After Retiring to the Countryside, I Was Recruited as a Matrilocal Husband - Chapter 7

Lin Chun returned home with the children after receiving the coins and grain, while Nanny Du fabricated a pretext to hide away entirely.

With the dispute seamlessly resolved, absolute serenity settled over the country villa once more. Yet, the weight looming over Cui Jun’s chest failed to ease a single fraction.

She directed an expression of deep apology toward Dou Ying, murmuring, “Because of these sordid domestic affairs, the high-energy parameters intended for today’s lakeside excursion were completely dismantled. I am deeply sorry, Elder Sister.”

Dou Ying offered a warm, magnanimous smile. “Matters carry different tiers of urgency, Qiang’er. The scenery anchors itself right there and won’t fly away; we can savor it on any calendar day. Focus on settling your immediate affairs first.”

Cui Jun smoothly summoned Qingxi back to the main hall. He hadn’t been present at the villa during the morning, only decoding what exact drama had transpired en route back. He advanced in a frantic hurry to plead his errors: “Your servant functions with absolute incompetence, failing to resolve the mechanics in a timely manner, allowing the widow Lin to trigger such an intense disturbance before the Young Mistress.”

“Desist from delivering these rigid pleasantries and face-saving remarks. I shall interrogate you directly: regarding the allocations I explicitly commanded to be distributed to the families of the casualties have they been uniformly processed?”

Qingxi interjected in rapid succession, “The exact second Young Mistress issued the directive, your servant immediately mobilized the logistics.”

Xilan emerged carrying the primary financial ledger, presenting it for Cui Jun’s review. “Young Mistress, the widow Lin has indeed cleanly drawn the grain and fabric bolts. The sole reason she staged a scene to confront Nanny Du was because the senior crone had routinely embezzled the servants’ baseline monthly allowances in the past. Fearing she would fail to extract the full compensation in a single transaction, the widow Lin panicked, terrified that Nanny Du would embezzle those assets completely.”

The ledger bore a meticulously detailed record outlining every single drop of income and expenditure drawn from Cui Jun’s private treasury, paired with the exact metrics Qingxi had mobilized, complete with the physical ink marks of the handlers.

Verifying that her right-hand operators had refrained from running a campaign of deception behind her back, the tension texturing Cui Jun’s features softened significantly.

As Xilan and Qingxi retreated from the chambers, Dou Ying quietly tracked their steps out, prompting them directly: “Have the extensive family assets bequeathed to Seven-Niang by my uncle and aunt fallen entirely under the control of the primary branch’s paternal uncle?”

She was well aware that if she raised the query directly with Cui Jun, given her cousin’s deeply ingrained character, she would inevitably choose to suppress the narrative simply to preserve the public honor of her senior kin, refusing to volunteer a single line of data.

Naturally, regular servants and slaves were bound to project their own biases and personal alignment when detailing the historical arc of the estate. Yet, she self-evaluated as an operator entirely devoid of objective neutrality; in this specific war, her alignment was unconditionally anchored onto Seven-Niang.

Xilan and Qingxi exchanged a rapid glance, internally weighing the parameters of their response.

Xilan murmured, “Before the current calendar year, the four qing of prime inherited permanent land left by the late Master were farmed exclusively by the retainers of the Nanyang Magistrate’s house, and the seasonal yields were never recorded inside the Young Mistress’s private ledgers. Launching into this year, out of the total yields generated by the late Madam’s wedding dowry land, a mere two qing have been permitted under the Young Mistress’s absolute discretion.”

Two qing equated to two hundred mu. While the figure read as substantial on parchment, the practical reality under the current agricultural matrix was an output of a single shi of millet per mu. Two hundred shi of millet had to uniformly sustain a total of thirty-two individuals encompassing private retainers, maids, guards, and their entire households. Distributed across the board, each person extracted a mere six shi of millet per annum forcing them to survive on a baseline of two meals a day at a mere fifty percent capacity.

Although they supplemented their horizons with secondary income streams, arable land remained the absolute foundation of a house’s survival parameters. Without vast land titles, an operator lacked the baseline material to lock down the absolute loyalty of her private guards; without fields, even the most devoted hereditary servants would ultimately depart from their master.

Having finally unlocked a channel to vent his frustrations, Qingxi couldn’t rein in his tongue, loudly complaining about Cui Yuanfeng: “Young Mistress strictly forbids us from voicing a single critique against the Nanyang Magistrate. Yet, what exact caliber of existence the Young Mistress survived throughout those years within the Magistrate’s palace is a reality everyone witnessed with their own eyes. They embezzled the extensive land titles left to the Young Mistress by the late Master and Madam, yet the Magistrate’s biological sons, daughters-in-law, and extended kin routinely launched passive-aggressive remarks behind her back claiming the Young Mistress reaped a completely free ride inside their palace, surviving a lifestyle far more luxurious than the biological bloodlines of their primary branch.”

This was the exact data he had mapped years ago before being redeployed to manage the logistics of the country villa.

Throughout these past two years, his presence had been absent from Dengzhou, yet he had gathered intelligence indicating that Cui Yuanfeng’s two grandsons—who had recently entered the academic tracks had actually dared to aggressively scream before the Young Mistress’s face, demanding she vacate the premises completely.

Had it not been for their senior kin habitually speaking without a shred of boundary before them, leaving the young minds firmly under the impression that the Young Mistress was a shameless dependent anchor refusing to detach from the Cui house, how on earth could they project such absolute disrespect toward her?

Xilan had witnessed a far more extensive mountain of variables over the years, yet because her mistress rarely indulged in casual venting, she desisted from voicing an excessive volley of resentful remarks, choosing to summarize cleanly: “Over the past year, our outlays have consistently exceeded our income, and the liquid reserves saved by the Young Mistress have dwindled to absolute zero. Consequently, the Young Mistress has resolved to launch a campaign to expand her revenue streams. Traveling to the Zhaoping country estate this turn outside of presiding over the commemorative rituals for the late Master and Madam her core operational target is to utilize the extensive mountain timber flanking the villa, executing a campaign of logging and charcoal production to supplement the household’s daily outlays.”

“This is by no means a sustainable, long-term equation,” Dou Ying sighed.

Yet, she was equally clear on the parameters: if they failed to execute this emergency launch, they wouldn’t even survive the immediate financial hurdle looming before their faces—let alone construct a long-term horizon.

Dou Ying turned on her heel to return to the northern chambers to find Cui Jun. The latter looked up with a trace of surprise, prompting, “Where did Elder Sister venture just now?”

“To gather wild chrysanthemums.” Dou Ying smoothly arranged the hand-plucked wild flowers inside a pristine porcelain vase.

Her breathtaking beauty was perfectly synchronized with an absolute grace of movement; to Cui Jun, merely tracking her silhouette was a profound aesthetic experience.

Suddenly, Dou Ying leaned across the space, gently tucking a stalk of cornel Zhuyu that had been nestled among the wild chrysanthemums straight into the soft folds of Cui Jun’s hair. She murmured softly, “Seven-Niang’s vanity case is entirely devoid of premium hairpins and jade ornaments, and your robes are noticeably worn. Your existence has devolved into such absolute austerity.”

The smile texturing Cui Jun’s features rigidified for a fraction of a second. Unsure whether her cousin’s prompt carried a deeper calculated meaning or was simply a casual observation, she countered mildly, “This journey was executed strictly to pay respects at the graves of my late father and mother; how on earth could it be proper to array my person in towering luxury?”

Dou Ying fixed her eyes squarely onto her. “Qiang’er, we are biological sisters. What exact tier of grievance could you possibly harbor that remains closed to my ears?”

Cui Jun froze.

Had Dou Ying not exhumed the topic, she would have remained entirely oblivious to the reality that her inner psyche had grown increasingly sealed and defensive. Years ago, she had operated with absolute zero secrets before Dou Ying, sharing an unmatched closeness.

Why, upon surviving a profound separation and executing a reunion, did she project such extreme vigilance and calculated concealment?

Because throughout these past four years, the baseline parameter governing her existence had been a humiliating life spent under someone else’s roof. She no longer commanded the presence of immediate, biological kin who cherished her with absolute devotion, nor did she possess a sister willing to decode the matrix of her mind. She could no longer aggressively be herself or voice her most authentic sensations consequently, she had chosen to bury her true profile completely.

With her closest kin standing right before her face at this exact second, she desperately wished to recreate the mechanics of their youth back when she had fled to her maternal uncle’s palace, hiding behind the bed curtains to weep in absolute isolation, only for Dou Ying to locate her, gathering her silhouette into a tight embrace to deliver absolute validation. She wished to hide inside Dou Ying’s embrace and weep once more.

After a long pause, a soft smile surfaced on Cui Jun’s features as she murmured, “Elder Sister, I harbor zero grievances. While an operator of weak standing can easily extract superficial pity and sympathy by displaying her vulnerabilities, the yield stops right at that marker. If an individual fails to anchor her own stance, she can never hope to elevate others; indulging in self-pity yields absolute zero operational utility when resolving concrete bottlenecks.”

Dou Ying realized that Seven-Niang had truly matured into a formidable operator, her character completely detached from the parameters of her youth. While the revelation brought an immense wave of validation, it simultaneously triggered a minute, subtle pang of loss the realization that she was no longer explicitly required.

Cui Jun’s register shifted into a thoroughly lighthearted, brisk cadence: “Furthermore, I am simply aligning my mechanics to track Elder Sister’s brilliant benchmark! I have already passed my threshold of adulthood; I cannot possibly behave exactly like a child, sprinting to lodge a complaint with Elder Sister over every single minor variable.”

Decoding that her cousin was explicitly referencing the optimistic, unyielding mindset she had projected when surrendering her person to the rebel leader Li years ago, Dou Ying let out a brilliant, hearty laugh.

Nevertheless, Dou Ying subsequently sought out Zhang Zhaoge in absolute privacy.

Zhang Zhaoge prompted, “Preparing to execute your return journey to Bianzhou?”

“Outside of delivering a formal farewell, does it mean I possess zero baseline reasons to seek out your profile, Eldest Young Master?” Lifting the sheer panel of her veiled hat (Mianli), Dou Ying pierced her with a sharp look.

Zhang Zhaoge let out a succession of dry laughs. “Ah, by no means. It is simply that given how intensely you care for and prioritize the Seventh Young Mistress Cui, I firmly assumed that upon executing a reunion, you would be tightly glued to her flank every single second, leaving you with absolute zero slots to visit a secondary individual.”

“Since when did you devolve into a mere secondary individual, Zhaoge?” Bypassing standard social pleasantries, Dou Ying stated, “My purpose in seeking your presence today is to explicitly entrust you with a critical mandate.”

“Speak.”

“My house’s Seven-Niang intends to execute a campaign of logging and charcoal production. Although that specific timberland belongs legally to Seven-Niang’s estate, the mechanics of logging are bound to disrupt the forest parameters, and certain operators will undoubtedly emerge to stage an obstruction. The exact second that friction surfaces, I must petition your profile to extend a line of protection.”

“This counts as an exceptionally minor variable. Furthermore, regarding this exact track, she has already finalized her calculated moves ahead of time.”

Dou Ying felt a trace of surprise. “Financing her moves ahead of time signals…”

“When she delivered that massive windfall of rewards a few days ago under the banner of a gratitude offering, her core target was to buy the absolute alignment of the garrison troops under my command. Furthermore, she orchestrated the metrics to teach me how to smoothly bribe my immediate superior, Sergeant Zheng. Was the blueprint not executed precisely to eliminate potential friction the exact moment she launches her operations inside Lushan County?”

The civil administration of the township fell squarely under the jurisdiction of the County Magistrate. Yet, as the baseline adage went: a distant supreme judge cannot match the immediate tactical manager. Within the operational boundaries of a military garrison zone, outside of the core martial commands policed by the commanders and troops, a vast array of administrative, logistics, and customs parameters were policed directly by the garrison officers.

Should Cui Jun strike an obstruction while executing her logging and charcoal campaign, petitioning the local civil magistracy was far less operationally effective than securing the leverage of the nearest garrison officer.

Dou Ying smiled helplessly. “You are overthinking the mechanics, Zhaoge. Her decision to deliver those rewards undoubtedly stemmed from a fountain of pure, authentic gratitude.” She smoothly added, ” Pervading this topic, I must likewise deliver my gratitude to your profile for executing her extraction in a timely manner.”

Zhang Zhaoge teased her playfully: “In that case, do you intend to deliver a concrete expression of alignment as well?”

A brilliant wave of charm rippled across Dou Ying’s eyes, the edge of her lips curving into a half-smile as she prompted in a slow register, “What exact brand of expression does the Eldest Young Master desire from this maiden?”

Zhang Zhaoge smoothly extended an open palm. “Liquid cash, naturally.”

“Regrettably, when this maiden executed her escape from Caizhou, I carried absolutely zero gold, silver, or premium gems up my kit; currently, my pockets are completely drained. Outside of this battered, fractured frame of mine, I am terrified Eldest Young Master stands to extract absolutely zero assets from my profile.”

Zhang Zhaoge couldn’t contain the reflex, letting out a hearty laugh: “Listen to this tragic script you are spinning! Does your absolute most premium asset not reside directly up your own person? An exceptionally brilliant brain, a breathtakingly gorgeous face, an elite tongue capable of fluidly processing words, a perfectly translucent and calculating heart, a towering reservoir of courage, along with a pair of feet capable of kicking a shuttlecock uh, a leather ball into a spectacular display… Every single tier down that list is an absolute priceless treasure when evaluated independently, let alone the reality that these traits are seamlessly integrated into a single profile. Where on earth does the parameter read as battered and fractured?”

Dou Ying dropped her hand back down, the sheer panel of her veiled hat cascading once more to completely conceal her features from the light. Her voice drifted out softly across the space:

“Given that evaluation… does it mean Eldest Young Master desires… this maiden?”