Chapter 368: Moving House
Editor: Atlas Studios
When Mu Shi was promoted, the entire family was overly excited. Mu Yangling took out a jar of peach blossom wine and celebrated by herself when Mu Shi was not around.
Even the twins had a taste of it from Mu Yangling’s chopsticks. Shu Wanniang slapped her hand away, but in the end, the twins went up to her and asked to drink it.
Mu Yangling said happily, “Mother, when Father settles down over there, our entire family will move to Xingzhou Prefecture.”
Shu Wanniang was stunned. Great-aunt and the others also looked at Mu Yangling in shock. “Move to Xingzhou Prefecture? B-but our home is here.”
Even Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin looked over, but Mu Yangling said, “Home is where our family is. Mother, Father is now an assistant commander. In the future, he will guard Xingzhou Prefecture and won’t be unable to return a few times a year like before. If we move to Xingzhou Prefecture, Father can go home after he’s done with his military duties every day. It’ll only take four hours to go home if we stay in Hanzhong Prefecture. It’ll be very fast.”
Shu Wanniang couldn’t help but be tempted. “Then what about our home?”
“Lock the door and get Chen Sanzhu and Xu Jian to help watch over it. I’ll just come back from time to time to take a look. I’ll hire someone to farm the land here. Mother, you won’t be able to farm much if you stay here, anyway. Great-aunt is already old, so she should enjoy life.”
Great-aunt chided, “How am I old? I could even farm with you guys last year.”
Mu Yangling only smiled and looked at Shu Wanniang eagerly. She knew that the key to moving was her mother. As long as her mother agreed, her father and great-aunt wouldn’t have any objections.
“The house…”
Qi Haoran immediately said, “The house is not a problem. Auntie Shu, leave this to me.”
If the Mu family moved to Xingzhou Prefecture, it would be more convenient for them to meet even if Qi Haoran moved to Jingzhao Prefecture. If not for the fact that he was afraid that Shu Wanniang would reject him, he would have suggested that they move into the General’s Residence.
Anyway, Big Brother was definitely going to move to the Jingzhao Prefecture, so the General’s Residence in Xingzhou Prefecture would be empty.
“We’ll talk to your father when he comes back,” Shu Wanniang said.
A smile bloomed on Mu Yangling’s face. “Mother, Father definitely can’t wait for you to move over. That way, he can see you every day.”
Shu Wanniang blushed and pinched her daughter. “What nonsense are you spouting in front of your siblings?”
Qi Haoran winked at Mu Yangling happily and said in a low voice, “Let’s go to Xingzhou Prefecture together tomorrow. Tell your father the good news and buy a house along the way.”
Mu Yangling asked, “Do you know where there’s a suitable house?”
“I don’t know, but Wu Jin definitely knows. When we reach Xingzhou Prefecture, I’ll go with you to find him. I’ll definitely get him to find you a good and cheap one.”
With a smile, Mu Yangling said in a low voice, “The most important thing is that it has to be spacious enough. When the time comes, there should be a vegetable field in the backyard for my great-aunt to tend to.”
Fan Zijin couldn’t help but roll his eyes when he heard this. Instead of using it to plant flowers in the backyard, she was actually using it to plant vegetables. Seeing that Qi Haoran was still excitedly suggesting and urging her to raise some rabbits for the twins in the backyard, he couldn’t help but sigh faintly. The two of them had taken a liking to each other, and there was nothing he could do about it.
The next day, when they went to Xingzhou Prefecture, Mu Yangling specially brought Xiuhong along.
Xiuhong was great at bargaining, so it was most suitable to bring her along when it came to buying a house.
Mu Shi was so busy that his hair stood on end. Other than a few people who were already working under him, Qi Xiuyuan actually asked him to recruit all the new recruits.
Qi Xiuyuan had a very good reason. With the Jingzhao Prefecture in front of Xingzhou Prefecture, nothing would happen. Thus, he could slowly train the soldiers. In just a year, even a new recruit could become a veteran.
Now that there were many bandits, Qi Xiuyuan did not mind him using the bandits in the mountains as practice.
However, it was not that easy to recruit soldiers. Even if the general gave him a sufficient budget, it was already a headache for him to divide the soldiers into good and bad before integrating them into the camp. However, he wasn’t very experienced in leading the troops, so there were many things that he had to figure out himself.
For the first time, he felt that it was much easier to fight at the frontline than to train his troops at the back.
When his daughter arrived at this time, Mu Shi’s eyes lit up. He knew that his daughter had helped General Qi train his troops in the past.
Mu Shi hurriedly came down from the drill ground and saw Qi Haoran smiling.
This time, it was Qi Haoran’s first time seeing Mu Shi after receiving Mu Yangling’s gift. Everyone had a tacit understanding of their marriage. His face turned slightly red, and then he went forward with a solemn expression and bowed respectfully to Mu Shi.
Also a little reserved, Mu Shi took a few glances at Qi Haoran. In the past, he had not realized that this kid was actually quite good-looking. Mu Shi sized up Qi Haoran again with the gaze of a father-in-law and felt inexplicably relieved. Satisfied, his face lit up. He asked his daughter gently, “Ah Ling, why are you here?”
Mu Yangling told him about their family moving here and said, “Father, if you don’t have any objections, I’ll bring Xiuhong to check out the houses and bring our family over before spring plowing.”
Joy flashed across Mu Shi’s eyes as he asked, “Your mother agreed?”
Mu Yangling smiled without saying anything.
Mu Shi’s smile almost reached the back of his ears. He nodded repeatedly and beamed. “Alright, alright. Go and choose a house. It’s best if you choose somewhere not far from the General’s Residence. That place is close to our military camp, so I can go home every day.”
Xiuhong looked at her uncle, who was smiling foolishly, and couldn’t help but cover her eyes.
Just as Qi Haoran was about to say that he would help give his opinion on the house selection, Mu Yangling tugged at him and whispered, “My father has just taken over the setting up of the 6th Division. There must be many things that he fails to consider. Do stay and help him.”
Back then, the 5th Division was single-handedly built by Qi Haoran. He was familiar with many things and had more than two years of experience leading troops. At this moment, the confused Mu Shi needed his help.
Most importantly, this was a good opportunity to curry favor with his future father-in-law.
Qi Haoran instantly understood and immediately expressed that he wanted to stay and tour the 6th Division.
Of course, Mu Shi knew what his daughter and Qi Haoran meant, so he naturally invited him to stay. Mu Yangling brought Xiuhong to check out the houses.
Wu Jin was indeed a profligate son. He didn’t know where there was a good house, but the brokerage definitely knew. Therefore, he personally brought Mu Yangling into a brokerage and said arrogantly to the agent, who rushed up, “Go, call your shopkeeper over. Are you fit to serve me?”
Who didn’t know the magistrate’s son?
The agent immediately retreated respectfully and hurriedly called the shopkeeper over.
The shopkeeper thought that their brokerage had offended Wu Jin, so he immediately jogged in and apologized as soon as he entered. Mu Yangling and Xiuhong were a little embarrassed, but Wu Jin said unhappily, “I’ve been here for so long. Why are you only here now? Go, show me all the houses in the vicinity of the General’s Residence.”
The shopkeeper’s expression froze and he asked carefully, “Young Master, are you thinking of buying a house?”
Wu Jin glared at him. “Nonsense. If not, why did I come to your brokerage?”
Mu Yangling kicked him under the table and looked up at the shopkeeper with a smile. “I’m the one who wants to buy a house. Shopkeeper, just show me the houses that are for sale in that area. We’ll check them out and see if there’s anything suitable.”