After feeding the exiled criminals, she was forced to reveal herself

Chapter 584: Can I help you pick one?
The door creaked and opened from the inside.

"The sir was startled by thunder and is now awake. Please come in, village chief." The coachman opened the door and saw that it was the village chief of Gaojia Village. He quickly stepped aside with a smile and invited the man into the house.

"Awake? What a coincidence that old man is here."

As the voices were heard, there was soon another figure on the window. It was as if the house had been filled with oil and the wick had been adjusted properly. It seemed much brighter from outside.

The big yellow dog guarding the house outside barked at the sky for a long time and when he found nothing happened, he went back to his nest and lay down with his front legs as a pillow. From time to time, he was startled by the thunder and gradually he became too lazy to move.

The villagers of Gaojia Village quickly turned off the lights and went back to sleep.

The Gao family villagers had already encountered big situations, so they didn't care about such a small matter.

Soon, the night returned to calm again.

The lightning and thunder were like a swimming dragon. It tossed around in the sky and then dissipated. Soon the sky was filled with stars. The deafening scene just now seemed to have never happened.

Gaojia Village at the foot of the mountain almost blended into the night, with only two lights on the east and west, not far from each other.

After Li Shaoqing finished chatting in the house, when he was seeing the village chief out, he happened to see the house with lights on in the dark night in the distance. He couldn't help but ask curiously, "It seems that some villagers were also awakened by the thunder and lightning."

The village chief took a look and smiled. Without explaining, he just said, "I'll leave tomorrow's affairs to Mr. Li. It's getting late, Mr. Li, you should go to bed early."

"Okay, take care, Village Chief."

After Village Chief Gao left, Li Shaoqing looked at the lighted village house for a while before turning around and going back into the room.

The groom was packing up the things that the village chief had brought. When he saw his master coming back, he couldn't help but happily show Li Shaoqing a bag of food: "Sir! Look! These dry food are enough for several days. You don't have to worry about not being able to find a food stall on the way tomorrow."

As he spoke, he lifted one side to show it to Li Shaoqing.

Li Shaoqing glanced at it, nodded, and said calmly: "Since it is a kind gesture from the village, keep it well."

"Don't worry, sir." The coachman was very happy and put the things into the bag, ready to load them into the car when they set off tomorrow.

The master was in bed and the servants were sleeping in the next room.

They were staying in a foreign place and were lucky enough to get a whole house at a reasonable price.

The heated kang is not big, only able to accommodate three or two people. After Li Shaoqing entered the village, he buried himself in his pile of papers. He was so busy that he fell asleep. If it hadn't been for the thunder tonight, he would have slept till dawn.

After eating something and drinking some hot water, Li Shaoqing sat on the edge of the kang, feeling a little distracted.

The coachman had packed up and was about to say something and go to the next room, but he saw that his master had not gone to bed either, but was just sitting there in a daze. He walked up to him curiously.

"Sir, can't you sleep?"

Li Shaoqing was brought back to his senses by his voice. He calmed down and looked up at him, "You should go and rest first."

The groom wanted to go to sleep, but seeing that Li Shaoqing looked like he was worried, and his master hadn't gone to bed yet, he thought he should stay put.

Li Shaoqing didn't want to tire others, but he really didn't feel sleepy at the moment. Seeing the servant's firm attitude, he didn't force him to leave. He just said, "If you are tired, go and rest. Don't worry."

The coachman smiled and said, "Sir, there is no need to worry about me. Just go about your business and I'll be fixing something over there." Seeing that Li Shaoqing had some work to do after taking some things, he didn't say anything more. He turned around and continued to pick up the stack of drawing papers next to him and spread them on the kang table to look through them.

Occasionally, I would pick up a pen and make a few important notes on the spare paper beside me.

The room was silent for a moment, with only the sound of the groom's needle piercing and the sound of pen and ink writing.

Li Shaoqing flipped through the pages for a while, and when he looked up he happened to see the groom working.

From time to time, shadows swayed under the light on the ground. Li Shaoqing observed silently for a while, and suddenly asked: "Brother Ma, what is your real name?"

The groom was startled and looked up.

"Is Sir the villain's name?"

Li Shaoqing nodded and smiled, "That's right. Thank you for taking care of me along the way. I only know your last name is Ma, but I don't know your name."

Hearing this, the groom scratched his head a little embarrassedly, and said with a chuckle: "To be honest, sir, my last name is not Ma either."

Li Shaoqing was surprised: "Oh? Then why..."

"That was given to me casually by the officials back then, to serve the ancestors in the stable. There were eighteen people picked together, and I was the ninth, so I was called Majiu Majiu."

When Li Shaoqing heard what he said, he put down the things in his hand, turned around and asked curiously: "Did the Ruan family take it?"

Ma Jiu shook his head and smiled, "That's not the case. There was a disaster in Hexi that year, and we had no way to make a living in our hometown. We followed the villagers to flee to the capital. We almost starved to death outside. Later, I don't know how the nobles in the city figured it out, and many officials came to recruit people. We fled to the border of the capital, and my mother was the only one left with us."

"The official was recruiting people, and I was young and strong, so I applied for the job without my mother on my back. Later, I was assigned to raise horses, but I couldn't touch horses at first, I just did odd jobs. Later, my mother got sick and had no money to buy medicine. When I asked the steward for help, I happened to meet Lord Ruan. Lord Ruan was kind-hearted and treated my mother for me. He also bought my mother and me to live in the Ruan Mansion, and we have been serving the masters in the mansion ever since."

So that's how it is, Li Shaoqing nodded.

He himself was a little surprised. For some reason, he felt more interested in talking tonight. Although the person he was chatting with was different from the ones he had made in the past, he still felt very talkative.

He asked curiously, "So you didn't change your name when you entered the Ruan Mansion?"

Ma Jiu shook his head and chuckled twice: "I haven't thought about it. My masters are used to calling me Ma Jiu."

Seeing that he had an open-minded personality, Li Shaoqing couldn't help but ask, "Then you must have your original surname at home, right?"

Unexpectedly, Ma Jiu still smiled and shook his head, saying, "Yes, there is, but my father also fled to Erhegou back then, and he took the surname of Gou, a big family in that village. I don't know which family my ancestors took after, but he entered the capital, survived, and took his name and surname with him."

As he spoke, Ma Jiu said with great emotion: "A man of your talent, sir, has a noble status and a well-known name. A life like mine is worthless, and having a name to serve is a blessing."

Li Shaoqing was born in a scholarly family, and all the people around him were well-known people. However, he never thought that one day someone around him would have a name like that.

I can't help but sigh that things are different in this world.

He asked on a whim, and Ma Jiu didn't take it seriously. When he finished asking, he picked up a few parts in his hand and started repairing them.

Just after I finished repairing a corner, I heard Li Shaoqing ask, "If you'd like, can I help you pick a name?"

(End of this chapter)