Chapter 772 Remembered

"Little Zhile, Little Zhile!"

Granny Liu shouted from outside the courtyard.

"Coming!"

The young monk Liaofan arranged the flatbreads, filled the teapot with water, and hung a dry towel around his master, the monk Kongyuan's, neck. He glanced back at the corner of the room, piled high with gourds, smiled helplessly, then picked up the long broom behind the door, pushed it open, and went out.

He was going to sweep the streets.

Fengxin City inherited all the fine traditions of Xuehai Pass, and the appearance of the city was highly valued. There was a group of women specifically responsible for sweeping the streets.

This job wasn't seen as "lower class," after all, in this era, so-called "higher class" jobs weren't easy to find either.

Moreover, the generals who had risen alongside Lord Pingxi had adopted a "frugal" style led by their Lord, and the "audits" conducted jointly by Si Niang and the Blind Man had ensured that the atmosphere in the various departments under the Marquis's palace, as well as in the military, could be described as incorruptible, and a kind of simplicity was maintained in all aspects.

Therefore, the women sweeping the streets were all so-and-so's mother or so-and-so's grandmother. Ordinary women weren't qualified for this position.

Those who did this job received matching clothes issued by the Marquis's palace for all four seasons, and it was equivalent to the family having a quota as a standard household. During festivals, they also received an extra ration of rice, flour, and oil. Furthermore, the old and young women were often bored at home, so it was a good opportunity to come out and stretch their muscles and chat.

With such a group of people responsible for the city's appearance, no one dared to make trouble, and the merchants and residents were also very conscientious, otherwise, they really dared to use their brooms to smack you in the face.

Granny Liu was the Sword Saint's mother-in-law. Strictly speaking, she wasn't, as she lived with her daughter-in-law, but now, she had long stopped caring about such things.

Since Xuehai Pass, Granny Liu had picked up a broom and started sweeping the streets to earn pocket money for the family. Not long after entering Fengxin City, she was even promoted to "Squad Leader," with a dozen or so women under her command, responsible for three streets.

Nowadays, when elders addressed younger generations, they liked to add a "zi" to the end of their names.

The reason why she shouted "Little Zhile, Little Zhile" to the young monk Liaofan across the courtyard wall was because she couldn't call him "Little Fanzi," as that would directly violate Lord Pingxi's name.

Therefore, in front of the group of women, the young monk Liaofan was given the nickname "Zhile," also because the young monk liked to respond with "Zhi Dao Le (Got it)."

In fact, the Marquis's palace wasn't stingy, especially towards those who had made contributions. Looking at the entire Dayan army, the Marquis's palace's compensation for the war dead and wounded was the most generous and humane, without exception.

The Blind Man had specifically asked the young monk Liaofan whether he wanted to take a sum of money and take his master far away, or whether he wanted the Marquis's palace to support them forever.

The young monk Liaofan chose the latter. With his master in this state, how could they "roam the world" again?

As for Lord Pingxi's promise to build a temple for the two of you, the Blind Man didn't mention it, as this was something agreed upon with the Lord and had to be decided by the Lord. The young monk Liaofan didn't bring it up either. How could the two of them support a temple in their current state?

However, the young monk Liaofan did make a request. He didn't want to live a life of idle eating and drinking. Even though the Marquis's palace felt that their merits were sufficient, he still hoped to be able to do some labor within his capabilities.

The young monk Liaofan swept the streets very diligently. In addition, his occasional instinct to "pinch orchid fingers" or his inexplicable shyness, would cause him to instinctively make "little girl" gestures from time to time, which further pleased these women. They didn't feel like they had an extra man among their sisters, but rather like they had an extra daughter.

The young monk wasn't wearing a kasaya, but ordinary clothes, clean and tidy.

As soon as they met,

One of the women next to Granny Liu asked with a smile:

"Zhile, I heard your master collected a few more gourds yesterday?"

The young monk Liaofan smiled awkwardly at this question.

The Marquis's palace had provided them with a small courtyard in Fengxin City and had also given them a sum of money.

The young monk lived a simple life, didn't gamble or visit prostitutes, and his daily food was mainly vegetarian. Every month, the Marquis's palace would issue rice, flour, oil, and even cloth and other necessities. Logically, the money shouldn't be spent.

But his master was muddleheaded all day long. Either he would sit in the courtyard all day without moving, or he would run out of the courtyard. He didn't steal or rob, and he wouldn't go crazy.

But for some reason, the old monk Kongyuan was extremely fond of gourds. When walking on the road, if he saw a gourd used to carry wine, or a gourd being played with by a child, he would completely lose his mind and follow them all the way, follow them home, even follow them into their house, insisting that they give him the gourd.

He didn't steal, didn't rob, and didn't speak, just stared at your gourd, with his hands clasped together.

Most people didn't actually know the relationship between this old monk and the Marquis's palace. In fact, even if they knew, it didn't matter. Those who should report to the authorities would still report to the authorities.

When the officials came, they would mainly mediate.

The result of the mediation was often that the young monk Liaofan would come over and buy the gourd from them with money. Only when the gourd was in hand would the master happily hug the gourd and go home.

The next day, he might be peaceful.

But on the third day, the master would go out again and continue to stare at other people's gourds.

The young monk Liaofan couldn't bear to see his master disappointed, so he would buy it with silver again.

Over and over again,

Many people in Fengxin City knew about this. A "mad" monk, who was very fond of gourds. The "mad" monk also had a disciple who would help him buy gourds.

Under the Marquis's palace, the security was naturally excellent. Even if wealth was exposed, no one dared to have other thoughts, but this directly led to many children in the city actively looking for gourds outside, and even the more intelligent peddlers directly buying gourds at a low price and selling them to the "mad" monk.

The original layout of the house where the master and disciple lived was the kind of small courtyard uniformly built after the Marquis's palace rebuilt Fengxin City, two households, plus half a wall, with a separate kitchen.

In order to take care of his master, the young monk Liaofan always let his master sleep on the bed at night, while he slept on the floor next to him. The empty room was basically filled with gourds.

The money rewarded by the Marquis's palace was basically used to buy gourds. The young monk was also open and frank, saying that he had no money, so he could only exchange rice, flour, and oil, and that he had to leave enough for the master and disciple's needs each month before he could exchange it.

You can continue to send gourds to my master, and I'll give you an IOU.

When would that be paid off?

Therefore, those children and peddlers also lost the motivation to continue peddling gourds here.

But the master would still "go crazy" every other day and go out to find gourds. Fortunately, the young monk could still afford it with his income from sweeping the streets, so this matter gradually lost its heat, but it didn't prevent the women who swept the streets together from often making fun of the young monk about it.

In the young monk's view, it might be because his master once had a drinking gourd that had been with him for most of his life. It was said to have been passed down from his master's master and was a personal item that his master cherished very much, but it was lost on the snowy plain.

Perhaps, although his master was crazy, he had always wanted a keepsake, just like he felt that wherever his master was, that was home, his master would also miss his own master in this way.

Although Granny Liu was old, she was still very healthy. After all, she was an old woman who had been supported by the Marquis's palace's Second and Third Madams. She also knew the extraordinary nature of her "son-in-law." Although she couldn't do things that would abuse her authority, she was extremely serious about the sweeping women under her command, and she had to be satisfied with the cleaning of the streets she had been assigned to.

If any of the women dared to slack off, she would not hesitate to retort. It wasn't like she hadn't offended anyone. No matter how small the "government" was, the water inside was deep, but Granny Liu sat firmly in her position as "sweeping squad leader." Over time, everyone got used to it.

After all, she was a family that could live next to the Marquis's palace, so she must be extraordinary.

A few days ago, Granny Liu was busy with the 100-day celebration of her new grandson. She didn't make a big deal out of it, nor did she accept gift money, but she was very generous in bringing rice cakes, steamed buns, and red-dotted eggs to share with everyone.

And on this day, Granny Liu brought a lot of things again, still rice cakes, steamed buns, and red-dotted eggs.

The young monk Liaofan reached out to take it, thanked her, and asked curiously:

"Did you have another one?"

The group of women next to him immediately laughed.

Granny Liu spat and said angrily:

"Even if pigs had piglets, they wouldn't have them like this. My son-in-law is back, so we have to have the 100-day banquet again."

"Oh, this is really a mother-in-law who loves her son-in-law."

"They all say that the more a mother-in-law looks at her son-in-law, the more she likes him. You really love him more than your own son."

"Do you have any daughters?"

"Go, go, go, stop gossiping. My son-in-law is good to me and good to my daughter. We can't help but care for him. When a family lives together, they have to stick together and coax each other to live smoothly."

That was the principle,

But to have the always frugal Granny Liu send out two 100-day gifts and not accept gift money made everyone really curious.

How can life be lived like this?

Granny Liu saw that everyone was there,

And shouted:

"Are you all sunning lice here? Move it, get to work!"

Everyone started to get busy.

About an hour later, a group of children suddenly ran over and shouted at the young monk Liaofan:

"Zhile, Zhile, the old monk is going crazy again."

Liaofan looked at them and said, "Which family's gourd has he taken a fancy to again?"

"No, no, the old monk threw all the gourds at home into the street, all the gourds you spent so much money to buy for him, he threw them all out!"

……

In the courtyard of Granny Liu's house,

Lord Pingxi was sitting on a bench.

In the corner of the courtyard, a group of chickens were huddled there. Earlier, an old hen had laid a pile of chicken droppings next to Lord Pingxi's boots, almost soiling the Lord's shoes. The Lord kicked the chicken away with one foot, and after a move of "killing the chicken to warn the chickens," the chickens didn't dare to approach the Lord's side to be presumptuous again.

On the contrary, the duck, with its chest out and head held high, walked around Lord Pingxi in circles, full of pride.

The Sword Saint came out holding the child,

Lord Zheng said, "It's windy outside."

"The child needs sunlight," the Sword Saint said, "You didn't..."

The Sword Saint stopped himself in time.

Zheng Fan stretched out his hand and said, "Come, let me hold him for a while."

The Sword Saint handed the child to Zheng Fan, and Zheng Fan held him.

In fact, when a child is first born, their face has many wrinkles and they won't look good, but like an inflatable ball, a child of a few months old is the cutest and most radiant. Well, when they grow up a little more, they will have obvious parental characteristics, and they won't look good.

Tiantian was an exception. From childhood to adulthood, she was a lucky baby.

"Alas, I really like children," Lord Zheng sighed.

"If you like them, then have your own..."

The Sword Saint stopped again.

Lord Zheng teased the child for a while, and the child cried.

The Sword Saint took the child inside to breastfeed, and then came out again.

Lord Zheng pointed to the group of chickens and said:

"Why raise so many chickens?"

"To lay..."

The Sword Saint closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Very good, very good. I'll have someone raise some in the Marquis's palace too, so we can eat chickens that we fed ourselves, comfortably."

"So, what are you here for today?" the Sword Saint asked.

"Nothing, just came to see you. By the way, has the child been named yet?"

Not long after the Sword Saint's child was born, he followed Zheng Fan to the snowy plain. After returning from the snowy plain, he went to the State of Chu again, delaying the child's naming.

However, the child's formal name wasn't urgent. These days, it was common for children to be ten years old and not have a formal name. Many commoners' names were only taken when they needed to be registered with the government and perform corvée labor. If they had the means, they would find an old scholar, and if they didn't, the registrar would give them a name conveniently.

"He's called Nianzu," the Sword Saint said, "Mr. Bei helped me choose it."

Zheng Fan nodded. It seemed that during the days he was away from home, the Blind Man had also maintained the relationship of neighborly mutual assistance well.

"Nianzu, a good name." Zheng Fan stretched. "In the future, he'll earn a title, and it will be considered bringing glory to the ancestors."

The Sword Saint's surname was Yu, which was the national surname of the former Jin State.

"You can't go three sentences without mentioning titles," the Sword Saint shook his head. "After becoming a father, I only hope that the child is safe and sound."

"You are you, the child is the child, you can't impose your own will on the child."

"Wait until you have children and..."

The Sword Saint stopped again.

"Don't think I'm vulgar. I can't say that I hope the child will live a peaceful and idle life, right?"

"That's what's vulgar."

"Yes, hehe." Zheng Fan smiled. In this era's ideological background, establishing merit and making a name for oneself was the right path, the broad road;

The political status of merchants would be deliberately suppressed, and being an actor was even an insult.

Being a painter, singer, dancer... Alas, none of them sounded good.

"Are you okay?" the Sword Saint asked curiously.

"Do you really think I'm busy in the Marquis's palace? Others don't know, but you don't know?"

"I've really never seen anyone as carefree as you."

He delegated power so freely, not worried about being hollowed out.

"I have no interest in living so tired. Living like you, feeding chickens and ducks at home every day, and taking care of the kids, that kind of life is pretty good."

"Then hurry up and give birth..."

Zheng Fan looked at the Sword Saint,

And the Sword Saint took his words back again.

Zheng Fan was slightly disappointed and said, "Old Yu, do you want a maid?"

"No need."

"Look, your sister-in-law is taking care of the child now, and if you have someone to help you, maybe you can have another younger brother or sister for Nianzu, so the child won't be lonely when he grows up, right?"

The Sword Saint couldn't bear it anymore,

And said:

"If you want to give birth, go give birth yourself."

"Hey, you're right. My Li Qing is pregnant. Isn't that a coincidence!"

"……" Sword Saint.

"By the way, I almost forgot. I plan to go to the street to buy some snacks for her to take back and try. You know, when a woman is pregnant, she can be picky about what she eats."

"Aren't the pastry shops in Fengxin City all owned by your Marquis's palace?"

Going to your own shop to buy things?

"It's different. Food is food, but the food brought back by the people below and the food bought back by your own man are different."

The Sword Saint found it difficult to understand Zheng Fan's logic.

"Do you want to come with me to buy some?"

The Sword Saint shook his head.

"Don't want to experience it?"

"I've bought things before."

"But I'm afraid of assassins."

"This is Fengxin City. Are you going to Yingdu to buy snacks?"

"Sister-in-law, I'm going out to buy you some snacks with my brother Yu, wait for us at home." Lord Zheng shouted into the inner room.

The woman who was breastfeeding in the room heard this, but she really didn't know how to respond to Lord Pingxi's "Sister-in-law."

Being too distant wouldn't be good, and being too intimate would make her seem to not know her place, so she simply remained silent.

"Let's go?" Lord Zheng looked at the Sword Saint.

The Sword Saint was helpless,

And picked up Longyuan.

"Are you really bringing your sword?"

The Sword Saint didn't answer, and picked up two baskets, hanging them on both ends of Longyuan.

"Good," Lord Zheng nodded.

Next,

Zheng Fan went shopping with the Sword Saint.

He bought a lot of pastries and other snacks, putting his own in the front basket and letting the Sword Saint take the one in the back.

The Sword Saint carried the load, following behind.

He finally understood that this Lord was deliberately showing off to him.

However, the Sword Saint was also happy for him.

Looking at the bustling and lively streets around him, he was also happy for the people here.

The Sword Saint enjoyed the peaceful years here and liked the fact that the people here didn't suffer from hunger and cold. He had long lost interest in the "suffering" outside, and only hoped that the current peace and tranquility could continue to be maintained.

Maintained until,

His son came of age,

Even maintained until his grandson appeared.

And the tranquility here couldn't be separated from the existence of the Marquis's palace of Pingxi. If the Marquis's palace of Pingxi could be like the Marquis's palace of Zhenbei, standing for a hundred years, how many generations of people would be sheltered to live and work in peace here?

Lord Zheng finished shopping and planned to go home, returning from West Qian Street.

The Sword Saint, carrying two baskets of things, said, "We can't finish eating all this."

"It's for good luck."

"You still believe in this."

Lord Zheng smiled and said, "Who doesn't like to hear auspicious words?"

Just then,

A crowd of people appeared in front:

A mad monk, sitting in front of a large pile of gourds, shouted:

"Gourds, gourds, many sons, many blessings; gourds, gourds, many sons, many blessings!"

Lord Zheng in the crowd stopped.

At this time, the young monk ran back. Seeing his master in this crazy state and looking at the gourds thrown all over the street, the young monk finally couldn't help but pinch his orchid fingers and dab his eyelids with his sleeves, "crying," looking like a pitiful sight.

This disciple was also having a relapse.

"Suddenly I remembered that I seem to have forgotten something," Lord Zheng said.

"What is it?"

"I forgot that I seemed to have promised to build a temple for the two of them."

"And now?"

Lord Zheng smiled,

And said:

"I remembered."