The fox minister in the late Tang Dynasty

Chapter 63
It is already a hot day in July, the sun rises on the top of the mountain, and a little bit of light emerges, and the mist in the mountains already feels damp and stuffy. On the old poplar trees with crooked necks, summer cicadas neigh desperately, attracting the field, The forest was filled with the sound of cicadas.

Su Qiaoniang was still a little weak, so she took a dustpan and bought some pancakes and porridge from an aunt's stall on the mountain road outside. After walking for two miles, she became short of breath, her feet were sore, and sticky sweat stained her clothes. No wonder.

The villagers who went out to work in the village came to meet them. Everyone knew that a thin yellow and thin girl came to Geng Qing's family a month ago. At first they laughed at Geng Qing's ignorance. There was blood on her face, her skin became fair, her flat breasts were slightly protruding, and her thin cheeks had flesh. She was not like a woman with thick legs and hands and a big frame in the village, just like a young lady from a rich family.

This made many villagers with children pay attention, and asked Wang Jinqiu to test whether he could make a marriage between the girl and his own baby, but the wife politely refused.

When they came over, men and women, carrying hoes and holding babies, greeted the women, and those who were acquainted would chat with each other.

"Qiao Niang, why did you go out to buy it this morning? If you knew it, you would come to my house and take whatever you want."

"Aunt Liu opened a new bakery stand, so I have to take care of it."

Qiaoniang held the dustpan in one hand, raised her sleeve and wiped her cheeks, smiled and said a few words to the woman, then walked to the entrance of the village, and when she returned to the small courtyard, Wang Jinqiu was clutching her forehead to light the fire. Comfortable, I got up a little late, and I didn't have time to cook the meal.

When the girl who came back saw the woman sitting at the stove, enduring the fatigue of her feet, she hurried over, put the dustpan on the stove, and helped Wang Jinqiu to get up.

"Auntie, if you're not feeling well, just rest. Qiao Niang has bought breakfast."

Helping the woman to sit at the table, she turned around and took out the pancakes and porridge in the dustpan and put them on the table one by one. She pursed her lips and said with a light smile, "I originally made it myself, but yesterday I heard that Aunt Liu opened it outside too." The bakery stall is related to relatives, so it's not good not to go, so Qiao Niang went to buy some."

"You are right, you are becoming more and more like that person."

Human spirit naturally refers to Geng Qing.

Wang Jinqiu touched those dexterous hands, and the more he looked at them, the more he liked them. The nails were white and transparent, with a warm luster, not like the hands used for daily work. After this month, the girl was really fourteen. At this age, she , Married to old man Geng a long time ago.

What's more, Qiaoniang is diligent in her hands and feet, her face is growing day by day, and she can see the beautiful outline in the future. Who doesn't like it, and she has no father or mother, so she can save the dowry, so she runs to her mother's house without getting angry, and enters the door , then he is truly a member of the Geng family.

But her son, the woman couldn't help sighing, hinted several times, but was rejected by Geng Qing because he was too young. Dachun sneaked to the back mountain and made a bang, which was scary.

Once the little fox followed him, he was so frightened that he ran back to the yard, got into the woodpile and couldn't come out even after being beaten to death.

"Auntie, Qiao Niang will bring it to Mr.

Hearing the woman praise her, Qiao Niang was also a little embarrassed, picked up a pancake, poured a bowl of porridge, and rushed to the door diagonally opposite.

As soon as he stepped into the eaves, the door creaked and opened inward, Geng Qing yawned, came out in a men's suit and black boots, walked to the water tank to wash, turned his face sideways, and entered the room through the window sill The little girl said: "I have only rested for more than a month, and my bones are better. Don't be tired again. You can just pick up things that don't travel far."

He heard the two talking outside the house. Over there, Qiao Niang put the pancakes and pottery bowls on the desk, and replied with a smile: "It's okay, just walk more."

Wiping the water stains on his hands, he went out of the house, straightened the hem of his formal robe for Geng Qing, took a rag, and wiped off some mud spots on the black boots.

In the soft morning sun, Geng Qing hung up the towel, helped her up, and pinched her face.

"How many times have I said that you are not allowed to squat down to polish your shoes, there are new ones in the yamen, and if the old ones are worn out, just throw them away."

Qiao Niang blushed, her heart was beating violently, but she still squatted down stubbornly, wiped off the dirt on the side of the shoe, and then stood up.

"My mother used to say that old shoes only fit your feet, and you can wear them again after you mend them."

"It's not the same thing."

Geng Qing still wanted to talk to her, but after thinking about it, she felt that it was unnecessary, so she patted her little head with a smile, went back to the room, broke the pancakes, ate it quickly with gruel, and wiped her mouth. So he took some useful things, went to say hello to his father who had just woken up, and hurried out of the courtyard.

Jumped into the waiting chariot, left the village entrance, opened the curtain and greeted the neighbors in the fields and roadside along the way, and only speeded up when they arrived at Niujiaji. When they returned to the city, there was nothing to do in the yamen. As for the position of chief bookkeeper, I felt a headache when I thought that I had to take a test to get the seat.

The current Chief Registrar, who was still tired, didn't have a good face when he saw him. Now that he thinks about it carefully, it may be that the Fat County Magistrate deliberately played tricks like this.

’ It’s also possible the guy wasn’t thinking that far. '

I went to the yamen to order a socket, and returned to the blacksmith shop. I hurriedly asked the blacksmith for something I ordered a few days ago. It was a hammer the size of a thumb. The front end protruded a lot forward, replacing the firing pin. There is a small hole where the string needs to be tied. Geng Qing had thought about this problem before, and it was not until he made that thing for the eunuch that he discovered the bow string as a substitute.

He dug out a bunch of things from the drawer, found a quiet room, told Dachun to stay outside, and then assembled them. As for the gun body and bullets, Geng Qing didn't think about it at all. It took several blacksmiths in the city to work hard for half a month, and the wages alone cost fifty taels.

What was made was not a delicate thing. Some people had a thick ankle and a foot long, which looked like an extended briquette. Put on the string again and connect with the fixed lock above.

It took Geng Qing a lot of effort to pull it apart, and the slot connected to the trigger below was fixed.

"It needs to be changed here."

He put his red thumb in his mouth and took a small bag with his other hand, poured the powder into Xiaocang, and then closed the lid. Originally, he wanted to hold it with one hand, but now it is in front of him. But it takes both hands to hold it.

Pushing open the door and going outside, let Dachun bring the prepared iron filings, pour them into the six iron holes, and said: "Get out of the way." Walk to the opposite side of the pagoda tree in the courtyard, point it in his hand.

The next moment, I pulled the trigger with difficulty, and there was a bang, the hammer bounced back, and the protruding piece slammed into the flint inside, and exploded in the yard with a bang, and the flames shot from the six holes and the top of the gun body. The canopy rushed out, and the branches and leaves of the pagoda tree on the opposite side trembled suddenly.

A lot of gunpowder smoke filled the air, and Geng Qing's entire face was blackened, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed to blink.

When the smoke dissipated and the swaying branches and leaves stopped, only a few iron filings on the tree trunk got stuck in the rough bark or the nearby wall, and most of the rest fell to the ground.

"The power is not enough. However, the first time is not bad, but the distance needs to be tested."

(End of this chapter)