Transmigrated Leftover Woman in Rural Style

Chapter 318 Under the Night

Today, Juleyuan Park was exceptionally lively, bustling with servants and hired laborers coming and going, as well as the wives of officials arriving in carriages.

Since most of those invited were women and children, the servants were mostly daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law.

However, inevitably, some people will use this opportunity to go on blind dates.

Therefore, Li Xiaonuan had already drawn a line between men and women beforehand.

Fortunately, the barbecue area at Juleyuan Park is divided into three sections, surrounding a small pool. This avoids men and women being seated in the same place.

As carriages entered Juleyuan Park one after another, Li Xiaonuan also got busy.

Normally, she would be the least willing to deal with those kinds of people. But for the sake of Zhoucun's future development, Li Xiaonuan had no choice but to bite the bullet and step forward.

Fortunately, Granny Jin had experience in this area, so Li Xiaonuan didn't need to worry too much.

The guards at Juleyuan today were borrowed from outside by Guard Tian. As for who those guards were, Li Xiaonuan had no idea. In any case, they weren't among those Li Xiaonuan had exiled.

"Moyun, I keep feeling like someone is watching me, glaring at me with a lot of resentment. But every time I turn around, I can't see who it is. Could you keep an eye out for me? I don't want anything to happen today that could affect the future development of our village." Sang Moyun had been dragged along by Li Xiaonuan to help.

Taking advantage of a moment, Li Xiaonuan told Sang Moyun about her worries.

Ever since she had this feeling last time, Li Xiaonuan has felt uneasy every time she comes to Juleyuan.

"Really? Then I'll have to take a good look. I mean, you should have cleared the area when you noticed something was wrong. What's the use of telling me now?" Sang Moyun pouted, feeling that Li Xiaonuan was far too careless.

"I didn't think too much about it at the time. I just thought those people wanted to catch a glimpse of the princess." Li Xiaonuan joked, not wanting to ruin the atmosphere.

"Hmph, you're just being cheeky. Let's see what you'll do when something really happens." Sang Moyun glanced to the side, then went to find Guard Ueda.

Li Xiaonuan shrugged helplessly, mustered all her energy, and went to greet the important guests.

It was still early morning, and all the guests had just finished breakfast before leaving home. Therefore, Li Xiaonuan did not have them start grilling immediately.

So the ladies and young women began to stroll around the amusement park in twos and threes.

As for the women, Li Xiaonuan personally led the group, introducing them to the scenery of Juleyuan Park. She even gave a brief overview of Zhoucun's future prospects.

Since there were more people than Li Xiaonuan and Sang Moyun could manage, Li Xiaonuan invited Zhou Fangfang and Zhou Jingjing to be their tour guides.

With the servants that Li Xiaonuan had arranged in advance, the ladies and young women did not feel neglected.

"That young lady, is she the sister of Zhou, the top scholar in your village? Look at her, she's quite the catch!" The prefect's wife asked Zhou Fangfang with a meaningful look as she chatted and laughed with Li Xiaonuan.

Yes, in the February imperial examinations, Zhou Fangfang's brother achieved the third-highest rank among the scholars. Now, Zhou Fangfang could be considered a daughter of an official.

"I heard that her family has already arranged a marriage for her in the capital. It's with a cousin from her future son's maternal grandfather's family, the third son of the Prefect of the Capital." Li Xiaonuan was quite surprised when she heard the news.

Zhou Fangfang is the same age as Xiaogang, only twelve years old this year. In Li Xiaonuan's opinion, getting engaged at this age is really too young.

"Oh dear, is that really true? That's such a pity. My son is thirteen this year, and I thought they were a good match. I never imagined that someone would beat me to it." The prefect's wife covered her mouth and laughed.

However, there wasn't much regret in his eyes. Perhaps this type of person is adept at hiding their true feelings.

The wife of the magistrate standing next to her was accompanied by a delicate little girl who looked to be no more than ten years old.

The girl twisted her handkerchief, glanced at the prefect's wife, and said sullenly to the assistant prefect's wife, "Mother, I want to go over there to see the fish."

"So she doesn't want to go to the lotus field with them." The magistrate's wife glanced at the little girl in surprise, then nodded helplessly in agreement.

Li Xiaonuan called Zhou Jingjing over and asked her to take the little girl to the pool.

Of course, seeing that the little girl had broken away from the group, the other two or three little girls also found excuses to follow her.

"These young girls just don't like being with us old folks," the prefect's wife added.

"Madam, look at what you're saying. Among all of us ladies, you're the youngest," Madam Li teased.

The group strolled towards the lotus field, creating a rather spectacular scene. Of course, there were a lot more maids and servants serving them.

Since the lotus flowers are not yet in full bloom, there aren't many in bloom yet. However, the lotus leaves covering the flower field are truly a sight to behold, bringing comfort and joy.

The group chatted and laughed as they strolled along the covered bridge between the flower fields, first walking from the lotus field to the wheat field, and then walking along the stream and riverbank back to the pond.

Some of the ladies became curious about the sunflowers that Li Xiaonuan had planted. But since the flowers hadn't bloomed yet, Li Xiaonuan didn't know how to describe them.

As Li Xiaonuan was mentally preparing her sales pitch for the sunflowers, cheers erupted from the men's section.

The ladies craned their necks, eager to know what fun things were going to happen.

Unfortunately, the separation of men and women was already taken into account when this amusement park was built. Therefore, no matter how much the ladies looked, they could only see the back of the pavilion.

The ladies didn't understand what was happening, but Li Xiaonuan vaguely heard Xiao Gang shouting things like "Yi Lou is great."

Could it be that Yi Lou is performing some special skill again?

Today, Li Xiaonuan had Xiao Yang and his brothers take Yi Lou to entertain male customers in the male customer area, not so that Yi Lou could perform for money.

Because the men's area was so lively, the ladies and young women lost all interest in strolling around the garden.

Li Xiaonuan glanced at the sun and realized it was getting late, so she led the group back.

When Li Xiaonuan returned to the women's quarters, she learned what had happened in the men's quarters.

It turned out that the young male customers in the men's section couldn't resist the novelty and insisted on having a barbecue stall set up early.

Today, Li Xiaonuan had arranged a highlight: a whole roasted lamb. Therefore, the male guests were applauding Yi Lou's superb lamb-cutting skills.

In reality, it was simply dismembering a roasted lamb. However, Yi Lou was exceptionally skilled at dismembering lambs, managing to separate the whole lamb from the bones along the muscle fibers, and he explained it all in great detail.

The prefect's wife's son also sent her a portion of mutton. He said it was the tenderest lamb tenderloin, roasted to be incredibly juicy and tender, and that she should eat it while it was hot.

Looking at the thin slices of mutton neatly arranged on the white porcelain plate, Li Xiaonuan once again marveled at Yi Lou's superb knife skills.

After the ladies asked Mingyi Lou's age, they insisted that he come over and help the female guests roast lamb.

But how could Li Xiaonuan agree? After all, Yi Lou was a guest of the Li family, not a servant.

"I apologize to all the ladies. Yi Lou is our family's savior, not a servant. Therefore, we will not order him to do any work," Li Xiaonuan said with a faint smile.

Upon seeing this, the prefect's wife took the lead and said that she had not understood the situation and had acted rashly.

But Li Xiaonuan could tell from the disdain on their faces that they were unhappy.

Indeed, Yi Lou just showed off her skills in the men's section.

Seeing the dissatisfaction on the faces of the women, Li Xiaonuan became less attentive to them. However, she still made sure that all the necessary arrangements were made without missing a single detail.

For example, fishing under the weeping willows; playing chess or cards in the attic; or catching shrimp in the pond and grilling them yourself.

Of course, there weren't many women fishing. However, there were quite a few little girls catching shrimp and grilling them themselves.

Finally, after a busy day, Li Xiaonuan saw everyone off as the sun was setting.

Although the ladies were somewhat dissatisfied because of the incident at Yi Lou, overall, today's garden party and barbecue was a success.

Many ladies have made reservations with Li Xiaonuan for small gatherings or similar events.

After seeing off those ladies and young women who spoke in roundabout ways, Li Xiaonuan felt completely exhausted.

Then she thought about how they had been so busy taking care of those important people that they hadn't been able to enjoy anything themselves.

Li Xiaonuan then instructed people to catch some fish and shrimp, and brought out two whole sheep that she had specially prepared, so that everyone present could have a feast.

"Sister, I'll go back and call Mom and Dad. You guys keep roasting it, but make sure to wait until Yilou and I get back before we eat it," Xiaogang said excitedly as he watched Li Xiaonuan have the whole lamb put on the rack.

"You really like running around like that? I already sent someone back to call your parents, so you just stay put." Li Xiaonuan couldn't help but pinch Xiaogang's cheek.

This kid has grown up, and his face has lost a lot of fat; he's not funny anymore.

Xiao Gang moved aside with a look of disgust and said, "Sister, I'm all grown up now, you're not allowed to pinch my cheeks anymore."

After saying that, Xiao Gang angrily ordered someone to bring shrimp to grill. Yi Lou covered her mouth and laughed, then followed him.

With all the guests gone and plenty of manpower available in the garden, the stalls were quickly set up. As dusk fell, Li Xiaonuan pulled Sang Moyun up to the pavilion, intending to rest for a while.

Dealing with those ladies today is truly exhausting, both mentally and physically.

"Oh dear, I can't understand most of what those people are saying." Li Xiaonuan lay down on the bamboo couch under the back window and stretched.

"Hmph, what's the point of you trying to understand? It's all just veiled criticism and mutual attacks, or people trying to curry favor and take advantage of each other," Sang Moyun said quietly as she lay down on the canopy bed behind the screen.

"Ugh, dealing with them is more tiring than farming all day. I can't take it anymore, I need to doze off for a bit." As Li Xiaonuan spoke, her mind began to fog up.

Behind the screen, Sang Moyun yawned and began to feel drowsy.

A moment later, a slender figure appeared at the entrance of the attic where Li Xiaonuan and her companion were resting. After looking around to make sure no one was watching, she quietly slipped inside.

The figure who had entered the house walked straight to the back window without stopping. Suddenly, a cold, sharp dagger appeared in the person's hand.