What Mo Qianshang didn't expect was that the recruiters would soon come up to them.
She raised an eyebrow: "My eldest son is only seven years old, so he shouldn't be eligible for conscription, right?"
The recruiter pointed to Qin Heming and Qin Qingyu: "These two older ones are fine. The army is short of people right now. As long as they can help with the work, even if they are young, it's okay!"
Mo Qianchang never expected that the minimum standards for conscription would be so low that even such young children would be considered. It seems that the situation in the military camp is not very good.
Moreover, normally ten taels of silver would cover three years of military service, but now it has become twenty taels, which means the imperial court is not very well-off.
The recruiters were about to come over and grab people when Qin Heming's face turned pale: "Mother!"
Mo Qianshang pulled Qin Heming behind her: "Wait, we..."
Just as Mo Qianshang was about to take out some silver, a stranger suddenly came in, glanced at them, and called the conscription officer out.
This unfamiliar person aroused her suspicion. She suddenly thought of Qin Baiyi. If this person had nothing to do with the village, could he be one of Qin Baiyi's people?
He wanted to find someone to help his two children with their military service.
"mother……"
The children were a little scared. They didn't know how much silver Mo Qianshang had, so they clung tightly to her, clutching her clothes.
Mo Qianshang hugged them tightly: "It's alright, Mother will handle it."
She wasn't worried about military service; instead, she was more curious about how Qin Baiyi would handle the matter.
Unexpectedly, these people returned quickly: "You've already paid your money!"
Mo Qianshang paused for a moment, then nodded and led the children away from the cave, since it was no longer their business.
She walked to a secluded spot, and sure enough, Qin Baiyi immediately appeared and came out.
As soon as Qin Heming saw the person, he ran over to him.
Qin Baiyi patted the children's heads and said to Mo Qianshang, "Something came up here, so I won't be able to travel with you anymore. Take care on the road and look after the children."
Mo Qianshang raised an eyebrow, and Qin Baiyi, seeing her expression, asked, "What's wrong?"
She smiled and said, "It's nothing, I just thought, you know how to speak properly, don't you?"
Qin Baiyi felt somewhat embarrassed as he recalled his suspicions about her. He didn't trust her now, but it was one thing for him to have suspicions and for her to use them against him.
Mo Qianshang had no intention of settling scores at this time: "I understand. If there's nothing else, we'll be going now."
Qin Baiyi looked at the children who were reluctant to leave, and at Mo Qianshang's back, who seemed completely oblivious to his departure. For some reason, he felt like sighing.
She didn't even care about his doubts. Was he a failure as a person?
He hadn't expected this conscription to happen. He had indeed paid out money to resolve these matters, but he wasn't from Fushou Village after all. Although he made up a reason for the conscription, the situation was still somewhat dangerous for him.
Moreover, based on Mo Qianshang's reactions over the past two days, he also felt that he shouldn't get too close to them at this time, otherwise his identity would be exposed sooner or later.
Taking a break for a while would be good for them both.
Mo Qianshang didn't actually want to appear so calm. She didn't really care whether Qin Baiyi left or not, but if any unexpected events happened next, there would be no one to help her take care of the child.
The next day, the people of Fushou Village got ready early in the morning and set off together.
After walking for an hour, Mo Qianshang looked down at Qin Heming several times. Ever since the conscription team left yesterday, her eldest son's expression had been not good. He seemed preoccupied and no longer laughed and played with the other three children.
"Heming, tell your mother what's wrong."
Qin Heming paused for a moment, looked up at his mother, and shook his head.
He didn't want to talk about it, and Mo Qianshang didn't intend to force him. Instead, she took his hand and squeezed it hard.
"Village chief, we can't walk anymore, let's take a rest!"
Widow Chen shouted loudly, with her daughter Chen Juan beside her.
Liu Shugen also felt that it was about time, so he told everyone to rest where they were. Widow Chen took out a water bag and handed it to Chen Juan, while constantly winking at her: "Hurry up and send it over!"
Chen Juan, looking bewildered, took the water bag and went to find Old Man Zhao and Scholar Zhao: "Uncle, Brother Zhao, please have some water!"
Mo Qianshang couldn't bear to look at Chen Juan, who was only seven years old.
Although it's just an engagement now, and they'll have to wait until she's thirteen or fourteen to get married, she still can't accept it. This age is just too young!
Besides, judging from the way Zhao Laohan and his son looked that day, she just couldn't understand how a scholar like Zhao could fall for Chen Juan, who was just a bean sprout. Even if their family had some wealth now, they were still farmers. Zhao was arrogant and self-righteous. Could he really live with Chen Juan?
There are still six or seven years to go. Let alone that long, Mo Qianchang thinks the marriage will go wrong in six or seven months!
Seeing Chen Juan approaching, Zhao Xiucai frowned, clearly looking down on her, but he didn't stop taking water from his hands.
The villagers saw this and exchanged knowing glances.
They used to think Zhao Xiucai was amazing, and others praised him so much that they almost said he was a literary star descended to earth. But after Mo Qianshang exposed him for stealing Qin Qianya's mushrooms, his image in everyone's eyes plummeted.
Once the filter of intellectuals is removed, everyone has been thinking about many things from the past and has come to realize that the Zhao family father and son are not as good as they imagined.
It's more accurate to say that being a scholar makes him seem even more fake; everything about him feels insincere!
Mo Qianshang collected the water bags that the children had finished drinking from and walked to Liu Shugen's side: "Village Chief, which direction should we go next?"
Liu Shugen looked around and pointed in one direction: "Let's go that way. Villages are built either next to a river or against a mountain. We can't find the river, but we can see the mountain clearly. Let's go see if there are any villages at the foot of that mountain!"
Mo Qianshang looked at it. Although the mountain was visible, anyone who had traveled there knew that such a high mountain meant the actual distance to travel was much longer than it appeared, and they didn't know how many days it would take them to reach it.
But that was the closest mountain to them.
After resting for fifteen minutes, everyone continued on their way.
After walking for five days, when everyone felt they could take no more steps, they finally reached their destination. Along the way, they had asked people they had met before, and they learned that the mountain at the foot of the mountain was called Qingping Mountain, which means "green screen".
There really weren't any large villages at the foot of the mountain.
Upon arrival, no one rested. If this was their destination, they would definitely divide the land among themselves, with everyone thinking that first come, first served!
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