In fact, not far from the county government office, there was a five-courtyard house. Zheng Boyuan didn't even think about buying it there. Firstly, it was just him and his sister, and the two of them came to Hexi without bringing many servants. Secondly, he was going to join the Prince of Wei's army in the future, and his sister would be alone at home. It was close to the Xu family, and as long as no one from outside the area attacked, this place would be the safest.
Once everyone was settled, Zheng Yuanyuan, following the instructions of the nanny who had come from the capital, had the kitchen cook prepare a table full of dishes and invited Xu Zhi and Li Yuexi over for dinner.
Li Yuexi's older sister has already gotten married and moved to Ganzhou. According to Li Yuexi, her sister is pregnant. Madam Li has nothing else to worry about now. She has a grandson, and her eldest daughter is pregnant after getting married. Now she has to prepare a dowry for Li Yuexi.
After Xu Di returned, he met with Li Yuexi a few times. Because they were both getting older, and many people their age were already married, they could no longer meet as often as they had a few years ago. Li Yuexi now spent her days at home embroidering her dowry. Although the customs in Hexi were open and many girls often went out to stroll around, Li Yuexi felt that she was already of marriageable age and that going out all the time would make people think she was not mature enough. Therefore, she went to the Xu family home most often.
Zheng Yuanyuan was a somewhat sensitive girl. Although she had endured hardships and slept outdoors along the way, stepping out of that small courtyard and seeing the vast world outside, Zheng Boyuan would always take her to the streets to see the different customs and traditions as they passed through prefectures, counties, and towns. This made Zheng Yuanyuan's personality much more cheerful.
Zheng Yuanyuan was very happy for several days after warmly welcoming her new girlfriend.
Zheng Boyuan has now joined Prince Wei's camp, starting as a common soldier. Because he is literate, he is now a junior cultural instructor in the army.
Xu Di repeatedly urged Wei Lang to focus on cultivating and improving the soldiers' literacy. During breaks in training, he instructed them not only to teach the soldiers to recognize characters but also to teach them military strategy.
In those days, there were few educated people, and those who could join the army were generally children from poor families. Who had the opportunity to study in a private school? After discussing with his advisors, Wei Lang decided to launch a reading and learning campaign in the barracks. One advisor made a very reasonable point: studying is good. Knowing more words means that even if they return to their hometowns, they can still use their literacy to work as shopkeepers or accountants. It can be considered as giving these soldiers who defend their country another way out.
Thus, a vigorous reading campaign was launched in the barracks. Those who were already literate and educated were the most sought after. So, when Zheng Boyuan entered the barracks, he trained hard with the soldiers on weekdays and served as their tutor in his spare time.
Zheng Boyuan was introduced to the world by the old Marquis of Pingxi. He studied military books the most from a young age. Compared with the Four Books and Five Classics, Zheng Boyuan could recite all kinds of military books by heart. So, in addition to teaching everyone some common characters, he used some military books as teaching materials.
Zheng Boyuan was very comfortable in the barracks, but he could only go home once every two weeks and stay for two nights, which he was quite satisfied with.
Xu Zhi was quite happy that Zheng Boyuan was able to join the army. In her previous life, she didn't know if Zheng Boyuan had also joined the army in Hexi. Like the Duke of Dingguo's family, their Pingxi Marquis family was exiled to Lingnan because the prince they had allied with failed to ascend the throne. After the new emperor ascended the throne, he purged all those who had chosen the wrong side.
To be honest, many people say that the new emperor is a benevolent emperor because they were spared. Many emperors, after ascending the throne, will uproot those who were once obstacles. After all, weeds cannot be extinguished by fire, and they will grow back in the spring breeze. Only by eliminating the root of the problem can one rest easy, right?
Xu Zhi cared a lot about Zheng Yuanyuan, who lived next door to her. She would visit them every few days, either to bring them homemade snacks or to check if they had enough supplies for the winter.
At times like this, Xu Bai would always be his kind-hearted older sister's little shadow, following behind Xu Zhi to the Zheng family home to see how she helped solve all sorts of problems. Xu Bai felt exhausted. He felt that his sister had really developed feelings for Zheng Boyuan. However, because his sister was young, she was still quite naive about matters of the heart and didn't know her own feelings. But Xu Bai, as an outsider, could see it clearly. He was very troubled and didn't know whether he should have a proper talk with his sister again.
If you really consider Zheng Boyuan's qualities, he's quite good-looking, has a good personality, and isn't too short-tempered. The key is that he's now in charge of his own household. The advantage is that after marriage, there won't be a mother-in-law, and he won't have to suffer from others' mistreatment. The disadvantage is that there won't be any elders, and he'll have to figure everything out on his own. Xu Bai thinks that raising a daughter in the family requires too many worries.
Xu Baicheng's chubby face grew thinner from worrying about Xu Zhi all day long. Xu Zhi, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice. She was busy every day, studying and doing things, and living a very fulfilling life.
Xu Rao, Zhang Zhaoci, and Xu Di were somewhat unsettled after receiving a letter delivered by a special envoy from the capital.
On the first day of the tenth lunar month, the Cold Clothes Festival, the government specially designated a large flat area in Hexi City so that people could burn paper money at the graves of their ancestors. At this time of year, the mountains are covered with withered grass, and every year there are incidents of burning down the forests while visiting graves. After Xu Rao arrived, in order to protect the forests on the mountains, he began to promote a policy of not burning paper money on the mountains. At first, he encountered great resistance, but in recent years, people have gradually stopped going to the mountains to burn paper money and instead go to a special place outside the city that is far away from the forests to burn paper money.
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