Aunt Qin didn't give the new cloth to Erya. She hid it. Her mother wouldn't use these things of her daughter. They would be used when they were useful. But she used her own cloth to make clothes. She could brag about it after making the clothes. Every time she saw the envious eyes and sour tone of the villagers, she was happy. After all, she could brag not only in the village, but also in her mother's family. After looking at the cloth and clothes, Aunt Qin looked at the clay pots and asked, "What are these?" If it was just a big bag of clothes and cloth, there would be no need for the escort team's carriage to send Uncle Qin to Baili Village. It could be sent to the county town. The reason why the escort team's carriage sent Uncle Qin to the village was because Uncle Qin brought a few clay pots.
Uncle Qin said, "This earthenware jar contains spicy cabbage, this one contains pickled radish, this one contains fermented rice wine, and this one contains fermented rice wine dregs and bones. I have eaten these at Afang's house and they are all delicious, so I brought them back for you to try." Uncle Qin did not feel hardship at all when he brought them back for his daughter and wife to try. Instead, he felt a sense of pride.
When Aunt Qin heard that it was food, she hurriedly said, "Open it and let me see." As long as it was food, she would not mind it even if it was as big as a fingernail.
Uncle Qin opened the lids of the four earthenware jars one by one, and Aunt Qin smelled them one by one. No matter whether it was the spicy cabbage or the pickled radish, they were all very fragrant, the kind that could make people's appetites grow and their mouths water just by smelling them, and it really stimulated people's taste buds.
Aunt Qin went back to the kitchen to get chopsticks, and then she ran out again. She picked up the spicy cabbage and took a bite: "Oh, this spicy cabbage tastes really good, it goes really well with rice." In ancient times when oil, salt, sauce and vinegar were expensive, it was not easy to make spicy cabbage that went well with rice. So Aunt Qin fell in love with it at the first bite.
Seeing his wife like this, Uncle Qin was also very pleased: "Is it delicious? I think it's delicious, so I brought it to you. And you can try this pickled radish, it tastes good too."
Aunt Qin tasted it without Uncle Qin telling her. After tasting it, she said, "It tastes good, but the ingredients are not good. Sugar must have been added. Putting sugar in cabbage and radish is really a waste of time."
Uncle Qin said, "That's right."
Aunt Qin looked at Uncle Qin and said, "Tell me about the General's Mansion."
Speaking of the General's Mansion, Uncle Qin only said one sentence: "It's too big, bigger than our village."
Aunt Qin didn't believe it, but she also knew her husband wouldn't lie: "Is it really that big? That way a lot of people can live there.
Uncle Qin said, "Not really. Ah Fang's wife said that the palace was where the prince lived before, and they were given the place to live when they were young.
But this house in the general's mansion belongs to the court. If Ah Fang is no longer a general or is transferred to another place, the house will be returned to the court."
Aunt Qin: "That's not a rare house." Sooner or later, I will go back home. After all, it's not as good as home. "What do you eat and cook in the general's mansion? How about beef eggs?"
Speaking of this, Second Uncle Qin took out a piece of paper from his arms: "Afang gave Niu Dan a name, and Afang's wife also gave names to the maids in the family. Niu Dan is named Shouxin, the same as Shouye and Shoucheng, and the names sound like brothers. Erya is named Erya..." Second Uncle Qin slowly recounted what happened in the general's mansion.
When Aunt Qin heard this, she envied them for the good food and drinks they had had these days, and was also happy that their children had all been given names. However, the child had to be registered with the household registration after having a proper name. So the couple discussed registering the child with the household registration tomorrow.
Yunxiang County
Outside the county town, Du Ke and Shen Lixian were already there, but they did not enter the city immediately. Du Ke said to Shen Lixian: "At this time, Qin Fang should be over at the Beast Mountain. Let's go to the Beast Mountain to take a look."
Shen Lixian: "Listen to the adults." He knew about the Beast Mountain and the minerals.
Besides, his main purpose of coming out this time was not these things, but to take advantage of every opportunity he could find to find his nephew.
Du Ke was a newcomer and didn't know where the Beast Mountain was, but the person who led the way was someone who had been to Yunxiang County with Chief Steward Chi before, so the other person knew where the Beast Mountain was.
Come to Beast Mountain and look at the guards at the foot of the mountain.
The soldiers at the foot of the mountain saw someone approaching and were about to step forward to question him when one of them pulled the other's hand and said, "Brother, do you think the leader looks like Lord Du Ke, whom we met in Huanshui County?"
The other party took a closer look and said, "He really does look like him. But why is Lord Du here?" They had seen Lord Du the other day when they followed General Qin, and the leader of this group of people did look like Lord Du. "Looking at him now, he seems to be someone of some status. Could he really be Lord Du?"
The three of them looked at each other and the first one to speak said, "Let's go up and ask."
The man nodded, and the other man stepped forward.
Du Ke saw a soldier coming over and blocking their way, he raised his eyebrows. Then he heard the soldier say: "My lord, are you Lord Du Kedu?"
Du Ke was a little surprised: "Do you know me?"
Du Ke said this, and the soldiers who came over quickly knelt down. One of them explained: "I saw you when I followed General Qin in Huanshui County, but because of my humble status, I didn't dare to look too closely, so I'm not very sure now."
"Hahaha..." Du Ke laughed, "Get up, you have a good memory. Where is your General Qin? Has he climbed the mountain?"
The soldier stood up and said, "The general did go up the mountain."
Du Ke looked at the height of the mountain and thought that if he climbed up, he would definitely suffer a lot, but he also wanted to take a look at the ore, so he said, "Lead the way, I will go upstairs."
"This..." The soldier hesitated, "I'm afraid that's not possible, sir."
Du Ke: "Oh? I can't come up?" He waved his authority, and the guards were so scared that they immediately knelt down again.
The soldier hurriedly explained: "Please forgive me, General Qin has ordered that no one can go up the mountain without his consent. Violators will be punished by military law, so... please forgive me."
Du Ke snorted: "What if I am not the superior? Given the friendship between me and your general, he will definitely not blame you."
The soldier refused: "Please forgive me, sir."
At the same time, other soldiers also gathered around. General Qin was very kind to them and took good care of them. With the soldiers, their lives were much better than farming at home. So the soldiers were very loyal to Qin Fang. If someone tried to break into the Beast Mountain, the soldiers would try their best to stop them.
Shen Lixian was a little surprised. Lord Du was not the type to make things difficult for others. Why was he doing this today? Soon, he knew what Lord Du meant.
Du Ke laughed again: "Yes, you are all very good, and you have the toughness of our Qi country soldiers. In this case, I will not go upstairs. You can go upstairs and tell General Qin that I will be watching him from below."
The soldier breathed a sigh of relief: "Yes."
One of the soldiers went to the Beast Mountain Taoist Temple to ask Qin to let him go, and the rest were still at their posts. Du Ke was not idle either, and asked the soldiers to lead the way, and he walked around the foot of the Beast Mountain.
Beast Mountain Taoist Temple
Wei Ting and Qin Fang were eating roasted chicken. Speaking of which, after spending some time together, Wei Ting and Qin Fang's relationship has improved. Although Wei Ting was born in a noble family, he was not as arrogant as the average noble family son. And although Qin Fang was born in a peasant family, he was not as ignorant as the average peasant. Qin Fang could hunt and Wei Ting could barbecue, so they got along very well. Wei Ting talked about everything in the capital, those noble family relationships, those interpersonal relationships, so he would make up for them in advance and sell them to Qin Fang. Qin Fang talked about the lives of the lower-class people and the lives in the border military camps.
So, that’s how people became friends.
Wei Ting took a sip of iced mung bean soup, then a bite of roasted chicken and said, "In my life, I am happiest here. When I was in the capital before, I couldn't eat chicken like this, and I couldn't drink mung bean soup like this. It was very polite. But when people are so particular about everything, how can they be happy?"
Qin Fang said: "I have always been very happy in my life, and the happiest thing is marrying my wife."
Wei Ting: "..." Speaking of which, he had met the Lady of Bingyun several times. Every ten days, Qin Fang would bring some delicious food to the Beast Mountain Taoist Temple to share with them. To be honest, he couldn't say that he admired the Lady of Bingyun, but he thought she was amazing. Qin Fang was able to marry her thanks to the succession fight that year.
"General... General..."
Qin Fang turned his head: "What's the matter?"
The soldier came up from the foot of the mountain, panting: "General, Lord Dukodu is dead, waiting for you at the foot of the Beast Mountain."
Qin Fang was stunned at first, then he was delighted: "Master Du is here?" He stood up suddenly, thought for a moment and calmed down, "Brother Wei, there will be a banquet at the General's Mansion tomorrow night, please be sure to come."
Wei Ting was surprised that Du Ke came. He also wanted to find out the purpose of his visit, so he said, "Then I will respectfully obey your command."
Qin Fang: "Then I'll take my leave first."
The soldiers climbed up the mountain for an hour, and Qin Fang reached the foot of the mountain in less than an hour. But in total, it was an hour, or four hours. Du Ke was really tired, so he just sat down and ate. The weather was hot, and the servants around him were very considerate and fanned him, but at the foot of the mountain, the wind was occasionally cool.
"Sir..." Qin Fang ran down the mountain, saw Du Ke, and screamed. His eager and enthusiastic tone was really like a young man seeing his beloved.
Du Ke was also startled by Qin Fang's tone, but he smiled again. He saw Qin Fang running over and stood up: "It seems that the top of the mountain is very high. I thought it would take me an hour to get there."
Qin Fang came in front of Du Ke and said, "I greet you, sir."
Du Ke accepted his greeting and said, "We are master and disciple, so we don't need to do this in private."