CHAPTER 218: CHAPTER 217: CALM AND UNRUFFLED XIAO MINGFU

As soon as Mrs. Wang returned to her home in Xiaoxi Town, she was surrounded by curious family members asking questions.

She is the eldest daughter-in-law of the eldest branch of the Zhang family, born into the newly rich Wang family. Although she attended today’s event as a representative of the Zhang family, she had her own thoughts about the news she had received.

Regarding Lin Wanwan’s claim about the land of gold in America, Mrs. Wang definitely intended to mention it to her family, as their Wang family had a fleet.

"Eldest sister-in-law, what about the residence of the Village Lady of Le’an living in the countryside? What is she like? Is she coarse and vulgar, resembling a village woman? Is the ground covered with chicken, duck, and goose droppings every few steps?" Her sister-in-law, the second daughter of the Zhang family’s concubine line, asked curiously and repeatedly.

Hearing her speak so bluntly and crudely, the sisters beside her secretly frowned, yet their eyes were full of curiosity.

"No rush, let me freshen up first." Mrs. Wang didn’t immediately answer but first sent someone to carry her two tired children who had fallen asleep on the way back, and then changed clothes and washed her face before slowly walking towards the main hall.

The room was already filled with the scent of incense burners, burning Hundred Step Incense, and under the curling white smoke, curious faces either stood or sat, all somewhat eagerly waiting.

Mrs. Wang felt amused and covered her mouth as she chuckled lightly: "The Village Lady of Le’an is by no means a coarse and vulgar country woman. She is completely like a princess. As for chicken droppings... her seaside manor has windows and doors inlaid with glass, more precious than floating clouds silk, and right next to the main building is a flower house made entirely of glass."

"Wow! Pure glass? Isn’t that like the Dragon King’s Crystal Palace? Could she be a princess of the Dragon Clan?"

"Yes, yes, eldest sister-in-law, you aren’t deceiving us, are you? Even the homes of aristocrats might not afford a pure glass flower house."

Mrs. Wang remained composed and said, "These are nothing; more unbelievable things happened today. At today’s banquet, all kinds of delicacies were served, not to mention, before the meal, fruits like lychees and cherries were offered, and after the meal, each person was served two slices of cold melon and six purple pearl grapes in glass cups!"

"Ah! Grapes! Six pieces!" everyone exclaimed, "And cold melon!"

The loud Zhang second daughter was even more dramatic: "That’s more extravagant than eating gold, how could it be true."

Mrs. Wang smiled faintly and said no more; believe it or not.

"Eldest sister-in-law, how could there be lychees in this season? I heard from Father that in Lingnan, lychees ripen in May or June, and now it’s just early spring." Zhang third daughter posed a question.

Mrs. Wang recalled Lin Wanwan’s explanation at the time: "These lychees are not from Lingnan. According to the Village Lady of Le’an, they are from somewhere on the Australian Continent, which is said to have seasons opposite to our Great Tang, where their winter is our summer. The Village Lady of Le’an’s elder brother sailed to Australia and brought back the lychee trees on ships, and they were just right for picking when returning to Mao County."

"Ah, does such a place really exist? Why are the seasons different from ours?"

"It’s so amazing, the elder brother of the Village Lady of Le’an is truly well-informed."

"Such a grand gesture!"

"Oh well, whether there’s a place with seasons opposite to Great Tang or not, having money truly is wonderful. The wealth of the Village Lady of Le’an is beyond imagination just by listening to it." Wang family second grandson’s wife, Mrs. He, sighed.

"Haha, who could disagree."

The same scenario also played out in several other homes that attended today’s banquet; everyone had a basic understanding of the power of the newly appointed Village Lady of Le’an.

With the entire Lin Family Manor behind her, though sea folk are poor, they are fiercely tenacious. Additionally, she has a ranger elder brother with vast abilities and an enigmatic master who’s left her countless treasures. She is even related to the Xiao Family, acknowledged by Xiao Mingfu as a cousin.

It seems that future relations with this kinship should be maintained more actively.

In the evening, horse hooves echoed at the village entrance as people who were singing and dancing after a full meal squeezed to the door to gaze.

A handsome man in a green robe appeared before the crowd, in bright clothing, on a spirited horse, full of grandeur.

"It’s Xiao Mingfu; he’s come to the banquet." People from Lin Family Manor recognized him, shrank back and hid in the courtyard, pretending not to know.

Lin Wanwan’s manor guests and distant relatives who had come to the banquet were quite interested in discussing: "Everyone says Xiao Mingfu is cousin to our Lady Wanwan, it seems true; Xiao Mingfu even came personally to congratulate her."

"Should we go pay our respects to Xiao Mingfu?"

"It’s better not to, if we say something wrong and anger Xiao Mingfu, we’d be in trouble."

Basically, everyone had the same thought: look from afar and chit-chat a bit, but there’s no need to approach and offer greetings.

Now preparations for spring plowing must start, so labor matters must be paused. It’s said the county government lacks manpower, and even the prisoners in the cells are all pulled to work at Ta Mountain Dam.

Better not look too much, or you might be taken for labor too; no one dares to get close to Xiao Chong.

This Xiao Mingfu, during the new year, gave salt and millet, rice, and meat jerky to the elderly above seventy in the county, earning three exclamations of praise from the old folks. However, he is also one who can uproot landowners and wealthy merchants quickly. This matter is widely spread in Mao County, and the common folk both love and fear Xiao Chong.

In Xiaoxi Town, after the Lantern Festival at his home, the legitimate eldest son of the Wang Family was caught by surprise by the government officials and Xiao Family servants.

It’s said the son of Wang Family, with tattoos, isn’t virtuous, bullies men and women, unlawfully takes good women as concubines, forces respectable people into servitude, and the victims are now beating drums for justice.

Upon thorough investigation, more was revealed.

The Wang family, seemingly virtuous, were actually cruel and cold-hearted, hiring thugs to terrorize the countryside, killing servants over minor issues. In the abandoned well at the back of the Wang estate, five skeletons of young girls were discovered. Several old long-standing cases were also verified as their doing—burglary, seizing heirloom recipes, and other crimes, too numerous to list.

Ultimately, the Wang family was fined thousands of gold coins, a thousand bolts of silk, and the three main culprits were sentenced to hanging, with others sentenced to three years. For the elderly, young, and women, lenient punishment was applied, fined in copper, not punished.

The women, children, and elderly of the Wang family sold houses and land to gather enough money for the fines and their redemption, marking their fall from wealth to mere commoners with only one courtyard left.

The Wang family’s case was the largest since Xiao Chong took office, handled with swift and decisive action; the others had no chance to plead.

This affair was considered the Wang family’s just deserts, and the victims received compensation from them. The common folk naturally cheered, but in the eyes of Mao County’s aristocrats, this was Xiao Chong’s warning and provocation towards them.

What counts as forcefully taking women, killing servants, seizing others’ property and secrets? Their greatest sin was not promptly agreeing when Xiao Chong remarked on the disorderly West Street needing remodeling or possibly reaching out to Lin Wanwan was also the original sin.

Who doesn’t know Lin Wanwan is Xiao Chong’s savior?

This matter has also shown everyone that Xiao Chong, a relentless dragon, outwardly calm and gentle, is actually ruthless and formidable, not to be trifled with.