The Shen Embroidery Workshop opened a store in Yongxi County. To Shen Yuning's surprise, none of the worries Chen Wenwei had expressed about her came true, at least not at the beginning.
The law - popularization work in Yongxi County had been carried out early. However, compared with Shen Yuning's approach of both promoting the law and recruiting embroiderers to work, the government could only conduct publicity and couldn't provide jobs for poor women.
As soon as Shen Yuning arrived, on one hand, she recruited embroiderers, and on the other hand, she organized the strong men in the village to reclaim land for mulberry - planting, while the women raised silkworms and wove cloth. With jobs, there was hope.
For the opening of the store here, Shen Yuning came with Zhang the Third and his two sons, as well as Cen Xiaoniang and Xi'er. As for Xuanzhi, following Shen Jingui's memory, he went to look for Yuanbao's mother who had been sold.
When running a store away from home, Shen Yuning didn't have much time to go back home, let alone care about what was happening to Shen Jingui. However, she had already asked Chen Wenwei for help, and Chen Wenwei had promised that he would never let Shen Jingui relapse into his old ways.
As the magistrate of Yun County, if even Chen Wenwei couldn't control Shen Jingui, then Shen Yuning surely couldn't. So, without any worries, Shen Yuning just focused on running the store and doing business.
With the strong support of Lord Lü, there was no pressure at all in the business in Yongxi County. After a year, there were embroidery workshops and cloth stores in almost every town. Moreover, by the way, Lord Lü also adopted the model from Yun County, organizing the villagers to plant tea on the mountains and open up fruit orchards.
Perhaps because everything in Yongxi County went smoothly and naturally, Shen Yuning felt a great sense of achievement. When she heard that the other two counties had also followed the examples of Yun County and Yongxi County and spontaneously organized the villagers to reclaim land for farming.
As long as the villagers had money, the phenomenon of selling children, wives and daughters would be greatly reduced. Coupled with the government's order to promote the law, there was no need for Shen Yuning, a civilian woman, to be too busy.
Happy, Shen Yuning decided to go directly to Maohe County, the third county. She had inquired that although Maohe County was a bit slower, it was also keeping up with the other counties and was not as lazy as she had thought before. Her purpose of going there was just to assist the government to make the development go more smoothly.
By the time she took a break again, it was the Dragon Boat Festival of another year.
Shen Yuning returned to Xitian Town on the day before the Dragon Boat Festival. This year's Dragon Boat Festival was not as sunny as in previous years. The sky was overcast, and from time to time, there was a cool breeze, which made people feel quite comfortable.
It had been three years since she came from the capital to this place, from a noble lady in the capital to a country girl. The initial hardships and difficulties had all vanished, and now there was a bright future ahead of her.
She was extremely happy.
She finally understood the words her grandfather had taught her when she was a child: "As heaven changes through movement, a gentleman makes unremitting efforts to perfect himself." Difficulties and adversities were only temporary, while continuous progress was eternal.
Sitting in the carriage and rushing forward, Shen Yuning felt something strange when she saw the familiar Xitian Town. The Dragon Boat Festival was a major festival for family reunions. Many people who worked in the town would take a holiday and go back home. But because it was a major festival, there should have been many people shopping on the street.
However, the street in Xitian Town was very desolate today. Occasionally, a few people passed by in a hurry.
Shen Yuning looked at the stores on the street. Several of the familiar stores had changed hands, but the shopkeepers sitting inside didn't look bored or decadent.
The more she looked, the more wrong it seemed. She urged the coachman to drive the carriage faster and go home.
In the yard, more - than - two - year - old Huzi was squatting under the big banyan tree, watching the ants moving. Yuanbao was sitting beside him with a straight face, sewing up the broken cloth tiger. It was a toy that Shen Yuning had made for Huzi before, and it had been with Huzi since he was a child.
Shen Yuning opened the door. Huzi turned his head, grinned, threw away the shovel in his hand, and jumped towards her, shouting, "Boo - boo..."
Shen Yuning picked him up, tapped his forehead, and corrected him, "Auntie."
"Boo - boo"
Huzi shouted louder.
Shen Yuning gave up helplessly and looked up at Yuanbao.
Yuanbao bit the thread with her teeth, carefully put away the needle, then got up and called Huzi down. She then asked, "Are you hungry, Auntie? I'll go and get you a bowl of soup."
Shen Yuning asked curiously, "Are you the only ones at home? Where are your grandfather, uncle, aunt, and Xuanzhi?"
Yuanbao replied, "Grandfather has gone to buy meat. Aunt is still at the store and hasn't come back. Originally, Huzi and I were also at the store, but Aunt said you were coming back today and asked me to come back first and wait for you."
She went into the kitchen to check the soup and didn't say where Shen Fugui and Xuanzhi had gone.
Shen Yuning followed her into the kitchen with Huzi in her arms and asked again, "Where are your uncle and Xuanzhi?"
Yuanbao's hand paused. She was not an ordinary eight - year - old child. She was much more precocious than other children. She looked up at Shen Yuning seriously and said, "Auntie, Shen Jingui has started gambling again."
Shen Yuning frowned. It was not really a surprise. Yuanbao was probably in despair. Before, she had at least been willing to call him "father", but now she called him by his name directly.
Yuanbao continued, "Moreover, Lord Chen has looked for him. Now he has gone to Yun County to pester Lord Chen. Something has happened to Lord Chen. Uncle, Uncle Dachun, and several uncles from Xiaoshu Village have gone to Yun County. I don't know where Brother Xuanzhi has gone."
Xuanzhi had gone to look for Yuanbao's mother. After two months of searching without success, he had come back. But he would go out from time to time. Now Shen Yuning was in Maohe County, and Xuanzhi was in charge of the other stores in Yun County and Yongxi County. It was normal for him not to be at home.
Shen Yuning asked in surprise, "Something has happened to Lord Chen? What's the matter?"
But Yuanbao was just a little girl. It was already very difficult for her to know so much. She only knew the general situation. Now the family was in a mess, and the outside world was also in a mess. All she could do was take good care of her younger brother and not let the family worry about them.
She had even learned how to start a fire and cook. In fact, she had known how to do it when she was very young, but at that time, her mother would watch and teach her. Later, Auntie came back, and then they came to Xitian Town. She had never cooked again.
She didn't like cooking, and no one forced her to do it.
Now she still didn't like it, but she was willing to do it.
"Anyway, Lord Chen can't go out now. I heard that as soon as he goes out, people will throw rotten vegetables at him."
When Old Man Zhang came back, Shen Yuning finally knew what had happened.
It turned out that not long after Shen Yuning left at the beginning of the year, Shen Jingui had started gambling again. Relying on Shen Fugui's soft - naturedness, he only gambled a little bit. But Zhang Rong thought it was still not good, so she asked someone to send a message to Lord Chen.
Lord Chen was busy with official business. He sent someone to scold Shen Jingui, but it had no effect. Shen Jingui gambled more and more frequently. Lord Chen thought something was wrong and came in person.
Maybe he was too angry and thought Shen Jingui was very unteachable. In a fit of anger, Lord Chen ordered his followers to put a sack over Shen Jingui's head and beat him up. He even couldn't help but kick him several times himself.
Unfortunately, this scene was not well - hidden and was seen by some passing villagers, who also recognized Chen Wenwei as the magistrate of Yun County.
That was not all. Lord Chen was very busy with affairs and couldn't stay for long. He thought he had taught Shen Jingui a lesson and then went to the gambling house in person to talk to the owner, asking them not to receive Shen Jingui anymore.
However, after Lord Chen returned to Yun County, this incident broke out. Shen Jingui took the lead in causing trouble, saying that Lord Chen had abused his power for personal gain and taken revenge. He said that Lord Chen had tied him up and beaten him under the pretext of inspection.
It was bad enough that many villagers had seen this and the story had spread far and wide.
The owner and the manager of the gambling house also stood up and said that they were running a legitimate business but had been coerced by Lord Chen to close down. The owner was in tears, saying that in the end, it was all because he hadn't given enough money, and Lord Chen was a person who couldn't be easily bribed with a little money.
Of course, there were also some voices in the folk saying that Lord Chen was a good magistrate. In the past four years, he had done a lot for Yun County and led the villagers to get rich. He was a rare good official.
However, soon, there were voices saying that Lord Chen was a person who sought fame and reputation. The good deeds he had done before were just for good political achievements. The real reason was to suck the blood of the villagers. Otherwise, why, after achieving such good results, instead of getting promoted, did he still stay in Yun County? In fact, he was just fattening up the villagers of Yun County before killing them.
Coincidentally, in order to develop Yun County, Chen Wenwei had once petitioned to exempt the farmers, sericulturists, and merchants from taxes for one year, and then gradually increase the taxes year by year. The merchants were exempted from taxes for three years, while the farmers and sericulturists were exempted for five years. By now, the exemption period for the merchants in Yun County had expired, and the farmers and sericulturists had also returned to half of the previous tax rate.
In fact, compared with other places, the tax rate in Yun County was still lower. But it was this gradual increase that made the statement that Lord Chen was fattening up the villagers of Yun County seem reasonable.
Shen Yuning listened quietly. Having read so many case files since she was a child, she deeply understood the horror of public opinion. The villagers were not without brains, but they were too easily influenced by the crowd. Once someone took the lead, there would always be people who would follow and gradually believe what he said.
It was obvious that Shen Jingui alone couldn't have thought so comprehensively. There must be someone behind him supporting him. They had formed a certain scale and power, and they were clearly targeting Chen Wenwei.
As for the voices of the villagers who supported Chen Wenwei, they were almost drowned out by the public opinion. From the surface, Lord Chen seemed to be just like those previous magistrates in Yun County who only cared about making money.
Old Man Zhang's face was still full of worry. "Actually, we all know that Lord Chen has always been dedicated to the villagers. If it weren't for him, how could the villagers of Yun County live such a good life now? It's so hateful that those people can only have enough to eat and send their children to school thanks to Lord Chen, but now they don't know how to distinguish right from wrong and just blindly follow others and make trouble."
Shen Yuning nodded. "Those people have a plan. They just don't like Lord Chen and want to find a chance to pull him down. I'm afraid that before long, someone from the Chen family will have to come and take him back, and of course, there will be a more suitable person to replace him in Yun County."
Old Man Zhang looked surprised. "Yuning girl, how do you know? There's no need to wait. Now, someone from the capital has come to take Lord Chen back. And the newly - appointed county magistrate is already on the way to take office. I heard that he is also from a famous family in the capital and his surname is Gao."