Troubled times: Start practicing spiritual practice by taking care of your sister-in-law

Chapter 210 Towards Prosperity

The two of them purchased a lot of New Year's goods. Naturally, they didn't need to carry these large and small packages. The accompanying guards would help.

The population of Pingting County at this time has reached 70,000, which is very large. Moreover, due to the war in Fengzhou, more and more people from Qingzhou came to Pingting County, but the population of Pingting County is close to saturation. The city could no longer accommodate so many people, so Geng Songfu moved these fleeing people to Qingting County.

At present, Qingting County is in full development. When building and repairing private houses or shops, the method adopted is still to use work instead of relief, and everything is booming.

The two women walked on the street and came to a relatively quiet alley. They could hear the sound of reading loudly coming from the alley.

Under the leadership of Geng Songfu, a county school was established in the county. Of course, it was not free, but the tuition was relatively cheap, and most importantly, distribution was included.

County schools offer one to three years of study for students to choose from.

The one-year course focuses on literacy, and the students are children from the county.

In the three-year course of study, there are teachers who will teach professional techniques.

For example, Geng Songfu would invite doctors, carpenters, and blacksmiths to come to the county school to be teachers and teach students various aspects of knowledge.

Therefore, those who enroll in the three-year program are generally adults, and the tuition is correspondingly more expensive.

However, it is currently a trial run and not many people have been recruited.

"It's almost Chinese New Year, why hasn't the county school gone on holiday yet?" Han Anniang asked in confusion. The village school had a holiday in the middle of the year.

"It seems that Geng County Cheng has assigned homework a few days ago. If you haven't completed it, you won't have a holiday until tomorrow." Yi Shiyan said: "Geng County Cheng has high hopes for the students in the county school."

Han Anniang nodded.

Their car stopped at the gate of the city. When passing by the Yamen, the two women suddenly saw a beautiful woman walking towards them.

The woman is wearing a pink coat and skirt, with a pile of clouds and green hair. Her soft and plump face is bright and bright, like a peony with national beauty and fragrant fragrance.

She was wearing a white cloak behind her, her beautiful eyes were as bright as water, and her figure was slender and graceful. She walked in gracefully, even more ladylike than Yi Shiyan. Every move she made showed the elegance of a rich lady. and calmness.

When the woman saw Yi Shiyan, she was obviously startled. Chun Hong and others who were following behind hurriedly stepped forward, bowed to Yi Shiyan, and said respectfully: "Madam."

Han Anniang rarely came to the county town, and she had never been to the Yamen. Chunhong didn't know her, so she just gave a simple salute and said nothing.

"Mrs. Yi." Xia Zhiqing gave a standard Wanfu gift.

"Who are you?" Yi Shiyan's big, smart eyes were full of confusion.

"I am Xia Zhiqing." Xia Zhiqing said.

"It's you?!" Han Aniang was shocked.

"Does this lady know me?" Xia Zhiqing looked at Han Anniang.

"I heard it mentioned by uncle." Han Anniang looked at Xia Zhiqing, frowned slightly, and then pulled Yi Shiyan away under Xia Zhiqing's doubtful eyes.

……

"Sister-in-law, do you know her?" Yi Shiyan asked Han Anniang in the carriage on the way back to the village.

Han Anniang nodded: "Uncle mentioned to me before that he took in two bed-warming maids. They are a pair of twins, one of whom is named Xia Zhiqing."

"Bed-warming maid?" Yi Shiyan's eyes flickered. Although she was not experienced in the world, she still understood what the bed-warming maid was going to do.

"My husband has never told me about this." Yi Shiyan said quietly.

Feeling Yi Shiyan's slight resentment, Han Aniang immediately grabbed her little hand, held it in her hand and caressed her gently, saying: "Uncle didn't tell me in detail, he just mentioned it. I didn't pay attention to it at the time. I didn’t expect her to be so beautiful.”

It is different from Yi Shiyan's smart, cute and lovable style.

Xia Zhiqing is so beautiful, and her elegant and calm temperament will inevitably make other women feel hostile and dislike her.

In addition, Xia Zhiqing's status as a maid who warms the bed is now dressed more noble than Yi Shiyan, and there is a kind of conflict between "the lower one and the upper one".

"It's really beautiful." Even Yi Shiyan had to admit that she looked like a snow fairy when she put on that white cloak, but the name Xia Zhiqing seemed to have been heard somewhere.

So Yi Shiyan was thinking about this along the way.

After lunch, Han Aniang taught Yi Shiyan how to make dumplings. Yi Shiyan's hands and face were covered with flour, but the dumplings she made were all kinds of weird.

Suddenly, Yi Shiyan stood up suddenly, dropped the dough in his hand into the stuffing bowl, and said, "I remember."

"What did you remember?" Han Aniang was startled by Yi Shiyan's surprise.

"The eldest daughter of Xia Liangqing, the prefect of Qingzhou, is named Xia Zhiqing. She is also the most talented girl in Qingzhou. I have learned the song she composed - Song of Colorful Clothes." Yi Shiyan said: "And I heard that Xia Zhiqing and his sister are twins."

"The magistrate's daughter?" Upon hearing this, Han Anniang couldn't help being shocked, and raised her hands to cover her mouth, showing off her femininity.

In her eyes, the county magistrate was a great official, let alone the prefect.

No wonder she is as beautiful as a fairy.

I don't know if it was because of her status, but knowing that she was inferior, the hostility in Han Anniang's heart suddenly disappeared.

On the contrary, I felt a little happy in my heart, feeling happy for Chen Mo.

Even the prefect's daughter has to be his uncle's bed-warming maid.

Thinking of this, Han Anniang felt much better and said, "Xiaolu, how about inviting her and her sister to eat together for the New Year's Eve dinner? Xiaoling will come too."

In her opinion, Xiaoling, as Xiaolu's personal maid, would probably be brought into her uncle's house in the future, and she would be considered a family.

"Ah." Xiaolu was startled, and then whispered: "Has sister-in-law already accepted her?" "We will get along with each other in the future, so it's better to get to know her earlier," said Han Anniang.

"Okay, but do you want to discuss this with your husband? Anyway, there is still a month before the Chinese New Year." Yi Shiyan said.

"Well, I have to talk to uncle."

……

As time enters December, the temperature drops sharply again, and heavy snow falls in the sky. It feels even colder than last year.

On December 2, Chen Mo arrived in Pingting County.

Seeing that it was still early, Chen Mo asked Han Wu to take two cavalry back to Fuze Village to report the news, while he took Xia Zhining and the others straight to the county seat.

On the way to the county seat, Chen Mo saw multiple sentry posts, each guarded by ten to twenty divine warriors.

Seeing Chen Mo, every soldier's face was filled with smiles.

……

Outside the city, Zhang He patrolled with the brave guards.

There are many private houses outside the city. It was originally a refugee camp built by Chen Mo to resettle refugees. Later, with the development of the county and the saturation of the population in the city, many people still wanted to become Pingting County residents, so they set up their own houses outside the city. Built a house.

In order to facilitate management, Geng Songfu set aside a mile of land outside the city and allowed villagers to build their own houses.

In Geng Songfu's plan, if funds allowed, he also planned to build an outer city around these private houses outside the city.

Zhang He was patrolling outside. His life was getting better and better now. Last month, he even took a concubine, who was a daughter of the Wang family. Even if she was a concubine and a widow, he would have been beyond his reach before.

Zhang He also knew that the reason why others looked like him was because of his relationship with Chen Mo.

A few days ago, the doctor diagnosed that my concubine was pregnant.

Zhang He only felt that his life seemed to be complete.

"Da da da"

At this moment, a fast horse galloped from a distance.

Zhang He saw that the man on the horse was so anxious and couldn't help but ask: "Fusheng, what happened? You are so anxious?"

"The county magistrate and the others are back. I have to go to the Yamen to tell Geng County Magistrate." Zhang Fusheng said.

"Brother Mo is back."

Zhang He looked excited, and immediately said to the patrolling soldiers: "You continue to patrol."

After speaking, Zhang He ran back to the barracks alone and asked the brave guards to come out of the city to greet him.

……

In the wing room in the backyard of the county government office.

Xia Zhiqing was lying on the bed wearing only a thin Luo Shan. Two buttons of her clothes were unbuttoned, revealing the snow-covered half under her collarbone and the corners of her bellyband. Her eyebrows were lightly knitted like a moon, and there was a little sweat hanging on her cheeks. Her body was limp. , He didn’t even have the strength to turn over.

Her cheeks were red, and she quickly took the handkerchief nearby and wiped her sticky fingers, feeling regret subconsciously in her heart.

She actually did such a shameful thing again.

She stood up, put on the large cloak, got out of bed, poured herself a cup of tea, and took a sip.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door, and Chun Hong's voice sounded: "Madam, the county magistrate is back, and Geng Xiancheng has already taken Lord Zhao Bo out of the city to greet him."

Hearing this, the tea cup in Xia Zhiqing's hand fell to the ground with a clang, and the tea splashed.

When Chunhong heard the noise, she thought something had happened. She wanted to open the door and come in, but was stopped by Xia Zhiqing: "I know, don't come in, I'm changing."

After saying that, he tidied up the messy bed in a panic, took off the jade hairpin from his head, and put it back into the drawer of the dressing table along with the pearl necklace that he had worn for more than two months.

Then I started getting dressed and put on makeup.

After doing all this, Xia Zhiqing patted her chest, feeling nervous as if she had done something bad.

……

At this time, Chen Mo and Geng Songfu were chatting happily outside the city, accompanied by Zhao Daoxian, Zhang He, Lu Yuan and others.

"Did Geng County Cheng make a breakthrough?" Chen Mo asked, looking at the number 103 on Geng Songfu's forehead.

"Lao Zhuo was originally at the seventh level, but he fell down before. Thanks to the county magistrate for taking him in, Lao Zhuo can continue to do small things for the people. A breath of turbidity came out of his chest. He returned to the seventh level a month ago, but Lao Zhuo has As long as I am ill, I can only stop here in this life."

Geng Songfu said: "County Magistrate, is the battle ahead going smoothly?"

Chen Mo shook his head, then looked at a strange figure behind Geng Songfu and said, "Who is this?"

"County magistrate, he is Li Yunzhang, the former captain of the Second Battalion of the Qingzhou Army." Hu Qiang stepped forward and said.

"My subordinate Li Yunzhang has met the county magistrate." Li Yunzhang stepped forward and cupped his hands.

"It turns out to be Captain Li. I'm very happy that Captain Li can trust us." Chen Mo understood that Li Yunzhang came from Gaozhou.

(End of this chapter)