lady, please calm down

In early May, Chen Chu led Peng's two troops south.

From Empress Zhao onwards, all the imperial concubines went with him and stayed in Caizhou.

This return to the south was somewhat like going home to visit his elders. It was the first time in hundreds of years that Caizhou City received the emperor, and this emperor was from the local area. Officials and people were naturally excited and proud of it.

On the tenth day of May, at dusk, Zhong Yi walked into the newly built women's official residence in the north of the city, holding a pile of documents and talking with several female colleagues about the interesting things that happened in the government office that day.

Speaking of this female official's residence, there are some stories behind it.

Near Caizhou, 90% of the employees in textile mills, military clothing mills, bedding mills, and footwear mills were women. Such a large number of female industrial workers naturally gave rise to the emergence of female managers.

Two years ago, the then King of Chu and now Emperor, against all odds, established a Women's Department in the government office, which was on the same level as the Salt, Iron and Tea Departments, with a sixth-rank title. Madam Ding Jiao was in charge, in charge of all women's affairs.

According to the current practice in Caizhou, government offices at all levels have built official residences for officials. However, when it came to the Women's Department, whether it was the Construction Department, the Ministry of Revenue, or the prefect Xu Bang, who were in charge of this matter, they all showed a rare situation of shirking responsibility in Huaibei, and delayed for more than a year without approving funds to start construction.

Their delay was certainly not due to money issues. Although Caizhou had to pay 90% of its taxes, the base number was too terrifying, and the financial abundance here was the best among all the prefectures in the world.

Since ancient times, the officialdom has been dominated by men, but now they have to break the ancestral rules and share some power with women, which naturally makes them feel a little unbalanced.

But this women's affairs were advocated by the emperor back then, so they did not dare to object to it, but they could still put some obstacles in private.

Faced with the implicit exclusion from her entire colleague system, Ding Jiao took advantage of her visit to Beijing at the end of last year to privately report the matter to the current queen.

Mao'er's character has always been that she does not interfere in government affairs, but as a woman, she is naturally dissatisfied with this practice of the Caizhou officialdom.

However, she is no longer the ignorant peasant girl she used to be. At the beginning of this year, Mao'er, in her private capacity, gathered together Cai Huan, Yunong and all the other women in the palace, and raised three thousand taels of silver, which she specifically asked Hanlu to deliver to the Caizhou government office and hand over to Xu Bang.

Hanlu repeated Mao'er's original words, "I learned that the female officials of the Women's Department have not yet solved the housing problem. This palace and other ladies have raised funds like this. If it is still not enough, please write to the prefect again. This palace will mobilize the ladies of the prefectures to solve this problem before May."

How could Xu Bang dare to accept this money and even mobilize the ladies of various mansions to raise funds?
If everyone knew about it, Lao Wu would say, "Is Caizhou's finances really so tight? They can't even afford to repair the official residence?"

How did Xu Bang answer?
Anyway, after the whole thing, Mao'er and the others got their money back in full, the matter was resolved, and the queen didn't have any evidence of interfering in government affairs!

People gave you money out of kindness, but you, Caizhou, didn't dare to use it. You can't say that the Queen forced you to do it, right?

Therefore, Xu Bang ordered the Ministry of Revenue to allocate funds and the Ministry of Construction to find a suitable site. Construction began at the end of January and the project was delivered in April.

Zhong Yinun came to Caizhou alone from Lin'an at the beginning of the year and went to work in a spinning mill. However, she came from a scholarly family after all, and her outstanding knowledge could not be hidden at all. Because she accidentally helped the spinning mill to produce a blackboard newspaper, she was recommended to Madam Ding by Kang Yulan, a senior in the spinning mill, and got a job in the Women's Department.

A few days ago, she just moved from the spinning mill dormitory into the female officers' quarters. Today, several colleagues and sisters came together to celebrate her move.

Official residences are of uniform specifications, consisting of two main rooms and one auxiliary room, and each has a private entrance and courtyard of one-third of an acre.

As they approached the yard assigned to Zhong Yi, they heard the sound of axes and chisels clanging in the yard.

The gate was open, and a man with a dark complexion and several long scars on his arms and chest was seen shirtless, making a chair. Next to him was an octagonal table that had not yet been painted.

Du Xier, who was the most lively among the female officials, couldn't help but laugh and said, "Brother Jie, you can actually do carpentry! Now, Sister Zhong can even save money on buying furniture."

Xie Tianlu smiled innocently, picked up the shirt from the side and put it on, and said, "Why are you leaving so early today?"

"Mrs. Ding knew that we were moving to a new house today, so she specially set up the watch half an hour earlier."

Zhong Yi smiled gently at Xie Tianlu and led everyone into the yard.

The weather was already quite hot in May, but it was still cool at night.

Zhong Yi and a few others went into the kitchen and soon prepared a table of dishes. In order to enjoy the cool air, they simply sat in the yard.

After Xie Tianlu lit the lamp for several people, he hid in the house. Du Xier couldn't help laughing when she saw him and said, "Brother Xie is still shy. Are you embarrassed to sit at the same table with us?"

Zhong Yi went inside to invite him twice, but Xie Tianlu said he was too embarrassed to come out.

In the end, there were still only a few women at the meal.

After sitting down again, several people toasted each other with a cup of sweet glutinous rice wine, and then started talking. Lin Xiaoniang, who was in charge of women's literacy in the Women's Department, had a wealthy family since her maternal grandfather's family was in business and her father was the magistrate of Huoqiu County in Shouzhou. At this time, she looked at the layout of the women's official residence and couldn't help but whispered: "Prefect Xu is really a stingy person! Among the seven departments of the government, our women's department has the most cramped official residence."

Du Xier on the side also said: "That's right, it's only because the Queen Mother took the lead for us, otherwise even an official residence like this wouldn't be built!"

Among them, only the outsider Zhong Yi was eligible for the allocation of official housing, but when she talked about the officials bullying them openly or secretly, they couldn't help but feel a common hatred for the enemy.

Lin Xiaoniang, who was also lively, couldn't help but wink at Du Xier, "Mrs. Du, we have all heard about this matter vaguely. As the wife of an official, you must know more about the inside story. Tell us about it."

"You come to make fun of me again!"

Du Xier lightly hit Lin Xiaoniang, and the two of them laughed and made a lot of noise. However, Du Xier was a real lady. Her husband, Shi Jiawulang, had made great contributions in Liaodong. After the new emperor ascended the throne, he was awarded the title of Huaihua Lieutenant General and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.

A wife's status depends on her husband, and Du Xier also received the title of Ruren.

On this side, Kang Yulan and Zhong Yi, who were much calmer in character, unconsciously started chatting about official business. Kang Yulan also looked around and said with a smile: "This time, the Queen took action. Not only did she solve the problem of the official residence, but she also successfully allocated the funds that had been blocked by the Ministry of Revenue. Now we can finally get things done."

Du Xier, who was sitting opposite him, couldn't help but ask, "Sister Kang, have you finished compiling the booklet for the Bureau of Parenting?"

"It's almost done. I thought, when Her Majesty returns to Caizhou, I'll ask Her Majesty to review it. If there are no problems, I'll send it to print."

This booklet is compiled by the Childbirth Bureau and contains information on precautions during pregnancy, how to deal with unexpected situations during childbirth, postpartum care, and infant care.

Kang Yulan already had a son and a daughter. She sought out midwives, female doctors, and women with rich child-rearing experience to come up with this booklet to reduce maternal risks and infant mortality rates.

However, after spending more than a year collecting the information, the Women's Department hired a scholar to help them organize it. When the scholar saw the contents, he called them obscene and refused to help them even for money, which made Kang Yulan and others very angry.

Fortunately, with the help of colleagues such as Lin Xiaoniang and Zhong Yi who were knowledgeable, the task was completed.

In Huaibei today, intellectuals are deeply divided.

Those who received traditional education simply disliked those students who came from new-style schools, and even did not recognize that the latter were also part of the scholar class.

Students who graduated from new-style schools also disliked those old pedants and called them "corrupt scholars" in private.

But the new-style students had a shallow foundation after all, and most of them had just graduated. Even the most outstanding ones such as Wu Yanzu, Peng Yuyan, Cai Si, Ximen Chong, etc. were only lower-level officials and could not control public opinion.

Therefore, the mainstream media mostly encourages and criticizes them.

The emergence of Fusi was inevitably influenced by new-style education, and they naturally felt closer to the students in new-style schools.

The officials in the government offices were not cooperative with the work of the Women's Affairs Bureau, which was also influenced by the mainstream scholars.

A few people gathered together and quietly denounced their superiors. Finally, Zhong Yi, who had been smiling and silent, brought the topic back on track, "Since the Ministry of Finance has allocated funds, our literacy bureau can also start its work."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiaoniang, the head of the literacy bureau, couldn't help but look bitter and complained, "Last month, we went to Zhenyang County to open a literacy class. After waiting for three days, only two people signed up. One of them was scolded by her husband and taken back. If they don't want to learn to read, no matter how much we do, it will be useless."

Lin Xiaoniang had been having a smooth journey, but when she talked about this small setback, she couldn't help feeling a little depressed, and she also vaguely complained that women had no intention of making progress.

But this kind of thing is mixed with social and economic factors, and it cannot be reversed in just one or two words, or in one or two days. However, Zhong Yi smiled and said to her immediate superior, "That's why I said that the Ministry of Finance has allocated funds. Next time, when we hold literacy classes, we can buy some rice, flour, grain and oil. We will hold a small test every ten days, and as long as you can meet the standards, you can reward some daily necessities. I think it will be effective."

When they heard this, their eyes lit up.

With rice, flour, grain and oil as rewards, 99% of women in the countryside who have no source of income have both motivation and an excuse. If their mothers-in-law or husbands try to stop them, they can just say, "I'm going to earn food for the family!"

Everyone discussed this excitedly, and finally, Lin Xiaoniang sighed, "Back then, when I wanted to study, I said so many good things to my father, and he allowed me to go to the clan school. Now, I have to please them to invite people to the school."

Hearing this, Du Xier also thought of the various difficulties encountered by the Women's Department in carrying out its work. In many cases, not only did the superiors not support it, but even the women did not understand it. She couldn't help but sighed, "Oh, it's so difficult to do things."

There was a brief silence.

Seeing that everyone was a little discouraged, Zhong Yi said, "Even if it's difficult, it can prove us! Have you forgotten what the Queen said in her letter to His Majesty? 'Mother is the first teacher of her child. If the mother is strong, the country will be strong. If the mother is foolish, the country will be foolish!' What we are doing now is to strengthen the country and enlighten the people. A few idle words are nothing!"

Zhong Yi’s words are very inspiring!
For a woman who is willing to ignore gossip and work in the Women's Affairs Bureau, who doesn't have some ambition to compete with men?

"Sister Zhong is right. I'll have a drink with you. Haha."

The atmosphere in the hospital became lively again, and the topic of conversation shifted from business to their respective families, such as their experience in raising children and getting along with their mother-in-law.

Du Xier's official identity was exposed because of the imperial edict she received.

As for Kang Yulan's family, everyone only knew that she fled to Caizhou due to a flood and her husband worked at an iron smelting plant. As for her younger brother being a regiment leader in Huaibei and her husband's cousin being the queen who appeared most frequently in everyone's mouths, etc., they had never told anyone about it.

The same thing happened to Zhong Yi. A few days ago, Xie Tianlu went to the yamen to pick up Zhong Yi to go on duty. Everyone only knew that he was Zhong Yi's husband, and they could also guess that Xie Tianlu was a soldier. However, there were confidentiality regulations in the military, so naturally no one asked which unit he was in.

Therefore, no one knew that Xie Tianlu was from the Jinghu Army.

If they knew, they would probably feel uncomfortable.

Women's gatherings will end at the end of the evening because of the involvement of children.

Lin Xiaoniang couldn't drink much and fell drunk on the table, crying. She was a person who liked to speak her mind, and several people knew her situation.

In her early years, Lin Xiaoniang worked as a teacher at Lanxiang School, and later joined the Women's Department. Now she is twenty-two years old, but has never married.

Her family even went so far as to urge her to get married as to the government office, but she was able to earn her own money and Caizhou did not allow forced marriage, which led to strained relations between her and her family.

After drinking some wine, he would talk to himself about these troubles.

But Kang Yulan and Zhong Yi were both people who had experienced great hardships in life. Seeing Lin Xiaoniang like this, they couldn't help but smile bitterly at each other. Zhong Yi said, "Cry if you want. You don't have to worry about hunger or your life. That's why your daughter has such worries. It's not bad to think about it this way."

Kang Yulan deeply agrees with this.

When people are in danger of losing their lives, they will only think about how to survive.

When you are hungry, you only think about how to get full. Once you have solved the above problems, you will have worldly worries.

Soon, Du Xier called for a horse-drawn carriage from the Sitong Company outside, and the three of them worked together to lift Lin Xiaoniang up.

After Zhong Yi sent the people away and returned to the yard, she saw Xie Tianlu, who had been hiding in the house, cleaning the table in the yard.

Under the moonlight, Zhong Yi smiled and stepped forward to hold her hand, saying, "Mrs. Lin has never experienced the many sisters-in-law in Qu Xier's family since she was a child, and she is also full of worries. But Yulan never complains. Madam Ding does things in a general-like manner, but it's a pity that she missed General Yao. They are all very good to me. In a few days, the Queen will come to Caizhou, and Madam Ding and I will meet with the Queen as representatives."

Maybe it was because she drank some wine, Zhong Yi talked a lot tonight.

After talking to himself for more than a hundred breaths, Xie Tianlu, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly said, "I will be going back tomorrow."

"."

Zhong Yi, who was smiling, paused and slowed down her process of clearing the dishes.

After a few breaths, she forced a smile, took the dishes from Xie Tianlu, and said, "Brother Xie, go and have a rest. I'll wash them."

At the hour of Hai, Xie Tianlu was lying in the west room, staring at the moonlight outside the window, with no desire to sleep at all.

When he returned south in March this year, he learned from Kang Shitou that Zhong Yi had come to Caizhou.

Last month, the Jinghu Army returned to its base. As soon as they were settled, he asked for leave from his superiors and crossed the river to the north to look for Zhong Yi.

Originally, he planned to pick up Zhong Yi after arriving in Caizhou and then return to Jinghu Road to get married, but after staying there for a few days, Xie Tianlu had to give up this plan.
While I was thinking, I heard a few knocks on the door, "Brother Jie, are you asleep?"

Although the two had already agreed to get engaged outside Tokyo, they had not yet completed the marriage, and naturally had not slept together.

"Madam Zhong, please come in. The door is not locked."

Xie Tianlu hurriedly put on his clothes and stood up. Then Zhong Yi came in with a candle. The two looked at each other silently, feeling quite melancholy as if they had a thousand words to say but didn't know where to start.

They had just moved into the new house and the furniture had not yet been purchased. There was nothing else in the west room except the bed where Li Tianlu slept.

Zhong Yi did not avoid suspicion and sat down on the edge of Xie Tianlu's bed. She just said, "Brother Xie, are you here to take me back to Jinghu Road?"

Xie Tianlu glanced at Zhong Yi's pretty profile and said subconsciously: "I originally had this plan, but now I have changed my mind."

"Oh? Why did Brother Jie change his mind?"

"Although I am a rough man, I can see that you are having a very happy time in Caizhou. You talk more and smile more than before. You should smile more. You look very beautiful when you smile."

Zhong Yi lowered her head slightly after hearing these simple and clumsy love words, and a shy smile gradually appeared on her cheek. "Brother Jie, it's not that I don't want to go back with you. You should know that I ran away from home. If I go back to Jinghu Road, once my father knows, he will take me away. What will you do?"

"." Xie Tianlu remained silent.

Zhong Yi tucked her hair behind her ears and said with some sadness: "Brother Jie, you can see the current situation clearly, right? Even if my father doesn't find Jinghu Road, Jinghu Road will not be peaceful in the future. If you meet Shitou, Hengge'er and others on the battlefield, will you have the heart to fight with them?"

But seeing that Jian Tianlu quickly shook his head, "No! I have already thought about it. When I return, I will resign from the post of battalion commander and take my mother back to Caizhou, but..."

The most ideal outcome in Zhong Yi's mind was that Jie Tianlu would come to Caizhou. She had thought that she would have to spend some time persuading this stubborn and honest man, but she didn't expect that he already had a plan in mind. She couldn't help but say happily, "That's good, what's the point of 'just'?"

Xie Tianlu quickly glanced at Zhong Yi, then looked at the ground, with a tone of inferiority, "Mrs. Zhong comes from a prominent family. Now she is an official in Caizhou and has her own house. I haven't saved much money over the years. If I come to Caizhou, wouldn't I be a gigolo?"

"Pfft~ idiot!"

Zhong Yi couldn't help laughing, looking at Xie Tianlu, she said slowly: "You and I are married by His Majesty. You didn't mind my dirty body at the beginning, so why would I mind your poverty now? Caizhou City is hiring people everywhere. With Brother Xie's kung fu, even if he goes to Zhu's escort agency, he can definitely earn a job as a martial artist. Are you afraid that my husband and I can't support me? In the future, Yi will give birth to a boy and a girl for my husband, and we can live a stable life in Caizhou, okay?"

"Ayi."

A rough man like Xie Tianlu had never heard such sweet words of love before. He felt his whole body numb and his eyes were slightly sore.

On the edge of the bed, Zhong Yi turned her head away and slowly pulled out the hairpin from her hair, letting her long black hair fall down.

"Ayi, what are you doing?"

Xie Tianlu, who didn't understand romance, asked Zhong Yi a question that made her blush. She whispered, "Since you and I are husband and wife, I will give my body to you tonight to prevent you from having any more wild thoughts."

The next day.

Zhong Yi took a morning off and spent most of the monthly salary she had saved up, including buying a lot of gifts.

Xie Tianlu couldn't help feeling distressed and tried to dissuade him several times.

Zhong Yi said, "You have moved to Caizhou this time. I don't know if I can see Zhu De'en and Cao Liuge again in this life. We are brothers in arms. Take these snacks and fabrics back and share them."

This touched the heart of Xie Tianlu, who valued righteousness. He just grinned and said, "My wife is very generous. I don't know how many lifetimes of blessings my family has accumulated to let me marry you."

On May 11, Xie Tianlu left Caizhou and took five days to cross Huainan.

On May 16, we arrived at Huangzhou on the north bank of the Yangtze River.

This place is located on the front line along the river, with camps connected together.

But since Xie Tianlu was able to go to Caizhou from Jinghu Road, he could naturally go back.

At dusk, before preparing to cross the river, Xie Tianlu even saw Lu Dechen, the commander of the Jiesheng Army of Jinghu Road, drunkenly boarding a passenger ship ferried by plainclothes Huaibei Army soldiers.

The Jiesheng Army was also one of the eight armies that followed Wu Gong into the war. After the Jinghu Army returned south, it became a custom for them to visit relatives and friends on the north bank and drink, and it was not uncommon.

When Xie Tianlu boarded the ship, he happened to meet Yang Lei, the son-in-law of Jiang Huaixiong, the commander of the 20th Regiment of the Huaibei Army and the commander of the Huainan Governor-General Jiang Huaixiong who was inspecting the ship. When Xie Tianlu learned that the former was on the ship, he came forward.

Yang Erlang sat on the horse, his face roughened by the wind and frost looking somewhat arrogant. After looking him up and down, he said, "Are you Xie Tianlu?"

Xie Tianlu only knew that this person was a leader among the second generation of the Huaibei Army, so he politely replied, "It's me."

Yang Erlang nodded, and then said to the soldiers beside him: "Go, move a box of canned meat and two boxes of instant noodles and give them to Jie Yingzheng to take back."

"."

Xie Tianlu looked confused. Yang Erlang on his horse laughed and said, "Shitou is my sworn brother. He called you big brother in the letter, so you are my brother. Take this as a small gift to improve the food for the brothers. The food you eat in the Jinghu Army is not even eaten by dogs."

"Hahaha"

There was laughter from everyone nearby.

Xie Tianlu couldn't help feeling embarrassed, but compared to the food of the Huaibei Army on the north bank, there was nothing wrong with what they said.

At the hour of You, passenger ships crossed the river.

On the way, the Huaibei Army ferryman, who was dressed in casual clothes, chatted with Jie Tianlu about the wheat being ripe and how his family had been allocated a few acres of land.

Xie Tianlu had already made up his mind to resign from the army and head north. At this time, he was full of hope for the future, but also sad about the impending departure.

At the hour of You, the passenger ship docked.

The ferrymen from the Huaibei Army stopped the passenger ship at the shore and helped Xie Tianlu carry the large and small bags down.

Before Xie Tianlu could say some words of thanks, he suddenly felt something was wrong around him. Because the two armies had close contacts, the ferry was usually bustling at dusk, but why was it so quiet today without any sound at all?

Just as he was wondering, he saw a group of Zhou soldiers with swords and spears drawn suddenly rushing out from the reeds about ten steps away.

Not far away, Lu Dechen, the commander of the Jiesheng Army who had just landed, and Xie Tianlu, who was nearby, were not panicked, but just thought it was a misunderstanding.

"Where did this fool come from! I am Lu Dechen of the Jiesheng Army!"

"Whose lord are you working for? I am Tianlu, the commander of the Luzi Camp of the Tianxiong Army!"

Lu Dechen and Jie Tianlu introduced themselves one after another. At this time, a middle-aged officer wearing the robe of the imperial camp slowly walked out of the reed marsh. He looked at the two of them and sneered, "I am Wang Yuan, the commander of the imperial camp. The north bank is the territory of the Chu army. Why are you two returning from the north bank?"

"."

Lu Dechen sobered up immediately and said nothing more, just waiting to see what would happen.

Wang Yuan didn't seem to intend to embarrass the two men. He turned his head and looked at the Huaibei Army ferrymen who were surrounded by Zhou's army. He raised his hand and said, "Kill them!"

These people had never expected to be ambushed, and had no weapons in their hands. They could only gather together with their backs against each other, holding the oars in their hands, glaring at Lu Dechen, Xie Tianlu and others.

They thought that they were ambushed today because the people on the boat used themselves as bait.

Lu Dechen said nothing, but Xie Tianlu hurried to Wang Yuan and said, "Sir, these brothers only came to facilitate our crossing of the river and did not do anything to harm the Great Zhou. I beg you to forgive them for once!"

"Hahahaha!" Wang Yuan didn't expect that this little battalion commander would dare to speak for the other party at this time, and couldn't help but scold him: "Jie Yingzheng, you have committed a serious crime by crossing the river privately, now you should just pray for your own good fortune."

"Sir! I am guilty and willing to accept the punishment! But even when the two armies are fighting, envoys should not be killed."

Before Xie Tianlu finished speaking, Wang Yuan waved his hand impatiently and said, "Do it!"

There were more than a hundred Zhou soldiers on the scene, while there were only five or six Huaibei soldiers, who had no armor or swords. They were about to be hacked to death on the spot. Xie Tianlu was very anxious, but he rushed forward and took Wang Yuan's sword when he was not prepared.
In a flash, Xie Tianlu had already put his sword on Wang Yuan's neck. He shouted, "Stop! If anyone dares to move, Lord Wang will die here!"

This sudden change was beyond everyone's expectations. Lu Dechen, Wang Yuan and even the Huaibei soldiers did not expect Xie Tianlu to do this.

"Jie Yingzheng, you don't know them well, why bother to lose your life for others!"

Lu Dechen, who was not far away, tried to persuade him, but Xie Tianlu held Wang Yuan hostage and said arrogantly: "These brothers helped me cross the river, so I won't let them die because of me! A man should act with a clear conscience!" (End of this chapter)