good season

Chapter 287 Farewell (Two chapters combined)

As expected, Zhao Xingzhou left the magnificent mansion overnight and returned to the mountain to continue taking care of the children.

Zhao Xingzhou's departure once again proved that no emperor is averse to ghosts and gods, and that the older they get, the more they believe; they don't believe when they are young, but they will believe when they are old.

Xiao Zhen asked Zhao Shiqing to accompany Zhao Xingzhou back, because in Tongzhou now, there was no place safer than the mountains.

Zhao Shiqing did not insist. Most of the people on the mountain were people she had "picked up" from outside the city gate. They came up the mountain because they trusted her, so she also had to be responsible for them.

Xiao Zhen stayed in the house for a whole month!

He hadn't been staying in the village the whole time over the past month. He went to the dike with the Ministry of Works officials and didn't sleep for several days and nights, getting covered in welts.

A month later, the floods in the four areas of Tongzhou finally receded, the official road leading to Gaoping was repaired, and the people who had been living in the villages and mountains were settled by the state government. Some went to Gaoping, some went to other places to visit relatives, and some stayed in Tongzhou to rebuild their homes.

Fields flooded by floods cannot be cultivated immediately. The soil becomes compacted, nutrients are lost, and insects and fungi thrive. It takes several years of treatment before cultivation can be attempted, and some fields may never be used as farmland again.

Therefore, the post-disaster reconstruction is a long and arduous task, requiring a large amount of manpower and resources. Prefect Qian and the officials of the other three places jointly submitted a memorial requesting that the four places in Tongzhou be exempted from taxes for five years. Prefect He Bo of Gaoping also submitted a memorial, stating that Gaoping has a large number of disaster victims. Since Gaoping is not included in the disaster relief grain and funds provided by the court, it would be acceptable to exempt Gaoping from taxes.
When He Bo's memorial was sent to the capital, Feng Ke was taken aback after reading it. Had He Bo changed his ways?

Although He Bo was just a minor prefect, he was well-known to Feng Ke. Not only Feng Ke, but He Bo was also famous throughout the Six Ministries and the Censorate, though not for a good reason.

He Bo, to put it nicely, is upright and incorruptible; to put it bluntly, he's like a big, smelly, and hard rock in a latrine.

The writing reflects the person.

Every memorial submitted by He Bo could infuriate someone to no end.

Feng Ke believed that He Bo had changed his ways because He Bo's tone in this memorial had completely changed.

He was crying and complaining!

He lamented how poor Gaoping was, how poor the disaster victims were, how poor the prefectural government was, and how poor He Bo was among the poorest of the poor.

In short, Gaoping was already very poor, and now many disaster victims have come. Although there are donations from kind-hearted people, it is just a drop in the bucket. Now that the disaster victims have finally been settled, we can't let them go hungry. It's tough, Hebo is tough, the people are tough, and Gaoping is tougher.

Normally, Feng Ke would reject He Bo's memorials without hesitation, but this time, he did not.

Why are there so many disaster victims in Gaoping?

They came from Tongzhou.

The fourth prince was in Tongzhou.

It is right for Tongzhou and the other three regions to reduce or exempt taxes, but if Gaoping should also be exempted from taxes, then this is due to the incompetence of the Fourth Prince.

It's no wonder Feng Ke thought that way; the blame lies with Xiao Zhen for keeping the Fourth Prince's affairs so tightly under wraps.

Of course, this also requires Li Qing's cooperation.

Feng Ke has connections everywhere, but all the information he's receiving right now is what Xiao Zhen wants him to know. As for the information that can't be made public yet, its reach is limited to a few people. Even other officials in Tongzhou just think that the Fourth Prince is unwell.

Since the Fourth Prince arrived in Tongzhou, he has been hiding in his room and refusing to come out. No one suspects that he is ill.

Therefore, Feng Ke sent the memorial from Gaoping, along with the memorials from the four regions of Tongzhou, to Emperor Yongjia.

Emperor Yongjia was very disappointed in the fourth prince ever since the fourth prince delayed his journey.

The little bit of fatherly love that had grown in him because of the preparations for the New Year had been completely worn away after the Fourth Prince went to Tongzhou.

Just as Feng Ke had guessed, Emperor Yongjia's face darkened upon seeing Gao Ping's memorial.

Gao Ping's memorial was approved, but in Emperor Yongjia's mind, he held a grudge against the fourth prince.

Meanwhile, several groups of people had already left the mountain.

Grandma Han brought her child to say goodbye to Zhao Shiqing. They were going to Gaoping. Grandma Han's aunt was married in Gaoping, and her family members were also in Gaoping. They had already bought property in Gaoping and would likely stay there in the future.

Zhao Shiqing thought of the news she had just received and said, "Old Master Han died on the way to Gaoping, and Young Master Han is missing. We don't know if he has reached Gaoping."

Grandma Han showed no sadness on her face. She smiled slightly and said to Zhao Shiqing, "If he is alive, when we get to Gaoping, I will have my father and brothers go to the yamen to file a lawsuit. I want to divorce him. If he is dead, it will be even easier. We won't even need to file a lawsuit."

Her marital bond with that man had vanished the moment she stepped out of the house with her infant child on that stormy night.

Zhao Shiqing smiled and nodded: "It's good that you've made up your mind. You are a strong mother, and you and your child will definitely have a bright future. By the way, I only know that your husband's surname is Han, but I don't know your given name."

Grandma Han smiled and said, "I am a woman from the Lu family, and my name is Lu Dandan."

"That sounds beautiful, Lu Dandan, Madam Lu. I hope we can meet again in the future."

Grandma Han, no, Lu Dandan, she came down the mountain with a smile on her face.

When she went up the mountain, she was the eldest daughter-in-law of the Han family; when she came down the mountain, she was Lu Dandan.

From this moment on, she was first Lu Dandan, then the mother of her child, and the daughter of the Lu family. As for the Han family, whether that man was still alive or not, he would no longer be a burden to her.

Madam Hao also came to see Zhao Shiqing with her two granddaughters, but they were not there to say goodbye.

Madam Hao said, "Second Miss, there is something I would like to trouble you with again."

Zhao Shiqing asked, "Madam, please don't stand on ceremony. What can I do for you?"

Madam Hao embraced her two granddaughters and sighed, "To be honest, since this incident, I've come to realize that I'm too old to protect these two girls. After much thought, I've decided to send them to the capital. Although they have a stepmother, they still have their own father. If there's anyone in this world who can protect them, it can only be their own father."

Zhao Shiqing guessed what she was going to say and said, "Does Madam want me to take them with me when I return to the capital? It's not that it's not possible, but I think it would be better for Madam to come to the capital together."

Madam Hao was taken aback: "Go to the capital together? How can that be? My son-in-law has already married a new wife. How can I, a former mother-in-law, bother him again?"

Zhao Shiqing smiled and said, "Madam, why don't you think about it differently? You don't need to live in your son-in-law's house. You can rent a house in the capital. As for the location, just rent one near your son-in-law's house. You raised the two girls yourself. Now that you are getting old, isn't it only right that they serve you?"
You can enjoy family bliss, your two daughters won't have to worry about their stepmother's attitude, and they'll have a good reputation for being filial. As for your son-in-law, he can fulfill his father-daughter relationship without being caught in the middle. Why not?

As for the son-in-law's new wife, I don't think any stepmother would willingly live under the same roof as her stepdaughter. It's simply a matter of preserving her reputation. At worst, she'll visit you more often, bringing more gifts, and she'll still earn a good reputation as a stepmother.

Madam Hao thought for a moment, then clapped her hands and laughed, "How could this old woman not have thought of that?" She looked at her two granddaughters, both of whom had happy faces. Ever since their grandmother decided to send them to the capital, they had secretly cried several times. But if their grandmother also went to the capital, it would be the same as it is now, just in a different place.

The three women, grandmother and granddaughter, left happily; they would return to the capital with Zhao Shiqing.

At this time, Zhao Shiqing was unaware that she had unintentionally formed a familial bond, and that this son-in-law of Madam Hao was actually a very important person.

However, Zhao Shiqing cannot return to the capital yet, and Madam Hao and her grandson will also stay on the mountain for a while longer.

As fewer and fewer people remained on the mountain, Zhao Xingzhou's job of looking after the children was over, and he finally embarked on the official road to Gaoping, accompanied by Zhao Shiqing.

They arrived in Gaoping quietly without making a fuss. There were still soup kitchens outside the city gates. After the official road was repaired, the disaster victims who had been trapped in Tongzhou or stranded on the way were gradually heading to Gaoping. Outside Gaoping, there were not only soup kitchens, but also officials specifically responsible for receiving and arranging the disaster victims.

Although Zhao Xingzhou and Zhao Shiqing weren't dressed in rags, they were dressed in simple, plain clothes.

The guards who accompanied them were all dressed like country men. The clothes they brought with them when they left the capital were already tattered. Now, with the shortage of supplies, they couldn't buy new clothes in Tongzhou, so their clothes were patched upon patched. Some guards didn't even have shoes and were wearing straw sandals.

Therefore, in the eyes of others, they were just ordinary disaster victims, except that they were physically strong and not pale.

Before Zhao Shiqing could even show his travel permit, they were already being organized into the group of disaster victims.

Most of the disaster victims did not have travel permits, and many others lost their household registration tags on their way to escape. As a result, the officials and yamen runners responsible for arranging the disaster victims stopped looking at the tags.

After all, when it comes to the fierce and valiant spirit of the people, who can compare to the people of Gaoping?

Zhao Xingzhou looked around and saw that there were more than fifty people in their group, half of whom were his own people.

Fortunately, our own people were grouped together.

But before he could even catch his breath, a man approached the official and said, “Sir, I am the village head of Dawang Village. Of the fifty people assigned to our village, only ten are able-bodied men. The rest are the elderly, the weak, women, and children. How are we supposed to reclaim wasteland and cultivate the land?”

The village head pointed to the group where Zhao Shiqing and his group were: "Look at these people, most of them are young and strong. We are all receiving disaster victims, so we should treat everyone equally. Do you think we could give half of these young and strong people to our village?"

The official was easy to talk to, and said with a smile, "These are going to Xiaonanzhuang. Their village head hasn't arrived yet, so you can choose your people first."

The village head of Dawang Village was overjoyed and rushed over to select men. These strong young men were all as robust as calves, and the more he looked at them, the happier he became.

"You, you, you, and you, and all of you, come with me!"

After walking a few steps in Dawang Village, he turned around and saw that these people were still standing in the same place, without moving an inch.

"What's going on? Why aren't you leaving?"

These people shook their heads: "No."

The villagers in Dawang Village were getting a little anxious, so they quickly said, "Our village is big, with lots of wasteland and water sources. It's much better than Xiaonanzhuang. Don't worry, once you come to our village, we guarantee you'll have enough to eat."

These people still shook their heads: "No, we're not going."

The village head of Dawang Village was extremely anxious. If they didn't leave soon, the village head of Xiaonanzhuang Village would be coming. That old man was very talkative, and if he saw them trying to take people away, he would definitely make a scene.

"There are mountains behind our Dawang Village, and the mountains are full of treasures. With your physique, you can hunt wild rabbits and pheasants on the mountain. After it rains, you can also pick mushrooms. Even Young Master Guanyue said that the pheasant stew with mushrooms made by the women in our village is delicious."

Upon hearing the words "Young Master Guanyue," Zhao Shiqing and Zhao Xingzhou exchanged a glance. Zhao Shiqing asked, "Village Head, has Young Master Guanyue visited your village?"

The village head puffed out his chest, looking smug: "Not only have I been there, Young Master Guanyue is right here in our village right now."

What he didn't say was that it was precisely because Young Master Guanyue was in their village that he had the confidence to come and snatch people away.

Zhao Shiqing beamed: "Village head, do you think those few didn't come with you?"

Even the village head didn't know. Their village was so good, so why did these people follow him?

Zhao Shiqing: "Because we are a family, we can't be separated. If you want them, you have to take us all with you."

The village head looked at her, then at Lingbo beside her, and then at Zhao Xingzhou. He gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and said, "Ten strong young men, one old man, and two young girls—okay!"
Zhao Shiqing gave a whistle, and the ten people the village head had previously chosen followed them.

The village head led them two miles away, where two oxcarts were parked. The village head let Zhao Shiqing and Ling Bo get into one of them, while Zhao Xingzhou got into the other. The carts were already full of people, one for men and one for women, all of whom were the elderly, weak, women, and children like them. Everyone squeezed together, and Zhao Xingzhou sat with a few old men.

An old man asked, "Brother, are you also from Tongzhou?"

Zhao Xingzhou hummed in agreement: "You're also from Tongzhou?"

"Yes, I just arrived this morning. I'm from Huangjiazhuangzi. What about you? Are you from the village too?"

Zhao Xingzhou shook his head: "I'm from the mountain."

The old man slapped his thigh: "What a coincidence! My wife is on the mountain. I thought she had been swept away by the flood. I only found out today when I met an acquaintance that she is still alive. She was rescued by some second young lady and brought to the mountain. I just don't know when I will be able to see her again. What if she thinks I'm dead?"

Zhao Xingzhou asked, "What's your wife's surname and given name? How old is she?"

"His surname is Sun, and he's in his early fifties. Brother, did you see any women with the surname Sun when you were up in the mountains?"

Zhao Xingzhou's lips twitched. How could he not have seen that woman surnamed Sun before?
Wasn't that wicked woman who had been cursing and yelling at him for a month just surnamed Sun?

"Is your wife tall and strong, with a loud voice, prone to swearing, and extremely clean?"

"Yes, my wife is so wonderful. She's hardworking, takes good care of the family, is loving, and beautiful. Oh, I'm so glad she's still alive! By the way, is she still on the mountain? Has she said when she'll come to Gaoping?"

Zhao Xingzhou was stunned. The shrewish Granny Sun was described as a fairy in this old man's words.

Maybe the old man has bad eyesight.

Or is this what marriage is?

He thought of the Empress Dowager who had died many years ago, and the Empress Dowager who had been deposed and died in the cold palace, and slowly shook his head.

"She's still on the mountain. If you miss her, I'll send someone to deliver a message to her so she can come find you."