CHAPTER 54: CHAPTER 54 I DON’T WANT SUCH GOOD FORTUNE 12

How is the local county magistrate? Xiao Yuan truly knew.

"County Magistrate Lu is indeed a rare good official."

Xiao Yuan carefully explained County Magistrate Lu’s origins and character to Anning, "He comes from the Lu Family. His uncle is the Minister of Revenue, Lu Zhiming. The Lu Family has been noted for their incorruptibility in government over three generations and they are known for their integrity. It seems, County Magistrate Lu cannot be wrong either."

After hearing this, Anning suddenly felt at ease: "In that case, I can settle down here."

Xiao Yuan was somewhat puzzled.

Anning explained with a smile: "The wheat and rice I have planted yield abundantly, which of course should be reported, but currently, there isn’t much seed, and there is also the potential to increase the yield. I am planning to plant for another year and wait until next year’s harvest to report to County Magistrate Lu. However... my family doesn’t own much land, and moreover..."

Anning’s worry was precisely that she couldn’t find suitable land to purchase, and if she planted a lot, she wouldn’t be able to manage it alone. She would need to hire workers, yet she feared that the workers hired might not be reliable.

Xiao Yuan understood Anning’s concerns. After thinking for a while, he said: "I have some good farmland over here. You can plant on it first. Moreover, there’s no need to worry about hiring workers right now. I am quite well-acquainted with County Magistrate Lu. I will speak with him, and have the Lu Family send some people over."

Anning sized up Xiao Yuan.

She had originally thought that Xiao Yuan was just a pharmacy shopkeeper, but from what he said, it seemed he was born into an official family. But if his background was so good, why had he fallen on such hard times?

Xiao Yuan naturally noticed the confusion in Anning’s eyes.

However, he did not know how to explain.

After thinking it over for a while, Xiao Yuan finally said: "Do you know about Duke Xiao?"

Anning recalled, indeed digging out the person of Duke Xiao from her memory.

"I know."

Xiao Yuan said softly, "I am the youngest son of Duke Xiao. My father returned to the hometown after offending Imperial Concubine Tian..."

Not until Xiao Yuan had finished speaking did Anning understand what had happened.

It turned out that on the way back to his hometown with his family, the young Xiao Yuan had fallen ill, and his condition was severe. Several doctors could not cure him, and it seemed he was close to death when they happened to meet a Divine Doctor heading to the Capital. Duke Xiao had begged the Divine Doctor to treat Xiao Yuan.

As a result, although the illness was cured, the Divine Doctor took a liking to Xiao Yuan’s talent and took him as an apprentice, settling down here ever since.

After the Xiao Family returned to their hometown, they were troubled many times by people sent by Imperial Concubine Tian. Fearing that the whole family might be caught in Imperial Concubine Tian’s net, Duke Xiao claimed that his youngest son had passed away and kept Xiao Yuan living outside all this time.

"Now, with Imperial Concubine Tian’s great influence, even the Crown Prince is bullied by her in the palace. My father dares not let me return home."

Xiao Yuan sighed, "Who knows when court will calm down."

Anning listened quietly to Xiao Yuan and did not say anything or give an opinion.

Only after Xiao Yuan had finished speaking did she speak softly, "Forget all this, no point in thinking about it now. Unnecessary worries are better tossed aside."

Xiao Yuan nodded: "You’re right."

Knowing Xiao Yuan’s life story made Anning feel increasingly comfortable around him.

After all, there was some shared sympathy between her and Xiao Yuan; they were both harmed by Imperial Concubine Tian to the point of not being able to return home.

Later on, Xiao Yuan sought out County Magistrate Lu, who indeed sent people specially from the Lu Family to help Anning with farming.

The people sent were servants of the Lu Family, the kind who had signed life-long contracts. Since they were born into the Lu household, there was no worry about them leaking secrets.

Xiao Yuan also organized his landholdings for Anning to inspect. After scrutiny, she chose some of the more fertile land and began to manage the land with the people she had brought along.

By winter, Xiao Yuan and Anning got married.

Their wedding was very low-profile, with only two tables arranged for a feast, inviting County Magistrate Lu and Xiao Yuan’s acquaintances from the area to a meal. Thus, the wedding ceremony was completed.

As for the Xiao Family, Xiao Yuan naturally sent a letter to notify them as well.

Duke Xiao was currently ill and it was inconvenient for him to come, and since Xiao Yuan’s mother had passed away and his brother and sister-in-law both had their own matters to attend to and were far away, they couldn’t come either. They only sent a distant relative to bring Anning’s wedding gifts to offer congratulations.

For Anning, getting married or not didn’t make much of a difference.

After her marriage, she didn’t move to Xiao Yuan’s place but instead lived together with him at the Bai family home.

There wasn’t much work to do in the depth of winter, so the two spent their days dispensing medicine at the pharmacy and their nights discussing medical texts—life was extremely peaceful and leisurely.

However, once spring arrived, Anning became busy.

She started leading people in tilling the fields and sowing seeds, spending all day long in the fields.

Anning was so busy farming that she was unaware that, back in the Capital, Qian Du had married He Yue’s cousin, Tian Meixiang.

After marrying Tian Meixiang, Qian Du was indeed in high spirits.

Other than the top three Advanced Scholars, the rest had been assigned to posts elsewhere, but with the Tian family’s influence, Qian Du was not assigned out and instead coveted a position at the Ministry of Personnel, becoming a Capital Official.

The reason was that Tian Meixiang was unwilling to live in the countryside and even less willing to be separated from Qian Du.

She was willful and assertive, and yet, Imperial Concubine Tian adored her greatly. After Tian Meixiang acted coy with the Noble Consort, the Noble Consort found people to use their positions to keep Qian Du in the Capital.

Fearing that Tian Meixiang would be wronged and knowing that Qian Du’s family was poor, the Tian family even bought a mansion for Qian Du.

Because he had married a wife and was assigned as a Capital Official as well as acquired a three-courtyard mansion in the Capital, Qian Du was naturally very pleased.

Not to mention Qian Du, even Ms. Qian He was overjoyed, doing her utmost to ingratiate herself with Tian Meixiang.

It seemed as if everyone was quite happy, but the only one to suffer was He Yue.

He Yue followed Qian Du to the Capital, originally thinking that she would spend her days with Qian Du and perhaps make him unable to leave her, relying on their past affection to make Qian Du marry her.

Unexpectedly, not long after Qian Du arrived in the Capital, he got married.

And he married a powerful and influential lady from the Tian family.

He Yue watched Qian Du take a wife, and her heart felt more bitter than having eaten coptis.

However, what was even more bitter came afterwards.

She could not marry Qian Du, but she also did not want to give him up, thinking about staying in the Qian family for a year and a half to be Qian Du’s concubine would be fine.

So what ended up happening?

When Tian Meixiang had just entered the house, things were still okay, and she was fairly decent to her, after all, He Yue was still Ms. Qian He’s niece, so Tian Meixiang, considering that she was Qian Du’s cousin, wouldn’t treat her too badly.

But, after no more than two months, Tian Meixiang started targeting her everywhere.

Tian Meixiang might have been brawny and burly, but it didn’t mean she was stupid.

Over time, how could Tian Meixiang not see through He Yue’s intentions?

Her possessiveness was extremely strong, and being spoiled from a young age had turned her ruthless; naturally, she called the shots and couldn’t tolerate any other woman coveting Qian Du, even less so Qian Du having someone else in his heart.

Once Tian Meixiang had seen through He Yue’s intentions, she directly asked Qian Du to send He Yue back home.

Moreover, Tian Meixiang did it right in front of He Yue.

At that moment, the family was dining together when Tian Meixiang put down her chopsticks and said to Qian Du: "Cousin has been in the Capital for a good while now, she’s seen what there is to be seen, and has lived through what there is to be lived through, it’s about time she went back to her hometown, right?"

Qian Du was stunned: "Cousin came to accompany Mother, how can she leave?"

Tian Meixiang’s face showed displeasure: "When you and I were not yet married, cousin naturally needed to accompany Mother, but now that we are married, the house has me. There’s no need for outsiders to show filial piety to Mother."