Mu Dade fully agreed with Mrs. Jin’s suggestion!

Upon returning and meeting so many people, only the third branch acted shamelessly!

Especially that stinky girl, who has reached the pinnacle of shamelessness!

"That stinky girl made me lose face in front of so many people. If I don’t teach her a lesson, she’ll definitely think I’m easily bullied!"

"Leave this matter to me!" Mrs. Jin said.

Immediately after speaking, Mrs. Jin seemed to remember something and continued, "Dade, did we make a mistake coming back this time? Why didn’t we just stay in the county?

Now facing the Old Mu Family and so many villagers, what if they insist on following us to the county? How could we handle that?"

People from the Old Mu Family were all tough to deal with.

Mrs. Jin feared most those who stubbornly followed her to the county!

The good life she painstakingly planned would be all gone!

She didn’t want to be a lady outside and a servant at home waiting on that stubborn old lady!

"Don’t worry! I naturally have a way to stop them from following us!"

In this aspect, Mu Dade had absolute confidence!

Besides, he didn’t want to bring a bunch of freeloaders with him either.

If they stayed in the countryside, they could always dig for food in the fields and never starve!

But in the county, those people had no skills and would definitely eat his food, live in his house, and use his things!

Where would he get so much spare money to support so many mouths?

The smile on Mrs. Jin’s face grew, and her gaze toward Mu Dade became more joyful!

She clearly hadn’t misjudged the man!

——

The news that Mu Dade had come back and would become a county magistrate spread quickly.

People from ten miles around, upon hearing this news, all thought of trying to build a relationship with him to gain some benefits.

The perceptive Mrs. Lin, upon receiving the news, immediately sent word to her husband Mu Dazhong, who was mining in Mountain Village, telling him to hurriedly come back.

Meanwhile, she didn’t forget to collect money all around the village, claiming she could speak well for them in front of Mu Dade!

After all, her husband was the second brother of the county magistrate, so naturally, the villagers believed her.

Everyone hoped to gain some benefits from Mrs. Lin and sent various gifts to her family.

Mrs. Lin accepted the villagers’ offerings with ease and enjoyed a hearty meal at home.

In the afternoon, she leisurely packed her belongings, rented an ox cart at the village entrance, and returned to the Old Mu Family.

The Old Mu Family was livelier than ever, with people coming and going, both familiar and unfamiliar, joining the gathering.

Most had gifts in hand, and they all came with an agenda, so naturally, their words were pleasing to the ear!

The Old Mu Family members were practically being praised to the skies.

One by one, they walked with confidence, and there were several suitors for Mu Dandan and Mu Yingying.

Matchmaker Sun’s legs were nearly worn out from running, but because she had received a lot of matchmaking fees from the suitors, she remained enthusiastic in her work!

However, most of the would-be suitors were muddy-footed farmers, so Mrs. Jin found various excuses to reject them!

When Mrs. Lin returned home, she headed straight for the wing room where the eldest branch lived, shouting before even entering the courtyard, "Big brother, big brother, you’re back! I’ve missed you to death!"

Mrs. Lin’s voice reached the main house, and Mrs. Jin’s expression immediately changed.

Mu Dandan was the most excited, "Mom, what should we do? The beggars have arrived!"

"Exactly, among our poor relatives, my second uncle’s family is the most shameless! If it wasn’t for Gou Dan being so greedy yesterday, mom wouldn’t have lost so much silver for nothing!"

Mu Yingying said angrily.

Only Mrs. Jin and Mu Dalang came back yesterday, but by this morning, Mu Dandan and Mu Yingying had already heard everything from their mother, Mrs. Jin!

While resenting Mu Shuangshuang, they also disliked that filthy Gou Dan, who hadn’t bathed in days!

"It’s fine, it’s just Lin Xiaozao. I can handle her. Quick, go fetch that golden bracelet from my room!" Mrs. Jin instructed.

Reluctantly, Mu Dandan got up and went to Mrs. Jin’s room!

When Mrs. Lin entered the main room of the eldest branch, Mrs. Jin was already dressed up.

She wore a crimson silk gown, with a phoenix hairpin on her head, and a shining golden bracelet on her slender, fair wrist.

Mrs. Lin’s eyes were nearly blinded by that golden bracelet.

"Sister-in-law, you’ve struck it rich, haven’t you? Such a big gold bracelet, wow, let me have a look." Mrs. Lin approached, grinning at Mrs. Jin ingratiatingly.

Mrs. Jin graciously extended her hand.

Mrs. Lin’s dark hand gripped the golden bracelet, fondling it back and forth.

If the golden bracelet wasn’t on Mrs. Jin’s wrist at the time, Mrs. Lin would have bitten it.

They say you can’t bite through gold!

Mrs. Lin had never seen a big silver in her life, let alone real gold!

"Sister-in-law, you must have seen many good things during this trip to the Capital? Are the women in the Capital like us? What about the men?"

Mrs. Lin was both curious and envious of the Capital.

She felt waves of regret in her heart!

It was a pity that Mu Dade didn’t pass the Champion Scholar exam. If he had, she would’ve been in the Capital by now!

Hearing Mrs. Lin’s words, Mrs. Jin’s past regrets came to mind.

She had never been to the Capital, so how would she know what it was like there?

"Sister-in-law, why aren’t you saying anything? Is the Capital so splendid that you can’t describe it?

Oh, I just knew Dazhong was useless. If he had studied like big brother and become a scholar, I wouldn’t be stuck here!"

Mrs. Lin’s words were filled with jealousy!

Before entering the main house, she originally planned to enjoy the wealth with the eldest branch!

But upon seeing Mrs. Jin’s fine clothes and gold bracelet, Mrs. Lin felt extremely bitter!

If her husband had studied back then, would she have to return to her maternal home worrying about being scolded by that stubborn old lady?

Mrs. Lin’s inferiority complex was evident, which please Mrs. Jin immensely.

That’s just how she wanted it, seeing Mrs. Lin as vulgar and foul-mouthed, who once mocked her for not bearing a son.

Humph, so what if she had a son? He’s split from the family, and it’s all falling apart. In the future, he’ll be nothing but a waste!

Mrs. Jin’s vanity was greatly satisfied!

But she didn’t expect that Mrs. Lin had a strong tolerance, especially when Mrs. Lin glanced at the two daughters beside Mrs. Jin, her mouth couldn’t help but curl into a smile.

"Sister-in-law, there’s something you need to pay attention to. You wouldn’t believe what happened in our village this time!"

Mrs. Jin suddenly pushed Mu Dandan away and sat down next to Mrs. Jin.

"Dan, step aside. Your mother and I have something important to discuss," Mrs. Lin said.

Mu Dandan was reluctant to be pushed away and thus wasn’t polite to Mrs. Lin, "What important matters do you have to discuss with my mother?"