Chapter 266
Chapter 266
"Official Mu. Furen Mu!! Won’t you compensate us? Why won’t you come out and discuss this? My nephew, the pillar of our family and our main labor force, is now crippled. How can you remain indifferent?! This is unfair to my family."
"Indeed. The Mu manor is wealthy, yet when they cause injuries, they don’t care. You came from the Du Region, and we accepted you because of your skills. But how did you become so despicable over time?"
"They shouldn’t have obtained noble positions. Back in Red Earth City, didn’t they commit many vile acts just to gain fame? And yet they still managed to secure their positions. Red Earth City in our Bai Region wasn’t that bad originally. With just a bit of effort, it was flourishing. But now, outsiders from another Region have come to seize our benefits."
"No matter how skilled, if they lack compassion, how can we villagers accept them? Our families have suffered losses, yet not one of you acknowledges us."
"We must appeal to the authorities. We must appeal to the Emperor. The Mu family should be stripped of their titles and expelled from the Bai Region. Instead of helping, these people, who live in our Region, have come to harm us. They must be from the Du Region, coming here to sabotage the people!"
The sounds of people cursing at the entrance of the Mu manor reached Yueqian’s quarters. Today, her husband Mu Heng was busy with government work, overseeing the inspection of a city under his jurisdiction, which was quite complicated. Many things were still not in order, requiring his guidance and scrutiny.
Of course, he wasn’t aware that hundreds of people would gather to cause trouble at the manor. Now, the court ladies assigned to assist couldn’t leave the manor, and Yueqian’s people were also terrified of the surrounding crowd. Though everyone knew the truth, the news of injuries and deaths had shaken them.
"Furen, what should we do? The villagers surrounding the manor is not a good sign,"
"That’s right, Miss. Should I drive them away?" Rui Beng, clearly upset, couldn’t understand why the villagers didn’t wait for the investigation to be completed before confronting the wrongdoers. In fact, her mistress was affected as well! If she hadn’t been saved that day, wouldn’t she have returned injured?
"It’s alright. Stay calm and don’t worry too much," Yueqian waved her hand.
In reality, this situation wouldn’t have escalated if the Mu family had more power. Even though they had hundreds of soldiers, the villagers knew that the soldiers were under the command of the Wang. Hence, they weren’t afraid to come and threaten, insult, or behave rudely in front of the Mu manor’s entrance.
The soldiers of the Wang would always prioritize the Wang’s commands. For this matter, Yueqian knew she needed to devise a solution quickly. In truth, she had considered using people from various tribes, but after witnessing the skills of Yapo, she realized that using the tribes was not feasible. The tribespeople lacked the organized thinking needed for handling such situations. They were used to living their tribal lives. Yueqian needed to find reliable and trustworthy forces as soon as possible.
The beautiful woman thought of the former great general of the Du Region, who was also her husband’s master. Since he was once a veteran general, perhaps he could find someone suitable.
Yueqian also planned to buy slaves or poor villagers, preferably young ones, to train them. If they were trained from a young age and given the Mu surname, they would understand their allegiance. In the future, they could fight alongside her children.
However, those plans were for the future. Right now, the thing that Yueqian needed to handle was the current chaos. She wasn’t worried about the villagers slandering her, but their actions were affecting the preparations for their banquet.
If it were other noblewomen, they might cry and plead for mercy, compensating the villagers a bit to settle the matter. But Yueqian wouldn’t do that.
She knew that these villagers had been incited by certain groups. It seemed that the assassination attempt was part of one person’s plan, while the subsequent chaos was orchestrated by another group. Whether the first group was foolish enough to believe the second group or not was unclear. However, Yueqian felt that the second group was quite clever.
The opposition must be adept at cunning strategies, someone hiding in the shadows, or even if they get caught, it wouldn’t be them directly implicated. It’s a well-thought-out plan.
However, simply being clever isn’t enough. Before you can strategize, you must know your enemy. Otherwise, the meticulously laid plans will be in vain and could even alert the enemy beforehand.
"So, what should we do, Miss?" Wan Gui was very scared. She didn’t know what to do anymore. Moreover, the mistress remained calm, sitting and lying down, while the master had not yet returned. Everything seemed chaotic at the moment.
Seeing Wan Gui’s fearful expression, Yueqian immediately understood this was a downside of servants who had been in lower and middle-ranked noble families for too long. She had to worry about her reputation because if she did anything that harmed it, major nobles might not support her in the future.
This was different from major noble families. No matter what insults were hurled at them, as long as they carried the family name, they didn’t need to fear anything. It was similar to when she was part of the Qin family. Committing atrocities against commoners had no impact unless it involved other nobles, in which case, she might face some punishment.
Yueqian smiled slightly and waved for Rui Beng to come closer.
"The first thing we need to do is... massage my legs." As she finished saying, Wan Gui’s eyes widened in shock, and even Rui Beng was confused. Nonetheless, the young girl was very obedient. She followed the mistress’s orders without hesitation, unlike Wan Gui, who became increasingly restless.
The beautiful woman who was the owner of the residence observed her servants’ reactions and began to devise a new plan. Her eyes fell on a small young woman, not much older than Yang Ji and Wan Gui, with bright, clear eyes. Moreover, when looking at her eyes, there was no trace of fear in them, which was unusual.
"Aren’t you scared, Fan Yu?" Yueqian asked nonchalantly. The small, quiet maid looked down before responding.
"I am not afraid, Miss. If you are not afraid, then neither am I." Hearing Fan Yu’s reply, Yueqian almost laughed in satisfaction. Only Wan Gui was taken aback by this statement.
"This is good. But aren’t you afraid of dying? If the Mu manor is punished, your heads might be on the line as well," Yueqian did not let the young woman off easily. Perhaps because of this question, Fan Yu looked up at her again.
"Servants’ lives belong to their masters. If you are punished, then we should be punished first. However..." Fan Yu hesitated before falling silent, not wanting to say more.
"However, what?" It was Yueqian who wanted to listen.
"However... I don’t believe you will face any punishment, Miss."
"Hmm? Why not? Aren’t there many villagers outside the manor causing a commotion? How can you think this way?" Yueqian asked, waving the fan in her hand.
"Yes, Sister Fan, what makes you think that?" Rui Beng was excited by hearing these words. At this moment, the reason why their mistress wouldn’t be punished was what she most wanted to hear.
Yueqian observed the young girl, Rui Beng, who was looking at Fan Yu with anticipation. Fan Yu’s eyes brightened slightly before the moment passed; if not observed closely, one might not notice.
"This is just my humble opinion. The truth is, this situation started without any fault on your part. If it’s proven that the horse you rode was tampered with, causing it to panic, then the villagers were simply unlucky to be caught in the chaos. Once this is clarified, help can be offered if needed."
"Additionally, you were genuinely attacked, Miss. The investigation is still ongoing to determine which family or individual was responsible. Once the truth comes out, you can seek justice against them, and the situation will change immediately. The authorities have already announced that you weren’t merely unlucky to encounter random bandits as the villagers believe."
"Moreover, it’s illogical. Normally, no villagers would dare to gather at a noble’s manor and hurl insults like this. Such actions are considered disrespectful and could result in severe punishment, like 100 lashes. Especially since you, Furen, are a First Rank Furen, akin to royalty. Actually, it’s the villagers who should face penalties."
"The final reason, as I mentioned earlier, if you aren’t afraid, then neither are we. This is the real reason, Miss. I know you are very clever and have prepared everything. Perhaps this will end without you having to pay a single coin. Instead, others might end up compensating you."
In truth, Fan Yu had lied. The final reason she gave was not the real one. The actual reason was something she couldn’t say aloud. That reason was... she knew her mistress was cunning and extremely money-minded. Her mistress would not do what good people typically did, but would instead find ways to benefit from the situation. Therefore, the path of comforting others was not something her mistress would do.
They would need to endure such insults often. Fan Yu had prepared herself from the beginning. Perhaps due to her keen observation, since joining the Mu manor, she had never seen them purchase precious items. Yet, they always ended up with valuable things without spending money. Whether it was through achieving something, gaining favor, or things simply appearing without the servants knowing how.
This meant that her mistress had many connections outside. Otherwise, how would she obtain such treasures? On the day the assassins attacked, Fan Yu had seen the look exchanged between her mistress and master. She knew it wasn’t a random passerby who had saved her mistress, but one of the mistress’s people. Yet, this secret couldn’t be revealed to anyone.
Fan Yu understood that knowing too much could be dangerous, so she kept quiet, acting as if she knew nothing. However, she was quite excited inside. She dreamt of having a safe and secure place to rely on. Initially, she thought the influence of the Mu family was too small and might bring her trouble. Unfortunately, she didn’t have many choices until she realized how formidable her mistress and master truly were.
It wasn’t just the mistress who had something hidden; the master had managed to deal with a general of the Du Region with a single move. Fan Yu had witnessed that scene by chance, which was why she remained silent.
"Yang Ji, you have raised a good niece. She’s very observant," Yueqian praised. Perhaps this young maid was suited to be her close confidant.
On one hand, there was Rui Beng, who worked quickly but lacked forethought. On the other, there was Fan Yu, who was thoughtful, but had the disadvantage of being slow. If these two could work together and support each other, Yueqian wouldn’t need to worry about anything in the future. Having these two as her trusted aides would be sufficient.
Fan Yu didn’t know what her mistress was thinking but sensed that she had spoken too much. So, she remained silent after thanking her mistress for the compliment.
Yang Ji sighed slightly. Her niece was a fearful person, always cautious and observant of everything around her. This trait had previously brought trouble upon herself, resulting in Yang Ji having to protect her by keeping her in the kitchen.
Who would have thought that her mistress would recognize this trait? If Miss could use it to her advantage, it would be beneficial. However, Yang Ji feared that her sharp-eyed niece might see things she shouldn’t.