Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper! Chapter 55 - 54: The Government Officer Arrives

Qin Yao received a bag of high-quality golden millet, weighing fifty pounds, which could be worth half a tael of silver when converted to money.

The five mbers of Liu Ji’s family all brightened up at this sight. Qin Yao handed over the millet, and Liu Ji imdiately reached out to take it, not forgetting to praise her: "My dear, without a beautiful and kind-hearted person like you, how would this family manage?"

Qin Yao didn’t even bother to roll her eyes at him, signaling the four children to follow her, then walked on.

Liu Bai and Liu Fei each carried a fifty-pound bag of rice, making it a total of one hundred pounds. Even after being husked, there would still be more than half left, which made others green with envy.

The two brothers caught up but couldn’t walk fast with the grain on their backs, so they could only shout, "Sister-in-law, wait for us!"

The two families were on the sa route, making for good company as they walked together.

Qin Yao stopped, and Liu Ji also paused. He had heard that today his elder brother and little brother Liu Fei had also taken up weapons and driven off the bandits. He raised an eyebrow in surprise and sized them both up, teasingly saying:

"I never expected you, elder brother, to have such a heroic mont. I always thought our Second Brother had a more fiery temperant, but today he turned out to be the timid one."

Liu Bai knew his temperant and didn’t argue with him.

Liu Fei wouldn’t let it slide, scoffing: "If it weren’t for my third sister-in-law, Liu Laosan, you would probably have wet your pants! And you dare talk about my Second Brother, do you have no sha...?"

"Isn’t your Second Brother my Second Brother too? We’re one family. Look at this kid, talking about family matters like it’s two separate households." Liu Ji smiled at Qin Yao with an air of mature indifference as if he wouldn’t stoop to bickering with a child.

He even leaned toward Liu Fei, touched the grain bag on his shoulder, discovering it was rice, and beca even more smug.

He patted his own shoulder, "Millet, golden, husked."

Liu Fei couldn’t take his teasing, angrily looked at his elder brother, "Big Brother, aren’t you going to do sothing about him!"

"Enough!" Liu Bai also grew annoyed, "Everyone shut up!"

Only then did Liu Ji speed up a few steps, distancing himself from Liu Fei.

Qin Yao asked, "Was all the grain taken from ho recovered?"

Liu Bai responded with a nod, "It was all retrieved, except we lost one of the four hens. It’s unclear if it was taken by the bandits or picked up and eaten by soone."

"Mother said the remaining three hens were so scared, she fears they won’t lay eggs."

"Oh, by the way, Father and Mother wanted to tell you to co over for breakfast tomorrow. Mother wants to kill a chicken for cooking."

They said it was to fight poison with poison, hoping to scare the remaining two hens, so maybe they’ll start laying eggs again.

Qin Yao agreed.

When they arrived at the old house’s gate, Qin Yao’s family didn’t go in but headed straight ho.

The red lantern that should have been joyously hung under the eaves was instead held in Qin Yao’s hand, lighting the way.

From afar, the sight of red light moving in the dark appeared sowhat eerie.

The four children walked hand in hand between their parents, a family of six trudged through the wet snow in front of the doorway, finally returning ho.

Liu Ji placed the millet in the pantry by the stove and instinctively busied himself in the kitchen, lighting a fire to boil a large pot of hot water.

The family gathered around the stove, drinking hot water to warm themselves up before returning to their rooms to rest.

This day had been exhausting, leaving everyone ntally drained and quickly falling into a deep sleep.

At dawn, before the sky brightened, a large group of officials donned in governnt uniforms rode high horses with torches, entering the valley, forming a line resembling a dragon of fire along the winding paths.

Qin Yao was initially awakened by the sound of hooves, then heard noises from the ancestral hall, guessing that the officials had arrived, and turned over to et Zhou Gong again.

By the ti she awoke, the officers had already left, leaving only two minor clerks at the ancestral hall to learn about details from the villagers.

Liu Ji called the four children to wake, dressed them in warm cotton clothes, and after quickly finishing their washing up, urged Qin Yao to go out.

He was eager to join in the commotion, still keen to go to the old house to drink chicken soup.

The five of them sprinted along the icy roads ford from lting snow, with Qin Yao watching as one after another they fell on their butts, feeling no emotion at the sight, and even finding it a bit amusing.

Second Lang blad Sanlang, Sanlang ekly said it was the elder brother’s fault, and Da Lang angrily glared at their father, the true culprit.

Si Niang shouted, "I’m not playing with you anymore!"

She got up and dusted her pants, standing pitifully waiting for Qin Yao, choosing to follow her mother instead.

The horses and bodies left by the bandits had all been taken away by the officials.

When they reached the ancestral hall, Qin Yao and the others learned that before coming to Liu Family Village, the bandits had earlier ransacked a nearby village called Wangjia Ao.

That village had a similar population to Liu Family Village, but lacking soone like Qin Yao to lead them, they couldn’t resist at all, losing their grain, livestock, silver coins, won, and children.

As the bandits left, they set a fire, burning down the ancestral hall in Wangjia Ao.

Such atrocious acts struck terror into everyone’s hearts.

But what was truly terrifying lay ahead, as the bandits that ca to Liu Family Village yesterday were rely a small squad.

This bandit group comprised over a hundred mbers, a sowhat organized looting crew.

The main group had retreated to their mountain camp to celebrate after pillaging Wangjia Ao, leaving a small squad to continue searching nearby villages.

Hearing this, cold sweat trickled down Liu Ji’s back.

Everyone couldn’t help feeling thankful that it was only a small squad that had co yesterday. Otherwise, Wangjia Ao’s tragedy could have happened to Liu Family Village.

However, the two remaining clerks explained that after receiving the report last night, both the County Magistrate and the County Magistrate did not wait till after the holidays; they imdiately sent notices to villages and towns around Kaiyang County to alert the people.

They also requested instructions from the Lord Prefect, asking for the nearby garrison to assemble forces and co to root out the bandits.

This seed to provide so relief, at least indicating that the governnt was taking charge.

Not doing so wasn’t an option, as this was no longer a case of a few rogue criminals but an organized bandit nest, significantly different in nature.

With Sheng Country just having established the New Dynasty, with imperial power at its peak, if the court found out that local governnts couldn’t handle even a bandit group, the Emperor would be furious, and that would spell major trouble.

The two clerks, after concluding their business at the ancestral hall and only accepting two stead buns from the village head’s wife, firmly refused Liu Dafu’s offer to stay for lunch.

Before leaving, the two glanced at Qin Yao, seemingly finding it surprising that she didn’t appear extraordinary. Nodding slightly towards her, they skillfully mounted their horses, commanded "Go!" and rode away.

"It’s all over, let’s disperse, the snow is about to lt, and it’s ti to get busy with spring plowing."

The village head stood at the ancestral hall’s entrance, waving a hand to signal everyone to return to their hos.

Speaking of spring plowing, a shiver ran through Qin Yao.

She recollected those two acres of wheat field, conditions unknown, making even Mrs. Zhang’s carefully stewed chicken soup seem bland.

Seeing her not moving, Liu Ji, having finished his bowl, shalessly leaned over to ask if she needed help finishing hers, assuring her he didn’t mind.

Qin Yao coldly said, "Get lost!"

Liu Ji replied, "Alrighty~"

In the following month or so, officials ca two or three tis. Each ti they asked questions about the bandits’ numbers, appearances, and whether any traces were found.

The village head earnestly responded each ti, and thanks to the officers dropping by occasionally, the villagers gradually relaxed and focused their energy on a new round of farming.