of Li Yong and Huiniang, this silver note couldn't be taken, "Madam Zhou, this money, our family can't accept it. You should take it back. The Yan family destroyed our courtyard, and our family also...Just by chance, Jing Li and the stewards from the Da and Xiao Wang manors were visiting the pig pen and chicken coop. Hearing this news, they were overjoyed.
They all said they would go back and tell the villagers to come no matter what to share in the joy.
Over the past two years, they have been diligently following in the footsteps of the new village.
They do exactly as they are told, obedient and loyal.
Now that the new villagers had come, and were friendly and trusting, life was much better than before.
People have hearts, and anyone with sense is incredibly grateful to Xin Cun and the Li family.
When they heard that Li Jia's youngest grandson had reached the full-month milestone, each household brought gifts to the doorstep of Li Jia's house. These gifts could be chickens, ducks, eggs, or mountain produce - a token of their well wishes.
And Li's family did not refuse, they accepted everything and then gave a return gift.
A bag of snacks or a few fruits, let the villagers take back, to give the children a sweet treat.
For this, Tao Hongying again brought people to open the small oven workshop, and hastened to bake some walnut cakes.
Zhao Yuru went to the Earl's Mansion, bringing people to clean and tidy up, preparing everything for the banquet.
Although Jia Yin claimed to have recovered, she was still not well enough to go out and about.
So, she became a child queen, in charge of taking care of the stars and the moon.
The two children are over two years old, able to eat, drink and be mischievous. Actually, they are not difficult to take care of.
In the morning, they brought him to the county princess's mansion, having prepared food and drink, plus a water spirit.
In the evening, I went back to the old house with Jiayin. We each found our mothers and crawled into bed. After a while, we were all snoring soundly.
At first, the Li family was worried about what actions the Empress might take. However, for several days in a row, everything remained calm and peaceful.
It seemed as if drugging Jia Yin to make her sick, was just a collective hallucination shared by everyone.
Li Jia had no choice but to continue living their lives as usual...
One day, a peddler came to Xiao Wang's village, shaking the tambourine in his hand and chanting smoothly.
Soon, women and children from the village followed the sound to the village entrance to watch the commotion.
After the family's life improved, the children also had a few coins in their hands.
So, this boy wanted two snacks, and that child wanted three candies, crowding the peddler's box to bursting.
Soon, the children went downstairs to eat, and then the women came forward.
The peddler's wares were divided into two boxes. One box contained inexpensive and affordable items, with a complete assortment of clothing, food, and everyday necessities.
Women spent dozens of cash each, buying a wooden hairpin, some embroidery thread or oil and coarse salt.
At last, they drooled over the contents of another box.
Because the box was filled with colorful flowers, silver hairpins and other small trinkets.
It's not too expensive, a few pieces of silver can get you a beautiful silver hairpin.
But living at home, diligence and thrift come first.
No matter how women fawned or praised, no one was willing to spend money.
The peddler, seeing this, became somewhat anxious and despondent, saying: "Sisters-in-law, all these things were purchased by me from the silver shop. I spent all the family's savings. They are truly good things."
"If I can't sell it, I won't be able to live. My mother has been taking medicine all year and is waiting for me to return home with the money to buy more medicine."
He was handsome and well-dressed, with a sweet mouth and good manners. The women had a very good impression of him.
At this moment, seeing him so anxious, a woman couldn't help but soften her heart and gave him some pointers.
"Hey little brother, life in our village isn't easy. This thing of yours is too expensive, we can't afford it even if we wanted to.
Why don't you go for a stroll in Xin Cun and Er Cun Those folks get hundreds of taels in red envelopes every year, they aren't short on silver. With these things you've brought, they'd probably sell out in no time.
"Really" The peddler was overjoyed, but then he withdrew his smile and said, "I heard from my colleagues that there are distinguished people living in the new village who don't allow outsiders like us to enter freely."
The women then seemed to remember, patted their heads and said with regret: "Oh yes, how could I forget! I almost made you run for nothing."
The peddler was getting desperate, his eyes bloodshot. "Sisters-in-law, this village, even the ones dozens of miles away, live better lives than any."
"The sisters-in-law are unwilling to buy, and I can't go back to the new village. Aren't these goods going to be worthless in my hands"
"If I can't sell the goods, my mother won't have medicine and she won't be able to live..."
The more he spoke, the sadder he became. A grown man was about to cry.
The women watched with tears in their eyes, urging and comforting each other.
It was still the same woman who had spoken earlier who stepped forward and took charge, "Alright, young man, I'll take you there."
"Just tell them you're my brother-in-law, and I'll take you to the New Village entrance. We can see if we can sell some jewelry and get enough money for your mother's medicine today."
"Oh, thank you so much, sister-in-law!" the peddler was overjoyed. He took a silver hairpin from his box and stuffed it into the woman's hand.
"Sister-in-law, you've helped so much, brother can't let you come here for nothing. This is a gift from your brother!"
The woman was originally well-intentioned, but she didn't expect such a harvest. She immediately burst into laughter.
She declined verbally, but her fingers quickly inserted the hairpin into her hair bun.
Then, under the envious and regretful gazes of many women, she led the peddler towards the new village.
Just a few steps away, Li Zheng came back from the field with his hands behind his back.
He saw from afar a woman from the village walking with a stranger, laughing and chatting, and he frowned.
In broad daylight, doesn't this woman care about her reputation
He shouted loudly, "Zhang San's wife, who is this Where are you going"
Zhang San's daughter-in-law jumped in fright, her heart pounding with anxiety.
He was a strict and orderly man in his daily life, especially when it came to matters between men and women, he abhorred them utterly.
Last year, a young widow in the village brought a man back to fool around. She was beaten half to death and driven away. Now she doesn't know where she ended up, dead or alive!
"Sir, this…this is my cousin, he came to sell some miscellaneous goods…"
Zhang San's daughter-in-law had only spoken a few words when she was interrupted by Li Zheng.
"Your family home isn't in Gan Prefecture, a thousand miles away. How did your brother get here"
Zhang San's daughter-in-law blushed and was unable to bear it any longer, so she could only tell the truth.
"Sir, this is a peddler who came to our village. Because the goods he carries are too expensive, we can't sell them in our village. We are also waiting for money to buy medicine for our elderly mother."
"I was soft-hearted for a moment and wanted to take him to Xincun, where life is good. He'd surely be able to afford it..."
The peddler quickly put down his load and hurried to bow, wanting to say a few kind words.
But Li Zheng glared at Zhang San's daughter-in-law and scolded her.
"Did a donkey kick you in the head You're always sticking your nose where it doesn't belong, aren't you"
"Who do you think you are, Guanyin Bodhisattva You're indispensable for saving people from suffering! Don't you know what Xin Cun is"
"That's where the county princess and her lord reside. They only allow those familiar to them in and out, even I need to make an appointment beforehand!"
That place grows fruit and vegetables, who knows when they will be sent to the palace for the emperor to eat!
"You just bring outsiders in willy-nilly. What if these people have bad intentions They could sprinkle some harmful powder in the fields, or bump into important guests. Then who will be responsible!"It wasn't so bad.But if I'm out and about later on, and there's no one around to help me, it'll be impossible.This time, especially, Jiā'ān and Jiāxǐ are going out.It's always better to be prepared w...