Qin Yao’s eyes darkened, she quickly put away her notebook, turned calmly, and looked around.

A group of house servants and women were coming down the road.

Exiting to inspect her manor, Mrs. Ding, who was passing by the clan school, was sitting on the palanquin high carried by the house servants.

And the one scolding Qin Yao was the woman in coarse clothes in front of Mrs. Ding.

Seeing that the sneaky person leaning on the wall of the clan school was Qin Yao, Mrs. Ding’s previously lazy squint suddenly widened, showing undisguised contempt.

"Why is this village woman from Liu Family Village here?" she asked in a low voice, questioning the woman in front of her.

The woman in coarse clothing immediately shouted at Qin Yao, "Why are you sneaking around our Ding Family School?"

Qin Yao showed no panic or anger, walked forward calmly, and pointed to the front farm area, saying, "I came to look at my farm and incidentally pick up the children from school, is there a problem?"

Her good-natured and straightforward reason left the woman in coarse clothing momentarily stunned, and her originally angry demeanor crumbled somewhat, leaving her at a loss for words.

Qin Yao ignored her, came to the front of the team, saluted Mrs. Ding as a junior, and said with a small smile:

"Qin Yao, the village head of Liu Family Village, greets the Old Madam."

While saluting, her hand seemed to carelessly lift the corner of her clothes a little, revealing the shiny golden small copper seal at her waist.

Mrs. Ding was not at the age of bad eyesight yet, her vision was quite sharp.

Precisely because her eyesight was so good, Qin Yao had just bowed, and Mrs. Ding saw the small copper seal at her waist, and was so shocked she sat up straight.

Could this coarse, uncultured village woman really become a village head?

Moreover, this land on her Ding Family Manor actually belonged to her too?

A woman, by her own abilities, earned one hundred acres of high-quality farmland and also became the head of a village?

To the conservative Mrs. Ding, this seemed crazier than a story made up by stage actors.

"You, you..." Too shocked, she found herself unable to speak.

The other seemed unfazed by her shock, finishing her greeting and standing up to kindly advise, "Old Madam, you are of advanced age, still coming out to inspect the manor. The sun is intense, you must be careful not to get heatstroke."

The woman in coarse clothing finally came to herself and retorted angrily, "Our Old Madam is in good health, no need for you, a village woman, to worry about it. For a woman to show her face openly, it’s inappropriate behavior..."

"Xingzhi!" Mrs. Ding sharply interrupted, stopping the woman in coarse clothing who was about to continue rambling.

Xingzhi looked back, feeling wronged, at her Old Madam.

If there weren’t outsiders present, Mrs. Ding would surely have jumped off the palanquin to give this foolish woman a slap.

All this talk of ’showing face openly’ while inspecting the manor, who here is being inappropriate!

Qin Yao chuckled and said, "Aunt Xingzhi, it’s the New Dynasty now, noble ladies from noble families can enter military camps and become generals. I just came out to look at the manor, and the Old Madam also came out to inspect the manor, how is that inappropriate for women to show their face?"

Mrs. Ding’s face turned black in an instant; she knew this rugged village woman wouldn’t let the foolish woman off for her slip of the tongue.

Seeing Xingzhi’s expression change on hearing this, she hurriedly squatted down and pleaded for forgiveness, and Mrs. Ding, angry at her foolishness, ordered angrily, "Stand down!"

Xingzhi, knowing she had misspoken, crawled to the back of the team in a hurry to ensure she wouldn’t hinder the Old Madam’s view, then stood up, bowed her head, and silently regretted.

Qin Yao tutted twice, "Old Madam, you should let the servants read more books, lest they remain ignorant of the changes outside and embarrass you by not knowing what’s going on."

Having said her piece, the school bell rang, and not giving Mrs. Ding a chance to give her cold eyes, Qin Yao spoke first, "The school is dismissed, I must attend to other things first, Old Madam, take care."

With that said, Qin Yao turned around and strode toward the school gate.

Mrs. Ding squinted as she watched her walk away, making sure she couldn’t hear her own voice before she asked her house servant in a low voice, with a hint of surprise, "Now noble ladies can really enter military camps and become generals?"

The house servant replied uncertainly, "In response to the Old Madam, it seems that last time the young master came back from the Capital, he did mention that a newly promoted third place scholar was teased on the street by female soldiers patrolling..."

Speaking this far, the house servant quickly glanced up at the Old Madam’s expression. Seeing she didn’t react with her usual anger, he nodded and added:

"So, what the village head of Liu Family Village said should be true."

Otherwise, how could a woman from Liu Family Village become a village head? the house servant thought in amazement.

Mrs. Ding fell silent, as if she were trying hard to imagine the scene of the third-place scholar being teased on the street by the female soldiers of the Capital.

But this never-before-seen event was something she couldn’t imagine no matter how she tried.

Instead, it was at the gate of the Ding Clan School, where the woman who stood out like a crane among chickens, spread her arms, caught the Dragon and Phoenix Twins, and threw them high, laughing heartily, that provided a more striking visual impact.

"She truly is full of vigor!" Mrs. Ding clicked her tongue.

This tone was neither contemptuous nor surprised; rather, it revealed some envy.

Envying her youth, envying her freedom from the constraints of traditional etiquette, boldly living a different possibility for women.

Mrs. Ding suddenly felt a bit of regret, regretting refusing her eldest son’s invitation years ago and not going to the Capital with him and his two sons to see what the outside world was really like.

"Let’s go," Mrs. Ding ordered.

Only then did the group leave in a grand, mighty procession.

"Aunt Yao, it’s Mrs. Ding," Da Lang was the last one to get on the cart, glanced at the long procession moving away, and pointed it out to Qin Yao.

The excitement of seeing his stepmother coming to pick them up had made him overlook this, only realizing it when he got on the cart.

Qin Yao nodded, signaling for him to get into the carriage, "Sit tight and we’ll set off."

Seeing that his stepmother didn’t intend to discuss Mrs. Ding, Da Lang didn’t ask further. He placed the book box into the cart and sat himself down on the cart shaft.

"They’re too noisy, I want to sit outside," Da Lang explained with his little scheme, looking solemn.

Qin Yao, amused, grabbed the young man’s arm and pulled him closer to her, "Stay closer to me, don’t fall off."

"Okay." Da Lang’s mouth curled up high, taking the reins but reluctant to whip Old Huang, he patted the horse’s backside with his hand, "Old Huang, let’s go home!"

The cart began to move, and the five children in the carriage started shouting, inexplicably excited.

Passing a junction leading to the town street, Qin Yao stopped the cart and asked them, "Hungry?"

Sanlang and Jinhua immediately shouted, "I’m hungry, I’m hungry!"

Second Lang sneered at them, thinking they just wanted to snack.

Qin Yao indulged them, calling Da Lang, Second Lang, and Jinbao, the elder brothers, off the cart, giving each of them a string of one hundred coins, "Go to the town and see if there’s anything delicious, we’ll wait here for you, hurry up!"

Actually, she was craving too, they couldn’t leave town for nothing, right?

"Third Aunt, I like you the most, you’re the best~" Jinhua clung to the cart door frame, saying sweetly and playfully.

Si Niang quickly added, "My mother is the best mother in the whole world!"

Qin Yao’s lips curved slightly, clearly showing she was pleased with the little girls’ flattery.