Volume One, Chapter 18: She Toppled the Young Master of Her Household

The village chief cast a judging gaze their way.

“Young lady, are these your words?”

Yin Tiantian admitted openly.

“Village Chief, I said it! Because the land he’s farming was reclaimed by my parents over three years of hard work. It finally bore crops, and they came and snatched it to plant, claiming this patch was wasteland and whoever planted first owned it! Village Chief, isn’t this bullying?”

The chief then turned to the Gao family.

“Is what the young lady says true?”

Gao Xing argued slyly, “Village Chief, this land can’t be claimed just because they planted first. You can check the Fish Scale Land Register; this patch is unowned. Unowned land is wasteland—whoever cultivates it first owns it! The farming season’s almost over, and since my sons and I have time today, we came to plant. That’s not wrong, is it?”

The village chief was responsible for the land and population in nearby villages and towns, appointed by the court, so everyone had to heed his authority.

Indeed, the Fish Scale Land Register showed no owner for this plot. Gao family’s act of planting first was unscrupulous but not illegal.

“Do you have anything more to say, young lady?”

Yin Tiantian was pondering a strategy when Cui Heng suddenly spoke.

“Village Chief, according to our dynasty’s laws, wasteland may be cultivated by anyone. After three years of reclamation, one may report to the government and have the land registered as private property.”

“If the crop is sown this season, the Shen family can apply for ownership.”

Gao Xing smirked mockingly at the Shen family.

“But now that I have planted, the law protects any land with crops from being damaged! Any mischief before harvest can land someone in prison!”

He thought this would intimidate Cui Heng.

Yin Tiantian felt troubled. Having lived two lifetimes, how had she known nothing? She almost implicated her family!

Cui Heng sneered.

“Wasteland can be farmed by anyone and harvested by anyone. It’s unowned land—whoever collects the grain owns it. Village Chief, the law forbids stealing crops from others’ land, but does it forbid harvesting crops grown on wasteland?”

Wasteland isn’t private property and isn’t protected by law. The law can’t safeguard the Shen family’s use of this land now, nor can it protect the Gao family’s harvest next year!

The Gao family wanting to plant now is fine. Next year, when his leg heals, he can come to harvest without sowing seed, so it isn’t a loss for them!

“You’re being shameless!”

Gao Xing’s eyes widened. He’d never met anyone more unscrupulous. Now he’d learned his lesson!

“Our family provided the seeds. If you dare steal our grain, just try it!”

Relying on his size and many able-bodied men, he didn’t take Cui Heng seriously.

Coincidentally, Cui Heng didn’t take him seriously either.

“Do you think I’m afraid?”

Even on one leg, he could throw him into the ditch between fields. When his leg healed fully, even the entire Gao family wouldn’t be a match.

Tensions rose; neither side would back down.

“Enough!” the village chief interrupted. “Reclaiming wasteland follows a first-come, first-served rule. Since the Shen family reclaimed this land first, the Gao family’s planting is usurpation. You’re in the wrong, yet you dare ask me to judge?”

“I recall your Gao family owns over twenty acres. The Shen family has no private farmland and lives in the same village. You must leave them a way to live! Don’t push them to death!”

The village chief spoke, and others began condemning the Gao family, who usually bullied villagers and now showed some defiance.

“What about the wheat seeds we planted? We’ve sown half the field; surely we can’t be made to compensate for the seeds too!”

“I’ll return as much seed as you used later.”

Yin Tiantian wasn’t eager to use their wheat seed. Who knew if it was good or shriveled? If it didn’t sprout, she’d have trouble!

Seeing her back down, Gao Xing’s eyes gleamed.

“I don’t want your seed. I want the wheat seeds I planted in your field!”

Yin Tiantian snapped, “Then sieve your seeds out with a winnowing basket. It’s not like I told you to plant!”

Gao Xing had wanted to seize the harvest from those fields.

“Fine, consider us unlucky!”

He hadn’t planted much, only about two-tenths of an acre.

Yin Tiantian gave him seed for two-tenths of an acre.

“Village Chief, now that you’re here, can we apply for ownership of this land?”

Otherwise, once the village chief left, the Gao family would surely sabotage, and without catching them in the act, no one would acknowledge it!

The village chief considered this.

“Tomorrow, I’ll bring men to measure the land and register it in the Fish Scale Land Register.”

“Thank you, Village Chief!”

Yin Tiantian was fully reassured and helped Shen’s father plant the land. When they returned home that evening, Shen’s mother had already prepared dinner.

“Did you finish planting? The Gao family didn’t cause more trouble, did they?”

Yin Tiantian washed her hands and face, smiling, “Luckily, the young master was formidable. After tomorrow’s land measurement, that plot will bear the Shen name. We won’t have to worry anymore!”

After so many years of reclaiming wasteland, they had finally secured a piece!

“Thank heavens!”

In earlier years, Shen’s parents reclaimed land by the riverbank, but summer floods would wash it away, wasting a year’s toil.

The mountain land was harder to cultivate, but the old couple worked slowly and finally kept a patch!

“Once we get the deed tomorrow, we must celebrate. There’s still some meat; I’ll make some meat sauce noodles!”

There was a lively energy in Yin Tiantian’s voice. Watching them, Cui Heng glanced at his aching right leg, took out the embroidered handkerchief he kept close, and casually tossed it aside.

Everyone was striving to survive; it was time for him to let go of the past.

Yin Tiantian carried the dinner into the room.

“Young master, aren’t you going to keep this handkerchief?”

Cui Heng gave a light hum.

“No, I don’t want it.”

But Yin Tiantian folded the handkerchief neatly and tucked it back into his waistband.

“This is real silk, young master. Don’t waste it; you can use it to wipe your sweat!”

She didn’t mind his past one bit.

Cui Heng let out a soft laugh, different from before. The young master seemed relaxed.

His cold, reserved features, usually stern and a bit intimidating, softened into a smile that reminded Yin Tiantian of a phrase: like a warm spring breeze.

“Young master, your smile is truly beautiful!”

His smile was unlike that of rough country folk. The corners of his lips curled slightly, and his eyes seemed to hold deep affection. Even without looking directly at you, you could feel the warmth in his smile.

At that moment, Yin Tiantian was immersed in his smile, feeling that even if the young master asked her to die now, she would willingly comply!

Cui Heng’s dark eyes met hers, and she shuddered.

In her past life, when Shen Fuzhu abandoned her in the back quarters of the marquis’s mansion, she had blamed him for becoming corrupt with power, lost in the frivolous world of women and pleasures, unaware of direction. Would he one day die in a woman’s womb?

Now she realized she was no better.

At the moment their eyes met, a thought flashed through her mind: if she were powerful, with the marquis’s authority, she would have no hesitation in pushing down her young master!