The sheep pen is relatively easy to set up; only the rams have to be raised separately, otherwise they’ll fight. Later, when building a pigsty, there also needs to be a pool with running water for easy washing and to keep things sanitary.

If they raise chickens, they’ll have to clip their beaks, otherwise the chickens will peck at each other and fight, even peck at the anus and pull the intestines out. Chicks are weak, once injured they’ll definitely die.

Once there’s more livestock, the manure can be used to make fertilizer to enrich the fields. In this era there are no breeding farms; manure fertilizer has to be bought, and even one shoulder-load costs a Copper Coin.

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For other people, getting cement is incredibly difficult. Yin Shuangshuang only had to send up a secret memorial, and the Emperor immediately had a trusted aide deliver a huge batch of cement and told Yin Shuangshuang to use it as she pleased.

From the time the secret memorial went up to when the cement was delivered, in the blink of an eye spring had warmed and flowers were blooming. The county soldiers began building houses for those common people whose tongues had been cut out, on the plots of land Yin Shuangshuang had designated.

Yin Shuangshuang didn’t use these county soldiers for nothing; on top of their original salaries, she gave them extra wages. These county soldiers also had families to support.

During spring planting, if a household loses one strong laborer, the rest of the family has to take on a lot more. If they can’t bring home more pay, there might be trouble at home.

Yin Shuangshuang thought of those petty accounts back at the Yin Family where even eating an egg had to be calculated to the last bit. Common folk are just like that; though most aren’t as extreme as Old Master Yin, they definitely don’t just not care at all.

Small conflicts piled up over time are nothing to scoff at. Since Yin Shuangshuang understood this, she naturally had to think a bit more for these county soldiers.

Because they could earn extra wages, the county soldiers were very happy, and each of them worked with great enthusiasm.

These houses were Yin Shuangshuang’s compensation to these common people, so all the material costs came out of that thirty million taels of Silver. At the same time, Yin Shuangshuang also compensated each person with ten taels of Silver.

In this dynasty, a strong laborer can earn at most two taels of Silver a year. Yin Shuangshuang was essentially giving them five years’ wages, while they had been imprisoned for less than three years.

These common people were raised very well by Yin Shuangshuang. People at this time are still used to eating two meals a day. Yin Shuangshuang had them eat two solid meals in the morning and at noon, and a thick porridge at night, with at least one meat dish every day.

With such careful nourishment, although it’s impossible to restore them completely, getting them back to the point where they can do some farm work is no problem. Right now these common people are busy planting Chinese milk vetch.

The pay Yin Shuangshuang offered them was generous. The calves and lambs at the start of the breeding were all young stock she brought in through the trade routes of Mrs. Bai Hengru’s Chu Family; these people only had to raise them according to Yin Shuangshuang’s requirements.

Yin Shuangshuang paid them wages. If the animals died, she would take the loss. If they were raised well, she and they would split the newborn young stock twenty–eighty: Yin Shuangshuang eighty, they twenty.

Although Yin Shuangshuang took care of them wholeheartedly and didn’t care about this bit of profit, "a peck of rice is kindness, a bushel is hatred"; she didn’t want the people she was supporting to develop a sense of dependence and turn into the sort who only know how to reach up their hands and ask for benefits.

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In the brilliant spring light, Yin Shuangshuang took Wang Ruibo and Wang Ruiqi, Luo Linlang and Gao Ya, four of them, along with a dozen guards, to go on an outing outside Qinglin County and, in passing, inspect the common people’s spring plowing.

Along the way, whenever the common people saw Yin Shuangshuang, they were all extremely enthusiastic. Common people would often bring out the best food they had at home and offer it to Yin Shuangshuang; you could see how much they cherished this County Magistrate. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Ever since there was no more Chai Pengfei, Hu Bingchen, Xu Huirong, and those evil arrest officers and constables, plus Wang Ruibo leading people to massively round up those street bullies and hooligans who oppressed the common people and sending them all off to dig at the iron mines—

Now, public security in Qinglin County is excellent. There are no constables extorting money and oppressing the common people. On the contrary, if they run into commoners in difficulty, they’ll lend a hand, and the common people’s impression of the constables has greatly improved.

With the common people’s lives easier, they are deeply grateful to Yin Shuangshuang as County Magistrate. Yin Shuangshuang hasn’t gone on patrol in the streets for a long time, because once she goes out, the common people, no longer afraid of officials, will surround her so tightly she can’t move an inch.

In the villages it was a lively scene of spring farming. Yin Shuangshuang sat in the carriage, watching the common people working with smiles all over their faces, and felt a deep peace in her heart.

Gao Ya smiled beside her with a very nostalgic look: "When Father was still alive, every spring he would take my mother and me out on spring outings as well. The common people we saw back then also wore smiles like this."

"They treated my father with the same enthusiasm they show you, my Lady, and would give him some food from home. Every time it made Father very embarrassed. No matter how he kept refusing, by the time we went home the carriage would still be full of things."

Yin Shuangshuang smiled but didn’t respond. This was nothing yet; right now the common people were only free from oppression, nothing more. They were still poor, and even filling their stomachs was hard.

The carriage stopped under a wild Xinghua grove. At this moment the Xinghua trees were in full bloom, the scenery very beautiful, and under the grove a small river wound its way along.

The river surface, under the sunlight, glittered with dazzling ripples, incomparably lovely. Yin Shuangshuang walked to a very tall Xinghua tree. This Xinghua tree was quite old, with a huge canopy; lifting her eyes, she saw blossoms all over the tree, as brilliant as rosy clouds.

On a sudden impulse, Yin Shuangshuang couldn’t help it—she lifted her hands, wrapping her left arm around Luo Linlang and her right around Gao Ya, putting on the look of a lecherous official.

"Out on an excursion today with beauties in both arms, how very delightful. You two Beauties, faced with such fine scenery, I’m in excellent spirits. Show me some of your best skills—please me, and there’ll be hefty rewards!"

Luo Linlang reacted fast. She immediately let out a coquettish laugh, her waist twisting like a water snake, tossed a seductive wink, and spoke in a sugary voice: "Since my Lord is in such good spirits, how about this humble one sings you ’Eighteen Touches’?"

Her voice rose and fell in waves, and she even twisted and rubbed herself against Yin Shuangshuang, literally rubbing a full body of goosebumps out of Yin Shuangshuang.

The corner of Yin Shuangshuang’s mouth twitched; she had forgotten this one was an Oiran by trade, she’d seen every grand scene there was and wasn’t afraid of this in the least.

Once Luo Linlang finished her performance, Gao Ya beside them also reacted. She was even bolder; she directly sprawled onto Yin Shuangshuang’s shoulder and blew a breath into her ear.

That breath brought back all the goosebumps that had just subsided on Yin Shuangshuang’s body. Gao Ya, eyes misty with charm, said, "My Lord, what’s so fun about singing? Let’s talk in bed."

Yin Shuangshuang shivered. Miscalculated—Gao Ya might not be an Oiran, but she was an even bigger daredevil.

In the end, Yin Shuangshuang, who had started out teasing them, fled in utter defeat, leaving Gao Ya and Luo Linlang standing under the Xinghua tree, hands on their hips, laughing uproariously.

It was rare to see the usually infallible, unshakably composed Lady in such a sorry, scrambling retreat; they were determined to remember this scene for a lifetime.

Wang Ruibo and Wang Ruiqi, watching from the side, had the corners of their mouths twitching, at a complete loss for words. They just felt Luo Linlang and Gao Ya were becoming more and more... like men.

An illusion, it had to be an illusion, the two of them kept hypnotizing themselves.

After the fun and laughter, Yin Shuangshuang still headed straight for the real destination of today’s outing: a manor she had long since bought.