Ch. 346..350: The Princess of Northern Land Chapter 346-350

Chapter 346: Chapter 346: Old Age(7)_1

Er Gou got up from the ground, too scared to speak, and followed behind Da Gou, sobbing. The rest of the children lost interest and dispersed.

Alone, Ma Youcai could not bear to lose face and after a moment’s thought, he surprisingly sprinted towards the marketplace.

Thus, just as the Lin Family’s ox had been skinned and was being cleaned up, not yet cut into pieces, a bunch of government officials arrived.

"How audacious, you dare to slaughter a cow by yourselves? Who is the owner? Come with us to the government office." The head official said menacingly.

"I am sorry, sir, our lady is not here." Kong Yier replied with a bow.

"Sir, slaughtering the cow was permitted by the government office." Xu Jin added, while Qian Xuan also stepped forward.

To their surprise, the officials became even more belligerent upon seeing the tattoos on their foreheads. "You have a lot of gall. The government office permit? Our lord knew nothing about this. Citizens are not allowed to slaughter plow oxen. Those of you who took part and those who watched without reporting will not escape."

With that, he beckoned, and several officials carrying chains prepared to arrest people.

"Since you are representatives of the government, why are you arresting people without discerning right from wrong?" Changting stepped forward, "The owner has a permit to kill the cow. You do not wait for the owner to arrive and directly capture people and seize the beef. Where is the justice in this?"

Qian Xuan, Kong Yier and the others were unafraid, seeing the other officials busy carrying the slaughtered ox and hearing Changting accuse them of robbery, they all smirked.

"Robbery? What nonsense are you kids talking about? You hanging out with these vile people, you surely are no good." The official sneered at Changting.

Fearing that Changting would suffer, Kong Yier and the others hurriedly shielded him.

"You cannot move this beef. Without waiting for the owner to come, your moving it is robbery," Changting said angrily.

"Yes, it’s robbery," the children echoed.

Kong Yier saw that the children were not afraid because of their innocence, and grinned. It seemed that their daily morning drills were not wasted, they had indeed nurtured the children’s wild side.

Good job!

"No stealing!" Even the little girls had strong character. Wu Baolian and the other children all glared at the officials, not showing a iota of fear.

Never had they seen so many unruly children, the officials were dumbfounded.

"Here is the permit to slaughter the cow, please check it and see if the seal on it is genuine." Lin Ziyin hurried over after hearing the news, laughing when she saw the children’s performance.

The official snatched the permit from Lin Ziyin’s hand with suspicion. He had not had time to look at it when Lin Ziyin stated quietly, "If the permit personally given by the prince is fake, then we may as well discard the seal of the Prince."

The official trembled at her words and began to examine the permit properly. He was shocked to find the seal of the Prince on it. Damn it, the slaughterer was actually the Lin Family!

In Feng City, who didn’t know that the Prince and the Lin Family were business partners and that the Lin Family also had good relations with the Si Family? Someone had filed a complaint and it was about the serious matter of slaughtering a cow. The officials thought they would have an opportunity to show their integrity and have their good reputation reach the Prince’s ears, but instead, they had started off with offending the right people.

"Miss Lin, it’s a misunderstanding." The head official stammered, "A person complained to the office, saying that someone in Shili village was secretly slaughtering a plow ox. It is our duty to investigate, so we came with our brothers to see. As for moving the meat, it is according to regulations. We were wrong for not waiting to meet Miss Lin before taking action. We apologize, it was a misunderstanding!"

Government officials deal with different types of people every day; saying what is necessary depending on the person is their facility. Knowing they were in the wrong, the officials promptly humbled themselves.

"Since it was a misunderstanding, we will not bear a grudge. However, I would like to know who lodged the complaint against us?" Lin Ziyin asked.

"It was a child, yes, that one." The official pointed at Ma Youcai, who had run away frantically, "Catch that boy immediately."

A scapegoat was needed for the incident. Seeing Ma Youcai, the official immediately shifted his target.

Ma Youcai was just a child, yet he was so calculating. Lin Ziyin was not a saint, if Ma Youcai wanted to harm others, it would be good for him to suffer a bit.

Lin Ziyin had no intention of playing the good Samaritan.

"You gentlemen must’ve worked hard. Since you’re here, why not take a piece of beef back to taste?" It was necessary to maintain good relations with the government office, so Lin Ziyin asked Kong Yier to cut off three jin of beef for them. "We only have one ox and the amount has already been preordered, so there isn’t much meat. It’s not much, but it should tide you over."

"No, no..." The head official dared not accept it, if the prince found out, his life would be in danger.

"I genuinely want to give this to you. It’s not easy to make a trip in the dead of winter. You people have duties and work hard. Although the ox was raised by us, private slaughter of beef is not allowed in Daqin, so it’s not easy for people to eat beef. This was a beef ox, you bumped into it, it means you are lucky, isn’t it because the quantity is too small that you won’t take it?" Lin Ziyin may not be verbose, but in her modern life managing many industries, she was adept at saying what was necessary depending on the person.

"Then thank you, Miss Lin. If something happens in the future, feel free to notify us." The head official agreed readily. "My surname is Lei, you can call me Brother Lei."

"Thank you, Brother Lei." Lin Ziyin bowed politely.

"Let me go, I didn’t do anything wrong." Over there, Ma Youcai was already being apprehended by the officials.

"You still dare say you didn’t do anything wrong? You put your dirty fingers behind others’ back; you have quite the nerve. Take him away." Lei gave a wave and officials moved to arrest Ma Youcai.

Despite his young age, seeing the officials truly taking action, Ma Youcai immediately began to cry.

Chapter 347: Chapter 347: A Brand New Machine (1)_1

"What a bad-tempered brat, he got what he deserved." Kong Yier said with fervor.

"Clean it thoroughly, keep all the organs, we’ll eat them ourselves." Lin Ziyin commanded, "The big bones need to be preserved too, we’ll have beef and vermicelli in the cafeteria tomorrow."

"Alright." Kong Yier loudly agreed.

"Okay, show’s over, everyone head back to school." Qian Xuan also started to disperse the crowd.

The children quickly scattered and ran off.

Ziyin watched Changting blend into a group of kids, a hint of pure joy on his face. He felt a sense of pride. His brother was indeed the best, knowing how to argue for what’s right and how to benefit the family.

Government officials coming to the village to get someone was a big deal for the villagers of Shili. When people had heard about troubles arising at the cow farm, the workers were all worried that the Lin family had gotten into trouble. It was especially problematic at the end of the year. Luckily, soon enough, good news came that someone had falsely accused them.

When they heard that the Lin family was falsely accused of illegally slaughtering cattle, the villagers were infuriated, cursing the person who had a black heart to do such a thing. They all lived in the same village, who didn’t know that the cattle raised by the Lin family were not for labor, but for meat, bought from the Tatars. Since they were cattle for meat, naturally they would be slaughtered. If a fellow villager accused them of wrongdoing, it clearly showed that the person harbored ill intentions towards them.

Everyone also speculated who was causing trouble behind their backs, not hard to guess, because it was certainly not the families who worked at the Lin’s. The remaining few families that didn’t work at the Lin’s were the only possibilities.

For a while, all the bad deeds those families had done for years were brought up and listed one by one, even trivial acts like stealing sesame seeds or picking soybeans were mentioned.

At the end of the shift, the answer to the riddle was finally revealed.

"Uncle Lin, we Ma family indeed wronged your family previously, but haven’t we apologized? You are generous people, please let Youcai go, he is still a child after all. If you still feel wronged, take it out on me, I accept whatever your family wants to do." Almost as if it were a planned ambush, Yan’s family was kneeling and crying at the entrance of the cafeteria as everyone came out of the workshop, preparing to buy dinner.

Yan, having heard from home that Ma Youcai was arrested by a government official, was scared out of her wits. After making some inquiries, she found out that Ma Youcai had, on his own, reported the Lin family, and framing someone was a serious crime. She, a mere woman, didn’t know anyone from the government offices, and in this freezing weather, what was she to do?

Ma Xincai was angry at his younger brother for this disgraceful act. Lin was not someone their family could afford to offend, especially considering Prince Qian Xuan frequented there daily. Besides the Prince, every other residence in the village that bought goods from Lin could easily overpower their family.

However, Ma Xincai, being the eldest, still cared about his brother. So he took a quilt from home and headed for the government offices while it was still light out. He also asked Yan for silver, planning to use it for bribery.

Yan was reluctant to hand the silver over to Ma Xincai, fearing he’d pocket it. So she insisted on accompanying him to the government offices. But finding someone there who was willing to help them was impossible.

All the government officials, including the county magistrate and master, despised Youcai. not for anything else, but for staining their name in front of the prince. Thus, they planned to keep Youcai detained in the prison for several days.

 

Chapter 348: Chapter 348: A Brand New Machine (2)_1

So even though the Yan family had given out silver, the government officials just accepted the bedding and change of clothes they brought, but didn’t let them see the prisoner at all.

After returning from the government office, Yan grew more and more angry, and the more angry she became, the more she couldn’t suppress the rage in her heart. Once back in the village, she sent Ma Xincai home and went directly to the Lin Family cafeteria.

Yan knew that with the New Year approaching, villagers were rushing to work, having both lunch and dinner at the Lin Family cafeteria. Her visit would certainly block many people and gather a crowd. Would Lin Ziyin have the audacity to continue to hold on to the issue with Ma Youcai?

Her idea was good, but unfortunately, it was uncertain whether Lin Ziyin would give her face.

The cafeteria was some distance from the Lin Family home, and Lin Ziyin only hurried over after hearing about it from Yu Shao’en. When she arrived, she heard Yan complaining tearfully to the old Patriarch.

The Patriarch was so frustrated by Yan’s accusations that his face changed color, but at his age, he couldn’t possibly reason with a younger woman. Looking embarrassed, he stood there silently as Yan badgered him, a pitiful sight to behold.

"Spare the Ma Family?" Lin Ziyin glanced at the pitiful old man, anger rushing to her forehead, "My sister is married. Do you think everyone is as dirty as your family, clinging to old grievances? Tell me, how exactly has my family wronged yours?"

Yan had been waiting for Lin Ziyin, but when she actually appeared, facing her cold, icy gaze, Yan felt a twinge of fear.

"Why aren’t you speaking?" Lin Ziyin looked down at her.

"Please, spare Youcai," Under Lin Ziyin’s piercing gaze, Yan’s initially loud voice lowered, "He’s just a child who made a foolish mistake. As an adult, can’t you be forgiving and not hold a grudge against him?"

"You are ridiculous, do you know that?" Lin Ziyin bent slightly forward to meet her gaze, "Honestly speaking, Ma Youcai did his duty according to the laws of Daqin by reporting our family for slaughtering a cow. It was the right thing to do."

Yan didn’t expect Lin Ziyin to defend Ma Youcai, but she knew Lin Ziyin wouldn’t truly side with him, there would be a twist. Indeed, Lin Ziyin’s next words drove her into a corner, "But he made a report without fully understanding the situation to gain merits. How is his suffering the government’s wrath related to my family? Do you think the County Magistrate is a puppet manipulated by us? Or do you think that the Prince is acquainted with our family and we used his influence to harm Ma Youcai?"

"Of course not," While Yan was dumbfounded, Ma Zhicai quickly stepped in and answered the question, "It’s Youcai’s own fault. We are all living in the same village, but he ran to report us without any regard for our local ties. It might be good for him to reflect on it in jail."

"Zhicai," Yan looked at her second son in disbelief.

"Mother, let’s go home," Ma Zhicai gazed at Yan, his brows furrowed and his heart full of complaint against her. She was becoming more and more unreasonable as a mother, only worrying about Youcai, had she ever thought about what would be good for him? Now that the Prince and Lin Family were forging close ties, if Yan had accepted what Lin Ziyin had said just now, Ma Zhicai was sure that the repercussions for his family would’ve been disastrous.

"Are you going to abandon your younger brother?" Yan questioned angrily, couldn’t help but blame Ma Zhicai for being selfish.

"Mother, let’s return home. The Lin Family not blaming him is already out of consideration for our village kinship. At the end of the day, Youcai is just young and lost the feeling of obligation towards his fellow villagers. The County Magistrate won’t jail him for long," Ma Zhicai softly advised Yan, "I’ll go and check on him tomorrow."

Chapter 349: Chapter 349: A Brand New Machine (3)_1

Yan Family’s wife was annoyed with Lin Family, but she still listened to Ma Zhicai. After standing up, she glared angrily at Lin Ziyin and snorted, "Some people, black-hearted and lunged, will be struck by thunder sooner or later."

Everyone saw she had just cried and begged Lin’s old master moments ago, but her face had changed so quickly. Everyone looked at her with disdain.

"Oh, your own son screwed up by randomly reporting others, ignoring the feelings of fellow villagers. Being detained by the county magistrate now, how can you blame the Lin Family? Let me tell you, the most black-hearted people, aren’t they the Ma Family?" Mrs. Pang twisted her body to speak.

"Mrs. Zhou is correct." Some people agreed.

It was unexpected that Zhou Dasheng’s wife, Mrs. Pang, would stand up to defend the Lin Family. After all, as Me. Lin’s left neighbour, she used to oppress the Lin Family the most.

"We are black-hearted, but who occupied Lin’s vegetable garden? Originally, the boundary between your two families was the big poplar tree in the middle. Why did your land grow legs and run to Lin’s side? You occupied a whole ridge of Lin’s land, your heart must be pitch black!" When Yan saw even Mrs. Pang dared to belittle her family, she quickly fought back angrily.

"Indeed. The Zhou family did occupy Lin’s land."

"One ridge of land is not a small amount."

...

The public opinion in the village began to sway again.

Lin Ziyin and his old master stood silently, letting Yan and Mrs. Pang argue.

"I just thought it would be a pity if the Lin’s vacant plot were left as it is," Mrs. Pang said sheepishly, "If Lin family still want to plant, I’ll return it to them."

Everyone was stunned again. How unexpected! The village’s most ruthless person was actually willing to regurgitate what she had swallowed.

"You, on the other hand, are just a back-stabber who clings to Lin’s family when they are wealthy and kicks them when they’re down. Now that you see Lin family is advancing, you want to latch onto them, don’t you?" Mrs. Pang scornfully looked at Yan, who was turning pale, "Your son is a worthless scum, and so are you. Everyone be careful, we should keep away from the Ma family, you never know when they might fabricate a crime and report us to the government offices."

"Auntie, please mind your language," Ma Zhicai was angry and annoyed. As a man, he absolutely could not quarrel with Mrs. Pang in front of everyone. Now he was experiencing the frustration the Lin’s old master had earlier.

"Mind what? Being a tongsheng is a big deal? It’s nothing more than being a tongsheng, whether or not you’ll become a scholar in the next round is unknown." To make a good impression on Lin Ziyin, Mrs. Pang made an all-out effort to criticize the Ma family.

"You’re talking nonsense." As her favourite son was involved, Yan almost went mad. She suddenly rushed up to Mrs. Pang and reached out her hands, directly clutching at her face.

Mrs. Pang, a notorious termagant in their village, wouldn’t be afraid of her. This pair appeared to be evenly matched; scratching and slapping each other, putting on a fiery scene.

The villagers watching the excitement also started cheering, "The black-hearted should be beaten."

"Shameless people should be hit."

...

Ma Zhicai wished he could vanish in the crowd of cheering villagers—this was too humiliating. As a scholar, how could he stand such shame? Why did his old lady not consider his public image at all?

However, if he, as a son, simply walked away while his mom was fighting, he would probably garner even more scorn.

Chapter 350: Chapter 350: A Brand New Machine (4)_1

"Stop fighting, Mom, stop it." In his desperation, all he could do was to keep urging.

Unfortunately, the two women who were blinded by rage wouldn’t pay any attention to him.

"Ziyin?" The old man watched the two struggling figures with some concern. The front of the canteen was the Lin family’s territory. If anything happened to either of them, the Lin family was likely to get involved too.

"Everyone to the canteen now." Lin Ziyin spoke coldly, "Latecomers will have their overtime pay deducted."

At her command, the villagers who were watching the commotion immediately dispersed. Between the spectacle and money? Of course, money was more important.

"If you intend to continue, please spare this space. This isn’t a battleground for you to run wild. I’m a faint-hearted person and can’t stand to see blood." Lin Ziyin then calmly addressed the two brawling women.

The two women, their eyes red with anger, still ignored her.

"I’ll count to three. If you still refuse to leave the grounds of the Lin family, I’ll have you both thrown out." Lin Ziyin warned coldly.

No one heeded her words, but Ma Zhicai was growing worried – why did he feel that Lin Ziyin could actually carry out her threat to physically throw them out?

As it turned out, his intuition proved correct. As soon as Lin Ziyin finished her countdown, Jue Ming and Jue Hui stepped forward to lift each woman and toss them far away.

"Ouch."

"Oh no."

The two women were tossed into the air and landed painfully on the ground. The impact left them squirming in agony; one clutching her buttocks and the other sobbing and rubbing her waist.

"You little witch, are you trying to kill someone?" Yan family scolded while sobbing and accusing Lin Ziyin.

"I warned you. You just didn’t listen," Lin Ziyin responded indifferently.

"It was you, you hussy, who clung onto me and refused to let go." Pang Family landed a slap at Yan Family. Having been ambushed by Yan a moment ago, Pang Family was looking for payback.

Yan Family wasn’t one to take a hit lying down. A slap landed on her face and she immediately retaliated, causing the two women to break out into another fight again.

Lin Ziyin just smiled faintly, "If they come back, throw them out again."

Then she helped the old man walk slowly toward their home, no longer interested in the feud between the two women.

Ma Zhicai was left alone on the side. He felt that his mother had completely lost his face today. Watching Lin Ziyin help the old man walk away, he stood alone, his face turning from pale to green. He then marched up to Yan Family and hollered, "Mom, Youcai is still locked up at the county office, and you still have the mood to pick fights?"

His angry yell finally jolted Yan Family back to reality. She immediately jumped back, away from Pang Family, "You shameless bitch, I swear I won’t let this go."

"Tsk, like I’m afraid of you?" Pang family smirked upon seeing the wounds on Yan family’s face were worse than hers, and immediately felt even more pleased with herself.

"Shameless slut." Yan Family wanted to curse even more, but Ma Zhicai was growing angrier. Seeing her acting like a shrew, he immediately spun on his heel and walked away.

Seeing this, Yan Family panicked and quickly followed him, "Zhicai, you need to tell me what we’re going to do about Youcai."

The voices of the mother and son gradually faded away. Pang Family spat in their direction and then turned to look back at the Lin family’s canteen. A sense of envy and smug satisfaction filled her heart.

Although Lin Ziyin had thrown her out too, Pang Family believed that she was defending the dignity of the Lin family when she tangled with Yan Family. Lin Ziyin, such a clever girl, would definitely recognize her good intentions.

As long as she could leave a good impression on Lin Ziyin, she wouldn’t have to worry about the Lin family refusing to let them work in their workshop. Working there was great - not only did it pay, but they also provided clothes and even good food.