Chapter 123: Ambush [VIP]
When leaving Mengusi Village, Yang Jizong secretly left two taels of silver for Li Xin and Liu Chuang.
Li Xin found the money on the table and started tossing it up and down. He couldn't help but tease, "Look at our Young Master Yang. He's from an aristocratic family. He's very thorough. He even borrowed our horse and sword and paid us back."
Before the silver fell into his hands, it was snatched away by Liu Chuang.
"Hey, you, why are you still robbing me of my money?"
Liu Chuang glared at him and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? All the things he took away are public property."
"Oh, why are you so stubborn? What's wrong with it being public money? I haven't taken care of you these days, and you use the money to buy some wine - ah?" Li Xin stretched out his hand to grab it, but failed.
Liu Chuang stuffed the money into his waist and dragged Li Xin out. "We're running low on food. We need to use these two taels of silver to buy some grain and vegetables from the villagers. Don't even think about using it to buy alcohol. It'll only delay things."
Li Xin rolled his eyes at him. What could be delayed?
Yang Jizong and Zhao Xiaofu won't be back for a couple of days this time, so they might as well take this opportunity to relax.
Li Xin's idea was strangled in the cradle by Liu Chuang as soon as it emerged. Not only did they have to buy food rations, but they also had to register the land under the name of each household.
At this time, Yang Jizong and Zhao Xiaofu were already riding their horses back home. This time they had to bring some thick clothes and buy some more paper and pens.
On their way home, the two were suddenly stopped halfway by people rushing out from the side of the mountain road.
Zhao Xiaofu's horse nearly hit the men who rushed out. He tightened the reins, still feeling a little scared: "Are you trying to kill yourself?"
Yang Jizong, who was following behind, was extremely calm. He tightened the reins, patted the horse's neck, sat on the horse's back without moving, and asked the people who stopped them the reason.
These people claimed to be tenant farmers from a nearby village. They had been waiting on this road for many days, hoping to ask Yang Jizong and Zhao Xiaofu to teach them how to grow winter wheat.
"Please ask Master Yang and Zhao Tongsheng to teach us how to grow winter wheat."
Zhao Xiaofu was about to dismount when Yang Jizong stopped him. Yang Jizong then asked, "Which village nearby are you from?"
The old farmer in the lead looked honest, but the moment he looked up, a hint of cruelty flashed in his eyes.
Before the old farmer could take out the dagger hidden in his sleeve, Yang Jizong had already realized something was wrong. He turned his horse around, shouted at Zhao Xiaofu to ride away quickly, and he ran towards another path.
And those people immediately chased after Yang Jizong.
But people are not as fast as horses. Yang Jizong soon left them far behind and found a mountain road to meet up with Zhao Xiaofu.
"Teacher, are you okay?" Zhao Xiaofu was still frightened as he sat on the horse.
Those people looked and dressed just like tenant farmers, so how could they ambush them on the road?
If the teacher hadn't discovered it at the time, Zhao Xiaofu didn't dare to think about the consequences after he got off the horse.
"nothing and you?"
"I'm fine. Those people were clearly going after you. Could they be sent by Wang Xiang's followers? But they clearly look like tenant farmers!" Zhao Xiaofu couldn't understand.
"Those tenant farmers must have been instructed by someone. Su Xing, when you return home, don't mention this to your family."
Zhao Xiaofu nodded. He would definitely not tell anyone because telling them would only scare his family.
The two men traveled day and night, riding their horses, and finally arrived back at Xiahe Village at noon the next day.
"Teacher, let me take care of the horses. You can go home first."
Before the two of them entered the village, villagers came over.
"Xiaofu, you're back. We'll take the horse to feed it. You should hurry home."
"Yes, you guys hurry home and rest. Two of you go to the rabbit house and the field to inform Manager Xu and A Yao and the others."
The villagers warmly embraced the tired couple and led them into the village.
Zhao Xiaofu and Yang Jizong smiled at each other and said to everyone, "Thank you very much, everyone. Please help us feed the horses, and we will go find the people ourselves."
"That won't do. You look tired. It's just a few steps away. Let's go..." The man had almost finished his words when he suddenly realized and slapped his forehead: "Okay, you go by yourselves. You want to surprise your family, right? Let's all go."
"Let's go."
The rural road, which was bustling just a moment ago, now only had Yang Jizong and Zhao Xiaofu left.
"Teacher, I'll go to the rabbit house first."
After watching Zhao Xiaofu leave, Yang Jizong turned around and walked towards the paddy fields at home.
Sure enough, he saw the figure of the person he had been thinking about.
I saw Chen Yao, Tian Baolai and Yang Wenying, all with their trouser legs and sleeves rolled up, bending over and planting rice in the paddy fields.
Rows of rice seedlings are neatly arranged in the paddy fields, and bundles of untied rice seedlings are floating on the water.
After Chen Yao finished planting the rice seedlings in her hand, she stood up and went back to pick up the rice seedlings. When she looked up, she saw a person standing on the ridge of the field in the distance.
"Wen, Wenying, your brother is back." Chen Yao was overjoyed, walking from the paddy field to the ridge with one step deep and one step shallow.
Behind him, Yang Wenying and Tian Baolai also dropped their rice seedlings and followed closely behind.
As soon as Chen Yao got ashore, she couldn't wait to rush over and put her arms around his waist tightly.
"You agreed to be back in half a month, why are you complaining so late?
Yang Jizong lowered his eyes and held her face in his hands as he explained, "We have already planted seeds at Donggu Temple, so we were delayed for some time before returning."
She had seen the location of Mengusi Village on the map before, but she didn't expect them to go so far away.
"Dad said the yamen runners have a horse. Who is it?" Chen Yao raised her hand to touch his ear and touched the prickly stubble.
Yang Jizong grabbed her retreating hand, but before he could get closer, he heard the shouts of his sister and cousin.
Chen Yao knew what he was going to do by looking at his movements. She hit him lightly, stepped aside, and watched him talk with Wenying and his cousin.
When Yang Wenying saw that her brother was just a little haggard and not seriously injured, the worry she had been feeling settled down in her stomach. When she learned that Zhao Xiaofu had also returned, her heart was filled with joy.
"Zi'an, you must be tired after rushing back overnight. Why don't you go home and rest first." Tian Baolai threw the remaining rice seedlings on the ridge into the field.
Yang Jizong, however, looked at the vast paddy fields. He had already taken off his shoes and socks, rolled up his trouser legs and sleeves and stepped into the fields: "I'll help you. Let's go home together after we're done."
Before anyone could stop him, he had already gone down to the paddy field, unpacked a bundle of rice seedlings, and asked Chen Yao, "Ayao, how do you plant these rice seedlings? How deep into the soil should they be planted?"
Chen Yao went down to teach him step by step, and the four of them planted rice together and were busy until dark before going home.
During this period, Huang Xing and Miao learned that Yang Jizong had returned, and they came to the paddy field to look for him. After talking to the children for a few words, they shouted that they wanted to go back and prepare meals for everyone.
After planting the rice seedlings, the four of them washed their legs and feet by the Yan River before putting on their straw sandals and going home.
On the way, Chen Yao told Yang Jizong that a few days ago, Xing Fang's men brought five carts of cassava to the quarry.
Now the convicts no longer have to worry about food.
As for home, everyone was busy with their work as usual, but they were worried about them who were away.
Yang Jizong felt warm in his heart when he listened to Chen Yao's chatter. He held Chen Yao's hand tightly. He was thinking about his family even when he was away.
When everyone returned home, Yang Jizong smelled the aroma of food wafting through the yard.
Shen Qingshan stepped forward and patted Yang Jizong's shoulder heavily: "I'm glad you're back safely. Come into the living room and sit down. We'll eat soon. After that, you can have a good rest."
"Yes." Yang Jizong's face was filled with happiness when facing the concern of his family members.
Chen Yao went back to the room and changed into a pair of comfortable slippers. She also brought a pair for Yang Jizong and asked him to change into them.
Unexpectedly, Yang Jizong also made a pair of slippers for her, although the sewing was a little worse than hers, but the size was perfect.
After trying them on, Chen Yao put the shoes aside, grabbed his hand and turned it over. Sure enough, there were not only thick calluses on his fingers, but also needle holes.
"Does it still hurt?" Chen Yao blew gently on his hand.
Yang Jizong shook his head: "Ayao, I have something I want to discuss with you."
"What is it?"
"It is imperative to promote winter wheat this winter, but some villages are not suitable for growing winter wheat, so I wonder if we can let them grow Champa rice as well?" The reason why Yang Jizong came up with this idea was because of the tenant farmers he met on the way back.
It is true that these tenant farmers were instructed to harm him, but they were also victims.
But it was A Yao who came up with the idea of ​​converting the wasteland into paddy fields, so he still had to ask A Yao for her opinion.
Chen Yao naturally had no objection to Li Min's affairs. She picked up the slippers he had given her and motioned him to follow her to the study.
Two thick booklets were placed in front of Yang Jizong.
When Yang Jizong saw the booklet filled with farming methods for crops, an idea suddenly came to his mind.
"Ayao, do you want to publish a book?"
All of this is A Yao's hard work, and Yang Jizong doesn't want A Yao's hard work to be buried.
Chen Yao touched her notebook, her eyes sparkling with stars. "I have the same idea, but I'm worried that no bookstore would be willing to do it, let alone anyone willing to believe it and follow the methods in the book to farm."
She had been to bookstores to ask before, but there were no books on the subject.
"The bookshop doesn't want to, but I do. If A-Yao trusts me, I'll give these two notebooks to you for safekeeping. I'll return them to you after the book is published. Is that okay?"
"Okay, you can take it. But as for Champa rice, it's a bit late to plant it this year. It takes nearly a month from soaking the seeds to growing the seedlings. Also, I'm afraid it will be difficult to convert the wasteland into paddy fields if you want them to do so. I'm afraid they won't pay for the wasteland." Chen Yao put the two booklets aside.
Yang Jizong put his arm around her waist and said, "This isn't difficult. As long as we can achieve a good winter wheat harvest, everything will be solved once I take office. But before I do anything, I must consult you first."
"Just go ahead and do it. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me. I promise I'll teach you until you understand it!" Chen Yao stood in front of him and patted her chest seriously.
Yang Jizong's eyes fell on her face. He lowered his head and kissed her lips, pouring out his thoughts of many days.
"Ayao, Zi'an, it's time to eat!"
Outside the study, Huang Xing's shout separated the two people who were immersed in it.
Yang Jizong reached out and touched the red lips that he had kissed. Looking at the tears in Chen Yao's eyes, he pulled her into his arms and held her for a long time. Only then did he reluctantly take her out to eat.
The dining table in the living room was filled with sumptuous food. Shen Qingshan pointed to the chairs beside him and motioned them to sit down quickly.
The whole family sat together and finished the meal in a lively atmosphere.
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