A Farm Girl: Three Acres of Fertile Land Can Be Exchanged for a Country

Duan Yanxi stood in the shadows behind the door watching them leave the village. After that, he brewed himself a pot of tea and slowly sipped it from his recliner.

The tea was given to him by a village woman; it was newly processed tea from the village this year, and it smelled especially good. She wanted him to try it.

Duan Yanxi used to dislike tea, preferring only alcohol. However, living in the palace, he had seen all sorts of fine things.

The tea brought by the village woman was worlds apart from the tea in the palace.

He was far less happy when drinking tea in the palace than he is now. He didn't even have such a happy moment on the journey after leaving Chuanzhou.

Ruolan seemed to have turned into a mouse, desperately trying to escape, without any direction. And he was like a big raccoon, easily manipulating her at will.

Around noon, the villagers returned, with two men carrying a person, tied tightly with hemp rope.

They opened the courtyard gate and walked outside the ancestral hall. Duan Yanxi came out of the house, and the man was thrown in front of him by the villagers, lying on the ground in a sorry state.

Bao'er's mother came up and said obsequiously, "Brother Zhou, we've brought that woman back for you. What do you want to do with her?"

Duan Yanxi did not answer immediately. He slowly squatted down, turned the person over, and looked her in the eye.

She was Ruolan. Her usually neat hair was now a mess, and her clothes, which were clean when she went out, were covered in mud. There were several red handprints on her fair face, as if she had been hit by a woman.

Duan Yanxi reached out to touch her face, and she opened her mouth and bit him, just like a fierce wildcat.

Duan Yanxi quickly withdrew his hand, looked up and asked, "Did you hit her?"

Bao'er's mother said, "We have to hit her. She runs so fast that we can't catch up with her."

The village chief thought he was worried about his wife, so he came over and said, "Don't worry, I didn't hit her hard. Besides... isn't this kind of woman just asking for a lesson?"

Upon hearing his voice, Ruolan screamed frantically, as if provoked, "You've been fooled by him! I wasn't bought by him, and he's not Zhou Pan'an at all. He's actually..."

"What is it?" the village chief asked.

"Yes……"

"What is it? Ah," Bao'er's mother asked.

Ruolan glared at Duan Yanxi, gritted her teeth, and shouted in desperation, "He is Duan Yanxi, the emperor of the Great Western Dynasty!"

To everyone's surprise, her words caused everyone present to burst into laughter, as if she had told the funniest joke.

Ruolan was completely bewildered. She looked blankly at Duan Yanxi and found that he was also chuckling.

What's wrong with this world? Shouldn't the villagers hurry up and notify the Eastern Qi army, or arrest Duan Yanxi?

Just then, the village chief patted Duan Yanxi on the shoulder and said, "Brother Zhou, you were right. This woman is really bold. She dares to say anything and isn't afraid of losing her head."

Duan Yanxi smiled, his eyes sweeping over the hand that was resting on his shoulder.

The village chief suddenly felt a chill on the back of his hand and awkwardly withdrew it.

Duan Yanxi didn't look at her again, stood up and said to the villagers: "I thank you all for your help today. If there is an opportunity in the future, I will definitely repay you in kind... As for the pearl, I will handle it myself. There is no need for you to worry about it."

Niu Laosan stepped out of the crowd and said, "Brother Zhou, we're the ones who brought her back. You should tell us how you're going to deal with her."

Bao'er's mother scolded him: "This is a matter between the couple, what does it have to do with you? Don't get involved and make things worse."

Niu Laosan scoffed, about to argue with her again, but Duan Yanxi interrupted him, saying, "Since everyone wants to know, then I'll just say it... In my opinion, since Pearl gave birth to my son, she's family. As long as she can change her mind, I'll still treat her as my daughter-in-law. Therefore, I've decided to lock her up for a while, and once she stops running away, I'll have a proper talk with her."

The village chief said, "You truly are a scholar. I thought you were going to beat her up... Since you know what's going on, we won't join in the fun. You two can talk it over, we'll go home."

He told everyone to leave, and the villagers went home or went to work. The ancestral hall, which had been bustling with activity just moments before, suddenly became empty.

Duan Yanxi closed the courtyard gate, then slowly returned to Ruolan and squatted down again.

"Pah!" Ruolan spat at him without hesitation and cursed, "You insidious and vicious person!"

Duan Yanxi remained silent, wiping the saliva from his face with his sleeve. His head was half-lowered, which made his facial features appear even more defined, as if they had been sculpted by a knife and axe.

After finishing her tirade, Ruolan recalled the villagers' unwavering loyalty to her and couldn't help but say, "But you really are something else. Even when you're so destitute that you don't even have enough to eat, you still manage to find a bunch of loyal dogs willing to risk their lives for you. No wonder you were once an emperor."

Duan Yanxi sneered, "This is fate. Who told you to provoke me for a little wealth and glory? Since you've enjoyed what I've given you, don't think you can escape so easily."

Ruolan lay on the ground, smiling bitterly.

"Yes, everything is predestined, and there's nothing we can do about it... But at least give me back the child. You don't know how to raise him, do you want him to starve to death?"

"The child? Didn't you take the child away?"

Duan Yanxi was stunned for a moment.

Ruolan suddenly became serious: "I did take him away, but when they brought me back, they also took the child away. Didn't they give him to you?"

Duan Yanxi remained silent, his face grim and terrifying.

Ruolan was silent for a few seconds, then shouted, "Go find him for me right now!"

Duan Yanxi stood up and rushed out. When he reached the courtyard gate, he was worried that Ruolan would escape, so he went back to find a rope, intending to tie her up and take her inside.

Ruolan cursed, "You idiot! I won't run away! Go and find the child!"

Her sharp voice startled Duan Yanxi, who opened the courtyard gate and ran out, hurrying towards the village chief's house.

After returning home, the village chief chopped firewood in the yard to prepare lunch.

With a loud bang, the courtyard gate was kicked open, and Duan Yanxi rushed in, panting heavily.

"Brother Zhou?" The village chief looked at him in surprise, holding a wood-chopping knife, and asked, "You're usually so polite and refined, why are you so flustered today? Could something have happened to Pearl?"

Duan Yanxi was out of breath from running, and he waved his hand while holding his knee.

"No, it's not her...it's the child..."

"What's wrong with the child?"

"The child...is missing..."

The village chief was shocked. He thought back carefully and realized that when they brought back the pearls, no one had taken care of the child.

Could he have been left behind on the road? He's only a few months old and can't even walk yet.

Duan Yanxi asked him if he had seen the child, and the village chief reassured him, "Don't worry, I'll send people to look for him right now. We'll definitely find him. Just wait."

He ran out, and Duan Yanxi wanted to run after him. However, his still-healing wound started to ache after the strenuous exercise, so he had to lean against the wall to rest for a while, and even his breathing was forced to slow down.