122 Chapter 122

◎Not worry◎

Cheng Mu said, "You should at least pay attention to the affairs of your family's dozens of acres of land. Go to the fields frequently to check whether there is water shortage, insect pests, what stage the crops are in, when to harvest, and when to sow."

Gui Er grinned, completely unconcerned: "So, Madam Cheng, why don't you continue to use the land, knowing that I am not good at this."

"You can't always rely on me."

"Why can't I rely on you?"

Cheng Xi shook her head and said no more to her.

In the afternoon, An Cui and his men returned with the empty escort carriage.

He brought back the reply Cheng Mu had requested. "Because Mr. Huang was busy with official duties, I had to wait an extra day to see it, which delayed me." He also gave Cheng Mu a bag of silver. "Steward Qin collected the rice seeds and said he was grateful for Madam Cheng's kindness. He would allocate a hundred acres for trial planting and keep the seeds from the tall and strong seedlings, but he must give what he deserved."

Cheng Mu took a look. There were two large silver ingots, weighing a hundred taels. Manager Qin hadn't asked for the rice seeds she had brought to him in vain.

"Master An, you've been very tired on this trip. Unload your carriages and horses and rest at the farm for two days."

Cheng Mu gave him the profit as promised, and asked Sao Hu to take him to the guesthouse originally set up by the Song family.

After Cheng Mu decided to go to the south, she hoped to seek Huang Nian'an's help. She wrote to him to ask for his help, and Huang Nian'an's reply was all about his hometown.

Cheng Mu read the letter over and over again, wanting to ask him if he was serious.

Huang Nian'an's hometown is in Jiangning area. It has been rich since ancient times, with complex clan power and limited farmland. As an outsider, she has no way to take root and build a career there.

In fact, the best place to go is the place where the imperial court has settled immigrants. The most convenient channel to inquire about this information is Mu Yun’s master, General Lin. He has fought wars and quelled rebellions everywhere. With his connections, it is not a problem to get some land and settle down.

But if it comes through Mu Yun, forget it.

There is no rush to go south, you can go to the five central provinces first. Anyway, she asked Master An to deliver the rice seeds to Henan, to Master Qin.

***

When Cheng Mu was planning to go south, people from Meng State and Neizhou gathered on horseback and galloped. The winter snow melted, the spring breeze brought warmth, the wheat fields woke up, the new leaves of the winter wheat stretched out, and the green waves rolled.

"Neizhou has finally seen the splendor of Jiangnan on the Great Wall!"

The man in charge was An Da, the Great Khan of the Tumed Tribe. After Amuta was seriously injured, he annexed the Wan Hu under his charge and seized everything he had. The grain produced in Neizhou and Fengzhou was enough to feed half of the people south of the desert. While pleased, he also became dissatisfied with the trade between the two countries.

As food became more and more abundant, the shortage of materials such as ironware became more and more obvious.

"The Yan Dynasty is perfunctorily opening its markets while strengthening its nine frontier defenses, building artillery, and constructing the Great Wall. Their intentions are ulterior!"

"Great Khan." A horseman stepped forward, presenting a hide map. "To the south, there's a natural barrier. Shangguan Duan, the horse dealer, once passed through here. He led his troops to avoid it. As long as we occupy this place, we can march straight to the northeast. Master Xu will lead the troops to attack Huanglong and capture Prince Jing alive. Everything that Yan State refuses to give us must be taken by him!"

An Da held up the animal hides and said, "It's time to use them!"

***

In the past two days, Gui'er's attention has been on Master An and his companions. She kept asking them why they took an extra day to return, and she was always provoking them, wanting to test the skills of each of them.

An Cui was not such a dull person before. He was tall and handsome, and liked to carry a royal blue saddlebag on his body. He was very conspicuous among the gray-clad escorts. When he was walking outside, many young ladies would often come up to him on their own initiative. He was always very proud, so how could he not like to talk.

Now that he has gathered people together and is the leader, the livelihood and safety of several people depend on him. He has to learn to be calm like the previous escort leaders.

If he was still as frivolous as before, how could he lead these people?

Now Madam Cheng is his breadwinner, and no matter how provocative the people around her are, he cannot act on his temper, lest he accidentally upset Madam Cheng and lose his job.

But a man named Sun Wu who followed him didn't think so. "This Madam Gui is so annoying. Madam Cheng doesn't mind it, so why is she putting on airs with us guys?"

When Gui Er complained again that they were not punctual, Sun Wu told him about how he had delivered the letter to Mr. Huang and how he had received the letter back. "Mr. Huang and the others can all testify to this. How can you just open your mouth and accuse them for nothing?"

"You shouldn't say that!" The others pulled Sun Wu back to stop him from getting serious. "Mrs. Cheng didn't tell her about it, so how could you have let her know? Don't meddle in other people's business!"

Gui'er heard what they were whispering about, and she turned and left.

If I had told her earlier that there were other things to do on this escort mission, she wouldn't have to jump around and embarrass herself.

Gui'er was about to ask Cheng Mu, but when she was heading to her yard, six, seven, or eight other people came running out like a gust of wind. They saw her and said, "Auntie Gui, we're in a hurry to pick up manure. We've written some big characters but haven't put them away yet, and we haven't washed our pens yet. Can you help us?"

Gui'er shouted, "Why are you in such a hurry to pick up manure? Let's finish the work first! Hey!"

Liuqiba had already turned a corner and disappeared.

Gui'er scolded him, "You're definitely going to the woods to dig bamboo shoots again! You're out all day, and you don't even take Jiuniu out to play!"

She entered Cheng Mu's room and saw Jiuniu sleeping on the kang. She felt a little relieved. She sat there and looked at the chubby little man for a while, then got up to clean up the mess for Liuqiba.

Badou has only recently started learning to write with Liuqi. Liuqi's handwriting is pretty decent, but Badou's is horrible.

Gui'er commented, "The horizontal lines aren't even level, the vertical lines aren't straight. Even if I were to copy, I wouldn't be able to draw straight. What kind of writing is that? It's not even one-tenth as good as when I first started. From now on, when Jiuniu follows Madam Cheng to learn calligraphy, you have to learn calligraphy from me first. At least you can hold the pen steady and write well."

Gui'er collected their calligraphy, cleaned their brushes one by one, and hung them up. The brushes were hung on the pen holder, but where did Madam Cheng put their calligraphy?

She just wanted to see if Madam Cheng had put the big words in the box at the head of the kang, so she casually pulled out a piece of paper to look at it. When she saw it, her brows furrowed.

Is this the reply letter that Master An and his men got from Lord Huang?

Although she didn't recognize many words, she could at least understand the general idea. Lord Huang asked Madam Cheng to go to his hometown!

Gui'er got up and went to find Cheng Mu with the letter.

Cheng Mu was instructing Chen He and the other man to lift the large vat and mix the manure water.

Gui Er rushed to her angrily, holding the letter and demanding, "Madam Cheng, what does this mean?"

Xu Xiuying was squatting in the distance inserting a bamboo tube, and looked over when she heard this.

When Cheng Mu discovered that Gui'er had taken her letter, her face changed, "Who allowed you to rummage through my things?"

Chen He and the other man also stopped what they were doing.

"This is not the place to talk," Cheng Mu pointed at Gui'er angrily, "Come with me!"

The sun was blazing brightly today, hanging high in the sky, blinding everyone. Cheng Mu walked to the shade of the jujube tree, where the terrain was open and there was a breeze. After stopping, she suddenly turned around and said, "Zhao Guier! I've always treated you well, but don't let this get you out of your proper place. You went into my room and rummaged through my personal letters, and you still think you're right!"

Seeing her lose her temper, Gui'er knew she had done something terribly wrong. However, she was still preoccupied with the things on her mind. "I'm being unreasonable. It's up to you to punish me! We can talk about this later. I just want to ask you, are you leaving? Master Huang asked you to go to his parents. Why? Do you want to marry him?"

Cheng Mu held her forehead and shouted, "What nonsense are you talking about!"

Gui'er's mind was clear: "So you sold the land and farmland, you don't want anything here, you even returned our land, and you told me that I have to rely on myself from now on. Madam Cheng, I treat you like a family member. You saved me and my mother, and I even consider you my master. But you are my life, yet you hide everything from me. Do you want me to be the last to know when you have packed your luggage and are leaving?"

Cheng Mu half turned around, spread out her hands to support her forehead and looked into the distance. She really didn't want to pay any attention to this woman who was rushing around like a wild boar.

Gui'er angrily stepped on a few new saplings nearby and crushed them.

They each calmed down for a while.

Cheng Mu said: "I do have the idea of ​​leaving here——"

Guier's gaze suddenly became as sharp as a knife. You see, I knew it!

"It's just an idea," Cheng Mu said, trying to speak calmly. "I haven't decided where to go yet. I must ask you. I asked Xiuying first--"

Gui'er stomped her feet in anger. Xu Xiuying knew everything and had hidden it from me!

"I knew you'd react the most, so I'm asking you this formally now," Cheng Mu said sternly, "I want to leave here. I don't know where to go, but will you come with me?"

Guier snorted heavily and turned away.

Gui'er's blood rushed to her head, and she ignored everything and ran to the front of the farm, untied her horse, and jumped on it. "Gee!" She squeezed her legs together, and the horse neighed loudly, raising its hooves and galloping away.

The wind blinded my eyes, brought out my tears, and scattered them.

Gui'er rode his horse at full speed, heading towards Puyang City, and ran for two hours in a row.

She went to the Wuwei Escort Agency to look for Mu Yun, but the people there said he was not there. She then went to the Lin residence, but it turned out that Mu Yun was actually at Cheng Mu's residence.

She held up the horsewhip and asked coldly, "What are you doing here?"

Mu Yun seemed to have just been woken up by her, leaning lazily on the bed, "You're the only one here? What are you doing here?"

It was dark outside. Mu Yun struck the flint with one hand and lit the lamp.

Gui Er cracked her whip and pointed at Mu Yun: "I want to ask you what you are doing in Madam Cheng's room!"

Mu Yun was in a bad mood and said with a half-sarcastic half-laugh, "The master is not here, and I'm not the only one who's wandering around."

Gui'er thought about how Cheng Mu was furious today because she had rummaged through her room without permission. It turned out that she was not the only one who was troubled.

Madam Cheng and Mu Yun have always been close, and he must know that Madam Cheng wants to leave.

Gui'er put away the whip and said, "Today, Madam Cheng asked me if I would go with her if she left here and went somewhere else."

Mu Yun's whole body suddenly tensed up.

"I hate that she told me last. I didn't want her to leave. I didn't know why she wanted to leave. I was very confused, so I came to you. You must know."

Gui'er said this, hoping Muyun would tell her, but Muyun angrily asked her: "You ran away without asking clearly?"

"Even if you tell me..." Gui'er's voice faded away, and her eyes widened: "You won't - you don't know?"

"idiot."

Gui'er tried to stop Mu Yun from leaving, but Mu Yun reacted quickly, dodged and changed his moves, his moves were as fast as lightning. Gui'er gritted her teeth to block, but after a few moves, he hit her vital points.

"Bastard!" Guier cursed back with difficulty.

Mu Yun stopped attacking and suddenly let go.

Gui'er's vision went dark, and she nearly collapsed. She stubbornly insisted, "You beast! Madam Cheng treats you like her own brother, yet you harbor such inappropriate thoughts. No wonder she didn't tell you she was leaving!"

Mu Yun suddenly thrust his attack towards her face. Gui Er was unable to block it and simply slid to the ground. "Someone said something about your secret, are you anxious?"

Mu Yun felt a mixture of emotions and punched the wall. "Don't force me to pull out your tongue!"

Gui'er quickly hid aside, "If you didn't have any thoughts, why would you stay here? Why do you also think these thoughts are shameful?"

Seeing that Mu Yun was about to make fun of her again, Gui'er changed the subject and said, "I think it's just right. You have nothing to do with Madam Cheng's status. You are innocent. How can you be ashamed of it? You said you saved Madam Cheng several times. At the horse farm, when she was sick, and in Meng State. Didn't the ancients say that a life-saving grace should be repaid with one's own body? Madam Cheng is definitely not an ungrateful person!"

Gui'er's random words were quite pleasant to the ear.

The inexplicable anger in Mu Yun finally dissipated and no longer made Gui'er nervous.

Gui'er now really wants to pair the two of them up. Once Madam Cheng and Mu Yun get married, they will never want to leave. It would be great if they could stay here for a long time.

"But Master Huang has also helped Madam Cheng many times. Today, Master Huang even wrote to Madam Cheng, asking her to meet his parents. Does he think the same as you?"

Gui'er didn't dare to look at Mu Yun, and said, "I'm just guessing. I'll stay for one night and leave early tomorrow morning!" Then she slipped away.

Mu Yun rubbed his fists, took a deep breath, calmed himself down, then tidied up the couch and put the pillow in the right place.

He made this couch these past two days and it fits perfectly in this room.