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

Chapter 1268, 369, etc.

Such a rude question—if the other party dared to say it, Xue Li wouldn't dare to listen.

After a pause, Xue Li asked in return, "Did you get up too early today, young master?"

The man paused in his hand, which was holding a folding fan: "What do you mean by that, young lady?"

Xue Li gave a polite smile: "If I hadn't gotten up too early and hadn't woken up properly, would you have been so rude, young master?"

"You!" The man snapped his folding fan shut and pointed at Xue Li: "I think you are the one who is extremely rude! It's one thing for a young lady to come out and compete with men for work, but to speak so rudely and vulgarly!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than someone approached him, whispering to him while pointing at Xue Li with a playful look in their eyes.

He listened and laughed, his laughter filled with contempt.

After the man finished speaking, he looked Xue Li up and down again.

"So... all you run is a small inn? That's strange, the daughter of a small merchant dares to come to the government office to join in the fun."

Xue Li did not respond, her expression growing colder.

The man continued, "There must be all sorts of people in this small inn, right? You deal with those kinds of people every day, so you're probably not exactly clean yourself... In my opinion, you shouldn't embarrass yourself here. Go back and mind your shop as soon as possible."

The scholars behind him immediately chimed in, "Brother Shangguan is right! Although the threshold set by the government for this selection is not high, some people don't even know their own worth and dare to shamelessly come to take the exam. It's laughable!"

"Exactly! We've studied hard for years and still don't dare say we can pass the test. She's a woman, and from a merchant family at that. She's just wasting a spot and causing trouble for everyone!"

"Get out of here, get out of here!"

A barrage of foul language rained down on Xue Li, who stood at the edge of the crowd with no one behind her.

She was neither sad nor angry.

She was just wondering if Lord Shen had been treated this way when he first entered officialdom.

And at that time... how did Lord Shen deal with it?

"say something!"

Seeing that she didn't say anything, the man poked her arm with his folding fan.

"Young lady, while I admire your courage, I also advise you to face reality. There's something you don't know yet, isn't there? Among those who came to take the exam today, a good half of them graduated from regular schools. I'm only kindly advising you to leave because I don't want to see you crying later. You should appreciate that."

Crying?

Appreciate it?

Xue Li thought for a moment and concluded that these two incidents had nothing to do with her. On the contrary, Lord Shen's voice and smile remained vivid in her mind.

Recalling those smiling eyes, she slowly raised her chin, straightened her back, and said, "Lord Shen has given me this opportunity, and I will seize it firmly. Even if I am not selected because of my inferior skills, that is my own business, so there is no need for you to worry about it!"

His words were firm and resounding, and the man's face suddenly darkened.

He gripped the fan handle tightly, gritting his teeth: "Ungrateful wretch! Today, I'll teach you a lesson you won't forget..."

"Does not listening to you mean we're ungrateful?"

Suddenly, a woman's voice interrupted his threat.

The man, his expression grim, turned to look and saw several simply dressed women striding toward him.

With resolute expressions, they came to Xue Li's side and stood firmly beside her.

They said, "Young master, whether you fail the selection is our business. If you're afraid we'll take your job, why don't you withdraw from the assessment first?"

"you......"

The man's face darkened further, and just as he was about to argue, several more women pushed through the crowd and walked over.

They walked up behind Xue Li, their eyes all fixed on him, their gazes sharp and piercing.

One of them said, "Young master, we are the daughters of merchants, but so what? As long as Lord Shen takes a liking to us and is willing to give us a meal, we will fight for it!"

"you......!"

The man's face flushed red. He tried to raise his folding fan to point and curse at them, but found he couldn't reach them all. He could only yell, "You're going to rebel against heaven!"

"Lord Shen is our pillar of strength!"

Xue Li stepped forward, her voice even louder than his: "You arrogant, bullying bastard, do you even deserve to be called 'Heaven'?"

"Unworthy!" the women behind Xue Li echoed in unison.

In just a few moments, more and more women came over.

Just when many people thought this would be a battle between men and women, several men suddenly stepped forward and came up behind Xue Li.

They said, "We wouldn't do something like eating from a bowl and then cursing your mother. Gentlemen, today is a fair competition. No matter what you think, we brothers are not afraid of losing, nor are we afraid of having our jobs taken by girls."

After he finished speaking, the crowd fell silent.

Many people looked ashamed.

They had the opportunity to come and answer the call because the government office had established a newspaper under Lord Shen's leadership.

They received favors from Lord Shen, yet they stood by indifferently when women were ridiculed and looked down upon because of their gender.

So... what kind of men are they?

Gradually, some people tentatively took steps.

One.

two.

Three.

Ten...

More and more people stood behind Xue Li.

Ultimately, the situation became one-sided.

Behind the man were only a dozen or so people.

Behind Xue Li, however, were hundreds of people.

The woman who first stood behind Xue Li stepped forward, looked directly at the man and said, "From the moment we arrived here this morning, you have been dividing us into different classes."

"In your eyes, men are superior, women are inferior; those with official titles are superior, those without are inferior; those whose families hold official positions are superior, those whose families hold business positions are inferior."

"You hold high these filthy rules, dividing everyone into high and low, noble and base, but have you forgotten why you are standing with us today, and who gave you this opportunity? You took the opportunity given by Lord Shen, but you have failed to live up to Lord Shen's good intentions. Do you even deserve to be ranked with us?"

"Clap clap-"

As soon as he finished speaking, a round of applause came from the outside of the crowd.

Everyone turned their heads to look.

"Manager Yan?"

"Is that Manager Yan from the Tong'an Cloth Shop?"

"Why is she here?"

"Could it be... that she's also going to participate in this assessment?!"

Under everyone's gaze, Yan Qiao slowly walked over, holding up a piece of scrap paper covered with small characters, and said, "Everyone, this is the first piece of information I have collected today."

"Collecting...information?"

The crowd felt that the word sounded vaguely familiar.

Yan Qiao stood in the middle of the two groups of people and said with a smile: "Didn't you all read the recruitment notice carefully? It says that newspaper staff must be able to collect, summarize and write information."

Everyone paused, about to ask her if she knew the content of the assessment, when she said directly, "I don't know the content of the assessment, I just found what happened to be very interesting."

She pointed at the man in the brocade robe: "I have noted your actions. I promise to be truthful and will show them to Lord Shen later."