Chapter 287 Farewell (Two chapters combined into one)
Next, Zhao Xingzhou lived up to expectations and left the magnificent mansion overnight and returned to the mountain to continue taking care of the children.
Zhao Xingzhou's departure once again verified that there is no emperor who does not believe in ghosts and gods, and the older he gets, the more he believes in them. Even if he did not believe in them when he was young, he would believe in them when he was old.
Xiao Zhen asked Zhao Shiqing to accompany Zhao Xingzhou back together. In Tongzhou today, there is no place safer than the mountains.
Zhao Shiqing did not insist. Most of the people on the mountain were "picked up" by her from outside the city gate. They came up the mountain because they trusted her, so she had to be responsible for them.
Xiao Zhen stayed in the house for a whole month!
He had not been at the farm all the time during the past month. He had followed the officials from the Ministry of Works to the dike, where he had not slept for several days and nights and had bites all over his body.
A month later, the floods in the four areas of Tongzhou finally receded, and the official road leading to Gaoping was repaired. With the resettlement of the provincial government, some of the people living in the village and the mountains went to Gaoping, some went to other places to seek refuge with their relatives, and some stayed in Tongzhou to rebuild their homes.
Fields flooded by floods cannot be cultivated immediately. The soil becomes compacted, nutrients are lost, and insects and fungi breed. It takes several years of treatment before cultivation can be attempted. Some fields can never be used as farmland again.
Therefore, post-disaster reconstruction is a long and arduous task, and a large number of manpower and material resources have been mobilized. Prefect Qian and the local officials of the other three places jointly submitted a memorial requesting the exemption of taxes in the four places of Tongzhou for five years. Prefect He Bo of Gaoping also submitted a memorial. There are a large number of victims in Gaoping. Since Gaoping has no share in the disaster relief grain and relief funds of the court, should Gaoping be exempted from taxes?
He Bo's memorial was sent to the capital. Feng Ke was surprised after reading it. Has He Bo changed his personality?
Although He Bo was only a small prefect, he was well-known in Feng Ke's place. Not only Feng Ke, but He Bo was also well-known in the entire six ministries and the Censorate, but it was not a good reputation.
To put it nicely, He Bo is an upright person. To put it bluntly, he is like a big stone in the toilet, smelly and hard.
The writing reflects the writer.
Any memorial submitted by He Bo would make people angry to death.
The reason why Feng Ke thought He Bo had changed his personality was because He Bo's tone in this memorial had completely changed.
He is crying!
He cried out how poor Gaoping was, how poor the disaster victims were, how poor the provincial government was, and how he, He Bo, was the poorest of the poor.
In short, Gaoping was already very poor, and now many more victims have arrived. Although some kind-hearted people have donated, it is a drop in the bucket. Now we have finally settled the victims, but we can't let them starve. It's so hard, Hebo is suffering, the people are suffering, and Gaoping is suffering even more.
In the past, when Feng Ke saw He Bo’s memorials, he would return them without saying a word, but this time, he did not do so.
Why are there so many disaster victims in Gaoping?
Coming from Tongzhou.
And the fourth prince is in Tongzhou.
It is right to reduce or exempt taxes in the four areas of Tongzhou, and Gaoping should also be exempted from taxes. This is due to the incompetence of the Fourth Prince.
It’s no wonder Feng Ke thinks this way. If anyone is to blame, it’s Xiao Zhen who kept the Fourth Prince’s affairs too strictly secret.
Of course, this also requires Li Qing's cooperation.
Feng Ke has connections everywhere, but the news he receives now is all what Xiao Zhen wants him to know. As for those news that cannot be made public for the time being, their spread is limited to a few people. Even other officials in Tongzhou just think that the Fourth Prince is unwell.
Who made the Fourth Prince hide in the house and refuse to come out since he came to Tongzhou? He said he was sick and no one doubted him.
So Feng Ke sent the memorial from Gaoping together with the memorials from the four places of Tongzhou to Emperor Yongjia.
Ever since the Fourth Prince was delayed on the road, Emperor Yongjia has been very disappointed with him.
The little bit of fatherly love that he had for the Fourth Prince because of organizing the New Year festival had been completely worn out after the Fourth Prince went to Tongzhou.
Just as Feng Ke guessed, when Emperor Yongjia saw Gao Ping's memorial, his face turned gloomy.
Gao Ping's memorial was approved, but Emperor Yongjia still kept a note of the Fourth Prince in his mind.
At this time, several groups of people had already left the mountain.
Grandma Han brought her children to say goodbye to Zhao Shiqing. They were going to Gaoping. Grandma Han's aunt was married in Gaoping, and her family was also in Gaoping. They had already bought property in Gaoping and would most likely stay in Gaoping in the future.
Zhao Shiqing thought of the news he had just received and said, "Old Master Han died on the way to Gaoping. Young Master Han's whereabouts are unknown. I wonder if he has arrived in Gaoping."
Grandma Han's face showed no trace of sadness. The corners of her mouth curled slightly as she said to Zhao Shiqing, "If he's alive, I'll have my father and brother file a petition at the government office once we get to Gaoping. I want a divorce. If he's dead, it'll be even easier. We won't even have to file a petition."
The love between her and that man disappeared as early as that stormy night when she walked out of the house with her baby in her arms.
Zhao Shiqing smiled and nodded. "Just make up your mind. You're a strong mother. You and your child will definitely have a bright future. By the way, I only know your husband's surname is Han, but I don't know your maiden name."
Grandma Han smiled and said, "I am a daughter of the Lu family. My name is Lu Dandan."
"That sounds really nice, Lu Dandan, Madam Lu, I hope we can meet again in the future."
Grandma Han, no, Lu Dandan, she came down the mountain with a smile.
When she went up the mountain, she was the eldest lady of the Han family, and when she went down the mountain, she was Lu Dandan.
From then on, she was Lu Dandan first, and then the child's mother, the daughter of the Lu family. As for the Han family, no matter whether that man was still alive or not, it would no longer be a burden to her.
Mrs. Hao also came to see Zhao Shiqing with her two granddaughters, but they were not there to say goodbye.
Madam Hao said, "Second Miss, I have something to ask you and I would like to trouble you again."
Zhao Shiqing asked, "Madam, please don't be polite. What's the matter?"
Madam Hao embraced her two granddaughters and sighed, "To be honest, Second Miss, since this experience, I have become more self-aware. I am old and I am afraid I can no longer protect these two girls. After much thought, it is better to send them to the capital. Although they have a stepmother, they still have their biological father. If there is anyone in this world who can protect them, it can only be their biological father."
Zhao Shiqing guessed what she was going to say and said, "Madam, do you want me to take them with me when I return to Beijing? It's not that I can't, but I think it's better for you to come with me."
Madam Hao was stunned. "Go to Beijing together? How can that be possible? My son-in-law has already married a new wife. How can I, a former mother-in-law, bother him again?"
Zhao Shiqing smiled: "Madam, why don't you change your mindset? You don't have to live in your son-in-law's house. You can rent a house in the capital. As for the location of the house, rent it near your son-in-law's house. You raised the two girls by yourself. Now that you are old, isn't it their responsibility to serve you?
You can enjoy the happiness of family life, the two girls won't have to look at their stepmother's face, and they can also have a good reputation for filial piety. For your son-in-law, he can fulfill the father-daughter relationship without having to be caught in the middle. Why not?
As for my son-in-law's new wife, I don't think any stepmother would want to live under the same roof with her stepdaughter. It's just a matter of reputation. At most, I can visit you more often and give you more gifts, which will also help me gain the reputation of a good stepmother."
Madam Hao thought about it, clapped her hands and smiled, "Why didn't the old lady think of that?"
She looked at her two granddaughters, both of whom had happy expressions on their faces. They had secretly cried several times since their grandmother decided to let them go to the capital, but if their grandmother also went to the capital, it would be the same as now, just a change of place.
The three generations of grandparents and grandchildren left happily. They would return to the capital with Zhao Shiqing.
At this time, Zhao Shiqing didn't know that she had inadvertently developed a close relationship with Mrs. Hao's son-in-law, who was actually a big shot.
However, Zhao Shiqing cannot return to the capital now, and Mrs. Hao and her grandchildren have to stay in the mountains for a few more days.
As there were fewer and fewer people on the mountain, Zhao Xingzhou no longer had the job of taking care of the children. He finally set out on the official road to Gaoping accompanied by Zhao Shiqing.
They arrived in Gaoping quietly without making any noise. There was still a porridge stall outside the city gate. After the official road was repaired, the victims who were previously trapped in Tongzhou or stranded on the way went to Gaoping one after another. Outside Gaoping City, there were not only porridge stalls, but also officials specifically responsible for receiving and arranging the victims.
Although Zhao Xingzhou and Zhao Shiqing were not dressed in rags, they were still dressed in cloth and looked very simple.
The guards who followed them were all dressed like country men. The spare clothes they brought with them when they left the capital had already become tattered. Now that supplies were in short supply, Tongzhou could not buy new clothes, so their clothes were patched up with patches. Some of the guards even had no shoes and wore straw sandals.
Therefore, in the eyes of others, this group of people are genuine victims of the disaster, except that they are strong and have no signs of weakness.
Before Zhao Shiqing could show their pass, they were incorporated into the group of disaster victims.
Most of the victims did not have travel permits, and many lost their household registration cards while fleeing. As a result, the officials and yamen runners responsible for arranging the victims no longer looked at the cards.
After all, when it comes to tough folk customs, who can compare with the people of Gaoping?
Zhao Xingzhou looked around and saw that their team consisted of more than fifty people, half of whom were his own people.
Fortunately, our people were grouped together.
But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, a man came over and said to the official, "Sir, I am the head of Dawang Village. Of the fifty people assigned to our village, only ten are strong and young. The rest are the elderly, weak, women and children. How can we open up the wasteland and farm it?"
The village head pointed towards the group Zhao Shiqing and the others were in and said, "Look at these people. Most of them are young and strong. We are all here to receive disaster victims. We should treat them equally. Can you give half of these young and strong people to our village?"
The official was also easy to talk to. He smiled and said, "These are going to Xiaonan Village. It just so happens that their headman hasn't come yet, so you can pick the people first."
The head of Dawang Village was overjoyed and came over to pick people. These young and strong men were all as strong as calves, and the more he looked at them, the happier he became.
"You, you, you, and you, and all of you, follow me!"
I had walked a few steps into Dawang Village when I turned back and saw these people still standing there, motionless.
"What's going on? Why don't you leave?"
These people shook their heads and said, "No."
The people in Dawang Village were a little anxious and said hurriedly: "Our village is big, there are a lot of wastelands, and there are water sources. It is much better than Xiaonan Village. Don't worry, as long as you come to our village, we guarantee that you will have enough to eat."
These people still shook their heads: "No."
The head of Dawang Village was extremely anxious. If he didn't leave, the head of Xiaonan Village would be here. The old guy was very talkative and would definitely not let him go if he saw him trying to snatch someone away.
"There are mountains behind our Dawang Village, and the mountains are full of treasures. With your physique, you can hunt rabbits and pheasants in the mountains. If it rains, you can even pick mushrooms. The pheasant and mushroom stew made by the women in our village is so delicious that even Master Guanyue praised it."
Hearing the words "Young Master Guanyue", Zhao Shiqing and Zhao Xingzhou exchanged glances. Zhao Shiqing then asked, "Village Head, has Young Master Guanyue been to your village?"
The village head puffed out his chest, looking very proud: "Not only has he been there, Master Guanyue is in our village right now."
What he didn't say was that it was because Young Master Guanyue was in their village that he had the confidence to come and rob people.
Zhao Shiqing smiled brightly: "Mr. Lizheng, do you think why they didn't follow you?"
The village head doesn’t know either. Their village is so good, why do these people follow him?
Zhao Shiqing: "Because we are a family, we can't be separated. If you want them, you have to take us all as well."
The headman looked at her, then at Ling Bo beside her, and then at Zhao Xingzhou. He gritted his teeth and stamped his feet. Ten young men, one old man and two little girls, okay!
Zhao Shiqing whistled, and the ten people selected by the village head earlier followed them.
The village head led them two miles away, where they saw two ox carts parked. The village head asked Zhao Shiqing and Ling Bo to get on one of the carts, and Zhao Xingzhou to get on the other. The carts were already full of people, one for men and one for women, all of whom were the elderly, weak, women and children like them. Everyone squeezed together, and Zhao Xingzhou sat with a few old men.
An old man asked, "Brother, are you from Tongzhou too?"
Zhao Xingzhou hummed: "Are you from Tongzhou too?"
"Yes, I just arrived this morning. I'm from the Huang family farm. How about you? Are you also from the farm?"
Zhao Xingzhou shook his head: "I'm from the mountain."
The old man slapped his thigh and said, "What a coincidence! My wife is right there in the mountains. I thought she was washed away by the flood. I only found out today when I ran into someone I know. She's still alive. She was rescued by some Second Young Lady and sent to the mountains. I just don't know when I'll be able to see her again. What if she thinks I'm dead?"
Zhao Xingzhou asked, "What's your wife's surname and name? And how old is she?"
"His surname is Sun, and he's in his early fifties. Big brother, did you see any woman named Sun when you were in the mountains?"
The corners of Zhao Xingzhou's mouth twitched. How could he not have seen a woman named Sun?
Isn’t that evil woman who scolded and yelled at him for a month surnamed Sun?
"Is your wife tall, strong, loud, abusive, and extremely clean?"
"Yes, my wife is so good. She is hardworking, family-oriented, loving, and beautiful. Woohoo, it's so good that she is alive. So good. By the way, is she still in the mountains? Did she say when she would come to Gaoping?"
Zhao Xingzhou was stunned. The female demon-like Aunt Sun actually looked like a fairy in the old man's mouth.
There must be something wrong with this old man's eyesight.
Or is this... a couple?
He thought of the empress who had died many years ago, and the empress who was deposed by him and died in the cold palace, and shook his head slowly.
"She's still in the mountains. If you miss her, I'll send her a message and ask her to come find you."
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