Chapter 504: Retire and Return Home
Zhao Yulin didn't like wasting time, so when he saw this he said, "Mr. Gao, why do you have to be so polite? I'm really flattered."
Lao Gao said with a smile: Others can't bear it, but the Zhao family's brother and his wife can definitely bear it. These days, he tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep. Thinking of the situation when they first met in Hanzhong, the past events were vivid in his mind.
Zhao Yulin certainly remembered that when he first arrived in Hanzhong, Gao Jia was just a small military commander. He had big doubts about whether the Shenwei Army he brought could defeat the Jin and Mongolian armies.
Unexpectedly, the army that created the great New Song Empire ten years later was actually this Shenwei Army.
Lao Gao asked him: Do you still remember the battle of Xianren Pass?
He said of course he remembered, a large number of brave warriors of the Shenwei Army died in that battle, and he lost many good brothers.
Lao Gao said: He was sitting in the city of Mianzhou at that time and didn't even dare to close his eyes.
He had to report that the Mongolian army had come down from the Baishui River, and quickly organized the people to go up the mountain as his brother had said. The next day, he heard that the Shenwei Army had won a great victory and the Mongolian army had fled. He was so happy that he cried.
Zhao Yulin knew that if his Shenwei Army had not repelled the Mongolian army, Gao Jia would have been killed in battle on the city wall of Mianzhou after the Mongolian army broke through the Xianren Pass.
This near-death experience must be fresh in the memory.
Ma Linger said with a smile: That's right, Mr. Gao has been through all kinds of ups and downs. With such rich experience, he should go to Taijiantang to continue serving the court and assist Feiyan in state affairs.
Gao Jia, however, nodded and shook his head with a smile, looked up at the blue sky and white clouds and said that he still had some unfinished business.
Zhao Yulin asked: Is there anything else?
Is it possible that Mr. Gao is going to return to his hometown in Pujiang County and reform the village like the boy did?
The old man's eyes gleamed directly at Zhao Yulin, and he asked him in surprise: Yes, brother, how did you know?
Zhao Yulin took a sip of tea and deliberately kept the topic in suspense before saying that despite the king's repeated persuasion and attempts to retain Gao Gong, he still wanted to retire and return to his hometown, and he must want to do something for his hometown.
He highly appreciated Mr. Gao's decision to return to his hometown to serve his native place, and hoped that Mr. Gao would hold on for a while longer and return after Chen Chen came back and was more familiar with the local environment.
Zhao Yulin promised Gao Jia that he would let Hu Lan take the young deacons from Huaxi Village to Pujiang and use the experience gained in Huaxi to provide advice to Gao Gong.
The old man was overjoyed. He picked up the tea bowl and repeatedly asked for tea instead of wine to toast the couple.
Come out, Ma Ling'er asked you to accompany her to see Hulan.
The couple got in the carriage and headed towards the west gate.
The officials of Jinguan City left one after another to go to various places for inspection. Yangjin left early in the morning. Ma Ling told him that Fenghuang also received the documents and seals from the Ministry of War and did not go home, but went directly to Yazhou to lead the troops.
Zhao Yulin hugged Ma Ling'er and said slowly: I didn't expect this year to be another dangerous year. He asked Ma Ling to urge them to tighten their money. A war in the northwest was inevitable, and it would definitely cost a huge amount of money.
Ma Ling'er said there were also Shandong in the east and Yue in the south, both of which were huge expenditures.
Zhao Yulin sighed, thinking that Fenghuang knew how hard it was for her to be the eldest sister, and would try to save time. He went to the east in person to stabilize Shandong at the lowest cost, so as to concentrate his forces to defeat Kuangduan and make the grassland empire dare not go south to rob again.
The two men arrived at the Zhang family compound, and the guard reported: Madam Hulan went to supervise the transplanting of rice seedlings.
They went to the rice seedling planting site again. The ridges of the fields were full of people watching the fun. The farmers were spreading the seedlings in the winnowing baskets evenly over the rice fields. Some people were straightening ropes to open the boxes, picking up the seedlings on the ditches and filling the vacant positions, and evenly spreading the seedlings in clusters to plant in sparse areas.
Hulan happily took Ma Ling's hand and explained the situation, asking him: Is this how you plant rice seedlings? This piece of land is two mu in size, and it was done in a short time.
Zhao Yulin nodded and said: That’s right.
The deacon from the Agricultural Department had squeezed over and asked him in surprise if it was okay.
Zhao Yulin said: Yes, that's right. He asked: Do you know how to manage it later?
The deacon reported: I know, the third young master wrote it clearly, you can't water the seeds within three days. Don't worry about the leaves of the seedlings drying up. You can only water them after the seedlings have taken root.
Zhao Yulin pointed to a few seedlings floating in small puddles and said: Look, just like that seedling, if you pour water into the field before it has taken root, how can the seedlings survive if they are floating on the water?
The deacon nodded repeatedly and told him that he had seen it. The third young master was truly a prophet, a god.
Zhao Yulin laughed, but Geng told him to stop. He didn't want to be an immortal who was detached from the mundane world.
The group returned to the Zhang family compound, and Hu Lan told them: Madam Qian went back to the city for work, so she and a few deacons lived here.
Ma Ling'er said with a smile, "That's great. You have done a lot of good things in such a short time. You are good enough. My brother is leaving Chengdu soon. From now on, I will accompany you to listen to the frogs."
Hu Lan leaned on Ma Ling'er happily.
Zhao Yulin smiled and said that he could still walk around now, but he would have to be careful in the next few days. He should keep exercising in winter and not lie in bed all the time.
Hu Lan nodded continuously with a blush on her face.
Ma Ling'er laughed at him for telling him so many things, wondering if he would not come back this year.
Zhao Yulin took a sip of tea and said, "Life is unpredictable. How can we know what will happen when we get busy?"
Hu Lan refused to accept this, and went over to him, rocking him on his back and shouting that he must come back to watch her give birth to the baby.
The kitchen quickly prepared the food. Hu Lan pointed to a plate of fried eels and said, "These are caught by the children in the village in the rice fields. They are very fresh." Then he took a piece and asked Ma Ling'er to try it.
The two women were having a great time eating, taking turns to eat.
Hu Lan said with some regret that it would be meaningless if the king issued an edict prohibiting drinking, as there would be such delicious food.
Zhao Yulin glared at her and said, "You're pregnant, why are you still drinking? You're not allowed to drink at night."
The little girl looked unhappy.
Ma Linger said with a smile that when she gives birth to a baby in the future, her sister will accompany her to eat delicious food.
The young girl then smiled and told them: Wu Jing, Chen Liu, and Fugui have all been here. When they saw that the fields in Huaxi Village were neatly tidied and very beautiful, they insisted on coming here to cook Lotus Pond Beggar Chicken and Bamboo Forest Firewood Chicken to help the common people here find ways to make money. Chen Liu even wanted to go back and ask his grandfather to send a master to come here to make wine.
Ma Ling'er said with a smile that they could do whatever they wanted. Anyway, the money in Dujiangyan was earned by themselves, and there was no suitable business to start up right away.
Finally, Hulan accompanied them to the main road, pointed to the seedlings growing on both sides of the village road and said that the Gesang flower seeds that Sister Yangjin had asked someone to get from Baoning Prefecture had sprouted and grown tall. Sister said that the Gesang flowers were so beautiful that people in the city had never seen them. They were definitely a beautiful sight.
Zhao Yulin felt sore in the nose that he didn't want to leave anymore. He helped Ma Linger into the car. The couple stuck their hands and heads out of the window and waved goodbye.
In the evening, Ma Linger said with a smile, "Let's go to the king's room to sleep with him tonight. Our king wants to give instructions in person."
Zhao Feiyan glanced at him and said there was no point, and just said one sentence: Do it beautifully for me.
Ma Linger teased her with a smile: We haven’t done it yet. Whether it’s beautiful or not is not up to you alone to decide. Both of us have to work together.
Feiyan's pretty face turned red, and she muttered shyly: "Sister, what are you talking about ?"
Ma Ling'er stood up and left, laughing.
At dawn, Ke Zhenxie shouted outside: Young Master, it's time to leave.
After Feiyan helped Zhao Yulin bathe and change his clothes, she held him and wouldn't let him leave. He said that he was carrying out the king's will and that after this year, our lives would be much easier.
Feiyan murmured: Every year they say that things are easy, but every year there are endless obstacles to overcome. There really is no end.
Zhao Yulin held her little face, kissed her on the forehead and said, "How can life have an end? If it really comes to an end, we will all go to another world."
He went out and joined the guards heading towards the south gate. Feiyan leaned on Ma Ling's shoulder and looked through the gate. Ma Ling said that my brother couldn't bear to leave us sisters. Yesterday, Hu Lan sent him off, and I saw tears in his eyes.
Zhao Feiyan couldn't help sobbing when she heard this, and the two sisters supported each other and walked into the house.
Zhao Yulin's official ship had just left the harbor and headed south when a man suddenly jumped out from a thatched hut at the edge of the dock and instantly disappeared into the twilight.
Seeing that the fleet had gone some distance, Ke Zhenxie entered the cabin and reported in a low voice: Chief Steward Dongmei is worried that the enemy will do something bad, so please ask the young master to take the land route instead.
Zhao Yulin nodded and reminded the disguised brothers to be careful and choose those who are good at swimming.
After the official ship sailed five miles, Zhao Yulin and his companions quietly got off the ship, got on five ox carts that had been prepared in advance, and took a shortcut to Huayang County.
Zhao Yulin's official ship continued to sail south along the Min River. When passing through Huanglongxi, two speedboats suddenly rushed out of the river and directly rammed into Zhao Yulin's official ship.
When the two small boats were approaching the official ship, they were already on fire. There were two assassins on each boat who desperately threw two wine jars at Zhao Yulin's official ship, causing a loud explosion.
The guards following behind immediately rushed forward to rescue people and catch the criminals.
However, there were many river bends and branches in the Huanglongxi area, and the water conditions were complicated. After searching for a long time, the guards only found a dead body. They had to protect the injured brothers and return to the ship urgently as planned, creating the illusion that Zhao Yulin was injured to confuse the hidden enemies.
As for Zhao Yulin, he had already boarded a ship from Huayang to Xuzhou.
In the afternoon, Zhao Feiyan and Ma Ling'er learned that Zhao Yulin was injured, and returned to the mansion in panic, but heard Dongmei from Shunfengsi say that it was a false illusion created to paralyze the enemy. The third young master was safe and sound and was on his way to his destination.
The family would ask the King and Sister Ma Ling to bear with it and pretend that the Third Young Master was injured and in a bad mood for a few days to delay the enemy's discovery.
After hearing this, Zhao Feiyan patted her chest with her right hand and let out a long sigh, saying that she was scared to death. Danger was really everywhere. No wonder her brother didn't want to go out.
Dongmei said coldly that the young master was not afraid of death, he was worried about the king and was not confident about Sister Ma Ling.
Then he said goodbye and left.
Ma Linger said that she was tired, so she would rest at home for a few days, pretending to be taking care of her brother while he recovered from his injuries, and she should go back to work.
Zhao Feiyan asked her maid to tell the office to make arrangements. She didn't want to do anything today, so she talked to her sister at home. She said to Ma Linger: Chengdu is unstable. Those half-grown officials saw that the ministers of the Central Council were going out on patrol, and thought that the big tigers were gone, so they started to talk nonsense again.
