Chapter 10: Confused Military Master
Gu Xiyue stood in the room, watching Xiao Heng come forward, bow to the three military lords, and stand in a very upright posture.
The three generals seemed to say something, and the four of them turned around to look into the house. Gu Xiyue's eyes met Xiao Heng's. She realized that they were asking about her, so she stepped over the threshold and walked quickly to their side.
"Ms. Gu, I came here today to ask you something. You must answer truthfully."
Before Gu Xiyue could salute the three military lords, Military Lord Xu spoke. There was majesty in his voice, as if to say, "If you dare to lie, I will not let you go."
But his expression was still kind, and he didn't seem to be deliberately making things difficult for me.
Gu Xiyue nodded, "Please tell me, sir. I will tell you everything I know."
"Did you discover the mosquito repellent plant?"
"yes."
"You asked them to pull mosquito repellent grass?"
"yes."
"Then what's going on between you and Wang Hu?"
Gu Xiyue was stunned and subconsciously glanced at Xiao Heng. Xiao Heng took a step forward and stood silently in front of her.
"My Lord, I don't know. I have nothing to do with him."
After asking this question, Xu Junye felt a little bored. Li Junye, who had been silent the whole time, pointed at the steamed bun next to him and asked, "What is this? Where did it come from?"
"Sir, these are steamed buns sent by the villagers. I was afraid they would go bad if I couldn't finish them, so I cut them into slices and dried them in the sun."
The three generals' expressions suddenly grew serious. General Xu's face turned cold as he asked, "So, you traded your mosquito repellent grass for steamed buns?"
Without waiting for Gu Xiyue to answer, he continued, "The land of the Southern Wasteland belongs to the Dayu Dynasty. Giving it to you temporarily is a gift from the Emperor. You are exchanging the weeds on this land for steamed buns, which is treasonous! We in the Dayu Dynasty hate your merchant-like behavior the most. How dare you act so brazenly like this? You are simply playing with your own life!"
"We're going to confiscate all of these steamed buns, and you're not allowed to use the mosquito repellent grass anymore. You came here to suffer, not to enjoy yourself!"
"When you have nothing to do, read books and farm well. This is the foundation of our Dayu Dynasty!"
Gu Xiyue was shocked, and suddenly remembered that the prince was deposed because he proposed to pay attention to commerce and armaments in the court. As a result, not only did he arouse opposition from civil and military officials, but he also angered the emperor, who abolished the prince's status in a fit of rage and exiled him to the Southern Wilderness.
However, she didn't expect that she simply wanted to reduce the mosquito bites for the people in the Southern Wilderness, and recommended mosquito repellent grass, which made everyone grateful for her help and sent food. However, such a normal thing was regarded as a merchant's behavior and a heinous crime in their eyes!
In this remote and barren southern wilderness, there is such resistance to commercial activities, let alone what the capital city will be like.
It’s a bit sad to think about it!
Hearing the military officer scolding Gu Xiyue like this, Xiao Heng's face turned cold. He was about to explain when someone gently pulled his sleeve. He slightly sideways glanced and met Gu Xiyue's restraining gaze.
Gu Xiyue took a step forward, bowed to the three military masters, and said with a smile: "You three military masters have misunderstood. I did not exchange the mosquito repellent grass for steamed buns. If you insist on taking away the steamed buns and stopping us from using the mosquito repellent grass, then please answer a few questions of mine so that I will be convinced."
The three generals looked at each other and nodded.
"Just now, General Xu said that the Southern Wasteland is the land of the Dayu Dynasty and we have the right to use it. If the Wang family can't farm, but the Li family can, and the Li family teaches the Wang family how to farm, and the Wang family is grateful to the Li family, then they invite the Li family to their home for dinner, will General Xu intervene in such matters?"
The three people were completely confused and had been led astray by Lao Li and Lao Wang. They shook their heads in confusion.
Xu Junye said: "Some people didn't know how to farm when they first arrived. They helped each other. Isn't that a good thing? Otherwise, they would starve to death and suffer the consequences."
Gu Xiyue nodded and said, "Then may I ask, sir, by doing this, isn't Lao Li using the method of teaching Lao Wang how to farm in exchange for food for Lao Wang's family?"
When the three generals heard this, they looked a little embarrassed.
Waiting here!
"Similarly, I was just teaching everyone to identify the grass that repels mosquitoes. They went back to repel mosquitoes themselves, and when they found that it really did, they thanked me from the bottom of their hearts, helped me clear the wasteland, and gave me steamed buns. Isn't that also helping each other?"
Gu Xiyue's questioning eyes swept over the three of them one by one.
"How come in the mouths of the three military masters, what I did is considered a business?"
The three of them looked at each other with strange expressions, a little surprised at Gu Xiyue's return.
I was speechless for a moment.
"Also, the general said we have the right to use the land in the southern wilderness. Is the land he's referring to just the sloping fields behind? Then what about the house we live in on the road we're standing on? Today, Lao Wang visits Lao Li's house, and tomorrow, Lao Wang visits Lao Li's house. Isn't this a mess? Is the general going to confiscate all this land and house just because of this?"
The three military officers were overwhelmed when they saw that Gu Xiyue's words were becoming more and more confusing, and they didn't want to stay any longer.
Xiao Heng saw it all, his eyes full of smiles. He stood silently behind Gu Xiyue, looking at her with admiration.
Seeing that the nagging had almost ended, Gu Xiyue smiled and stopped talking. He saluted the three men and smiled respectfully. "Three generals, you have worked hard. I think you have been here for several years. You know what the environment here is like better than anyone else. Many children were born here. You must have children at home too. Look at the children here and the pain they have suffered. If this happened to your children, would you have the heart to do it?"
The three of them were moved, and seeing Gu Xiyue's sincere attitude, they relaxed.
"As long as we're in the Southern Wilds, we have the right to use everything here. As long as it grows on this land, we can use it. If we really lose our right to use it, it should be the day we die or leave. Isn't that what I agree with, military men?"
Gu Xiyue handed the steps to the three generals. They thought about it and realized that it was indeed the case, so they walked down the steps by themselves. General Xu smiled first.
"Mrs. Gu is very eloquent. I admire her!"
After saying that, he sighed and said with a smile: "But Miss Gu's words have convinced Xu, so we won't bother you anymore. You can go about your business."
The three of them never mentioned the confiscation of the steamed buns and mosquito repellent grass again, and the incident finally ended without any major incident.
As the three were about to leave, Gu Xiyue saw a group of people coming from the east road. Zhao Yancheng and Qian Fu, who were in the lead, were holding a man, and the people following behind them were angry. They soon walked up to the three generals.
The person Zhao Yancheng and Qian Fu were holding was none other than Wang Hu.
When the crowd arrived, everyone except Zhao Yancheng and the people behind Qian Fu knelt down in unison.
"Miss Gu is our benefactor, General. Please don't punish her. If you want to punish someone, please punish us instead."
Everyone shouted out their true feelings, and the people kneeling behind them turned a corner at the end of the road. The scene was extremely shocking.
The three generals were all stunned.
When Madam Li and Madam Liu's children saw that the three generals didn't say anything, they stood up and ran to them, took the generals' hands, raised their heads and begged them.
Madam Liu's six-year-old daughter said, "Grandpa Jun, look at the scars on my face. Yesterday, my mother listened to Aunt Gu and mashed up some mosquito repellent grass and applied it to my face. Today, when I touch my face, the scars are gone. Grandpa Jun, you know, I slept so comfortably last night that I even had a dream. I dreamed that my mother made white flour buns for me to eat!"
The child's voice is so tender and moving to the ears.
The three of them squatted down and looked carefully at the children's little faces, feeling tense and uncomfortable.
Gu Xiyue was also frightened by people's heroic behavior, but now she came to her senses and spoke up for the three soldiers. She also realized that the children dared to hold his hands and talk to him like this, which showed that the three of them were usually very kind to children.
"Fellow villagers, hurry up and get up! The general just said that he won't punish me. They just came to see us. Hurry up and get up!"
People looked up at Gu Xiyue, then at the three generals. When they saw that they all nodded, they relaxed and supported each other to get up slowly.
"It's all his fault!"
Zhao Yancheng was filled with emotion. He pushed Wang Hu forward and saluted the three military officers with both hands. "Miss, Wang Hu just now was gloating and spreading rumors all over the village, saying that Miss Gu was going to be in trouble and that people like her would never have a good ending. You have come to arrest Miss Gu. We were afraid that something might happen to her, so we brought him here."
After saying this, Zhao Yancheng knelt on one knee and said in a firm tone, "General, you are a reasonable man and will never be provoked by villains. Today, I want to expose Wang Hu's crimes to you. I hope you will understand."
After saying that, he called out to the back, "Brother Xue."
After Wang Hu returned home, he made some medicine for himself and took a nap. When he woke up, he felt much better. He ate something casually and saw three soldiers walking west at the door. He knew that they were going to deal with Miss Gu. He felt very proud and started talking nonsense in front of someone else's door. As a result, he was brought here.
When everyone knelt down to plead for Miss Gu, he began to feel uneasy. When he heard that Zhao Yancheng was going to expose him, he immediately panicked and knelt on the ground and kowtowed, hoping that the general would not listen to Zhao Yancheng.
Xue Jun lived next door to Wang Hu and was in the crowd at the back. When he heard Zhao Yancheng calling him, he immediately stepped forward, knelt down and said, "Master Jun, Wang Hu has done a lot of bad things. He often steals steamed buns from other people's homes in the middle of the night. He has robbed several families around us. We don't have enough food to begin with, and we endure hunger to save food for our children, but he often steals it."
“My house was robbed too.”
“My family too!”
Everyone talked at once and told all the bad things that Wang Hu had done.
Zhao Yancheng said with red eyes: "We wanted to tell the general several times, but we tolerated him because we were all pitiful people. I didn't expect that he would instigate the general to deal with Miss Gu today. This is something we can't tolerate."
"Yes, if he dares to target Miss Gu, my husband Qian will be the first one to not let him go."
"I think so too! Miss Gu is a very good person, but Wang Hu is such a jerk."
Granny Liu in the crowd raised her hand tremblingly and looked at Wang Hu angrily.
Everyone echoed loudly.
Gu Xiyue felt warm in her heart. She had only been here for a few days and had only done a small thing. It was a piece of cake and something she did easily, but everyone took it to heart so much. She was deeply moved.
Even the three military officers couldn't stand it anymore and directly pressed Wang Hu to the ground and tied his hands behind his back.
Those exiled to the Southern Wilderness are not criminals in the strict sense. This is just a means of checks and balances from above. They are made to suffer a little in life on a daily basis, but it does not mean that some people can do whatever they want.
"Wang Hu!"
Xu Junye shouted angrily.
Wang Hu raised his head, knelt and crawled in front of General Xu, begging him with a terrified face: "General, I will never dare to do it again. If this incident is recorded, my parents will be so angry that they will die!"
He was crying bitterly and his frowning eyebrows looked both awkward and funny. Everyone was furious and wanted to ask the military officer to punish him immediately, but when they heard that he was worried about his parents, they felt a little embarrassed.
The three military masters were also in a difficult situation.
It is normal for them to live a hard life. At this time, any extra food they can eat is good food. It is common for some people to do some sneaky things to fill their stomachs, but as long as it is not excessive, no one will pursue it.
But the reason why the angry people today treated Wang Hu like this was all because he was against Miss Gu.
Whether to forgive or not depends on the young lady's attitude.
"Miss Gu, what do you think?"
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