Cheng Qianye stayed in the conference hall until very late. She mostly listened and did not speak easily.
Although these military and political affairs were complicated and unfamiliar to her, she would be able to become familiar with them as long as she was willing to participate and learn more.
After all, I am a working woman, not an ancient lady who never leaves the house.
Cheng Qianye encouraged himself.
When she returned to the dormitory, Xiao Xiu was still waiting for her there.
"Why are you still here? Go back and rest. I don't need any help." Cheng Qianye was not used to having someone help her with changing clothes and daily life, and it was not appropriate given her secret identity.
As she was speaking, Xiao Xiu blushed slightly, knelt down meekly at her feet, picked up the corner of her clothes, gave her a gentle kiss, then raised her head and looked at her tenderly.
Cheng Qianye knew that this action had a special meaning.
This is what a person of low status needs to do when seeking favors from a noble and offering himself to their bed.
Looking at those eyes full of expectation, Cheng Qianye felt a little embarrassed and a little sympathetic to him. This was a relationship that was destined to have no results.
She tried to be gentle but said without leaving any room for negotiation: "Go back, Xiaoxiu, I'm tired."
I shouldn't do this anymore, keeping him by my side every day, giving him hope but not giving him a response, Cheng Qianye said to himself.
Starting from the second day, Cheng Qianye asked Mo Qiaosheng, whose injury had improved, to take a car on his own to go back and forth to Xishan to soak in the hot springs for healing, and entrusted Xiao Xiu to accompany him.
He took off his gorgeous loose clothes and changed into a short straight-hemmed coat that was easy to move in. He began to follow Xiao Jin in and out to familiarize himself with military and political affairs.
On this day, because Xiao Jin was worried about the autumn flood, he and Cheng Qianye rode on horseback, accompanied by a group of attendants, to inspect the Bian River on the outskirts of the city.
On the way back, it had rained for several days in a row and the road was a bit muddy.
Xiao Jin smiled and said, "My lord's horsemanship has improved a lot."
The progress in his words refers to the riding skills of the delicate princess who previously had no idea how to ride a horse.
"I'm still not used to it. It hurts when I ride a long distance. Xiao Sikou, can we get off the horse and walk for a while?" Cheng Qianye said embarrassedly.
After spending a few days together, Xiao Jin's impression of Cheng Qianye has changed a lot.
He found that Cheng Qianye was not squeamish, but had a gentle and modest personality. He would humbly ask for advice when he did not understand something and would never give orders in a bossy manner.
If you want to change other people's views of you, it is useless to bury your head in self-pity. Taking the initiative to approach others and generously showing your strengths is the effective way.
Although he has been in a slump for a while, Cheng Qianye is still a resilient person who does what he says.
Since she realized that her hope of returning home was slim and that some things were bound to be unavoidable, she began to determine to actively adapt to the world before her.
The two men led the horses and walked slowly forward.
There were abandoned fields on both sides of the road, and weeds were growing rampantly on the unattended land.
Only the criss-crossing ridges show that this was once a fertile land.
"So many people are starving, but there are large tracts of wasteland here. Can't we let those refugees reclaim these wastelands?"
Cheng Qianye knew that civil affairs was a very complicated matter, and there must be reasons that she didn't know, so she used a question sentence instead of a rhetorical question.
"This is public land, but there have been wars for years, and the lords have been constantly changing. Farming the land requires constant taxation and labor service. As a result, the people have fled everywhere, and no one is willing to farm."
"Public land?"
Xiao Jin broke off a branch and drew a square on the ground.
He held up a stick and pointed at the ground: "A field is a hundred steps long and wide."
The branches extend the four sides of the square, forming a tic-tac-toe.
"Nine fields form a well, which is given to eight households. The middle is public land, and the surrounding is private land. All eight households work together to maintain the public land. After public affairs are completed, they dare to deal with private affairs."
"It seems like a good idea. As long as you finish planting the public part in the middle and then plant your own fields, the income will be yours."
Cheng Qianye squatted beside the well-shaped pattern drawn by the branch and thought, so this is the well-field system.
Xiao Jin discovered that this princess who was raised in the deep palace was sometimes very naive and lacked common sense, but sometimes very sharp.
She can often accurately summarize the key points of a problem and come up with some surprising and advanced ideas.
So he couldn't help but explain it in detail.
"Yes, but the premise is that there must be a fixed lord and the country rarely goes to war. As common people who cultivate the well fields, in addition to performing miscellaneous labor, they must also bear military taxes and military service. Frequent wars not only cause a heavy tax burden, but also cause a large number of men to lose their lives or become slaves of the enemy army."
"Indeed." Cheng Qianye stretched out his hand and pointed at the well character. "Moreover, they have no motivation. They can be lazy and slack when cultivating public land, but they cultivate their own land carefully. The land belongs to the country, and they cannot buy or sell it. Those who know how to cultivate can only cultivate so much land, and those who cannot cultivate can only cultivate so much land."
Zhang Fu straightened his sleeves and saluted: "My lord, your insight is extraordinary, I cannot compare with you."
"Old Xiao, don't learn Zhang Fu's tricks." Cheng Qianye smiled and raised his hand to nod, "You are like a half-master in my heart. You are the only person I can trust and rely on the most."
Everyone knows how to praise each other in business. I am also good at it.
Xiao Jin was deeply moved by these words and sincerely advised: "Mr. Zhang is a rare man of his time, with unparalleled wisdom and strategies. Why has the lord been so cold to him recently?"
"He seems to be smiling all the time, but he's actually very arrogant. He doesn't like me, so it's useless for me to be so cold to him. It's better to leave him alone for a while, and the effect may be better."
I want Zhang Fu's amethyst to be loyal to me, but I don't think I can get it in the short term.
Xiao Jin thought to himself: It seems that the princess is not only sharp-minded and insightful, but also has her own way of managing her subordinates and a unique perspective on people. It's a pity that she is a girl, otherwise she might really be a wise ruler of our Great Jin.
At this moment, in the Xishan Yueshen Spring, Mo Qiaosheng was soaking in the water alone.
Without his master by his side, he suddenly developed a fear of water. He quietly reached out a hand to hold the railing tightly, not wanting others to notice his nervousness.
Xiao Xiu squatted by the pool, looking at him boredly: "Qiaosheng, I think you are all right now, why does the master still send us here every day? I don't know which coquettish bitch has been accompanying the master recently. It can't be the ugly new sisters."
Mo Qiaosheng: "Thank you for accompanying me every day. But the master's orders cannot be disobeyed. Otherwise, I..."
Otherwise, I also long to follow my lord.
"Xiao Mo." Xiao Xiu looked around and saw no one around, so she lowered her voice and said mysteriously, "The lord has visited you many times here, right?"
Mo Qiao's face flushed red, and after a long while he said, "No, the master never favored me."
"Impossible? Never? The Lord loves you so much."
Mo Qiaosheng said nothing more.
"I'm talking to you." Xiao Xiu leaned down and whispered, "You don't never take the initiative to serve me, do you?"
Mo Qiaosheng looked confused.
"Hey, how can you be so ungrateful? I don't know what to say to you."
"The lord is a very gentle person. If you don't take the initiative to serve him, he won't force you. But the lord is so considerate to you, don't you know his intentions?"
"Do you still want the Lord to serve you?"
"No wonder the lord complained about you when I slept with him a few days ago. I said that the lord hasn't been coming to the hot spring recently. So that's why. You are really stupid."
Mo Qiaosheng lowered his head and said, "Master... did he really say that?"
"You are failing the Lord's kindness."
"I… "
When Xiao Xiu and Mo Qiaosheng returned to the city, they saw a crowd of people surging at the porridge stall under the city wall, as if something exciting was happening.
When they walked in, they saw that their lord, Marquis Yue of Jin, was actually distributing porridge in person in the porridge shed.
Cheng Qianye was wearing a golden crown on his head, a face like a full moon, and a Hu suit. He was busy sweating, and his handsome and fair face was flushed.
The people who received the bowls of porridge from him were all moved to tears, and many of them left with tears in their eyes after paying their respects.
"My lord is so kind-hearted, he is truly like a bodhisattva descending to earth."
"Come and give us porridge every day."
"We are saved."
"I really hope to be the master's people forever."
Mo Qiaosheng and Xiao Xiu rushed forward and prostrated themselves in greeting.
Cheng Qianye wiped his sweat and helped them up, one on the left and one on the right.
"From now on, you don't need to bow down to the emperor. If you really need to do it, just kneel down and pay your respects."
Xiao Xiu stamped her feet and said, "My Lord, how can you do such a thing and come here every day?"
"Well, I can't do anything else right now. I can only do what I can do first." Cheng Qianye took off his apron and handed the spoon to the sergeant beside him. "Okay, that's enough for today. I'll go back with you."
She curiously glanced at Mo Qiaosheng who was standing behind Xiao Xiu, and saw strange emotions on his expressionless face.
What kind of obsession has this classmate Xiao Mo gotten himself into again
This ability to see through any emotion at a glance has both advantages and disadvantages, but its colors are so charming that I can't bear to ignore it.
"Is Xiao Mo feeling better? I'm free tomorrow, I'll take some time to go to the hot springs with you guys."
Cheng Qianye found that after saying this, it did not have any comforting effect. Instead, Mo Qiaosheng seemed even more nervous and conflicted.
On the evening of the second day, Cheng Qianye took a nice soak in the Moon Goddess Spring to relax his tired muscles from the past few days.
She walked to the shore, tightened the straps around her chest, put on her clothes, and touched the blindfolded head in the water. "You can get up now."
It’s such a pleasure.
Cheng Qianye leaned on a lounge chair by the pool, holding a white jade wine pot, poured a glass of amber fruit wine, admired the red-leaf forest under the setting sun, and drank by himself.
She heard the sound of someone rising from the pool behind her.
Not long after, the corner of his clothes seemed to be gently tugged by someone.
Cheng Qianye turned around and saw,
Mo Qiaosheng knelt beside her, with only a bath towel wrapped around his waist, and his long, ink-black hair draped softly over his naked body.
He looked flustered, his throat rolling, and his hand holding the corner of her clothes was shaking slightly.
As if he suddenly made up his mind, he lowered his head and quickly kissed the corner of her clothes.
"You..." Cheng Qianye was stunned.
Mo Qiaosheng turned his head to the side, his face full of rosy clouds, and said awkwardly with difficulty: "I hope... Master, Master, have mercy on me."