Mozhou, royal farm.
There is a brand new village here, it is called Wangjia Village.
All the villagers here came from the West Mountain of the Yu Dynasty. They built new houses here and settled down.
Wang Er's home is also here, and he became the village chief of Wangjia Village.
The village is surrounded by endless fields in all directions.
The villagers of Wangjia Village are still tenants of the young master's family. They are no different from when they were in Xishan. They still take care of the young master's fields.
By March, the peach blossoms in front of and behind the houses in Wangjia Village are blooming again.
Wang Er sat on the threshold of his courtyard, smoking a pipe and looking at the plowed fields. He said to Wang Qiang beside him, "The young master wrote saying he wants to stay in our Wangjia Village for a few days... There's no West Mountain Villa here. I thought I'd tidy up my yard so that the young master can stay there when he arrives, and your mother and I will stay at yours for a few days."
Wang Qiang was holding a pair of scissors and a branch of a wild apple tree. He asked in surprise, "Young Master is coming? When will he come?"
"I've already left, probably by the end of this month. Don't tell anyone, the young master said this must be kept secret!"
"That's great. What do I need to prepare? I'll go to Banqiao Town to buy some."
Wang Er took a deep drag on his pipe and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke. "I don't know either. The young master is the emperor now. When the emperor travels... he should have a grand entourage and all kinds of preparations, right?"
"..." Wang Qiang was stunned. He had never seen the emperor travel before, but it seemed like that was how it was portrayed in operas. "Then ask mother to change the quilts, bedspreads, etc. What will happen to the officials accompanying him?"
"There are over a hundred households in our Wangjia Village. Two people per household should be enough. If that doesn't work, we can go to Lizhuang next door. I'll go there and talk to Village Chief Li later."
Lizhuang is dozens of times larger than Wangjiacun!
The villagers of Lizhuang were the victims of the Daling River dam burst during the Wu Dynasty two years ago. They were relocated here from Shizhangyuan and Yehuoyuan by an order of Emperor Wu.
A total of 400,000 people!
There are more than 50,000 people in Lizhuang, and the remaining 350,000 are distributed in all the royal farms in the eight states of Nancang.
They were all tenants of the young master's family. Wang Er was already acquainted with the village chiefs of these villages because he was the young master's only designated chief technician of Fu's rice seeds - the name was strange, but Wang Er liked it very much. He was a technician who was officially appointed by the emperor and had a fixed salary every month.
Not to mention the village chiefs, even the governors of various states have to be cautious when meeting him.
"Dad, if you go to Lizhuang, please push back on the matter that Village Chief Li brought up. My younger brother is now the commander of the First Divine Sword Army. How can the daughter of the Li family be worthy of Xiaozhuang's status?"
Wang Er looked up at Wang Qiang and said, "Identity? He has no identity! So what if he's a division commander? He's just a peasant. Was this your idea or his?"
Wang Qiang pursed his lips. "Xiao Zhuang wrote to me, saying he found a girl named Yu Ruoxing in the Chi Le Chuan Autonomous Region. He likes her very much and has already met her mother. It seems her mother doesn't object, so it should work out."
Wang Er fell silent, took a few more puffs of his pipe, and then asked, "Is that girl's family of high status?"
"No, they are just an ordinary herdsman's family. But they are not barbarians. They are people from the Yu Dynasty who were stranded in that tribe. I'm afraid they are also refugees."
Wang Er nodded. "That's more like it. Write a letter to Xiao Zhuang and tell him that our family will always be the young master's tenants. Don't get involved with those powerful people. Don't make the wrong move and bring trouble to the young master!"
"Also... ask him when he has a day off. If the time is right, we should visit the girl's family."
"Also, you and Xiumei... after we finish planting the rice seedlings, you're going to the autonomous region. You're not allowed to come back until Xiumei is pregnant! I want to have a grandson!"
Wang Er knocked his pipe against the sole of his shoe and stood up. Wang Qiang, however, looked resentful and said, "Dad, I have ten pigs."
Wang Er took off his cloth shoes and threw a punch at Wang Qiang: "You son of a bitch, which is better, raising pigs or having children with your wife?"
Wang Qiang fled in panic, as if having a baby with his wife was more enjoyable.
…
…
"It's March 3rd again, and the peach blossoms are blooming."
Fu Xiaoguan and his group... Jia Nanxing, Bei Wangchuan, Dong Shulan and her maid Xiaoqi, five people, left Guanyun City on the first day of March and headed towards the eight states of Nancang.
It was dusk now, and they were on a mountainside where there was a dilapidated thatched cottage.
Dong Shulan looked at Fu Xiaoguan with great curiosity - he was rebuilding the thatched cottage with Jia Nanxing and Bei Wangchuan, and it was almost finished.
This place is called Linjia Village, which is only a hundred miles away from Fanning City, but Fu Xiaoguan came here. It seems that he is quite familiar with this place.
Dong Shulan didn't know that after the big avalanche that year, Wu Linger brought Fu Xiaoguan here, and he lived here for three months.
Yunniang and Xiaoxiao became victims in the rebellion of Queen Mother Xi. The cute little girl who called him dad never had the chance to go to Xishan and shout "Fu Erdai" twice.
This is a secret that no one knows except Wu Linger.
Fu Xiaoguan kept this secret in his heart and did not explain to them why he knew such a secluded place.
After the thatched cottage was built, Bei Wangchuan went hunting. Jia Nanxing built a bonfire in the yard, and Fu Xiaoguan took Dong Shulan by the hand and wandered among the peach blossoms in the mountains.
"Are you tired?"
Dong Shulan shook her head and said with a smile, "It's great to be able to go out for a walk. I'm not that delicate."
"Xiu'er said a few days ago that the peach blossoms on the West Hill are about to bloom. We can't go back for the time being. If you like, our back garden is quite big now, so you can plant some when you have free time."
The couple talked as they came to the foot of the mountain. There was an abandoned field here. Fu Xiaoguan once tended the rice seedlings in this field.
He squatted beside the field and looked carefully. This year's spring rain was as precious as oil. There was no water in the barren fields. Although the soil was moist, it was obviously impossible to plant rice seedlings.
The environment here is a bit harsh, and the water source is not abundant. We rely entirely on the river in the mountain stream. It seems that there is not much water in the river, which is difficult to meet the needs of the paddy fields when planting rice.
"There's something I've been wanting to tell you." Fu Xiaoguan patted the dirt off his hands and stood up. "My father-in-law is in the Yu Dynasty... After all, because of our relationship, his position as Minister of Revenue is quite frustrating."
"It's not Yu Wendao's fault. The Ministry of Revenue is the lifeblood of a country and holds a special position. That's why Yu Wendao has appointed a man named Chang Huan. He used to be the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and still is. However, his power has surpassed that of the Right Vice Minister and he has basically taken control of the Ministry of Revenue."
"What I mean is... let my father-in-law resign his official post and come to the Wu Dynasty to serve as an official, or to retire, so that the family can be reunited and happy. What do you think?"
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