Chapter 154: Trouble
Editor: Atlas Studios
Mu Yangling poured out all the copper coins from the money bag on the brick bed and waved at Xiuhong and the others. “Come over and help me count how much money we have.”
Xiuhong looked at the small pile of copper coins on the brick bed and climbed up happily. “Cousin, you have a lot of money.”
Mu Yangling gently stroked these copper coins and sighed. “They won’t be mine soon.”
Bowen also climbed onto the brick bed. When he heard this, he asked, “Sister, are you giving it to me?”
Mu Yangling knocked him on the head. “Dream on. Didn’t you see the hundreds of rabbits outside? I predict that there will be rabbits sent over tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Fan Zijin isn’t kind enough to send over the grass that we need to feed the rabbits, so we have to get the grass ourselves. It’s fine now as there aren’t many rabbits and they’re small. Xiuhong and I can cut enough grass in an hour every day when we go to the mountains, but we won’t be able to handle it in the future. When the sheds in the pastoral area are built, we’ll put the rabbits there. By then, there will be at least 1,000 of them. It will take a long time for the grass to grow. Before that, we have to cut the grass ourselves. Therefore, I want to pay someone to help.”
Seeing that so much money would soon belong to someone else, Xiulan immediately lay on the coins reluctantly and shouted, “Cousin, give me the money! I’ll go cut grass for you.”
Mu Yangling laughed out loud and patted her butt. “Since you’re still young, you’re not allowed to go up the mountain. Your sister and I will go. You stay at home with Bowen to take care of Bosi and Kejia. Though we’re paying a small sum of money now, we can earn big money in the future.”
Not troubled at all, Mu Yangling calculated the copper coins and felt relieved when she felt that it was enough.
Since Fan Zijin had already agreed to her suggestion, how could she not agree to such a good thing? At this moment, he had already assigned some men to build sheds for her in the pastoral area in the east.
The sheds were built on 60 acres of land. As it had been planned from the beginning, Mu Yangling did not plant any grass in this area. It was only 10 feet away from the ditch she had dug and the sheds were built in a row.
Nine of the sheds would be used to raise rabbits, and she would live in the remaining one when she came over to take care of the rabbits from time to time.
As the commotion here was huge, the first to be alerted was the Hu family.
Because the shed area was at the other end of the river and not adjacent to the Hu family’s land, they did not know the exact situation. However, this did not stop Old Hu from coming over to ask for information.
The soldiers who were building the sheds had long received Fan Zijin’s instructions. According to them, Little General had asked Mu Yangling to help him raise rabbits, so this was Little General’s business.
When Old Hu heard this, he didn’t dare to ask around anymore. Before night fell, everyone in the village knew that Mu Yangling was raising rabbits for Qi Haoran. Some were envious, and some pitied her. However, no matter what, no one dared to provoke her, let alone have any designs on those rabbits.
This dispelled any objections the Hu family initially had with regards to the Mu family using the adjacent plot of land to plant pasture.
After all, if pasture was planted on the adjacent land, the seeds would blow due to the wind in the future, and their land would also be affected. However, if the person behind this was Qi Haoran, everything would not be a problem. No one would dare to object.
Extremely busy right now, Mu Yangling was oblivious to all this. Other than cutting grass, she also had to plow the fields every day. Although she was strong, because this was the first time these 13 acres of land had been converted into farmland, the soil was a little hard. In order to soften and loosen the soil, she needed to keep plowing the fields and remove all the weeds within.
This large paddy field became Mu Yangling’s first agricultural endeavor.
Madam Ma-Liu stepped on the field and nodded in satisfaction. “That’s enough, let’s just leave it for now. When the seedlings grow up, we’ll start transplanting them. By the way, when I went to the south to check on the fields just now, I realized that the maize had also grown. However, it’s too sparse and the corn is spaced too far apart. Will there really be a sufficient harvest like this?”
“Great-aunt, maize grows tall. We have to leave enough space for it to grow and let it… bask in the sun. Only then can the maize grow large and have a good harvest. If we really plant it like wheat according to Zhuang Dawei, it’d be a blessing from the heavens that the maize can grow properly.”
Mu Yangling sighed in her heart, unable to understand why Emperor Shizong hadn’t elaborated upon how to plant corn. If he had, his people wouldn’t have taken so many detours and wasted hundreds of years.
How could Mu Yangling know that Emperor Shizong himself had no idea how to farm? Because he had never even seen others farm before, he did not even have basic agricultural knowledge.
Looking at her cornfield, Mu Yangling realized that already one-third had grown. She was satisfied. Going at this rate, at least half of it would grow.
Then, she went to check on the wheat field. The wheat was growing pretty well, too. At least, it was better than the nearby families.
The other families who had also come to check on their fields also realized this problem. They shouted at Mu Yangling, “Miss Mu, your crops are really growing well. Did you use fertilizer?”
Mu Yangling shook her head. “We don’t have fertilizer. We just plant them directly like everyone else.”
“Then why do yours look so much better than ours?” The other party muttered, doubtful.
Mu Yangling thought for a moment and said, “Maybe it’s because I plowed the ground deeply enough before planting the crops.”
The other party looked at her speechlessly for a while before turning around and leaving decisively, while thinking to himself, ‘The members of the Mu family are all freaks. Do they think that everyone is as strong as an ox like them and doesn’t feel fatigue?’
Mu Yangling scratched her head, not understanding why the other party had left.
“Miss Mu.” Fei Bai ran over stepping on Mu Yangling’s wheat field.
Mu Yangling shouted, “Don’t step on my wheat!”
How could Fei Bai care so much? With a light tap of his toes, he ran to Mu Yangling’s side quickly and said anxiously, “Miss Mu, quickly follow me up the mountain to pick up my young master.”
As soon as Fei Bai ran closer, Mu Yangling saw the bloodstains on the corner of his clothes. Her pupils constricted, and she calmly blocked the gazes of the farmers. She asked in a low voice, “What happened?”
Fei Bai said anxiously, “I won’t be able to explain it in a short time. Miss Mu, follow me up the mountain first.”
Mu Yangling glared at him and snapped softly, “General Qi is in the 5th Division today. Do you want to die? Hurry up and hide the anxious expression on your face.”
Fei Bai’s face turned pale, but in an instant, he squeezed out a smile. The anxious expression on his face instantly disappeared. He glanced at the farmers who kept stealing glances at them and raised his voice with a smile. “Miss Mu, Little General found a female tiger in the mountains. He knows that you’re strong and wants to ask you to enter the mountains to help. Your father is also there.”
With a smile on her face, Mu Yangling raised her voice and said, “Alright, let’s go. However, whether we can defeat it will depend on luck.”
This time, Mu Yangling no longer cared about the wheat field. She cut directly through the wheat field and went up the mountain. Only when she entered the mountains and the people outside could not see her did she ask anxiously, “What happened? Why do you have blood on you?”
Fei Bai did not hide it anymore. He wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and said, “Miss Mu, my young master is seriously injured, but we can’t let anyone know about this. Did Eldest Young Master come alone, or did he bring someone with him?”
“He brought the assistant commanders of the 1st, 3rd and 4th Divisions over, as well as many soldiers. What’s wrong?”
“Then we can’t let them notice it. We’ll inform Eldest Young Master when the time is right. Miss Mu, I’ll have to trouble you for this matter. No matter what, you have to hide my Young Master’s whereabouts.” Fei Fei’s face was pale and his eyes were red. “My Fourth Young Master has caused a huge disaster.”