This was just the beginning.

“Well…” Ying Yue nodded slowly and said, “I will try my best.”

Then she heard Miss Shen sigh and say, “I did spread that rumor today, but if things don’t turn out as you described, it will cause a big backlash from the people of Beidi County.”

Shen Shutan had no idea if things would turn out as planned. She was unsure but had no choice. 

As Jia Xu had said earlier, she had no way out now. Since she had started this dangerous path, she could only follow it through.

Although, deep down, she hoped the people of Beidi County would get angry at her unreliable behavior and kill her incompetent father.

Jia Xu remained calm. “Don’t worry, young lady. I never go into battle unprepared.”

When Jia Xu said this, Shen Shutan nodded.

Then she hesitated and said, “There’s one more thing…”

“You can use my father’s last bit of prestige in Beidi County to take over as county governor. But if you do that, won’t it be impossible to fix his reputation?”

Jia Xu smiled calmly, “Whether Wang Junshou’s reputation is good or bad, it can change at any time.”

“You promised the people a year, and I’m doing the same. In one year, everything you want will happen.”

After one year, everyone in Beidi County will be loyal to their lord. By then, Magistrate Wang will be useless.

They are still giving him some respect now, but if the people knew what he had done, they would panic. If he could give away his own daughter to survive, they might fear they’d be next.

With such a county governor, the people might not even peacefully let Ying Yue take over the position. They might rush into the mansion and kill him with farm tools.

The scholar in green was quietly planning in his mind.

_

“Bai Qi!”

When Ying Yue reached the gate of the county magistrate’s mansion, she saw someone she didn’t expect and shouted in joy.

Bai Qi, a brave young man, heard her and looked over. He saw an unfamiliar person, Cai Yan, with the group. He didn’t ask about her but just nodded at Ying Yue before looking away.

Although Bai Qi didn’t pay attention to Cai Yan, she started to think about him after hearing his name.

Cai Yan, looking at Jia Xu, silently thought about something.

The group walked into the mansion and looked for a place to rest. They were mainly focused on finding a room for Ying Yue because her safety was the priority.

It didn’t matter much which room they chose. They hadn’t cared about men and women staying together for a long time, but now they were waiting for a woman with great fighting ability to show up.

Miss Shen thought for a moment and suggested, “Shall I take you to my mother’s old room? It’s been empty for a while and is still clean.”

Ying Yue was surprised to hear Miss Shen refer to her as “young lady” but didn’t ask further. She shook her head and replied, “No need. I can stay anywhere. If I take your place, it would be too much.”

Miss Shen smiled and said, “If you don’t mind, why don’t you stay in my old room?”

Her own room was the third largest in the mansion, and she would eventually move into her mother’s room. The second largest room had been for the concubine, so it wasn’t suitable for Ying Yue.

“Okay,” Ying Yue agreed, nodding slightly.

After deciding on the room, Cai Yan said she wanted to stay in a nearby room with Ying Yue.

Zhao Kuo, who didn’t know Cai Yan’s true identity, immediately objected, “No—”

Before he could finish, the young boy playing with him stepped on his foot, signaling him to be quiet.

Bai Qi realized that Cai Yan had also come from the “card pool.”

After showing them to her old room, Miss Shen felt they might need to talk privately and left. She mentioned they could use anything in the room.

Once she left, Zhao Kuo, who was being especially stubborn, asked Cai Yan, “Why don’t you go back and rest?”

Everyone knew the hidden meaning behind his question: “Why don’t you leave?”

Young boy Huo, unable to watch his friend act so clueless, covered his forehead in embarrassment.

“How did I end up with such a foolish friend?”

Finally, Ying Yue pulled Zhao Kuo’s sleeve and whispered, “Actually, Sister Yan is also from the card pool.”

Zhao Kuo: ???

So, he’s the one being left out?

After a moment of shock, Zhao Kuo blurted out, “Can women in your time still be officials?”

Cai Yan replied coldly, “Cai Yan is just a commoner.”

Jia Xu added, “Although Miss Cai hasn’t entered politics, she is knowledgeable and well-versed in both ancient and modern topics, and she is also skilled in music.”

“Wait—” Hearing his “little brother” say this, the young man looked at Jia Xu with a confused expression and asked the same question the little girl had thought of earlier, “How do you know her?”

Then he asked, “Wen He, how many years ahead of time are you from?”

“General, you are joking.” Jia Xu kept his calm and replied, “Miss Cai is from the same time as me. She’s famous for her talents, so I’ve naturally heard of her.”

After hearing this, Zhao Kuo frowned and said, “Wait a minute, where did her card drawing conditions come from?”

“Maybe when you were removing the county governor’s cronies, some barbarians sneaked in.” The little girl made a guess, as there didn’t seem to be any other explanation.

At this point, Huo, who didn’t know about the Hu people not daring to come south and herd horses, asked, “What Hu people?”

Then Yingyue showed him the task panel. After looking at it for a moment, Huo Qubing asked, “So, you traded me for ten barbarians?” He couldn’t believe it. He felt like his worth was undervalued!

“Just ten heads of Hu people could kill me? In my first battle, I killed thousands of Xiongnu!” ^[1]refers to a group of nomadic people from ancient northern China.

Hearing him, the little girl smiled, her eyes squinted, and silently petted his head.

After hearing the name Yuemei ^[2]nickname for Ying Yue., Zhao Kuo whispered in the boy’s ear, “You’re fourteen now, and your sister is sixteen.”

“Go away!” Huo Qubing immediately swung his fist, and within moments, the two young men were rolling around on the ground.

Jia Xu, watching the scene, asked Ying Yue in a guiding tone, “Now that Beidi County has been captured, what plans does the lord have for the next steps?”

“Hmm.” After a short pause, the little girl asked tentatively, “Train the troops and fight the Hu people?”

Then she lowered her head and added, “We also need to plant cotton. This way, everyone can stay warm during the winter. But with so many people in Beidi County, my ten kilograms of cotton seeds might not be enough?”

“Also,” she seemed to remember something and asked Jia Xu, “Why did Wen He tell me to say the cotton yield per mu is 300 kilograms?”

Jia Xu replied, “300 kilograms is already a remarkable number for Beidi County’s situation. Besides, we can’t reveal everything we have right away.”

Cotton is valuable not only because it keeps people warm but also has economic value.

He thought quietly to himself.

Then Jia Xu asked the little girl again, still patiently, “Is there anything else you want to say?”

Ying Yue shook her head, “I can’t think of anything.”

Jia Xu understood and asked, “Does Wen He have anything to tell me?”

Hearing this, the scholar in a green shirt nodded and asked, “My Lord, what do you think about reading?”

When the little girl heard this, she made a sad face and said in a low voice, “I… don’t like reading, and I’m not good at it.”

Jia Xu, who rarely felt surprised, became quiet for a moment.

After a while, he asked, “May I ask, what books have you read before?”

The little girl reluctantly recited two lines from a book she could still remember since she had repeated them many times when she was young: “As a woman, you should first learn to establish yourself. The way to establish yourself is to be pure and chaste… Compare your husband to heaven, and the meaning is not light… Stand in the hall and listen to your husband’s words…”

Bai Qi:?

Zhao Kuo:?

Jia Xu:?

Huo Qubing:?

Cai Yan: “…”