Chapter 136: No Need to Rush

Lin Miaomiao nodded after hearing Li Yanhe’s words and asked, "Since this place is so poor, why was it assigned to you?"

Li Yanhe glanced at her and replied, "Banditry is rampant here. But these are not professional bandits. Sometimes it’s an entire family, where the men are all part of the banditry. The reason it’s like this is simply because they are too poor."

Hearing this explanation, Lin Miaomiao fell silent for a moment.

Li Yanhe sighed and said to her, "So, our upcoming task will be heavy. But what of it? My wife loves to earn silver, and I am here to back her up."

A beautiful smile blossomed on Lin Miaomiao’s lips at his words. Watching her by the candlelight, Li Yanhe leaned over and kissed her.

"My wife, it’s late. Let us rest," he said in a low, husky voice.

Lin Miaomiao blushed as she looked at him in the candlelight, and soon, sounds that would make one’s heart race drifted out from the room.

The next day, when Lin Miaomiao woke up, her waist and back ached. She inwardly cursed Li Yanhe for his lack of restraint and glared at him while clutching her waist.

Noticing her gaze, Li Yanhe winked at her and said, "Miaomiao, you cannot blame your husband!"

Watching him say such things in broad daylight, she thought to herself, "Who said the ancients were reserved? Isn’t the man in front of me a pure-blooded ancient?"

Despite her thoughts, she retorted without mercy, "How unrefined! If your teacher heard this, he would likely be weeping in the latrine."

Li Yanhe chuckled softly and replied, "I have never claimed to be a scholar, so how can it be considered unrefined?"

Hearing his flowery, pedantic speech, Lin Miaomiao suddenly felt that her years of literature classes had been in vain. How was it that she, a college graduate, couldn’t even keep up with his wit?

To hide her embarrassment, she stuffed a pastry from the table into her mouth. Perhaps she was too hurried, for she immediately began to choke.

Li Yanhe, sitting on a stone stool nearby, silently poured her some water. After taking a sip and patting her chest, she snapped, "It’s all your fault!"

Li Yanhe nodded without a word. Just then, a voice rang out from the courtyard: "Sister-in-law is in high spirits, flirting with my cousin in the middle of the day."

Lin Miaomiao’s face flushed red at the arrival of Yuan Lin, who offered Li Yanhe a casual, informal greeting.

Yuan Lin sat down beside Lin Miaomiao and asked curiously, "When I get married in the future, I want to be like you, Sister-in-law—to find someone who truly understands my heart."

Li Yanhe glanced at Yuan Lin and said coldly, "You are an unmarried maiden; you should be more cautious with your speech."

Ignoring him, Yuan Lin turned to Lin Miaomiao and asked, "Sister-in-law, what do you think?"

Lin Miaomiao smiled, nodded, and replied, "Naturally, one should find someone they can talk to when getting married. If you wed someone you cannot communicate with, why bother? If you can’t share a conversation every day, wouldn’t that be incredibly dull?"

Yuan Lin clapped her hands in delight. "Sister-in-law is truly a remarkable person, quite different from my father and cousin."

Lin Miaomiao nodded, adding, "That is true, but one must still follow the rules at times."

Yuan Lin paused, looking at her with confusion. "Sister-in-law, what do you mean by that?"

Lin Miaomiao looked at Li Yanhe, then back at Yuan Lin, and said slowly, "It means that sometimes, one must adhere to the rules. Only when you are sufficiently excellent will you meet people who are equally excellent. When you meet such people, your life becomes fresh, and you have different topics to discuss."

Yuan Lin was stunned for a moment, then looked at Lin Miaomiao’s slightly girlish expression and pouted, "Actually, I know what you’re saying isn’t unreasonable; I just don’t want to be bound by convention."

Lin Miaomiao nodded. She understood Yuan Lin’s thoughts perfectly. Back in her own adolescence, she had been just as rebellious, refusing to follow any rules. Her justification at the time had been, "I am who I am, a different kind of spark." She had believed she could break societal norms, save the world, and reign supreme. Though it was a bit childish, it was indeed something she had once done.

Seeing Lin Miaomiao fall silent, licking her lips with a mischievous glint in her eyes, Li Yanhe knew she was thinking of something fun.

"Do you have something amusing to share with me?" he asked with a faint smile.

Lin Miaomiao nodded and said, "When I was around Yuan Lin’s age, I was obsessed with comics, especially those about hot-blooded youths. My dream wasn’t to study hard, but to roam the world with a sword, save humanity, or perhaps become the woman behind a powerful king or a domineering CEO..."

As she spoke, she burst into laughter. Although Li Yanhe didn’t quite understand what she meant, he waited for her to finish.

Seeing their confusion, she cleared her throat and explained, "It means that when I was young, I felt studying was useless. I read books unrelated to my studies, full of romance, and felt I could be just like the heroines in those stories."

"Do you know what a heroine is?" she asked.

Yuan Lin thought for a moment and replied, "You mean the women in those tales of romance?"

Lin Miaomiao nodded. "Exactly. I felt I could be that kind of woman—the one behind a successful man."

Yuan Lin smiled. "But Sister-in-law, you *are* the woman behind a successful man now!"

Lin Miaomiao waved her hand. "I’m grown up and mature now, aren't I? Back then, I was just a child, having wild thoughts, until my mother ruthlessly suppressed them."

Yuan Lin nodded. "As expected, adults never understand why we have such thoughts."

Lin Miaomiao smiled and shook her head. "It’s not that they don’t understand our world. It’s because wanting those things without first achieving anything is groundless. Everything requires a foundation."

Yuan Lin nodded. "Sister-in-law is right. From now on, I will practice martial arts diligently and become a capable general."

Lin Miaomiao patted her shoulder. "That’s right. Once you become a great general, I’ll rely on you to open factories and earn big money."

The two shared a laugh. Li Yanhe shook his head with a smile and told Nanny Zhao, who was standing behind him, "Tell the kitchen that Yuan Lin will be staying for lunch."

After Nanny Zhao bowed and left, Lin Miaomiao suddenly looked up at Li Yanhe and asked, "Why aren't you at work?"

Li Yanhe smiled charmingly, holding his folding fan, and replied, "With my wife by my side, how could I bear to leave her to go to work?"

Yuan Lin, sitting next to them, burst out laughing and immediately exposed his lie: "Cousin is currently busy cleaning up the local security. My father orders the soldiers to patrol every day, hoping to suppress the banditry."

Lin Miaomiao frowned and said to Li Yanhe, "The common people here have turned to banditry because of poverty. I think you are being too hasty. Instead of relying solely on force, why not use the law?"

"Save the manpower and resources to focus on the economy. Once the economy improves and people are fed and clothed, they naturally won’t turn to banditry. As for the bandits you’ve already caught, you could educate them and release them."

Li Yanhe frowned. "But what about the violent ones?"

"Of course, that’s not what I meant!" Lin Miaomiao shook her head. "Once you establish the law, those who break it must be punished accordingly. Besides, beating them until they are half-dead doesn’t help; it only makes them feel the government isn’t truly for the people."

"Why not have the lawbreakers serve their sentences by repairing bridges or roads? That way, you save on expenses while benefiting the public. Of course, even though they are prisoners, they are still human; you must balance their labor and rest."

Li Yanhe nodded thoughtfully. "That is a good method. I will draft a complete set of laws in my study and have the experts review and refine them."

Lin Miaomiao nodded. "Good things take time. Don't be too hasty, or you’ll lose the hearts of the people."

Yuan Lin looked at Lin Miaomiao with shining eyes. "Sister-in-law is truly brilliant."