The Ace Bigshot Becomes A Farmgirl

Although Shu Yu had told that woman to come back to see the Dongqing Temple master in a couple of days, they hadn’t been idle during these two days either.

Now that they’d come to Heichang County, they naturally had to go to Righteous Dao Village to see a few friends. On the one hand, it would make it seem as if they hadn’t noticed anything unusual and were just visiting friends as usual; on the other hand, they could take the opportunity to check on Shu Quan.

The letter Shu Quan had sent to the capital was mailed at the beginning of the year. The journey was long and it had to be rerouted through two places, so it had arrived late in their hands.

By now, more than half a year had passed since the news he’d given. A lot must have already happened on Shu Feng’s side.

So early the next morning, they headed straight for Righteous Dao Village.

Righteous Dao Village had changed quite a bit compared to when she had first come here five years ago; the most obvious change was that there were many more houses.

It was said that a few years ago, after the matter of Gong Qiu was exposed, the late emperor banished a group of people.

Later, when the Second Prince and Third Prince rebelled, the new emperor banished another group.

So now Righteous Dao Village looked somewhat lively. In the past, when they entered the village, they wouldn’t run into many people along the way; now quite a few were craning their necks, peeking over in this direction.

Carriages rarely came into the village. Either they belonged to the families of convicts exiled here, or they were people from outside.

No one knew what this particular carriage was here for.

Everyone was curious, but no one came forward to speak.

Ying Xi said, ”I don’t know why, but the moment you enter this village, it feels suffocating. When we go to other villages, if a strange carriage comes in, at the very least a few children will run over and ask who you’re looking for. Here, even the children only look on from afar; none of them come closer.”

Shu Yu, however, was used to this. ”Life in an exile area is very harsh. Many people work hard all day and still can’t be sure of eating even a piece of coarse steamed bun. When even eating is a problem, how would they have the energy to care who’s coming?”

As they spoke, the carriage came to a halt. Ahead was the Manor’s steward’s compound; the carriage couldn’t enter the village, so they had to stop here first.

A bailiff in the Manor heard the movement. When he came out and saw them, he froze for a moment.

The original steward of the Manor had been Wang Changdong. He had quite a good relationship with Shu Yu, but when Shu Yu left, Wang Changdong was transferred to the county town to work under the new county magistrate.

Shu Yu wasn’t familiar with the new steward of the Manor, and she had never seen the bailiff standing in front of her now either.

The other man sized them up. ”Who are you looking for?”

”Is Steward Yu here?” Ying Xi stepped forward. ”This is the Wen’an County Lord.”

The other man was stunned. He might not know anyone else, but the Wen’an County Lord was different—she was someone who had come out of their Righteous Dao Village. The current kitchen maid in the Manor was Aunt Fang. What she talked about the most wasn’t her son-in-law Ma Lu, who was already working under the governor, nor her sensible and capable daughter Fang Xiyue, who had just given birth not long ago, but that Lady Lu who had given them a hand and allowed them to live the good days they had now.

Everyone had at first suspected her exaggerated-sounding stories, but Xu Dali, who had likewise been recommended by Shu Yu to do registration work in the Manor, had also sincerely confirmed them.

So the new bailiffs in the Manor were all extremely curious about this Lady Lu. Even though news in Righteous Dao Village wasn’t very well informed, under their attention, they still learned at the first possible moment that Shu Yu had become a county magistrate’s daughter, the Wen’an County Lord.

They had thought this County Lord was someone far removed from them; who would have thought that today they would actually, actually see her?

The officer stood there for quite a while before coming back to his senses. He hurriedly said, ”County Lord, please, come inside at once. I’ll go find Steward Yu right away.”