21. Boil lard
◎Every word he said was sincere, as if others had really misunderstood him.◎
Huang Sigou was lying on a bench, with a wide board hitting him hard one after another behind him. He was in so much pain that his lower body seemed to have lost consciousness. He could only feel his buttocks were hot and swollen, not knowing that he had already started bleeding.
Huang Sigou wailed, "I won't dare to do that again. I won't dare to do that again."
The gavel clattered, and Ye Yunzhao put away his previous anger: "Since you know you are wrong, then tell me."
Huang Sigou didn't dare to play smart anymore: "I don't... I don't have any evidence... that she stole someone."
"That's a rumor."
Ye Yunzhao didn't give him a chance to argue and said sternly, "Huang Sigou beat his wife Zhuang Xue for no reason. There is evidence and evidence. The couple is no longer in love. Huang Sigou should be punished with twenty strokes of the cane. The two of them are no longer in love!"
After saying that, he picked up the wooden token on the table and was about to throw it down, but Huang Sigou suddenly struggled.
"Absolutely not! My Lord!"
Huang Sigou struggled to half-raise his body, "I accidentally hurt my wife after getting drunk. It was not my intention. We have never broken up, sir!"
Every word he said was sincere, as if he had really been misunderstood by others.
Ye Yunzhao snorted coldly: "Zhuang Xue's body is full of fresh and old scars. You said that they were all caused by accidental injuries after being drunk."
"Does it mean that every time you get drunk, she gets beaten?"
She then threw the token down decisively: "Huang Sigou is full of lies and has no remorse. Drag him away! Thirty strokes of the cane!"
Liu Mazi and other yamen runners received the order and dragged the wailing Huang Sigou away with a tactful look.
Ye Yunzhao slowed down his voice: "Zhuang Xue, from today on, you will have nothing to do with Huang Sigou anymore."
Hearing this, Zhuang Xue could no longer hold back her tears. Although her face was covered with tears, she was still smiling. "Thank you, sir!"
Seeing the onlookers leaving the county government office, Ye Yunzhao hurried forward to help Zhuang Xue up and asked, "Xue Niang, do you have any plans for a future after your separation?"
The laws of the Great Qi Dynasty stipulated that after a couple divorced, the wife could only inherit the house if she was seriously ill. In all other cases, without exception, the wife had to live in her parents' home.
Ye Yunzhao learned from Liu Mazi that Zhuang Xue's parents had both passed away and that her brother and sister-in-law did not care much about her, so he couldn't help but feel worried.
"County Magistrate Ye, don't worry, I have my own room at home."
Zhuang Xue's face was filled with smiles. Her unmarried father had built a small house in the yard with windows facing east, which provided good light and kept the house warm in winter and cool in summer. Many children in the village envied her at that time.
"Then I'm relieved." Ye Yunzhao held her hand and reminded her, "If things don't go well, you can come to the county government office to find me."
After the two said goodbye, Ye Yunzhao remembered the pork fat that Aunt Hu gave him yesterday.
Because he was busy yesterday, Ye Yunzhao put the lard into a wooden barrel and hung it in the well in his yard to refrigerate it.
A deep well of iced food was no problem, so this little bit of lard was even more of a problem. When Ye Yunzhao pulled out the wooden barrel, the lard was still as fresh as yesterday.
Ye Yunzhao fetched another bucket of well water, cleaned the lard, and placed it on the stove. The lard was sticky, but her kitchen knife was very blunt and the blade was bent, so Ye Yunzhao had a hard time cutting it.
After a busy period, the large piece of pork fat was divided into countless small pieces. Ye Yunzhao lit a fire and poured the pork fat into a large iron pot.
In order to prevent the pot from getting sticky, Ye Yunzhao used the water boiling method. She poured two bowls of well water into the pot and left it there for the time being.
Erya had just hurriedly finished telling the story about Zhuang Xue when Huang Sigou and Zhuang Xue came to the county government office. Now no one knew where Erya had run off to.
Ye Yunzhao walked out of the yard and was about to go look for her when he saw Liu Mazi walking towards him with Erya.
Liu Mazi looked embarrassed: "County Magistrate Ye, this little girl has been clamoring to find you."
Ye Yunzhao looked down at the aggrieved Erya, took her hand, and said to Liu Mazi, "I'm just about to go look for her. You go ahead and do your work."
Liu Mazi's eyes suddenly lit up. As if afraid that Ye Yunzhao would regret it, he stuffed Erya's hand into hers, turned around and disappeared without a trace.
Ye Yunzhao looked at the rather well-behaved little girl in front of him and asked in confusion, "What's wrong with him?"
Erya rubbed her nose embarrassedly and said, "Sister Ye, have you found someone to cure Aunt Zhuang's madness?"
Just now, when Ye Yunzhao was interrogating Huang Sigou and Zhuang Xue in the court, Erya was hiding in the back room and vaguely heard Aunt Zhuang's voice.
Erya was young and didn't understand the twists and turns in the story. She just felt that Aunt Zhuang spoke in an orderly manner and seemed not to be crazy anymore.
Ye Yunzhao laughed and pinched her nose: "You clever little devil, come on, Sister Ye will give you something delicious to eat."
Delicious?
Could it be the crystal cake I ate a few days ago?
Erya blinked, swallowed, and followed closely. When she reached the kitchen, she smelled the faint aroma of meat. Her eyes lit up and she sniffed hard, "Sister Ye! It's the smell of meat!"
"What a sharp nose."
Ye Yunzhao picked up the wooden lid of the big iron pot. The water in the pot seemed to have boiled away, and now the pot was filled with light yellow lard.
She hurriedly pushed the lard a few times with the spatula, allowing the lard to completely contact the hot oil surface. "Erya, have you ever eaten lard residue?"
Erya nodded: "I ate it once."
This thing is precious. Ye Yunzhao said with a smile: "Today, you can eat as much as you want."
After a while, the lard in the pot turned golden yellow, and lard residue floated on the surface of the oil. Ye Yunzhao scooped the oil into a ceramic jar and set it aside, sprinkling a little bit of fine salt on the lard residue.
"Erya, eat!" Ye Yunzhao said as he picked up a ceramic bowl of lard residue and placed it in front of her.
Erya took it hurriedly. The freshly cooked lard residue was a little hot, so she lowered her head and blew on it. Before she put it into her mouth, she could smell the strong aroma of oil, and her saliva couldn't stop flowing.
When the lard residue cooled down a little, Erya quickly put it into her mouth, and it was crispy when she bit it.
She had previously eaten the original lard residue, but today Sister Ye made it with salt sprinkled on it, which was crispy, salty and delicious.
She finished the lard residue with great care, not yet overwhelmed by the delicious food. She remembered her mother's words about not being greedy when out and about. Erya quickly wiped her mouth with her hand, pushed the ceramic bowl in front of Ye Yunzhao, and said obediently, "Thank you, Sister Ye. You can have the rest."
Eating too much lard residue will cause internal heat, so Ye Yunzhao smiled and said, "If you don't want to eat it, just put it here. If you want to eat it tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, just come find me. Sister Ye will save all the lard residue for Xiao Erya."
Erya looked at her in a daze. Lard scraps were something that the family could only eat once during the holidays. She had a small appetite and often didn't eat as much as her brother. Her father and grandmother also often said that her brother was a man and that he would have strength if he ate more. As time went by, she couldn't help feeling aggrieved.
When she heard Sister Ye say that she would leave everything to herself, Erya felt vaguely touched and felt like crying. However, the child already understood what face was. She hugged Ye Yunzhao's legs shyly, buried her face in his legs, and made a muffled sound:
"Thank you, Sister Ye..." After saying that, Erya turned around and ran out of the yard.
Ye Yunzhao naturally failed to notice her subtle thoughts. Her mind and eyes were filled with counting the number of families in each township who had difficulty surviving the winter.
Ye Yunzhao has been busy with this matter for several days. Now there are only a dozen households left in Lingnan County that he has not visited. However, it is too late today and it is getting dark, so he can only go tomorrow.
~
The next morning, Ye Yunzhao got up very early. The sooner she finished the investigation, the more at ease she would be. Besides, she also had to make early plans for these people to spend the winter.
The weather has been much cooler these days. Along the way, Ye Yunzhao saw that there was green in front of and behind every house. This must be the result of Han County Magistrate leading each household to grow vegetables. Ye Yunzhao walked forward and took a closer look. Many vegetables were growing well.
When Ye Yunzhao saw this scene, he was very happy and walked out of the city humming a little tune. Unexpectedly, he saw Zhuang Xue as soon as he left the city.
Zhuang Xue did not get up early to do farm work like ordinary people, but spread a hemp mat under a big tree. At this moment, he was curled up and sleeping!
Ye Yunzhao hurried forward and raised his hand to wake her up, but as soon as he touched her sleeve, he felt a bone-chilling cold. Although it was not winter now, it was still very cold at night!
Ye Yunzhao frowned: "Xue Niang, why are you sleeping here?!"
Seeing that Zhuang Xue was hesitant to speak, she pushed her hard and found that Zhuang Xue's dark face was flushed abnormally. What shocked Ye Yunzhao the most was that she was holding a child in her arms!
Ye Yunzhao quickly raised her hand and touched Zhuang Xue's face. It was burning hot. She was probably suffering from a cold. She raised her hand and patted Zhuang Xue hard: "Zhuang Xue! Wake up!"
Zhuang Xue opened her eyes, half asleep and half awake, and felt her head feel heavy as if a stone had been placed in it. She raised her head, feeling dizzy and wondering if she was dreaming. How could she see her benefactor at this moment?
"Ye... County Magistrate Ye?"
Seeing that she was awake, Ye Yunzhao breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly said, "Can you get up? Let's go to the county government office."
As Ye Yunzhao spoke, he picked up the little girl in her arms. The little girl's face was flushed and her forehead was hot.
At this moment, Ye Yunzhao was extremely glad that she was carrying the big bamboo basket given by Sun Ning today. She put the little girl into the big basket and took some effort to barely carry it on her back.
That was not all. She tried her best to help Zhuang Xue up. Although Zhuang Xue was thin, she was not plump due to years of studying, and she did not have much strength. She could only walk towards the city taking three steps and a rest.
It was not until the three of them reached the city gate that Ye Yunzhao finally exhausted himself. The yamen runners guarding the city carried Zhuang Xue back to the county government office.
After Zhuang Xue and the little girl took the medicine, they slowly woke up. During this time, Ye Yunzhao stayed by her side.
"Xue Niang, what's going on?" Ye Yunzhao asked with a frown.
Zhuang Xue's body was stiff, and after a while, she slowly spoke.
It turned out that she returned home happily yesterday only to find that her room had already been occupied by her nephew. The reason was simple: the small room had good sunlight, and her nephew, who had become a student early, needed a study room.
As for the things Zhuang Xue had left behind in the house, they had long since disappeared. She hated her sister-in-law's words, each of which pierced her heart, but she hated her biological brother even more for remaining silent, as if he had nothing to do with her...
Therefore, in a fit of anger, Zhuang Xue took her bag, carried Chunhua and went out, but it was getting late, and she had no choice but to spend the night under a tree.
Unexpectedly, Ye Yunzhao saw it by accident.
After hearing what she said, Ye Yunzhao sighed in frustration: "Why don't you come to the county government office to find me!"
Zhuang Xue shook her head in a trance. Even her own brother didn't want to care about her, a burden. Was she really going to pester her benefactor?
Zhuang Xue was unwilling.
She murmured, "No, I've already caused you a lot of trouble..."
Ye Yunzhao had seen many such ordinary people, who were cowardly, ashamed, or inferior, or weak. In short, they were unwilling to trouble others. Even if Ye Yunzhao had told them hundreds or thousands of times, it was of no avail.
Whether it's material help or spiritual comfort, the recipient will inevitably feel that it's charity. Later, Ye Yunzhao came up with a solution. It's better to teach a man how to fish than to give him fish. It was quite effective, so she said slowly:
"Xue Niang, please stay here and relax. In a couple of days, you and Cui Hua will learn how to make pastries from me."
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