After trying it a few times, Min Yueqing thought that Amei and Azhu were incredibly clever. With this method, even in the cold mountains, washing hair in winter wouldn't be so painful.
Min Yueqing touched her head and felt it was almost dry, so she said to Amei and Azhu, "That's enough. It's warm here, so you can take a shower while you're at it, so it won't be too cold to shower tonight."
Amei and Azhu both smiled and agreed.
Min Yueqing felt comfortable with her hair down after washing it, so she didn't bother to tie it up anymore. Amei helped Min Yueqing put her bright red fox fur cloak back on and carefully put on the hood.
As soon as Azhu opened the door, she saw Xiaowei sitting upright in the doorway. She couldn't help but turn to Min Yueqing and smile, "Miss, look at Xiaowei!"
Ah Mei and Ah Zhu are both growing to like Xiao Wei more and more.
Both of them felt that the dog was truly loyal and affectionate to their young lady, and it would cling to her and act spoiled every day, as if they had really gained another young master in the family.
Seeing Xiao Wei's eager expression, Min Yueqing couldn't help but smile.
She walked to the door, reached out and touched the tuft of white hair on Xiao Wei's forehead, and said, "Let's go."
Xiao Wei immediately stood up nimbly and followed closely beside Min Yueqing.
A-Zhu covered her mouth and chuckled, watching Min Yueqing and Xiao Wei walk away. Then she said to A-Mei, "This little tiger is really intelligent. Sometimes it understands what you mean with just a glance."
Amei laughed, "Don't underestimate this little tiger just because it's a little tiger. It's very clever and knows that our young lady treats it well, which is why it's so close to her."
"Yes, these little animals don't have so many ulterior motives; they're much simpler than some people."
As soon as A-Zhu said this, A-Mei immediately knew that she was probably thinking about the unpleasant things that happened in the Cheng'an Marquis's mansion in the past, and nodded with a sense of sympathy.
Inside the room, Pei Ji had finished writing large characters and was now intently studying the building blocks that Min Yueqing had given him.
Min Yueqing sat down next to Pei Ji and glanced at the small table. It was not hard to tell that Pei Ji had already figured out how to play with the building blocks.
In fact, Min Yueqing could have given Pei Ji the finished blueprints for this set of building blocks, which would have made Pei Ji's task much simpler; he would only need to assemble the blocks according to the blueprints.
But Min Yueqing didn't want to do that.
Firstly, she knew how clever her little one was; even without blueprints, Min Yueqing believed he could figure out the basic structure step by step on his own.
Secondly, having blueprints, to some extent, actually limited Pei Ji's imagination and creativity.
Min Yueqing thought it best to let him build whatever he wanted, and maybe he could get some unexpected surprises in the process.
Seeing how much her little one likes the birthday gift she gave him, Min Yueqing feels a great sense of accomplishment.
Just when Min Yueqing thought that this year's Spring Festival would arrive in such a peaceful and tranquil manner, an urgent official letter from the Ministry of War in the capital was delivered to Pei Han by express courier.
That afternoon, Pei Han suddenly returned to the courtyard.
Min Yueqing was inevitably a little surprised, because Pei Han had gone to the front yard less than an hour after lunch. She looked at Pei Han and was about to ask a question when she immediately noticed Pei Han's unusual expression.
Although Pei Han's expression seemed normal at first glance, his usually calm and composed eyes changed, and a hint of anxiety appeared in his deep eyes.
Min Yueqing didn't beat around the bush and asked directly, "Jinzhi, what happened?"
Pei Han looked apologetically at his wife and children. Although he didn't want to ruin the harmonious scene, the situation was urgent, so he called Min Yueqing outside and answered truthfully in a low voice.
"I just received an urgent official letter from the Ministry of War. The city of Maocheng in Qingzhou Prefecture has been captured by a large group of mountain bandits. The former prefect and assistant prefect of Qingzhou have unfortunately been killed. The Ministry of War has transferred me to serve as the new assistant prefect of Qingzhou Prefecture."
This short sentence contained a lot of information. After digesting it for a while, Min Yueqing couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for Pei Han.
It seems the imperial court actually thinks highly of Pei Han.
When there's nothing to do, they demote him to the lowest rank and leave him to fend for himself in some remote corner; but now that something's wrong, they promote him without hesitation and send him to suppress bandits and quell rebellions.
It should be noted that Pei Han is currently just a lowly ninth-rank inspector, while the prefectural magistrate is a fifth-rank official. This speed of promotion is enough to make him the envy of all officials.
However, Pei Han's official career was already quite legendary. More than two years ago, he was demoted from a promising sixth-rank Hanlin Academy compiler to a ninth-rank patrol inspector, which already shocked everyone.
Thinking of this, Min Yueqing couldn't help but ask, "You are the newly appointed Assistant Prefect, then who is the newly appointed Prefect?"
Pei Han answered honestly, "It wasn't mentioned in the official letter."
Min Yueqing: ......
According to local tradition, Min Yueqing strongly suspected that Pei Han would have to take over the job of the new prefect.
Pei Han said, "Madam, I'm afraid we'll have to set off early tomorrow morning. If we delay any longer, the bandits in the southwest will probably follow Maocheng's example."
Min Yueqing asked quietly, "Are you sure that's not the case now?"
This time, it was Pei Han's turn to remain silent.
Min Yueqing didn't ask any more questions, but instead waved to Azhu, who quickly ran over.
Min Yueqing said, "Go find a few people to help us pack up what we brought, and seal up the large items. We're going out early tomorrow morning, and it might take a while, so just bring valuables and necessities. Once the luggage is packed, just load it onto the carriage."
When A-Zhu heard that she was leaving tomorrow, she was startled and asked, "Who are you taking with you?"
Min Yueqing quickly exchanged a glance with Pei Han and said, "Just me, Grandpa, Lele, and Shitou will go."
A-Zhu immediately became anxious, "Miss, aren't you taking A-Mei and me with you? Isn't it going to be a long trip? Who will serve you and the young master if we don't go?"
Min Yueqing felt a sense of unease. She didn't want Amei and Azhu to risk their lives with them, and thought it would be better to wait until things were more peaceful before letting them go with the other men.
Min Yueqing hardened her heart and said with a stern face, "Go quickly, time is of the essence."
Seeing Min Yueqing's serious expression, Azhu didn't dare to ask any more questions, so she responded and ran off.
However, Azhu had no intention of staying. She figured she had to go find Amei and talk to her about it. She would plead with Min Yueqing tomorrow, and Min Yueqing would surely agree because she was soft-hearted.
Pei Han felt deeply ashamed when he saw that Min Yueqing accepted the matter so quickly and made proper arrangements.
The officers and soldiers of the patrol and inspection office were equally busy, first notifying everyone to assemble urgently, and then loading the necessary food and fodder onto the trucks.
Fortunately, they received a full autumn grain tax this year, and the potatoes and coarse grains they planted in the fields also yielded a bumper harvest, so they are not without grain to store.
Most of the wagons used by the officers and soldiers to transport grain were brought by Pei Han and Min Yueqing; only a few were purchased here.
Although the soldiers could only walk, the heavy loads were pulled by horse-drawn carts, which made things much easier for them.
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