The wooden wheels rolled slowly and slowly away from Xiangguan.
The sun shone on the rammed earth city wall, which was a bit dazzling.
The maid Ah Qing turned her head and glanced back at the Xiangguan Tower that was gradually going away. She felt a little scared but also a little excited.
She grew up in Xiangguan since she was a child and has never left.
Although the destination she wanted to go to Lingzhi was only two days away from Xiangguan, but with such a short two-day journey, she might never have the chance to return to her hometown.
"Boom!" The sad little girl received a blow on her forehead.
"Oops." She cried out in pain and looked at her mother-in-law with confusion. She couldn't figure out why she was beaten.
Ah Qing's mother is a capable woman. She nodded her daughter's forehead with hatred, "If you don't take good care of me, what are you going to do?"
The mother and daughter walked along the long queue and talked at the same time.
The long procession walked out of Xiangguan City Gate like a snake, with knights on tall horses leading the way, wandering and patrolling along the galloping road from time to time.
A Qingniang took a look at a white flour pancake that A Qing sent to her. She was originally a cook on the kitchen stove and had been working as an errand in Xiangguan Xiaowei Mansion for many years, so she still had some experience.
The noodle cake brought by Ah Qing in front of me was the size of a disc, a knuckle thick, and white. At first glance, I could tell that it was made from the finest ground and sifted white flour, with some flax grains sprinkled on top.
Not to mention that a bowl of white flour needs to be pounded, shelled, crushed and sifted, and it takes several hours for the cook to keep the servants busy. Even the flax grains on this cake are not something ordinary people can see.
The bread is wrapped in plain white linen and exudes the fragrance of cereals.
Mother A Qing immediately said seriously: "Where did you get such a good thing?"
Ah Qing rubbed her forehead with inexplicable grievance. Her mother's strong hands caused her forehead to turn red.
"My wife gave it to me! She said I'm young, um..." Ah Qing paused and recalled Gongsun Yan's original words, "It's the time when your body is growing. You need to eat well to supplement your nutrition so that you can grow taller."
Ah Qingniang paused for a moment, then raised her hand and struck Ah Qing on the forehead with greater force: "Madam, it's such a generous gift, what did you use it for? Why don't you just eat it yourself?"
As she said this, Ah Qingniang stuffed the cake back into Ah Qing's hand: "You should remember your kindness more. Why don't you go back quickly to serve me? If I can't find anyone, I will punish you."
Hearing this, Ah Qing puffed up her cheeks and said, "My wife wouldn't do that!" Her wife, Ayan, is the best person in the world, so she wouldn't punish people for such trivial matters.
Although she was thinking this way, Ah Qing felt that her mother was right. She should go back quickly. What if her mother had something to do?
Before her mother could react, Ah Qing stuffed the pancake back into her mother's arms, picked up the hem of her skirt and ran away: "Mom, eat it, this pancake is so soft and sweet!
"
Seeing her daughter's skirt disappearing into the queue in front of her, Ah Qingniang sighed in annoyance, but a smile appeared on her lips.
She lost her husband in her early years and remarried a Muhu from the Xiaowei Mansion. However, the husband she married later was a veteran who had been injured on the battlefield. Although they could have a married life, they could not have children.
She only has A Qing as her daughter. It is truly a blessing from our ancestors that A Qing can serve beside such a kind, honest and filial girl like Mrs. A Yan.
She was really worried that if Ah Qing's temperament made his wife displeased, he would be driven away from her, so she always gave him instructions.
Looking at the cake in her arms, Ah Qingniang felt even more grateful.
"A Qing Niang, what did you reward A Qing with?" Several people who were walking beside the ox cart baggage gathered around her, including men and women, old and young.
They were all Xiangguan servants or workers from Gongsunda who Zhao Yun exchanged for the captured armor and long swords and the Wuhuan heads and battle merits.
Forty households with more than 200 people were organized.
Except for fifty people who were servants of Xiaowei Mansion, the rest were all workers or farmers.
They were also quite envious of Ah Qing's ability to serve the master's wife. Because of this, Ah Qing's family had a slightly different status among the forty or so households. The same was true for the maid Alan's family.
"It's the food that the lady rewarded me with." Although she punished Ah Qing, Ah Qingniang raised her voice slightly at this time and flashed the cake in her hand, "Madam said that the young man is young and is growing up. The face of the reward is pancake."
"Oh, this is made of fine white flour!" A thin, dark woman who was the cook on the stove with Ah Qingniang had an exaggerated expression on her face. She was indeed surprised by the good ingredients used in this pancake, but such an exaggeration was not necessarily true. There is no flattering component.
She and Ah Qingniang were assigned the task of distributing food to the more than 200 people during the march.
The shaking of her hands when she was putting down the food, a little more or less, was a warning of favor. Because of this job, she received a lot of flattery today.
But she also knew that she got this powerful job thanks to Mother A Qing's recommendation, so she did her best to perform at this time.
"You are so filial to your mother if you don't eat such good food as Ah Qing." The thin black woman's voice was louder, attracting a lot of attention, and she directly used the most praiseworthy treatment in the Han Dynasty - praising filial piety. .
Seeing that many eyes were focused on her, Mrs. Ah Qing raised her chin a little more. She said in a more reserved tone: "Our lady is still good at teaching."
Who in Xiangguan today doesn’t know that Gongsun’s wife Ayan is a pure and filial woman?
In order to honor his father, brother, mother and sister, he did not wear mink fur, did not sleep in bed, and did not drink or eat for several days.
Hearing A Qingniang thinking about Gongsun Yan, the faces of the people around her showed respect.
The most respected virtue in the Han Dynasty was filial piety.
It is rare to find a woman like Lady Gongsun in this world.
When Ah Qingniang saw the expressions of the people around her, she looked proud and proud. Her Ah Qing was the only maid close to Lady Gongsun!
Ah Qingniang touched the cake in her hand again, gritted her teeth, broke off half of the cake, and wrapped the remaining half in cloth and put it in her arms to share with her husband later.
She lifted up the half of the pancake that she broke off and said, "I'm not a stingy person. I'm going to share the food with everyone today so that everyone can share in the lady's reward and blessings."
Hearing this, everyone around him kept pushing and rejecting her, but no one left, they all looked at A Qingniang.
Ah Qingniang did not laugh at her, and first broke off a piece the size of her index finger for the thin black cook standing beside her.
The thin black cook hurriedly took it with gratitude, pinched off a piece the size of a fingernail and put it in her mouth to sip, while the rest was wrapped in a handkerchief and put into her arms.
Her two sons were serving as auxiliary soldiers in the army, so the valuable things made of white flour should be left to their brothers to share and gain knowledge.
Ordinary civilians in the Han Dynasty worked so hard that they might not be able to eat a piece of white flour cake the size of a fingernail throughout their lives.
The thin black cook cherished the pancake on the tip of her tongue, melted it in her mouth and spread it, letting the batter evenly spread on her tongue, savoring the sweetness of the wheat.
"It's so sweet." She couldn't help but smile on her face, "It's soft and sweet." There wasn't any rough wheat husk crumbs.
Seeing how delicious she was eating, the people around her could no longer restrain themselves and reached out to ask for it.
Ah Qingniang divided each of them a little bit as big as a thumb joint. She carefully shook the crumbs in her palm into her mouth and signaled that they were gone.
Those who didn't get a share were dejected and regretted that they were late.
The commotion quickly attracted the attention of the patrol sergeant.
A tall man riding a white horse rode over and said, "What are you doing? Spread out."
If you don't disperse and block the road, I will question you. He Zhou sat on his horse and swallowed the last sentence.
The military has repeatedly mentioned that we should be more polite to the people.
Although he had not entered military law, He Zhou still listened to a lot after many days of education. He sat on his horse and looked down at the people who were as silent as a chill due to his arrival.
Somehow, Yangqiuli came to mind.
I think of the villagers who knelt on the long slope to see them off, and the corpses of the villagers that were reduced to ashes in the raging fire.
"Okay, get out of here." He didn't realize that he had lowered his voice, "There are still two days to go, so save more energy."
After thinking for a while, he added: "Our team is responsible for your safety. If there is any trouble on the road, come to me."
