Chapter 50
Wuling County Prefectural Office.
After the yamen runner who escorted the prisoner to exile in Lingnan returned to Wuling County to report, he immediately went to the county government to ask for an audience with the eldest son of the prefect.
A servant led them into the side courtyard through the back door. Soon, a man in a brocade robe walked out from the inner courtyard.
Although this man was dressed in rich brocade, had a jade crown on his head, and was quite handsome, he did not give people the feeling of nobility. Instead, he looked like a commoner who had stolen the clothes of a nobleman.
Although the two yamen runners also had this feeling, they did not dare to show it and quickly lowered their heads and bowed.
He then explained what he had seen in Lingshui Village one by one.
"The Fu family, young and old, all look worried, their thatched cottage is shabby, and Fu Erlang's legs are truly broken."
Another yamen runner chimed in, "When we went to the Fu family's house, it was already noon. Everyone in the family was cleaning the yard, but the bride was still sleeping in. We also heard from other women in the village that she was having an affair with someone else, and the Fu family didn't dare to say a word."
The man's lips curled up slightly when he heard this, and he asked again, "Did you really check it carefully?"
The yamen runner quickly replied, "We did check carefully. We barged in without giving them a chance to react. There's no way they knew we were going to test them."
"Sure?"
The two yamen runners responded decisively: "Sure!"
The man gave a look to the servant beside him.
The servant understood and gave them the two bags of silver he had prepared.
The two men reached out to receive it with both hands, and after receiving the heavy copper coins, they couldn't hide the smiles on their faces.
After the two left, the man smiled contentedly.
Leaving the backyard and reaching the front yard, a middle-aged man in armor walked in from outside.
The young man's eyebrows and features are about 50% similar to those of the middle-aged man, and it is obvious at first glance that they are father and son.
The young man quickly bowed: "Father."
The prefect glanced at him coldly and said in a deep voice, "Come with me."
Having said that, he walked past his son and left.
Hearing this cold tone, the man gritted his teeth secretly.
The man followed his father into the study. The moment he closed the door and turned around, a scroll of bamboo slips suddenly hit him.
The man was caught off guard. The bamboo slip hit his forehead and fell to the ground with a "bang".
The young man looked slightly shocked, but he endured the pain and asked, "Father, why is this happening?"
"Huo Minzhi, who can you think you can hide what you did from? This is Wuling County, it's my territory!"
The man named Huo Minzhi felt a pang of pain in his heart, lowered his head, and asked anxiously, "I don't know what father is talking about."
The prefect said sternly, "I warned you. Just break Jinzhi's legs and I won't bother with you. But don't touch Jinzhi again."
Huo Min's heart trembled slightly.
He didn't expect that the news reached his father's ears just after the bailiff left.
"Father, I only sent someone to Lingshui Village to investigate my adoptive mother's situation. I didn't do anything to him."
"How could I not know what you're thinking? Put away those little thoughts of yours and don't play tricks on me. I have more than one son like you. If you can't meet my requirements, get out of here."
Hearing this, Huo Minzhi secretly clenched his palms, his eyes gloomy.
Huo Taishou added, "If you had half the intelligence of Jin, why would I be so worried?"
The prefect held his back, as if sensing the gloomy atmosphere. He narrowed his eyes slightly and warned again, "Don't take my words as a joke. If you want to disobey me, you'll have to see how much you can do."
At the end of the words, he shouted coldly: "Get out."
Huo Minzhi slowly walked out of the room and closed the door, gritting his teeth with anger and hatred in his eyes.
In the study, Governor Huo, feeling relieved, sat down and took a deep breath.
Compared to his biological son who grew up in a wild land, was narrow-minded and had no talent, he was more satisfied with his adopted son who was both talented and virtuous and whom he had carefully nurtured for twenty years.
He knew Jinzhi was capable, and even if he wasn't his biological son, he would have thought about keeping him by his side. But he was a member of the Fu family after all, so he couldn't keep him.
*
After dinner, Yu Ying asked Fu An to go to the He family to invite Uncle He, Aunt He, and He Dalang over.
Yu Ying said to them, "I made some money from a small business, so I'm going to pay you first for the money you earned from collecting herbs. From now on, I'll pay you in October. Do you have any objections?"
Uncle He and Aunt He said, "We have no objection."
Since his parents had no objections, He Dalang naturally wouldn't have any objections either.
And Fu Zhen would have no objection.
Yu Ying then placed the divided copper coins on the table.
This time, I sold fifty catties of herbs for nine hundred and fifty coins. I gave ninety-five coins to the waiter, leaving me with eight hundred and fifty-five coins.
Yu Yingjian and the others had no objection, so he said, "Uncle He and Aunt He have spent ten days selling 18 catties of meat at seven wen each, and 22 catties of meat at six wen each, for a total of 258 catties."
Yu Ying pushed the copper coins strung together in front of Uncle He and Aunt He: "Uncle He and Aunt He, please count them."
He Dalang was extremely shocked when he heard that his parents had earned two months' wages in just ten days.
Originally, when his father came to him to find him and Madam Yu to do the medicinal materials business together, he was still very hesitant. After all, the work of the nobles and powerful families was stable and they would not stop working every day.
Before he could make a decision, he got the answer because something happened to Song Sanlang. Now it seems that this decision was not wrong.
Even Fu Zhen was surprised when he heard this number.
Yu Ying continued, "Because Brother He's time helping out was short and he doesn't know much about herbs, he only collected about five catties. Even if it's less than five catties, we'll calculate it as five catties and six cents, for a total of thirty cents."
As Yu Ying spoke, she placed the copper coins strung together to make thirty coins in front of He Dalang.
"Finally, it belongs to Big Brother."
Fu Zhen had no expression on his face when he heard this, and just said, "I don't need it."
His brother's wife helped him and his wife pay the labor service silver and redeemed them. Fu Zhen was well aware that he and his wife owed his brother's wife a favor and such a large sum of money.
Yu Ying said, "I don't know what you're thinking, but we need to sort things out. Once we've sorted it out, you can do whatever you want."
Upon hearing this, Fu Zhen nodded.
Yu Ying continued, "Brother, the seven-cent piece is eight catties, and the six-cent piece is twelve catties, so the total is one hundred and twenty-eight cents."
As Yu Ying spoke, she placed the strung copper coins on her eldest brother's table.
This was the second time Uncle He and Aunt He had divided the silver, and they were much calmer than the first time. But after receiving more than 200 coins, they couldn't suppress their excitement, and their hearts were full of energy.
If they work hard for about two more months, Erlang will be back.
After Yu Ying divided the silver, she said, "There aren't many herbs in the two nearby mountains, and we can't collect them all, so I'm thinking of going somewhere else to collect herbs, but I don't know where."
As he spoke, he looked at Uncle He and said, "Uncle He, you have lived in Lingshui Village for a long time, so you should be familiar with the terrain."
Uncle He smiled and said, "There's nothing much around here except mountains. There are few villages nearby, and no one says which village owns the mountains. Anyone with the guts can go hunting or digging wild vegetables in the mountains."
With Uncle He's words, Yu Ying felt relieved.
Let’s talk about the October order, which requires collecting 500 kilograms of herbs, and more than 700 kilograms of fresh herbs.
There were five of them gathering herbs together now, and when Song Sanlang's legs healed, one more person would join. A month and a half of gathering herbs with six people would be enough.
But there was also a problem of having too many herbs and no place to store them, so we also discussed building an extra thatched hut for the next two days.
At night, Yu Ying lit an oil lamp and placed it on a simple bamboo table that she asked her eldest brother to help make.
The bamboo table reached about the height of her abdomen. It was not very sturdy because it was only tied with straw ropes, but it was enough to hold ordinary oil lamps and medicine.
She used a piece of cloth lavishly, and then patched it with some scraps of cloth, and a plain tablecloth came out.
After covering it with the tablecloth, the table really looks like a real thing.
After lighting the oil lamp, she spread a piece of cloth on the bed, placed the more than 400 copper coins she had earned today on it, and strung them one by one into the straw rope. Her eyebrows were curved, and it was obvious that she was very happy.
Fu Wei couldn't help but smile as he watched her happily counting the money.
Yu Ying said to Fu Wei while stringing the copper coins, "Your elder brother and sister-in-law have been taken care of. Now, apart from hiring someone to take care of the fields, we don't have many expenses. Our lives can be better."
At this point, Yu Ying suddenly raised her head, looked at him, and asked, "What do you think, should we move to Yu County?"
Fu Wei was slightly surprised when she mentioned this: "You want to go to Yu County?"
Yu Ying slowed down, stringing the copper coins one by one, and said, "Of course not now. After all, we don't have much money saved. Even if we want to move, we have to wait until next year. But I just have this idea now. I don't know what you think."
Fu Wei hesitated for a moment before saying, "Yu County is better off than Lingshui Village. If you want to go, we have no objection."
Hearing that he had no objection, Yu Ying continued, "When the time comes, the farmland in Lingshui Village and the herbal medicine matters can be handed over to Uncle He and Aunt He to take care of."
He lowered his head and strung the copper coins, sighed softly and said, "If I had connections and wasn't afraid of offending those medical clinics in Yu County, I could lease the wasteland and let the villagers of Lingshui Village grow herbs together. Both sides would benefit."
She had inquired and found out that for wasteland of not-so-good quality, only rent was required, not grain.
Hearing her words, Fu Wei's brows furrowed slightly.
He vaguely heard her mention that she wanted to grow herbs for treating colds, febrile diseases and injuries.
Medicines for colds and febrile diseases are of course in great demand, but medicines for treating injuries are not used in large quantities in this peaceful era. Most of them are purchased by imperial merchants and sent to the border for use as reserves.
Furthermore, she is a person who takes things step by step and will not achieve things overnight.
But with limited money and insufficient manpower, renting five acres of land for farming all at once was not like her style and seemed a bit reckless.
Moreover, herbs and grains were planted on a large scale at the same time, as if they were planning for something.
Fu Wei thought of her mysterious identity and what she had said before, that his elder brother would die if he stayed in the quarry, and guessed that she might know something about what would happen in the future.
But maybe she was afraid that something would change, or maybe she was hiding these things in her heart to protect herself?
food……
Herbs...
There was also a turbulent situation, and the things that Fu Wei had hidden from her in his heart gradually became clear.
The biggest possibility is that in the near future, the world will be even more chaotic than it is now.
Seeing that Fu Wei didn't respond to her for a long time, Yu Ying raised her head and saw Fu Wei looking at her with a serious expression.
Yu Ying was slightly suspicious and asked, "What's wrong?"
Fu Wei looked at her, and after a few breaths of silence, he spoke in a deep voice, "Sixth Mother, I haven't asked about your affairs before, and I won't ask about them in the future. But if you trust me, I only have one question for you now. Even if you can't answer me in detail, I hope you can at least tell me whether I am right or wrong."
Seeing Fu Wei suddenly become serious, Yu Ying's heart also became anxious.
After a few moments of silence, she put down her work and asked, "What do you want to ask?"
She secretly prepared herself mentally.
Fu Wei looked at her and asked in a deep and slow voice, "Will the world be in chaos in the near future?"
Yu Ying was shocked.
How did he suddenly see the clue?
Perhaps he already knew the current situation and noticed something was wrong from the details of her actions.
Yu Ying wanted to let things take their own course and try not to disrupt the trajectory, but now it seems that she herself is a variable. With her as a variable, many things are slowly changing.
After a moment of silence, Yu Ying figured it out.
She exhaled, nodded slightly, and replied, "Yes, there will be chaos when the ice and snow in the north melt next year."
Fu Wei got the answer from her and fell silent.
He originally thought that the court could last another ten or eight years, but he overestimated it.
When the ice and snow in the north melt next year, the time she mentioned may be the time when the real outbreak occurs.
Before the outbreak, there will be various small disturbances to pave the way for major disturbances, and then there will soon be unrest.
Yu Ying said, "I don't know the whole story, but I can only tell you that the turmoil is unstoppable and can only be followed, not reversed."
The heroes rose up in rebellion, and it was impossible for Fu Wei alone to reverse the situation.
Fu Wei fell into deep thought.
Yu Ying added, "I won't say much, because what I say may not be correct, but it will definitely affect your judgment and assessment, so please don't ask any more questions. Even if you do ask, I won't say any more."
Fu Wei was able to become a powerful official in the Xin Dynasty not because of his ability to predict the future, but because of his own courage and strategy.
If she talked too much, it might lead him to make a wrong judgment, which would not be worth the loss.
Fu Wei took Yu Ying's words to heart.
He lowered his eyes for a long time without saying anything, feeling a little confused.
After a long while, he raised his head and looked at her sternly: "Just pretend you never said this to me today, and let's not mention it again."
This is not something they can handle in their current situation, and talking too much will only bring disaster.
Yu Ying replied softly, "I know."
Just as he finished speaking, there was a knock on the door.
The two looked at each other warily, and Fu Wei shook his head at her.
Yu Ying understood and nodded slightly.
She got out of bed and opened the door.
Fu Ning came back from bathing and stood outside the door clean and tidy, with his elder brother and sister-in-law standing behind him.
The door opened, and Fu Ning walked out of the room and stood next to his aunt.
Yu Ying asked curiously, "Why are Big Brother and Big Sister-in-law here too?"
Fu Zhen took out the hundred or so coins he had just obtained and handed them to her. "The ransom for Xingniang and I is nearly seven thousand coins. I don't know when I can pay it back, but now that I have the money, I must pay it back first."
Wen Xing also nodded.
Yu Ying pondered for a moment, then said, "Brother and sister-in-law, just return me half each time, and keep the other half for yourself. Besides..." She lowered her head to glance at Fu Ning beside her and said, "Brother and sister-in-law still have An An and Ning Ning to take care of."
When Yu Ying mentioned this, the couple, who were only concerned with returning the money, finally reacted.
The clothes were made of cloth bought with money from my sister-in-law. They were penniless and, apart from collecting herbs, they didn't seem to have any proper jobs.
If I really pay it all back, won’t I still have to rely on my brother’s wife to support me?
The couple suddenly woke up, and Fu Zhen immediately counted out twenty-eight coins and handed the remaining one hundred coins to his brother's wife.
Seeing that they didn't keep half, they still kept some for themselves, Yu Ying took it and said with a smile, "Then I'll keep a record of it."
Fu Zhen nodded.
Just as she was about to leave, Yu Ying called out to her sister-in-law, "Sister-in-law, please wait a moment. I've made the cream. I'll apply it on your face. It can heal sunburn."
As she spoke, Yu Ying turned around and picked up the oil lamp.
Fu Zhen was about to go back to the house when his second brother's voice came from inside: "Brother, if you are not in a hurry to go back, please talk to me."
Fu Zhen paused.
Yu Ying, who had just talked about the current situation with Fu Wei, had a look of suspicion in her eyes when she heard that Fu Wei wanted to keep Fu Zhen.
What does Fu Wei want to say to his elder brother?
Yu Ying didn't ask any questions. Since the two brothers wanted to talk, she put down the oil lamp and asked her sister-in-law to go to the next room to get the oil lamp.
The two sisters-in-law took little Funing out of the house, leaving only the two brothers in the house.
Inside the room, Fu Wei looked indifferently at his elder brother, whom he had only known for less than two weeks, and suddenly asked, "Brother, do you want to learn martial arts?"
Hearing this, Fu Zhen was stunned: "Why do you ask?"
Fu Wei said, "Before I went to pick you up, two yamen runners broke into our house. Have you heard about this, big brother?"
Although Fu Zhen had not interacted much with people from the same village these days since he came back, he still heard a general idea from Uncle He and Aunt He, but he did not know the details.
When he asked his mother about it, she seemed afraid that he would worry and kept silent.
Erlang brought up the old matter again, there must be some clue.
Fu Zhen asked: "What happened then?"
Fu Wei raised his eyes, his expression indifferent: "The police suddenly broke in and said they were arresting a fugitive, but in fact they were testing whether I was truly disabled or just pretending to be disabled."
Fu Zhen was startled, then he heard him say, "Brother, you should know who the person is who can command the officials and has a grudge against me."
Fu Zhen did guess it.
Fu Wei continued, "Apart from that incident, I don't need to say much about how restless Lingnan is. Although you are very strong, you are still far behind those who have some skills."
Fu Wei looked down at his legs and said, "I don't know when my legs will be fully healed. Until then, the safety of our family can only rely on my eldest brother."
The last sentence made Fu Zhen's face solemn.
Yes, in this world, only those who have ability will not be bullied.
If he didn't have such strength, he wouldn't be able to protect his wife in the quarry.
Thinking of this, Fu Zhen looked at his second brother and asked, "Are you good at martial arts?"
Fu Wei nodded. "I've practiced martial arts since I was young and served in the military for several years. I'm also somewhat knowledgeable about swords, spears, and swords. I have a set of spear techniques that would be suitable for you, brother. However, I have limited mobility and don't have a 100-jin spear, so practicing would be difficult."
When Fu Zhen heard his second brother talk about the past for the first time, and then heard that he had so many skills, he suddenly remembered what his mother said about the situation when Erlang first arrived at the Fu family.
He now understood why Erlang was like that.
Such a favored child of heaven, he has his pride and dignity. How could he possibly accept it when he suddenly falls into poverty and becomes disabled?
"Brother, do you want to practice?" Fu Wei asked again.
Fu Zhen had the answer in his mind and replied, "I may not be cut out for it, but I want to give it a try."
Upon hearing this, the corners of Fu Wei's mouth curled up slightly.
Fortunately, it is not a piece of mud that cannot be helped.
Warriors throughout the ages have been born with supernatural powers. His elder brother's strength cannot be called supernatural power, but if the world becomes really chaotic in the future, perhaps he can find a way out.
*
Yu Ying stood at the door of the kitchen and glanced towards Fu Wei's room. She saw the two brothers' figures reflected on the curtains and didn't know what they were talking about.
Wen Xing noticed her sister-in-law's gaze and followed her line of sight. She said, "Da Lang and Er Lang finally have something to talk about these past two days. In the first few days after they came back, they wouldn't say a word to each other for half a day."
Yu Ying withdrew her gaze, applied a herbal mask to her sister-in-law's face, and said, "It's always good to have something to talk about."
Wen Xing nodded twice, and then felt a chill on her face.
He lowered his eyes to glance at the dark green herbal paste in the bowl and sighed, "This is so comfortable."
Fu Ning opened his big eyes and looked curiously at A Niang's ugly face that was painted with paint.
Yu Ying smiled and said, "Not only can this cure sunburn, it can also make your skin smoother."
Hearing this, Wen Xing opened her eyes wide and asked in surprise, "Really?"
Yu Ying nodded: "If you use it regularly, you will see obvious results in about a month."
After a pause, he reminded, "Sister-in-law, you don't need to go out during the days you are making clothes at home. It is best not to be exposed to the sun. Even when drying herbs, you should wear a veil to cover your face."
Wen Xing said embarrassedly: "I am already a mother of two children, why do I need to be so beautiful?"
Yu Ying smiled and said, "Who says a mother can't be pretty? Even if I become a grandmother in the future, I still have to be pretty, if not for anything else, just to make myself happy."
When Wen Xing heard this, a hint of thought appeared in her eyes.
After a moment, she seemed to understand something and smiled.
Yu Ying hurriedly advised: "Don't laugh, don't laugh, you will get wrinkles."
Wen Xing hurriedly stopped laughing and whispered, "My sister-in-law is right. You have to look pretty just to make yourself look happy."
At this point, she paused and added, "Then when I see the effect, I'll let Mother use it too, to make her happy."
Yu Ying: "Well, then I'll call my mother along later."
Wen Xing looked at the dark spots on her sister-in-law's face, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Since you know medicine, can't you cure the dark spots on your face?"
Yu Ying put down the wooden bowl after she had finished applying the lotion to her sister-in-law's face. After pondering for a moment, she replied, "It's easy to remove these spots on me, but I have to travel to Yu County frequently, so I don't want to do it for now."
Wen Xing looked carefully at her brother's wife's delicate and beautiful facial features. If it weren't for those spots, she would definitely be a beauty.
She immediately understood what her sister-in-law meant and said, "That's right, it's better not to remove it. It's safer to leave the spots on."
The sound of a door opening could be heard from the other end of the room. Seeing her eldest brother coming out, Yu Ying said to her eldest sister-in-law, "I'll take Fu Ning back to rest first. You can apply the remaining medicinal mud to your sunburned area."
Wen Xing nodded and watched them leave.
Yu Ying nodded to her elder brother who was walking towards her, then went into the house.
Fu Zhen walked to the kitchen and was about to call his wife back inside, but he suddenly saw his wife's face in the dim light and was so frightened that he took a small step back.
Wen Xing didn't know how ugly she looked now. She just stared at her husband with a pair of blank almond eyes and asked, "What's wrong?"
Fu Zhen looked at the green mud on her face and asked with an indescribable expression, "What is this?"
Wen Xing pulled him into the kitchen, lowered the curtain, and whispered under the dim light of a small oil lamp, "My sister-in-law said it can cure sunburn. Take off your clothes quickly and I'll apply it on you."
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