Chapter 661: Bestowal of the Title “Village Lord”
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Eunuch Xi was about to become an acquaintance of the Wang Family. When everyone saw him come, they quickly set up the incense table to receive the imperial edict.
“By the decree of Emperor Minghua, it is proclaimed that the Wang family possesses qualities akin to jade, with intelligence, agility, a heart to aid the people, and the courage to uphold righteousness. Due to these virtues… the title of ‘Jade Village Lord’ is bestowed upon Ah Yu of the Wang family. She shall receive an estate with three hundred households as a reward for her merits. Let this decree be respected.”
Eunuch Xi closed the imperial decree and looked at Ah Yu, who was still in a daze. He smiled and said, “Jade Village Lord, come forward and receive the decree.”
Since the founding of the Great Chang Kingdom hundreds of years ago, there had been many nobles conferred various titles, but most of them gained their status because of their ancestral connections.
Titles like ‘Village Lord’ are often obtained by daughters of the royal family, and they do not really care about the so-called fief. In Great Chang, the fief is merely a nominal term, corresponding to certain salaries, without any actual land or subjects within the fief.”
To All Yu, this title was simply something she had never thought of.
Ah Yun had thought of letting all the aunts in the family have noble titles, but she had never thought about what to do for herself.
As long as Big Brother Ah You could become the top scholar, she would be the top scholar’s wife in the future. This title was actually very strong too.
Moreover, her goal was to open a women’s academy in the future. No, she wanted to open many women’s academies. Was there anything more meaningful than being the principal of so many schools?
“Eunuch Xi, you’ve worked hard. Come in and have a cup of tea!”
Liu Shi stepped forward with a smile and welcomed Eunuch Xi into the courtyard. She then asked Tang Yuan to return to the house and bring over a fruit plate. She filled it with some snacks and berries and gave them to the neighbors outside who were listening to the commotion.
After receiving the benefits, the neighbors cupped their hands in congratulations and dispersed a moment later.
“Looks like this Wang Family is very capable!”
“Isn’t that so? It’s said that their children have performed well in the Imperial Examination. 1 think they’re going to produce a top scorer!”
“Now that they have a Village Lord, they’re real nobles. In the next two generations, they’ll become a scholarly family. We have to deal with them well and not make enemies with them.”
“The Wang family seems to be generous. A few days ago, 1 had a conversation with their servants, and even their servants seemed knowledgeable. The masters themselves were also very kind in their speech. 1 don’t think they are bad people at all.”
“Of course. The people who live on Three Thoughts Street are all learned and cultured families.”
As they continued talking, the crowd eventually dispersed. However, during their leisure time after meals, they couldn’t help but engage in further discussions, but the topics they talked about were no longer of interest to the Wang family.
has sent several oral instructions and imperial edicts to the Wang family. Even his adopted son had once gone on a special trip to the capital of Wangbei County to deliver an imperial decree to Liu Shi.
After a while, they could be considered acquaintances of the Wang Family.
Looking at Emperor Minghua’s attitude again, Eunuch Xi was naturally not afraid of arousing suspicion. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that Emperor Minghua had a good impression of the Wang Family, especially that little girl, Ah Yu.
How could he not value them?
If it were any other noble, they would have long been rewarded with thousands of titles for what Ah Yu had done previously.
She originally came from a commoner family. If they directly bestowed the title of ‘Village Lord’ to her back then, it may stir dissatisfaction among others. So, the previous rewards were relatively minor. However, this time, when she went to the stone mine to save people and found the least harmful route, indirectly saving the lives of more than a hundred people, such great courage, strategy, and kindness deserve significant rewards.
However, this was just the reward on the surface. It was also for the commoners to know that if someone took them seriously, the Imperial Court would reward those people.
Of course, the private reward was that Ah Yu had saved the Eldest Prince and exposed the person behind the scenes.
At the end of the day, this matter was not considered Ah Yu’s credit alone. However, Qin Huai was unwilling to take the credit and completely pushed the credit to All Yu. There was no need to mention the Wang Family. They only went to save the people because of Ah Yu.
Otherwise, at most, they would donate some money and let others who were willing to help, do the rescuing. That would be considered doing their best.
After Eunuch Xi finished his tea, he left happily. Before he left, he even asked for a jar of tea leaves. These tea leaves had quite an origin. They were tea trees planted by the Wang Family in the courtyard of the prefecture capital. They were soaked in a lot of divine water, so the taste of the tea was naturally extraordinary.
“Mother, Fourth Sister-in-law, Ah Yu’s title is all thanks to you…” Wang Chuanggui couldn’t help but realize that this matter must be related to their mother, no matter how much he may not want to admit it.
Old Madam Wang: “When it’s time to be clever, you’re clever, and when it’s time to be stupid, you’re stupid. Have you read all the books you were supposed to?”
Wang Chuangui was caught off guard by his mother’s question and immediately trembled. Regardless of whether he had read them or not, he couldn’t admit to having read them at this moment. So, he hurriedly retreated back to his room.
After entering the room, Wang Chuangui patted his mouth. Why was this mouth so unreliable?!
Who cared if it was a title? It wasn’t for him anyway. Besides, it wasn’t like it wouldn’t be good for the family. Why was he asking so much?
Old Madam Wang looked at the others at home. “Do you have anything else to ask?”
“Is there… anything else?” Both the younger generation and the grandchildren felt a bit uneasy at the moment, not knowing whether Old Madam Wang genuinely wanted them to inquire further or if she was merely speaking ironically.
After all, their second uncle, who had learned his lesson, had already been forced back into the house.
“Grandma, what’s going on? How did 1 get a title? From the imperial decree, is it because 1 saved people in the quarry? But Big Brother and the others were with us at that time. Why didn’t they get a title?”
Ah Yu was really a little curious. Not only her, but even Meatbail was a little puzzled.
[Yesterday, I saw your Grandma call your mother out. I thought they were going to ask about something. I didn’t expect them to actually go to the Imperial City.]
[I’ve already unlocked the map of the Imperial City, but that place is a little special. If you want to know the information inside, you’ll need to spend more energy.]
“There’s no need to find out what they’re doing.” As All Yu waited for Old Madam Wang’s answer, she said to Meatbail, “Your energy is also very precious. Moreover, if I know too much, 1 won’t grow tall.”
Meatball didn’t expect Ah Yu to use the words it had used to lie to her in the past to block it.
[I didn’t listen to what they said.]
Unless Ah Yu wanted to enter the palace in the future and play out some palace drama, there was no need for it to listen so carefully.
Ah Yu’s future path was to become an educator, not to nurture assassins and start intelligence organizations.
“This is what you deserve.” Wang’s Old Lady finally mentioned the matter, but she didn’t elaborate on it. Instead, she left the children to ponder why Ah Yu was honored with the title of ‘Jade Village Lord’ based on her actions in the stone mine incident.
This was also the question Old Madam Wang had left for her grandsons.
After leaving this matter for everyone to think about, Old Madam Wang went to talk to Ah Yu about the Astrology Divination Bureau.
“All Yu, it’s not impossible for you to go to the Astrology Divination Bureau, but it’s not appropriate to stay there for the rest of your life. Think about it, is there any way to go in without being tied up there forever?”
It was easy to enter the Astrology Divination Bureau, but it was difficult to come out. Of course, that was only compared to ordinary people. After all, if one insisted on handing in their resignation letter, it was impossible for the Imperial Court to tie them up and keep them on duty.
Ah Yu raised the imperial edict in her hand.. “Grandma, is this enough?”