Xi Qingyue didn’t know the true state of officialdom in this dynasty. The original owner of this body was too young, and the scholar usually didn’t discuss such matters. But she did understand that the current drought meant poor harvests.
Willow Tree Village was close to the mountains and forests, giving the locals an extra way to survive. They weren’t at the end of their rope yet, but if the dry spell continued much longer, they wouldn’t hold out.
She thought there wouldn’t be any major problems in the short term. If war did break out, though, things would get troublesome—she’d even been planning to build a house.
Scholar Han spoke up again. “Baiquan County is very close to the northern border. If we don’t leave and it gets conquered, we’ll have no way out. But these are just my guesses. For now, nothing’s certain, and we’re not at that stage yet. I just want to warn you. Don’t worry—if anything happens, I’ll let you know in advance.”
Xi Qingyue thought for a moment, then asked, “Uncle Han, what if our village could fight off the enemy, or just move into the mountains? Would we still have to leave?”
Scholar Han patted her head and sighed. “The deep forests are too dangerous with wild animals. Even if we hid there, we’d be found. As for fighting off the enemy, don’t even think about it. Even if our village could drive away a small group of soldiers, we couldn’t withstand the entire northern border army. If we had that kind of power, the imperial court would be losing sleep over us.”
Xi Qingyue fell silent, lowering her head in deep thought for a long moment.
It seemed the current imperial court wasn’t much to speak of. No wonder Scholar Han disliked and distrusted it so much. This was probably why he hadn’t taken the imperial exams in recent years and instead taught village children to read.
She understood the principle of “a man’s wealth is his own ruin.” Right now, she just wanted to live a peaceful life with her little sister, focusing on upgrading her ability. Once her powers improved, her space would also evolve. When that time came, even if hundreds of thousands of troops came, she wouldn’t be afraid.
She could ignore the drought, but she wanted no part in any war.
With that thought, she smiled at Scholar Han. “Thank you, Uncle Han. I’ll be careful from now on. I just wonder if those officials will let this go.”
Scholar Han frowned. “That Xi Erniu has a black heart. When your grandmother was alive, he behaved a bit better. Now that no one’s keeping him in check, he’s getting worse and worse. None of this mess would’ve happened without him. Don’t worry. Without any evidence, as long as the county magistrate hasn’t lost his mind, he won’t arrest an eight-year-old child for murder. Those officials are just after money anyway.”
He didn’t treat Xi Qingyue like a child. He sat there talking with her for a long time and even taught Xi Weilan a few simple characters before leaving.
As soon as he left, Xi Qingyue said to Xi Weilan, “Lan’er, I’m going to Grandpa Li Zheng’s house for a while. You stay here and play. Here, take this.”
She handed Xi Weilan a small plush rabbit toy, opened a few packs of potato chips, poured them into a bowl, and set it in front of her.
Xi Weilan was delighted with the snacks and toy. She put the bowl on a small stool, hugged the rabbit doll, and climbed onto the rocking chair. Everything she needed was within easy reach.
“Thank you, big sis! Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on the mule cart.” Xi Weilan stuffed a handful of chips into her mouth and gave her a sweet smile.
Xi Qingyue smiled at the sight, poured her a bowl of yogurt, and set it nearby before heading to the village head’s house.
On the way, the villagers greeted her warmly. Their gazes had shifted from pity to admiration—they saw her as a capable child.
When she arrived at the village head’s house, Li Wanqiu welcomed her inside with a smile and poured her a cup of hot water.
“Yue’er, have some water first. Your grandfather’s gone out on business, but he’ll be back soon.”
Xi Qingyue took the cup and thanked her. “Thank you, Grandma. I came today about what we discussed before—buying the place where we’re living now. Here’s the silver.”
She placed a lump of silver on the table. It wasn’t the three taels the village head had mentioned, but five.
Li Wanqiu, knowing she wasn’t short on money now, nodded with a smile. “That’s fine. If you want to buy it, go ahead. If you don’t like it later, you can always find somewhere else. But you’ve given too much. Your grandfather said that thatched cottage isn’t worth much—the land itself is only three taels. If you don’t buy it, it’ll just sit there abandoned.”
Xi Qingyue shook her head with a smile. “Grandma, the extra silver is for Grandpa’s trouble with the formalities. I’ll still need him to help transfer the land deed. You two already spent money last time when we got our household registration settled. I can’t keep letting you cover the costs.”
Hearing her mention the household registration, Li Wanqiu hesitated but finally spoke up. “Girl, the registration fee was actually paid by Scholar Han. He said that with your father away, the yamen might be reluctant to stamp the seal—delays could cause trouble. And since your second uncle is unreliable, he wanted the separation done quickly so that man would have no excuse to control you. But he told me not to tell you.”
In the past, Li Wanqiu wouldn’t have said anything. But since Xi Qingyue wasn’t short on silver now, she deserved to know about the help Scholar Han had given her.
Xi Qingyue was surprised. So Scholar Han had already helped her once. He must have been worried that if their household registration stayed tied to Xi Erniu’s family, it would cause problems in times of unrest. It was a pity the original owners hadn’t divided the family while her parents were still alive.
What a foresighted scholar. But he seemed to have forgotten one thing—if the new registration couldn’t be processed, simply killing the people and taking their household paperwork along would’ve been an even simpler solution.
She smiled at Li Wanqiu. “Grandma, I’ll thank Uncle Han myself. Please keep the silver. I’ll need your help with a lot of things in the future.”
After seeing how corrupt those officials were today, she understood that every trip to the county yamen required bribes, especially for a minor like her. Getting any paperwork done would mean facing obstacles.
“You child, why be so polite? We’re all from the same village—helping out a little is nothing. I’ll take the three taels first. Here’s the extra two taels—keep them. When the old man gets back, I’ll tell him to get the land deed done for you as soon as possible.”
She took out two taels of silver and handed them to Xi Qingyue, insisting on not accepting any more.
Xi Qingyue had no choice but to take it. Insisting on giving more would just seem unreasonable.
Not long after, the village head returned, walking with his hands behind his back, his face red with anger.
“What’s wrong?” Li Wanqiu asked, surprised.
“It’s that wretched Xi Erniu again. He tried to frame Yue’er and ended up getting beaten by those yamen runners and dumped at the village entrance. His wife took the kids and went back to her mother’s house, so no one’s looking after him. He sat there cursing everyone, and then Shuanzi from Second Brother Liu’s family gave him another beating. Now he’s trying to extort ten taels of silver from them.”
As soon as he finished, he noticed Xi Qingyue was there and quickly shifted to a friendly smile. “Yue’er, when did you get here? Is there something you need help with?”
Xi Qingyue explained her purpose. The village head readily agreed and said he’d go to the county seat tomorrow to process the deed transfer.
“Grandpa Li Zheng, I’ll come with you tomorrow. I need to go to the county seat anyway.”
The village head didn’t refuse. He told her to meet at the village entrance in the morning, and they’d go handle the paperwork together.
After finishing the serious matter, Xiqing Yue left the Liu family. Even if it was only a temporary residence, she intended to live there with proper authority, so she wouldn’t rest easy until she had both the deed and the land title in hand. Back at home, looking at the few dilapidated thatched cottages, she felt it would be better to give them a slight makeover that evening.
