Farm Girl Turns Everything Around: Sly Husband, Let's Farm

Chapter 1239: Chapter 1238: Why Does She Slack Off and Not Work?_1 Chapter 1239: Chapter 1238: Why Does She Slack Off and Not Work?_1 Zhao Lan, as soon as these two characters were uttered, Tong Sanlang immediately followed her gaze and looked over.

A few dozen meters away, there was a female prisoner wearing a prison uniform. She stood on the side of the road, her black hair neatly combed, and her prison clothes clean and tidy. In her hands, she held a handful of melon seeds, cracking them open. In stark contrast to the surrounding prisoners, who were dirty and exhausted, she appeared like a young lady from a noble family on a sightseeing tour, completely out of place.

“Ha, indeed she has special privileges,” Qiao Xiaomai jumped down from the carriage, “I’m going to have a look.”

Tong Sanlang remained seated, “I’ll wait here for you.”

He did not want to see Zhao Lan.

Neither did Qiao Xiaomai want him to see Zhao Lan. At his words, she hummed affirmatively and started striding towards Zhao Lan with uneven steps.

Zhao Lan had long noticed Qiao Xiaomai and Tong Sanlang. Her family was wealthy, and she had managed to bribe the jailers with silver, which allowed her to avoid hard labor and only show up at the construction site for appearance’s sake.

The moment a carriage abruptly appeared on the smooth road, she noticed right away and recognized it as Qiao Xiaomai and Tong Sanlang. She quickly turned her body away.

Back when she was arrogant and overbearing in trying to snatch Tong Sanlang, she used to look down on everybody, utterly disregarding Qiao Xiaomai. Now that their roles were reversed, it was wise for her to keep a low profile.

However, Qiao Xiaomai, with her keen eyes, wouldn’t miss this opportunity to mock her, especially after having had such a serious feud in the past.

“Oh, isn’t that Zhao Lan, the legitimate daughter of the Zhao family? I never expected you would have such a day,” Qiao Xiaomai approached, letting out a chuckle, her words dripping with sarcasm.

Zhao Lan was standing by the roadside next to a jailer. This jailer was from Huai’an County and recognized Qiao Xiaomai.

Nowadays, not only was Qiao Xiaomai the wife of a scholarly candidate, but she was also a baroness. Therefore, he immediately fawned over her with a sycophantic smile, “Miss Qiao is well, what brings you here today?”

“I came to see the Sun Family, but although I haven’t found them, I did come across an acquaintance.” Qiao Xiaomai gestured towards Zhao Lan with her hand, “Everyone else is working hard, why is she being lazy?”

“Uh…” The jailer was at a loss for words upon hearing this.

He had taken Zhao Lan’s silver, and he definitely couldn’t reveal that.

Qiao Xiaomai was fully aware of this, so she didn’t wait for the jailer to respond and instead asked, “Wasn’t she and her mother imprisoned in the Capital City’s main jail? How did they end up here?”

“To answer Miss Qiao, the road from the Capital City to Bailu Town was initially started from the Capital City. Many of those constructing the road were prisoners from the main jail. This batch of prisoners came to Bailu Town and didn’t return, staying to continue work on the road from Bailu Town to Prefecture City,” he replied.

“Doesn’t Prefecture City have any prisoners? Why do they need prisoners from the Capital City to build the road?” Qiao Xiaomai found it strange.

“This humble one doesn’t know,” the jailer put on an uneasy smile, fearful that Qiao Xiaomai would turn the conversation back to why Zhao Lan wasn’t working.

But Qiao Xiaomai was here precisely for that reason, and it was impossible not to steer the conversation back. She scanned Zhao Lan from head to toe, a smirk forming on her lips, “Miss Zhao, how many years were you sentenced to again?”

Zhao Lan continued cracking her melon seeds, ignoring her.

Qiao Xiaomai raised an eyebrow, “If I remember correctly, was it one year or three? However, the Retired Emperor plans to have all the roads in Daqi rebuilt. Should I mention to His Majesty that you’re quite keen and particularly enjoy road construction, and suggest that you spend the next few decades solely working on it?”

“What do you think about that?”

At those words, Zhao Lan could no longer continue eating her melon seeds. She lifted her eyelids and gave Qiao Xiaomai a glance, “There should always be some leeway in one’s actions, so we can meet on good terms in the future.”