The entire village witnessed this miracle—Yu Shaoqing had finally been cleared of his injustice. He was no longer guilty of stealing military achievements. He was a great hero who had saved the people at the border! More importantly, he had been conferred the title of… Marquis of Zhongyong!
The entire village was stunned.
“Hurry up and accept the decree and thank His Majesty,” Eunuch Wang reminded him.
“I thank you for your kindness!” Yu Shaoqing kowtowed piously and stood up to take the imperial edict from Eunuch Wang.
Eunuch Wang smiled and went to wave his horsetail whisk, but he found nothing. The horsetail whisk was pulled away by a few fat little fellows. “…”
“Aiya… Which one of you… Which one of you pinched me?” The village headman’s legs went limp.
As soon as he finished speaking, Little Chen, who was beside him, pinched his waist hard. He screamed in pain. “Ah—you woman! You’re really pinching!”
Little Chen glanced at him.?So iIt’s my fault?
The village headman was in pain. After confirming that he was not dreaming, he looked at Yu Shaoqing excitedly. “Sanlang, congratulations!”
Everyone stood up. Aunt Bai walked over and punched Yu Shaoqing’s shoulder. “Alright, Old Third, you’re the marquis!”
The villagers had never seen the world and did not understand how important the marquis was. However, they felt that he was very powerful.
“It’s higher than the county magistrate’s official position, right?” Aunt Zhang gestured.
“What county magistrate? I think he’s even bigger than the magistrate!” Cui Hua came over and said to them. There were many retired soldiers in the village. Stone always pestered them to ask about the military camp. After a while, she was also taught that there was a magistrate above the county magistrate. As for what was above the magistrate, she was not sure.
The Yu family was also overjoyed. Aunt had long cried, and Uncle’s eyes were a little red. He held his brother’s arm, his throat swollen and swollen, and he was speechless for a long time.
It was Yu Feng who said sincerely, “Congratulations, Third Uncle.”
Yu Shaoqing smiled and patted his shoulder.
Aunt Zhang realized that Aunt was crying and snot. She quickly said, “Why are you crying? It’s a joyous matter for Old Third to be the marquis!”
Aunt wiped her tears. “Yes! It’s a joyous occasion! Aren’t I happy?”
After her third brother was wronged, they didn’t say anything, but they felt aggrieved for him in their hearts. Why did the credit that he had risked his life for end up being snatched by that Yan person? All those people from the Yan family weren’t good people. Everyone was bullying their family!
Now, she had finally been wronged. Her third brother no longer had to be trapped in the village. He could not even enter the Capital to see his daughter. Ah Wan could also lift her head up. Her father was a hero, a marquis! She was the daughter of the marquis!
Aunt suddenly realized that Ah Wan was the daughter of the marquis. Then, wasn’t she… the eldest madam of the marquis’s mansion?
“Aiyo, Aiyo…” Aunt fainted from excitement.
Uncle asked Eunuch Wang to stay for dinner. Eunuch Wang wanted to refuse, but when he thought about how Yu Wan was in the village, he had to visit her no matter what. Moreover, he still had an oral order from the Emperor.
Eunuch Wang went to the Ding Family’s new residence. He saw Yu Wan and the sickly Madam Jiang.
He was stunned by Madam Jiang’s appearance. This Yu guy was too lucky. There were three thousand beauties in the harem, but they were not as good as his wife. In that case, Yu Shaoqing was much luckier than the Emperor.
It was just that… her body seemed to be too weak.
Madam Jiang tugged at her handkerchief and said sincerely, “I didn’t know that you had come from afar. I’m sorry.”
No no!
“I originally wanted to go out to receive the decree… but… ahem ahem…”
Madam Jiang coughed weakly.
Such a weak beauty had to be taken care of at home. Eunuch Wang, who had originally planned to tell the truth, decided not to tell the Emperor that Madam Jiang did not appear to accept the decree.
Yu Shaoqing cleared his name and was conferred the title of Marquis. The villagers came to congratulate him one by one. Some carried eggs, some gave chickens, some gave ducks and wild rabbits, and most of them were wild vegetables planted in their fields. Uncle didn’t know Eunuch Wang’s taste, and he didn’t say anything when he asked him. So he chose two fresh hens, one to be braised, one to be stewed with soup, and stir-fried a few home-cooked dishes to carefully entertain Eunuch Wang.
Eunuch Wang had heard of Uncle Yu’s culinary skills, but other than Chef Bao, he did not care about anyone else. He had only given the Young Master Manor face and tasted a few mouthfuls of food, but he could not stop.
Eunuch Wang was a eunuch, so his diet was lighter than ordinary people. However, he did not tell the Yu family. He did not expect Uncle Yu to consider it. The braised dishes were also very light. Not only that, but the chicken soup was also made into a medicinal cuisine. After eating a bowl, he felt relieved.
This family is good but… it’s a pity.
Putting down his chopsticks, Eunuch Wang cleared his throat in embarrassment and said, “It’s a joyous matter for Lord Yu to be conferred the title of marquis. Logically speaking, there should be a fief, but… the incident happened in a hurry and we couldn’t find a suitable place for the time being. His Majesty said… he’ll temporarily give the few mountains behind the village to Marquis Yu.”
Lotus Flower Village was surrounded by mountains on three sides, but they were all barren mountains. One of the small mountains was bought by Yu Wan. The Emperor rewarded Yu Shaoqing with a few other mountains, but no matter how big the mountains were, they were still mountains. In all the dynasties, there had never been a marquis’s fief that was so shabby.
After all, he was a marquis of ten thousand households. It was more likely to give him Lotus Flower Town. A few barren mountains? It was really too embarrassing.
What was even more humiliating was that the Emperor did not give Yu Shaoqing a salary. He said that it was fine as long as his salary was collected from his fief. The problem was, would he be able to receive it? After becoming a marquis, he would naturally have taxes to collect. There would also be local squires who would send a large amount of money to his door. But look at those desolate mountains, was he hoping that the monkeys in the mountain would pay Yu Shaoqing a few pheasants and hares?
“What did he say?”
In the bedchamber, the Emperor looked at Eunuch Wang in a good mood.
Eunuch Wang: “This…”
The Emperor put his hands on his hips and smiled. “He’s dumbfounded, right?”
“Indeed… He’s a little dumbfounded,” Eunuch Wang said. “He asked, did you really give him all the mountains?”
When the Emperor heard this, he was stunned for a moment before he laughed mockingly. From the sound of it, that fool thought that he had rewarded him too much? Then did he know how much he had rewarded Yan Congming? That was a fief of an entire town. Of course, the truth was out now. Yan Congming’s title as the Marquis had been snatched away and his fief had been taken back. Logically speaking, this fief should belong to Yu Shaoqing, but the Emperor refused to give it to him!
There was also the residence that should have belonged to the Marquis. The Emperor did not give it to him!
The Emperor sneered. “Country bumpkins are country bumpkins. They think they’ve gotten a big bargain with just a few mountains.”
He was so poor!
Eunuch Wang felt sorry for Yu Shaoqing. He was such a good person, so why did he become a bargaining chip for the Emperor to manipulate Young Master Yan? It was better to not give him any fief from the beginning. A marquis who used a desolate mountain as his fief would become the laughing stock of the world.
In Lotus Flower Village, Stone and the other children were squatting in the open space in the village to grind rocks again. Little Bruiser had once ground one for his father. His father liked it very much and had always worn it. He decided to grind one for his sister too.
Shuanzi knew that this group of children loved to grind stones. Every time he went to the back of the mountain, he would pick up a few for them. It was time for Shuanzi to go down the mountain, but Shuanzi did not return for a long time. The children were anxious from waiting.
At this moment, Shuanzi hurriedly ran into the Ding Family’s new residence. “Not good, not good! Dali fell off the cliff!”
Dali was the one-eyed bandit. Yu Wan had already forgotten his original name. She only knew that he had changed his name to Dali.
Yu Wan, her father, and Yu Feng went up the mountain.
Dali had already been rescued by Shuanzi’s brother and the villagers.
Dali fell down the hill. Shuanzi had made a mistake and said he fell down the cliff. However, Dali was indeed seriously injured. Yu Wan opened the first aid kit and first cleaned the blood on the back of his head and right shoulder. She stitched more than ten stitches and applied golden ointment.
Dali was holding a stone in his arms. He did not let go when he stitched up.
“Good, good stuff.” Dali endured the pain and said.
“What good stuff?” Yu Wan put down the scissors and gauze and carried the stone from Dali’s arms. It was a brown stone with strange patterns.
“It’s an iron stone,” Yu Shaoqing said. He had seen it in the Northwest Army Camp. This was a stone that could produce iron ore.
Dali did not know that it was ore, but he had once captured people to do manual labor. He knew that this kind of stone could be sold for money.
Yu Wan’s eyes lit up and she asked Dali, “Where did you find it?”
Dali waved a finger.
Yu Wan quickly lifted her skirt and walked over. The ground was covered in dark soil. Yu Wan found a shovel and used it to shovel the ground.
She shoveled a few places, and a surprised smile gradually bloomed on her dirty face. “Dad, it’s a mine, it’s all mines! We have a mine!”
