"Second brother, is mother okay?" Duan Mingqing asked with concern.
When the two came, Qiao Lan had already finished dinner and went back to the house to rest. A lot of things happened during the day, and the two brothers didn't want to disturb their mother's rest.
"Mom is fine!" Duan Mingjing said with a sad expression, "But I have something!"
The two brothers looked at each other and expressed concern in unison.
"Second brother, what's wrong with you?"
"I'm so sad! I can't sleep!"
…
"Second brother! You, please relax!" Duan Mingchen stepped forward and patted his brother on the shoulder, comforting him.
Zhuangzi was some distance away from the capital. Even when the brothers rushed back, the city gate was locked. They couldn't get back to the house, so they stayed in Zhuangzi for the night one by one.
Early the next morning, I left after having breakfast with Qiao Lan.
Not only are they worried about Qiao Lan, but the wife and children at home are also worried, and they have to go back and send a message.
Before leaving, Qiao Lan sent a few people to the door and suddenly remembered something.
"What about Hu Liulang who reported the news?"
The steward who was waiting on the side immediately reported: "Back to the old lady, Hu Liulang ran for a long time yesterday and suffered some injuries on his legs. The old slave took it upon himself to give him two days off from work and let him go home to rest."
Speaking of Hu Liulang, Duan Mingjing recalled the young man he met yesterday and took the initiative to say: "Mom, I will reward Hu Liulang with some money."
Qiao Lan: "Prepare another horse for him!"
With horses, traveling will be easier in the future.
Duan Mingjing nodded without any doubts, "Mom, I'll take care of this, so you don't have to worry about it."
Hearing this, Qiao Lan nodded in relief.
I plan to wait until the wheat is harvested in a few days and then consider opening a stall in my shop to sell some rye pasta.
But two days later, Qiao Lan received a message from the palace, saying that His Majesty was concerned about Qiao Lan's health and was afraid that she would be working too hard, so he specially sent some people to help her.
The eunuch who delivered the message was dressed in dark red palace clothes and stood in front of Qiao Lan with a kind face, talking to her.
"What your Majesty means is that the queen is old and the farm work in the fields is heavy. Your Majesty is afraid that your body will be exhausted, so he sent a few people to help the queen and let her rest more. The breeding skills of the queen
It is very important to Beijing and cannot be lost..."
Qiao Lan listened with a "kind" look on her face.
It is indeed very important and cannot be lost.
But I'm afraid this was not His Majesty's idea, but the ministers who encouraged His Majesty, just like the one who encouraged His Majesty to suddenly come to her farm that day.
They knew the importance of their breeding skills, so they planned to send some over to learn.
Where is breeding so easy to learn?
Qiao Lan was not afraid that they would all learn, but that they would not be able to learn at all.
But after all, it was His Majesty's command, what could she do.
"...The candidates for the palace have not been decided yet, and we still have to wait for the first half of a month. Your Majesty asked me to send a message to the queen first, and the queen should prepare early..."
Qiao Lan smiled the whole time and even replied to the eunuch at the end.
"Your Majesty, please rest assured, I will definitely give you all you have to teach me!" Qiao Lan said with a smile.
The chance for revenge has come!
She welcomes anyone who wants to learn her farming skills, but farming is never an easy task.
-
Half a month passed quickly. Most of the rye in the fields was harvested. Qiao Lan's Zhuangzi was waiting for those who came to study.
As Qiao Lan expected, all of them were noble men wearing brocade clothes. They ranged in age. The youngest looked to be only fifteen or sixteen years old, with a very tender face. The oldest seemed to be in his thirties, with a
Thin beards aside, there are eleven people in total.
It's better to come early than to come late!
On a sunny afternoon, Qiao Lan stood under the tree and looked at the freshly prepared students in front of her.
He accepted the students' greetings with a smile and said kindly: "Since you have come to Zhuangzi, I have to say something ugly beforehand. Farming is not an easy task! Breeding is even more so. Just breeding a new species.
It takes three or four years, and there are also cases of breeding failure. My old lady has only been able to breed one kind in these years."
"This field work is very tiring! You must not fish for three days and dry the nets for two days! You have to learn a lot every day, and you won't learn it if you are lazy! Don't put the trouble on me then!"
Each one of them stepped forward seriously to give their assurance.
"Don't worry, Madam, since I'm here, I'm prepared to endure hardships."
"If you can learn this magical skill of breeding, what's the point of suffering?"
Seeing that the students were all extremely passionate, Qiao Lan was also happy, "Don't call me Jun from now on, call me teacher!"
"teacher!"
"teacher!"
Climb up the pole one by one.
Many of them looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief. They came today and thought that it would not be easy to gain the female monarch's approval. After all, they were forced here.
Each of them was selected from thousands of families in order to learn Qiao Lan's breeding skills.
Everyone has been prepared to be made difficult for them.
Isn’t it scary to be made difficult for them? What’s scary is not being able to learn this skill! If they can learn this breeding technique, not to mention glory and wealth, the whole clan will be able to support them, so what does it mean to just make things difficult for them?
Seeing that Qiao Lan accepted them, she quickly winked at her slaves and handed over the apprenticeship ceremony to them one by one.
The tradition of apprenticeship ceremony has been around since ancient times. To put it simply, this is their tuition fee. Since they are here to learn this magical skill of breeding, the gifts prepared by everyone are not ordinary.
Boxes filled with rare treasures were brought to Qiao Lan one after another. Qiao Lan only glanced at them, nodded, and asked the maids to accept them.
Qiao Lan: "You have prepared these gifts carefully! Teacher, I have also prepared gifts for you!"
After hearing this, many people's faces became brighter.
The lady's temperament was indeed as kind as the rumors, and she even prepared gifts for them.
Qiao Lan ordered the maids next to her to bring the gifts they had prepared.
Then, seven or eight slaves came over pushing two wooden carts.
Then one after another they took down hoes, shovels, poles, baskets, buckets, wood cutting knives, sickles and other items from the cart.
"One for each person, be sure to take it!" Qiao Lan said with a smile.
Everyone stared at the gifts sent by the slaves, and the smiles gradually faded from their faces.
What kind of gift is this? Isn’t this for farm work?
Then, the maid brought another stack of booklets. This book was very thick and had a lot of pages.
"In addition, I have also prepared an attendance sheet for you to use in class! There are two hours in the morning and one in the afternoon. Attendance will be recorded for each hour, and absences and leave will be recorded."
"At that time, each of your forms will be sent home every three months, and I will also send a performance ranking to show to the elders in your family! Let them know how you are studying in Zhuangzi!"
"You have to work hard! Don't let down the expectations of your elders in the family!"
"Now, you can take your tools and go to where everyone lives! Take a little rest and start learning from cutting wheat tomorrow..." The smile on Qiao Lan's face was friendly throughout.
But the smiles on the faces of the students who came to study could no longer be stretched.
They are all well-read poetry and intelligent people. They think that in all their years of studying, they have never heard of any gentleman having such strict rules.
Do you want to send the ranking of this study to the elders at home?
In this ranking, if someone is at the top, someone will definitely fall behind!
If the master knew that their names were behind them, they would definitely be in trouble!
When they looked at Qiao Lan's friendly face, they all realized that the rumors were wrong.
Not only is the female monarch "kind", she can also eat people!