Ma Erniang's Splendid Pastoral

Chapter 207
A gust of cold wind blows over, "Wow, it's so cold!" Ma Min'er turned around and pushed Xia Zhen into the cabin, "It's too cold, too cold!" After entering the cabin, she sat down by the tin stove and stretched out her hands bake.

Xia Zhen glanced at the little daughter-in-law, and closed the door without any hassle. The cabin was instantly the same as the night, with only oil lamps and a fire. She sat down with her, her arms still around her waist.

Ma Min'er snuggled into his arms, "I really want to find a place with beautiful mountains and clear waters to build a small wooden house like this, just the two of us, and grow old in the wasteland."

"Do not……"

"..." Ma Min'er was immersed in the poetic and picturesque, and raised her head in shock when she said no in a low voice. Above her eyes, Xia Zhen's head had already lowered, "It's not enough just the two of us, we also need a son, daughter……"

Ma Min'er clasped his neck with both hands, and grinned, "When you really have a son or daughter, you will be bothered."

"will not!"

Ma Miner pouted.

"Min'er..." His voice gradually lowered, Xia Zhen's cheeks were illuminated by the fire, and the firm edges and corners were full of tenderness.

"Xia Zhen..."

The word N is omitted below.

Outside the small wooden house, the sun is setting, and the deserted Xicaogou has never been so lively as it is now. There are horse-drawn carts and flatbed carts coming into the village. The carts are not wood, but daily necessities, and more food and ingredients. .

People from the three villages all came to watch the excitement, but the excitement was ignored, and they were hired to work for a hundred copper coins a day, "My God, how much is a hundred copper coins?" Most people in the village can't even count to ten Hearing one hundred is simply an astronomical figure.

"Old patriarch, how much is one hundred?" A woman took the lead and asked curiously.

"It's a lot!" The old patriarch of Hejia Village didn't know how to explain, and hurriedly urged, "Hurry up and work, if you don't work, you will get a hundred coppers."

"Oh..." The woman turned around and went to work with everyone.

Fu Xiaoyou and Qiu Baiyan were planning how to build a resort in the three villages, when she heard the woman ask, "Auntie, don't worry, you will know how much one hundred is in the evening."

"Evening?" Everyone looked at Fu Xiaoyou in unison.

"Yes, our wages are settled every day, and we get paid every day we work."

"God..."

"Mother..."

……

The crowd dispersed after a while, and everyone ran to work.

"It's a pity that most of them are elderly people, and there are not many young people." Qiu Baiyan looked at the spread out construction site.

Fu Xiaoyou said, "Brother Qiu, don't worry, in a few days, all the young people in the village will come back."

Qiu Baiyan nodded, "I hope so. It's better to use people from the village than to hire people temporarily."

"Well," Fu Xiaoyou said, "Why don't we discuss it in the kitchen where the fire is lit."

"Okay." Three villages only had three cabins, and the conditions were difficult, so we had to make do with it first.

Seeing the two chief stewards coming, Shi Qiuju quickly took a small stool for them to sit on, "What do you want to eat?"

"Waiting for the prince and his wife to eat together." Fu Xiaoyou said, "We are here to keep warm, you are busy with your work."

"Oh." Without dinner, Shi Qiuju still poured a bowl of hot tea for each of them, put them on the small table, put them away gently, and left quietly without disturbing them at all.

Shan Xiaodan arrived at the corridor of the cabin, and when she reached the door, she habitually listened to the situation inside first, and never knocked on the door rashly. Sure enough, when she heard the voice inside, she turned her head and left, went to the corridor, and said to the girl guarding the door: , "Don't let people bother you."

"Yes, Miss Shan." The second-class girl Lan Xi glanced at Xia Xiaoren who was sitting at the stairs, and nodded.

Shan Xiaodan also glanced at Xia Xiaoren, she was slowly cleaning the dagger, the afterglow of the setting sun reflected on it, it was dazzlingly bright, she held back her horror and hurried to the kitchen.

The evening wind blew, and it was very cold. Lan Xi avoided the small room reserved for them on the ground floor, and called softly: "Sister Xiaoren, do you want to come in? There is a fire passage here, and there is heating. It's so warm."

Xia Xiaoren raised his eyes, "No, I'm not cold."

Damn, Lanxi felt that she was about to freeze to ice, she sat on her small wooden bed, picked up the needle and thread under the heater, and for some reason, it seemed that there was something moving there, so she pricked up her ears and listened carefully.

As he listened, his little face turned red, he hurried out of the room, and stood opposite Xia Xiaoren again.

Xia Xiaoren looked up, "It's okay, I'm not afraid of the cold, you can stay in the room if you are afraid of the cold."

"I...it's too hot inside, I...Sister Xiaoren, you stay here, I'll help in the kitchen." After finishing speaking, she turned and ran away.

Xia Xiaoren looked at Lan Xi who seemed to be running away, feeling bewildered, curled his lips slightly, and sat on the stairs to continue wiping his dagger.

In the cabin, a couple of young people had finished exercising, and Ma Min'er put her arms around Xia Zhen, "It's not dark yet, and there are people outside, so that's not good."

"A well-behaved couple, a majestic county king... no matter which one, who dares to say otherwise."

Ma Min'er pinched him, "Dignity, majesty, my lord, it's not good to lose your majesty if you are so casual."

Xia Zhen narrowed her eyes, and patted Ma Min'er's back lightly, "Stop talking, I'm tired, let's talk about it after sleeping."

"Hey, I haven't eaten dinner yet, what should I do if I wake up hungry in the middle of the night?"

"We'll talk when we wake up from hunger." Xia Zhen was really sleepy, and when he left the capital, the tension in his heart relaxed, and he looked very sleepy and tired.

Ma Min'er looked up and realized that he was really asleep. After thinking about it, she got up and picked up a small note and wrote a few words, then slipped it out through the crack of the door, and she would see it when the order came up.

Sure enough, around the time, when Shan Xiaodan came up to call for someone, he found a small note at the door: Don't tell us to eat, and fell asleep, simmer some white porridge on the stove, if we wake up in the middle of the night, the prince and I will do it ourselves .

Shan Xiaodan listened to the room, went down the stairs, and found the cabin for the male guard: "Guard Xiao, please check the fire and charcoal fire."

Xiaowen was on duty at night, just woke up, "Oh, I see!" Immediately got up to wash, and after a while, he brought people to check the flue of the fire.

A mile away, in the temporary account, Xiao Zuoer and the two boys in the account room were distributing the daily wages together, and the three villages were queuing up to receive the coins with their own villagers.

Ding Tingchang sat on the corner where the money was placed, watching the steward from the capital distribute money to everyone, the smile in the corner of his eyes never stopped, his hands were wrapped in the cotton padded clothes that the nobleman gave him, his whole body was very warm, he couldn’t help I lived and looked around. The houses made of cloth by the nobles are warmer than their thatched huts, which is really amazing.

Looking at the shiny copper again, he thought to himself, it won't be long before we people in Xicaogou can also live in expensive log cabins, which is great.

-

In the night market, Feng Jiangyi led a few capable officials, dressed in casual clothes, and walked casually on the busy street. The left and right sides of the wide street were filled with stalls and hawkers, and the middle of the street was crowded with pedestrians. It's bustling, lively and noisy.

"My lord..." Master Wei called out.

Feng Jiangyi put his hands behind his back, smiled and squinted his eyes, "Master Wei, how do you feel?"

"It's more lively than before." After thinking about it, Master Wei replied.

Feng Jiangyi looked away from the side of the street, and glanced at his disciples, "Daojun, how long has it been since you've been to the night market?"

"Great...Teacher."

"Actually."

"Except for occasionally passing by while handling a case, I didn't come here on purpose."

Feng Jiangyi smiled, "Then I can't ask you." He turned his head, "Which of you often comes to the night market?"

Several officials looked at each other and smiled, "My lord, we also come occasionally."

Feng Jiangyi said, "Me too."

Uh……

Master Wei couldn't help asking, "My lord, then you brought us here..."

"A little friend said that there are two places that best reflect people's real production activities."

"My lord, who is your little friend?"

Feng Jiangyi shook his head and laughed, "What you should ask is which place best reflects people's real production activities."

Several officials sneered and smiled embarrassedly.

Zhao Yuyan walked at the end, and the little friend who heard what Master Feng said immediately understood that he was referring to Ma Erniang, smiled lightly, and instantly understood the meaning of Master Feng's bringing them here.

Feng Jiangyi is not only in a high position, but has even traveled all over the world. Of course, he also knows the night markets and marketplaces that Ma Miner mentioned, and he can see how people's lives are from these places.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to be ranked among the three publics, but he could not believe that the tax rate has been raised from high to the lowest, and the tax rate has risen instead of falling. Ten down two holds great doubts.

Ma Erniang told him that if you are not at ease, you can go to the night market and the market to have a look, and after you have seen it, you will feel at ease.

I don’t know if I don’t look at it. I was shocked when I saw it. He had been to the night market the day before the tax rate was adjusted. At that time, there were not so many vendors, and there were not so many people visiting the night market, but it was only more than ten days. , he watched the night market become bustling and crowded day by day, and he felt infinitely moved.

"Lord Wei—"

"My lord, the officer is here."

"Arrange the order well, and crack down on those local snakes. Don't let them bully the market, dominate the market, collect protection fees, protect the most basic interests of the common people, and let the money go into the treasury of my Great Wei Dynasty, not these private pockets."

"Yes, my lord, I understand—"

"Don't talk back to me."

"My lord..." Master Wei heard the sternness and determination in the old grand master's words.

"Work hard! This is the opportunity." Feng Jiangyi turned around and looked at his disciples expectantly.

Master Wei thought for a moment before handing over, "Yes, Boss, I must seize this opportunity."

"En." Feng Jiangyi looked at the servant of the household department again, "Master Zeng, since the market and business have become prosperous at the speed seen, you know what to do next."

"My lord, the next official understands that he will definitely count all businesses, even the stable hawkers, and strive to collect all the taxes."

Feng Jiangyi said: "The tax has been reduced to the minimum. For every small business and small shop, the tax is not heavy, and they can afford it, but the problem lies with the government. The government can make all the taxes relatively fair and complete. This is the most important thing.”

"Master Feng, what do you think?"

"Tomorrow, I will gather everyone to discuss and implement this matter." Feng Jiangyi said.

"Yes, my lord!" Everyone returned in unison.

For some reason, Zhao Yuyan felt that Grand Master Feng's eyes paused on him deliberately, and he realized that this was his chance.

-

As if overnight, BBQ became popular in the capital of the Great Wei Dynasty. Whether it was a dignitary or a commoner alley, someone would always set up a grill, grill a few slices of meat, smear delicious sauces, and enjoy the hands-on experience. pleasure.

Blacksmith shops that make grills have sprung up everywhere, and the grills they make are sold in the streets and alleys. Almost every restaurant, restaurant, small shop, and even mobile vendors have a large number of grills.

For Ma Min'er, she has long thought of this situation. Following the trend and imitating has always been the nature of the Chinese people. Instead of being defensive, it is better to be creative and innovative, so that she can be "always imitated, but never surpassed." '

So what will Ma Miner do who doesn't make a grill?Don't worry, let's look down slowly.

Sitting in his own restaurant, watching the upstairs and downstairs almost full of people, and then to the expanded backyard, Liu Zaiwen looked away triumphantly, went to his exclusive room, happily squinted a small pot of wine, "haha... happy... …happy……"

The long follower who served him hurriedly picked up some food for him, "Master, I heard that the Xia family went to Xicaogou to find a barbecue place."

"Dou, fight against the aristocratic family in the capital, if he can still buy a shop, I will take his surname."

"Master, is this why Xia went to Xicaogou?"

"Of course." Liu Zaiwen smiled darkly, "After the surname Gong was secretly taken away, the Fengxi Building was sealed off the next day, and it was bought by Concubine Xiao's nephew, and the door was changed. In the blink of an eye, it became a scene. Delou (The above is Taidelou. The author made a mistake. The emperor’s name is Yuantai. In ancient times, the emperor’s use of characters was taboo, and Taide was not allowed. Therefore, it is changed to Jingdelou here.)
"Master, I hope they will stay in Xicaogou and never return to the capital."

"You know shit." Liu Zaiwen scolded with a smile.

"Yes, the young ones don't understand, the young ones don't understand."

Liu Zaiwen squinted his eyes and sneered: "I heard rumors that a certain mansion is going to have a flower party, and they will invite someone surnamed Xia to attend."

"Then what if the surname Xia doesn't participate?"

"There are so few gatherings that he doesn't attend." Many clans and aristocratic families in the capital invited him as a guest, but unfortunately they were all rejected by him. Liu Zaiwen had a deep meaning: "This family, if he doesn't attend, he has to attend."

"Grandpa, which one is it?"

"The mouth owes."

"Yes, the younger ones should be hit... the younger ones should be hit!" The attendant quickly slapped himself on the mouth, not daring to ask any more questions.

-

Zhuang Hao frowned, and looked at the invitations on the table again. The bronzing invitations from the Princess' Mansion were really irresistible.

"Sir, my master is not here. Mr. Wei asked me to ask you if I could send a message to the princess mansion, just say master..."

Of course Zhuang Hao knew that Xia Zhen didn't want to go back to the capital to deal with the dignitaries, especially the emperor's daughter, so he interrupted the visitor: "Let me try it."

"Thank you sir." The guard quickly saluted him.

"Drink tea."

The guard raised his hand again, "Sir, you are polite. Mr. Wei is still waiting for my reply, so the younger one will leave first."

Zhuang Hao waved his hand, "Well, let's go!"

-

When the city was full of barbecues, Liu Zaicheng felt extremely bored, fell asleep at home, and was pulled out of the bed by his grandmother, "Stinky boy, it's fine if you don't say good morning to grandma in the morning, and you still sleep until now. Everyone is sleepy, get up quickly, get up..."

"Grandma, just let me sleep for a while, I'm so sleepy, I can't get up."

"Stinky boy, I don't come back until midnight every night, so it's strange if I'm not sleepy..." Old Princess Liang kept nagging.

Liu Zaicheng was so angry that he pulled up the quilt and rolled his head into the bed.

"Smelly...boy..." The old Concubine Liang yelled angrily without grabbing her grandson, "I will find you a powerful wife in the future and let her take care of you. If she can't take care of you, I'll divorce her. "

"Why did you divorce him?" Liu Zaicheng slipped out of the bed naked.

"Why, just because she can't take good care of my precious grandson."

"Hmph, why should my daughter-in-law let you sleep?" Liu Zaicheng rolled his eyes and continued to crawl under the covers.

The old concubine Liang quickly stretched out her hand to grab the boss's bed, she could reach it there, "Stinky boy, get up quickly, your grandfather will come back from the teahouse soon, and seeing that you didn't get up, he will scold me again, scold me for pampering you!" broken."

"I'm sorry, you still want to divorce my wife, I'm sorry!"

"Your daughter-in-law asked me..." Old Princess Liang seemed to understand something, and quickly stretched her legs and climbed onto the bed of her precious grandson, "Cheng'er, my dear Cheng'er, who's little lady do you like, hurry up and tell grandma, grandma You propose marriage."

"No……"

"Impossible, otherwise, you wouldn't be able to leave one daughter-in-law after another. Tell grandma quickly, and grandma will help you." Old Princess Liang smiled happily.

"Oh, did you tell me..."

……

The nurses and maids by the bed looked at the grandparents and grandchildren, and all of them shrank their heads and stood back. They were afraid that such grandparents and grandchildren would never be found in the whole capital, and they were all secretly dumbfounded.

"Stinky boy, are you going to say it or not..."

"Oh, grandma, I said it was Ma Erniang, do you dare to mention it?"

"What?" Old Princess Liang punched her precious grandson, "Impossible, if you have the wrong intentions, the one named Xia will forgive you?"

"But I like to play with Ma Erniang."

"You..." Old Princess Liang was gagged by her precious grandson.

But Liu Zaicheng came out of the bed, "Oh, I don't know if I don't say it, I haven't seen her for seven or eight days." After finishing speaking, Hanchi got out of bed, "Hurry up and wait for the master to wash up."

Girls and women hurried forward to serve.

The old Concubine Liang felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't tell what was wrong, "Cheng'er, you like one thing, wishing to hold it in your hand every day, and not see each other for seven or eight days?"

"Grandmother, Ma Erniang is a human being, but it's not a big deal."

"No, no..." The old Concubine Liang circled around her eldest grandson, "There seems to be a little youthful love between her eyebrows and eyes..."

"Hey, grandma, you... what nonsense are you talking..." Liu Zaicheng was taken aback by her grandmother's words, and jumped away. He didn't want others to know who he liked. He wanted to think secretly, secretly like.

"What are you talking about, is it really Ma Erniang?"

"Yes, go propose marriage!" Liu Zaicheng raised his eyebrows very proudly.

The old Princess Liang frowned deeply, "Then Ma Erniang wants to reconcile, if you do reconcile, and you like her so much, it's not impossible to let her go through the door and be a little girl."

"Oh, my God, grandma, thank you for being able to figure it out." Liu Zaicheng rolled his eyes again, "You better stop thinking about it, that idiot Xia likes Erniang even more than I do, I have no ability to snatch her away .”

"Then what are you going to do?"

"Look for them to play, they are better at playing and dare to play than the people in the capital!" Liu Zaicheng became more and more excited as he thought about it, and wished he could fly to the Beijun Palace immediately.

The servant beside him said: "Master, you forgot that the Prince of Beijun and his wife have gone to the suburbs of Beijing."

"Oh, I forgot." Liu Zaicheng seemed discouraged and listless, and suddenly he seemed to be beaten again, "I can go find them."

"Cheng'er, it's cold outside, and it's comfortable at home over there." The old Princess Liang wouldn't let her go, it's winter, why run out.

"Grandma, it's not good for me to play outside instead of bothering you at home."

Liu Zaicheng ran out while talking, and the old concubine could outrun him, "This little brat, I'm really mad at me, hurry up and find a wife for him."

-

Ma Huier received a letter from her family, knowing that her father had been cheated, and her cousin Min was the one who settled the scam, but she didn't expect Cousin Min to solve the matter in such an earth-shattering way.

She has always been uneasy, what if the emperor neglects her again because of this matter, except for this capable cousin Min, she doesn't seem to find any chance for the emperor to spoil her.

She could only secretly pray that Cousin Min and her husband would get through this incident safely. Fortunately, God heard her prayer. After several days, there was no news from the North County Palace.

No news in this world is the best news, she secretly heaved a sigh of relief, that's great, they are fine.

Qihong came in from the outside, waved her hand, all the maids in the palace retreated, she leaned against Ma Huier, "Mother, I heard something..."

"What's the matter?" Ma Hui'er, who had just let go of her heart, suddenly felt her heart pick up again.

"Ma'am, Eunuch Fang is missing several little eunuchs."

"What does it have to do with me that there are no people around him?" When she heard that it wasn't Cousin Min's accident, Ma Huier immediately relaxed and sneered indifferently.

"Your Majesty..." Qi Hong hesitated to speak.

"what's wrong?"

"Your Majesty, it seems that these people are related to the restaurant that was smashed outside."

Ma Hui'er stood up abruptly, "Did they lie to my father for money?"

"This... This servant doesn't know. Anyway, some palace lady who wanted to curry favor with you told me secretly."

Ma Huier's heart was heaving, and she held her fast beating heart with both hands, "Could it be...could it be that the mother wrote that the 3000 taels when I was promoted to Jieyu were also from them?"

"My lady..."

-

Several young father-in-laws were secretly executed, and the whole courtyard seemed to be much empty. Fang Yuyuan sat in the room, without the excitement of the past, with a gloomy face, and the servants around him dared not approach him, let alone beat his legs.

I don't know how long it took, but there was a small attendant outside, and he walked up to him lightly, "Elder-in-law, the Holy One bestowed upon Ma Shurong."

Is there a gift?Fang Yuyuan raised his head slowly and looked at the waiter, "When did it happen?"

"Back to Eunuch, did you forget that at noon today, the Holy One went to Ma Shurong's place for lunch?"

"Oh..." The final sound dragged on for a long time, Fang Yuyuan seemed to be thinking about something.

The little waiter was also a smart person, so he turned his head and looked at the empty room, "Elder-in-law, why don't you send someone there?"

Fang Yuyuan snorted, "I have lived in the palace for so long, but I have never had any permanent friends, and of course I have no permanent enemies."

"Eunuch, what do you mean, you want to make friends with Ma Shurong?"

Fang Yuyuan stood up and said coldly, "I'm not making friends with Ma Shurong, I'm making friends with the favored people."

"Eunuch..."

"Learn a bit."

"Yes, father-in-law, I understand." The little waiter heard this hint, and immediately understood that the vacant place next to him was about to be filled, and he had a chance.

(End of this chapter)