206 – Return to One’s Hometown and Live in Seclusion

Soon, it was the old man’s turn.

When Qin Mian saw his two sons running up, he raised his eyebrows.

With his hands behind his back, Lei Ruilin assumed an air of self-approbation as he said, “Dad, we’re here to help Great-grandfather Chen Youyu draw lots. There’re six people in Great-grandfather’s family.”

Qin Mian took a look at the old man, who nodded with a smile. He then signaled that the two sons could do it.

Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin had a tacit understanding. Qin Ruiqi grabbed a paper ball from the red-clothed box, while Lei Ruilin grabbed six paper balls from the blue-clothed box.

Qin Mian opened the paper balls and read, “Chen Youyu. House: 3rd house of the 1st row on the west. Farmland: 5th plot of the 1st row in the east, 9th plot of the 1st row in the east… 1st plot of the 2nd row in the south.”

The others all looked at Chen Youyu with envy. Almost all the six plots were in the 1st and 2nd rows, which were near the lake. Later, irrigation would be very convenient.

Chen Youyu was also very happy and laughed, “Many thanks, little gongzis.”

Others felt that the two sons of the county magistrate’s family were rich in fortune. They asked Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin to draw lots for them. Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin enthusiastically helped more than a dozen people. The location of the houses and farmlands was really good. But the two kids soon lost interest, so they apologized and ran away.

In order to draw people’s goodwill, Qin Mian, Lei Tie, and Prefect Cai assumed personal command all morning. The armed servants all knew Arabic numerals. Therefore, in the afternoon, Qin Mian handed over the work to Lei-Qin Zhong and others to do it.

Qin Mian and Lei Tie took their two children home first. There were two floors in the bamboo house. The kitchen, main hall, Qin Ruiqi’s and Lei Ruilin’s study, and Qin Mian’s and Lei Tie’s study were on the first/ground floor. Qin Mian’s and Lei Tie’s bedroom, and Qin Ruiqi’s and Lei Ruilin’s room were on the second/top floor. However, due to limited conditions, the layout of the house was not comparable to their previous house.

When it was near dark, all the civilians had been distributed houses and farmland. Their enthusiasm was so high that they could not wait to move into their new homes. They lit the torches and moved. The dark county was filled with the gleam of the fire.

Qin Mian and Lei Tie had been busy for a day; Only after they had a bath and lay in bed did they enjoy leisure.

“Tired?” Lei Tie pulled the person who shared his bed into his arms.

With his chin on Lei Tie’s shoulder, Qin Mian nodded, “More tired than before.” As a cultivator, the recent labor intensity was nothing, but compared with the previous life, these months were indeed the most tiring. Yet, undeniably, they were very substantial.

Lei Tie’s hand slowly went into Qin Mian’s nightclothes. As soon as they moved, the bamboo bed squeaked and the whole bamboo house wobbled. They were both stunned.

Lei Ruilin’s crisp childish voice sounded across the corner. “Dad, Old Dad; you haven’t slept yet? Gege and I aren’t asleep yet, too.”

Qin Mian lay on Lei Tie and laughed on his chest.

“Shouldn’t pick a bamboo house.” Lei Tie said in a depressed tone, “The soundproofing isn’t good.”

Qin Mian laughed despite himself, “Ruiqi and Ruilin, quickly go to sleep. Your Old Dad and I are going to sleep.”

Lei Tie created a soundproofing spiritual array and took a certain someone into his arms……

This was not to say that things were over after the farmland and houses had been distributed into the hands of the people. Qin Mian recruited some upright and resilient young people to work as bailiffs in the county, and asked Lei-Qin Zhong and Lei-Qin Shun to take them to the farmland for an on-site investigation. In case that a certain household was too unlucky that most or possibly all of the plots distributed were sown last, the county would take out some money to compensate them.

In addition, Qin Mian also asked Lei Tie to lend some people who were good at hunting, and opened a hunting training class in the county to teach people to hunt, so that those with poorer family conditions could support their families through hunting. In any way, they had to pass the winter first.

Because everyone was busy making a living, there was almost no criminal activity in the county. Qin Mian, as the county magistrate, was quite relaxed.

He and Lei Tie also took time to run outside the mountain, “bought” a lot of good things for their sons, and decorated their rooms nicely.

In a twinkling of an eye, the New Year came.

This year, most of the people in Kui County had a relatively plain New Year’s celebration. Although Qin Mian’s family had that conditions, it was neither as eye-catching. On New Year’s Eve, they only cooked two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes, a total of four dishes, but they were fulfilling.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, everyone still went out to pay a New Year’s visit. Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin received a lot fewer red envelopes than in previous years. These red envelopes were given by the civilians, almost all sealed with 1 Wen. Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin were very sensible. They originally refused to accept them. However, everyone believed that it was not appropriate to push others’ blessings out during the Lunar New Year, so they simply pressed the boys to accept. The boys could only accept them.

When people went to pay the New Year’s visit to Qin Mian’s house, Qin Mian didn’t treat anyone badly. As long as they were under the age of 16, he would give them a 20 Wen red envelope in the name of him and Lei Tie.

The 1st month passed in a plain yet lively atmosphere.

At the beginning of the 3rd month, spring returned. The civilians seized the time to plow and prepare to plant spring wheat and other crops.

Qin Mian also launched the next step in the development of Kui County. The current Kui County had only rows of houses and farmland. There was not even a tree in the county, so it had no aesthetic feeling. Qin Mian called on the surplus labor force to follow him up the mountain to dig some wildflowers and fruit trees such as duckbill, winter jasmine, rhododendron pulchrum sweet, pennywort, azalea, amur rose, wild jujube, wild peach, wild pear, wild apple, wild grape, and so on, and then planted them in every corner of the county in a planned way.

Qin Mian did not plan to stay in Kui County, so he did not spend too much thought on his bamboo house. He only planted two fruit trees in front of the door and a few potted flowers on the balcony on the second floor.

Not wanting to treat his two sons badly, Qin Mian occasionally took out some fruits and vegetables from the space. When Qin Ruiqi and Lei Ruilin saw it [things appearing out of nowhere] for the first time, they asked their father how was that possible. Their father only laughed and did not answer. The two children guessed that it might not be suitable for them to know, so they wisely chose not to ask anymore. In fact, the two children had long suspected that their “martial arts” were not an internal force type of martial arts, but since the two fathers needed to hide it from them, there must be a reason. They would know when the time came.

The other was road construction. Lei Tie sent 5000 people to find limestone within 20 li of the nearby area. After it was transported back, Qin Mian made a simple version of cement, which was not as strong as concrete, but more than enough for road construction.

They were busy until the 7th month.

With wide and smooth roads, it was much easier for the people of Kui County to get in and out of the city, and the development of agriculture and commerce was faster and efficient.

Everyone could see that their lives were getting better and better.

Qin Mian and Lei Tie sent the third memorial asking for resignation to the Capital, but there was still no reply.

Qin Mian began to get impatient.

“A-Tie, Chen Guanghui isn’t getting fat from to eating his words¹, is he? What’s the point of his forcing us to stay here?”

Chen Guanghui was the name of Emperor Xiaohui. Normally, no one dared to address him disrespectfully by name.

Lei Tie had a plan in his heart. He comforted, “Wife, wait another half a month. If there is no result after half a month, we’ll publicize the deal we made with him.”

“Good idea.” Qin Mian agreed without hesitation. They couldn’t deal with an emperor directly, but they could use the power of public opinion.

At this time, a soldier in a panic outside the door shouted, “Grand General and Qin-daren! This lowly one has something urgent to see you both.”

Qin Mian and Lei Tie look at each other in suspicion and went downstairs together. The situation of the whole county was under their control. What else could be called an “urgency”?

“What’s the matter?”

The soldier said in an urgent voice, “Reporting, Grand General. Prefect Cai send someone to deliver a message that the Imperial Carriage has arrived and order Grand General and Qin-daren to prepare for the welcoming immediately!”

Emperor Xiaohui came? Qin Mian was very surprised and said to Lei Tie, “it’s not close to the Capital. He’s really brave.”

“Wife, it won’t be long before we can go back to Green Mountain Village,” said Lei Tie in a calm and composed manner.

“Oh?” Qin Mian was not in a hurry to ask him why.

They put on their official uniforms and directly performed their “qinggong”, going to the county government office and the military camp respectively. They took all the bailiffs and soldiers to the entrance of the county to prepare for the welcoming.

After waiting for nearly an hour, a long procession getting closer and closer was seen. The emperor’s unique golden canopy was shining under the sun. Dressed in a bright yellow robe, Emperor Xiaohui sat on the spacious throne as he looked at the scenery on both sides of the road at will. The majestic Imperial Guards guarded the imperial carriage in the middle, sharp eyes looking around from time to time.

When the imperial carriage arrived in front of them, Qin Mian and Lei Tie knelt together to pay respect.

“Your subject(s) gladly welcomes Your Majesty the Emperor; may Your Majesty the Emperor lives long, absolutely long live!”

Emperor Xiaohui looked at them for a long time. Just from seeing the road outside of the mountain, he had expected that Qin Mian and Lei Tie had never lie about the completion of Kui County’s reconstruction in the reports. Because of this, he was more reluctant to let go of such two outstanding talents. But he knew from the bottom of his heart that this time, he couldn’t keep Qin Mian and Lei Tie. It was not that he didn’t have any means to use, but he had a premonition that once he really used the dark means to deal with them, it would only lead to the confrontation between them and him. It was better to let them go happily, in case, if the imperial clan encountered hard strife again, he could still reinstate them.

After thinking about it, Emperor Xiaohui took a deep breath in silence and said in a warm voice, “My two dear subjects, you may rise.”

“Many thanks, Your Majesty!”

Qin Mian and Lei Tie stood up and retreated to the side, awaiting orders.

Emperor Xiaohui gently dusted the non-existent dust on his sleeve and slowly stepped down from the imperial carriage to Qin Mian and Lei Tie. With a look of kindness, he gently spoke, “Hahaha… Hope that my two dear subjects are well?”

“Thanks to Your Majesty’s great blessing, your subjects and everyone are well,” replied Lei Tie concisely and comprehensively.

Emperor Xiaohui said with a smile, “That’s good. In the memorials, Zhen first was curious when my dear subjects kept mentioning the new appearance of Kui County. Secondly, Zhen yearned for the idyllic scenery, so Zhen decided to come and see it for myself. If the new Kui County pleases Zhen, Zhen will allow you two to return to your hometown [and seclude] in the countryside.”

Qin Mian was overjoyed and exchanged a look with Lei Tie.

“Thank you, Your Majesty! This way, please, Your Majesty.”

“Lead the way.” With a broad smile on his lips, Emperor Xiaohui waved his hand and walked forward with Qin Mian and Lei Tie.

Eunuch Li, Prefect Cai, and several other officials quickly followed.

Huh? When did Vol. 4 even started?

Footnotes