Pastoral Splendor

The room was in complete chaos. Da Hua walked tremblingly to Yan Ying's side and pushed the boiled egg over to her: "San Hua, you can take this boiled egg and give it to Old Lady Si Jin for a copper coin. I won't eat it, I won't eat it."

Aunt Xiao sat on the bed wiping away tears: "We can't let Sanhua go out these days. What if she gets caught? Sihua said that yesterday Xiao Laifu drove a mule cart to take Sijin Old Lady into the city. She must have gone to see her cousin from her maternal family. Today... Hey, Sanhua, you hide under the bed. Sihua and Wuhua, you two stand in front of the bed to block your third sister."

"I'm not afraid of them." Yan Ying smiled and glanced at Aunt Xiao, then pushed Da Hua's hand back: "Big sister, it's alright, don't worry about eating, what's a boiled egg!"

"Third Sister, Third Sister, what are you going to do?" Sihua jumped up and down, shouting, "The officials are here!"

"Aren't we only going to Grandma Sijin's house now? What's the rush?" Yan Ying reached out and nudged Si Hua: "Go and call your second sister, tell her to take the mule cart and call for help!"

"Call for help?" Si Hua was taken aback. "Will someone come to help?"

Yan Ying smiled and said, "Si Hua, don't worry about that. Quickly tell Second Sister to go and call someone over." The officials went into Old Lady Si Jin's house, and they probably wanted to drink and eat meat. The Prince Yu's mansion is not far from Xiao Family Village. It would probably only take a quarter of an hour to run there from that path. If they went by mule cart, it would be even faster.

Sihua responded crisply and ran off quickly. Wuhua stood beside Yanying and gently took Yanying's hand, saying, "Third Sister, Wuhua doesn't want you to be captured. You should listen to Mother and go hide quickly."

Yan Ying patted her little head: "Don't be afraid, Wu Hua, even your third sister isn't afraid."

“Sanhua, you asked Erhua to call for help, but who can she call? If the officials come, who dares to go against them?” Aunt Xiao looked at Yanying with a worried expression, and pointed to the underside of the bed with trembling hands: “Hurry up, quickly crawl under there and hide.”

“Mother, you just stay here and lie down peacefully. Eldest sister, you take good care of Mother. I’ll go out and deal with this.” Yan Ying glanced at Da Hua: “You’re three months pregnant too. Don’t go out. Be careful not to bump into the baby in your belly.”

Yan Ying, holding Wu Hua in one hand and Liu Hua in the other, ran quickly back to her bedroom. She reached under the sorghum pillow by the bedside and pulled out the waist token of the Prince Yu's Mansion. If Er Hua didn't manage to invite Prince Xu over in time, she could use this waist token as a talisman to protect herself for a while.

"Come on, help Third Sister peel bamboo shoots. We won't worry about anything else." Yan Ying smiled and brought out the basket of bamboo shoots. She led Wu Hua and Liu Hua to sit in the front yard and slowly peel them, while calculating the time to see when the officials would arrive and whether Er Hua could invite Prince Xu back to Xiao Family Village in time.

She had almost finished peeling the bamboo shoots when she heard a commotion outside. Startled, Wuhua threw the bamboo shoots into the basket and stammered, "Third Sister, someone's here!"

Liu Hua remained calm, peeling bamboo shoots without even looking up, and said crisply, "Fifth Sister, don't be afraid, Third Sister is here. Hurry up and peel the bamboo shoots." Although she said she wasn't afraid, she was still a little flustered. She glanced at Yan Ying and was relieved to see her sitting there steadily.

"Boss Xiao, open the door!" A rude knocking sounded on the door. Yan Ying put down her work, walked leisurely to the door, and called out, "Who's outside?"

"Open the door quickly, I'm the village head!" The speaker was a man, around forty years old. Yan Ying opened the door and peeked out. She saw a group of people standing outside, all with ruddy complexions, looking like they had drunk quite a bit.

Leading the way were two people, one in his forties and the other looking almost sixty, with graying beards. Behind them were several people dressed as government officials. Further back, Old Lady Sijin was leading her beloved grandson Qimu, and the tall and burly Da Mu was also standing beside them. When Yan Ying came out, he smiled smugly at her, as if to say, "Xiao family's three beauties, you're doomed!"

"May I ask what brings the village head and his men here?" Yan Ying smiled at the man in his forties. "My father is out working and not at home."

Old Mrs. Sijin, unable to contain her excitement, rushed forward, pointed at Yan Ying, and cursed, "Xiao Sanhua, you little slut, don't pretend you don't know what these officials from the county government and the village head are doing at your house! I told you before, I have connections in the Yuzhou government! Registrar Gao is my cousin..."

Clerk Gao glanced at Old Lady Sijin with some displeasure. His cousin was too loose-lipped; how could she have revealed their relationship so directly? It was bad for others to hear, making it seem as if he was helping his relative to exploit others.

Walking behind, Xiao Wenhua, oblivious to Gao Zhubu's gaze, said smugly, "Xiao Sanhua, I told you back then to be more sensible and that your Xiao family should quickly give up the vegetable garden to Sijin Laotai, but you didn't listen. Now you're in big trouble. The magistrate from the prefectural government is coming to arrest you and put you in jail!"

Wu Hua hid behind Yan Ying and, upon hearing that Yan Ying was going to be arrested and imprisoned, tears streamed down her face: "No, you can't take away Third Sister! Third Sister can't go to jail!"

Yan Ying smiled at Xiao Wenhua: "Village chief, can you speak on behalf of the officials from Yuzhou City? You say you want to arrest me and put me in jail, then please tell me, which law have I, Xiao Sanhua, broken? Show me the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty!"

Clerk Gao was taken aback, not expecting this little girl to be so quick-witted. He coughed and put on a stern expression: "Xiao Sanhua, you secretly killed Old Lady Sijin's sheep, which is theft. Now you have two choices: one, you go to jail for three years; two, you give your family's vegetable garden to Old Lady Sijin." Since this girl wanted to explain what law she had broken, he would just make up one for her and see if she was afraid. Clerk Gao was very pleased with himself and stood there, wanting to see Yan Ying cry and say that she would choose the second option.

"Is this the chief clerk of the prefectural government?" Yan Ying glanced at Chief Clerk Song, then burst into laughter. Her laughter was particularly hearty, shaking her head so much that it confused those standing outside the door. Could the three beauties of the Xiao family really laugh? Had they gone mad?

"I don't believe the registrar in the prefectural government office is so ignorant. He's probably an imposter, isn't he?" Yan Ying glanced at Registrar Gao and saw his white beard standing on end in anger, trembling uncontrollably. She smiled slightly and said, "These days, even Tom, Dick, and Harry can claim to be the magistrate of the government office?"

"You, you, you..." Clerk Gao was so angry that his face turned red and his neck bulged: "You ignorant girl, it's one thing if you've never been to the city and don't recognize me, but why do you have to talk such nonsense?"

"I just thought that the registrar in the prefectural government should know the laws and regulations very well, but when I heard you announce my crimes just now, I just found it laughable. What is theft? The meaning of theft is to take what is not one's own by improper means. Stealing means taking something that is not one's own when no one is around." Yan Ying glanced at Registrar Gao and said in a clear voice, "I warned Old Lady Sijin long ago not to let her sheep into my vegetable garden to eat vegetables, otherwise I would definitely not be polite. But she insisted on doing so, so I killed her sheep as a warning to others. How is that improper means? How can it be called theft? Besides, so many people saw me kill Old Lady Sijin's sheep that day, how can it be called stealing?"

Listening to Yan Ying's eloquent arguments, Clerk Gao couldn't find a reason to refute her. His face flushed, and he didn't know how to respond. Then Yan Ying asked loudly, "When an official judges a case, he first needs a warrant to arrest the person and bring them to the court for questioning. After the investigation, he pronounces the verdict, and there are written records, with the aggrieved party and the defendant signing their names. May I ask, Clerk, have you completed all these procedures?"

...