Union

Chapter 126 A New Beginning

Yunying's illness came on quickly but subsided slowly.

It took ten days before Yunying felt a little better and was finally allowed by the Second Master to get up and walk around in the courtyard.

Strolling into the sunny courtyard, Yunying felt that the sky was so high and blue, the trees were so lush and green, the flowers and grass were so bright and eye-catching, and even the maids and servants who were sweeping back and forth in the courtyard had such kind faces.

Yunying felt that she had recovered, and since she had been locked in the house for too long, she wanted to stay in the yard a little longer.

However, she only walked around the courtyard three times before Sui'er and Liu'er helped her back to the house.

Sui'er and Liu'er said, "You've just recovered, so it's best not to overwork yourself."

"We must proceed step by step, young lady, otherwise you'll tire yourself out, and the Second Master will punish us if he finds out."

Yunying was somewhat displeased.

She's not a caged bird; you can't keep her locked up in a room forever.

Although she knew that the Second Master was doing all this for her own good, she had to admit that he was being a little too cautious this time.

She was indeed a bit weak and frail, but did that justify keeping her in bed all the time?

Yunying said, "If neither of you tells anyone, how will Second Master know?"

“Miss, you seem to have forgotten that we are still staying in the Second Master’s courtyard. This is the Second Master’s courtyard. Whenever the Second Master returns to the manor, he will definitely come to see you. If the Second Master asks you about what happened today, do you think Liu’er and I would dare to lie to the Second Master, or would the maids and servants in this courtyard dare to conceal and deceive the Second Master?”

Upon hearing this, Yun Ying's eyes flashed; she had truly forgotten about this matter.

Yunying moved into the Second Master's courtyard before the hurricane arrived. After she moved in, the courtyard where she used to live was filled with many people.

During the days when the hurricane struck, people ate, drank, and relieved themselves all in one house, so you can imagine how filthy the house must have been.

Yunying's bed had been slept in, her bedding used, and the clothes she hadn't had time to take were being worn. And that wasn't all; even the walls of the house and the corners of the yard were covered in filth.

The hurricane had just passed, and Yunying hadn't yet been assigned any tasks by the Second Master. The first thing she did was to inspect the extent of the damage to the county government building, and then she had people register the items that were missing from each courtyard.

These matters were left to the servants to handle, and Yunying went to her own courtyard... and then she never wanted to go back.

Just as Yunying was angrily considering demolishing and rebuilding the courtyard, or choosing a relatively clean courtyard to live in, the Second Master sent her a task.

During that month, Yunying was either distributing porridge and medicine at the city gate or settling refugees who had come to the orphanage.

At this critical juncture, the Second Master absorbed a large number of refugees.

While it's not fair to say that Yun Gui County suffered the fewest deaths and injuries from the disaster in the entire Lingnan Prefecture, compared to the surrounding counties, its situation was definitely the most manageable. People who came here could at least earn a meal and avoid starvation, provided they were willing to work hard.

Furthermore, because the Second Master encouraged the refugees to reclaim wasteland and promised that as long as three acres of wasteland were reclaimed, the people could settle in Yungui County, a great many people came to seek refuge there.

Yunying was so busy every day that she didn't have time to think about moving the yard.

Moreover, the Second Master hadn't returned to the mansion for almost a month, and Yunying lived in the front courtyard by herself. She didn't feel like she was living under someone else's roof at all, so she gradually forgot that this courtyard wasn't hers and that she couldn't stay there forever. She would have to move out when she had time.

Now, reminded by Sui'er and Liu'er, the idea of ​​moving the courtyard has taken root in my mind again.

Leaving aside the fact that Yunying had begun to ponder which courtyard she should move to, no matter how unwilling she was, her body was weak after all, and Yunying eventually returned to her room with the help of Sui'er and Liu'er.

Just as Yunying sat down on the stool in the room, a commotion suddenly came from outside.

Liu'er glanced at the door and rushed over, saying, "Second Master is back."

"You're back? Why are you back so early today?"

Since Yunying fell ill, the Second Master has been going out less often. He claimed that Magistrate Fan and Registrar Lou had taken over the affairs outside, and the Second Master comfortably gave himself two days off.

Within two days, Yunying's fever subsided, and Second Master became busy again.

However, this time it was much better than before.

Previously, Second Master would go to villages and towns under the jurisdiction of Yun Gui County for more than a month at a time, without ever returning. Now, things are better. Although he still goes out every day, at least he's in the city, and he always returns home before dark.

It's not lunchtime yet, so why is Second Master back at this hour? Could it be that something troublesome has happened?

Yunying stood up and took a few steps outside.

Sui'er quickly stopped her, "Miss, you've walked quite a distance, sit down and rest."

"It's alright, I was just taking a look..."

Before Yunying could finish speaking, she felt a shadow fall over her, and the room seemed to darken considerably.

Second Master asked, "Where would you like to go?"

The Second Master, with his jade-like face and golden crown, wore a blue straight robe, a jade belt as wide as a palm around his waist, and a pair of black official boots. He simply lifted the curtain and walked directly into the room.

It wasn't so hot in Yungui County in October, but even though Second Master was wearing a summer shirt, fine beads of sweat were still appearing on his forehead.

Second Master's complexion was pale, and even during his time in Yun Gui County, frequently traveling to the villages below, he didn't get tanned. However, he was truly exhausted during this period, and he had lost a lot of weight. Even the lines of his face had become sharper, and when he looked at people with a cold expression, his intimidating aura was even greater than before.

But Yunying and the Second Master were already very familiar with each other, so even if he had a cold face, she wasn't afraid of him. Besides, the Second Master was just making a habitual frowning gesture; he wasn't trying to scare her.

Yunying took a step back, making room for the Second Master to come in.

When Sui'er and Liu'er saw the Second Master inside the house, they quickly greeted him and then hurriedly went out.

They were also perceptive; when the young lady and the second master were together, they would avoid appearing if possible, otherwise, the second master's gaze would always be so unfriendly.

After the maids left, Yunying and the Second Master sat at the round table, and Yunying personally picked up the kettle to pour tea for the Second Master.

The second master repeated the question from before, and Yunying smiled and replied, "Where else can I go? I can't even leave the courtyard now. If I walk around outside a couple of times, the maids act like I'm facing a major crisis, as if I've run hundreds of laps. Where else can I go? Where can I possibly go? I just heard from the maids that you're back, so I was going out to take a look."

A smile appeared in the Second Master's eyes, and the corners of his lips curved upwards.

But noticing Yunying's mournful gaze, he quickly straightened his lips. Yet, deep down he was happy, and a hint of joy couldn't be suppressed in his eyes.

"You wandered around the courtyard today? It's not that I don't want you to go out, nor that the maids are preventing you from exercising too much, it's just that you haven't recovered yet."

"I feel much better now."

"That's just your feeling. In fact, your complexion is still worse than before, so you need to rest more."

Yunying glanced at the Second Master and said, "Do you think this is raising pigs?"

Second Master burst out laughing. "How can this be called raising pigs?" "What else is it but raising pigs? The maids won't let me walk around twice, and you won't let me move around much either. I eat and sleep all day long. What else is this but raising pigs?"

Second Master couldn't help but burst into laughter, and Yun Ying was furious, "You're still laughing!"

Second Master laughed and said, "You're definitely overthinking it. In fact..."

"In fact what?"

Second Master hurriedly waved his hand, "It's nothing, it's nothing."

What the Second Master really wanted to say was, where could one find such a beautiful pig? If there were, he would at least keep two in his mansion. Unfortunately, there was only one Yunying in the world.

Yunying exchanged a few witty remarks with the Second Master and successfully secured the privilege of taking walks in the courtyard in the morning and evening.

The two then started talking about what the Second Master was busy with.

Second Master is mainly busy with road repairs these days.

More than a month later, the road repair project was put back on the agenda.

It wasn't that Second Master didn't want to repair it before; in fact, he desperately wanted to. After all, repairing the road would make mining easier, mining would allow for better profit sharing, and with a fuller wallet, Second Master could finally do many things he had long wanted to do but hadn't been able to.

Unfortunately, the situation caused by the hurricane is too devastating.

The people's houses collapsed, people were injured or killed, and the crops in the fields almost died... All of this meant that the backbone of the people's families, that is, the able-bodied men, had no time to go out and work.

That's not all; many secondary disasters occurred after the hurricane. Some areas experienced landslides, others mudslides, and in the worst cases, small villages in lower-lying areas were submerged.

Each and every one of these cases involves human lives.

When it comes to human life, everything else, from mining for gold or silver, has to be put on hold.

Furthermore, a large-scale outbreak of dysentery occurred in Lianhua County, not far from Yungui County. To be on the safe side, the Second Master sealed off Yungui County.

Thus, after much hardship, more than a month had passed before Dr. Yao finally found a miraculous cure for dysentery, relieving Lianhua County of its threat to the surrounding counties.

The Second Master had previously instructed Prefect Zhang that the first batch of gold mines must be mined and shipped out before the end of the year. In other words, the mines needed to be operational and gradually become profitable.

It's already October. If we don't repair the roads soon, let alone mining, I'm afraid the roads from the prefecture to Yungui County, and then from Yungui County to Wutou Mountain, won't be passable until the end of the year. How will Second Master explain this to his superiors?
The pressure was too great, so the second master had to personally oversee the road construction and get it started as soon as possible.

The good thing is that he recently took in a large number of refugees, and as long as he can ensure that these refugees have two meals a day, the road construction should proceed smoothly.

As Second Master and Yunying were talking, they mentioned that the roads in the county town were now repaired, and they were focusing all their efforts on extending the road towards Wutou Mountain. Suddenly, Second Master chuckled, "I promised you last year that I would repair the roads in the county town before this year, and I've done that. But didn't I also promise you that I would repair the roads around the county town as well?"

“You said that, but there’s no rush. The mining can’t be delayed; everything has to give way to that now. As for the roads around the county town, we can repair them after the New Year. In the next two months after spring, the people will be at their leisure, and I think there will be many more people available to work then.”

With more people, roads can be built faster.

To put it bluntly, even if it can't be fixed by next spring, surely it can be fixed by the end of the year?

Even if it can't be repaired, it won't be a big problem for Yunying, because she's needed to go out less and less these days.

Next, she even prepared to learn to ride a horse.

Why learn to ride a horse?
Yunying felt that in this era, it was still important to learn more skills.

Having more skills is never a bad thing.

Think back to when the hurricane hit, the Second Master was still inspecting the area. Back then, the Second Master relied on his excellent horsemanship, not his own skills.

With excellent riding skills, he could gallop back to the county government office in no time if needed.

Conversely, it's like the young owner of the only pawnshop in the county town.

The young master was having an affair with a young widow in a village under the jurisdiction of Yungui County. When a hurricane came, the young widow asked him to stay, but the young master was worried that the thatched house would collapse, so he insisted on taking his own carriage back to the county town.

Halfway there, lightning flashed, torrential rain poured down, and a fierce wind raged. The combination terrified the horses, causing them to neigh wildly and lose all interest in the road, galloping headlong into the mountains.

Finally, the horse crashed into a tree, hitting its head and bleeding profusely before it finally stopped.

But without a horse, and in the middle of nowhere, the young master had nowhere to turn for help. In the end, he had no choice but to brave the wind and rain and walk five miles before finally finding the nearest house.

It turned out that the house was also a thatched hut, and it collapsed during the hurricane.

The family was lucky enough to escape being crushed to death, and they also managed to attract the attention of the villagers, who rescued them. However, due to a lack of medical treatment, most of them ended up with chronic illnesses.

The young master fared even worse; I heard his leg was broken, and because treatment was delayed, he's now lame...

That's what happened.

Even if the young master had learned to ride a horse, the outcome might not have been much better. But at least he would have a closer connection with the horse and might have been able to calm it down before things got more dangerous and bring it back to the city.

All this talk is just hindsight.

However, this incident made Yunying think that learning to ride a horse could be put on the agenda, as it might come in handy someday.

Thinking this, Yunying asked the Second Master if she could borrow someone to teach her how to ride a horse.

Second Master stood there, bewildered, not knowing how the topic had suddenly shifted from road repairs to learning to ride horses.

Although these were all minor matters, he would definitely send someone to teach her once she brought it up, or more likely, he would teach her himself. But her sudden shift in topic left the Second Master completely puzzled.

When the Second Master asked what had happened, Yunying glanced at him several times before finally telling him the story, albeit awkwardly.

Second Master's expression at the time: ...

It's no wonder that Second Master was speechless; the public order and social atmosphere in Yun Gui County were truly a headache.

That's already much better.

Because he had previously beheaded Magistrate Fan, exiled Registrar Li, and even beheaded Zhao Xiong, Wu Shixun, and others, he had greatly established his prestige.

Otherwise, if he had started building roads when he first came to Yungui County, try sending over sand, gravel, timber, or other materials and see if he could have stolen them all in one night.

Those are things you don't need to think about.

Even though the situation has improved considerably, the public order and social atmosphere in Yungui County still have many problems that are difficult to address and urgently need to be rectified.

Babies, don't wait any longer, there's a high chance it won't happen again. I stayed up all night again last night. I previously asked for help with my baby's frequent night awakenings, and I'm so grateful for all the helpful advice you gave me. Unfortunately, my baby isn't hungry, nor does she sleep a lot during the day. I'm not sure if she's deficient in calcium or zinc, so I'm going to take her to the doctor. Also, I need to go to the hospital for a checkup. I won't tell you what kind of checkup it is yet; I'll find out after I get it done. If it's diagnosed, she might need hospitalization and surgery. I'm a little overwhelmed; I read online that it can be very painful. Anyway, I'll go to the hospital first and see what happens.