Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

Chapter 1329 Take it down in one fell swoop!

It was late at night when the carriage arrived in Tongan County.

Yu Shizhang was snoring loudly, Xu Yunyan was frowning in pain, and Shen Zheng said in a breathy voice, "You guys go back to the county office first, Hua Duo and I will go to the inn."

Xu Yunyan glanced at Yu Shizhang, who was snoring with his mouth open, and said in a low voice, "My lord, may I go with you..."

"That won't do!" Shen Zheng immediately refused. "What would you be doing meeting someone's bride in the middle of the night?"

If Wei Jing finds out, won't he be extremely jealous?

Xu Yunyan was slightly taken aback, but immediately replied, "This humble official will wait for you in the main hall and will absolutely not go in."

Shen Zheng was silent for a moment: "You really want to go?"

Xu Yunyan glanced at Yu Shizhang again and nodded: "I want to."

"Alright then." Shen Zheng lifted a corner of the carriage curtain, called for the carriage to stop in a low voice, and got out of the carriage one after the other with Xu Yunyan.

Whether it was her imagination or not, the wind in Tongan County seemed gentler than in the prefectural city.

The night was quiet, and the footsteps of the three people were scattered. After a while, Shen Zheng saw a string of red lanterns.

The inn is exceptionally bright tonight.

The lanterns on the eaves are red, the flowers on the steps are red, even the cloth hanging on the gate is red, and under the cloth, there are two people dressed in red.

people?

Red clothes?

Or two?

Shen Zheng's intuition told her that something was wrong!

She looked closely and was slightly surprised: "Wei Jing?"

Why is the groom at the bride's house?

Wei Jing turned his head, startled: "My lord?!"

Manniang covered her mouth: "Oh dear..."

They met before the wedding and were discovered.

"What are you doing here?" Shen Zheng pushed open the small fence wrapped in red silk and walked towards Wei Jing. "Didn't we say... you two can't see each other the day before the wedding?"

These two couldn't even stand it for a single day?!

Whether it was the lamplight or not, Wei Jing's face was flushed: "M-My lord, please don't blame Man'er. I was so excited about marrying Man'er tomorrow that I couldn't sleep at night and couldn't help but come over and force Man'er to meet me..."

Shen Zheng: "......"

OK OK.

Having lived two lives, I'm finally going to be the one to break up a couple!

With excitement in her heart, Shen Zheng took two steps up the steps, put her arm around Man Niang, waved to Wei Jing, and said the classic line: "Tonight, I will pretend I have never seen you. Hurry up and leave."

Wei Jing breathed a sigh of relief, then secretly glanced at Man Niang again: "Man'er, I'll go back now. I'll come pick you up tomorrow..."

Shen Zheng: "...Go on!"

Wei Jing reluctantly turned back every few steps, but was finally "sent off" by Xu Yunyan. The closed inn door completely cut off his view.

Inside the hall, seeing the smile on Man Niang's face, Shen Zheng sighed and said, "Bride, you won't be able to sleep tonight either, will you?"

Man Niang's smile widened: "I can't sleep... Just thinking about getting him tomorrow makes my heart pound! You have no idea, when he used to stay behind to help keep watch, he was like a monk, absolutely refusing to touch me..."

"Cough cough cough cough—" Shen Zheng choked on a mouthful of tea, and before she could even wipe it away, she quickly raised her hand to stop him: "Stop! If you keep talking about pornography!"

"Involving pornography?" Man Niang asked, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Shen Zheng: "...It's about matters of the bedroom, not suitable for children, so there's no need to go into details."

Manniang pouted, "We're both women, it's fine to talk about it privately. Besides, I've told you about how long I've been eyeing him, and no one else knows..."

Shen Zheng picked up her teacup, using drinking tea to cover up her embarrassment.

I never expected... Wei Jing was actually a man of integrity.

On second thought, it actually makes sense.

He must have respected Man Niang a lot to be able to... well, remain unmoved by her presence.

"Anyway, you'll get what you want tomorrow night." Shen Zheng thought she had said something quite suggestive: "On our wedding night, I'll win him over!"

Man Niang reached out and twirled a strand of hair behind her ear, blinking, "Of course."

Shen Zheng smiled and started making conversation: "By the way, have you met his parents before? What are they like? Are they easy to get along with?"

“Everything is fine.” Man Niang lowered her head and picked at her nails. “Actually, as long as you choose the right man, there is no difficult in-law family to get along with. A man who truly cares about his wife would rather suffer in the middle himself than let his wife be the one to fight on the front lines.”

Shen Zheng didn't quite understand these things, but she gradually began to listen.

Manniang continued, "As you know, with my parents gone, in some families' eyes, I'm someone who's 'without support,' 'without help,' and 'at the mercy of my in-laws.' Forget about a grand wedding procession; these families might not even be willing to prepare a proper betrothal gift. They might even deliberately neglect you, saying things like, 'We'll definitely treat you like our own daughter from now on,' but in reality, they know very well that if you don't have any skills, you'll always be an outsider in their home."

Shen Zheng fell silent upon hearing this, and couldn't help but wonder, what is the essence of marriage?

Is it love?

Is it a material exchange?

Or is it natural selection of humans as social animals?

Or are all three possible?

This is a very complex issue.

As she pondered, Manniang's voice came again: "But the Weijing family probably doesn't think that way, because you are here."

"Me?" Shen Zheng asked, slightly puzzled.

Man Niang laughed: "Do you know why Wei Jing asked you to be the witness at the wedding?"

Shen Zheng pondered for a moment, then suddenly realized: "He'll tell his family that he only agreed to be the officiant because he's good friends with you?"

Man Niang nodded with her eyes still curved: "In that case, the Wei family will all know that you are my great support and they will never bully me. Besides... his parents bought a house in Quanyang County and settled down. From now on, Wei Jing and I will stay in the backyard of the inn and will not live with them. In this way, there will be no conflict."

Shen Zheng clapped her hands: "That's true."

After a moment, she added, "And he wasn't wrong. You are not only the manager of Tong'an Inn, but also my good friend."

Looking at it from another angle, if the person Wei Jing was marrying wasn't Man Niang, why would he have rushed back overnight to be the witness at this wedding?

The night is getting darker.

The two discussed the wedding arrangements for the next day. Outside the door, the lanterns swayed in the evening breeze, casting shadows that moved left and right, sometimes long and sometimes short.

......

The next day, Shen Zheng got up early to get ready.

Before heading to the wedding banquet, Fang Ziyan specially showed everyone the wedding gift he had prepared—a large gold cake.

Not to be outdone, Cui Jinyin also presented her own gift—an even larger gold ingot.

These two gifts are not fancy at all, but they are full of sincerity.

Fang Ziyan felt outshone by Cui Jinyin and tried to salvage the situation: "My father and older brother are going too! The gifts they've prepared will definitely be more valuable than mine!"

Upon hearing this, Cui Jinyin pulled out an even larger gold ingot: "I've also prepared one for my uncle!"

"..."

Fang Ziyan conceded defeat, grabbed the gold ingot box, and ran away, calling out, "Zhao Qi, wait for me!"

The group boarded the carriage and headed towards Quanyang County in a grand procession.

There are quite a few people from Tongan County attending this wedding today. Just the people from the county government and county school alone can fill at least ten tables, not to mention the other invited commoners and merchants.

Amidst the bustling noise, one large ship after another slowly docked at the pier.