Reborn as a Happy Wife in a Rural Family
Chapter 121: Paying Taxes and Grain

Chapter 121: Chapter 121: Paying Taxes and Grain

"Let’s go to bed then," said Xiao Yunjing, embracing her and climbing into bed.

「The next morning」Gu Qingli woke up to find that the four men of the Xiao family—the father and sons—were once again nowhere to be found.

The women of the house returned to their routine, with the men no longer around.

「That morning」Ms. Yang and Gu Qingli loaded the oxcart with the tax grain from their twenty-acre field, planning to deliver it to the town.

Today was the grain payment day for Qinghe Village. Gu Chang’an had informed the villagers in advance, so Gu Qingli and the others had also risen early to prepare.

The county had set up a designated grain collection point in the town, making it convenient for villagers from each village to deliver their grain. Hauling it all the way to the county seat would be too far, and with so many people, the grain collectors there would be overwhelmed.

Magistrate Xu had implemented this system in every town after taking office.

It was indeed very convenient for the common folk.

"DANG, DANG, DANG! Everyone, let’s get moving!" At that moment, the sound of the Village Chief’s eldest son beating a gong and shouting rang out.

"Let’s go," Gu Qingli called out.

Wuqing and Yun No. 20 each drove a cart; one was an oxcart, and the other a horse-drawn cart.

Their family had twenty acres of land, with a tax of one hundred fifty catties per acre. Even with two carts, they couldn’t transport it all in one go and would have to make another trip.

"Eldest Daughter-in-law, Third Daughter-in-law, you two be careful," Ms. Jiang cautioned as the carts started to move.

"Don’t worry, Mother. We’ll be careful," Ms. Yang replied.

For some reason, watching them leave, Ms. Jiang felt a heaviness in her heart, an unsettling discomfort.

"Second Daughter-in-law, tell me, why does watching them leave make me feel so uneasy?" Ms. Jiang turned and said to Ms. Wang.

Ms. Wang hurriedly asked, "Mother, are you not feeling well? Eldest Sister-in-law and Third Sister-in-law are just going to town to deliver the grain tax. What could happen? Besides, Wuqing and Yun No. 20 are with them, aren’t they?"

Ms. Jiang frowned, wondering if perhaps she was just overthinking things. She shook her head at Ms. Wang, then picked up her basket and went up the mountain to gather vegetables.

By the time Gu Qingli and her group reached the main road, many villagers were already heading to town. Some carried loads on shoulder poles, some pushed wheelbarrows, and a few used oxcarts.

Gu Qingli had originally planned to pay the tax with silver, but the authorities only accepted grain, not silver.

Considering the ongoing wars, grain is especially important, so it’s understandable that they don’t accept silver.

They joined the large procession heading to town. Only two villages were submitting their grain tax today, so it wasn’t overly crowded, and everyone conscientiously formed a line upon arrival.

"Qingli, let’s unload this grain, then go back and fetch the rest," Ms. Yang said to Gu Qingli.

"Alright. Wuqing and I will stay here and watch over it. You and Yun No. 20 go back for the rest. One more cartload should be enough."

"Alright," Ms. Yang nodded. She and Gu Qingli watched over the carts while Wuqing and Yun No. 20 unloaded the grain from the flatbed cart.

After it was unloaded, Ms. Yang and Yun No. 20 quickly headed back to fetch the remaining grain.

Gu Qingli and Wuqing remained there, keeping watch.

"Miss, do those yamen runners know how much we’re supposed to hand over?" Wuqing asked curiously.

"Oh, that? The Village Chief reported the amount of grain each household needed to submit long before the autumn harvest," Gu Qingli explained, pinching Wuqing’s cheek. This girl has shot up recently; she’s even taller than me now.

Landholdings change from year to year, so before the annual grain collection, every Village Chief reports to the county yamen how much grain each household is required to submit.

When submitting the grain, you just need to state which village you’re from and your family name.

There’s no room for fraud in this; the government enforces it very strictly. This much was in the Original Host’s memories.

"Oh, so that’s how it is."

The mistress and maid chatted for a while, then sat on the cart watching the villagers hand over their grain. After submitting their dues, everyone looked dejected; once the grain tax was paid, there wasn’t much left at home.

Watching so much of their hard-earned grain being handed over right before their eyes was infuriating. Comfortable? Not a chance!

Some people were even muttering curses under their breath, complaining that the government was truly black-hearted for taking so much of the grain they had earned through blood, sweat, and tears.

Gu Qingli merely smiled at this. Actually, a tax of one hundred fifty catties of grain per acre isn’t excessive. The problem is that their yields are too low. My fields yield eight hundred catties per acre. After deducting the one hundred fifty catties for tax, there are still six hundred fifty catties left. With yields like that, how could farmers not have enough to eat? How could they go hungry? The problem is they’re too tradition-bound, unwilling to try and improve their methods.

「At that moment」in a two-story building in town, a window facing the grain collection site was open.

A figure was faintly visible behind the window, his dark eyes fixed on Gu Qingli.

If Gu Qingli could see him, she would undoubtedly recognize him as Young Master Qingchen.

A smile touched his lips, as ethereal as an immortal banished to the mortal realm. To think the renowned Divine Doctor is actually a peasant woman. Truly astonishing.

When he received the message from his Secret Guard that some power was investigating them, he didn’t need to guess; it had to be people connected to that woman.

Another piece of news that excited him was that they had finally found her.

He had rushed over posthaste, only to discover something truly astounding.

The man vying with me for Beijiang is actually this woman’s husband! Things are getting interesting.

So, he had held back for now. Let him go fight for Beijiang; I’ll come and abduct his woman. Heh heh... Then I can obtain Beijiang without losing a single soldier. I refuse to believe that with this woman in my hands, that man won’t submit. It’d be strange if he didn’t!

Seeing the large number of people arriving to pay their grain tax, Qingchen waved his hand, and a figure immediately flew out.

Gu Qingli saw that most of the villagers had arrived by now and figured Ms. Yang and Yun No. 20 should be back soon.

She instructed Wuqing to keep a close eye on the grain, then got off the flatbed cart alone and walked towards the back of the crowd.

"Make way! Quickly, make way!" Suddenly, an oxcart laden with grain came charging through like a crazed beast.

"Ah! Quick, get out of the way!"

The crowd instantly fell into chaos.

Gu Qingli saw the oxcart. If it isn’t stopped, with so many people and so much grain here... the consequences will be dire.

She quickly returned to their flatbed cart. "Wuqing, quickly, go stop that ox!"

Wuqing nodded. "Alright, Miss. You sit tight and don’t move."

"Mm, go quickly," Gu Qingli urged.

Wuqing leaped out and, in a few bounds, darted through the panicked crowd towards the runaway oxcart.

"Ah! Why is that young lady running towards the oxcart?" someone exclaimed in alarm.

"Don’t look! Hurry and move your grain to the front!" ...

Gu Qingli also stood on their flatbed cart, watching the rampaging oxcart.

Suddenly, her vision went black, and she fainted.

This is bad! In the instant she lost consciousness, Gu Qingli knew this whole incident was aimed at her. I was careless.

Someone caught her, silently slung her over a shoulder, and swiftly departed.

Everyone was focused on the runaway oxcart; no one noticed the person on the flatbed cart had vanished.

They all just assumed she had gone to get a closer look at the commotion.

By then, Wuqing had already brought the oxcart to a halt. She looked at the ox; its eyes were bloodshot, it was snorting heavily, and it looked like it was about to gore her.

Wuqing struck the ox on its head. The beast, pained, finally quieted down.

Seeing the ox subdued, the cart driver quickly jumped down to offer his thanks.

"Thank you, young lady! Thank you so much!"

The cart driver, a farmer in his thirties, was still visibly shaken.