Chapter 627: Chapter 399: Shopping and Tea
What Xiaomi said was ambiguous, but everyone understood that she was indeed asking General Song to help them find a place to live somewhere relatively close to Lishi City.
Best would be a village with lots of land, a large area, and not many people.
Xiaomi had also paid attention when she came before; the closer it was to Lishi City, the more plains there were.
It really did seem, just as Wei Ziang had said, that the place where their Cheng County lay happened to be on the edge of a large mountain range.
And there were fewer people here; from the few villages and towns she encountered along the way, she could roughly judge that.
Since Xiaomi had already put it that way, the others didn’t ask much more, though Xiaomi added that when they sent people back to fetch Xiao Hei and the others, they should also cut more grape cuttings from home and bring them over.
In the past two years, they had rooted a whole patch of grapes at home, all growing very well; even the ones they rooted last year had already begun to bear fruit.
Knowing that Xiaomi wanted to plant grapes here, nobody said anything.
General Song arranged some older women to cook and clean for the family; not long after Wei Ziang and Xiaomi returned, he even had people send over a change of clothes for the two of them.
The family happily finished lunch together, and then Wei Ziang used the excuse that he still had things to do and temporarily took his leave.
The others knew that Wei Ziang was no longer like before, no longer a child who could stay at home all the time; though they were reluctant, they didn’t stop him.
Only Xiaomi knew what he was going to do; no doubt, General Song was about to be heavily rattled again.
In the afternoon, General Song even specially sent people to guide them around the city, and Commander Yang, for once, no longer bothered hiding his identity and followed them the whole way.
This time, even Xiaomi had no complaints; she even wished they’d stick closer and pay more attention.
After all, the Stone Forest incident was enough to show that this place was even more chaotic than they’d imagined.
And those who coveted the iron mine in the Stone Forest, who had started laying out their plans years ago, trying to find those iron deposits, definitely weren’t just acting by coincidence.
The two of them had also speculated on the way back from the Stone Forest.
Perhaps someone happened to hold the secret about the Stone Forest and knew what was there.
They just didn’t know the exact location, so they needed to raise gu insects and have those people lead them in the search.
What mattered most now was finding out who this person was that knew in advance and had prepared to act.
If they were from the Vassal State, then that would still be manageable; at worst, as Wei Ziang said, the Xu Yu Dynasty could just push the border forward a hundred li.
What they feared was that this person might be someone from their own dynasty; that would be a real headache.
But this was not something Xiaomi needed to worry about.
"What are you thinking about?" Her head was tapped; Jiang Yu looked at her helplessly. "You can even zone out while walking down the street."
Xiaomi pouted and rubbed the spot where he’d knocked her. "Big Brother, how come you’re always hitting my head? I’m not that smart to begin with—hit it more and I’ll be even dumber."
Jiang Yu snorted. "You, not smart? I’m afraid there’s no one under the heavens smarter than you."
Second Aunt, smiling, watched the children joke around and pointed to a small stall in front. "There’s a tea stall over there. Let’s go sit for a bit."
There were many tea stalls set up outside shop doors here; after all, many merchants came and went. When they got thirsty, they could buy a bowl of water and a pinch of the cheapest loose tea by the roadside for one copper coin—cheap and refreshing.
They happened to have been strolling all afternoon and were a little tired; they could have some water and rest their feet.
The group directly occupied three tables; the Jiang family squeezed together at one table so they could chat easily.
Commander Yang took his men and sat at two other tables, surrounding them in the middle.
It was probably rare for the locals to see such a grand party of nobles actually drinking tea at a roadside stall; for a moment, everyone was a bit stunned, even the couple running the stall, who were left somewhat at a loss.
Fortunately, they quickly gathered themselves and poured a bowl of tea for each person, setting a pot of water on the table as well.
Seeing that the owners also made snacks, Second Aunt had the couple bring a few plates to each table.
Perhaps because Second Aunt’s face was gentle and her way of speaking soft, and the guards, while silent, did not deliberately intimidate anyone, the other tea-drinkers soon went back to their idle chatter.
By a coincidence, the table next to them happened to be discussing the Stone Forest incident.
"Have you heard? The people who went to wipe out the bandits half a month ago have come back. I heard they rescued quite a lot of people."
"How so? Isn’t it said those bandits always killed everyone who saw them? How could there be anyone taken alive?"
"That’s what you don’t know. All those bandits were men. The ones they captured were all women and good-looking men, and lots of children too. Tsk, tsk—what a miserable lot."
"Heavens, that’s too cruel. How are those people supposed to go on living?"
"Exactly. I heard our General Song is also troubled over how to resettle those people; they can’t just send them straight back."
"How could they go back? They’d be drowned in other people’s spit."
"That’s what I’m saying. They’re the ones who’ve suffered, and they’re also the ones left without any prospects. The rest of their lives are ruined."
Their voices weren’t loud, but they were sitting close by, and the Jiang family’s five senses had long been more acute than ordinary people’s after years of being nourished and tended by the Spiritual Spring water. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ
So the conversation naturally reached their ears clearly.
They had indeed heard General Song mention this before, but as for the specifics, General Song had only skimmed over it in a sentence, including those who’d been taken captive.
Now, hearing other people’s discussion, Second Aunt couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity.
"Xiaomi, is what they’re saying true?"
Seeing everyone’s good mood abruptly disturbed, Xiaomi could only nod helplessly.
"Yes. Luckily, Little Brother and the others saved them; otherwise, even more people would have suffered."
She wasn’t surprised the news had spread; it had already been several days since those people were rescued.
The low-ranking soldiers almost never got to leave camp, but captains and the like had a day or two off every month.
As long as they didn’t leak military secrets, it was normal to mention such minor matters in casual conversation with others.
"They’re so pitiful. What will they do in the future?" Xiaoxue frowned as well.
From what those people said, it wasn’t just attractive men and women; there were even children.
Xiaoxue was about to get married; she was no longer a child. She already understood the things one ought to know.
Thinking of those adorable children, who should have known nothing of such things, and the horrors they might face, she felt miserable on their behalf.
Seeing that everyone’s spirits had dropped, Xiaomi quickly changed the subject.
"Father, Mother, didn’t we say we need to find a place to settle down? When the time comes, we’ll definitely need people to work. I say, since it’s all farming anyway, and we’re going to hire people regardless, we might as well plant more."
Jiang Hu was instantly enlightened. "Xiaomi, you mean...?"
Xiaomi nodded, indicating that her father had guessed right.
Jiang Hu was just about to nod when Second Aunt’s eyes lit up beside him.
"That’s perfect then. When Ziang comes back, have him ask General Song whether those people can come help us with the work. Everyone living together—this way we won’t have to worry about other people’s looks anymore."