207 – Return to One’s Hometown in Glory

It was said to lead the way, but of course, Qin Mian and Lei Tie could not walk in front of Emperor Xiaohui. When they entered the county, Emperor Xiaohui was in front of them, while Qin Mian and Lei Tie followed him.

The well-arranged houses, green farmland, and clear blue lake gave Emperor Xiaohui a panoramic view. He looked satisfied and nodded from time to time. In the distant farmland, the farmer, with his hoe on his shoulder, chatted with the farmer in the next plot while laughing heartily. His face was facing the sun; the satisfaction of life in his smile touched people’s hearts. Under the willow trees, children of different ages played a chasing game; the clear and tender children’s voices were full of joy. From time to time, the housewife, who was washing clothes on the bluestone slab by the lake, scolded them loudly. Although she was scolding them, her voice was absolutely full of love for the children.

Qin Mian and Lei Tie didn’t use resplendent words to tell Emperor Xiaohui how much thought and energy they spent on rebuilding Kui County. They looked calm and indifferent, unmoved either by gain or loss.

Eunuch Li could see it clearly and could not help but feel sorry for the emperor, who was going to lose his two great officials.

Emperor Xiaohui was infected by the quiet and peaceful atmosphere in the county. He forgot the incoming resignation of Qin Mian and Lei Tie and laughed a few times from the heart.

“Good, good. Follow Zhen ahead to take a look.”

Emperor Xiaohui took the lead entering the farmland and others kept up.

At this time, the weeding farmers in the farmland finally noticed a large team in the distance. They knew that only the emperor could wear bright yellow color. After being taken aback, they quickly guessed the identity of the man. They were so terrified that they turned pale and knelt on the ground in confusion.

Emperor Xiaohui stepped forward and said to the nearest old man in kind, “Old man, quickly get up.”

The old man felt overwhelmingly flattered that his legs gave way; he stood upright after a good while.

Emperor Xiaohui gently called the nearby farmers to ask about their age, the harvest in the farmland, the family, and so on.

The few young men were more daring; they summoned up courage as they answered. Several old people were encouraged and joined in the conversation.

It was hard to dislike Emperor Xiaohui’s closeness. For a time, one person with a heavenly identity and several people with an earthen identity had a good talk.

An eight-year-old child even ran over after picking a big red peach from a tree.

Eunuch Li’s face changed slightly. He was about to step forward but was stopped by Emperor Xiaohui.

Emperor Xiaohui believed that Qin Mian and Lei Tie had managed Kui County well. He peeled the peach with a smile and bit it, “En, sweet.”

That was only natural. The living standards of the people in the mountains were indeed much worse than those in the plain. Qin Mian intended to help them. When he planted these fruit trees, they had been transformed with the spiritual spring water properly. Therefore, Kui County’s fruits tasted very sweet.

“Thank you very much for your hospitality, kid.” Emperor Xiaohui kindly rubbed the child’s head.

The child returned with a pure smile and a face of ignorant.

The father of the child was so emotionally moved that his hands trembled and he nearly fainted.

Qin Mian tried hard to suppress a smile. He was afraid that the father would not let his son wash his hair for the next ten days.

After walking around the farmland, Qin Mian and Lei Tie led Emperor Xiaohui into the streets. Emperor Xiaohui randomly selected several households to visit and was very satisfied.

At this time, Emperor Xiaohui was also a little tired. He asked Qin Mian and Lei Tie to take him to their home.

Lei Tie instructed the Imperial Bodyguards to organize a defense first.

By the time Qin Mian, Lei Tie, and Emperor Xiaohui arrived, Qin Mian’s house was surrounded as solid as an iron cask.

Qin Mian arranged for Emperor Xiaohui to take a rest in the master bedroom, accompanied by Eunuch Li.

Qin Mian asked the two imperial chefs, who came with Emperor Xiaohui, what food ingredients they needed to prepare. He bought various meat and then went to the vegetable garden to pick some vegetables.

Emperor Xiaohui had a rest for nearly two hours. Qin Mian and Lei Tie had lunch with him.

In the afternoon, Qin Mian and Lei Tie took Emperor Xiaohui to visit the school and several skills training classes in the county. Emperor Xiaohui praised Qin Mian’s measures. Although the “merchant” was ranked (class) last among the “scholar, farmer, smith, and merchant”, Emperor Xiaohui never thought that merchants were unimportant. For example, in the battle of Tuluo, the total amount of donations from merchants alone was more than 10 million taels, and the annual trading tax was one of the important sources of tax revenue in the imperial court.

Since Emperor Xiaohui had come all the way, he couldn’t leave after the on-spot inspection. The next morning, Qin Mian and Lei Tie took him to experience the fun of picking fruits and vegetables in person.

When he saw that someone was farming in the field, Emperor Xiaohui went to experience it. He scared the accompanying officials into a drastic change of expression, who feared that the ox would suddenly go mad and hurt Emperor Xiaohui.

Emperor Xiaohui knew that Qin Mian and Lei Tie would guard him, so he was very calm. He had a great time.

At the sight of Emperor Xiaohui, many people were even fonder of him. The emperor was always superior in their heart. Who would have thought that they would not only see the emperor in their lifetime but also teach the emperor how to plow?

After four days in Kui County, Emperor Xiaohui was going to set out to return to the Capital.

This time, Emperor Xiaohui brought Kui County a new county magistrate and directly kept him there. Emperor Xiaohui asked Qin Mian and Lei Tie to return to the Capital with him for the formal resignation.

Emperor Xiaohui had a good intention. If Qin Mian and Lei Tie returned to Green Mountain Village directly from Kui County, he was afraid that the officials in the court would think that they were “forced into the cold palace” by Emperor Xiaohui. If Qin Mian and Lei Tie were in trouble later, they might be bullied by an official. It was different if they went back to the Capital with Emperor Xiaohui, which showed that Emperor Xiaohui still attached importance to them.

Qin Mian and Lei Tie were not stupid. They had thought of this. Thus, they accepted Emperor Xiaohui’s favor.

On the day of departure, when the civilians learned that Qin Mian and Lei Tie would leave Kui County, they were so shocked that they knelt in tears, reluctant to part. Qin Mian was a good county magistrate. Although Lei Tie had not spoken much and seemed cold, the amount of effort he had made to rebuild Kui County was not unknown to them.

“Qin-Daren and General Lei, we can’t bear to part with you!”

“Qin-Daren and General Lei, have a smooth journey!”

“Qin-Daren and General Lei, both are good officials!”

“……”

Emperor Xiaohui was surprised and sighed, “If all the officials of Great Xia are like my dear subjects Lei and Qin, how can Great Xia worry about not being strong?”

The accompanying officials all agreed with their heads down.

The new County Magistrate Su watched the civilians send Qin Mian and Lei Tie one li after another. The blood in his chest suddenly boiled; his fists involuntarily clenched tightly. If one day he could make these people willing to do so for him, he believed that he would die without regret.

There was no need to say more on the way back to the Capital.

After returning to the Capital, Qin Mian and Lei Tie formally handed in their resignations.

Emperor Xiaohui removed Lei Tie from the post of State Defender Grand General, Qin Mian from the post of Kui County Magistrate, and retained Lei Tie’s title of State Defender Duke and Qin Mian’s title of Lady of the State Defender Duke. Qin Ruiqi was still the Heir of State Defender Duke and Lei Ruilin was still the Duke of An County. Not only that, but he also ordered the Imperial Bodyguards to escort Qin Mian’s family back to their hometown, which was a great honor.

Chen Mufeng, Zhangsun He, and Lei Xiangzhi saw them off on the tower over the city gate.

“I don’t know why, I always feel that once they leave, the Capital will become more boring.” Chen Mufeng was holding a six-month-old baby in his arms, whose chubby appearance was adorable.

Zhangsun He gently poked Little Brother Chen in the face, “So what? If it’s boring, we’ll go to Zhaoxian County.”

“Then, that’s a promise,” said Chen Mufeng.

Lei Xiangzhi faintly smiled as he watched Qin Mian and others drifting farther away. He hoped that his eldest brother and eldest sister-in-law would get better and better in the future. Last year, he was promoted to a subsidiary fourth-rank Grand Secretariat Academician Reader-in-waiting. He believed in himself that he would get better and better in the future.

After leaving the Capital, Qin Mian, Lei Tie, Qin Ruiqi, and Lei Ruilin were relaxed in both body and mind. In the spacious carriage, the family played “Quick Escape” with Qin Mian’s “invented” card game. “Quick Escape” as the name suggested, whose card was the first to finish was the winner. Qin Mian, Qin Ruiqi, and Lei Ruilin joined hands, so Lei Tie’s forehead was pasted with slips of paper. The father and sons laughed merrily from time to time.

The armed servants outside the carriage could not refrain from smiling in understanding when they heard the laughter.

Laying on Qin Mian’s legs, White Spot tilted its head to look at the cards in his hand. Sometimes, its ears perked up and folded, and sometimes it tilted its head. It seemed that it clearly understood. Standing on the top of the carriage, Golden Eagle flapped its wings at will. Now and then, it flew up and circled in the air, then it landed and looked around lazily. Golden Fur’s body was too big, so it was in another carriage.

It took Qin Mian’s family more than a month before entering Zhaoyang County.

Nie Heng, an old friend, received the news long ago and met them at the intersection.

After lunch at Nie Heng’s house, the procession continued to set out and entered Green Mountain Village in the evening.

The summer’s day was long. The villagers gathered under the trees at the entrance of the village to enjoy the cool breeze. Some were reinforcing the sole of a shoe, some were eating, some were playing chess, and some were chatting.

Wu Di keenly saw the approaching familiar carriage, which made him abruptly stood up. He was surprised and said, “Isn’t that Tiezi’s family?”

“Oh, that’s true!”

“The soldiers even escorting them? This is returning to one’s hometown in glory!”

As they talked, they went over to welcome and warmly greeted the family.

“Tiezi’s wife, you’re back, huh?”

“You’ve had a long day, isn’t it?”

“You’re back; everyone misses you so much.”

Some children could not wait to ask, “Uncle Qin, are Yuanyuan and Manman back?”

“Yuanyuan, Manman…”

“Even Golden Fur and White Spot!”