Liu Ziqiu asked strangely: "Xiu'er, you're still up so late, what are you doing?"
Gao Xiuer blushed and murmured: "No, it's nothing. Mr. Lang, you have been busy all day. Let me, let me help you wash your feet."
"Wash your feet? Haha, that's good." Liu Ziqiu took advantage of Gao Xiuer's time to get up and snatched the things she had hidden behind her, which were half-made children's clothes. She was startled and asked, "Xiuer,
Whose family is this made for? It seems that no family in the village has given birth to a baby."
Gao Xiuer wanted to bury her head between her legs, and her voice was softer than a mosquito: "I can't help you outside, so I just do some needlework..."
Because time was tight, almost everyone in the village, men, women, old and young, participated in this huge project. Gao Xiuer has been able to do any kind of work during the six months she has been living in Changshan Village. She was not spoiled at home in the past, and of course she also wants to go out and help. But now she
She suddenly became as beautiful as a fairy. How could the villagers be willing to let her do any work? What if her face was stained?
Not only that, those old ladies were also very gossipy: "Xiu'er, why isn't your stomach moving?"
"Xiu'er, don't be afraid. I see that your ass is round and big. It must be easy for you to have children, and you are definitely a boy."
Someone else whispered next to her: "Look at Xiu'er walking, it's obvious that she hasn't consummated the relationship yet."
"Haha, you can see this too?"
"Xiu'er, you're recovered from your illness now. You must be a great person with this handsome appearance..."
Although these old ladies did not mean any harm, they spoke freely. Gao Xiuer felt ashamed and ashamed, and finally couldn't stay any longer and hurriedly slipped back to the yard. More importantly, these words touched her heart. She didn't know what Liu Ziqiu was.
What do you mean, they always say she is too young, but in fact, she is not young anymore.
The yard was empty. Although the villagers did not let Gao Xiuer work, they did not treat Vanilla and the two newly purchased Gaoli maids so well. They were also busy outside.
Anyway, it was idle time, and when she was bored, Gao Xiuer accidentally learned to make children's clothes, but was caught by Liu Ziqiu.
Seeing her embarrassed look, Liu Ziqiu suddenly understood. He hesitated and said, "Xiu'er, I will marry you when the salt farm matter is settled!"
Gao Xiuer lowered her head and fiddled with her clothes, hesitating and not knowing what to say.
But Liu Ziqiu said again: "However, we can't be in a hurry to have a child."
"Why?" Gao Xiuer suddenly raised her head, suddenly ashamed, and quickly lowered her head.
"This, this." Liu Ziqiu found that he couldn't explain it clearly for a while, so he had to say, "I'll tell you later."
However, Gao Xiuer felt very happy after getting a clear promise from Liu Ziqiu.
…
Entering the winter months, the weather in Jiangnan also began to turn cooler. However, the villagers were very enthusiastic. They got up very early and gathered in front of the foundation of the school in the center of the village, preparing to start a new day's work. However, Liu Ziqiu made adjustments.
"Third Aunt, Uncle Li, you take twenty people and go to the county to file a complaint with the Yamen, saying that the Yang family has not kept their promises and asks the government to provide justice."
"Shuanzi, you continue to be responsible for keeping an eye on Yang Heihu's tail."
"Er Zhuang, there is no need to chop bamboo today. Each household will take a ding and start practicing."
"The remaining people follow Dapeng and finish yesterday's work."
Xiao Dapeng suddenly said: "Brother, I also want to participate in the training!"
Liu Ziqiu said in a deep voice: "Obey the order!"
The drill was carried out on the wasteland outside the village. There were a total of seventy-eight households in the village, including Liu Ziqiu. Except for a few households that could not get a son, each household had one son, forming a team of seventy-two people.
Liu Ziqiu personally served as the instructor and took everyone on a cross-country run first. There were two round trips from the village entrance to the riverside, a distance of more than ten miles. The villagers had been engaged in various types of labor for a long time, and their endurance was originally very good, but such a long-distance run was not
I have never experienced this before. After the trip, many people were panting, slumped on the ground, and some even vomited profusely.
Liu Ziqiu picked up a bamboo stick, beat the villagers lying on the ground hard, and shouted: "Get up! Get up! No one is allowed to lie down. Walk, walk twice!"
After a quarter of an hour, the villagers participating in the drill finally calmed down. Liu Ziqiu raised his voice again and shouted: "Gather! Gather! Line up, line up!"
It was not easy for untrained villagers to line up well, and it took them a long time to finally get some shape.
Under Liu Ziqiu's repeated corrections, the villagers finally learned to line up and count, but found that one person was missing.
"Everyone, take a look and see who's not here!"
"Oh, Erzhuang, why isn't Erzhuang here?"
Er Zhuang is also surnamed Xiao. Of course, no one can remember his original surname. The surname Xiao was given to his father by the Xiao family. Because he was relatively strong, Liu Ziqiu originally planned to make him a villager.
He was the captain of the escort team. Unexpectedly, he escaped from the battle.
Liu Ziqiu said angrily: "Look! No matter where he is hiding, I have to find him!"
"No, there's no need to look for it." Erzhuang ran over out of breath, "I-I'm here. I-I really can't run anymore."
Liu Ziqiu took a look and saw that Erzhuang's face was pale and covered with sweat. He was indeed tired. The surrounding villagers had burst into laughter. Liu Ziqiu said: "Everyone, stop laughing! Sweat more in peacetime and bleed less in war! Erzhuang can persevere.
Coming down is worthy of admiration and everyone should encourage him!"
The villagers shouted in unison, and the two men were excited and suddenly quickened their pace, finally completing the last thirty steps.
Liu Ziqiu didn't know how the army of this era trained and fought. He could only use what he learned in the army to conduct queue and physical training for them first. As for the eighteen martial arts, that was a matter for the future, because
There are many things that Liu Ziqiu himself doesn’t know.
At noon, the third aunt and others who were sent to the city to file a complaint came back. As soon as they entered the village, the third aunt scolded: "The dog officer is so shameless. He actually refused to accept our complaint. If there weren't so many people there, we wouldn't have been there."
He will also throw us into jail."
Liu Ziqiu waved his hand and said, "Thank you for your hard work. I knew this would happen."
Uncle Li said dissatisfiedly: "Daniu, didn't you make our trip in vain? With this time, we can do a lot of work at home."
Liu Ziqiu smiled and said: "If you were the Yang family, would you believe that we would just swallow our anger like this? This is for the Yang family to see. The more violent the trouble, the more realistic it will be."
…
Shuanzi waited at the east city gate of Yanguan County until the sun turned west, and finally saw Yang Heihu riding past with four followers. Horses were not allowed in the city, so Yang Heihu had to lead the horse slowly, but it made it easier for Shuanzi to follow.
Shuanzi put on another make-up today, but it didn't attract Yang Heihu's attention anymore. He followed Yang Heihu around two streets and saw Yang Heihu entering a house from a distance.
The house looked ordinary and unremarkable. Shuanzi looked around and found Ah Fu and Ah Gui nearby. The three of them winked at each other and were about to leave, but saw the side door of the house opened again.
Two servants escorted a carriage out to the west.
Shuanzi didn't dare to neglect and hurriedly followed. However, he saw the carriage going straight out of the west city gate and driving away. Unfortunately, Shuanzi and the other three had no carriage and horses, so they couldn't catch up even if they wanted to.
"Leave the city to the west? What are you doing to the west?" Liu Ziqiu pondered for a while, then suddenly asked, "Shuanzi, you can see clearly, the guard next to him is really Yang Heihu?"
Shuanzi gritted his teeth and said, "Although he has changed into the clothes of an ordinary domestic slave, I can still recognize him even if he is burned to ashes!"
"Then do you know when they returned to the city?"
"Well... we were worried that we wouldn't be able to get out if the city gate was closed, so we didn't wait there. We don't know if they have returned to the city."
Liu Ziqiu asked again: "Then have you looked around to see how big the house Yang Heihu entered and how many people can live there?"
Shuanzi shook his head.
Liu Ziqiu said earnestly: "Shuanzi, tracking is not a simple matter. You have to be patient, use your brain, and understand the surrounding situation clearly. You go again tomorrow, and I will wait for news of your success."
The next day, Shuanzi, Ah Fu, and Ah Gui came back very late, but the news they brought was much more detailed: "Yang Heihu still entered the house, and after a while he changed into the clothes of an ordinary servant to protect him.
The carriage headed west. Ah Fu sneaked into the house quietly and found that there were only two servants living there, and there was no third person. Moreover, the house was very small, and could only accommodate two or three more people at most...
"
Liu Ziqiu interrupted Shuanzi and asked, "Have you ever seen the two servants who stayed in the house?"
Ah Fu replied: "I've seen him before, he's the entourage following Yang Heihu."
Liu Ziqiu was silent for a while, then nodded and said, "Continue."
Agui said: "The two of them were staring at the house, and I was tiptoeing the carriage alone, and sure enough I saw them coming out of the west gate again. Later, the three of us stayed outside the west gate until the city gate was closed, but we didn't see them come back.
"
Liu Ziqiu stood up, walked back and forth in the room, and suddenly realized: "I understand. The house in the city is just a cover. The Yang family's foothold in Yanguan is not in the city at all, it should be somewhere in the west of the city.
!”
Shuanzi said excitedly: "Brother Daniu, let's drive the carriage again tomorrow and wait for him outside the west gate!"
"It's not necessary. Yang Jishan is a noble son, and he has been in Yanguan for so long, so he must live in a more luxurious place." Liu Ziqiu nodded and said, "Ah Fu, the four of you will go together tomorrow to see if there is anything in the west of the city.
A large manor shouldn’t be too far away, just thirty miles. Remember, you have to be careful when you move and don’t alert the people inside!”
In the afternoon of the third day, the village's defense project was basically completed.
The outside of the fence was covered with a thick layer of river mud. The river mud was mixed with glutinous rice juice and became very strong. In fact, the fence was already very strong. The reason for this was to prevent others from using fire attacks.
The watchtowers at the four corners have been erected, and villagers are watching from them day and night, changing every hour. Gongs, flags and lanterns are also prepared on the watchtowers, which can serve as command and warning no matter day or night.
The primary school in the village is a little slow because Liu Ziqiu plans to build it more solidly. Now only the foundation has been dug, the land has been compacted, and the wood has been prepared. The bricks and tiles have not been purchased yet.
However, this progress made Liu Ziqiu very satisfied. He announced a half-day holiday for the villagers. The villagers cheered, especially those who participated in the drill. Suddenly, the third aunt was heard shouting: "Daniu, Daniu