The Rebirth of a Farm Girl from a Military Family and a Cannon Fodder Princess

"Thank you, brother-in-law. I will remember your great kindness!" Yu Han bowed deeply to Prince Duan, his eyes glistening with tears.

His greatest benefactor and savior in this life was Zisu. If he hadn't had his cousin Zisu, he wouldn't know where he would be right now. Perhaps he would be long gone, or even if he were lucky enough to survive, he would just be an ordinary, unambitious person.

Leaving aside his father, Yu Zhe, even he would have fallen into ruin long ago without Zisu. His cousin Zisu was the Yu family's greatest benefactor and savior. In his heart, Zisu was his own elder sister, a relative even closer than his father.

The weather was fine that day.

Zisu, carrying red tea, left the capital under the escort of Lixin and a dozen guards to see Yu Han off to his post. Yu Zhe, along with several bodyguards, followed closely behind.

Yu Han, accompanied by three guards, his advisor Mo Feng, and his personal bodyguard Duanwu, embarked on his journey to his new post. Duanwu, formerly his page, was now his personal bodyguard. Duanwu was married to a girl from Wuliping, and his wife Shangguan Yingchun and son Shitou accompanied Yu Han on his journey.

Shangguan Yingchun is a kind and simple woman, excellent at needlework and cooking. She even attended the Wuliping Girls' Academy for two years and can read and write. Little Stone is three years old this year, a well-behaved and sensible boy.

Shangguan Yingchun went to Yangshu County to serve as a cook, preparing three meals a day for Yu Han, his three guards, his advisor, and her own family of three. A cook who deals with tea and food must be someone she knows well; otherwise, she cannot be employed.

Prince Duan stayed at the palace to take care of Lang'er. The palace was so large that, frankly, the two of them would be worried if Zisu and Prince Duan both left. However, since Zisu was traveling with Yu Zhe, and the palace had dispatched over a dozen of its most capable guards to protect her, Prince Duan could barely feel at ease about Zisu's safety.

However, a round trip to Yangshu County would take six or seven days.

Since marrying Zisu, Prince Duan hadn't been separated from her for so long. Watching the carriage disappear into the distance, Prince Duan felt a little empty. If Lang'er weren't so young and needed his parents, he would definitely have gone with Zisu this time.

He wanted to tell Zisu that Yu Han was twenty-one years old, an adult, and didn't need to see her off anymore. However, he couldn't bring himself to say it. Because he knew very well that in Zisu's heart, Yu Han was her own brother, the brother who had shared hardships with her in difficult circumstances.

Yu Han held a very important place in Zi Su's heart. Yu Zhe's daughter, Zhen'er, and Jia He's two sons and one daughter with Yu Zhe, didn't even hold half the weight of Yu Han in Zi Su's heart. It could be said that Zi Su loved Shangguan Yi and Yu Han as if they were her own sons.

Zisu personally escorted Yu Han to his new post, which was to give him support.

Because there were two local bullies in Yangshu County, and it was said that no successive county magistrate dared to offend them. The previous county magistrate was even almost killed by those two bullies, and when his term finally came to an end, he hurriedly left in a panic.

Those two bullies are said to be distant relatives of Consort Shu. Consort Shu has two sons and a daughter, and is greatly favored by the Emperor. She usually doesn't take the Empress seriously at all. Now that Imperial Noble Consort Cheng has been banished to the Cold Palace, the Empress's greatest enemy, and the only person who can rival her, is Consort Shu!

Zisu's primary purpose in sending Yu Han to Yangshu County was to take action against these two bullies. The Empress was on good terms with her, like family and sisters, and Zisu planned to use these two bullies as a starting point to find various "evidence" of Consort Shu's crimes. In this way, she aimed to strike at Consort Shu and bring her down.

Only by eliminating Consort Shu can the Empress live a peaceful life. A happy and content Empress is more likely to live a long and healthy life. A long and healthy Empress means fewer troubles for the Prince Duan's household, allowing its inhabitants to maintain a stable and happy life.

Therefore, by helping the Empress, she was actually helping herself.

Before going to Yangshu County, Zisu secretly met with the Empress and obtained her consent before deciding to take action against the two bullies. Of course, even if the Empress disagreed, Zisu would still have taken action against the two bullies. It was just a matter of degree. If the Empress agreed, she could start by investigating the two bullies to gather evidence of Consort Shu's crimes. If the Empress disagreed, Zisu would simply bring down the two bullies and stop there.

After all, if Yu Han wanted to make a name for himself in Yangshu County and be a good local official, those two tyrants had to be brought down. Otherwise, there was so much work to be done that Yu Han simply couldn't get started.

With the Empress's approval, Zisu could now act freely and make a big splash.

Otherwise, Yu Han would already be twenty-one years old, and Zisu wouldn't have insisted on sending him to his new post. Zisu had also discussed the matter of the bully with Prince Duan, Yu Zhe, and Yu Han.

Prince Duan stated that he would gather evidence of Consort Shu's crimes in the capital. This evidence, in reality, consisted of the misdeeds and evil deeds committed by Consort Shu's family. Since her family was guilty, Consort Shu naturally couldn't remain uninvolved. After all, those people dared to commit such lawless acts only because they relied on her influence.

Yu Zhe and Yu Han both agreed with Zi Su's opinion and unanimously stated that they would follow her advice, bring down the bullies, and work together to gather evidence of Consort Shu's crimes. Those two bullies had been running rampant in Yangshu County for many years, causing a mountain of trouble. Given Zi Su's current status and position, bringing them down would be far too easy.

The challenge lies in simultaneously bringing down the tyrant and uncovering the evil deeds committed by others connected to the tyrant and Consort Shu through these two individuals. This will lay a solid foundation for bringing down Consort Shu.

The group arrived in Yangshu County, five days before their scheduled start date. They first went to Yu Han's hometown, Quanshui Village, Fengshou Town, Yangshu County.

Yu Zhe's cousin had already received Yu Zhe's letter and had cleaned Yu Zhe's house spotless, washing and drying the brand-new bedding again. He was just waiting for Yu Zhe and his party to arrive.

Yu Zhe's family home in his hometown is a two-courtyard house with ten main rooms. Over the years, Yu Zhe's uncle has been following Yu Zhe's request and has sent his eldest son and his family to live in the front yard of the house to help guard and clean it, so that it would not fall into disrepair.

Upon receiving the letter and learning that Princess Duan was coming in person, the eldest son's family moved out of Yu Zhe's residence. They thoroughly cleaned the house inside and out, opened the windows for ventilation every day, and even made several batches of brand-new bedding, carefully washing and drying them, all in preparation for the arrival of their distinguished guests.

It was the third month of spring.

There were more than a dozen plum trees in the front yard and more than a dozen peach trees in the back yard, and now it was the season for the peach and plum trees to bloom. The pink peach blossoms and the snow-white plum blossoms were scattered by a gust of wind, and the flowers fell to the ground, which was very beautiful.

Zisu couldn't help but smile happily, "Uncle, the environment in Quanshui Village is excellent, no less so than Wuliping. Moreover, this house is also superb, very quiet and dry. It would be quite suitable for you to retire here when you get old!"

Yu Zhe smiled smugly: "Yes, I built this house here because I plan to retire here. Otherwise, do you think your uncle would have nothing better to do than spend so much money to build a house here?"

You should know that building this house cost him a full three hundred taels of silver. All the blue bricks and black tiles, plus various anti-theft and fire prevention measures—that's how much money it cost!

Zisu smiled and said, "Uncle, such a nice house only cost three hundred taels of silver, it's a great deal!" Zisu had heard Yu Zhe mention that he spent three hundred taels of silver to build this house.

Initially, the house only had a front yard with a mud-brick wall, which cost fifty taels of silver. Later, Zisu persuaded Yu Zhe to build a back yard and demolish the mud-brick wall, replacing it with high-quality blue bricks. The back yard was better built than the front yard, with more rooms, and together with the wall, it cost about two hundred and fifty taels of silver.

When the backyard was being built, Yu Zhe gave his uncle another hundred taels of silver. His uncle's family also built a two-courtyard house next to Yu Zhe's. However, the walls of his uncle's house were made of mud bricks. Moreover, the outhouse, woodshed, and kitchen were also built of mud bricks.

The only thing they had in common was that both houses had very large backyards.

Zisu arrived, and Yu Zhe's cousin even sent his granddaughter to help her. There were three girls in total, all around ten years old, and they looked like kind and honest girls.

Zisu was delighted and quickly gave each of the three girls a pair of gemstone hairpins: "Good children, this is a gift for you when we first met, please don't find it offensive!"

Xiaocao, Xiaomei, and Xiaoye rushed to see Yu Zhe. Yu Zhe had returned to his hometown several times, and the three children still remembered him, knowing that he was their cousin.

Yu Zhe smiled and said, "This is my niece. You can call her aunt. We're all family, so please accept this gift!"

"Thank you, Auntie!" The three little girls then respectfully thanked Zisu and reached out to accept the beaded flowers.

These beaded flowers are beautiful, just right for a girl around ten years old. The design was drawn by Jin'er. Jin'er is truly multi-talented, possessing a very unique painting style. She is especially skilled at portraiture, drawing people with remarkable realism and expressiveness. Her jewelry designs are also exceptionally beautiful; she can draw many exquisite jewelry patterns.

Now, Jin'er has opened a jewelry store in the capital with her own money. This jewelry store, with its novel and ever-changing styles, has firmly attracted a large number of customers. In less than a year since its opening, it has earned tens of thousands in profit.

Seeing that the three girls were indeed very simple and honest, unlike those who were short-sighted, he readily took out three purses and gave one to each of them: "This is your pocket money, don't be shy, just accept it!"

In one purse were a silver coin and a gold coin, each about an ounce in size. The three children had exceptionally pure eyes, and Zisu took a liking to them at first sight.

The three girls went to see Yu Zhe again, and Yu Zhe smiled and nodded: "Please accept this. It's a token of your aunt's affection. Just help your aunt with her chores these next few days!"

Although Zisu had maids and servants, if she wanted to walk around the village and see the scenery in the fields or mountains, she would inevitably need these three children to accompany her.

Quanshui Village isn't far from the county seat, only about ten li (approximately 5 kilometers). A horse-drawn carriage would take about half an hour to reach it. If the roads improve in the future, it wouldn't even take half an hour.

Before officially taking office, Yu Han would stay in Quanshui Village. This would allow him to travel incognito and learn about the situation in Yangshu County. Now, only Yu Zhe's cousin and his eldest son know that he is the newly appointed county magistrate; the rest of the people are still in the dark.

Even Zisu's true identity was only known to a few adults; none of the children knew. Zisu and her group were on a mission to investigate the bully's crimes, and naturally, the fewer people who knew their true identities before Yu Han officially took office, the better.

At this moment, there are still three days before Yu Han officially takes office.

With the help of Yu Zhe's cousin, they found several suitable guides. Within three days, Zisu, Yu Zhe, and Yu Han had figured out the bully's background and obtained some evidence of his crimes.

Although this evidence is only a small part, it is enough to arrest the bully. Once someone is arrested with a legitimate reason, their home can be searched openly, and relevant personnel can be arrested and interrogated.

This day marked the official start of Yu Han's tenure.

Dressed in luxurious attire, Zisu, accompanied by Yu Zhe, escorted Yu Han to the county government office in Yangshu County. The dozen or so guards from the Prince's residence naturally followed closely behind.