Long Yue observed the farrs’ fear and anxiety, not because she was vicious, but it was the instinctive reaction of these lower-class people when faced with nobility.
Which of those noblen or officials could, with a re twitch of a finger, cause them to lose their families and hos?
The saying "Citizens should not fight with officials" makes sense for this reason.
"Greetings, mistress."
A few farrs climbed up the ridge and respectfully saluted Long Yue.
Their gestures were awkward and clumsy; an old man even nervously waved his hand when he saw them salute, looking a bit comical, but Long Yue couldn’t smile.
These were all sincere old farrs.
Long Yue gave them a gentle smile and said as calmly as possible, "Everyone, I am the granddaughter of the owner of this farmland, you can call Mrs. Li."
"Good day, Mrs. Li!"
Long Yue smiled and nodded, walked to a bag of seeds, and asked, "Are these the seeds you’re planning to plant?"
"Yes, mistress, every year around this ti we plant the seeds and wait for the autumn harvest. Only the days in between depend on the weather. If the wind and rain are good, there will be a good harvest. But if there’s a drought or sothing..."
The old farr couldn’t continue, looking at Long Yue with pleading eyes.
Long Yue understood their aning; if the harvest was poor, the owner would inevitably bla these tenants, thinking they weren’t diligent.
But her grandfather wasn’t like that, right?
"Do you feel wronged farming here?"
"Ah?"
The old farrs were all stunned, the mistress actually asked them this?
"It’s not bad, the owner treats us well, but..."
One farr was about to say sothing when the old farr beside him imdiately nudged him, and the farr quickly closed his mouth.
Long Yue frowned, clearly seeing there was a problem here. She turned cold and said, "Just tell , if anyone here is bullying you, I will certainly give you justice!"
"Mrs. Li? You are..."
"I am the owner’s granddaughter, and now I’m in charge of this whole field, I have absolute authority!"
Long Yue lifted her chin slightly, speaking with inherent determination.
The farrs looked at her with confused eyes, and soone said, "The steward here is deducting our wages!"
"Deducting wages?" Long Yue’s gaze hardened as she angrily asked, "Tell , what’s going on? If this is true, I will surely bring you justice!"
The crowd saw Long Yue’s angry deanor and hesitated, worried they might be retaliated against if they spoke.
"Don’t be afraid, it’s just a steward, isn’t it? If he’s wrong, don’t forget I’m not only the granddaughter of my grandfather, but as a Sixth-rank Imperial Decree Lady, can I not handle him?"
"Sixth-rank Imperial Decree Lady?"
The farrs looked confused, but since she held an official rank, and a Sixth Rank at that, she must be quite significant. Therefore, one bolder farr said, "What we agreed on before was a monthly wage of two hundred and fifty cents, but now it’s only two hundred, a whole fifty cents has been withheld!"
Fifty cents is not a small amount. According to current market prices, one cent can buy a large at bun, fifty cents ans fifty buns, saving them even ans fifty als.
"That’s too much, deducting that much?"
"Yes, mistress, we wouldn’t dare lie. We never wanted to work anymore, but how can you not work when there’s no land at ho and two kids to feed?"
"Actually, we work here hoping for that lunch al, but the steward says since lunch is provided, the pay should be less, otherwise they lose money."
"How can you work without eating at noon? Providing a little al ans deducting fifty cents? Who made that rule? My grandfather definitely wouldn’t do this!"
Long Yue knew her grandfather’s character well. Although he occasionally stumbled, he was absolutely straightforward and wouldn’t be so petty.
He had many good fields under his na, but all were entrusted to subordinates to manage, so the problem must be with that steward!
"Where is that steward?" Long Yue looked around, realizing she hadn’t seen the so-called steward since she arrived; he clearly didn’t regard her as the master!
"Well... he’s in the duty room..."
"Hmm? Sleeping in?"
Long Yue squinted, seeing the farr lower his head, she knew she was right.
She sneered, "Lead the way!"
A few farrs beca guides, leading Long Yue to the duty room in the farmland, from afar they could hear loud snoring.
"Hmph, how leisurely!"
Long Yue’s expression turned cold; she had experienced hardship before and deeply understood the struggles of these lower-class people’s lives. Now, under her watch, such oppression occurs, she cannot ignore it!
Incidentally, this is also to establish her authority and gain people’s allegiance, as she would need the farrs’ help to plant dicinal herbs.
Planting dicinal herbs isn’t a simple task, many matters require repeated instructions and careful attention. Only by letting the farrs know you treat them well will they diligently nurture them in return.
"Snore..."
There were many people outside the duty room, making quite a commotion, but the thunderous snoring still ca from the room.
"Bang!"
Long Yue said nothing, kicking open the door, truly embodying the reputation of "Evil Woman Li"!
The door swung open to reveal a fat, big-eared middle-aged man lying inside. The noise woke him up instantly, and being startled from a deep sleep felt particularly unpleasant; his temper flared imdiately.
"Damn, which maggot crawled out from the dung pit..."
"Slap!"
As he was about to curse, a whip lashed out fiercely, striking his chest.
"Oww—"
The scream was like a pig being slaughtered!
"You... who are you?"
The man clutched his burning chest, the fiery pain awakening him completely; seeing a noblewoman, he imdiately beca cautious.
"Pang Longyue! Cao Yin’s granddaughter!"
"Cao... General Cao?"
The middle-aged man hesitated for a mont, then reacted and carefully examined Long Yue. Seeing her dignified countenance, he knew he couldn’t escape.
Thinking he had just cursed at her, he beca deeply fearful and quickly slapped himself: "Slap! Ouch, Young Master, I... you see my lousy mouth, haha, I apologize for any offense earlier, you are magnanimous, please don’t mind! So... why are you still standing there, hurry and serve tea and place chairs for the noblewoman!"
The middle-aged man yelled furiously at a few tenants as if venting all his frustration induced by Long Yue on them.
"No need!"
Long Yue had the least regard for people who bully by wielding others’ power, she said coldly and glanced around, seeing that under his bed was an actual thick tiger skin!
Goodness, a re steward sleeping with such a high-class item? Her grandfather hadn’t used anything so extravagant!
It seed he had indeed extracted much from these farrs!
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