Chapter 11

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

In the morning, Fifth Aunt could not stop worrying about whether Fifth Uncle would be discovered and revealed to be an idiot.

If he was really sent back to the farm, she was worried just thinking about how useless his muscles had been for so long.

Moreover, once she returned to the farm too, she would be a farmer. In the future, she would no longer be able to call herself the future Elementary Scholar’s wife. Then, she would be worse off than the other sisters-in-law.

Especially Eldest Aunt!

Fifth Aunt Dong despised knowing that other people felt superior toward her the most.

Eldest Aunt’s son was just getting into junior high school.

Fifth Aunt had two sons. In the future, they would definitely be Elementary Scholars or even High Scholars!

Annoyed with her family, Fifth Aunt Dong walked away resentfully.

The rest of the sisters-in-law still surrounded Old Master Dong and Old Madam Dong.

Old Master Dong’s head was buzzing from his daughters-in-law’s words. In the end, he had no choice but to pull a long face and shout in a low voice, “Why? Do you all want to ruin this family?”

With just that one sentence, he successfully intimidated the entire family.

The few restless daughters-in-law were instantly frightened and became obedient again. All of them shrank back like mice.

Even Eldest Aunt, who always had a sense of superiority, took a few steps back obediently and gave up the space.

“Er Zhuzi, did the Junior Officer say which day he wanted to start digging?” It was also at this time that Old Master Dong realized that his household was being watched. He was extremely unhappy, but he still had to be polite in front of outsiders.

Er Zhuzi had yet to leave. When he was asked this question, he hurriedly replied, “I have to leave with Lord Cai tomorrow.”

Hearing the date, Old Master Dong nodded and said, “Alright, we’ll discuss it when we get back tonight. Let’s see who will going.”

The age range for conscripts in the Dayue Dynasty was fifteen to sixty years old.

Old Master Dong was not even sixty years old yet. He had to be included in the list of conscripts!

Other than Old Master Dong, the Dong family’s other four brothers, the Dong family’s grandchildren, and two fifteen-year-olds could be conscripted too.

Actually, they only just turned fifteen years old. However, when the constables counted the heads, they might not care about these details. They would all be counted as fifteen years old.

Therefore, the total number of people the Dong family had that were eligible to serve was seven. If they split it equally, they would probably have to take at least three men away from the family.

“This is going to be interesting.” Dong Nuan could foresee that the house’s chatter would be very lively tonight. After joking her in her heart, she quietly took a few steps closer to Dong Xing.

When Dong Xing saw her coming over, she glared at her fiercely again. However, her entire body was in pain, so she could not reach out to hit her. Therefore, she turned around and went to play with Dong Miao.

Dong Miao was the eldest daughter of Eldest Uncle Dong. She was sixteen years old this year. Her skin was tanned, no different from the other girls in the village who worked all year round. Her appearance was average. Eldest Aunt Dong looked ordinary too. Eldest Uncle Dong looked alright. Dong Miao really did not inherit any positive merits from either of the two of them.

People who looked very average would not be able to picked out from a crowd.

Normally speaking, within farming families, if a girl of this age was not married yet, she should at least be engaged.

However, this was not the case for Dong Miao. The reason was very simple.

She was waiting.

Dong Miao’s brother, Dong Xu, was now a child. Next year would be the triennial village examination. Dong Xu had prepared for so long, so he would definitely participate.

Once Dong Xu passed the exam, Dong Miao would become the Elementary Scholar’s biological sister. Her family status would naturally rise. Then, the people she could marry would be of a different league.

Dong Miao was also gambling. She bet that Dong Xu would definitely be able to get into the Elementary Scholar Sect and give her the good status she needed to find a good in-law!

Therefore, even though she was already sixteen years old, she did not like it. She usually acted like Eldest Aunt, who had a sense of superiority and was very arrogant.

Seeing Dong Xing leaning over with her dumb face, Dong Miao did not hide her disdain. She covered her nose and retreated to the side. After retreating, she strode forward and quickly distanced herself from Dong Xing.

Dong Ya, who was standing at the side, was Dong Miao’s biological sister. She was only ten years old this year, which was an in-between age.

Seeing that Dong Xing had been rejected, she clapped her hands and said, “Sister Xing, do you smell very bad? My sister can’t stand to be near you! Stinky, smelly!”

After Dong Ya finished speaking, she even fanned her nose with her hand. Then, she shrank back and ran away with a look of disdain.

Dong Xing was so angry that tears fell from her eyes. She gritted her teeth and cursed.

After letting the other party vent her anger, Dong Nuan took two steps forward and smiled. “She doesn’t like you, right? Who asked her to have a brother who studies? If Dong Xu becomes a scholar, then Sister Dong Miao will marry into a good family, right? Perhaps the young masters of the rich and powerful families will find matchmakers to get their sons together with her.”

The two squires in the village were named Fugui and Jixiang. Their names suited them well. One was called Dong Fugui, and the other was called Liao Jixiang.

The Dong and Liao families made up a one big family!

Dong Nuan sighed regretfully. “What a good life, having a brother who studies. I wonder if I can get Dong Yao to go study too.”

After Dong Nuan finished speaking, she did not stay any longer, lest Dong Xing go crazy and come up to bite her again.

Dong Nuan’s goal was to fan the flames and make Dong Xing egg Second Aunt on. Second Aunt liked to cause trouble. It would be best if she could stir up the entire family.

Once she went crazy from anger, she might secretly go to town to observe.

A fool like Fifth Uncle would probably be exposed in just two days.

At that time, Second Uncle Dong’s mother would definitely tear apart Fifth Uncle’s family for her son’s benefit.

Of course, it was not enough to fan some flames.

Dong Nuan wondered, what was the point of just two branches of the family fighting?

What she wanted was for the entire family to fight. Then, no one would be able to survive.

Thinking of this, Dong Nuan looked at the famous fence-sitters in the family.

Dong Ya was young and playful. She was different from Dong Miao. She still did not understand how many benefits she reaped from having a brother who studied.

If there were two of them, the benefits would be even greater.

However, it did not matter. She did not understand. Still, Dong Nuan could teach her!

Dong Ya was a very unprincipled young lady. She was the kind of girl who would follow you just because you gave her a bean. It did not matter if you were a beggar or something else.

Dong Nuan felt that this was a really useful little cutie. Would it not be a waste to not make use of her?

Eldest Uncle’s family branch had three sons. His eldest son, Dong Xu, went to school. His second son, Dong Xing, was caught in the middle. It was said that Eldest Aunt Dong had a difficult labor when she gave birth to him, so she did not like this son very much. Naturally, he was not well-loved. He also gave up on himself and had no intention of studying.

Eldest Uncle’s youngest son, Dong Chang, was the same age as Dong Nuan. He was smart, but he did not walk the right path.

However, it did not matter. It was enough to have such a person to use. Dong Nuan did not care what exactly the other party was.

Even if he was an idiot like Fifth Uncle Dong, the Dong family had suffered once already. If Dong Chang was competing to be promoted, would the other families not keep an eye on him?

In particular, how could Fifth Uncle be willing to accept this?

The house would definitely be very lively later.

Thinking of this, Dong Nuan smiled into the morning light.