Chapter 436 So Many Uncles
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The fourth brother knocked on the second brother's door. "Second brother, get up quickly. Have something to eat, we should leave now. Aren't you going back?"
After a while, the second brother's muffled voice came from inside the house.
"Okay, I'll wait a minute."
The fourth brother smiled and said to Song Chunxue, "He's awake, which means he didn't drink too much. Do you think he secretly cried?"
Song Chunxue packed all the perishable food into a cloth bag, tidied her own bundle, and then put her longsword and rolling pin on the carriage.
"Why don't you just go ask? By the way, have you fed the horses any hay?"
"I fed him, I fed him as soon as I woke up this morning," the fourth brother sighed. "I didn't expect that this time I came back, I didn't find any work, but I ran into a lot of trouble. When I get back, I must ask the Taoist priest for a talisman to help me have a smooth journey."
Mentioning the Taoist priest, Song Chunxue, who had been sullen, suddenly seemed to perk up and wanted to learn from him.
Even without speaking, the Taoist priest's inherent calm and composed aura as a cultivator would put her mind at ease.
She hoped that when she reached the end of her life, she could be like her senior brother, remaining steadfast amidst wind and rain.
At 1:15 AM, the sun rises, and the mountains and rivers begin to be bathed in golden light.
The mother and her two children rode in a horse-drawn carriage, swaying and wobbling as they headed towards Zhuanglang County.
The second and fourth brothers sat outside the carriage. They had drunk alcohol the night before and hadn't slept well; their eyes were red and a little swollen.
The fourth brother looked at Song Chunxue, his eyes clearly saying: Look, my second brother is really crying.
They really love making a scene.
She wanted to see if the fourth child would cry.
The journey back was relatively smooth. They did encounter some suspicious people along the way, but when they saw the second and fourth brothers sitting in the car, each wielding a long knife and sword, they let them go.
"Hey, I thought we were going to have a bloody battle. I was clenching my teeth, but they just let us go like that?" The fourth brother laughed, pulling on the reins. "If I had known, I would have let Mother sit outside. That way, I could have watched her rid the people of evil."
Song Chunxue's gaze darkened slightly. "Although it's inevitable to encounter bandits and robbers when traveling, it's a bit too brazen for them to always block our way."
“But the grain harvest has been poor these past two years. In some places, there isn’t much land to begin with, and most people have been forced into a corner.” The second brother said with a serious expression, “Although our area is arid, everyone knows to grow cold-resistant coarse grains to eat. People in some places don’t know how to grow grains at all. If wheat doesn’t work, they’ll grow potatoes. They don’t know how to try different things and seize the opportunity from God. All they know is to plunder and kill.”
“Especially the small countries to the west, and the Huns, they come to steal our grain whenever things are bad on the grasslands,” he said in a deep voice. “Perhaps we won’t be able to have a good New Year this winter.”
Song Chunxue remained silent for a long time. The fight couldn't last too long; Qin Yueguo valued literature over martial arts.
As the fighting progressed, they began to seek peace and a truce, offering some benefits to the foreign powers in order to pause for a few years.
However, there were several very powerful generals on the northwestern frontier who were able to make the enemy flee at the mere sight of them.
The Qin Yue Kingdom has been relatively peaceful in recent years.
Their biggest problem is that it doesn't rain.
The mother and her two children hurried as fast as they could and entered Zhuanglang City before the city gates closed.
The second child couldn't help but sigh, "I never imagined that one day we would live in the city."
The fourth brother was in high spirits. He cracked his whip twice and laughed loudly, "You'd never guess that we'd be living in a big fortress!"
The second child asked expectantly, "Is my sister close to the fort?"
“It’s quite close, you can see it as soon as you leave the alley. Do you miss your sister that much?” The fourth brother jumped down from the carriage. “Then I’ll go and call my sister’s family over. You drive the carriage to the fort first.”
Song Chunxue climbed out of the carriage. "I'll drive. When you see your brother-in-law later, greet him. Don't just give him a silly smile. Our kids aren't very polite."
“Besides, I’ve bought so much land, and your sister and brother-in-law do all the housework. I hardly have to worry about the farm work anymore,” she said gently. “Although everyone thinks he’s a son-in-law who’s married into the family, I don’t consider him that way.”
The second son nodded. "Understood."
He was very curious, "How much land does our family own in the county? And how did Mother come to have so much silver? Is it really because we met the Taoist priest?"
"About fifty or sixty acres. Farmers value their land highly, so we bought more than we should. It's true that we've been making a lot of money ever since we met our senior brother. He's a great benefactor to our family. You'll meet him someday."
As they were talking, the carriage entered the alley.
The second son looked at the high wall and imposing gate in front of him and couldn't help but be a little surprised.
"How much silver did you spend to buy such a large fortress?"
Song Chunxue was taken aback. When Lord Xie said it was thirty taels, it was he who had someone help him get the land deed.
He had said he hadn't lent her any money, but Song Chunxue now understood that he must have lied.
"Thirty taels."
"Thirty taels?" the second brother exclaimed. "Such a big fort, thirty taels? I heard it has front and back courtyards, and attics, and occupies a lot of land."
The second son got off the carriage, raised his hand and touched the iron plate outside, saying, "This door isn't cheap."
Song Chunxue didn't speak, but raised her hand and knocked on the door.
Who is it?
The sound of Sanwa's alert voice came from the courtyard.
There was also the sound of a wolfhound barking.
"Your second brother is back, open the door," Song Chunxue called out.
As soon as he finished speaking, Sanwa opened the door latch and looked at them with joy and surprise.
"Second brother?" Sanwa looked at his second brother, whom he hadn't seen for three years, and couldn't help but feel a little shy. "Second brother, you're back."
Jiang Yehui looked at the third child in front of him, who was dressed in a white inner garment and a moon-white brocade robe. His fair and radiant complexion was completely different from that of the shepherd boy he used to be. His slightly curly hair was tied back, and his white teeth shone like pearls. When he smiled, he looked a lot like his mother. He exuded a scholarly air that was very unfamiliar to him.
A thought struck him: clothes make the man, but he felt that this scholarly demeanor was even more striking.
The third brother, who no longer herds sheep, is a completely different person.
He raised his hand and placed his rough palm on his head. "I'm back. You've grown so handsome now. Studying really is important."
Sanwa scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "It's not that I'm delicate, it's just that I naturally get fair-skinned if I don't go out in the sun."
Song Chunxue smiled. The children's skin tone was like hers, yellowish-white, not easy to tan, and without any redness.
Except for the fourth son.
You can't say he's ugly, or he'll be even more upset than the second son was last night.
"Second brother!"
Just then, Jiang Hongying walked into the alley and saw the carriage running towards her.
"elder sister!"
Jiang Yehui put a hand on Sanwa's shoulder, turned his head and replied, "Slow down, the child is chasing you."
The three children shouted happily from behind, "Second Uncle, Second Uncle is back!"
"Third uncle, fourth uncle, hahaha, so many uncles."
As dusk falls and night approaches, the once quiet and deserted alleyway suddenly becomes bustling with activity.
Song Chunxue laughed and said, "Come inside quickly, don't disturb the others, they're probably all going to sleep."
"Grandma!" Xiujuan ran up to Song Chunxue, looking curiously at the bundle on her shoulder, and asked, "What nice things did you buy for us, Grandma?"
"Haha, the child is so happy because you brought delicious food, right?"
"Go ask your second uncle for it."
"Your second uncle was too busy grieving to think about buying you food," the fourth brother said, untying his bundle. "Come on, your youngest uncle loves you the most."
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