Chapter 288: A Woman with a Wicked Idea

Translator: CokeZero      Editor: Rainystars

Li Yuyao was furious. She might not be able to say anything against Xu Qingyin, but the daughter of the Du family was someone she could afford to offend.

Li Yuyao looked at Du Lanzhu and said, “Get out of the Hu household right now. The Hu family does not want to interact with someone who stirs up trouble.”

Du Lanzhu’s face grew ugly. She wanted to open her mouth and curse. Due to Li

Yuyao t s identity, she stopped herself.

After she glared at Lu Jiao, Du Lanzhu left.

Behind her, Li Yuyao took Lu Jiao’s hands again and said, “Jiaojiao, don’t get mad. Ignore her. She’s not right in the head.”

A lot of people agreed, “That’s right, Lady Du’s always been a proud one. Her family is not wealthy but she thinks they are all that.”

The Du and Han family were considered middle class in this city. The wealthier businessmen never thought anything of them. Du Lanzhu however, considered her family to be top-tier.

Lots of women here didnt seem to like her.

Given the time, Madame Song announced that dinner would now start. She led the group to the courtyard where dinner would be hosted.

Lu Jiao quickly gave Li Yuyao’s son the gift she prepared. She bought a set of silver necklace and bracelet.

Li Yuyao thanked her with a grin. After she asked her servants to look after her son, she went to dinner with Lu Jiao.

The two of them chatted as they wanted. Most people didn’t think much about their relationship. After all, Li Yuyao and her son’s lives were saved by Lu Jiao. The Li family and Xu Qingyin however, were furious over how happy they looked.

Xu Qingyin in particular, could not grasp the concept of a countryside woman becoming the sister of the magistrate’s daughter-in-law. This was going to make it hard for her to get rid of Lu Jiao.

Due to depression, Xu Qingyin drank a few shots of alcohol and felt dizzy. The thought of that icy, handsome-like-a-painting Xie Yunjin made her heart race. She couldn’t help herself and secretly headed to the courtyard where the men were.

Xu Qingyin was familiar with the Xu courtyards. Therefore, she quickly found the courtyard where the men were.

Her servant didn’t dare to stop her and only tried to pull on her gently. Sadly, Xu Qingyin ignored her.

Before she reached the courtyard she was looking for, she noticed Xie Yunjin, who was in a pavilion on the northwest corner of the garden.

Xie Yunjin was discussing something with magistrate Hu.

“Magistrate Hu, I am merely a scholar and I am still a pupil. I’m afraid I cannot accept your invitation.”

Today, Xie Yunjin and the magistrate conversed for a while and the magistrate discovered that this scholar was more than book-smart. He was calm, thoughtful, and profound. Though he was only a scholar, he was more suitable than the current magistrate for the magistrate job.

Magistrate Hu wanted to hire Xie Yunjin as his staff. These days, he felt trapped in this county, unable to retreat nor move forward. He was 50 years old and he had essentially no achievements. Could it be that he was going to be stuck in this place his whole life?

Even if he was fine with that, what about his son? He knew that given his son’s capabilities, he would be happy if he passed the provincial exam and became a recommended scholar. It was unlikely that his son could do better than that.

He was merely a magistrate and had no power to set him up for success. What was the Hu family going to do?

Because of this, magistrate Hu l s hair had gone gray. The sight of Xie Yunjin made him feel like he’s seen a ray of light. If he could hire Xie Yunjin as his staff, he could get himself unstuck. Maybe he could climb higher and maybe help his son do more for the Hu family.

At the same time, magistrate Hu wanted to form a good relationship with Xie Yunjin. He had an instinct that this scholar will one day get very far. Being on his good side would benefit the Hu family.

“Yunjin, please help me out. I’m 50 years old and if I don’t make an impact soon, my career ends here. As a pupil, you know how hard it is to go from a child student to an advanced scholar. You must understand how it feels to work so hard and spend so much energy just to be stuck at my level. I feel like I could do more.”

Xie Yunjin looked at magistrate Hu. He appeared to be low in energy and discouraged. As an official, he didn’t appear confident. On the contrary, he seemed solemn and depressed.

Xie Yunjin sympathized with magistrate Hu. However, he didn’t want to get involved with government matters in this district. The water here was deep.

Just as Xie Yunjin pondered, magistrate Hu tried to take his hand. Xie Yunjin flinched instantly. He didn’t like being touched and only tolerated it when it was with someone he was very close with.

Magistrate He didn’t find this awkward and continued, “How about this, I will pay you 50 taels of silver a month. What do you say?

Xie Yunjin raised an eyebrow. 50 a month meant 600 a year.

The pay was good. But this wasn’t an easy job.

Xie Yunjin was silent. If he was a bachelor, he was fine taking a risk. But he had Lu Jiao and four children. He didn’t want to endanger them.

Given Xie Yunjin’s silence, magistrate Hu tried again, “If you help me and I move up even a little, then we can help each other in the future.”

Magistrate Hu felt like his statement wasn’t sincere enough so he added, “No, what I mean is, in the future, if you need me, you can order me around.”

Xie Yunjin knew that this magistrate was on his last straw and that was why he was willing to try anything, including desperately asking for a scholar’s help.

Magistrate Hu’s final offer did make Xie Yunjin waver.

Xie Yunjin pondered hard. Before he could speak, however, he heard footsteps not far away from them. Both Xie Yunjin and magistrate Hu l s faces dropped and they simultaneously looked toward the noise.

Out there, two women entered. The woman in front was red in the face and wobbled as she walked. It was obvious that she was drunk.

Magistrate Hu was furious but he quickly noticed that she was Xu Qingyin.

Not only was she the grand commander’s daughter, but she was also magistrate Hu e s daughter, Hu Yingyue’s good friend. She was a frequent visitor here.

Since magistrate Hu saw Xu Qingyin as his niece, his expression softened.

“Qingyin, what are you doing here? There are lots of male guests here.”

He then scolded the servant, “Why aren’t you taking your lady to the back courtyard?”

Servant Xiaolian nodded, “Lady, let’s go.”

Xu Qingyin fought Xiaolian’s hand away. With her gaze hazy, she studied Xie Yunjin and asked with a smile, “This master is…?

Magistrate Hu glanced at Xie Yunjin and then back at Xu Qingyin. He seemed to have understood what was going on. Xu Qingyin was drunk and was doing whatever she desired. Scholar Xie however, was married with children.

Magistrate Hu was not going to let this happen and sternly ordered, “This is my guest. You need to go back now.”

He had to remind his friend old Xu about his daughter’s behavior.

Xu Qingyin was unhappy to hear that. She frowned deeply and turned to look at Xie Yunjin, “Master, I am the daughter of grand commander Xu, my name is Xu Qingyin.. I wonder what your name is?

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