Others are fleeing famine, but I am a salted fish

Near noon, Lin Xiaoyue came out of the room with a bag on her back, nodded to the members of the investigation team who had been waiting outside, and then they mounted their horses together and left the Salted Fish Villa.

Wherever we passed, the main roads had been paved with cement, and the road surface was wide and smooth, no longer bumpy and dusty.

Merchants were delighted by the smooth road, which was more solid and easier to travel. Goods transportation became more convenient and transactions became more frequent. The people were full of praise. Whether walking or driving a bullock cart to and from the town, they no longer had to worry about muddy roads on rainy days or dust on sunny days. Children happily played and chased each other on the newly paved cement road, enjoying unprecedented happiness.

It can be said that the cement brought by Lin Xiaoyue made an enormous contribution to the development of the Dayuan Dynasty, allowing the entire dynasty to gradually have a well-connected, clean and tidy transportation network.

However, due to the short time, only the main roads in the main city and outside the city have been paved with cement. After a longer period of time, when the adult men in each village have completed the unified corvee tasks assigned by the government, more branch roads connecting villages and towns will be improved one after another. It is believed that people's livelihood will be greatly improved and the people's happiness index will be greatly increased.

This time, Lin Xiaoyue went out to the next shabby little village under Wanbao Town.

Shanghe Village has only more than 40 households and a total population of no more than 200 people. The mother and son of the Wei family settled in this village.

When Lin Xiaoyue led three members of the reconnaissance team there, they deliberately took a detour.

Because the mother and son of the Wei family were outsiders, they were ostracized by the villagers and had to live in an old courtyard at the foot of the mountain.

Normally speaking, in this village full of farmers, although the mother and son are outsiders, it is a unique honor in the village for a family to have a son who passed the imperial examination and became a scholar.

After all, it is not easy to support a scholar these days. The pens, ink, paper and inkstone cost money throughout the year, the teacher's tuition is at least ten taels of silver, and gifts have to be given to the teacher during festivals. All the expenses added up are not small.

Although many families are willing to educate their children, they cannot afford the huge cost of education. Therefore, being able to raise a scholar should be a very popular and respected person in the village.

Unfortunately, the mother and son of the Wei family are unkind, especially after Wei Dazhi passed the imperial examination. They are like a toad with chicken feathers stuck in its butt, shaking wherever they go all day long, and doing things that offend people.

In addition, the mother and son had been widely publicizing their relationship with Princess Le'an in the village some time ago, and received flattery from many people in the village who were unaware of the inside story. From time to time, many honest villagers would send some fruits and vegetables grown by themselves to the princess's house to express their gratitude for the benefits she had brought to the people, and asked her to pass them on.

But the mother and son kept it secret without saying a word.

The news spread farther and farther. When the nearby rich farmers and officials heard the news, they also wanted to get in touch with the princess, but they had no way. When they heard that a family in Shanghe Village was getting married to the princess, they brought valuable gifts to the family to try to get in touch with them.

The mother and son of the Wei family welcomed everyone who came.

Although they only gained some small benefits in the beginning, the appetite of the mother and son of the Wei family became bigger and bigger.

After a while, the mother and son became increasingly disdainful of the sesame-sized fruits and vegetables that the villagers had. After a discussion, they leaked the news. After a while, the news spread to all the nearby villages, big and small, that the mother and son had a wealthy family.

Although some people were skeptical, they felt that it was unreasonable for the mother and son of the Wei family, who were related to a wealthy princess, to live in a small village and hang out with peasants all day long.

But the mother of the sick man was always pretending to be so, and she announced to the public that the princess intended to buy a house for her son in the state capital, but her son said that wealth and honor cannot lead to debauchery, and poverty and humbleness cannot lead to change. She said that when facing various external temptations and pressures, one should keep a clear mind, stick to one's original intention, and not indulge oneself because of external temptations. That's why he lived in the village, which was considered to be sharing happiness with the people, etc.

The simple and honest villagers didn't understand those flowery words, and they thought it made a lot of sense at first. Plus, with the halo of being a county relative, they were even more stunned by the eloquent mother and son of the Wei family.

But, this person can pretend for a while, but he can't fool people forever.

As the saying goes, 'people are afraid of being famous, just like pigs are afraid of being fat'. The mother and son had gained so much fame and attention, and taken so many advantages, by virtue of their unclear relationship with the princess's family. Now, after the scandal, all the consequences have come back upon them.

Therefore, after the news that the mother and son of the Wei family had sued the princess and her sisters to the government office two days ago spread, it became a hot topic within a day and was known to everyone in the streets.

The mother and son of the Wei family wanted to use this opportunity to force the Lin family to fulfill the marriage contract. In this way, they could not only get both money and people, but also make a lot of money by virtue of the name of the princess's in-laws. It might also help Wei Dazhi avoid decades of detours. From then on, he would rise straight to the top and become rich and powerful.

However, God's calculation is not as good as man's calculation.

They never expected that the damn girl from the Lin family would be so stubborn. She would rather ruin her reputation, get beaten with ten full sticks and be bloody, than to completely cut off all ties with their family.

They forced Lin Zhaodi to pay thirty taels of silver including interest and spent three days in jail with injuries. However, she also cut off ties with the Lin family from then on and could no longer force Lin Zhaodi to marry into the Wei family.

As soon as the verdict came out, the news spread in all directions like wings.

The common people who learned about this farce did not, as the mother and son of the Wei family had expected, unite with them against the enemy, and denounce the Lin family for their wealth and fame, and refuse to fulfill the marriage contract. Instead, after the mother and son passed the imperial examination, they brought a group of relatives and friends to the door, and in public, they forcibly broke off the engagement with the bad reputation of Lin Zhaodi for having tortured her father-in-law before she even married, and the news of taking back the engagement card became known to everyone.

This made the people in Shanghe Village and nearby areas who had had dealings with them and had given them gifts very angry. They came to the door one after another to demand the return of all the items they had received, and were blocked at their doorsteps and scolded for a whole day and night.

At first, Zhang was able to put her hands on her hips and curse at others with confidence. Unfortunately, the power of the masses was great, and she was unable to curse hundreds of villagers in the village.

Moreover, on the second day, the local squire came to the door with his servants and smashed everything in the house. He pointed at the mother and son's noses and threatened them, saying that if they could not return the nearly 1,000 taels of silver that they had received in the name of the princess's in-laws within three days, they would be sued to the government, stripped of their titles, exiled, and their property confiscated.

"..."

The mother and son of the Wei family were outnumbered, and they were stripped of their titles, exiled, and their property confiscated, leaving them speechless with fear. The surrounding villagers who heard the noise came over but none of them offered to help. Instead, they laughed and praised them loudly, saying things like "retribution" and other heart-wrenching words to hurt the mother and son of the Wei family.