Ma Erniang's Splendid Pastoral

Chapter 122
Standing in the corridor on the second floor, Master Jiang saw the courtyard door open, and said with a smile, "Brother Ma, you're back!"

"Yes, Mr. Jiang, you're back." Ma Qifeng was in a really good mood today. He looked behind and saw his daughter, Niu Dabao and others packing up the gifts on the carriage. He stopped worrying and went upstairs to chat with Mr. Jiang .

After a while, the gifts and other things were put in the storage room, and Ma Miner asked Xiaoyou to register them.

"Okay, Erniang, I understand!"

The two went up the stairs side by side, Xiao Yue'er leaned against the second sister and whispered, "The little general's mother seems to be different from us."

Ma Min'er shrugged, "A fairy who doesn't eat fireworks."

"Fairy?" Xiao Yue'er pouted, "If you can read poetry, you are a fairy?"

"Almost." Ma Miner smiled.

Xiao Yue'er curled her lips, "Then if you marry in the future, shouldn't you start reciting poems now?"

"That's not necessary. Everyone has their own way of life. I like to be down-to-earth, so I don't recite poems to please someone." Ma Min'er replied.

"Then what if she doesn't like it if you don't recite it?"

"This..." Ma Min'er felt that it was really a problem, "Let's talk about it later when we meet."

"Again, there must be a way for a car to go to the mountain, and a straight line for a boat to reach the bridge?"

"Of course, haha..." Ma Min'er laughed, and said in her heart, it is certain to have a good relationship, but in order to have a good relationship, there is no principle to do what she likes, and she will do as she sees fit.

Xia Zhen's good mood was spoiled by the news brought by Mr. Tian, ​​"Break through the defense line, have you advanced two hundred miles?"

"Yes, General, it was Ling Qianyan who led the way. He fought with you on the border and knows that it is our weak spot."

Zhang Nianmei scolded: "Damn it, what about relatives?"

Mr. Tian shook his head: "Back then, he was a subordinate of the Great General, but because the General disappeared ten years ago, he went to Xiangzhou Mansion and climbed all the way to the fourth-rank General Zhaowu in Xiangzhou Mansion. Unexpectedly, in the battle at the beginning of the year He was demoted by the first emperor, and the general who promoted him was punished by the first emperor. He seemed to have lost his soul, looking for someone everywhere, and stayed with us for more than half a month. I went back, but I didn’t expect to follow Shao Youliang.”

Zhang Nianmei asked: "Little General, he is your uncle, what should we do, should we fight?"

Xia Zhen snorted coldly, "My brother is still beating me, what am I doing?"

Zhang Nianmei received the letter, "I'll go back and lead the army to fight there now."

"Call Gu Dun up and stop him together."

"Okay!" Zhang Nianmei strode back to the barracks to dispatch troops.

Zhuang Hao said, "Little General, how can the King of Jin borrow food?"

"The south is under the control of King Zhao. I'm still three floors short of food this year. I don't know who to turn to. He wants to look for me?" Xia Zhen's mood was extremely bad.

"Then refuse?" Zhuang Hao looked at the little general.

Xia Zhen didn't say a word.

Mr. Tian hesitated: "Why don't you discuss it with the old general?"

"Yeah." Xia Zhen suppressed her irritable heart.

The guests of honor found the old general, and he said with a headache, "Whether we are short or not, since he can speak, he must be sure of getting it."

"Old general, to be honest, his current situation is not as good as ours. We need to..." Mr. Tian said.

Veteran General Guo waved his hand: "He is also beating the Turkic people. No matter how much, he will definitely borrow it, but it can only be done in secret, not publicized."

Mr. Tian said: "Yesterday the general affairs officer came to me and told me that Ma'er's mother's family did not sell one or two grains except seeds."

"Why?" Xia Zhen raised her eyes.

"Some people guess that Ma's family wants to sell it for a big price next year when they are out of business."

Xia Zhen frowned, "I'll ask her."

Mr. Tian nodded: "That would be great. If we can buy the grain from Ma'er's mother's family, we can collect some grain from other places and distribute it to King Jin."

Zhuang Hao stood up, "Little General, Zhang Nianmei and Gu Dun are gathering at the camp, I'm going back first."

"Well, you go first, and I'll be there later."

"it is good."

Father Shi heard that Ma's summer grain was not sold, so he hurriedly asked, "Er Niang, are you waiting until next year?"

"No, father." Ma Erniang shook her head, "I was going to find you?"

"What do you want from me?"

"Now that I'm free, I would like to ask Uncle Shi and Uncle Shi to find craftsmen to help me build a granary in Calvary Mountain."

"Ah, why was it built there?"

Ma Min'er sighed: "Father, you know, for some reason, I have rheumatism just like the old man, if the rain is about to rain, I will faintly feel it."

Father Shi believed this too much. The reason why the food in Pingding area grows better than other places is because they avoided the rain and knew when to manage the canals, when to grow dry grain, and when to grow rice.

"My God, fortunately, everyone is not short of money and has not sold food, so I will tell everyone."

Ma Min'er reminded: "Father, be careful when you say it, otherwise it will cause everyone to panic, which is not good."

"Okay, I see." With such a big matter, Father Shi didn't stop, and hurried home to discuss how to tell everyone.

At dusk in the countryside, the smoke from the kitchen is curling up, and the breeze occasionally blows away, as if covering the walls, roof ridges, and tree tops with a thin layer of mist, making the village faintly visible and floating, creating a somewhat magical atmosphere.

The small midges became active, buzzing and whirling in clusters.The birds began to return to their nests around the woods by the river, and were suddenly frightened by the sound of horseshoes, flapping their wings and flying towards the sky.

Ma Yueer, who was lying on the second floor in a daze waiting for dinner, heard the sound of horseshoes and poked her head out, "Could it be the little general? But I just saw it during the day, and I came to look for the second sister again, no way." Dengdeng went downstairs I went to find someone.

Ma Min'er went to the nearby rice fields to see how the seedlings were doing well. They seemed to be doing well, and then went to the breeding farm to see that the ground in the pen was still clean. "It's hot, be careful of them getting plague."

"Boss, every few days, I'll sprinkle them with lime powder to disperse... disperse..."

"disinfect."

"Yes, yes, yes, don't dare to be careless." The hired workers dare not be sloppy when they finally get a good job.

"Well, that's good." Ma Min'er nodded, "Then you can be busy, I'm going back."

"Okay, little boss." The little boss didn't pick out any faults, and the hired worker's tone was relaxed.

As soon as he turned to the small road, Ma Miner heard the sound of horseshoes, and raised his head, hey, why is this guy here? People say that if we don’t see each other every day, it’s like three autumns, but we haven’t arrived yet, is there something wrong, trot Go up to meet him.

"Wooooo..." Seeing the little daughter-in-law, Xia Zhen reined in the reins.

"Xia Zhen, why are you here?"

Xia Zhen jumped off the horse, "I'm going to fight soon."

"The Turks are coming?"

"Well, almost." Regarding the war and the danger, Xia Zhen just smiled, looking at the little landlord's wife, she was embarrassed to ask her why she didn't sell grain.

"Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing."

Ma Min'er smiled like a flower, "Come here to see your future daughter-in-law before the war?"

Xia Zhen reached out and stroked the little daughter-in-law's head, "Know it and say it."

"Haha..." Ma Min'er was overjoyed, she really felt like she was in love, "It's dinner time, hurry up and have dinner."

"it is good."

Ma Yue'er was waiting at the door, and when she saw the second sister coming back with the young general, she curled her lips, turned around and went in again.

Ma Qifeng saw his little daughter turn around and come in, "Where's your sister?"

"behind."

"Why didn't you come in with her?"

Ma Yue'er pursed her lips, "Someone came in with her."

Just as Ma Qifeng wanted to ask who it was, he saw the little general and his daughter entering the courtyard together, "Little general?"

"uncle……"

"Could it be..." Ma Qifeng's face turned pale, could it be that the Xia family disagreed with their daughter's marriage and came to regret it?
"Could it be what?" Xia Zhen was puzzled.

Ma Min'er understood what her father was worried about, and said with a smile, "Father, the little general is going to fight, so stop by and have a look."

"Oh." Ma Qifeng thought to death from fright.

"Father, we are eating in the kitchen today."

"Okay."

"Father, the little general is going to leave later, let's go have dinner now."

"can."

They arrived at the kitchen very quickly, and Shi Chunyue and the others were almost done. When they saw the little general coming, they hurried over to salute, "Little general——"

"Aunt Niu, is dinner ready?"

"It's almost there, just one soup away."

"Then let's eat first, the little general has to hurry."

"Then I'll do it right away."

Shi Chunyue took Xing'er and Shan Xiaodan and quickly put the food on the small table, filling the whole table.

"Xia Zhen, sit down!" Ma Min'er asked him to sit on the upper seat, and handed him the rice bowl and chopsticks.

The father and daughter of Ma's family accompanied him to have dinner together. Most of the time, Niu Dabao stood outside the kitchen door and whispered to his wife, "Is my father not selling food anymore?"

"Yeah." Shi Chunyue replied, "He has already listened to Xiaodong's family. He is afraid of flooding, so he kept the food."

"Oh." Niu Dabao read, "I heard that someone wanted to sell it outside the yard, and I felt that the money would be safe in my pocket."

"The famine is coming, and you can't buy food even if you have money." Shi Chunyue turned her head and asked Ma Min'er: "Little boss, what do you think?"

"That's natural, silver is something you can't eat."

In the kitchen, Xia Zhen's chopsticks stopped, "Min'er, is there a flood?"

Ma Min'er giggled and said: "There is a drought every three years, and a flood every three years. This is how the years are. Prevention is the priority."

Xia Zhen's eyebrows moved, "I seem to have heard that there was a severe drought in Yizhou four years ago, and it seems that the weather has been smooth for several years. Could it be that there is really a flood?"

"It's just prevention, not necessarily."

"If there is a flood, the stored food will be washed away, right?"

"Uh..." Now it was Ma Min'er's turn to stop chopsticks, "Actually, it's a good idea to dredge all the rivers in Yizhou, but it's a pity that you have to fight."

"I don't fight wars, and I don't know how to do this."

Ma Min'er said: "There is nothing wrong with this. You just need to hire someone, and then find officials from the Ministry of Industry who are professional in dredging the river, and let them direct. You can dig."

"You mean to let my soldiers dig the river channel?"

"Yes, but it will be more efficient if we combine the local people."

Xia Zhen's eyebrows twitched again and again. He didn't know much about these people's livelihood matters, but since it involved the Yizhou matter, he still took it to heart, bowed his head to eat, and now he knew why the little daughter-in-law didn't sell food. It's not for hoarding to make a fortune, and suddenly he raised his head again, "If someone borrows food from you, do you want to borrow it?"

Ma Miner frowned, "Under normal circumstances, I would definitely borrow it. If it is like the flood just now, I have to borrow it. If I have money, I will borrow it and let him buy it."

"Borrow money?"

"Keep the food to save your life, and the money, you can earn it back at any time."

"Oh." Xia Zhen was thoughtful.

After dinner, the father and daughter of Ma's family sent him outside the courtyard gate, but Xia Zhen refused to get on the horse. Ma Qifeng finally understood that he would not leave if his daughter was not allowed to send him alone for a while. hands into the yard.

Of course Ma Min'er knew what Xia Zhen meant, and said with a smile, "Let's go, General Xia."

Xiaowen led the horse back for a while, leaving his master and his young daughter-in-law to be alone.Xia Zhen took the little daughter-in-law's hand directly.

"Be careful when you go out."

"Ah."

"Eat three meals on time."

"know."

"My temper is coming, if I can't bear it..."

"I just recite the Analects."

"Hee hee..." Ma Min'er raised her face, "Brother Zhen, you're amazing, it's all over."

Xia Zhen stretched out her other hand and grabbed the little daughter-in-law's nose, "Don't laugh at me."

"Okay, okay, no joke." Ma Miner hugged his waist with both hands.

Xia Zhen embraced the little daughter-in-law with both hands, her broad chest completely wrapped her up, her head and neck rested on her slender shoulders, "Wait for me to come back."

"Not waiting for you, waiting for someone!" Ma Min'er hated sad parting the most, pouted her lips, and patted him on the back.

"Yes, there is no one else but me."

"How long will it take this time?"

"Maybe ten days or eight days, maybe a month."

"Oh, take care of yourself then."

"Well, I will."

Xia Zhen turned the little daughter-in-law's head, hugged her ears with both hands, lowered her head, and omitted N indescribable words.

Unlike usual, this time after Xia Zhen left, the entire Pingding county was under martial law. When she went to the shop in the county and heard Qiu Baiyan talk about the situation outside, she realized that the whole Yizhou was the same.

"Businessmen outside said that Emperor Longxiang sent a new general to suppress the country and asked the Xia family to hand over the great seal."

Ma Min'er didn't expect that the news of handing over the Great Seal had spread so widely, "Then our business will be put on hold for a while, and our staff will be idle for a while."

"Well, this is the only way to go now!" Qiu Baiyan said, "Some counties have already been affected, and a lot of property and food have been robbed by the new generals.

Ma Min'er didn't expect the matter to be so serious, she really wanted to know if the call would be settled, but she didn't ask, "Business is not busy, why don't you let Brother Daping go home for a while."

"Yes, boss."

Guo Daping heard that Erniang asked him to go home to rest, "Erniang, it's okay, I'll be fine anyway when I go home."

Ma Min'er said: "Erping and Sanlang are studying in the academy, Aunt Guo is the only one at home, you can go back and accompany her."

"It's not that no one has done it." Guo Daping was very sincere.

"There is a war going on outside right now, so business is not easy to do. It's okay. You accountants can take turns to rest and get busy."

"Oh, that's fine too."

When Shi Xiaoe heard that Guo Daping was going home for vacation, she went to Ma Erniang, "My little boss, I also want to go back and see my grandparents and parents."

"Yes!" Ma Min'er turned her head and said to Qiu Baiyan: "Master Qiu, our shop will take a bath every seven days from now on, so that everyone can go back and get together with their families."

"Small boss, other shops, masters take one day off a month, and apprentices take a few days off a year. Is this..."

"I've wanted to talk about this for a long time, but I haven't had a chance to talk about it. Then take this opportunity to set up this system. From now on, everyone will have four days off in a month."

Qiu Baiyan saw that the little boss didn't seem to be talking casually, nodded and said, "Since the little boss has made up his mind, then I will announce it."

"Thank you, Shopkeeper Qiu."

"My little boss is being polite."

After making arrangements for the shop, Ma Min'er took Guo Daping and Shi Xiao'e to pick up Xiumu's Erping and Sanlang.

Shi Xiao'e and Guo Daping were sitting together in Ma Miner's carriage, smiling all the time. Last time, Ma Miner noticed the signs. This time, she paid special attention and found that Xiao'e liked Brother Daping. After a glance, I can enjoy it for a long time, but Brother Daping doesn't seem to be enlightened, and he is a little cold.

Ma Min'er thought to herself, boys come later than girls in this kind of thing, Xiao'e is a nice person, I hope they can get together.

Ma Sanlang and Guo Erping were already waiting at the gate of the academy. When they saw my sister's carriage, they rushed over happily, "Second sister, second sister..."

"Be careful." Ma Min'er hastily greeted her.

"Second sister, are the cold drinks and melons ready at home?" Ma Sanlang was as lively and eccentric as ever.

"It's all ready, just wait for you to go back and start eating."

"Brother—" Seeing his relatives, everyone was happy, and Guo Erping jumped up to his elder brother.

Seeing his lively younger brother, Guo Daping was overjoyed, and took his hand, "How are you doing in the academy, are you reading well?"

"It's okay, big brother!"

"You boy, what do you mean it's okay?"

Guo Erping smiled: "It's medium."

"Then you have to work hard."

"Brother, I worked hard!"

"you……"

Seeing that Guo Daping wanted to preach again, Ma Miner smiled and said, "Brother Daping, it's rare for them to take a rest, let's take them to the snack street to eat something."

"Wow, Er Niang is better."

"Your boy—" Guo Daping smiled helplessly.

"Let's go, it's rare for everyone to get together."

Ma Min'er took a few people to the snack street, and ate while shopping. She had a great time eating until she couldn't walk, and then she came out of the snack street. When she came out, someone called her.

"Miss Ma—"

Ma Miner turned her head, "You are..."

"I'm Qin Hong, the girl next to Mrs. Mo's." Qin Hong stepped forward and bowed lightly.

"So it's Sister Hong, you also come here to buy things?"

Qin Hong saw that she was very easy-going, and said with a smile: "Yes, the eldest lady wants to eat jelly, let me come and buy it."

"Oh." Ma Min'er felt that she didn't know how to address Miss Mo, "Then your lady..."

"My eldest lady is watching the accounts in the shop."

"Is it Xu's Embroidery Workshop?"

"Yes, that's right there. It's a dowry from our wife to the eldest lady."

Ma Min'er smiled, "The jelly can't be kept for a long time, quickly bring it to your lady."

"Oh, I was so busy talking to you that I forgot." Qin Hong smiled shyly, "Miss Ma, come to our embroidery workshop when you have time!"

"Okay, go when you have time."

Qin Hong left happily.

Ma Sanlang approached the second sister, "Is she the girl after us...?"

"Ah."

Ma Sanlang made a grimace, "Second Sister, it's getting late, I'll go back soon, or I won't be able to leave the city in time."

"Then who said just now that you haven't eaten enough and want to go shopping?"

"Hee hee, Second Sister, just now was just now, now is now."

"You are the one who is naughty." Ma Min'er nodded his forehead with her finger, with a naughty look on her face.

As soon as Qin Hong returned to the embroidery workshop, she told the eldest lady about her encounter with the young lady of the Ma family, "My lady, I even invited her to our shop."

Wu Xu's said: "The Ma family has their own tailor-made clothing and embroidery workshops. Now, it's hard to get here."

Mo Wanyi always had a smile on her face, but she didn't say anything.

"Miss, why don't you speak?"

"What are you talking about?" Mo Wanyi opened the lid of the jelly bowl, ready to eat.

"Master Ma's children seem to be easy to get along with," Qin Hong said.

Wu Xu followed up and said: "In my opinion, it's not bad. It should be easy to get along with, but after all, these are just casual acquaintances, and they haven't deepened. Whether they get along well or not will have to wait for the eldest lady to get along after she gets married."

"That's true." Qin Hong said, "I hope they all treat the eldest lady well."

"That depends on the fortune of the eldest lady."

When his son came back, Ma Qifeng was overjoyed, and hurriedly asked the kitchen to prepare some delicious food for his son.

Ma Min'er pouted, "Father, first ask your son if he can eat it?"

"Why can't I eat, the food in the academy is not as good as the food at home." Ma Qifeng looked at his sour daughter and said bluffing.

Leaning over her shoulders, Ma Min'er said, "Ma Yixin, can you still eat?"

Ma Sanlang rubbed his chubby stomach and said embarrassedly: "Father, I can't even eat dinner."

Looking at his son's stomach, Ma Qifeng asked, "What have you eaten?"

"Father, in the snack street, I blackmailed my second sister and ate a lot."

"You, you, don't hurt your spleen and stomach."

"Now I want to drink hawthorn water to eliminate food."

"Min'er, quickly make a cup for your brother."

"Father, whoever made him greedy, let him soak it by himself, I won't help him soak it."

Ma Qifeng stared, and ran to help his son soak himself.

"Second sister, look at how kind my father is to me."

"Tch, you just came back, after waiting for Xiangxiang, do you think Daddy will make it for you?"

"Hee hee, I'll just take a day off to take a bath, and every time I come back, it will smell good every time." Ma Sanlang made a mischievous face.

"You are 11 years old, and you still make funny faces, what do you look like?"

Masanlang made another grimace, "Anyway, I'm younger than you, and I'm your younger brother, so I can have fun."

"Hehe, on the day you marry a lady, I'll let you have fun and roll around, to see if you dare."

"Hmph, I won't tell you anymore, I'm going to play chess with Master Jiang."

Ma Miner rolled her eyes and went on her own.

Guo Daping and Guo Erping didn't let Ma Erniang's carriage be delivered to the town. They got off the carriage at the intersection of Zhenkou and Xiaowang Village, and walked back by themselves. When they arrived at the door of their shop, they found that the shop was open and there was no one at the counter. , a little surprised.

"Erping, you stand at the counter to prevent customers from coming to buy things."

"Oh, okay." Guo Erping put down his schoolbag, went inside the counter, and sat behind the counter for collecting money, resting and digesting while looking at the shop.

Guo Daping found the backyard, but he didn’t see anyone, so he suddenly became nervous. Could it be that the mother was tired and fainted somewhere, so he searched for the most likely places, first the bedroom, no one was there, and then the kitchen, and there was no one there. , so where is it?

Guo Daping was in a hurry, pushed the firewood room in the yard behind the kitchen, and was about to go out the back door to ask the neighbors, but his mother was standing at the back door talking to a middle-aged man.

"Hurry up and collect the money for the firewood. If you don't accept it, I don't want the firewood either."

A middle-aged man pushed the firewood and said, "Hua Niang, don't...don't do this, I...I just want to help you."

"Why are you helping? I have a shop, money, and everything, and I still need your firewood money."

"I...I just want to help you because I see you as a woman working hard. You collect...collect these firewood!" The middle-aged man looked embarrassed, turned around and was about to leave, but was dragged by Mrs. Guo.

He looked even more embarrassed, redness could be seen on his swarthy face.

Guo Daping lowered his eyelids, turned around and went back to the yard. After a while, Mrs. Guo Li came in and said, "What a joke, I don't need anything, and I need him to help me. People nowadays are really annoying." I don't understand." He reached out and brushed the crumbs on his sleeves.

"mother."

"Hey, Daping, why are you back?"

"The shop is not busy, Er Niang gave us a holiday."

"That's good, mother is missing you." Guo Li said happily: "I'll bring in the firewood at the door, and I'll cook something delicious for you."

"Mom, let me help you."

"Row."

Guo Li's mother and son piled up firewood in the utility room, twelve bundles, and it was set up in a short while.

"Mother, how much is this bundle?" Guo Daping asked.

"A bundle of six papers, not much money."

"Oh." Guo Daping said casually, "Why did that person call you by your name just now?"

"Oh, he is from my natal village. He was just like us in the year of the drought. He lost his home and wandered around by himself. He was near Xiaoniu Mountain a few years ago, and then he collected firewood and sold it to our town. Once Come to my shop to buy food and recognize me."

"Oh." Guo Daping didn't ask again.

Mrs. Guo Li didn't care about the fellow villagers at all: "Stop talking about this, mother will cook something delicious for you."

"Erping is back too."

"What a coincidence, where is it?" Guo Lishi asked happily.

"Look at the shop for you."

"Oh, look at me, I'm so busy, no one is looking at the shop."

"Mom, if you're too busy, buy a girl to help you."

"Daping, you...how did you think of this?"

"Erping and I are often not at home, and there is no one to help you. It seems impossible."

Mrs. Guo Li sighed, "Mother is reluctant to part with money."

"Mom, I've made money now, what are you reluctant to do?"

"That being said, my mother wants to earn more and save more, so that you can marry a daughter-in-law like Er Niang."

Guo Daping pursed his lips tightly, "Mother, how can people like us marry such a good wife as Erniang."

"That's right." Guo Lishi sighed.

The busy farming season was too early, and the business was not easy to do. For a while, Ma Miner seemed to have nothing to do, either sitting in the corridor in a daze, or playing with Fu's father on the small vegetable patch in the yard to pass the time with a small hoe.

Thanks to Master Jiang's inquiring about gossip, Ma Min'er also knew something about the war. Xia Zhen fought fiercely with the person who received the seal. The news that Yin was going to be taken away by the new emperor also spread.

Some people are afraid, some people are secretly happy.

Most of the people who were terrified were ordinary people. They were worried: "If there is no General Xia, can we still sleep peacefully?"

(End of this chapter)