with you. Such a great opportunity, I wouldn’t want you to miss it."
Seizing the opportunity to both make an announcement and enhance Yueqian’s reputation, the governor decided to declare this right away. By making the announcement himself, he effectively guaranteed the villagers that there would be no deceit involved.
This would bolster the villagers’ confidence that their crops would not be harvested secretly by others, as there have been instances where people have leased land, only to take all the produce later.
Such incidents have even occurred within families, leading to numerous legal disputes.
"Really? Is that possible? Only taking 20 parts shares?"
"That’s even less than what I have to give to my father’s household!"
"True, so 80 parts remains ours, even though we don’t own the land?"
"This woman is so generous; she must be a goddess."
"It’s like she’s genuinely trying to help us."
"This might just be our chance to thrive."
"I will stop leasing from my family since they take 50 parts without contributing any effort. Both me and my family work hard, but we only get half the crops."
"Until my father transfers the land to my name, from now on, I will rent land from this lady."
People whispered excitedly among themselves. This was their good fortune to have heard this news before others. Otherwise, they might have missed out.
"Is... is this for real? Governor, does she have land in our village too? I want to rent, I will rent,” Aunt Liao, somehow finding energy despite the doctor’s orders to rest, she could not stand lying still
Middle-aged woman sprung up, her eyes widened and asked excitedly.
"Absolutely, every village has several thousand mu available. You don’t need to worry about running out of land to work," the governor responded, feeling very pleased. He would also benefit from this arrangement.
For the villagers who normally pay income tax per household, typically, they don’t have enough money to cover it. But what if they had more land to cultivate? Wouldn’t that mean they could pay their overdue taxes and still have money left over to buy goods, benefiting local merchants in the process?
"If this is the case, anyone interested in leasing should come directly to my manor to make the contract. If you need to make additional arrangements or inquiries, you can talk to your village chief later. Considering that you’ve come today to be a witness for Madam Mu, I will help secure the rental land for you in advance. But if anyone tries to deceive Madam Mu, be prepared to face punishment. I am a witness to all these contracts," the governor declared, even though he was confident that no one would consider cheating Madam Mu.
Giving only 20 parts shares of the harvest, she was more generous than some people’s parents. Some let their children rent their land, then took all produce for the rent and give them some portions according to their thought.
This creates a lack of motivation for many people; it feels like they are exhausted by the end of the day, and the produce they yield is poor. However, this time is different. There is already a lease agreement in place, and a system for sharing the profits. The better they perform, the more money they end up having.
This serves as a significant incentive.
"Really? If that’s the case, I’ll be the first to contact you."
"I want to lease a lot of land."
"Yes, me too," many villagers were excited. The governor smiled, looking at Yueqian before making another announcement,
"But we should limit the amount of land leased. I’m worried that if one leases too much, they won’t have the energy to work it properly and the produce may not be good. Therefore, the amount of land leased per person will not exceed 50 mu." Although the governor said this, everyone was still happy. Some were greedy and wanted to lease all the land, but 50 mu was still a significant amount. It would give them a considerable amount of produce.
"Let’s go. I’m going to lease some right now," Aunt Liao clapped her hands joyously, she felt as if she could fly right now.
"I’m going too," even the owner of the cart they were riding wanted to join. Yueqian exchanged a small smile with Mu Heng, pleased that their plan was proceeding smoothly.
Mu Heng himself also leased 50 mu from Yueqian. He didn’t intend to take advantage of her; thinking about saving some personal money for his two younger siblings, he knew he had to work it himself.
Yueqian didn’t object; that 50 mu was still 50 mu next to their home. After this, Mu Heng might no longer need to venture into the forest, risking danger—a better situation for them.
The turmoil that was in front of Yueqian had now dissipated, as people were rushing to the government office to lease land. Their cart couldn’t even leave because the cart owner was handling his lease. About an hour later, they returned.
"Hehe, I got the lease. Good thing I went early. Got a plot not too far away. So great. Imagine how much money 50 mu of land will make for us." Aunt Liao looked at her contract papers contentedly; one copy was with the authorities, and she held the other.
Seeing Yueqian again, the initial bias she had was more than halved. She felt a bit shy to thank her, whether for Yueqian saving her earlier or for Yueqian’s generosity in spending her money to buy land for others to make a living.
From believing the rumors that Yueqian was wicked, she now felt how could such a wicked person spend so much money to buy land for others to make a living? If she had that much money, she thought she would buy a house in the city, send her descendants to study, and then become the mother of nobles, enjoying wealth forever.
She wouldn’t just squander her money like this.
"I... I accidentally bought three jars of salt, it’s not right to just throw them away. You can have one," Aunt Liao stammered, not knowing what else she could offer to reciprocate, even though she knew they also bought many things. She still wanted to give something back.
Her rough hands passed a jar of salt that cost several brass coins, even though it was a small jar of low-grade salt, but still valuable to her.
Yueqian raised her eyebrows slightly, seeing Mu Heng who was already smiling at her, she then accepted the salt, knowing this was a gesture of peacemaking.
"Actually, I also bought too much sugar. I will give you one jar." Yueqian didn’t think that Aunt Liao was indebted to her, and she disliked accepting things from others like this, so she pushed a jar of sugar toward the other.
"Wow, you bought so much sugar, and it’s high-grade too. Such a waste of money. You married into your husband’s house; you should help your husband save money. You’ve spent a lot on land already; you should start saving," Aunt Liao was still Aunt Liao. Even though she took the jar of sugar, she continued to make a comment.
It seemed Yueqian was getting to know just how much of a complainer the other woman was, so she started to ignore it.
"I had too much money, so I bought it," the young woman said while raising her eyebrows to make people annoyed. Now, since Aunt Liao understood that she truly had ample wealth, pouted with envy. It was clearly just a playful annoyance, not real anger or hatred like before.
