Transmigrated into a minor official in a county government, with children at home waiting for rice t

After finishing his shift, Zhang Sanlang walked along, lost in thought.

Why did Feng Shang never marry? Why did Feng Peishuang become someone else's concubine?

If Feng Shang had left offspring, he wouldn't have been wiped out by Feng Jian.

The two names kept swirling in my mind, but I couldn't figure them out.

Another thought occurred to him: if all his speculations were correct, then Zhang Shiqing's favoritism towards Zhang Dalang was more of a facade, and he probably secretly wanted the entire eldest son's family to die out!

Especially after Feng's murder, Zhang Shiqing had no more concerns.

Zhang Shiqing and Feng Jian, two old foxes, may be plotting against the same person.

Zhang Dalang, danger!

When Zhang Sanlang looked up again, he had already arrived at Jinshi Lane.

Lu Sanbao was squatting at the gate of the courtyard, holding chopsticks in one hand and a large earthenware bowl in the other, filled with millet rice and vegetable soup, topped with a few pieces of roasted pork. He was making a slurping sound with his chopsticks.

On a small wooden stool next to it was a half-full bowl of drink, with a few mint leaves floating in the water.

"The head of the family is back so late again."

Lu Sanbao stood up, a grain of millet still stuck to the corner of his mouth, holding his bowl. "Fourth Miss has drawn a house plan and is discussing it with Master Sun and the others. They're just waiting for your return to make the final decision!"

Intrigued, Zhang Sanlang quickly stepped into the courtyard.

A crowd had gathered around the stone table, making it as lively as a market; Zhang Sanlang couldn't take it all in with just his two eyes.

Qingge'er leaned halfway across the stone table, pointing at a corner of the drawing with his finger: "Draw a horse here."

Little Sun Ce peeked over from the other side: "The stable belongs to my family, I feed it every day."

"Why can't it be my home?"

"You don't have a horse."

"In the future."

"When is 'the future'?"

"My dad said he'd buy me a big black horse after I pass the state-run college entrance exam!"

Qingge jumped off the stone bench, went around to the other side of the stone table, and poked another corner of the drawing with his finger: "Draw a chicken coop here. My chickens live here."

"The chicken coop is yours, the stable is mine."

"I don't want a horse, I want a dog."

"Ah Huang is not considered livestock."

"Why not count dogs? Dogs can pull millstones too!"

"Is your dog pulling a millstone?"

"My dog ​​can pull a millstone."

"You don't have a dog at home."

"In the future..."

The two boys went back and forth, while Old Sun sat on a stone stool, fanning himself with a palm leaf fan, his eyes narrowed into slits with laughter.

The palm-leaf fan was waved at a steady pace, each wave landing precisely in the gaps between the two boys' bickering, as if keeping time for them, or perhaps preventing them from getting too hot from arguing.

Sun Jizu sat behind his father, holding a teacup in his left hand.

The tea had stopped steaming, but he didn't drink it; he just held it.

His gaze fell on the two boys, and a rare smile appeared on his lips.

happy Mei'er held Lin Xiu'er's hand and stood by the stone table.

Lin Xiuer stood on tiptoe, craning her neck as far as she could, muttering, "I can't see, I can't see!"

Lin Qiao'er bent down and picked her up. Lin Xiu'er leaned on her shoulder and poked at the little flowers on the drawing with her finger: "This flower is nice. Let's plant some of these in the backyard too."

Ah Yun held a handkerchief in her hand, smiled and didn't push forward. She was the first to see Zhang Sanlang return, and nodded to him with a grin.

Huangfu Ce squatted at the door of the west wing. Wang Yue'e placed a bowl of cold tea on the stone table, turned around and called out to the west wing, "Why don't you come and take a look?"

Huangfu Ce chuckled: "What's the use of seeing this? Ultimately, it's up to the Third Master to make the decision..."

Wang Yue'e wiped her hands with her apron, ignored him, stood by the stone table, and pointed to the location next to the well on the blueprint with Zhang Siniang.

Zhang Si Niang suggested planting a few clumps of perilla leaves next to the well, and Wang Yue'e suggested building a loofah trellis. The two chatted and laughed and decided on the southeast corner of the central courtyard.

Wan Qing stood by the courtyard wall, which she had smashed, leaning on her silver cane.

She looked down at the gap between the two bricks at her feet, used the end of the stick to measure the distance between the bricks, and then looked up at the height of the top of the wall.

Zhang Si Niang took Wang Yue'e's arm, holding a blueprint in one hand and pointing to it with the other: "Sister-in-law Huangfu, look, this is the moon gate, which connects to the passageway leading to your side."

"The passageway is paved with bluestone slabs, so you don't have to walk in the mud on rainy days. There are no doors above the doorways, only fence gates, which are left open during the day and locked at night."

Who locks the gate?

"I think Mr. Huangfu is a meticulous person, so why don't we entrust the lock to him..."

When Zhang Sanlang walked over, Zhang Siniang finally noticed that he had returned and quickly presented the blueprints to him.

The paper contained clear drawings of the reconstruction of three houses, with numerous explanatory notes.

The outer walls of all three houses were demolished and rebuilt. The Zhang residence was in the middle, the Sun Jizu residence was on the left, and the Zhang Jin residence was on the right.

The east and west walls of the Zhang residence each have a moon gate, which connects to a passageway leading to the two other residences.

The passageway is paved with bluestone slabs, and impatiens and gardenias are planted on both sides.

The three main houses do not interfere with each other, and each has its own backyard. There is no well in Zhang Si Niang's house, so a new one needs to be built in the courtyard. It is noted next to the well that perilla and mint should be planted.

A vegetable garden was left north of Xin'an, and Wang Yue'e had already asked her to label it with the words "scallions, garlic, and chives".

Zhang Wulang leaned over from the side and pointed to the location of the moon gate on the drawing: "Third Brother, Sister said that the three families are on good terms, each doing their own thing. For eating, drinking, and having fun, come to my house; for refined poetry and literature, go to Third Brother's house; and for martial arts training and strengthening your body, go to Uncle Sun's house."

Old Sun nodded with a smile, fanning himself with a palm leaf fan: "Good. My house is fully equipped with all kinds of knives, spears, clubs, and sticks, filling half the yard, all stored on the wooden fence, as well as various kinds of stones."

Sun Jizu put down his teacup: "Father, those are gun racks and stone weights."

"Gun rack is gun rack, what are you yelling about?" Old Sun rolled his eyes, waved his palm-leaf fan, and smiled at Zhang Sanlang again, "Martial arts practitioners, come on over, this old man will take care of tea and meals."

Sun Jizu reluctantly shut his mouth, picked up the teacup, and took a sip in silence.

Lin Xiuer struggled to slide off her sister's arms and onto the ground.

She clutched a flower she'd picked from Zhang Si Niang's house; the petals were slightly wilted from being squeezed, but the color was still a vibrant red. She ran to Zhang San Lang, holding her hand high. "Uncle Zhang, this flower is for dyeing fingernails. Can we plant some at home?"

Zhang Sanlang bent down and took the wilted balsam flower. He looked at the slightly dry and wrinkled edges of the petals, and then at Lin Xiuer's upturned face.

He casually tucked the flower behind her ear. "Okay!"

Lin Xiuer covered her ears and ran back. Xi Meier squatted down and let her spin around. The flower petals swayed behind her ears twice, and the two girls giggled and ran next door to pick flowers.

Qing Ge'er was still arguing with Xiao Sun Ce about the stable and chicken coop.

The two have gone from arguing about "having horses in the future" to "what horses eat".

Lin Qiao'er chimed in softly, "Horses eat grass, and the grass needs to be cut. Who's going to cut it?"

The two boys paused for a moment, then pointed at each other simultaneously: "He cut it."

A burst of laughter erupted around the stone table, and the two little ones scratched their heads at the same time.

Zhang Sanlang returned the blueprints to Zhang Siniang and was about to speak when Lü Sanbao poked his head in from the courtyard gate. He was still holding a ceramic bowl, and the millet on his lips had been wiped away.

"Master, Wang Chao just reported that there's a person at the alley entrance who says she's the nun from Yongning Nunnery. She has something urgent to discuss with me."

The courtyard fell silent for a moment.

Zhang Sanlang handed the blueprints to Zhang Siniang and turned to walk towards the courtyard gate.