Three more days passed, and there was still no news from Director Song.
The men in the village started cursing and uttering all sorts of vicious words.
"Bah! Officials of the imperial court, owing wages to the common people, are utterly depraved!"
"Who says otherwise? That money is enough for our family's expenses for a month. If we don't get the money back, my wife will be making a scene at home every day. It's so annoying!"
Yulan's mother had just taken a walk around the village, but it was too cold to start embroidery now.
After she finished tidying up the housework, she thought she would go and visit some neighbors in the village.
But after walking around, I heard a lot of rumors.
Yulan's mother hurriedly ran back to the dilapidated temple. When He Tiantian saw her rushing back, she thought something serious had happened.
"Wanzi's mother, Wanzi's mother..." Sister-in-law Yulan called out urgently in a low voice.
"What's wrong?" He Tiantian asked, somewhat confused.
"Have you heard? The men in the village are saying that Director Song has run away and the mine is shut down!" Yulan's mother said, slapping her thigh. "Oh dear, don't you still have a month's wages to settle? Everyone's saying the government is planning to renege on this payment!"
After Sister-in-law Yulan finished speaking, seeing He Tiantian's calm demeanor, she became even more anxious.
"Aren't you worried? That's money!"
He Tiantian found the villagers' thinking ridiculous. Director Song's daily food allowance was enough to give her two taels of silver. How much were the wages for so many people in the mine? Why would they be so stingy as to refuse a few taels of silver?
"What's there to worry about? There's such a huge mine there, how could the imperial court not want it? Aren't those black gold stones more valuable than silver..."
As she was talking, He Tiantian suddenly seemed to remember something.
Coal is a non-renewable resource and has been extremely precious throughout history. This is because these mineral resources can be used to generate electricity, for firewood, and as fuel, among other things…
But when she arrived here, she seemed to only hear that the imperial court used this black coal to smelt and refine utensils. Why wasn't this coal used by ordinary people?
After all, coal had not yet been mined on a large scale in this era, and resources were still plentiful.
If every household in Changfeng Village could burn coal and get through the winter, they wouldn't have to work so hard, traveling thousands of miles to find firewood.
Thinking of this, He Tiantian immediately stood up.
"Sister-in-law, you stay home and look after things. I'm going to Zhao Tingzhang's house."
He Tiantian quickened her pace and arrived at Zhao Tingzhang's house, where she shared her thoughts.
Zhao, the village head, thought the matter was feasible, but they needed Director Song's approval. Otherwise, it would be misappropriation of imperial property, a crime punishable by death.
“Wanzi’s mother, your method is feasible. It’s just that we don’t know when Lord Song will return. Our village can’t wait that long! How about this, I’ll hitch up a carriage and go to town right now.”
Zhao Tingzhang has an ox, which was bought a few years ago by all the households in the village by pooling their money to plow the land. He is just the one who keeps it at his house as a representative.
He Tiantian originally wanted to go too, but the roads were difficult to travel on due to the heavy snow. She was pregnant and couldn't withstand such a journey, so she decided against it.
"Dahai, Xiaohe, you two hurry up and hitch up the cart. Come with me to town." Zhao Tingzhang rushed out.
He was old, and Liu was actually a little worried about him. But with her two sons with her, it was safer.
“The mountains are blocked by heavy snow and it’s hard to travel, so don’t rush, take your time. Here’s some dry food, take it with you and eat it on the way.” Liu took out a few hot cornbreads from the pot and wrapped them in a cloth.
Zhao Xiaohe took it and held it in her arms, saying, "Mother, don't worry, my brother and I will take good care of Father."
He Tiantian stayed at Liu's house for a while longer. Of the six cross-stitch embroidery pieces she had given Liu earlier, Liu kept one for herself, gave two to her eldest daughter-in-law, and distributed the remaining three.
With the six cross-stitch pieces almost finished, nearly two months have passed, and He Tiantian doesn't know when she'll be able to visit Hong Erniang again.
Yulan's mother still has two more cross-stitch pieces, making a total of eight. She doesn't want all this money to be tied up in her hands; she wants to cash it in as soon as possible.
Zhao Tingzhang brought his two sons, Zhao Dahai and Zhao Xiaohe, along with an oxcart.
The road leading out of the village and out of the mountains was extremely difficult; it was practically a crawling descent with people pulling the oxcart. Once outside the mountains and onto the main road, the road became smoother, and the three of them were able to sit on the oxcart.
Exhausted and covered in sweat, Zhao Dahai and Zhao Xiaohe couldn't help but sneeze as they sat on the oxcart in the cold wind.
"When we get to town, you two go and have some ginger tea first, then we'll go to the magistrate's office," Zhao Tingzhang instructed.
The oxcart traveled slowly for about an hour before finally arriving in Changning County.
Zhao Dahai and Zhao Xiaohe quickly jumped off the oxcart to stretch their muscles.
"This world is too long, my butt is about to fall apart from sitting so much." Zhao Dahai rubbed his buttocks. Besides his buttocks, he felt pain all over his body.
Zhao Xiaohe rarely came to the county, and at this moment he was curious about everything. His eyes looked back and forth, almost unable to take it all in.
Goodness, no wonder so many people want to come to the county; it's much more lively here than in the village.
Zhao Tingzhang was also quite intrigued, but he couldn't show it too obviously in front of his two sons. So he pretended to be unfazed the whole way.
The oxcart stopped at a roadside tea stall, and Zhao Dahai took out a coin and bought two bowls of ginger tea.
He handed one bowl to his younger brother Zhao Xiaohe, and after drinking half of the other bowl himself, he handed it to Zhao Tingzhang.
"Dad, let's split it in half."
Zhao, the pavilion chief, didn't say much. He knew this wasn't the time to make excuses. After all, if someone fell ill, it wouldn't be something that could be solved with just a penny.
After the father and his two sons finished the ginger soup, they immediately felt warm all over. They then continued driving the oxcart towards the magistrate's residence.
Magistrate Liu was currently in a side room of the magistrate's mansion, standing respectfully to the side, watching his superior lying on the bed recovering from his injuries.
"Lord Song, the people sent to the mine have all been arranged. But the roads in the countryside are really difficult to travel. Would you like to rest for a few more days?"
Song Yun shook his head. "No, we can't afford to waste a single day at the mine. My injury has already delayed me for six or seven days, and I don't know how things are going over there."
Song Yun's arm was wrapped in bandages, and he had some abrasions on his face.
Mo Zhu, on the other hand, was mostly unharmed; the scrapes on his face had almost healed. He looked at his master with great concern, blaming himself for being useless and needing his master to save him at a crucial moment.
That day, when he came to town with the adults, the mountain roads were blocked by heavy snow and difficult to travel. They walked on foot, and when they reached the edge of a cliff, he slipped and almost fell.
Mo Zhu was so frightened that his scalp tingled, but luckily his family members reacted quickly and grabbed him.
They were surrounded by snow-covered rocks, and both he and the adult had scraped their faces. The adult had dislocated his arm while trying to pull him up.
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