Ask the mountains and rivers

Chapter 36 Hometown
Returning to this familiar place, Pei Qinghe felt a mix of emotions.

In her past life, she established the Pei Family Army in Changping, suppressing bandits and taking in refugees for over ten years. This county town of Changping was destroyed by war three times and rebuilt repeatedly, eventually becoming her base of operations.

At this time, Changping County was still in its original state. The old city gates, the lazy gate guards, the mottled streets, and the numb faces of the people all showed the weakness and looseness of the imperial court's power in this place.

Even the county government office was built decades ago and has hardly been repaired. Behind the dilapidated gate, the main hall is still quite spacious and respectable.

The county magistrate, dressed in his official robes, with a flushed face and somewhat unfocused eyes, was extremely polite: "Captain Sun, Guard Gao, and this Miss Pei, please have a seat... hiccup!"

A strong smell of alcohol wafted up from a burp.

The registrar and county magistrate standing to the side all looked calm, clearly used to it.

Looking at the drunken Magistrate Wang, Pei Qinghe felt a sense of nostalgia and warmth.

This is also an old acquaintance.

Magistrate Wang, 52 years old, believed in "governing by doing nothing." He had served as magistrate of Changping County for seven or eight years, and had basically never left the county seat. Changping County was rife with bandits and powerful, arrogant families, but Magistrate Wang ignored them all. He spent his days drinking in his back office, at least two meals a day, a real old drunkard.

Magistrate Wang's reputation was actually quite good. After all, he was neither greedy for money nor lecherous, he didn't abduct women or excessively oppress the people. The countless bottles of fine wine he drank each year were secretly supplied by bandits and wealthy families.

Back when Pei Qinghe rose to power in Changping County, Magistrate Wang was the quickest to kneel down, readily handing over his official seal and leaving with a cartload of fine wine. Pei Qinghe took over a complete county government without much effort.

Captain Sun had been in the military for twenty years and was well-informed, so he wasn't surprised.

Only the guard Gao frowned slightly, thinking that it was really improper for a county magistrate to be drunk all day long.

Commandant Sun politely explained his purpose and, in accordance with Pei Qinghe's previous idea, asked Magistrate Wang to set aside a vacant lot in the north of Yanshan Mountain for the Pei family to live in.

After Pei Qinghe produced the letter in the handwriting of the Prince of Zhangwu, the drunken magistrate Wang sobered up considerably and readily agreed, ordering the registrar to register the letter and affix the official seal.

Even though the exiled Pei family officially reported to the Changping County government and went through the proper channels of officialdom, they were still exiled.

Next, Magistrate Wang sent his trusted confidant to lead the Pei family to their new home. This clerk, Li, with his distinctive goatee, was greatly surprised upon seeing the Pei women.

Li, the clerk, suddenly turned to look at Captain Sun, cautiously seeking confirmation: "Captain Sun, are these all members of the Pei family?"

Changping County had previously hosted several groups of exiled officials. Each one of them was etched with sorrow and dressed in rags. These women before me, however, have rosy complexions, are in excellent spirits, and ride fine horses; they hardly look like they've endured the hardships of exile.

Captain Sun nodded without changing his expression and replied, "That's right."

Master Li glanced at the high-ranking guard of the Eastern Palace, as if he had figured something out.

It must have been the Crown Prince who took care of them all the way.

The guard remained silent.

Anyway, he didn't say anything. Whether it was Magistrate Wang and the others, or the clerk Li in front of him, their wild thoughts were their own business.

Leaving the county town, we headed north. From the main road to the indistinguishable narrow paths, from bright sunshine to dusk.

Master Li stopped in front of a village and pointed with a smile to a large, sparsely populated cluster of thatched huts: "From now on, this will be Pei Family Village."

“These houses are all empty. If we repair them and tidy them up, people can live in them.”

He then pointed to the endless wasteland to the east and west: "This used to be cultivated land, where grains were grown, and it all belonged to the Pei family."

Then he pointed to the endless mountain range to the north: "It's not very safe in the mountains, so it's best to avoid going there."

Then, he bowed and took his leave, quickly departing. Even this was only out of respect for Imperial Guard Gao and Colonel Sun. Otherwise, who would personally guide and settle the families of exiled officials, returning them to their original villages and land?

The Pei family members looked at the desolate village with complicated expressions.

Pei Yue's innocent voice rang out: "Are we going to live here from now on?"

“Yes,” Pei Qinghe said with a bright smile, her voice light and cheerful, “this is our home.”

In her previous life, when she was first exiled, the Pei family also took refuge here. However, at that time, there was no ready-made thatched hut, nor was such a large plot of land allocated to her.

They also had over a hundred horses, various sharp weapons, and two carts of grain.

Oh, and there are a few adult males as well.

Pei Qinghe smiled and instructed, "Pei Jia, Pei Yi, you two go and scout out the village first, and light some torches."

The two refugees who were taken in ate their fill along the way and became completely devoted to Pei Qinghe. They insisted on changing their surname to Pei to show their loyalty and to follow the Sixth Miss Pei forever.

Pei Qinghe then gave them these two new names.

Pei Jia and Pei Yi readily agreed.

Wu Xiuniang led the people to tidy up the house, Mao Hongling led the people to start a fire and cook, Pei Yan led the people to settle the horses, Pei Yun took stock of the family's belongings, and Pei Xuan and Pei Feng were responsible for taking good care of their cousins.

Under Pei Qinghe's arrangement, everything proceeded smoothly and without the slightest disorder.

It's so late, we definitely can't leave now.

Captain Sun chose a thatched hut and invited the soldiers to have dinner and rest.

Of the fifty soldiers, twenty-nine were killed in battle, and the few who were seriously wounded also died one after another. The square-faced soldier, who had lost too much blood from his severed right arm, unexpectedly survived. He was helped off the cart and staggered into the thatched hut. Leaning against the earthen wall, he slowly and laboriously sat down.

In the evening, everyone was given a dry biscuit, but thankfully there was a bowl of hot rice soup.

Sun, preoccupied with his own thoughts, hastily ate a few bites to fill his stomach and then stared blankly at the starry sky.

The square-faced soldier moved closer and mumbled something in a low voice.

Captain Sun glanced at the square-faced soldier and stood up: "You come with me to see Miss Pei."

Pei Qinghe was not surprised at all by what Captain Sun had said: "Captain Sun, please have a seat."

Captain Sun cleared his throat and said in a low voice, "Sixth Miss, I have a favor to ask. Fang Datou has lost an arm and can no longer serve in the army and receive military pay. His parents are dead, he has no relatives, and nowhere to go. He wants to stay in Pei Family Village, and I would like to ask Sixth Miss to take him in."

Fang Datou had already knelt down and kowtowed three times. After his right arm was severed, his body tilted uncontrollably to one side, and he fell to the right as he stood up.

A hand steadied him firmly: "Be careful!"

A familiar girl's voice rang in my ears.

Fang Datou's dark face flushed slightly, as if scalded by boiling water: "Thank you, Sixth Miss." Then he hurriedly said, "I can no longer fight with a knife. However, I learned how to raise horses in the army. There are more than a hundred horses in the village. From now on, I will feed and raise the horses for you, Sixth Miss! Please accept me as your wife!"

"I don't eat much, two meals a day are enough. If there isn't enough food, one meal is fine too."

(End of this chapter)