Li Wei was sitting on the precious couch and was listening to the emperor's endorsement. She was about to nod a few words of approval when she saw the regent Zhao Qian walking in from outside wearing a royal robe.
"The Queen Mother, I have something to report."
"You...you...Zhao Qian, are you planning to rebel?" Li Wei was shocked when he saw the royal robe on the regent and the sword in his hand. The young emperor was panicking and was about to hide on Li Wei's couch.
But he saw Zhao Qian holding his sword and stabbing the emperor in one fell swoop. The legitimate son fell at Li Wei's feet, and Li Wei was so frightened that he fell off the couch. Zhao Qian held the sword that was still dripping with blood, and pointed the tip of the sword at Li Wei: "Queen Mother, let me give you a ride. Let you reunite with the emperor as soon as possible. Otherwise, what will happen if the emperor is lonely and goes back to find his mother."
"No... Zhao Qian, are you really going to rebel?" Li Wei woke up screaming again.
Her chest was beating violently, she seemed out of breath, and her face was covered with sweat. After a while, Li Wei calmed down a little. She looked around in a panic, but she still didn't return to Daqi in this strange era.
She once again dreamed of being killed by Zhao Qian. But now that she is hiding here, Zhao Qian can't kill her even if he wants to. After Li Wei woke up, even though she was scared, she was still a little lucky.
It was still dark outside, but the sound of cleaning could be heard from the yard, and she knew it was getting late. She groped for the thread in the darkness, and with a gentle pull, the room became brighter.
"Are you up? What are you waiting for? Why don't you come and help me light the fire? The rice is not cooked yet, and the pigs are not sold yet." Liu Chunzhi opened the door and came in, and saw Li Wei getting dressed.
Li Wei agreed vaguely and quickly pulled on the old coat that was a little too short. She opened the door and walked out. The biting cold wind outside made Li Wei shiver. The little bit of sleepiness disappeared immediately, and she became more awake.
Winter mornings light up late, and it's still dark at this time, but it's already past seven o'clock. Liu Chunzhi had already cleaned two pots and was waiting for her daughter to help light the fire.
They are an ordinary family in a remote mountain village. There are five people in the family. However, Grandpa Li Wei lives with his eldest son Li Mingguo and occasionally comes to the second son's house down below for a meal. In his free time, Li Minghua took his eldest son to do odd jobs to earn money for the family, while Liu Chunzhi took care of the family. The total paddy fields and dry land are less than six acres. They feed two big fat pigs, a dozen chickens, and no other livestock.
While they were busy, Li Minghua and Li Jianping, father and son, also got up one after another. Li Jianping was brushing his teeth under the eaves with an enamel cup. Li Minghua was still wearing dirty clothes. In his words, he was doing tiring work anyway, so it would be a pity to wear clean clothes.
When Liu Chunzhi saw the boss coming out, she discussed with Li Minghua: "It's almost time. You can find someone to come and take a look tomorrow."
Li Minghua naturally understood the meaningless sentence and nodded: "It's the twelfth lunar month in a blink of an eye, so that's fine. I'll come back early and ask Wang Chaozi to come over and see what price I can give." Li Minghua said. He struck a match, lit a cigarette, took a few puffs and coughed a few times.
Liu Chunzhi hated Li Minghua's smoking, curled her lips in disgust, and continued the previous topic: "I heard that the price of pigs this year is pretty good, and they can sell for 60 cents per catty."
"Pork prices are rising one piece at a time, so of course the price for woolly pigs should follow suit."
Liu Chunzhi added hesitantly: "How about we only sell one this year and kill the remaining one ourselves, so that we can celebrate the New Year. Anyway, Weiwei won't go to school after the New Year, which will save us an expense."
"Come on, don't you still want to build a few more houses? You also want to marry Jian Ping and provide for Jian Bo's education. Why don't you use money?"
As soon as Li Minghua finished speaking, Li Jianping spit out his mouthwash and said, "I haven't even married a wife at the age of 18. Dad, I won't go to the tile kiln to work after the Chinese New Year."
"If you don't go to the kiln, where are you going?" Li Minghua's voice sounded a little unhappy.
"Go to the city to have a look, find something to do first, save enough money, and then prepare to start a small business." Li Jianping has his own ideas.
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Minghua punched him in the face and shouted in a low voice: "Your wings have grown hard, do you want to fly?"
"I don't want to stay in this mountain den all my life. After I finish reading Jianbo Book, I should try to do something famous. Maybe I can make money, and we can build a two-story building like the people in other towns. . No, we will buy a house in the city then.”
"I'll beat you to death. Work hard and don't think about things all day long. You want to buy a house? I think you're still dreaming, so you're just talking in your sleep!" Li Minghua felt that his son was so ambitious, and he felt angry. I want to give my son a beating to wake him up.
The sounds from the yard were heard intermittently, and Li Wei was in a daze looking at the blazing flames in the stove, until someone hurriedly walked in.
"Li Wei! Why don't you study?" It was obvious that there was a bit of anger in his words.
Li Wei looked up and saw it was Li Jianbo. She nodded and said, "Yes."
"What are you doing!" Li Jianbo was about to get angry. He walked to the stove and asked repeatedly: "You only turned fourteen a few days ago and you dropped out of school early. What can you do? Can you be like your father and elder brother?" Do you want to work as a laborer, or be a working woman like your mother all your life? What can you do? If you haven't even graduated from junior high school, do you really want to ruin your life by working in a restaurant? Why are you so spineless for being such a coward?" Li Jianbo's voice gradually became louder.
Facing the second brother's questioning and scolding, Li Wei seemed a little confused. At this time, all she was thinking about was Daqi, and she never thought about what studying or not studying would mean for the future.
No one had ever dared to challenge her in front of her like this, either in Shangshu Mansion or after entering the palace. She should say something to refute to defend herself, but Li Wei opened her mouth. She faced this young man's scolding of her. I can't find a rebuttal sentence.
Li Jianbo's voice made the three people in the yard come in. Li Jianping thought it was Jianbo and his sister who were arguing.
The whole family was standing in front of her, but at this moment she just wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl in. Liu Chunzhi said something on behalf of her daughter: "Jianbo, please stop scolding your sister. I will hit you and scold you." Yes. She knew she was wrong."
"You know it's wrong? Then why doesn't she go back and continue studying?"
"She dropped out of school, and I had to go through the procedures for her." Liu Chunzhi quickly explained.
Li Jianbo glanced at his sister, who had her head lowered. He could only see her black hair, but could not see the expression on her face. But at this moment, he was almost pissed to death by this sister. If his elder brother hadn't stopped him last night, he would have rushed to his sister's room and cursed her.
"Okay, why are you arguing so early in the morning? Is the meal ready? I'm hungry." Li Minghua suddenly spoke.
Li Wei bit her lip tightly without saying a word, thinking that these were all the troubles caused by her original body, how should she end it.
Li Jianbo was so angry that he turned around and went inside without wanting to eat.
(End of chapter)