Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 435: Heed Advice

Seeing Qin Yao sit down again, Song Zhang let out half a sigh of relief.

But he was still uneasy, repeatedly instructing her to wait for him to personally see her off. Only after receiving her promise did he hurry back to the bedroom with his wife to change into his casual attire.

The steward arrived first. Song Zhang had someone craft a new Divine Arm Bow that was twice as long as the usual bow, standing at one meter thirty-six.

The bow body was made of multiple pieces of bamboo, layered with string, and the handle was wrapped with a soft yet resilient silk thread, woven into a fine string in three layers.

The bow was black, the handle a light silver, heavy in hand. When Qin Yao picked it up, it felt substantial, with a tangible texture.

Looking at the bowstring, it faintly gleamed with a metallic shine, though it was unknown what metal was used in its forging, its tension was extremely strong.

A good bow needs fitting arrows; the steward handed over the arrow tube. Qin Yao opened it to find ten oversized arrows, much thicker and longer than usual.

The full length was one meter twenty, about the thickness of a man’s finger. The arrowheads were crafted from fine steel in a triangular barb design, with tail feathers made from rare birds, each one stiff and smooth. Qin Yao couldn’t get enough of feeling them.

With such a bow and arrows in hand, not to mention shooting people, they could even pierce through warhorses!

"Steward, which master crafted this? I love it so much; I’d like to thank him personally." Qin Yao said, seemingly testing the waters with excitement, holding the bow and arrows.

She had been in Kaiyang County so long and had never heard of such a formidable craftsman.

The steward shook his head, "Miss Qin, it’s not that I don’t want to tell you, but I really don’t know either."

Just then, Song Zhang returned, changing his clothes, hearing Qin Yao’s inquiry, asking her with a smile if she was satisfied.

Qin Yao didn’t hesitate to show her affection for the bow and arrow set, she cherished it so much she couldn’t even let the string loose.

Placing an arrow on the bow, she drew it fully and then slowly released it, making the steward sweat nervously, fearing the arrow might accidentally fly out.

Ordinary people couldn’t even draw the bow fully, yet Qin Yao could pull it completely and gently let go, which was unimaginable strength for most.

If conditions were different, Qin Yao would certainly prefer handling a hefty assault rifle over several dozen pounds.

However, having received this Divine Arm Bow today, she was very satisfied.

It would be perfect if she could also find out the master’s whereabouts.

Qin Yao asked straightforwardly, yet Song Zhang didn’t hide any intentions to conceal from her, regrettably saying:

"Speaking of it, it’s quite the encounter; the master was wandering near Kaiyang County’s boundaries, and I just happened to meet him, hence this bow and arrow set was given to Miss Qin."

"If you were to seek him out intentionally, I’m afraid it would be difficult to find him easily."

Qin Yao thought to herself, "As if I believe you."

However, she could guess that Song Zhang had invested quite a bit for this bow and arrow, and he likely didn’t want such a dangerous person as her to meet with such a craftsman.

As she herself could hardly guarantee not to force the craftsman to forge a heaven-defying weapon.

"Well, if we can’t meet, we can’t meet." Qin Yao thought it through, skillfully shouldering the bow and arrow, smiling, "The world is vast; why worry about lacking craftsmen?"

If this set of bow and arrow could last a lifetime, wouldn’t that be another kind of fortune?

The real worry was that next time someone like Song Zhang would come, each task becoming more challenging than the last.

Tidying up the bow and arrows, Qin Yao stood up and instructed Song Zhang: "Once your term is over, don’t come looking for me again."

Song Zhang’s expression briefly turned awkward, "Ahem," he coughed uncomfortably, weakly saying: "There’s something I wanted to discuss with Miss Qin, would it be convenient?"

Qin Yao: "It’s not convenient!"

Song Zhang: "..."

After all, considering he is the County Magistrate, Qin Yao followed Song Zhang to the back courtyard of the county government, peeking through the vase-like gate at the women inside, feeling lost, helpless, and quietly sobbing.

The truth was laid bare, Song Zhang stopped pretending and laid his cards on the table.

"These women have nowhere to go, and no place is willing to take them in. I’ve heard Miss Qin’s stationery factory is hiring women; could you give these poor women a place to stay?"

After speaking, Song Zhang noticed the smile Qin Yao wore when she received the bow and arrow was gone. She was now expressionless, staring at him with a dangerous look.

Qin Yao said gravely, "My lord, do you think I’m running a charity? The factory already has enough staff, and there’s even a surplus due to family connections. I can’t take in these twenty-three women with my little stationery factory."

Song Zhang furrowed his brows slightly, anxiously saying: "But only you can take them in, are we just going to watch them have no way out and jump into the river to die?"

Qin Yao was speechless enough not to even want to be angry, feeling as if they were simply trying to fleece her.

Qin Yao looked at Song Zhang, reminding him word by word: "You should not be coming to me with this issue, my lord. You should ask the other factory owners why they don’t hire women workers."

Picking up her bag, Qin Yao turned around and left in large strides.

Upon reaching the door, she turned back to remind, "Don’t forget my knife and the people you promised me."

"By the way, a word of advice: to truly solve a problem, one must understand its root cause and resolve it."

Rather than imposing moral blackmail on an innocent bystander like her.

Song Zhang paused for a moment before reluctantly agreeing, "The people will be sent to you tomorrow..."

As the words fell, the person had already vanished.

Song Zhang massaged his forehead, feeling frustrated enough to want to break something to vent his anger.

However, being a mature middle-aged man, he quickly restrained such impulsive emotions.

Even though Qin Yao’s cold rejection was unexpected, what she said was undeniably true.

Song Zhang shouted towards the outside, "Someone come!"

His personal servant hurried in, bowing his head to take orders.

Song Zhang picked up a pen and swiftly wrote ten invitation letters, instructing his servant to deliver them to the prominent families in the county, "Tell them that this lord is celebrating a birthday and invites them to dine and celebrate at home."

Attending a birthday feast requires bringing gifts. In addition to accommodating the victimized women, they could also gather some profits from these rich families.

In this way, next year’s free school could be funded, allowing children to attend.

Song Zhang is not a stubborn or inflexible person; he has his bottom lines and principles.

But, coming from a family with deep roots and long-standing influence, he also understood the ways of the officialdom inside out.

He knew exactly what approach to use with different kinds of people.

As for Qin Yao, she was indeed an exception.

Someone like her, he couldn’t control, nor could he include and use her under his command.

But as long as they maintained peace, she could be of great help to his career progression.

Qin Yao was just guiding the already treated Old Huang out of the county government’s stable when she saw the little servant beside Song Zhang leaving with an invitation in hand.

She thought, Song Zhang might still be redeemable, as he truly listened to advice.

Qin Yao led the horse out of the city, passing street vendors selling snacks, buying quite a few to take home and treat the children.

Since the New Year, they hadn’t bought snacks in a long time.

Not just the kids, even she was craving them.

"Ma’am! Ma’am!"

"Here! Here it is!"

Qin Yao had just led the horse out of the city gate when a familiar voice called from ahead.

Surprised, she raised her eyes to see that Liu Ji had shown up.