She thought for a moment and then said, "Grandma, when Uncle Erniu goes back, have someone follow him and get that set of jewelry back."
“Just say that the jewelry was a gift from the Empress in the palace. It can be given to the wives of the heroes who went on the northern expedition, but not to outsiders, otherwise it would be disrespectful.”
These words reminded Old Lady Li and Hui Niang. Hui Niang immediately said, "Yes, and those fabrics too, we should get them back to make clothes for Xiao Cui!"
"Just now I saw that she only had one change of clothes in her package, and it was patched on top of patched. The Wei family is really too harsh, they are heartless!"
Old Madam Li frowned, somewhat troubled about who to send. Just then, Granny He came out from the backyard, overheard a few words, and stepped forward to volunteer, "Old Madam, Miss, let this old servant go. I may not be good at anything else, but I'm quite good at scaring people!"
"Oh, right!" Jiayin was the first to jump up excitedly, hugged He Mama's arm, and exclaimed with a grin, "Mama came from the palace, so when she puts on airs, she'll definitely scare the old witch of the Wei family to death!"
"Don't talk nonsense!" Old Mrs. Li glared and slapped her granddaughter.
Finally, she added, "It would be perfect for Granny He to handle this, but we should wait a bit. I'll have Fourth Brother ask Erniu."
"If Erniu is unwilling, we were just trying to help, but it turns out we're bullying his parents."
Everyone nodded. Hui Niang carried her chubby son on her back and hugged her chubby daughter, wanting to go home.
Grandma Li went to the kitchen to get her some steamed buns so she could take them back for Xiao Cui to eat while she was hungry.
While everyone was distracted, Jiayin secretly teased the two chubby children, taking several bites of their tender, lotus-root-like legs.
The two chubby children were terrified, not understanding why the older sister was eating their legs.
They kicked their little feet desperately, trying to escape the jaws of the leg-eating monster.
Hui Niang sensed something was wrong, looked down, and saw Jia Yin was gnawing on her son and then on her daughter.
She was so angry she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She scolded him, "You little rascal, you used to gnaw on your two younger siblings' toes when you were little, and now you're gnawing on their legs. You've really grown up!"
Jiayin grinned, showing her gap-toothed smile, and then shyly pulled the chubby girl's skirt to cover her face.
Hui Niang patted her and asked, "Have you finished sewing the handkerchief I asked you to do the other day? Show it to me tonight!"
Jiayin immediately looked distressed. Lately, Dr. Zhang had been pushing her to learn all sorts of quick fixes, so she hadn't had any time to sew handkerchiefs...
Grandma Li brought out the steamed buns, and when she saw her granddaughter's miserable face, she couldn't help but laugh after finding out what was going on.
Hui Niang left with her daughter and son, carrying the steamed buns.
Jiayin spent the whole afternoon struggling with the handkerchief, and despite being extremely careful, she still ended up with a few needle marks on her fingers...
At dusk, the Marquis returned from the city. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw Wei Erniu and his gang surrounding him with smiles.
He guessed they had something to say, so he waved his hand and went to wash up and change his clothes first, before beckoning them to come forward and talk...
In the neighboring courtyard, Tao Hongying went to Cyclamen Restaurant to cook her own dishes today, and took Wenjuan with her to relax.
When the two returned, they simply bought a few dishes from the restaurant, cooked some porridge at home, served some pickled vegetables, and steamed some buns, and dinner was ready.
It was rare to see Li Lao Er return today; he sat under the eaves talking to Li Lao Si.
But no matter how long they waited, the Marquis did not come, so Li Laosi was about to go next door to ask someone for help.
At this moment, the Marquis finally arrived.
The whole family gathered together, regardless of gender, and ate together in a lively atmosphere.
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, the Marquis began to discuss serious matters with Old Lady Li, Second Brother Li, and Fourth Brother Li.
"Auntie, a second village is going to be built at the archway intersection. Could you allocate a few more plots of land? Erniu and his wife want to settle here in the future, and the other guards also want to settle down here."
"Firstly, they are all my most trusted guards, and they come with me here every time I come back. It's more convenient to reunite with my wife and children here than to go back to my hometown."
"Secondly, in our village, there are more elderly people and children than young and strong people. But the valleys, orchards and melon fields are treasure troves, and we must always be on guard against others tampering with them. Having more manpower is also beneficial."
"I want to select about a hundred wounded soldiers from this campaign and settle them in the second village. They all have pensions, and I will subsidize them a little more to build some row houses for them to live in."
“If there’s work in the village, they’ll work; if there’s no work, they’ll patrol. When the village isn’t busy anymore, we can find them some other jobs.”
Li Lao Er was overjoyed when he heard this and nodded repeatedly, "This is wonderful! There are indeed too few able-bodied men in the village! Lao San brought several families to Luo'an, so the number of people in the village who can work is somewhat stretched."
“I wanted to find some young men to take to the relief agency to help out, and my older brother also wanted to send some people to Quanzhou, but I didn’t dare to say anything… I was afraid that if too many people were sent out, the elderly and children in the village would be left unattended. Now it’s all good, with more than a hundred people, we don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
"Yes," Grandma Li agreed, "the boys in the village are getting older, but they're afraid to go out and see the world. Now things are much better..."
After saying that, she called Zheng Feng to invite the village chief and Liu the镖头 (bodyguard).
These days, Li Lao Er is rarely in the village; the village chief and Liu Biao Tou are in charge of everything inside and outside the village.
When they suddenly heard that the Marquis was going to add more manpower to their ranks, the two of them were overjoyed.
The village chief waved his pipe and laughed loudly, "Hahaha, Old Wei and the others are saved! Old Zhao and the others went to the Hundred Flowers Garden, and Old Wei doesn't even have anyone to replace him on patrol."
"It's only been a few days, and his eyes are already so dark they look like they've been smeared with ink. From now on, there will be people who listen to his command and follow his orders!"
Liu, the镖头 (bodyguard), was also excited. "The fruit on the mountain is about to be harvested, and we also need to build a second village and go up the mountain to chop firewood. There's so much work to do."
"The problem is that we don't have enough manpower, and the boys are all eager to go to Quanzhou with the fleet. I'm so worried that my hair is turning white. Lord Marquis, you've saved my life. The more manpower the better!"
The Marquis nodded and smiled, "For now, let's arrange for a hundred people and Wei Erniu and his dozen or so to stay in the second village. Let's see how they behave. If they're not good, just kick them out. Don't worry about me."
"We've given them the opportunity and provided them with a way out. If they don't cherish it, they can't blame anyone else."
"Alright, Lord Marquis, rest assured, we know what we're doing. If it's truly detrimental to the village, we won't hold back. After all, this is a village with young and old; we can't let one donkey dung spoil the whole pot of soup." The village chief readily agreed.
We bought a lot of stone and timber earlier, but now it seems we are still far from enough.
The Marquis immediately gave Liu, the镖头 (bodyguard), five hundred taels of silver notes to cover the cost of building sheds for the wounded soldiers.
One hundred wounded soldiers would require at least ten sets of bunkers.
A row of houses has three rooms, divided into east and west rooms. One room has a large kang (heated brick bed) that can accommodate five people, which is quite spacious.
Jiayin listened to the commotion from the side, feeling that this place resembled a traditional farmhouse inn from her past life.
Wei Erniu was already married, and most of his guards also had families to support them. Since they couldn't live in row houses, they needed to build a courtyard.
But how exactly to build it is something they'll have to discuss with Liu the镖头 (bodyguard/escort).
After everyone had said their piece, they dispersed to rest.
Of course, Jiayin couldn't rest; she still went into her online space and switched to "study mode"...
The next day, Liu, the head镖师 (bodyguard), led Wei Erniu and others to the archway to scout out a place, and the villagers then learned that they were going to settle down there.
Furthermore, everyone knew that over a hundred wounded and disabled soldiers would soon be coming to settle down.
The village immediately became lively, with everyone talking about it...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com