Chapter 123: Repaying Kindness and Revenge 1/2

This morning, people from Miaoqian Village had already gone to their neighboring villages to find their relatives and friends, asking them to bring their children to the Li family for a “blessing”.

These people did come, and Li Qingzhi realized that he couldn’t stop them, so he didn’t. 

During the “blessing,” they saw Li Qingzhi distributing braised meat to the people of Miaoqian Village and learned that it was made by Li Qingzhi himself.

Braised meat made by the top scorer of the prefectural exam personally was still so fragrant. Who wouldn’t want to taste it? Some people even boldly went up and tried to buy some.

Li Qingzhi didn’t prepare much and couldn’t really sell braised meat at his own home, but these people were all acquaintances of Jin Xiaoye… so he gave them a piece of braised tofu to taste.

These people fed the braised tofu to their children and then boasted when they returned to their village… I don’t know what they said, but later it became a rumor that going to the Li family for a “blessing” and eating Li Qingzhi’s braised meat could make children smarter.

The rumors were really outlandish! Li Qingzhi couldn’t laugh or cry.

He realized he couldn’t stay in Miaoqian Village any longer… After finishing the remaining materials and distributing them to relatives and friends, Li Qingzhi boarded Jin Xiaoshu’s boat back to the county town.

Accompanying them were also the female workers who didn’t want to go home. They didn’t ride Jin Xiaoshu’s boat, but Jin Sangshu’s.

These female workers are particularly happy right now.

This time, when they returned to Miaoqian Village, they not only received the envy of the villagers but also enjoyed a delicious meal!

“My parents looked at me, dumbfounded!”

“I told my family about my days at the embroidery workshop, and my little brother cried and complained, asking why he wasn’t born a daughter.”

“Before, my father wanted me to marry Dazhu, but his family was unhappy. This time, he was stunned when he saw me!”

…

The girls chatted away.

The two boats were not far apart, and Fang Jinniang could hear their conversation, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

How happy and cheerful these girls are! It’s a pity her sister couldn’t come out to work.

Since marrying Jin Xiaoshu, Fang Jinniang has only returned home twice.

Once was right after getting married, and the other was during the New Year.

During the New Year visit, she didn’t even speak to her mother; she just left as soon as she put down the items she brought.

However, although she didn’t go home, she still had contact with her sister, Fang Xiuniang.

Fang Xiuniang went out every day to wash vegetables and clothes, and Fang Jinniang could find time to chat with her.

Before the county exam, Fang Xiuniang’s life was quite good. At first, she didn’t know why, but later she found out it was because Fang Zijian had received money from Hong Hui and brought it back home.

When her mother saw the money, she was happy, and her attitude towards Fang Xiuniang improved.

But after the county exam…

Fang Zijian didn’t cause trouble after the county exam results were announced, but during an investigation by Magistrate Yan, Hong Hui confessed that Fang Zijian had stolen the manuscripts presented as evidence by Li Qingzhi from her husband.

Magistrate Yan wasn’t a good official, but his views were similar to those of most educated people at the time.

Yao Zhenfu had been misled by some previous incidents and thought Li Qingzhi was not knowledgeable, so he questioned the fairness of the county exam after it. This wasn’t a big deal.

There were actually many people questioning Li Qingzhi at that time.

But stealing from her own husband? That was too much!

After doubting Li Qingzhi’s knowledge, Fang Zijian could have easily asked her own husband for confirmation. In fact, many people in Li Xiucai’s school knew that Li Qingzhi was very knowledgeable…

But what did he do instead? He not only didn’t seek confirmation but also stole things… Magistrate Yan thought his word was flawed, invalidated his county exam results, and wanted to punish him with a beating.

Speaking of which, the student whose county exam results were also invalidated, Sun Juren’s student… Magistrate Yan gave him many punishments, not because he questioned Li Qingzhi, but because he spoke ill of Magistrate Gou.

Disrespecting one’s teacher and magistrate was a big problem!

Anyway, when Li Qingzhi followed Magistrate Gou to Linhu County, Fang Zijian had a very hard time.

Fortunately, Fang’s mother really cared for him… She used all her savings to redeem Fang Zijian’s sins.

Fang Zijian didn’t get beaten and returned home safely, but after that, his life took a turn for the worse.

The first was Li Xiucai.

Li Xiucai and Sun Juren actually had some conflicts. Coming from an ordinary family, he had been oppressed and bullied by Mr. Sun’s students before.

Now, not only did his students have contact with Sun Juren’s students, but they also listened to them and stole things from him!

After Li Xiucai learned about Fang Jinniang’s ordeal, he already had some grievances against Fang Zijian, and now with something like this happening…

He didn’t allow Fang Zijian to study at his school anymore.

That would have been fine, but someone told Fang Zijian that after something like this happened, unless his knowledge was exceptionally outstanding or his reputation was widely known, even if Chongcheng County changed its magistrate, he wouldn’t be allowed to take the county exam.

Chongcheng County isn’t lacking in scholars!

Fang Zijian’s path to the imperial examinations, one could say, has been cut off.

To avoid Fang Zijian being beaten, the Fang family’s money was also spent!

With Fang Zijian’s future looking bleak, Fang Xiuniang’s days also became difficult.

Not only did Fang’s mother make her work even harder, but she also vented her anger at her.

Although Fang Zijian used to say some lofty words to persuade both sisters to obey their mother, he generally wouldn’t intentionally target the two sisters.

But now it’s different; when he’s in a bad mood, he deliberately says things that would provoke Fang’s mother’s anger, leading her to scold and beat Fang Xiuniang.

Fang Xiuniang doesn’t complain to Fang Jinniang, but Fang Jinniang knows the neighbors of the Fang family, and those people would tell her about the Fang family’s affairs.

Fang Jinniang wanted to help Fang Xiuniang get away from the Fang family, so she found several suitable men for Fang Xiuniang, hoping she would find someone to marry, but Fang Xiuniang was unwilling.

After Jin Xiaoshu sent Li Qingzhi and his wife to the Jin Xiaoye Embroidery Workshop, he took Fang Jinniang to find Fang Xiuniang.

This time, Fang Jinniang came along to meet Fang Xiuniang and bring her some of the braised dishes made by Li Qingzhi.

Before cooking, Fang Xiuniang would go to the riverbank to wash rice and vegetables.

Fang Jinniang waited for her at the riverbank and greeted her with a smile, “Xiuniang!”

“Sister,” Fang Xiuniang smiled back at Fang Jinniang.

Fang Jinniang handed her a greaseproof paper package and said, “Eat quickly, and then go back. This thing has a strong smell; it’s not good to bring it back.”

Fang Xiuniang opened the package and found a braised duck leg and a braised duck gizzard inside.

She took a bite of the duck leg, squinting her eyes—it was really delicious!

And there’s the gizzard… she loved eating gizzards the most. Her sister understood her well.

“Xiuniang, how have you been recently?” Fang Jinniang asked.

Fang Xiuniang replied, “Sister, don’t worry about me. It’s just that Mother scolds me a bit more… She’s just pushing me to make money; she won’t really harm me.”

Fang Xiuniang hasn’t been doing well lately. Her mother gave her a lot of extra work, and she was busy with household chores. She felt dizzy from being so busy, and she could only breathe a sigh of relief when she came out to wash rice and vegetables.

What she hated the most was her mother and brother scolding people at home all day.

During this time, apart from scolding her, her mother also used all sorts of malicious words to insult Fang Jinniang, Li Qingzhi, and them. If it weren’t for Li Qingzhi knowing Magistrate Gou, her mother would definitely have gone to the Jin Xiaoye Embroidery Workshop to cause trouble.

“Xiuniang, think of a way to leave…” Fang Jin Niang said.

Fang Xiuniang replied, “Sister, I don’t want to leave.”

Of course, she wanted to leave, but she was afraid that after she left, Fang’s mother would react angrily and accuse her and Fang Jin Niang of being unfilial.

The Fang family relies on her to make money now!

Fang Xiu Niang actually had some thoughts on how to leave this family.

She thought and thought, feeling that as long as she didn’t die, she couldn’t escape her mother.