After Retiring to the Countryside, I Was Recruited as a Matrilocal Husband - Chapter 10

The seasonal harvest following the autumn crop temporarily alleviated the immediate pressure of dwindling grain reserves that Cui Jun faced, yet the collection of the autumn imperial taxes loomed on the horizon representing another massive financial outlay.

Furthermore, as the weather grew progressively colder, the bottleneck of securing winter heating demanded an immediate solution. Consequently, she moved her plan to log timber and produce charcoal up the calendar to expand her revenue streams.

The mountain timberland possessed by the Cui household was by no means small, spanning two distinct ridges that combined to measure nearly two qing.

Since the objective was to aggressively expand their income, the volume of charcoal produced could not be minor. A single mu of timberland typically yielded over a thousand jin of wood charcoal, which could be sold for four thousand copper coins. Clear-cutting a mere ten mu of forest would yield a sufficient cushion to sustain the entire Cui household through the bitter winter.

“Young Mistress,” Qingxi murmured, stepping into the chambers with a thoroughly grim expression as he offered a low bow.

Cui Jun prompted, “Why on earth do your features project such an exceptionally foul color?”

Shame texturing his face, Qingxi hesitated for a long beat before confessing his error: “Your servant functions with absolute incompetence. Young Mistress places her absolute trust in my profile, values my stance, and explicitly entrusts me with towering mandates “

Before the words could fully form, Cui Jun smoothly cut across his sentence: “Desist from delivering these irrelevant parameters. Did the logging operations strike an obstruction?”

Qingxi replied, “Young Mistress predicts the mechanics exactly like a deity. While executing the logging campaign, our men were violently obstructed by the local villagers. Those peasants loudly claimed that the extensive timberland possessed by the Cui Clan had originally been plundered via absolute extortion and manipulation by the late Master years ago. Now that the Master has perished, those mountains ought to logically revert to public government property, and the Cui Clan is strictly forbidden from maintaining private occupation.”

Prominent gentry and wealthy clans indeed routinely usurped local mountain ranges and waterways. The Cui Clan operated as a towering, affluent household, and back when her father had initiated his management of the Zhaoping villa, Cui Jun had been mere child meaning she wasn’t necessarily clear on the exact historical variables behind how the timberland had been acquired.

Dou Ying refrained from interjecting a single line of counsel, her mind curious to track how exactly Cui Jun would engineer a solution to the crisis.

Cui Jun lowered her eyelids, sinking into a brief calculation before delivering a perfectly calm, serene directive: “Go and exhume the primary financial ledgers mapping the villa’s earliest operational years.”

“Understood.”

The exact moment Qingxi returned hauling the massive stack of ancient ledgers, Cui Jun issued a secondary directive to him and Xilan: “Isolate the historical accounts detailing the calendar years when my father personally purchased saplings and commissioned laborers to aggressively clear and cultivate the barren, neglected ridges. Furthermore, cross-reference the official population declarations (Shoushi) and fiscal registers (Jizhang) submitted to the local Village Head (Lizheng) during those years those official state records are bound to permanently archive the legal ownership parameters of the timberland.”

Dou Ying instantly grasped the blueprint Cui Jun was executing, a trace of genuine praise flaring in her eyes.

According to imperial decrees, if an individual successfully cleared and cultivated a barren mountain ridge to transform it into managed timberland, absolute legal ownership would vest in that operator. The property was granted a total tax exemption for the initial five years, with regular taxes assessed according to standard statutory codes only after the five-year marker elapsed. If they could successfully verify the corresponding records inside the private financial ledgers demonstrating that this specific forest had indeed been cleared and managed by the elder Cui during his lifetime paired with verified tax receipts held by the Village Head, the legal foundation governing the villagers’ claims of a Cui family land grab would completely dissolve into thin air.

Within a brief two-day window, Cui Jun successfully compiled every single ledger sheet and official document. She personally traveled down to the logging site to sit at the absolute vanguard of the operation.

Sure enough, that exact pack of villagers materialized once more to violently obstruct the path.

Cui Jun smoothly ordered Qingxi to display the comprehensive legal documentation before the crowd. The papers definitively demonstrated that years ago, the ridges in this sector had been aggressively clear-cut by locals until they bordered on absolute baldness. The late Master Cui had deemed the ecological ruin deeply regrettable. To cultivate a more pristine aesthetic environment for his country villa, he had drawn from his own treasury to purchase saplings, successfully executing a massive reforestation campaign to fully replant the slopes.

This extensive timberland legally belonged strictly to the Cui Clan.

Seeing that deploying aggressive, hard tactics yielded zero results, the villagers shifted their narrative claiming that once this forest was logged, it would inevitably disturb the savage predators nesting in the deep ridges. Consequently, local woodcutters who relied on gathering wood for survival, hunters who relied on tracking game, and impoverished civilians who lacked the means to purchase charcoal and had no choice but to forage for kindling to stay warm would be forced deeper into primordial forests to secure a livelihood leaving them highly vulnerable to lethal wildlife attacks. They petitioned Cui Jun to demonstrate strategic compassion for the safety of the common populace, urging her to desist from logging the ridges.

Because this forest had remained entirely unpoliced for numerous years, the surrounding peasants had long since ceased to encode the Cui Clan within their line of sight. Furthermore, when they stepped into the slot to obstruct Cui Jun’s operations today, Nanny Du had completely refrained from clearing her gates to neutralize the friction a variable that clearly signaled to the crowd that Cui Jun operated as a weak, low-profile master who lacked the teeth to inspire terror.

Cui Jun calculated the parameters: How on earth could these ordinary peasants possess the sheer audacity to openly scream defiance before my face? I am terrified they command a formidable backing.

In this specific theater, she shared minimal direct economic conflict with the villagers; some hidden operator was merely leveraging their silhouettes to run a campaign of testing to map the absolute limits of her bottom line.

Her primary suspect had initially been Nanny Du, yet she swiftly eliminated that specific option from the board.

Nanny Du might have chosen to adopt a posture of absolute non-interference to gloat from the sidelines, yet she would absolutely never mastermind this specific villager movement.

Because this timberland legally belonged to the Cui Clan, Nanny Du coded every single resource attached to the villa as the private property destined for the maw of her eldest uncle, Cui Yuanfeng. The exact second Cui Jun lost the definitive legal title to these ridges, Cui Yuanfeng would likewise lose any legitimate path to smoothly usurp the forest for his own house in the future.

The sole reason Nanny Du had desisted from touching this specific timberland during her long tenure managing the villa was likely because she herself had been entirely unable to verify whether the legal titles were securely held by the Cui house.

That being the case, whose private economic interest stood to suffer a severe fracture if Cui Jun successfully reclaimed active control over this forest?

In short order, a few distinct suspect profiles surfaced inside Cui Jun’s mind.

The operators capable of realizing that manufacturing charcoal from timber was an elite track to gather a fortune weren’t restricted to herself and the local charcoal peddlers; the local gentry and prominent wealthy houses were bound to be heavily invested in the market.

They habitually treated the extensive mountain ranges flanking Lushan County exactly like their private backyard gardens, routinely flouting the civil government’s official prohibitions by mobilizing vast columns of domestic slaves to execute logging campaigns to fuel charcoal production and run high-yield ceramic kilns.

To their profile, the natural resources governing the Lushan County sector were rigidly finite to begin with; Cui Jun’s aggressive entry into the market would automatically downsize the volume of resources available for their own exploitation.

Regarding the extensive arable lands, because Cui Yuanfeng had aggressively dispatched his retainers to lock down the perimeters, the local elite had been unable to execute a land grab and thus let the matter rest. Yet, this specific forest had laid completely neglected for numerous years; they had been on the absolute threshold of swallowing it down entirely, so how could they bear to spit it back out?

Cui Jun had originally intended to summon the local Village Head to arbitrate the dispute and execute justice. Evaluating the field parameters now, if the hidden mastermind backing this movement was indeed a towering local gentry house of Lushan County, the Village Head wouldn’t necessarily possess the courage to wade into such treacherous, murky currents.

She smoothly ordered Qingxi to run a stealthy intelligence track. Sure enough, he successfully decoded the data: the individual masterminding the villagers’ daily disruptions was none other than a prominent Lushan County tycoon named Meng Jiasui.

Meng Jiasui’s grandfather had operated as a premier disciple under Meng Xinzhi the absolute founding patriarch of the legendary Meng Yu Tang medical lineage and Meng Xinzhi himself happened to be a direct 31st-generation descendant of the great sage Mencius.

Leveraging this monumental web of lineage prestige, Meng Jiasui’s father and ancestors had operated across the Lushan County sectors for several decades successfully usurping over thirty qing of prime arable land alongside a dozen qing of extensive timberlands, firmly consolidating their track as the premier wealthy clan ruling Lushan County.

Reaching Meng Jiasui’s current generation, his profile was no longer content to extract simple agricultural yields from basic crop production.

He had constructed a massive cluster of kiln facilities in the nearby sectors, specifically engineered to log timber for charcoal production and run high-volume ceramic manufacturing. He had even publicly registered an immensely confident thesis claiming his private Ruzhou Kiln was destined to scale the ranks to become the seventh grand Celadon Kiln of the realm following the established premier six celadon tracks located across Yuezhou, Dingzhou, Wuzhou, Yuezhou, Shouzhou, and Hongzhou.

Under standard natural parameters, an ordinary hardwood tree required a baseline calendar window of at least ten years to mature; even a fast-growing species like the poplar required several years to reach functional utility. Yet, the biological rate of forest regeneration plummeted vastly below the staggering speed at which his charcoal production and ceramic kilns devoured lumber.

Timber resources were a commodity that downsized permanently with every single use. Even though the Cui family’s forest spanned a modest two qing, Meng Jiasui aggressively desired to devour it down into his kit.

Dou Ying prompted, “The volume of private retainers and guards commanded by the Meng lineage trebles the numbers available to the Cui house; how exactly does Seven-Niang intend to break this deadlock?”

Cui Jun replied evenly, “I command three distinct strategic tracks. The first option is to dispatch an envoy to launch a formal negotiation with Meng Jiasui. Yet, executing that move will automatically cause the opposite party to code my profile as an absolute, weak victim, inevitably inviting them to aggressively push their boundaries further. The second track is to buy the absolute alignment of the local Village Head, petitioning his profile to step into the slot to execute a campaign of mediation on our behalf. Armed with the formal intervention of the Village Head, the Meng lineage will undoubtedly harbor a trace of baseline caution before executing future campaigns against us.”

“And what of your final operational out?”

Cui Jun fell into an absolute silence, her expression turning distinctly conflicted, as though this final alternative caused her baseline resolve to waver significantly.

Dou Ying let out a soft laugh, murmuring, “You could simply petition the Eldest Young Master Zhang to extend her heavy hand.”

Seeing her cousin decode the innermost blueprint running through her mind so effortlessly, Cui Jun couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh, countered mildly, “The tactical card represented by Vice Commander Zhang is bound to be exceptionally effective. Yet, forcing her profile to square off directly against the Meng lineage means that even if she leverages her imperial troop strength to secure an absolute upper hand on the field, the Meng family will permanently record a lethal grudge against her name.”

If a variable fell within her private parameters to resolve independently, she rigorously fought to refrain from deploying the card represented by Zhang Zhaoge debts of personal honor were a non-renewable currency that downsized with every single draw.

Mapping the reality that Cui Jun commanded a perfectly locked internal calculation, Dou Ying desisted from offering further commentary.

Yet, right as the two factions remained locked in an absolute, tense standstill on the field, a silhouette suddenly emerged, stepping out from the dense canopy of the woods.

The exact second Cui Jun’s eyes locked onto the individual’s line of sight, she discovered the newcomer was actually a familiar operator.

“To think so many personnel have assembled here; what a spectacular, lively gathering!” Zhang Zhaoge announced loosely.

She carried her heavy longbow slung across her torso; her left hand swung a wild rabbit that was actively thrashing to break free, while her right hand dangled a wild pheasant whose neck had already been cleanly snapped.

“Vice Commander Zhang is executing…” Cui Jun took in her silhouette, noting that she had stripped away her heavy leather armor to slip into a casual round-collared robe (Yuanling pao). She merely felt this specific styling caused her features to project an even more delicate, feminine quality.

Mapping the highly charged, sterile atmosphere governing the scene, Zhang Zhaoge instinctively deployed a thoroughly creative pretext: “I was merely executing a casual stroll through the woods when my eyes caught the sight of a wild rabbit locked in a furious brawl against a mountain pheasant. I ask your ranks given that both entities survive as neighbors sharing the exact same forest parameters, why on earth can they not cultivate a baseline of harmonious coexistence? I decisively resolved to step into the slot to mediate their conflict. Regrettably, the rabbit aggressively bit right through the pheasant’s neck, snapping it completely. Backed into a corner, I had no choice but to extract both assets from the field ensuring the violent perpetrator faces the appropriate statutory consequences, before I proceed to accord the deceased a proper burial.”

The crowd: “…”

To retell a standard hunting run with such a thoroughly pristine, elegantly detached vocabulary—you are definitively the absolute premier pioneer since the dawn of time.

Dou Ying desperately fought to suppress the explosive laughter bubbling up her throat, yet finding the mechanics entirely impossible to rein in, she had no choice but to turn her chin away, letting out a soft, concealed chuckle.

Cui Jun calculated that this Zhang Zhaoge was truly a magnificent, fascinating operator. An unrefined mind tracking her words would assume she was merely spinning a chaotic, nonsensical yarn, yet executing a rigorous semantic breakdown of the prose revealed that she was explicitly using the animals to symbolize the Cui house and the hidden Meng lineage masterminding the villagers.

Yet, which exact profile represented the rabbit, and who played the part of the slaughtered pheasant?

Dou Ying prompted playfully, “Zhaoge, how on earth did your casual stroll manage to guide your steps straight into the private timberland belonging legally to Seven-Niang’s house?”

Zhang Zhaoge feigned an expression of absolute shock: “This extensive forest belongs strictly to the Cui Clan? Regarding an asset that commands a legal master, I absolutely cannot execute a private occupation. Let us swiftly return the property to its legitimate owner!”

She evaluated the wild rabbit and pheasant held up her kit, projecting a trace of profound reluctance as she prepared to surrender the commodities.

Cui Jun offered a brief, warm smile, countering smoothly, “It is of zero consequence. Given that Vice Commander Zhang was entirely oblivious to the reality that this ridge legally belongs to my Cui lineage prior to this second, I shall absolutely never launch a campaign to reclaim whatever assets you extracted from these mountains before this threshold.”

Her words were explicitly engineered to signal her structural stance to the hidden Meng house she possessed zero intention of sweating the historical yields or benefits they had extracted from this timberland in the past, provided they desisted from executing further malicious schemes from this second forward. If they complied, everyone could smoothly maintain a peaceful, stable coexistence.

“You possess the baseline authority to waive the assets, yet I do not command the moral license to withhold them,” Zhang Zhaoge stated evenly. “Let us compromise based on these parameters: this wild rabbit which remains highly kinetic and hopping shall be delivered straight to Seven-Niang’s discretion to process. As for me, I shall march off to personally manage the absolute funeral arrangements for this mountain pheasant.”

The crowd: “…”

Does your unique methodology to ‘manage its funeral arrangements’ translate to burying the bird straight down the tracks of your own stomach?

Zhang Zhaoge aggressively stuffed the thrashing rabbit straight into Dou Ying’s embrace, before applying grease to her heels to execute a swift departure from the grounds.

Intelligence regarding the exchange was forwarded down the channels to hit Meng Jiasui’s ears in short order, yet the tycoon completely refrained from encoding a low-profile county garrison officer within his line of sight.

Cui Jun likewise harbored zero expectations that a single micro-intervention would cause the Meng lineage to completely cease their hidden operations the Meng family had policed these sectors for several decades, their clansmen notoriously arrogant, their operational methodology aggressively overbearing and tyrannical. Only a synchronized display of leverage spearheaded by a coalition of multiple powerful factions could successfully force them to anchor a trace of baseline caution.

Locked in this calculation, Cui Jun smoothly ordered her retainers to dispatch a formal visitation letter (Baitie) straight to the residence of the local Village Head. The dispatch explicitly stated she parsed the immense operational bottlenecks he faced when aggressively executing the collection of the biannual imperial taxes (Liangshui), announcing her absolute willingness to proactively surrender her full tax allocation at the first immediate second to serve as a premier, benchmark model for the entire township.

Thoroughly moved by her impeccable cooperation, the Village Head finally resolved to clear his gates to personally intervene in the dispute.

Squeezed by the terrifying leverage and aggressive tax-collection mechanisms policed by the Village Head, the common peasants instantly lost any residual leisure to continue staging blockades against the Cui family’s logging teams.

As for the aristocratic Meng lineage, they aggressively coveted a pristine public reputation among the elite gentry; they would absolutely never clear their gates to personally execute a low-profile brawl on the field.

Left completely devoid of their civilian front-line puppets, the Cui family’s charcoal logging blueprint proceeded with absolute smoothness.

Tracking the dense columns of charcoal smoke steadily rising from the distant kiln facilities, the heart Cui Jun had held suspended in high anxiety throughout the weeks finally settled into a secure place.

Nevertheless, a final trace of deep bewilderment remained anchored in the bedrock of her mind.

She addressed Dou Ying softly: “I had firmly calculated that I would have to issue three or four successive rounds of formal petitions before the Village Head would concede to wade into this theater. I could have never anticipated that a single, initial invitation would wrap up the logistics so flawlessly.”

Dou Ying cradled the grey-furred wild rabbit which had been meticulously washed clean softly stroking the smooth, plush texture of its coat as she remarked with an air of absolute, casual detachment: “Seven-Niang ought to logically decode the structural selection parameters governing the appointment of a local Village Head.”

“A Village Head must be selected strictly from the ranks of retired military personnel holding an imperial honorary title (Xunguan) of the Sixth Rank or below, commanding a thoroughly pristine civilian record.”

The moment the words left her mouth, a lightning bolt of absolute clarity struck straight through Cui Jun’s brain, completely decoding the underlying mechanics of the situation.

An honorary military title could only be extracted by an operator who had successfully executed a campaign of valor on an actual battlefield meaning the Village Head had historically served within the imperial army and secured formal military merits. Furthermore, the exact second an active war erupted across the realm, a Village Head was legally mandated to re-enlist to march right back onto the front lines. Consequently, a Village Head’s psychological alignment and institutional bond with active garrison commanders operated at a caliber miles more synchronized and intimate than any connection he shared with common local tycoons.

Cui Jun let out a soft sigh: “To think that at the end of the day, I still had to rely entirely on the shadow of Vice Commander Zhang’s leverage to completely dissolve this bottleneck.”

Dou Ying murmured, “The baseline rules governing human existence inside this realm operate exactly under these parameters either you aggressively borrow my authority, or I leverage your towering strength. There is absolutely zero necessity to construct an excessively high moral ceiling for your own profile.”

Cui Jun conceded the logic struck at the absolute truth: “My mindset was far too pretentious.”

Dou Ying delivered a firm nod, thinking to herself: Seven-Niang has truly grown into her own stature, steadily anchoring her own independent footing, and her capacity to resolve complex social disputes operates with immense fluid ease. I can finally pack my kits to execute a peaceful return journey back to Bianzhou.