In the early morning, before the sun rises, thin mist surrounds the bamboo village.
Yingbao took her two younger brothers and Youyou for a run along the smooth village road.
Yoyo ran very fast, followed by Yingbao and her brother, who were not slow either. The two dogs had grown up now and could run faster than Yingbao.
Three kids, two dogs and a deer running early in the morning has become a common sight in the village, and the villagers have long been accustomed to it.
Zhang Meng stood at the intersection and watched, nodding secretly. "Those two kids are agile, strong, and have strong endurance. They are good seedlings."
Unfortunately, the imperial court values culture over military affairs. If I propose that Jiang Cunzheng's twin sons learn martial arts, it seems inappropriate.
"Good seedlings should be trained more, otherwise they will grow crooked." Xu Kun said quietly.
Zhang Meng looked at his brother and asked, "Do you want to accept a disciple?"
Xu Kun smiled and said, "It's not my place to accept a disciple. I saw Brother Fu had the intention, but I don't know why he didn't take any action."
"Brother Fu is in an awkward position. How can he take the initiative to teach a good citizen's child martial arts?"
Zhang Meng sighed, "Let's just live the rest of our lives in peace."
Xu Kun was silent.
Yingbao and her brother followed Youyou all the way to the pond.
Yoyo stopped to drink water, while Yingbao looked into the distance.
Early in the morning, my father took a group of villagers to dig a water storage ditch in the distance.
The ditch is two meters wide and ten meters long. When the rainy season comes next year, the ditch will be filled with water, and the drinking water supply of more than two hundred villagers on the south slope will be improved.
After drinking the water, the little deer raised its head and looked into the distance.
Yingbao followed its gaze and saw a carriage coming on the village road in the distance, followed by four servants on horseback.
The two puppies immediately rushed towards the strange carriage, chasing and barking all the way.
Sun Lizheng, who was sitting on the shaft of the carriage, shouted and asked the carriage to stop in front of the gate of Jiang's house.
When the puppy saw a familiar face, he wagged his tail and ran back whimpering, seeking comfort from his master.
Yingbao touched their heads and walked quickly towards home with his brother.
A middle-aged man got off the carriage and was led into the gate of the Jiang family by Sun Lizheng.
The middle-aged man looked at the tall wall and asked curiously, "Why is it built like this?"
Sun Lizheng laughed and said, "There was a bandit problem a while ago, and the wall was built to prevent bandits, and there was no other purpose."
The man nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
"Is Brother Jiang here?" Sun Lizheng shouted towards the courtyard gate.
Old Man Jiang recognized the voice as that of Li Zheng Sun and quickly ran out of the house, "Oh, Brother Sun is here, please come in quickly."
Sun Lizheng said with a smile: "Let me introduce you to a distinguished guest, Mr. Wang from the capital. Mr. Wang, this is Brother Jiang who took in your child."
Mr. Wang immediately stepped forward and bowed to Old Man Jiang, "Thank you, Uncle Jiang, for taking in my nephew Wei Zhan. I am very grateful."
Old man Jiang quickly returned the greeting and let the man go home. "Please come in and talk."
He also told his little grandson beside him to call Wei Zhan over.
The three of them walked into the main room, and Jiang's wife Zhou hurried to the kitchen to prepare breakfast tea for the guests.
Yuanbao quickly ran to his second uncle's house to find Wei Zhan. "Wei Zhan! Your uncle is here to pick you up!"
Wei Zhan was stunned and subconsciously asked: "Which uncle?"
Yuanbao had no idea which uncle it was, so he pulled him out and said, "You'll know if you go and take a look!"
Wei Zhan didn't want to go, and he held onto the door frame with one hand and refused to leave, "No, no, no!"
Yuanbao was surprised and turned around to look at him: "Why?" He has been away for several months. Doesn't he miss home and his parents
“I’m not going if I don’t want to go!” Wei Zhan turned back to the room, took off his shoes, climbed onto the kang, and got into the quilt without showing his head.
Yuanbao blinked, not understanding why Wei Zhan was like this.
Inside the main hall, Wang Xian chatted with Old Man Jiang for a while, but he didn't see his nephew after waiting for a long time, and he couldn't help but feel puzzled.
Yuanbao ran into the main room and told Grandpa, "Wei Zhan refused to come."
Old Man Jiang and Wang Xian looked at each other and stood up. "Why don't we go take a look?"
"Thank you, Uncle Jiang."
Wang Xian also stood up and followed Old Man Jiang to Jiang Erlang's house.
Jiang Erlang is not here at the moment, as he went to dig a ditch with his elder brother and others.
Seeing that the guests were male, Yan Ru just took them to Hu Zi's room and then left.
"Qilang?" Wang Xian called out to the bulging quilt on the kang.
The bulge didn't move.
Wang Xian had no choice but to lift the quilt, but Wei Zhan held on to the corner of the quilt tightly and refused to let go.
"Qilang, I'm your uncle." Wang Xian said helplessly, "Are you blaming your uncle for being late?"
Wei Zhan remained silent.
"Qilang, you don't know that the government has strict inspections along the way, and the pass must be renewed every hundred miles, so your uncle was delayed."
Seeing that Wei Zhan still didn't say anything, Wang Xian sighed: "When your mother found out that you and Dalang were separated, she vomited blood on the spot. Qilang, hurry back with your uncle, otherwise..."
Wei Zhan threw back the quilt and started to cry, "I don't want to go back, wuwuwuwu... Uncle, can you go back and bring my mother here? Yingbao's medical skills are very good, she will definitely be able to cure my mother."
Wang Xian: …
Turning to ask Old Man Jiang: "Uncle Jiang, may I ask who Mr. Ying Bao is..."
Old Man Jiang chuckled, "She is my youngest granddaughter. She is only four years old and has just learned some basic medical skills. She is not that powerful. Young Master Wei is joking."
Wei Zhan was not convinced, but he also knew that he could not talk back to Grandpa Jiang, so he puffed his lips and said nothing.
Wang Xian saw that his nephew was getting stubborn again, so he had to persuade him: "Qilang, how about we go back to the city to visit your mother first, and then you can come back with your mother, is that okay?"
Wei Zhan really missed his mother, but he was even more reluctant to leave this place and his friends.
It was much more fun here than in the mansion. He could open his heart and play with his friends without worrying about others mocking him for not having the demeanor of a young master from a noble family, nor did he have to worry about the food being poisoned.
The key is that he is treated the same as his friends. He will be praised for helping adults and punished for being naughty.
Wei Zhan felt that this was what a family should be like.
The one in the city is just a cage for training animals. He must do as they ask. He must be humble and polite, be friendly to his brothers and respectful to his younger brothers, and behave in moderation.
Otherwise, his mother would be disappointed, his father would be annoyed, the whole family would laugh at him, and even the servants would secretly disobey him and bully him because he is young.
“Qilang…” Wang Xian saw that his nephew remained silent and could not help but try to persuade him.
Wei Zhan wiped his tears and finally nodded: "Well, then I will go back first and bring my mother back later."
Madam Wen is also from the provincial capital. She can live here with her daughter alone, so can my mother.
He would bring his mother over when he got back, and then spend money to build a house next to Yingbao's house, where he and his mother would live.
Wang Xian was relieved to see his nephew agreed to go home. "Then let's go now. First, we will go to the county town to exchange for a pass, and then hire a escort team."
Banditry is rampant in this area. Although the imperial court has sent troops to suppress them, there is no guarantee that there may still be remnants of bandits on the road, so we must hire a bodyguard team to escort us.
Wei Zhan was immediately unhappy when he saw his uncle was so anxious, "Let's go tomorrow!"
He had just become good friends with many children in the village and had not even had time to say goodbye to them. How could he just leave like this
Wang Xian knew that his nephew was a troublemaker and he had to stroke him in the right direction, otherwise things would get ugly.
"Okay, let's set off again tomorrow morning."