When someone from the garrison came to invite Madam Zhang and Butcher Zhang to their house, Sun was at home for a rare occasion and not going to the rubber factory.
It wasn't that she was feeling unwell, but her mother-in-law stopped her early in the morning before she went out and insisted that she stay at home.
It was not until the doctor came that she realized she was pregnant again. Sun held her waist, surprised and happy. She listened to the congratulations from her family and was unable to recover for a long time.
When they saw Aya coming, Mrs. Sun and Mrs. Zhang, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, finally recovered from their surprise and couldn't help laughing.
This is really fate.
Last time, Sun was pregnant first, and Ludan and Taotao are the same age.
This time Miao Wan was pregnant, and within a few months Sun also diagnosed her with pregnancy, and it had been almost three months.
When they arrived at the garrison, Madam Zhang was still muttering to Geng with a smile, "You said these two children are more blessed than others and easier to raise, but they are more foolish than the other. No wonder they say God loves fools. Don't they know whether they are in trouble or not?
There are so many people around her, and now we have maids and servants to serve her, and the third son's wife also has a little assistant beside her, but she didn't notice it.
It was the maid who did the laundry at home who was complaining that the third wife now washed her own clothes, and she was worried that she had not washed them well enough.
Madam Zhang happened to hear this and was startled. Miao Wan had just arranged for a doctor to come and check Sun's pulse. She pulled Sun, who had no reaction at all, to check her pulse together. Sure enough, she found that she was pregnant.
Sun and Miao Wan gathered together to crack melon seeds. Apart from the sunflowers that were saved for seeds and sent to the capital, the remaining melon seeds were all with Miao Wan.
The two of them laughed and discussed why they hadn't discovered it, pretending not to hear the two mothers-in-law's muttering.
Just through the business compliments including but not limited to "too busy", "heavy burden on shoulders", "really too serious and responsible", etc., it is fully proved that it is not that they are stupid, they just work too hard!
In this cheerful atmosphere of happy events and gossip, Qiao Rui and Taotao, the aunt and niece, came in.
Both of them were holding goose yellow... something that looked like a rabbit or an irregular ellipse, and they came in with two long ice lanterns.
Qiao Rui took after Geng, and Taotao was adorable and bubbly. After the two of them chatted, everyone had a smile on their faces.
This is the filial piety that the children show to their mothers. Oh my, these two children are so sensible and so adorable!
"We made it ourselves. Our hands are frozen and swollen!" Qiao Rui stretched out her little hand towards Geng, and it was indeed red.
Geng felt both comforted and distressed. She and Madam Zhang pulled Qiao Rui into their arms, each holding her hand as if it were their own flesh and blood.
Even Miao Wan was moved by Xiong Taotao's filial piety. She took the initiative to get off the kang and took the ice lantern of similar shape from Taotao's hand, with interest in her eyes.
She held the ice lantern closer to look at it, and even touched it. "Hey, where did you get the dye? You even know how to dye it? Not bad, not bad. You are worthy of being my daughter, Miao Wan."
Taotao was puffing out his belly with pride, but before he could say anything, Sun frowned, suddenly turned sideways and vomited.
It scared everyone.
Miao Wan also hurried over to see what was going on. She understood Sun's feelings the best. Pregnant women were really strange. They didn't react at all when they didn't know, but they felt very uncomfortable after they knew.
It's as if the pregnancy reaction is controlled by the brain, not the stomach.
As a result, as soon as Miao Wan got close, Sun retched even more violently. "Ugh... don't come near... ugh... me, I smell... piss... ugh... "
Miao Wan froze for a moment, looked at Bingdeng, then at Sun, then at Bingdeng again, then at Sun again...
Light yellow, smells like urine...
She closed her eyes and didn't dare to take a deep breath. Although she didn't smell anything, she was afraid that she would have a reaction. Her mind was filled with "Oh my god".
Her daughter, mother-in-law and her daughter, are so filial!
Zhang Sanzhuang is now a very qualified shopkeeper. The business of Jufu Inn is good, so he hired another shopkeeper in the middle of the year.
The two shopkeepers are responsible for external affairs and internal affairs respectively. Zhang Sanzhuang only needs to manage them and be in charge of the overall situation.
Therefore, he was not very busy. After the coachman came to inform him that his wife was pregnant, Zhang Sanzhuang was overjoyed and left the two shopkeepers and ran home.
"Sanlang Sanlang, the old lady and Sanniang are going to the garrison!" the coachman shouted from behind.
Zhang Sanzhuang quickly got on the mule cart and headed to the garrison. When he entered the backyard, the smile on his face had not yet faded when he suddenly heard a wailing sound.
Two of them... sounded familiar, as if I had heard them yesterday.
He couldn't help but slow down his pace. When he reached the door, he found that several children, big and small, were beaten with fire pokers and jumped up and down like chickens with burnt feathers, covering their buttocks and crying hard.
"This is..." Zhang Sanzhuang caught his eldest son Tiedan, whose head was buried in his arms. Although he felt that something was not right with his son's touch, he did not care about the slight wetness on his palm and just asked carefully.
Sun said expressionlessly, "Your son used urine to make a few ice lanterns for us mothers, and he even held them in his arms and carved them into bunnies, fearing that others would not know what they were."
As soon as she finished speaking, Geng and Zhang Madam looked unhappy. They had just rubbed Qiao Rui's hands for a long time without washing them.
It's because the little guys were so eager to show off after they finished their work.
Miao Wan sat on the kang in a daze, her palms facing upwards, looking completely lost in thought.
She just smelled it for a long time and touched the rabbit's ears...
Zhang Sanzhuang's face turned even darker, and he almost threw the brat in his arms out.
He didn't even dare to think about what the wetness he just touched was, was it tears or the shy accumulation of a few little brats...
Today’s clothes were newly made by him and he wore them for the first day!!!
He took a deep breath. He thought, "You can't hit the child. You can't hit the child. You have to educate him well and speak to him earnestly and sincerely..." Because the room was warm, the pungent smell that inadvertently rushed into his nose broke Zhang Sanzhuang's last bit of composure.
"Wow - help! Wuuuuuu... I will never be filial again!" Zhang Tiedan cried with tears and snot.
Everyone: “…”
From now on, they really can no longer take the word "filial piety" seriously.
Behind the door, A'dun shrank his neck and laughed with A'ya and the others, "The twelfth lunar month is always lively."
Aya and the others nodded with lingering fear. Of course, the young masters had exposed their butts to the sun more than once during the twelfth lunar month.
In fact, the urine of a boy... a girl is nothing special and the smell is not strong, otherwise Miao Wan would not have been able to ignore it.
Which parent hasn't been peed on by their child? They don't feel disgusted, they just want to teach their naughty kids a lesson for playing with urine... and ice in such cold weather.
It’s no wonder that parents beat their children more in cold weather. Any elder who loves their children will be reluctant to beat them when the weather is hot. Their clothes are thin, and if they are beaten too hard, the parents will feel sad first.
So when the clothes are thicker and the end-of-year atmosphere makes the children especially noisy and excited, it is time to interact with them lovingly.
After Qiao Rui, feeling aggrieved, dragged the little kids out, looking back every few steps, and had the mess in the house cleaned up, everyone then remembered the reason why Miao Wan had gathered them together.
"Is the exercise over?" Qiao Shengwen asked. "Shouldn't it continue until night?"
Since it is two days and one night, it means from yesterday morning to today's midnight, and it is not dark yet.
Miao Wan smiled, "Then the articles for the official newspaper must be written, reviewed, typeset, and printed in advance. Of course, the articles can't be written until they are finished, otherwise the official newspaper will not be published in time for tomorrow's publication."
Generally, this kind of press release is written in advance, adjusted according to actual conditions, and finalized after the event is over.
Therefore, they couldn't eat the whole melon, they just wanted to have fun eating it first.
Ruan Jialin was also there. He read the most books among those present besides Qiao Shengwen, so naturally he was the one to read the article.
Everyone listened very seriously at first, but became a little confused after a few sentences.
Madam Zhang asked, "What are these idioms saying?"
Ruan Jialin looked up and found that except for his cousin's father-in-law and Zhang Sanzhuang, everyone else looked confused, including the one who was listening to the excitement at the door.
Miao Wan sighed, "So this is what the court bulletin is planning to publish? Who among the common people can understand it?"
We have to ask scholars to explain it. What's the point of the official gazette? It's worse than just posting the article in front of the government office."
Newspapers are the spiritual food of the people. Everyone has different preferences and choices.
If you want everyone to be willing to spend money and enhance the credibility of the newspaper, you have to use plain language that everyone can understand.
Of course, there are not so many people who can read and write now, but at least those who can read have to read it, and the people can make exclamations one after another, so that the official report can spread at the fastest speed.
You know, the most important element of communication is people's curiosity. It's better not to do it if it's too boring.
Of course Ruan Jialin explained——
"In the early morning hours, the resounding call of the count was like thunder in dry land, exploding throughout the county town, bringing boundless courage and a sense of security to the people."
Miao Wan nodded. There’s nothing wrong with waking you up in the middle of the night to pee, or scaring you to pee.
"With lofty aspirations, the soldiers set out in the darkness, charging into their battlefield at lightning speed, and opening the first exercise with an invincible posture."
Geng was puzzled. In the darkness of the night, was he sneaking around with such ambition? She couldn't imagine such a scene.
…
"In a split second, the brave warrior who had escaped the trap used his own flesh and blood to build a human ladder for his colleagues in the mud pit, allowing them to climb out and continue to fight for points."
Qiao Shengwen smiled, probably because he couldn't save face and grab the points by himself, so he could only swallow his curses and rescue his teammates to prevent them from getting frozen sick.
"The Xiban people thought they had arrived silently, but in reality they had already fallen into the general's meticulously planned trap and were stunned on the spot by a single short arrow."
Zhang Sanzhuang laughed and sent him directly to heaven. Aren’t the others shocked? Well done!
…
“According to estimates, there aren’t many people from Xiban coming, but there are quite a few foreigners from the friendly alliance who are sending spies to explore.
The general suggested that next time you could just come over and see us. We, the people of Dayue, are tolerant and friendly. There's no need to go to such great lengths. It would be bad if you scared anyone."
After saying this, Ruan Jialin couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Xu Yiqing was quite mischievous. This time he used a musket. The noise and lethality probably scared the spies sent from Northern Mongolia and the Western Regions.
Then you can be sarcastic to others, which might make some of them angry.
But as people from Dayue and Northwest China, Ruan Jialin and his family members present had only one feeling - awesome!
But Miao Wan smacked her lips, feeling that it was not satisfying enough. At least the common people who didn't know as much would definitely not feel it was too satisfying.
She thought for a moment and called A Dun in, "Go and invite a few storytellers over, and two string musicians."
Everyone looked at Miao Wan, not understanding what she meant.
Miao Wan also joined in, "I plan to give the General and Military Advisor Xu some inspiration."
Qiao Shengwen suddenly had the urge to observe a moment of silence for Cheng Shao and Xu Yiqing, but he just smiled and said nothing.
As for their own daughter-in-law, the Qiao family has also provided a ladder for her. It’s just a drizzle now.
For everyone in the garrison, it was a drizzle of gossip accompanied by the sound of stringed instruments.
For Cheng Shao and Xu Yiqing, who were woken up by Qiao Ruichen in the middle of the night and mentioned to the tent—
"Zheng Zheng Zheng——" A few rapid and sharp string sounds seemed to penetrate directly into the top of the head through the ears. The two people instantly became alert, and their eyes almost popped out.
Not only the two of them, but also the soldiers who had just finished the exercise and were exhausted like a puddle of mud were startled by the noise and sat up in shock, with a look of almost dying on their faces, but they followed their heart and sneaked to the main tent.
"It was the twelfth month of the twelfth year of the Xuanhe era, an ordinary twelfth month. Everyone thought the twenty-third day of the Little New Year would just pass. They closed their eyes, opened them again, and another day passed. Soon, another year. But who knew—bang!"
Everyone inside and outside the tent was shocked, their eyes confused. What does it mean to listen to your words as if you were listening to your words?
"No one noticed that the night was so strange and unpredictable. The crescent moon shone with an eerie light, and the eyes of the domestic dog gleamed coldly in the gloom. It was as if the animal had sensed that this night was extraordinary.
In an instant, the wind roared and the horn's sound, sharper than the wind, was like a flash of lightning, splitting the sky and awakening the souls of all the people in Xiping County!
The sound of the string was rapid and sharp, and stopped abruptly at the highest point. Cheng Shao and Xu Yiqing groaned and covered their chests, feeling a little breathless.
If this scene really happened, people would be scared to death on the spot. This is a horror story!
Many people outside collapsed on the ground unconsciously, with only their ears still standing.
"With tears in their eyes, the common people silently watched the soldiers on the other side of the wall marching forward bravely and fearlessly!
Those who have ulterior motives tremble with fear, wishing they could grow wings and escape back to their lair!
And him, and them!
Our great General Dingbei and his wife, along with the Gubei Army's sharpest and most ruthless guards, stood firm like rocks on unknown roads, on trees, in mud pits, and in countless places I can't bear to mention.
Cheng Shao has become stiff as a fossil. Did this storyteller crawl under the beds of ordinary people?
Xu Yiqing's face was also confused and stiff. It was okay on the road and on the tree, but where was the place he couldn't bear to say?
Heaven?
"There is a group of people who shed their sweat and blood every day, but never show off. They just silently protect our safety.
There is a group of people who kill the enemy for us at the cost of their lives, and they themselves lie in front of the last line of defense.
We respect them and fear them, but they are neither happy nor sad, they just stick to their beliefs.
This time, they finally had the chance to show themselves, yet they still burned with faith and determination, unable to bear disturbing the people they were protecting, and danced silently.
The soldiers sitting paralyzed outside were also numb. It sounded like someone was talking about them, but why did it sound so crazy to them?
The two storytellers talked back and forth, their passion was so intense that it was even a little awkward, so awkward that Qiao Ruichen wanted to steal the villa.
But the strange thing is that no one stopped them.
Everyone was stunned, but their ears were more sensitive than before. They just thought to themselves, I'll just listen a little bit more, just a little bit.
"Ha! Those damned Xiban people, with sin burning in their blood, have once again devised a sinful plan.
They wanted to drain the blood of the soldiers, rob their families, and kill the people they protected in the darkness of night, even in the snow. They thought they would succeed again, just like before!"
Qiao Ruichen looked at the clenched fists of the guard at the door and the corners of his lips twitched.
"The soldiers, who had previously been fighting fiercely and wary of each other, instantly united as one. After the general roared, it exploded like thunder among the enemy. With swords, guns, and even their own teeth, they left an indelible shadow on the enemy!"
Suddenly, someone outside couldn't help coughing violently and choked on his own saliva.
Did the general roar? Was he a bear?
They are all dressed like bears, so where can they bite with their teeth?
Face? They really aren't that perverted!
"The enemies screamed like pigs being slaughtered. This was the price they deserved to pay, using their tragic deeds to commemorate our fallen compatriots.
Their screams even moved the foreigners in the friendly alliance. They couldn't help but tremble with excitement, and they were determined to maintain a century of friendship with Dayue. They even exposed their identities to convey their feelings to us. In response, we can only say one thing: You are too polite. Dayue welcomes you.
Everyone: "..." Listen to me, pig, thank you.
Cheng Shao originally intended to just listen to a few words from the storyteller and then quickly stopped him, asking Miao Wan what she was doing, but he ended up listening to the whole thing without realizing it.
It was almost dawn outside, and the sky was a deep blue, just like his and Xu Yiqing's faces... and the faces of the soldiers outside.
Adun reported carefully, "General, our host says that Military Advisor Xu's article is too profound. Although it has profound ideas and beautiful words, it is more suitable for submission to His Majesty. If we want to publish a court report for the people, it is more appropriate for these two gentlemen to write directly on paper."
Cheng Shao and Xu Yiqing looked at Qiao Ruichen silently. Qiao Ruichen remained calm and said, "I have asked the civil servants to write it down. Brother Xu only needs to polish it a little."
The three of them being here is almost equivalent to reviewing the manuscript. There is no need to do anything else and we can go straight to typeset printing. The official bulletin will be published tomorrow afternoon, not too late at all.
As for the original article, Qiao Ruichen also nodded to Cheng Shao, "I asked General Zheng to write a memorial and send it to your study, but I didn't send it for printing."
Cheng Shao drank two sips of hot water to calm himself down, and first ordered his men to send back those soldiers who were still standing and looked like they had experienced a life-and-death experience to rest.
"You should at least tell me, I haven't slept for two days."
Qiao Ruichen: "I told you last night that Madam Cheng was also here, and you nodded."
Cheng Shao: “…”
At that time, he was only thinking about how happy he was about killing a lot of Xiban people. After two days and one night of not sleeping, he was exhausted and was completely sleepy, okay?
Cheng Shao raised his head to look at Xu Yiqing, and Xu Yiqing turned and walked away as if he was sleepwalking.
As he walked, he kept muttering, "Don't look for me. I may not be suitable for writing articles. I must be dreaming. This must be a nightmare."
He, Xu Yiqing, is extremely talented and has a mind as cunning as a hornet's nest.
But a year ago, his body was dirty, and a year later, his ears were dirty too. When will this nightmare end?
Although everyone's reaction in the military camp was strange, the enthusiasm it created after the official bulletin was issued was shocking.
The scholar couldn't help but curse the article as nonsense, but he continued to read while cursing. The movement in his boots couldn't stop, and he walked outside unconsciously.
The people had never seen words on paper that could be so exciting. The scholar tiptoed to the ground and read the court reports to the people. As he read, some people cheered, and there was a burst of applause and cheers of approval.
Those who are attracted by the noise will inevitably buy a copy of the official newspaper to read, and then start to argue, start to pick, start... to their heart's content.
It's not even dinner time yet, but even the kids are already playing house, dragging brooms around and "practicing" as they go.
If the general reaction of the people in Xiping County was that the spectators were happier, then every one of the foreigners living in Xiping County felt a little dizzy.
They were scared and even more angry. Some even fainted while holding their chests.
Merchants from Northern Mongolia and the Western Regions who were ready to make a move, as well as spies sent by the royal families of the two countries to lurk in Dayue, all sent people to check out the exercise site during the day.
Of course, the training ground still needed to be used, and civilians were not allowed to get too close, but from a distance one could still see the bloody Xiban people hanging on the wall.
Common people also went to watch, and most of them just felt happy, and few were afraid.
There were also some people who cried bitterly. They were the people whose relatives and friends had been killed by the Western Barbarians in the past few years. They had never even dared to think of revenge in the past and were terrified when they heard about the Western Barbarians.
The nationwide challenge has greatly reduced the people's fear of the Westerners, and this exercise has completely brought them hope.
Hope is sometimes very small and weak, but once it is injected into the heart, it can start a prairie fire at any time.
Even though the Chinese New Year is just a few days away, the National Challenge has once again reached its peak, just like when it first opened. Until it closed on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, everyone still felt a little reluctant to leave.
Cheng Shao would not think that the Xiban people would not attack again just because they were frightened. A small failure could not stop their greed, so the defense in various places in the northwest was not relaxed at all.
As the New Year approaches, patrols and guarding become stricter.
Therefore, the people lived a peaceful New Year's Eve, especially the people of Xining Town who welcomed the general's guard.
They thought this was the biggest surprise in the twelfth year of Xuanhe.
However, they didn't expect that a bigger surprise was waiting for them before midnight.
The author has something to say:
Today I helped a cute dog named Niuniu find its owner. So happy!
It won't be late tomorrow, it's still 0 o'clock the day before yesterday, haha~
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