Everyone walked into the house laughing. Apart from Chen Tu and his son Xingxing, whom they had never met before, they all knew the Chen family members. Xingxing paid special attention but did not see Bai Yue'e.
"Why didn't Aunt Yue'e come? Her child must be quite grown up by now."
Bai Yushuang sat next to Chen Tu, and the couple were talking quietly. When she heard Xingxing's voice, she looked over with a gentle gaze.
“Yue’e’s child caught a cold a few days ago. After taking medicine for a few days, he is now fine, but he is still listless. We were worried that A-Lu would not be able to withstand the bumpy journey, so we left the mother and child at home. When Yue’e heard that you were coming, she really wanted to come and see you, but unfortunately she had to stay at home to take care of the child.”
Alu is the nickname of Bai Yue'e's son. He was born on the road and fled from place to place after his birth, so he was called Alu. Alu was not well cared for from birth, so his health was worse than that of ordinary people. However, in the past two years, Bai Yushuang and Bai Yue'e have worked hard to take care of Alu's health, and Alu has now recovered to a normal physique.
"Two years ago, we settled down in Changting County and had a lot of money left over. So the people from the escort agency took Yue'e back to Shitou Mountain to move Master Yan's remains back to the Yan family cemetery in Xiyancheng. Yue'e wanted to take Master Yan's remains with her, but she knew that Master Yan would definitely want to be buried in the Yan family cemetery, so she could only bring Master Yan's memorial tablet back."
Bai Yue'e was able to successfully move Master Yan back to the Yan family's main cemetery thanks to the help of Prefect Wu, which prevented Madam Yan from making things difficult for her.
Xiyancheng was rebuilt two years ago. When the refugees fled, there were 160,000 people, but only 140,000 returned. There were also 20,000 people who were originally destitute in Xiyancheng, but after arriving in Xiaoxiyan, they were able to live in new houses and have more fertile land.
Moreover, with over 100,000 people migrating back to their ancestral homes, much of the land reclaimed in Xiaoxiyan was left uncultivated, making it ideal for those willing to settle down and cultivate.
Some people were unwilling to let the land they had painstakingly reclaimed fall back into barrenness, so they offered to lease it to those who remained to cultivate. But those 20,000 people couldn't possibly cultivate all the land that over 100,000 people had reclaimed. There were plenty of fields that didn't require rent, so they refused to cultivate the land that required rent.
Wu Chong also spoke up, "If you're reluctant to leave, you can stay and not return to Xiyan City. Trying to have it both ways is wishful thinking. There's no such thing as a free lunch."
“Those two plots of land are all our own land. The houses in our hometown were rebuilt by the strong laborers in our family. There isn’t much fertile land in our hometown, and the grain we grow is not enough to eat every year. The land in Xiaoxiyan was also cleared by us, one hoe at a time. Why can’t we take it?” Many people think this way.
Wu Chong said without much emotion, "If you want to run back and forth between the two places to cultivate the land, the government can't interfere. But if you want to rent it out, that's not allowed."
The people cannot fight against the officials. No matter how unwilling they were, they dared not cause any more trouble after the prefect spoke up. They could only leave with their hearts aching and clutching their chests.
"After Yue'e returned from Xiyancheng, she told us that the people in the Northwest are now growing a lot of sweet potatoes, corn, and pumpkins. Since that flood, there haven't been any more natural disasters, and the people's harvests are good. Now everyone in the Northwest can have enough to eat." Bai Yushuang looked at the stars with a smile in her eyes.
Although Xingxing and her group never told Bai Yushuang Xingxing's true identity, Bai Yushuang was a smart woman and vaguely guessed Xingxing's identity. At first, she noticed that the prefect and the imperial envoy treated the little girl with great respect, and the little girl was surrounded by many guards.
She guessed that the young lady must be a high-ranking official or a member of the royal family, because only people of noble status could have such an air. Later, she overheard the young lady's bodyguard calling her "Princess," which really surprised her. The other person was indeed a member of the royal family, but of very high status; she was a princess.
However, Xingxing concealed her identity along the way, so Bai Yushuang pretended not to discover her true identity and has not told anyone else about it to this day.
When she first came to the South, she tried to find out from Zhao Guizhi whether Zhao Guizhi knew Xingxing's identity. It turned out that neither Zhao Guizhi nor Chen Shunping knew.
However, the Zhou family should know about it. Bai Yushuang had tried to probe, but the Zhou family members all changed the subject and did not want to talk about Xingxing's background, clearly intending to avoid the topic.
It seems that Zhao Guizhi and Chen Shunping are still unaware of the princess's identity. Bai Yushuang lowered her eyes and chuckled. This princess is very down-to-earth and has no airs at all. If it weren't for the unusual nature of her attendants, no one would guess her identity.
Now, Bai Yushuang no longer uses her long hair to cover the disfigured half of her face, but wears a veil. If she goes out, she will wear a veiled hat. In fact, after experiencing so much, she doesn't care that much about her appearance. The reason she covers it up is just to avoid scaring others.
"How's your business in Changting County?" Xingxing asked Chen Yueru.
Chen Yueru smiled and nodded, "That's great. Now our family has opened two more cloth shops and a jewelry shop. If you come to Changting County to visit me sometime, I'll give you some jewelry."
"Okay, I'll definitely find time to visit you in Changting County in a while." Xingxing also wanted to see what the county town where Ruru's family lived was like.
Hearing from Xingxing that she would definitely come, Bai Yushuang was very happy. "Before you come, have someone send a message so we can make preparations."
"Auntie, you're too kind." Xingxing smiled, pursing her lips.
At this moment, Zhao Guizhi suddenly sighed again, "Back then, when you and Master insisted on settling in Changting County, Shunping and I were worried. We felt that we could take better care of each other if we were all together, and we were afraid that if you went elsewhere, you would be bullied and have no one to help you. Now it seems that your choice was right."
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