The Story of a Destitute Noblewoman Farming

When the officials saw the village chief of Xishan Village bringing a girl and two young children to buy land, and the land deed was in the girl's name, they couldn't help but look at Lu Linlang a little more.

"Although we have laws regarding the female household registration system in the Great Qi Dynasty, it's rare in Chongshui County for such a large family business like yours to end up in the hands of a young woman. Miss, your travel permit doesn't look like you're from Chongshui County."

The clerk took a look at the travel permit and household registration. It was obvious that the household registration had been moved to Chongshui County a few days ago. Moreover, in this family, only this girl was older, and they had so much money to buy land, which made him look sideways.

"Sir, we used to be from the capital, and my father is from Xishan Village, so we returned to our hometown to live." Lu Linlang smiled and explained the reason.

"You came from the capital, and your father is from Xishan Village. Could it be that your father is the famous Zhongyong Earl of Chongshui County?" The clerk felt that he had guessed the truth.

"Your Excellency is too kind. We are indeed the children of Earl Zhongyong. However, after my father passed away, my sister and I had no relatives or friends in the capital, so we simply returned home."

"Oh my, this is incredible! Wait a moment, everyone. I'll go get the Chief Registrar. The descendant of Earl Zhongyong has returned, and we didn't even know about it. Chongshui is a remote place, not as big as those prefectures, and there aren't many famous people there. Your father is one of them."

The clerk's face became enthusiastic again. He had tea brought to them and then went to inform the chief registrar.

It was rare for a clan leader to receive such treatment. The last time was when the previous county magistrate learned that they had a loyal and brave earl, and encouraged them to educate their children well and cultivate more talents for Chongshui in the future.

The clerk found the chief clerk and told him the situation. The chief clerk knew about this before. After all, he was also in charge of the household registration and knew their identities. However, they had long known about the death of Earl Zhongyong in battle. The title of Daqi would not be hereditary unless it was appointed by the emperor. They felt very sorry about it. If Earl Zhongyong could live a few more years and arrange for his sons and nephews to become officials through imperial favor, then Xishan Village would begin to prosper.

What a pity! He died young and passed away before he had the chance to train new members for his family.

Therefore, they had long speculated that Lu Linlang and her brother came back because they had no one to rely on in the capital and had no property. He reported this to the county magistrate, but the magistrate said not to worry about it and just pretend he knew nothing.

But now, what they are spending is the money of an entire farm. It shows that the saying that a lean camel is bigger than a horse is true. Maybe they are bringing something else with them.

The chief clerk immediately asked the clerk to invite the few people in. As soon as Lu Linlang and her brother and the clan leader arrived, the chief clerk put on a smile, as if he had just learned that they had returned.

"I didn't expect that you are the descendants of the Loyal and Brave Earl. The young are really to be feared. Village Chief Lu, you must train your clansmen well in the future. They may become the next generation of the Loyal and Brave Earl." The chief clerk smiled and warned.

"Thank you for your concern, Master Zhubu. Chongshui County has produced many talented people, all thanks to the education of the County Magistrate and all the other masters. In the future, several children will have to rely on you masters for their livelihood. These children of my brothers are all promising. We originally thought that the titles would be lost.

Who would have thought that my niece had stumbled upon something by accident? The Emperor was so kind that he even retained their family's title, though not as high as an earl, only a baron. This is Lu Zhan, the baron hand-picked by the Emperor. I hope the adults will give him more guidance in the future."

When the patriarch said this, he was humble in words but very proud in his heart.

When the chief clerk heard the second half of the sentence and learned that their family actually had a title, he was surprised and immediately stepped forward to bow to Lu Zhan and said, "This humble official has met Baron Lu. I never thought that this humble official would have such an opportunity in his life to see the true face of the Baron. It really is true that appearances cannot be judged by appearances."

"Village Chief Lu, why didn't you report this to us earlier? This is such a big thing, it's the pride of Chongshui County." The chief clerk praised repeatedly.

Seeing that the chief clerk was praising him like this, Lu Zhan no longer acted as arrogant as before and smiled at him.

"Master Chief Clerk, this matter is not the village chief's fault. It's my fault that I didn't understand before and didn't tell the village chief directly. Although our family still retains the title, we thought we couldn't cause trouble for you gentlemen, so we didn't report it. This matter is our fault." Lu Linlang explained for the village chief.

"Miss Lu, don't worry. Please wait a moment. I will go tell the adults."

After a while, the county magistrate and the county chancellor came and chatted with them. The county magistrate also invited them to visit his home another day, and they naturally agreed.

It was already noon when they walked out of the county government office. Lu Linlang invited everyone to have lunch at a nearby restaurant, and then went straight to check on the shops.

The broker had been waiting here for a long time. When he saw them coming, he introduced himself as Zhang Qiang.

Broker Zhang took them to see the first one. The shop was located on one of the only two streets in the entire county. The shop had a front-store and back-yard layout. According to Broker Zhang, the previous owner of the shop was in the food business, but later he found a better job elsewhere and was ready to sell the shop.

Lu Linlang led everyone to look carefully around, but she did not express any opinion. Seeing this, Lu Zhan and Yun Yi also looked without saying anything. The clan leader thought it was a good idea, but when he heard the price, he found that such a shop cost eighty taels, which was too expensive. A piece of high-quality paddy field cost five taels of silver, and you could buy a lot of paddy fields in exchange.

Seeing that they didn't show any interest, the broker took them to see a shop on another street.

"This shop is bigger than the previous one. The previous owner used it as an inn, but they seemed to be unlucky. Now, they are planning to sell the shop and use the money to buy land. However, the price of this shop is higher than the previous one, one hundred taels.

If you think it's not suitable, there's another small shop on this street, near the county government office. It's smaller than the first one and used to be a grocery store. The owner is planning to move to a bigger one, so that one is for sale. The asking price is fifty taels. Would you like to take a look?"

"Then please take us to see it." Lu Linlang nodded and said.

Broker Zhang was also worried. Why did these people just look without expressing any opinions? However, he still dutifully took them to see the third one.

The third one was indeed smaller than the first one, but Lu Linlang observed that there were many residents nearby, mainly nearby residents, and many people passed by the grocery store.

Seeing that Lu Linlang did not express any preference for the shops, the clan leader thought that she found none of these shops appealing. He thought to himself that he would wait and see. If there were any shops for sale, he would let the brokers take a look at them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I wonder what you think of these shops. The prices are negotiable. If you really want them, I can go and negotiate with the shop owners."

"Could you please, Broker Zhang, talk to all the shop owners? I'm ready to buy them all. I'd appreciate your help in negotiating the price. Also, do you have any houses for sale? We'd really like to buy one too. We'd like to have a small courtyard so we can stay in the county town."

Lu Linlang really wanted to buy it, and she already had a rough plan in her mind about what kind of business each shop would be suitable for.

The prices of shops here are worlds apart from those in the capital. If it were in the capital, that shop that sells for a hundred taels would probably sell for over a thousand taels. So if you have an opportunity, you have to seize it, right?