Chapter 53 Preparing to Build a Mansion

Unless it was a case where someone merely traded family members for money while employing vile methods such as deception, imprisonment, beating, or drugging, the government authorities would almost always side with the elders rather than the younger family members who were treated as bargaining chips and pushed into the fire for profit.

However, the real question was: out of all those who truly suffered from such vile methods, how many were actually able to escape and appeal to the officials for justice?

Not to mention that the vast majority of local officials, yamen runners, and village heads in this world simply did not understand the law.

Clueless themselves, they lived by following old precedents. What could the common people possibly expect from them?

In their eyes, elders beating or scolding juniors, dictating their marriages, or selling them to human traffickers or wealthy households as slaves and maids... how normal was all that? They had long since grown accustomed to it.

Take Xie Wannian and the people of Mingfu Village, for instance. Everyone was legally illiterate, equally clueless and possessing only a half-baked understanding of the rules. Otherwise, Xiaoyang would never have been bought and brought home by Xie Wannian in the first place.

One had to bear in mind that the laws also prescribed punishments for buyers.

"Whoever knowingly abducts, entices, agrees to mutual human trafficking, or buys subordinate servants who were abducted or enticed, shall have their punishment reduced by one degree compared to the seller. Whoever knowingly buys descendants sold by their grandparents or parents shall have their punishment increased by one degree compared to the seller."

This meant that anyone who knowingly purchased individuals who had been plundered, enticed, or mutually trafficked to serve as retainers or slaves would be punished one degree less severely than the traffickers themselves.

Anyone who knowingly purchased descendants sold by their grandparents or parents would face a punishment one degree more severe than the sellers.

Had Xie Wannian ever read the laws of the current dynasty, she would certainly not have directly bought Xiaoyang from the Liu family, if only for the sake of her own life.

It was simply a pity that she, too, was currently in a state of ignorance, with her methods and ways of doing things entirely derived from the blind stage of past experience.

Wang Xiaozhi, even more clueless than her, had no idea that the county magistrate had used the law to silence that family. She simply assumed that family had been frightened by the mighty authority of the magistrate.

That family dared not make a scene before the magistrate, nor, after their petty schemes failed, did they dare risk offending the local neighbors and the vast majority of households across ten miles and eight villages. Otherwise, they might be reported to the county yamen themselves, just like all the other households in the county who sold their children to human traffickers and wealthy households, or traded their daughters for money under the guise of marriage.

With no other choice, they could only dejectedly return the sixteen liang betrothal gift given by the elderly widower, and then return home every day to bully the weak and curse the girl who had taken refuge in the nunnery.

Wang Xiaozhi told Xie Wannian, "That girl is truly pitiful. She toiled day and night at the embroidery workshop until her eyes are practically ruined. Aunties and grandmothers living nearby told me that only when they walk face-to-face with her can she barely recognize who is who."

Even in such a state, her heartless relatives still refused to let go and continued to bleed her dry. It was utterly infuriating.

Hearing this, Xie Wannian let out a sigh. She remarked that under the current social environment, short of some extraordinary reason, two perfectly fine young women would never go so far as to run off to a nunnery to become nuns.

Nuns were human beings after all, and places with many people inevitably bred trouble and conflict. On top of that, nuns in this era not only had to subsist on vegetarian food, but they also had to attend morning and evening chanting sessions, as well as do all sorts of heavy labor like growing vegetables and fetching water.

Chatting and enjoying their food together, the group stayed until the sky grew completely dark before Wang Xiaozhi and Chen Zhao finally took the two children and headed home.

They still intended to help with Hao Yu's marriage arrangements, but they first had to wait until Hao Yu confirmed a specific candidate.

As for Hao Yu, although he had not expressed his stance in front of the others, he had already decided in his heart to make inquiries about Miss Zheng first.

If Miss Zheng proved unsuitable, he planned to go to Lingshan Town and inquire about Miss Chen.

Just as Wang Xiaozhi had anticipated, compared to Miss Yang, whose family burdens were heavy, Hao Yu was more inclined to approach Miss Chen, despite her reputation for bringing misfortune to her husbands.

Since Xie Wannian was an unmarried young woman, it was improper for her to discuss Hao Yu's future wife with him, so she could only quietly help out with whatever lay within her power.

For instance, staying behind closed doors and using the excuse, "They aren't home, and I can't meddle in this matter," to help Hao Yu and Jiang Yuan fend off villagers who were single-mindedly pushing Hao Yu to lower his standards for a spouse.

Or, after handing over the embroidery work she had been working on, she temporarily stopped taking new orders. Instead, she used her own money to buy fabric, embroidery threads, and other materials to prepare the clothes, shoes, and socks Hao Yu would need for his matchmaking meetings and wedding, along with brand-new quilts, pillows, pillowcases, and pillow towels.

She had already learned that Jiang Yuan had purchased a housing plot right next door to her, and without standing on ceremony at all, she directly entrusted the construction of her own house to the silent yet thoroughly reliable Jiang Yuan.

Both of them had mutual intentions, and when discussing the matter, they moved at a speed that left even Hao Yu clicking his tongue in wonder.

Well, mostly because Xie Wannian had rather too many specific demands, while Jiang Yuan always maintained the demeanor of an extremely accommodating good-natured fellow. No matter how outrageous her ideas seemed, Jiang Yuan would listen carefully, take notes diligently, and then give a serious and agreeable assent.

What Hao Yu found most preposterous was not Jiang Yuan's complete responsiveness to Xie Wannian's every request, but the fact that Jiang Yuan actually intended to build his own house according to Xie Wannian's design concepts.

Although Hao Yu had long since guessed Jiang Yuan's feelings, Jiang Yuan's attitude toward Xie Wannian once again refreshed Hao Yu's understanding of just how much weight Xie Wannian held in Jiang Yuan's heart.

With a trace of regret, he thought it seemed he could no longer count on Jiang Yuan to marry a high-ranking wife who could pave the way for his future official career.

Yes, although Hao Yu had no aversion whatsoever to marrying a country girl, he did not wish for Jiang Yuan to follow the same path.

Since Jiang Yuan had agreed to go to Zijing Pass to serve in the military next year or the year after, Hao Yu wanted to make his official path as smooth as possible.

To say nothing of marrying into Chang Yaoming's family by taking a clan sister or cousin of his as a bride, it would have been ideal even to marry the daughter of a military officer who had many brothers in the family and considerable connections in the northern borderlands.

At the very least, once on the battlefield, Jiang Yuan would have someone by his side who would be far more dedicated to looking out for his personal safety.

Initially, Hao Yu had thought that once Jiang Yuan went to Zijing Pass, those lingering feelings he held for Xie Wannian would naturally fade away over time and distance. Now, however, it seemed he had underestimated the degree of importance Jiang Yuan attached to Xie Wannian.

Sighing silently to himself, Hao Yu ultimately refrained from saying words to Jiang Yuan like "Consider the bigger picture" or "You must think of your own life and future."

He did not want to coerce Jiang Yuan into doing anything against his will.

Jiang Yuan remained completely unaware of these calculations on Hao Yu's part. In his view, the large wooden bathtub with water inlet and outlet pipes that Xie Wannian wanted might be somewhat troublesome to fire and slightly higher in cost, but once installed, it would indeed bring immense convenience to their daily lives.

Moreover, the semi-enclosed flush toilet with a slope that she requested was far cleaner than the crude, primitive cesspits commonly used by the villagers.

The water-drawing wheel winch installed above the well was exceptionally user-friendly for women, the elderly, and half-grown children whose physical strength was limited.

Finally, the rooms featuring heated brick walls and large windows were intended by Xie Wannian for embroidery work, as well as for cultivating green vegetables and mushrooms in winter to enrich their diet.