"Dong!Dong!Dong!" Xiuniang seemed to hear her heartbeat, becoming more and more violent. Her face was flushed, and her hands and feet seemed to have nowhere to put them. Her mouth was slightly opened, like a fish jumping from the pond to the shore, breathing in big mouths, even if she couldn't breathe a little bit of air.

The woman outside had disappeared at some point. The empty main hall was full of messy mud, which was brought in by people outside. The room was empty, with only a few worn stools, which could not be sold for money to stay.

The air is filled with the smell of pig manure and chicken shit, and the smell of rottenness from unknown sources. There is mud everywhere that is trampled out. The rain keeps falling down, falling from the cracks on the roof into the house. The water vapor is everywhere, making people breathe poorly.

But when Xiu Niang saw the sedan chair lifting, her breathing suddenly became smooth and nothing could affect her mood. Her breathing was smooth, and her originally soft body suddenly had strength.

There seemed to be a tall figure waiting for her in the distance. It was a feeling of rebirth, a complete, pure hope.

Xiuniang suddenly burst into tears. She walked to the well a few steps, lowered her head, and shone herself with the well water.

As the well water swayed, you could still see a pretty and fair face. The melon-shaped face seemed to be covered by a warm light. A few strands of hair on the forehead hung down. The originally clear eyes were covered by the mist. The pink lips were not bloody at this time, and they seemed to be trembling slightly.

"Xiuxiu, you are very beautiful." My mother, who was full of wrinkles and a little bent on her waist, walked up. She was covered with fluffy white hair, wrinkles on her face and hands, and many cracks, which were traces of being scratched by the weeds in the fields while working.

"Mom, I'm leaving." Xiuniang's tears flowed down her cheeks and dripped onto the ground with the rain. She whispered: "I will ask the prince to cure his father's gambling disease and then take her to the town."

The moment she opened the sedan chair, Xiuniang looked back and saw the dilapidated thatched hut and the stenched yard full of mud. Although this was where she grew up, she was strangely not at all nostalgic.

"Meet the prince." Xiu's father saw that it was the prince who came to pick him up in person, and there were four tooth generals, a sedan chair, five or six escorts and servants followed him. A group of more than ten people came in from the head of the village, which had already caused a sensation in the entire Yi-character Guanzhuang.

Xiu Niangfu first rushed out to pay a visit. Xu Zixian had no good feelings for this bad gambling. For Xiu Niang's sake, she waved her hand and said, "Get up, Xiu Niang, I'll stay away. You can live a peaceful life at home. Don't want bad gambling, don't use my name to cause trouble."

This is not like talking to the father-in-law, but according to the laws of the Great Wei Dynasty, the wife's father is the father-in-law, and the concubine and relatives are not considered relatives. With Xu Zixian's status as a too high, it is quite normal to do so.

Xiu's father agreed timidly, but he did not dare to reject it.

The head of the village quickly rushed over and brought dozens of strong men to flatten the muddy floor from Xiu Niang’s house to the intersection of the village with dozens of strong men.

"You wait for everyone to make a living." Xu Zixian said to everyone in the village: "Don't interact with Li Cheng and his son. I have been dismissed from the position of "promoting management" and I will have a new management in the future."

Everyone in the village agreed, but Xu Zi first saw that everyone had different mentalities, including surprise, gladness, excitement, and uneasy expressions and dodging eyes.

Li Cheng and his son have been operating in various villages for many years. As Xu Zixian saw when he came over, there were only one hundred households in Yi's village when he first established the village, but now there are still one hundred households that have paid the title of official tribute to the Marquis' Mansion. However, Dingkou has at least two hundred, and many have established households, but they have not reported to the government. This is one of the sources of hidden households.

There are also some natural villages that have gradually formed over the decades, including farming, growing vegetables, doing small business, doing short-term work, fishing and releasing ducks on the Minjiang River. These villages are mainly mixed surnames. Xu Zi first came over and found three small villages, with more than 40 to fifty households in each village, and it is estimated that there are between 200 and 300 people in Dingkou.

This is a considerable hidden house. Xu Zixian felt that the royal family was already the result of restraint. For example, the Qi Palace, the Zhao Palace, several dukes and many marquises, the combined hidden houses are really astronomical. No wonder the imperial court was anxious during the Xuanzong period and investigated the hidden houses of the royal family...

Civil and military officials also have a system of grace and honor. They have been born in the Jinshi until they are ninth rank and have quotas for exemption from service. From the ninth rank officials with twenty acres of land and two residents are exempted from service. However, judging from the situation where the royal family occupied land and hidden households, it is estimated that there are definitely many civil and military officials occupied hidden households.

No wonder the Wei Dynasty had so many types of taxes, and the tax collection was so strong that it was even more dense than that of later generations. However, tax revenue still decreased year by year. It was quite normal for such a situation to decline.

With Taizu's great talent and strategy, he tried his best to eliminate the dynasty's ills. Xu and Wei have been more than four hundred years, which shows that Taizu is extraordinary and now it is still the stage of dynasty's change of dynasty's ills.

Xu Zi stopped thinking first, and at this time he didn't care about these chores. He said to the woman in front of him: "Xiu Niang, let's go."

Xiuniang was still standing next to the sedan chair, and she had no nostalgia for the home behind her in her eyes, but she seemed to know that this trip would split the past and would never return.

The muddy roads, with most of the leaves of trees, the low mud walls covered with weeds, were covered with mud and stinky courtyards. Xiuniang stood on the muddy land, and seemed to be very light and was not stained with these dirty things.

She was wearing a light white collar and back, and her robe was very old, but it should be her best clothes. Her beautiful face and such robe were like pearls shining in mud.

Xu Zi jumped off the horse first and lifted the curtain himself. At this moment, he was a little nervous. This was the first time he wanted to have a woman in this life. She was so beautiful and outstanding, gentle and elegant. This was a typical old-style southern Chinese woman who grew up in suffering, growing like weeds, but she had not been hit by life and suffering.

She seemed to look at Xu Zi shyly, then stepped onto the sedan chair and sat down straight.

The cheers of children came from all around, and there were envious discussions from women. Xiuniang's face slowly turned red, and her chest was slightly undulating. She seemed to want to look at Xu Zixian carefully, but then she lowered her eyes and twisted her hands on the robe on her knees, and her knuckles turned blue and white.

Her skin was very white, but she didn't feel too delicate. After all, she might not know how to take care of her skin, and she suffered too much. Her eyebrows were a little messy. After all, she had no time to modify it. She looked like an ordinary little woman from a family background. She had suffered, and she finally had the hardships.

"Let's go." Xu Zi first put down the sedan chair, looked at Xiu Niang, and said, "Take you back to the other yard."

"Criminal." Xiuniang bit her lip and suddenly said, "Can you go around the west end of the village? I want to see Xie Quan's house."

"Prince, don't get me wrong." Xiuniang's face turned pale and she said rumbled: "I want to see how it is now. I don't want this person and that family, I am..."

"You just want to go over and see and say goodbye to all the past?"

Xiuniang shook her head, nodded again, and said, "The prince said so well."

Xiuniang didn't tell the truth. She just wanted to vent her happiness. In addition, she wanted to see if Xie Quan was living a worse life now.

The prince is very good and smart, but he doesn't know women very well.

The sedan chair was lifted from Xiu Niang's house under the escort of a large group of people, and then detoured to the east of the village. Someone pointed to a dilapidated yard, which was also next to the village road, and whispered to Xu Zixian: "This is the Xie Quan family."

This family seemed to be more dilapidated than before. The weeds grew from the ground, and the strong smell of alcohol could be smelled far away from outside. A half-paralyzed man was lying at the door, holding a wine jar in his hand.

"After Xiu Niang left, Xie Quan was left alone," said the village head: "No one cares about him, no one likes to care about such a bad gambling, and no one in his clan comes to care about him."

Xu Zixian understood the meaning of Zhuangtou. In this situation, Li Cheng and his son may not make a comeback. Xie Quan must be done anyway, so no one in the village cares about Xie Quan's life or death, and this person will not live long.

At this time, Xie Quan seemed to wake up, turned his face on the ground, and started cursing in the mud, from tribes to Xiuniang and all the villagers, cursing them one by one, making them dirty.

Jin Baoyi was a little angry and said to Xu Zixian: "Criminal, can you teach him a lesson?"

"Forget it." Xu Zixian didn't pity the drunkard in front of him, but he didn't feel the need to send his subordinates to do it. He shook his head and said, "It's not worth being dirty."

At this time, Xiu Niang opened the curtain and looked at it. She was full of pleasure. Before, Xie Quan pinched her and beat her when she was drunk, and said that she was not in good luck and would not have a good end in the future. She must sell her to a tramp. She is afraid that she is not good in appearance, can’t sell it much money, and can’t get any business...

Now she is sitting upright in the sedan chair and is about to live in a different courtyard, becoming the prince's concubine.

It is impossible to become a wife. The court law does not allow it, but Xiu Niang is already extremely content. She knows that this is her best destination. She dared not have such thoughts when she was in the prince's house, but she dreams about the current situation countless times.

In the eyes of the crowds around him watching secretly, Xiuniang whispered to Xu Zixian: "Criminal, let's go."

She said boldly again: "I will always be grateful to you and will serve you well."

Xu Zi looked at her first. The beauty was as beautiful as jade, with only gratitude and admiration in his eyes. He felt a moment of happiness in his heart, as if he had done something amazing. At least in recent times, this thing has been done very comfortably and happily, as if he had taken an innocent and pitiful beauty out of the sea of ​​suffering. It is indeed worthy of happiness and comfort.

Xu Zixian treated a little rabbit when he was a child. The injured hare was very alert. He took the rabbit home, fed it with vegetable leaves, slowly healed the wound, and carried it to the wild and let it live. When the rabbit walked, he turned around three times, and the light in his eyes was quite similar to Xiuniang now.

Xu Zixian was very happy and satisfied at that time. The gifts of the strong to the weak will satisfy the strong. This is a very strange psychological state.

In addition to Xiu Niang, in addition to her beauty and gentleness, Xu Zixian seemed to be the young man who had saved the rabbit. The strong rescued the weak, but she was very happy. This is how she felt.

It's strange that after treating this rabbit, Xu Zixian also likes to eat spicy rabbit heads, and he himself can't figure out why.

"Let's go." Xu Ziyi gently whipped the horse's butt with a horse whip. The group walked out of the village entrance. A large number of Zhuang Han in short robes bent down on the side of the road, and the women holding the children hid farther away. The muddy roads, low villages, large areas of continuous farmland, sparse trees, and the pond at the entrance of the village... It looked like a painting of ink and wash.

Xu Zixian thought about it. These civil servants in the government and villages had a relatively relaxed life. From the robes, they could see that not only the original color, but many women were wearing dyed dresses, which were not too old. People did not have any faces. They were quite strong and the women had rosy faces. They should have lived a very contentment.

But judging from the environment Xu Zixian saw, these villages are still far from being rich.
Chapter completed!