Chapter 6: The Soldiers and Officers of Zheng State (Please add to favorites and follow for updates)

Time passed.

In the blink of an eye, half a month went by.

On the second day after their wedding, Wei Tu and Xinghua returned to their duties, working busily inside and outside the Li residence without the slightest slack.

The two were even more diligent than before.

These efforts were all seen by the Li family’s Eldest Mistress. Every few days, Madam Li Tong would offer a word or two of praise, expressing in her speech that she was very satisfied with the marriage she had facilitated.

Compared to Wei Tu, Xinghua had undergone a significant change. Previously, she would secretly sneak a bit of meat while in the kitchen, but after getting married, she changed her ways.

If a catty of meat shrank to seven taels after being boiled, she would bring those seven taels straight to the dining table in the inner residence, without any trickery or stealing.

Sensing that Madam Li Tong’s satisfaction with her had reached its highest point in the last ten years, Xinghua stood on tiptoe and carefully greeted Madam Li Tong in the afternoon, expressing her and Wei Tu’s intention to ask for leave to return to their hometown to visit relatives.

"The books say, 'He who offers gifts without cause has either a hidden agenda or is a thief'..." Madam Li Tong was sewing shoe soles in the living room; the hemp thread made a soft, rasping sound as it passed through the layers of cloth. She raised her eyes to look at Xinghua and said this with a smile.

Although the words were sharp, paired with Madam Li Tong’s gentle smile, most of the nervousness Xinghua felt toward her mistress vanished.

"I have seen all the work you’ve done these days. Rest assured, I won't find anyone to take your place before you return."

Madam Li Tong made a promise.

"Thank you, Eldest Mistress." Xinghua showed a look of gratitude and thanked her.

"There is one more thing..."

Xinghua hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth and brought up her plan to have Wei Tu rent grain fields from the Li residence as a tenant farmer.

Once winter passed, they could start planting wheat, beans, and rapeseed in the fields.

By then, finding unclaimed land among the Li residence’s grain fields would not be an easy task.

"Brother Wei won't neglect the horse feeding..." Xinghua added, bowing her head when she saw that Madam Li Tong did not reply this time.

She also knew that this request was a bit excessive.

No matter how capable a living person is, they cannot compare to two people working separately.

If he had to balance farming and feeding the horses, any failure in either task would be a loss for the Li residence.

Furthermore, the Li residence was located in the county seat. For Wei Tu to rent land to farm while still tending to the horses, he could only rent the riverside land near the county seat owned by the Li family.

Riverside land was different from dry hillside land; it was top-tier, high-quality grain field.

Even without careful cultivation, one could still have a bountiful harvest even in a drought year.

"We shall discuss the matter of renting land after you and Wei Tu return from visiting your hometown..." Madam Li Tong neither refused nor agreed.

"Yes, Eldest Mistress."

Xinghua felt a bit dejected and left the inner courtyard with her head hanging low.

That night.

After hearing Xinghua’s account, Wei Tu comforted her: "Since the Eldest Mistress didn't refuse your request, it means she has the intention to agree. It’s just that as a mistress of the house, she can't agree to two things at once."

He didn't say the rest.

Madam Li Tong had her reasons for doing this. If she were too indulgent toward her servants, sooner or later they would climb all over her.

The fact that the Li residence was managed in such an orderly fashion, and that the servants were both respectful and fearful of Madam Li Tong, was proof enough that she was a mistress who understood the art of managing a household.

"If she doesn't agree this time, there will be a next time. If we ask a few more times, the Eldest Mistress is soft-hearted; once the goal of maintaining discipline is met, she will agree..."

Wei Tu shared his perspective.

Even if it didn't work out.

Five years from now, once his Health Preservation Technique reached perfection and he entered the Qi-Sensing Realm, the little money from renting land would be insignificant.

Currently, nourished by the warm current surging through his limbs and bones, he already possessed eighty or a hundred catties of strength in his arms.

Once the Health Preservation Technique was perfected, his physical fitness would definitely be even better than it was now.

With this level of physical fitness, after practicing martial arts techniques and reading some military strategy books, he could advance to participate in the military examinations to win the title of Martial Xiucai or Martial Juren, or retreat to become a martial arts instructor for a wealthy family, serving as an honored guest.

The Zheng Kingdom’s military examinations were based on "martial arts first, strategy second."

As long as one’s martial arts were proficient, even if their military strategy was mediocre, they could still obtain a military degree.

"Alright, after we return, I will ask the Eldest Mistress a few more times." Hearing Wei Tu’s incisive analysis, Xinghua was not only amazed but also filled with joy.

...

The next day, at the first light of dawn.

Wei Tu and Xinghua packed their luggage and left the county seat in the dark, heading toward the countryside.

Wei Tu’s ancestral home was in Wei Village, Changming Township, under the jurisdiction of Qingmu County.

The journey from the county seat to Changming Township required traveling about twenty-some miles along the main road and seven or eight miles along small mountain paths.

Halfway through the journey.

There was a mule cart heading the same way on the main road. Wei Tu and Xinghua spent a little silver and climbed aboard.

By the time they reached the end of the main road, it was only the fourth quarter of the afternoon, still about two hours until dark.

Xinghua wanted to save money and didn't want to stay at an inn, intending to walk the mountain path all the way to Changming Township.

"It's cold, and the tigers and wolves on the mountain are hungry enough to come down. Walking the mountain path at this hour, if you don't make it home in time, it's too dangerous."

The driver was a warm-hearted man. Hearing that the couple was returning home to visit relatives, he immediately chimed in with a warning.

"Besides the wild beasts on the mountain, there are also bandits... If it were just you, the man, going back, it might be fine, but with a woman along, those people won't show any mercy."

After stopping the cart at the inn, the driver spat a thick glob of phlegm on the ground and added another warning to the two.

Listen to advice, and you'll have a full belly.

Seeing that there were many people staying at the roadside inn and that their clothes were not particularly wealthy, Xinghua stopped being stubborn, took out some silver, and rented a lower-class room.

At night.

The two slept in their clothes.

Around the fourth watch, due to his habit of raising horses, Wei Tu woke up once.

At this moment, he heard a light, chaotic sound of horse hooves outside the house.

Wei Tu walked to the window and pushed the shutter open a crack.

Soon.

A few hundred meters away, by the bright moonlight, he saw the source of the hoofbeats.

It was a troop of several dozen cavalrymen, wearing helmets and crimson leather armor. The leading cavalryman was holding a banner embroidered with the character "Zheng."

"Zheng Kingdom government troops?" Wei Tu was surprised.

Cavalry among government troops were always a rare sight; he hadn't seen them many times even within Qingmu County.

Their appearance outside the inn must have had a reason he was unaware of.

Just as Wei Tu was observing, sounds of fighting broke out among the dozens of soldiers. After waiting for half a quarter of an hour, the fighting finally ceased.

A short while later, the cavalry left one by one, disappearing onto the main road.

On the ground, however, there were a few more swordsmen holding Hengshan sabers.

"Are the government troops suppressing bandits?"

Wei Tu guessed.

"Could it be that a famine has broken out somewhere again? That’s why there are bandits?"

Bandits were divided into two types: one was born evil, highway robbers; the other was composed of good citizens forced into banditry during years of famine.

Swordsmen were rampant in Qingfeng Prefecture, reaching their peak during the "Red Dragon Turning Over" in the fifteenth year of Qing'an. In some severely affected areas, three out of every ten households had men who were swordsmen or bandits.

"I hope this doesn't spread to the county seat. Once the disaster worsens, the displaced people will turn into bandits, attacking cities and seizing strongholds. By then, it will be servants of wealthy families like us who are conscripted as labor..."

Wei Tu’s eyes showed worry.