Chapter 317 Muquan Manor (Part 3)

Chapter 317: Muquan Manor (Part 2)

"You had companions? How did she end up?" Meng Wan dragged a stool over and sat down.

Yu Geer scrambled to straighten out the quilt on the kang and wiped his eyes as he replied, "That day we got snatched—no, sent to the manor. All the young men on the estate got called in, and we were told to pick a family to marry into. I chose Dong Mu. Looks like Zhu Niang got taken home by the Estate Head."

It wasn't until Yu Geer and Zhu Niang got to the estate and were told to pick their own husbands that they figured out the people who grabbed them must have been sent by Lord Song.

Lord Song didn't think much of them, but he couldn't flat-out turn down the Consort's kind offer, so he cooked up this scheme instead.

Getting sent to the Song household was already a last-ditch move, and now suddenly getting married off completely threw Yu Geer and Zhu Niang's plans out of whack.

Honestly, Yu Geer even felt a little relieved. By now, he and Zhu Niang had already gotten bolder than most young folks in their position.

Facing a dozen or so young single men, Yu Geer worked up the nerve and picked Dong Mu—the cleanest, youngest, and best-looking of the bunch.

What kind of money could a tenant farmer's family have? There were plenty of older bachelors around. Dong Mu had been called over in a daze and happily took a husband home, and the whole family was over the moon, throwing a wedding the very next day.

Dong Mu's place only had two thatched rooms, two half-baskets of rough rice, half a chunk of silver, and six or seven hundred copper coins—that was everything an ordinary tenant family owned.

Yu Geer stashed away the silver Chi Yu had given him, only clipping off a small piece of his silver hairpin to hand to Dong Mu, telling him to take it to town to buy some red cloth, half a bolt of rough fabric, and a few pounds of cotton.

He sewed two red pillows himself and made a new quilt out of the rough cloth and cotton. That's how the two of them set up their married life.

They'd only been married a few days, and Yu Geer hadn't even stepped foot outside when those thugs cornered him in the house.

They'd picked on Dong Mu's family because there was only one able-bodied man around, and they nearly assaulted Yu Geer. If Chi Yu hadn't shown up in time, the outcome would've been unthinkable.

"This one's on me. Since I bought this estate, I shouldn't have let something like this happen here." Meng Wan's voice was plain and direct. He wasn't beating himself up out of guilt—he was just stating a fact.

A flicker of surprise flashed in Yu Geer's eyes. He'd been a slave bought by the Nie family, with no background to speak of, purchased just to be trained up and handed off as a gift.

The Nie family's servants came in two kinds: either the old manor retainers, stiff and strict, always using the rules to push around the lower staff.

Or the attendants of the young masters and lords—good-looking and stuck-up, scared that Yu Geer and the other pages might steal their young masters' attention, so they'd come by and stir up trouble now and then.

Yu Geer figured that at least now he was out of the Nie family's wolf den, no longer scared of getting dragged into some master's room and ruined, then growing old without even a proper title to show for it.

Now he was properly married, at least a real wife, not someone to be trampled on without any name or standing.

"Can you read?" Meng Wan asked offhandedly, noticing he had some brains.

Even though Yu Geer didn't know why Meng Wan was asking, he dropped his eyes all demure, peeking up at him all shy and timid, "I can read the Three Character Classic and the Lessons for Women."

Meng Wan frowned. "Stand up straight when you talk."

The frail Yu Geer, who'd been drooping against the edge of the kang, immediately snapped his back straight. "Yes!"

"Not bad."

Meng Wan nodded, satisfied. "Once I take care of Dong Da, you'll be the new Estate Head."

Before Yu Geer could say anything, his husband Dong Mu kept shaking his head. "That won't work, my lord. Yu Geer can't handle it."

His elderly parents also shook their heads and waved their hands, plain and honest. "How could a young man be Estate Head? Folks on the estate won't go along with it."

"Are you the boss, or am I?" Meng Wan's stare was sharp. When he put on a cold face, his eyes were enough to scare anyone. Nobody in the room dared look at him, and the thatched hut went dead quiet.

"Yu Geer, you in or not? If not, I'll find somebody else." His tone eased up. No point in forcing it—this was also his way of making up a little for his own screw-up.

Song Tingzhou operated with blunt, heavy-handed tactics. Luckily, there weren't too many political enemies around right now, or if something happened to Yu Geer at Muquan Manor and word got out, it'd be a real headache.

Yu Geer had been all flustered, but when Meng Wan asked him straight out, he answered without a second thought. "My lord, I'll do it!" He even climbed back down off the kang to kowtow to Meng Wan.

Meng Wan let out a helpless smile. "Get up. Bring your husband and come with me to Dong Da's place."

Estate Head Dong Da had even more authority than your typical village chief. Dong Mu's family was too honest for their own good, and he secretly resented Yu Geer for taking the job, scared they'd tick off Dong Da's family and get pushed around on the estate afterward.

But looking at his pretty husband's determined face, he suddenly couldn't bring himself to say a single word of blame.

Forget it! It was the master's own call, not... not something his Yu Geer had gone after.

"Dong Mu, what are you spacing out about? Hurry up and catch up." Yu Geer still didn't know him all that well and usually felt too shy to talk. He just figured the man was honest and treated him right—a rare good person.

The reason Meng Wan suddenly headed over to Dong Da's place with everyone was that he'd heard cattle lowing outside.

Looked like Dong Da had managed to scrape together fifty-one head of cattle somehow, or else he wouldn't have dared come back.

They all walked outside, and the grain-drying yard at Muquan Manor was already packed with people. Dong Da, along with his sons, brothers, nephews, and grandsons—his whole extended clan—had penned up dozens of cattle in the open yard.

"My lord, take a look. These cattle just got driven back from grazing. Fifty-one head, not a single one missing." Even though it was still freezing in the second month, Dong Da had been up all night without sleep. His eye bags were dark, his eyes were dead, but weirdly, sweat was beading on his forehead.

The others who'd gone out with him looked about the same.

Huang Ye and Gui Qian, who were standing by Meng Wan, ran over to count. Seeing that, Yu Geer stepped up and counted the cattle alongside them.

"So many cattle, and well-fed at that?" Meng Wan's words made Dong Da's face light up with joy, thinking he'd gotten away with it. But just as his grin spread halfway, Meng Wan shifted his tone. "Though I notice only a dozen or so are full-grown. The rest are all calves?"

What was even more absurd was that Dong Da's wife, his sons' husbands, and his nephews' wives were each cradling unweaned calves in their arms.

Dong Da hadn't eaten, drunk, or slept all night. Now not only was his head steaming, but his throat was parched too. He swallowed hard, and the end of his sentence nearly cracked. "If I may inform you, my lord, the estate didn't originally have this many cattle. This year the cows ate well and grew sturdy, so they birthed all these calves. I thought to myself—more cattle is a good thing. Even if we don't sell them, raising them into full-grown oxen and renting them to tenant farmers on neighboring estates would be just as profitable. That's why I bought so many plowshares on credit from the blacksmith's shop. In the future, the debt can be repaid to you, my lord, in grain."

He spoke with spittle flying, and somehow managed to patch together a flimsy explanation for the blacksmith's tools.

Meng Wan's eyes curved into a smile, as if he truly believed the story, and said generously, "Well, a hundred or so taels of silver—I never cared much about that anyway. Now that the estate has so many cattle, I'm sure the tenant farmers will work even harder this year. Since everyone's here today, why don't each family take home the cattle that belong to them? And whichever family has the most cattle, I'll give them extra subsidy silver."

Dong Da: "Huh?"

These cattle were half-bought, half-borrowed! Half of the calves were rented from neighboring estates by his drinking buddies to help him out in an emergency!!!

A full-grown ox cost six to eight taels of silver, and a calf cost four. If he gave these cattle away, what would he have left to resell for profit?

The money for these cattle was his life savings, scraped together with help from relatives!

Yu Geer didn't know what was going on with the cattle, but Huang Ye suddenly nudged him. Huang Ye was one of Meng Fulang's trusted people—did that mean Meng Fulang wanted him to be the first to step forward?

Yu Geer gritted his teeth. "My lord, among these cattle, one full-grown ox and two calves are mine."

Meng Wan clapped his hands with a smile. "Very good, well-raised. Take them home."

He took a money pouch from Huang Ye, filled to the brim with loose silver and copper coins. "Raising cattle isn't easy, and it's all for plowing the estate's fields. Here's what I'll do—I'll reward you two hundred coppers for the full-grown ox and one hundred per calf. That's four hundred coppers total. Keep them safe."

Dong Mu didn't dare move, but Yu Geer steeled himself, snatched a full-grown ox from Dong Da's hands, then nudged Dong Mu. "Take our two calves home. The master gave us a reward—aren't you going to thank him?"

Dong Mu belatedly made a bow to Meng Wan, carefully tucked the small string of copper coins Meng Wan handed him into his robes, then asked his husband nervously, "Yu Geer, which ones are our calves?"

Seeing how Dong Da's family looked furious but dared not speak, Yu Geer gradually gained confidence, though he didn't dare go too far. With both hands occupied, he pursed his lips. "The ones Auntie and Sister-in-law are holding."

Dong Mu called his parents over to carry the calves, and it took some effort to pry them from Dong Da's wife's arms.

Dong Da's wife refused to hand them over. She knew these cattle had been bought with her family's silver, so how could they just give them away to someone else for nothing?

Meng Wan asked, puzzled, "What's this all about? Are you saying these cattle aren't Dong Mu's family's, but yours?" His tone slowly turned threatening. "Dong Da, don't tell me you've got the nerve to fool me—that you brought these cattle in as a front to cheat me out of my silver?"

"No, no! How could I ever dare do something like that!"

Dong Da was stuck between a rock and a hard place. To keep his scheme from being exposed, he had no choice but to swallow his pride and grit his teeth. He forcibly snatched the shivering calf from his wife's arms and shoved it into Dong Mu's dad's hands. "Old pal, take your family's cattle back. It's freezing out—don't keep bringing them outside. If you want to sun them, do it in your own yard."

The calf was bigger than a full-grown sheep, and Dong Mu's dad nearly dropped it when he took it with shaky hands. Dong Mu's mom pitched in, and the old couple, holding the calf that seemed to have dropped out of the sky, figured Dong Da was giving them sincere advice and hurriedly carried it home to get it settled.

Dong Mu finally caught on a little. In a low, mumbling voice, he said to Meng Wan, "Thanks for the reward, Meng Fulang. We'll head home now." Even he felt awkward after saying it, and he carried the calf off to catch up with his folks.

When the others saw that Dong Mu's family had actually walked off with four cattle, and that Meng Fulang had given such generous rewards for each one, they all rushed over, shouting.

"Meng Fulang, this cow's mine!"

"These two calves are mine!"

"I'll take this big one!"

"Meng Fulang, my family raised eight cows!"

Meng Wan turned his gaze to him. "Your family? You raised eight cows?"

The man's eyes darted away. "Y-yeah... that's right."

Meng Wan went straight to Dong Da. "Dong Da, this guy says he raised eight cows. Is that true?"

"He's full of crap!" Dong Da was seething with pent-up anger. "Fulang, look for yourself—his family's so broke they can't even keep the pot boiling. Three kids—one starved to death and two froze to death—and he still has the nerve to say he raised eight cows! If cows went to his place today, they'd be eight pots of beef soup by tomorrow!"

Meng Wan squeezed the money pouch, making it crinkle. "I seem to have forgotten to let everyone know earlier. I won't bother with the past, but my husband is a third-rank capital official, the esteemed Shuntian Prefect. The properties under my family's name have to be kept in perfect order, without the slightest slip-up. Every household's registration and yellow registers will be re-checked, and the plow cattle will be re-registered in the books. If anyone refuses to cooperate, feel free to leave Mushui Manor and stop renting my family's land."

His tone wasn't harsh, but his words hit everyone present right in the gut.

Once the cattle were registered in the yellow books, they'd really be theirs. These animals were valuable and couldn't be slaughtered without a reason, and raising them took a ton of effort—cutting grass and feeding them every day.

To put it plainly, within dozens of miles, there wasn't even enough wild greens for people to eat, let alone for cattle.

If they couldn't forage it themselves, they'd have to buy feed, which was another expense. An ordinary family treated a single cow like a treasure, fussing over it with all their care. Two was already a stretch, and three was just way too much.

Yu Geer didn't have much experience either, which was why he'd asked for three cattle in one go—now it'd be a hassle to manage at home.

After Meng Wan finished speaking, every tenant farmer there had to weigh their own abilities.

Take the guy who'd just claimed eight cows—he couldn't afford to raise even one. Families like that, even if they asked, wouldn't get a single cow.

In the end, it was about one cow per family, split pretty evenly. The Dong Da household was better off, so they could take on two extra, but Dong Da was scared now. He kept feeling like Meng Wan knew everything, but also figured he might be overthinking it.

Dong Da couldn't afford to feel bad about the cattle he'd bought with his own money anymore. All he wanted was to get Meng Wan, this big shot, out of here first. Even if the cattle were registered in the yellow books, he could still find a way to get them back later!

Once all the cattle were handed out, Meng Wan yawned. "Alright, now let's talk about the debts the manor owes."

Dong Da cursed inwardly: You little slut, is there no end to this!

But on the surface, he scrunched up his face in a smile, nodding and bowing. "Fulang, don't you worry. If you don't want to settle these debts, we'll handle it ourselves. Once the autumn harvest comes, we'll pay it off with grain. But the tenants need to eat too—if we can't pay it all this year, we'll just stretch it over a few more years."

"No need. I've already paid it all off," Meng Wan said lightly.

Dong Da nearly choked. "What! Paid? You paid it all off?"

He'd bought those goods to resell for his own profit—he'd never actually spent as much silver as the accounts claimed. If Meng Wan had paid off the debts, didn't that mean he knew about the fake accounting?

Meng Wan showed no sign of anger. He seemed to not understand why Dong Da was so shocked. "I told you earlier, this bit of silver means nothing to me. But I want to see the goods. So, tomorrow morning, have those two hundred catties of cotton, seven dan of grain seed, and the other farm tools ready for me to check."

Dong Da's eyelids twitched nonstop, and the corners of his mouth spasmed as he said, "Yes, Meng Fulang. I'll bring everything to you tomorrow morning."

Meng Wan was very satisfied. "Very good."

In the afternoon, he soaked in a hot spring and enjoyed another nice meal with Lan Niang. Meng Wan told Huang Ye, "Pack everything up. We're heading home tomorrow morning."

Lan Niang said in surprise, "That Dong Da at the manor seems like a slippery one. Aren't you going to deal with him before you leave?"

Meng Wan, in his underclothes, flopped onto the bed. "Already dealt with."

In the dead of night, Chi Yu came back from outside. "Fulang, the Dong Da family tried to run and got caught. Tao Shi and the others have them all tied up. They said they'll be sent to the Shuntian Prefecture as soon as the city gates open at mao hour."

Meng Wan mumbled sleepily, "Mm... got it."