Jinyi Night Walk

After Xiaoying and Empress Tumen Baoyin settled in Moling Town, they lived in seclusion and had little contact with the people in the village.

Among the three, Tumen Baoyin's mother and daughter seldom go out, but Xiao Ying often leaves, because the emperor gave them this house and another [-] acres of good paddy fields. The tenants don't recognize them either, and Sakura needs to go out frequently, bringing her steward, to the door one by one, to recognize the threshold of her tenants.When the tenants came to visit the owner, it was mostly the eldest lady who came forward.

Although it is said that there are people in Tatars who make a living by farming, the Tatars mainly live on nomads. Sakura is also familiar with nomads. Now she needs to learn more about farming.Early this morning, Xiao Ying was about to go to the field again, and learned some knowledge and matters about four-season farming from the crop handlers. As soon as she led the horse to the front door, Yang Lijie led two village servants to the door.

As soon as he entered the door, Yang Lijie cupped his hands again and again, smiling all over his face: "Oh, Miss Xie is going out? Congratulations, congratulations, hahahaha..."

When Xiao Ying saw it, she really recognized it, because Arita had to pay taxes, so she was not very familiar with the people in this village, but she had dealt with the head of the village several times.Xiao Ying hurriedly said, "So it's Uncle Yang, congratulations on what?"

Yang Lijie said with a pleasant smile: "That's right, there is a draft girl in the palace. How difficult it is to pick 10 out of 800 people! That's rich and powerful. Miss Xie has such a good looks and character, she will definitely be selected. To others, she is a draft girl, but to Miss Xie, you are obviously a concubine, so uncle congratulates you first."

Xiao Ying was stunned, and said in surprise: "The emperor chooses girls?"

A town servant next to him interjected: "That's right! All 16 to [-] years old are not yet married..."

Before he finished speaking, he was kicked aside by Yang Lichang, and opened his mouth to curse: "What are you talking about!"

Unexpectedly, this sentence was heard by Xiao Ying, Xiao Ying pursed her lips and smiled, and then said: "Uncle Yang, to tell you the truth, this year has passed, it is against the rules..."

"It's okay, it's okay, why not!"

Yang Lijie gave the talkative country servant a hard look, and said with a smile on his face: "The reason why the imperial court chooses the age between thirteen and sixteen is because of the imperial court's law. If a woman does not marry at sixteen, she will be fined a sum of money." money, so there are very few unmarried women after sixteen. Oh, your family is from Daning, far outside the Great Wall, or do you not know about it?"

Yang Lijie swallowed, and said: "So, this age is not a necessary condition, the important thing is that you are not yet married, Miss Xie is not yet married?"

As he spoke, he dipped his saliva in his mouth, flipped open the household registration book, pointed and said, "Here, it's clearly written in black and white on it, and we haven't married yet!"

Sakura said: "I..."

Yang Lijie waved his hand, and said solemnly: "Okay, Miss Xie, don't talk anymore! I have already notified you, you can't find your in-law's family and marry immediately, otherwise you will avoid the draft, and you will be punished to go bankrupt. That's it So, the day after tomorrow, I will take you and other girls to the primary election in the county. You will wait under the old pagoda tree at the east end of the village early the day after tomorrow. Don’t let the uncle come to your door to force you. Let’s go, see you the day after tomorrow. "

"Hey, Uncle Yang..."

Xiaoying greeted Yang Lijie, and Yang Lijie hurried out. Xiaoying led the horse out inexplicably, and turned her head to see Yang Lijie was beating on the door of a family not far away: "Lao Liu, Lao Liu, open the door!" Ah, I am the fourth brother! Congratulations, congratulations, hahahaha..."

Xiao Ying frowned slightly, biting her bright red lower lip with fine white and neat teeth, thinking in amazement: "This Uncle Yang is so weird, the emperor chooses a concubine, that is what so many daughters can't wish for? Why are you afraid that he will marry right away?" ?emperor……"

Sakura thought of the middle-aged man with big ears, thick eyebrows and heavy beard she had seen in the palace, and couldn't help being slightly embarrassed.The bearded emperor was about the same age as her father, and he even had a square face and long beard reaching his chest.To be his concubine?Sakura felt very uncomfortable.

Turning around and looking again, Yang Lijie knocked on the neighbor's door and had already entered, Xiao Ying thought to herself: "No, I'm obviously over the age, I have to make it clear to Uncle Yang later that I am definitely the best in this draft." Not going."

Thinking about it, Xiaoying led the horse and walked out of the village. Most of the people in this village didn't know who they were, but along the way, she saw a few families with happy characters on the door, and walked to the door of Yang Lijie's house. At that time, Xiao Ying recognized it, but when she saw it, not only was the happy word pasted on the door, but there were also let off firecrackers on the ground, and a large group of people were busy working inside and out. Long married daughter.

Xiao Ying felt admiration in her heart when she heard this: "No wonder Daming is much stronger than Tatar and Wala. The officials of Daming are really focused on business affairs. Uncle Yang is marrying a daughter today, and the whole village is busy."

Xiao Ying rushed to her own field, only to see that the tenants had already gone to work.

Seeing her young master arrived, the tenants greeted her one after another, Xiao Ying didn't mind being dirty, she took off her boots and socks, rolled up her trouser legs, and went down to the paddy field with her bare white feet.

In this era, it is said that the big girl does not leave the second door, but that is only limited to rich and noble families. It is only a relative term for the daughters of rich and noble families. There are always girls who are well-matched and form sisters. Tao'er, let's go to the mountains together, pray to Buddha, have a poetry meeting, have their social activities, girls from ordinary families embroider purses, sew and sell on the street, or go to work in the fields, that's a must, so it's impossible not to show your face .

It's just that Xiao Ying is now considered a small landlord with status anyway, and it's a bit surprising that she is willing to go to the farm, but the tenants were surprised at first, but now they are no longer surprised.Xiao Ying followed the crop leaders all the way, and listened to their introduction of various farming knowledge. In the meantime, there were also various short-sighted comments from the parents. Xiao Ying is a straightforward person, and when she heard them talking about the draft girl, she interjected: " Ah! I’ve heard about this too, when I was leaving just now, the district chief came to my house and informed me to gather at the entrance of the village in the morning the day after tomorrow, and go to the county to be screened.”

Xiao Ying is approachable and has a straightforward temperament, which is very popular with these peasants. She is the young master, but many older peasants love her as if they are their own daughters. They are shocked when they hear this.

A farmer hurriedly said: "Oh, young master, why did you get involved in this matter, don't stay in the field, hurry up, go home and prepare a generous gift, and send it to the village chief immediately, begging him Think of a way, but you must not be selected, otherwise, with your appearance and character, there is no reason why you should not be selected, this selection will ruin your life!"

Xiao Ying was very surprised when she heard this: "I'd rather be a concubine of a hero than a wife of a mediocre person. Why is it that the emperor likes to follow her into hell?"

Seeing her ignorant look, the farmer couldn't help but said anxiously: "Oh, my young master, why don't you understand? The draft girl, the draft girl, once selected, she will become a palace lady. This palace lady is selected from thousands of miles away. , which one is not smart? What a beautiful girl entered the palace, and she couldn't stand out among the crowd. How many of them are lucky enough to be favored by the emperor? If they are assigned to a palace that does not deal with the emperor If you do things, you will never see the face of the emperor."

The common people at the root of the imperial city know far more things than the common people in other places. The farmer explained in detail: "Once this girl enters the palace, she can't have anything to do with outside the palace. You It’s okay if you flatter the eunuch who is in charge of the palace, otherwise, your family will not get a letter if you live, grow old, get sick and die in the palace. If you violate the prohibition, you will be beheaded, there is no other explanation.”

Another farmer said: "You just say that you have been lonely in the palace for half your life, and you can leave the palace when you are old? Not necessarily, if you have never served the emperor or noble concubine, that's all. Otherwise, in order to prevent the palace people from leaking the forbidden You can't even leave the palace, you can only be imprisoned in the "Huanyi Bureau", tsk tsk tsk, that's miserable. Naturally, the imperial doctor won't treat you when you are sick. You want to find it outside by yourself. No doctor can do it, so I can only look at the symptoms of the disease, and roughly grab the medicine to make do with it."

The third person who spoke was not a man, but a strong peasant woman. She was startled and said: "There are strict laws in the palace. Once you violate the rules, you can 'lift the bell', 'block the lock', and 'hold it hard'." There are plenty of ways to deal with you. If you are lucky enough to be favored by the emperor and become a noble concubine, then you should be lucky? You have a good idea! How old is the emperor this year? Over 50 years old! To be disrespectful, the emperor can still How many years have you lived?"

A few men nearby hurriedly said: "Shut up, shut up, don't talk nonsense!"

The peasant woman quickly stopped talking, and said: "In ancient times, we don't know, but we know that since the Yuan Dynasty, once the emperor died, he would be buried with human beings."

Sakura let out a soft "ah", but she knows this rule. The system of human sacrifice has been gradually abolished since the Han Dynasty, and it has been restored since the time of Genghis Khan. Now the leaders of the Mongolian and Jurchen tribes still die. It is to be sacrificed.

The peasant woman said: "When Lord Hongwu passed away, all 38 concubines were buried, and all the maids who waited on the palace were also buried! Tell me, if this enters the palace, it will not be easy for the emperor to fancy it. If you are young, you will have to..."

A few farmers were afraid that she would cause trouble by talking too much, so they said again and again: "Shut up, shut up!"

An old farmer interjected: "Miss, you are pitiful! There is no news from the family, and there is no one in the palace to ask for warmth, and I can't even find a man. Otherwise, why do so many palace people find a eunuch?" Food, become a farmer? If it is possible, who's good girl will find a eggless... find an eunuch to be her man, it is not that no one loves, no one loves, there is no way!"

The peasant woman sighed and said, "It's a good thing I don't have a daughter, so I won't suffer such a crime!"

Another old man with a wrinkled face said: "Fortunately, my daughter got married last year!"

The third mature farmer said with a happy face: "Don't talk about it, alas! Fortunately, my little one died early!"

Sakura was dumbfounded.

An old farmer next to him said anxiously: "Young master, what are you still doing? It will be too late when the list is officially reported! Hurry up and go back to the activities to clear up the relationship!"

"Oh, ok, ok, I... I'll go right away!"

Xiaoying woke up as if she had just woken up from a dream, and hurried to the bank, walked to the side of the stream, washed her feet in the clear spring water, put on her shoes and socks, got on her horse, and rushed to Yang Lichang's house.

Yang Lijie ran around the village, and when he got home, he fell heavily on the bed and said with a sigh, "Oh, my bones are all falling apart after walking."

He looked at his mother-in-law and asked, "Miss has already been picked up by my uncle?"

The mother-in-law quickly agreed, and Yang Lijie took a breath: "That's good, that's good, it's finally settled."

The mother-in-law said: "The head of the house, our niece..."

Yang Lijie frowned, sat up and said, "I'm the head of this clan, and I'm in charge of this one-third of an acre of land, maintaining it up and down. Do you think it's easy? I have to take care of the big families in the town. Don't hold me back. Now that several families have been taken care of, the number is not enough. I can barely make up the number by counting the families of two girls who have passed the age of sixteen and have not yet married. If you ask My niece has found her in-laws, how can I report to the government?"

His mother-in-law burst into tears as soon as she heard it, and said sobbingly: "You only know how to flatter and maintain others, but leave your own relatives alone. My brother's family has always been kind to us. When our family suffered a disaster At that time, without saying a word, my brother divided half of his own sack of food over here, and now you..."

Yang Lijie couldn't bear it anymore, and said angrily: "Okay, don't talk about it, look, I sent back even two families who came here with generous gifts. Do you think I am greedy for other people's money?"

He patted Kang Yan'er and said: "I originally reserved space for ten people, and I thought of the daughter of your brother's family, but who knows..., I can't help it, you...why are you crying Crying hard, your niece is dark and thin, she is not good-looking, can she be chosen?"

His mother-in-law said with tears in her eyes, "Then what if I get elected?"

"you……"

As soon as Yang Lijie stared, he heard someone shouting in the courtyard: "Is Uncle Yang at home?"

Yang Lijie jumped off the kang cleverly, and said to his wife: "Shut up! Don't cry, go, stay in the right room, cry again! If you cry again, I will beat you with the sole of your shoe!"

Yang Lijie drank his wife away, and hurriedly raised his shoes to welcome her out of the house. When he saw Xiao Ying, he smiled and said, "Oh, thank you, miss, what's the matter?"

As expected, Xiao Ying met with a soft nail at Yang Lijie, and went home unhappy, and told Tumen Baoyin about the matter, Tumen Baoyin panicked when she heard it, and the two were relatively at a loss for a long time. Tumen Baoyin hesitated and said, "How about explaining our identities to them?"

Xiao Ying smiled wryly: "We told you, do they believe it? If we don't go to the court, who will prove it to us? But who do we know in the court? Then the palace officials can enter if they say it, and besides, if it's like this Toss, we can't stay in this place anymore, we have to change our name and surname, and find another place to go."

Both of them have regarded this as their own home, and have deep feelings for this place, so how can they be willing to leave?

The two looked at each other, and after a long while, Tumen Baoyin's eyes lit up, and he tentatively said, "How about...ask Duke Fu for a favor?"

"Well……"

"Ok?"

Xiaoying rubbed her nose, reluctantly said: "Okay, then I... go for a walk!"