Be a small county magistrate in ancient times

Chapter 72 A rare bath

"who?"

"The child you took to the post house." Wen said, "Doctor Hu has been raising it for you for three months. Remember to bring some silver when you pick him up."

Liang Jiujiu asked her: "Have you forgotten someone?"

"Haha, how could that happen?" Meng Changqing refused to admit it.

She helped the two of them cross the mound and came to the three mud houses in the backyard. "Mother, mother, I have to wrong you for a while."

Wen Shi: "You yourself live in a place like this. How do you say it's wrong or not? Take us in and have a look."

"Okay." Meng Changqing took the lead and left first.

As soon as you enter the door, you will see a small kitchen room with two earthen stoves facing each other. On the stoves are placed iron pots that were removed from the camp stove.

Meng Changqing did not leave the two hundred or so pots for the defenders. The pots were valuable and she was poor.

Except for the iron pot where each component goes, everything else is hers.

Next to the earthen stove on the left, there is a door. Entering through this door is the place where daily life is.

There is a big kang in the room, and there is only one wall between the kang and one of the earthen stoves. It is by letting the smoke from the earthen stove pass under the kang that the heat can be transmitted from the surface of the kang.

The kang has been covered with cloth dipped in paste, and you can sleep on it with quilts.

In order to keep warm, only a small window was opened above the kang, so there was insufficient light in the room, but even so, it was much better than living in a hole in the ground.

"This kang has been burned." Meng Changqing said, "There are no cracks or smoke leaks at the moment. You guys stay here for now. I will go to Yangmen County tomorrow to buy bricks and hire bricklayers. A decent house needs to be built by specialized people."

"Okay, let your mother give you some silver for your use first." Wen said: "Normally, funds will be allocated to build the county government, but now that your reward has not been received, Mr. Wei can't guarantee that you will stay in Beishan County. I guess He wants to wait for the reward to come before talking about it."

Speaking of this, Meng Changqing suddenly asked: "Mother, what time is it today?"

"March [-]th." Mrs. Wen knew what she meant. "It has been at least six or seven days since the good news reached the capital. Even if Lord Wei asked you for help, it should have been in front of the emperor long ago. What you want to ask is , why hasn’t the reward come yet?”

"Exactly." Meng Changqing put the package on the kang and asked Bafang and Laicai to move Wen's and his belongings in.

"My child, the longer you delay Chao Shang, the better it will be for you." Wen said softly: "If no one in Chao Shang pays attention to you, then just do whatever you want. The reward will have already come."

"The prince's current situation may mean that there will be no reward at all."

"There will be." Wen said, "100 taels of silver is also a reward. But what is the use of such a reward? It is better not to give it at all.

Changqing, when you built that wall, was it for the emperor's reward? "

"That's not true." Meng Changqing said, "But since it is beneficial to the emperor, it won't be a loss for me if he doesn't reward me with something."

"Whether it's a profit or a loss, it's hard to tell until the last moment." Mrs. Wen pushed the things beside the kang in to make room for Bafang and others, "If I don't give any reward this time, then for you, On the contrary, it is more beneficial.”

"Mom, there is no need to explain to me anymore." Meng Changqing said with a smile: "I know that only by accumulating merit can I receive a big reward in the future. I am just in it, so I can't help but be anxious."

Wen Shi patted her back and said, "If you have anything to say, just tell mother. She is your only child and is willing to tell you these things, as long as you don't mind my nagging."

"Mother's words are of great benefit to Changqing. How can I find you nagging me?"

"The last box." Bafang grinned and carried it in. "Where to put it?"

"Put it at the end of the kang." Bafang and Laicai threw off their shoes, got on the kang, put the boxes in place, and then simply put them away.

"Stop it, you two, come down and sit down for a while." Liang Jiujiu stopped them, mainly because he saw that they were getting more and more messy.

"Mom, don't rush to tidy up now. Let me introduce this room to you, especially the two stoves outside." Meng Changqing led them to look at the stove. "The stove on this side is connected to the kang. The fire is used underground and the earth is used. The kang will heat up. It's still cold at night, so it's just right to use this stove to cook and boil water.

When the weather gets hotter, this stove won't be usable and we'll have to use this one over here. "

Meng Changqing said: "Now our government office is not fully staffed, and the people below will inevitably not take good care of it. It is convenient to prepare a stove here so that you can cook what you want."

"That's right." Liang Jiujiu likes to make soup the most. She is very happy to have these two stoves in the room. "It will be much more convenient to cook and make soup in the future."

"There can be a lot of firewood and coal stored in it. I'll have people bring some more in later. There's just one thing. You two must pay attention to safety when using fire."

"Don't worry, your mother is more cautious than you." Wen asked, "Where do you live?"

Meng Changqing said: "I will live next door for the time being."

"Take us over and take a look." Liang Jiujiu said, "By the way, I'll sort out your things for you."

The room where Meng Changqing lived was only one step away from them. The two rooms even shared the same wall. They had exactly the same layout inside, but in opposite directions.

"That's good. It will be much more convenient for you to eat in the future. It will save you time to have Bafang call you." As soon as Liang Jiujiu spoke, she got on the kang and tidied her clothes and bedding.

Laicai was still moving boxes inside, but this time it was Xi Bei who moved with him.

"Master Xi, where is Bafang?"

Xi Bei scolded: "That lazy guy refused to move it when he saw it was a book box."

The book box was heavier than a box for ordinary luggage. Wen gave him a reason, "Bafang doesn't have Lai Cai, so maybe it really can't be moved."

"Don't believe him." Xi Bei put the study directly in the corner and moved it later. "He eats more every day than Lai Cai. His hands are much stronger than Lai Cai, but he looks thin."

Just as he said this, Bafang came in with a bathtub on his head, "Master, you are just partial to getting rich."

Xi Bei pretended to kick him, "If you are as willing as Lai Cai, I am partial to you."

Bafang wanted to hide, but Meng Changqing quickly stopped him, "Don't make trouble, don't break my bathtub, I have to take a shower today."

Meng Changqing hadn't bathed for a long time. When he came to Beishan County, he started living in a pothole. There was no condition for bathing at all. No matter how uncomfortable he felt, he could only hide behind the curtain and wipe it with water.

Now that the temperature has finally risen, she has the conditions to take a bath.

When it got dark, Liang Jiujiu started cooking dinner, and Meng Changqing heated water in his room and took a bath.

The door was closed from the inside, and she placed the bathtub in front of the stove. When she felt that the bath water was cold, she stood up and added a ladle of hot water herself. If the hot water was not enough, she could boil it immediately.

Compared to living in potholes, living conditions now have been greatly improved.

After taking this bath for more than half an hour, Meng Changqing felt that he was a shade whiter when he came out.

She changed into clean clothes, rolled up her sleeves, and poured out the bath water one bucket after another.

After pouring the water, just in time to have dinner, she ducked into the next door. She ducked too quickly and forgot to put down her sleeves, causing her mother to see the scars on her arms.

(End of this chapter)