stingy landlady

Chapter 146 People from Huanghua Village (1)

Ju Shuang said with a smile:

"Boss! It's because the baby in my belly misses Daddy! Hehehe!"

Guizhi also beamed with joy:

"Wanrou is pregnant? This is wonderful news! Uncle Xu Hong will finally have an heir. If he knew, he would rush home day and night!"

Ju Shuang said worriedly:

"My sister wouldn't say anything if she wasn't feeling well, but luckily Lin Shiba's younger sister is an experienced woman. Seeing her vomiting, she remembered to ask about her period, and it turned out she was pregnant!"

Wanrou said softly:

"Master! My little sister says he's still too young! He'll stop vomiting once he's a bit older and his pregnancy is more stable!"

Xu Hong finally returned before the heavy snow. He specially sent a carriage to Caomujie to pick up cassia branches.

When Guizhi entered Huanghua Village, she was stunned by the dark crowd in front of her!

"What's going on here? Where did all these people come from? Are they refugees? Why are they all dressed in tattered clothes? Someone explain this to me!"

Xu Hong walked out of the crowd.

"Miss! You're back! It's cold outside! Let's go inside and talk!"

Guizhi glanced at Xu Hong, forcing herself to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Uncle Xu Hong! It's only because you're here that I'm leaving! Bringing so many people here in this freezing weather, if something happens, and someone freezes to death or gets injured, I can't take the responsibility!"

As Guizhi spoke, her voice choked with emotion.

Xu Hong pulled Guizhi into her room. The room was very warm; the kang (heated brick bed) must have been heated beforehand!

Xu Hong hurriedly tried to kneel down, but Gui Zhi helped him up and wouldn't let him.

"I told you not to kneel before me! Get to the point. If kneeling will solve the problem, then keep kneeling!"

Xu Hong quickly stood up, following Gui Zhi's hand, and explained:

"Miss! I went to the steward of the Prince's mansion and asked. The Prince did indeed give us 20% of the profits! We received a total of one thousand taels of silver!"

As Xu Hong spoke, he took out five hundred taels of silver notes from his pocket, one hundred taels each, five notes in total!

"Your Highness is very pleased to hear that we are living well, that we have solved our basic needs, and that some of us have even started families and established careers!"

"Your Highness is pleased? Then what about these people? Does he not want me to live a peaceful life? Does he have to make things difficult for me, and only when he sees us lacking food and clothing will he be happy?"

Xu Hong hurriedly called out:

"Miss! Miss! Please don't worry, don't get upset!"

Xu Hong then took out another piece of paper and said:

"Miss! The Prince said you can choose any five hundred acres of land nearby. The residences of these people are not included! However..."

Xu Hong became embarrassed at the end and lowered his voice, but Guizhi still heard him clearly.

"Miss! The Prince withheld five hundred taels of silver from the wasteland! He only gave us five hundred taels in cash to take back!"

"How many people came?"

Xu Hong said in a low voice:

“One hundred people! I originally wanted to send five hundred! But I was afraid I really couldn’t arrange it or feed them! Since His Highness just said one hundred, then one hundred it is!”

Guizhi laughed out loud in anger:

"Heh! Five hundred men, he dares to send them, I dare to accept them! At worst, we'll seize a mountain stronghold and become mountain kings! I'm the boss, Uncle Xu Hong, you're the second! Who told you to be such a coward!"

Xu Hong advised from the side:

"Don't be upset, Miss! Don't be upset, Miss! I've already told everyone to hurry up and build the shelters, ten people per room, ten people per group. I estimate the shelters will be almost ready by tomorrow!"

"So where are we going to stay tonight? There are so many people, where are we going to put them? How are we going to manage so many people?"

Xu Hongdao:

"Miss! You're easy to manage! Everyone obeys orders! In the army, disobeying orders means being beheaded!"

"Alright! Then you'll all be under military-style management! Anyone who provokes trouble will be kicked out of Huanghua Village!"

"Yes, yes, Miss! I'll have someone keep a close eye on them!"

"No harassing the original villagers, no disturbing married couples. No fighting, everyone be civilized!"

"Yes, yes, Miss! It's just that not many of them are literate or have any formal education!"

"Then study! Anyway, it's freezing cold, we have plenty of time! What are we doing idle? Make time to study! People tend to get into trouble when they're idle! No gambling or drunken brawls allowed!"

Xu Hongdao:

"Miss! How do you know everything! You know all the bad habits in the military camp like the back of your hand!"

"Hmph! Uncle Xu Hong, as long as they don't try to deceive me, that's fine! Have the cattle been brought back?"

"Hmm! I wouldn't dare! Whoever deceives Miss, I'll whip him! He'll be dealt with according to military law!"

"Hehe! Miss! All one hundred cows have been herded back! Would you like to go and take a look?"

As he spoke, Xu Hong pushed the silver note to Guizhi.

"Do all these people have luggage? Why are they all crowding here? Aren't they all married?"

"I have all my luggage. When I was discharged, I even took my bedding with me! After serving for several years, all I had left was my bedding! Alas! Miss! The court doesn't care about us, and the prince can't do anything about it either!"

Guizhi asked curiously:

"With so much wasteland, why not send people to reclaim it? With so many soldiers, if they all went to reclaim the wasteland, I think it would be enough to feed ourselves!"

Xu Hongdao:

"It's not that the prince is unwilling to reclaim wasteland and raise a large army! It's that the imperial court won't allow it! The one sitting on the dragon throne is afraid that the prince will become too powerful with his army! His position is not secure!"

That's why the prince can only try various methods to disperse us all, so even if the imperial envoy comes to investigate, he won't find anything! It's all wasteland, stretching as far as the eye can see! What is there to be afraid of?"

Upon hearing that the imperial court was involved, Guizhi touched her little arms and looked at her little legs, and said:

"Uncle Xu Hong! I'm all skin and bones, I can't argue with him! Just pretend I didn't ask that today! I just want to live a peaceful life! As long as I have enough to eat and drink and warm clothes, that's enough for me!"

Xu Hong also smiled.

"Miss! Life is full of disappointments! We have people and land! As long as you are willing to work, heaven will reward your diligence! Nothing is difficult in this world if you set your mind to it!"

"Miss! Things will get better!"

Guizhi thought for a moment and said:

"Let's go out and take a look! It's freezing cold, even the soil is hard to dig!"

Xu Hong saw that Guizhi had come to terms with things, recognized reality, and was willing to accept these people. Only then did he feel relieved and slowly walked out with Guizhi.

The newcomers all curiously sized up Guizhi, having heard that the landlady was a young girl. Guizhi walked over, and one of the talkative old soldiers asked:

"Young lady! Are you our boss?"

Guizhi nodded in response and asked:

"It's so cold outside. Now that you've been discharged from the military, why don't you go back to your hometown?"

The old soldier sighed:

"Sigh! What's the point of going back to my hometown? I was only sent to serve in the military because there were too many people in my family. They've long since given up on me. I wouldn't know where to go if I went back! Nowhere to live, nowhere to work! I had no choice but to come along. At least I'd have somewhere to eat and somewhere to stay!"

Oh! Boss! Please don't kick us out! It's freezing cold, we don't know where we've gone!