88 Chapter 88
◎How was I as your father?◎
"Raise your arms."
Cheng Xi carefully wrapped the white cloth in circles.
"Is it tight?"
When the cloth came around in front of him, she moved closer. When she pulled it back behind him, she exerted force with her hands. The wound was squeezed and the pain suppressed his itch.
"No...it hurts." Mu Yun's throat was a little hoarse, and he cleared his mouth as if nothing had happened.
Cheng Mu gave him a strange look. "It hurts? Just bear with it."
After tying the knot, Cheng Wei touched it and said, "Okay, don't press it when you sleep."
The door was quickly closed.
Mu Yun put her hand on her chest. She was just feeling the cloth to see if it was tied properly.
I feel so itchy but have no idea where to turn.
Cheng Mu splashed the blood on the ground in the yard and threw a few towels. She was suddenly stunned. This towel... wasn't it the one she used to wipe herself first!
Over the next two days, Cheng Xi followed the pre-arranged route and went to the horse farm, and also visited the homes of several wealthy families nearby.
Since she came back to collect food, she couldn't just sit at home. She still had to do what she had to do.
On the third day, when the quantity was counted, Cheng Mi had collected 3,500 shi.
It’s far from enough.
The family sat together, but even the tea and food were not enjoyable.
Gui'er asked, "What will they do if they can't collect 10,000 shi?"
Cheng Mu said, "Give them 10,000 dan of silver, and they will release us."
Gui Er said with determination, "Since you're back, Madam Cheng, they're not going to come and rob us. We'll exchange as many of these grains as we can for them!"
Xu Xiuying continued, "Madam Cheng is so kindhearted. She went all out to raise food. Returning those people is the court's responsibility. Don't the government care about that?"
Yu put down her chopsticks and wiped her tears: "Even a few months of grace would be fine."
"Don't worry, Master Huang will help. I've also asked him to sell grain in Yunzhou City. Don't worry about it. Mu Yun and I will take the grain over tomorrow. If it's still not enough, we can buy more in town."
Gui'er: "Madam Cheng, I'll go with you tomorrow."
"You can stay at home and take care of the baby. Mu Yun is here, so don't worry."
Gui'er retorted, "How come he couldn't protect you last time? I should have gone!"
Mu Yun was stunned. It was his negligence, otherwise he wouldn't be so crazy as to bring the person back.
Yu saw Mu Yun silently wiping the knife, and blamed Gui'er for speaking too harshly. She glared at her and slapped her hard.
Gui Er was not convinced, "Why hit me? I didn't say anything wrong. If I had protected Madam Cheng, I would never have made such a mistake."
Mu Yun felt guilty, Gui'er spoke frankly, Yu kept it in mind, and Xu Xiuying remained silent and agreed.
Cheng Mi felt it necessary to explain the matter to everyone openly and honestly.
"It wasn't Mu Yun's fault that I was abducted to Mongolia, and I never blamed him."
"Mongol invasions, burning, killing, and looting are common occurrences, usually occurring during the autumn harvest season. No one expected this to happen during the Lantern Festival. Mu Yun couldn't predict the future."
"That day, I was the one who insisted on bringing Xiaoliu with him to the town to watch the fun. It's not his fault."
"Mu Yun was out on business at the time. I knew he would do this when I came back from Yunzhou City. It wasn't a spur-of-the-moment oversight on his part."
"Mu Yun sneaked into Mongolia with the diplomatic mission. He showed up just in time to save me when I was about to be bullied by their leader, and escorted me all the way back safely. I am very grateful."
Cheng Mu said solemnly: "How can I feel at peace if everyone has grievances against him?"
"Madam Cheng..." After hearing the reason, Xu Xiuying knew that they had gone too far and felt embarrassed.
Gui'er pouted and said nothing more.
Mu Yun froze. The past few months of gritting his teeth and fighting for his life came to life in his memories, and he was stunned for a moment.
Cheng Mu said, "He was injured, and he had to run around with me to collect food these past few days. It was very hard work, and everyone saw it."
Yu took out her handkerchief and pressed it against the corner of her eyes. "Madam Cheng is right. We have wrongly accused Master Mu Yun. Gui'er, apologize."
Gui Er looked up at Cheng Mu's face and saw that she was calm. She knew that she was serious and could not escape. She touched her nose and turned to Mu Yun, "Mu Yun, I'm sorry for my outrageous words."
She added, "Madam Cheng, I'll go with you tomorrow. More people means more help."
"You are in a heavy state now, so don't even think about going on a long journey or wielding a sword or a gun. Don't worry, I will be back the day after tomorrow at the latest."
After the delegation returned, four men from the Wuwei Escort Agency arrived, carrying over three thousand dan of grain on four carts. It was just right for these four men to escort them along, so Guier stopped clamoring to go along.
When he arrived at Tianma Town, before meeting Lord Huang, he bought another 500 shi to make up the total.
Huang Nian'an solved the problem of six thousand stones through various means.
Cheng Mu had originally planned to find an opportunity to transfer food from the space, but she didn't use it.
"Sir Huang, does Prince Jing know about the matter of exchanging food for people?"
"This matter will not be included in the peace treaty, but it must be reported to Prince Jing. Prince Jing loves his people like his own children and strongly supports the replacement. He will not let you, Lady Cheng, bear it all alone. Five thousand dan of the money will come from the prince's palace."
The Xu family ruled the country, so it was only natural for them to provide 5,000 dan of grain to rescue his people. Cheng Mu did not want to compete with him for this credit. She even gave him less.
The exchange of grain and personnel was handled by a delegation, and the transaction went very smoothly. More than thirty people returned.
Fan Qingsong was also released.
"Mr. Yun, Madam Cheng."
The bruises on Fan Qingsong's face were still grim. Cheng Mu asked him, "Is the injury serious?"
"Thank you Madam Cheng for your concern. It may look scary on the surface, but it's actually not serious. It will be fine in ten days or so."
"If you need medicine for your injuries, you can buy some in town."
He came to pay a visit, but Mu Yun happened to have to go back to the army to hand over matters, so he arranged for Fan Qingsong and the four people to send Cheng Mu back to Zhaojia Village.
Cheng Mu and Huang Nian'an said goodbye.
The four carts unloaded with grain went back with them. The four people sat on the shafts with the driver. Fan Qingsong blocked the horse that Cheng Mu had ridden when she brought it over. "It's a bumpy ride. Give me this horse. Madam Cheng, you should hire a carriage to go back."
Hire a car? Cheng Mu looked at him strangely. Why was he so nosy?
"Madam Cheng, could you please allow me to go buy some medicine first?"
Cheng Xi didn't say anything. Why was Fan Qingsong so fussy?
But she agreed anyway.
When Fan Qingsong returned, he had already hired a carriage, carefully padded and cushioned. "Why is he behaving so strangely?" Cheng Mu said nothing more and gave him the horse.
When they returned to Zhaojia Village and learned that everything went well, everyone in the family breathed a sigh of relief.
When she saw Fan Qingsong again, Xiaoliu pursed her lips tightly, said nothing, and only looked at him from time to time, but she could no longer call him "Dad" as before.
After dinner, when the adults were busy cleaning up, Xiaoqi called her into the house. She secretly ran to the barn under the pretext of feeding the chickens.
"Xiaoliu."
Xiaoliu hadn't been there for long when Fan Qingsong found her. Xiaoliu frowned and looked at him.
Fan Qingsong laughed and said, "Why are you not familiar with me?" He pointed at his face and said, "Did I scare you?"
Xiaoliu said bluntly, "Mom said that staying in Mengguo is a temporary solution. If you come home, you will no longer be my father."
Fan Qingsong looked around and said, "We are destined to be father and daughter. We shouldn't be so distant. Just tell me how I was as your father."
Xiao Liu hesitated and whispered, "It's okay."
Fan Qingsong patted her head with a smile, "That's good. We'll get along well from now on."
Xiaoliu asked him, "Do you want to stay at our house?"
Fan Qingsong smiled meaningfully, "That depends on what your mother thinks."
Cheng Xi handed a small bag of beet seeds to Xu Xiuying.
"It grows quite well in Nevada. You can start by growing the seedlings and leave some land for it. You don't need any good land."
"This is?"
"beet."
“This is not tasty.”
"Don't eat it, use it to make candy."
"It's not sweet either." Xu Xiuying was puzzled, but then she thought, if something that is not sweet falls into Madam Cheng's hands, it will turn into honey. "Little Six and Little Seven should be very happy. They have candy to eat at the end of the year."
Xiaoliu rushed into the room with tears on his face.
Xu Xiuying's face darkened as she asked, "What's wrong? What happened?"
"Mom," Xiaoliu said sadly as tears began to fall from his eyes. "The old cow is going to die!"
"Ours?" Xu Xiuying asked quickly and was the first to rush to the barn.
Cheng Mu took out a handkerchief and wiped Xiaoliu's tears. "What happened? Wasn't he fine when you brought him back this morning?"
"I don't know, Mom. I was talking to Uncle Fan. When I turned around, I saw the old cow lying on the ground. Uncle Fan noticed something was wrong and touched it. He said it was dead."
Cheng Mu took Xiaoliu out and just as they arrived at the barn, she met Xu Xiuying's gaze, who shook her head at her.
In a short while, the cow was already dead.
"Madam Cheng, the cow's pulse was very rapid when it collapsed," Fan Qingsong said, looking around. He pointed to a pile of fresh cow dung and said, "Look at this pile of dung." The dung was runny and bloody. He guessed, "The cow must have eaten something poisonous, and quite a bit."
After all, cows are large in size, so if you want to poison a cow, you have to use a large amount of food.
These days, Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi were herding cattle and sheep. Xiaoqi also came at this time, and Cheng Mu asked them where they were herding the sheep and whether they paid attention to what the cattle and sheep ate.
When Xiaoqi saw Xiaoliu crying, he was stunned.
The muscles in his jaw were tense. He didn't dare to raise his eyes, didn't dare to look at anyone, and stubbornly avoided any possible eye contact.
Seeing that he looked like he had done something wrong, Cheng Mu said forget it and took Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi's hands, "Let's go out for a walk. Brother Fan, please take care of it."
In agricultural societies, cattle are strictly controlled and cannot be slaughtered privately. Even if they die of illness, they must be reported to the government.
This cow had carried them from Puyang City and had worked in Zhaojia Village for several years, so they had a deep bond with it. Even after it died, they would not skin it. Furthermore, since it had died of poisoning, it could not be eaten, so it had to be buried deep and lavishly, and they had to be careful not to let others steal it and eat it.
Cheng Mu took Xiaoliu and Xiaoqi to the fields.
The wind blew, and the water of the Santou River sparkled in the sunlight. They usually grazed cattle and sheep on the ridges of the fields, and there was water for them to drink.
Xiao Qi suddenly stopped walking. He lowered his head, his little hands unconsciously tugging at the corner of his clothes: "Mom, did I kill the old cow?"
Cheng Mu squatted down and looked at him, "Tai'er, why do you say that?"
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