Ask the mountains and rivers

Chapter 47 Retention
The soldiers who went into the mountains to suppress bandits slept soundly through the night.

The next morning, the soldiers woke up to the rich aroma of steamed buns and meat soup, and ate their fill.

With a smile, Miss Pei invited the soldiers to stay in Pei Family Village for a few days. The soldiers, unable to refuse her hospitality, readily agreed. Then, led by the spirited Sixth Young Master, they went to the nearby mountains and forests and spent a whole day diligently cutting down trees.

More than a hundred soldiers worked feverishly, and by evening they had dragged back eighty or ninety logs. They piled them all up to dry, to be used as roof beams when building a new house later.

This continued for several days in a row.

The logs at the entrance of the village quickly piled up into a small mountain.

Feng said to Pei Qinghe in private, "These soldiers are all tall and strong, and they don't slack off at all."

Each of them was putting in their best effort to make their sixth son look good!
Feng, the mother, didn't say this aloud. She reached out and touched Pei Qinghe's smooth cheek, sighing inwardly.

If Pei Zhongde were still alive, with the Pei family's prestige and influence, there would be no need to worry about his daughter's marriage. But now, how can the daughter of a disgraced official find a good match?

Pei Qinghe looked at Feng Shi, who suddenly became sad and said, "Mother, I don't need to get married, nor do I need a husband. I can not only support myself, but I will also make sure that everyone in the Pei family is well-fed and clothed and lives a good life in the future."

Madam Feng forced a smile and agreed, "That's right. My Qinghe is the most intelligent and capable girl in the world."

Pei Qinghe smiled but didn't say anything more.

In this world, women are mostly subordinate to men; marriage, childbirth, and raising children are a woman's destiny. This is how Feng Shi came to be, so it's understandable that she worries about her marriage prospects.

Prejudice in people's hearts is a high mountain.

Pei Qinghe will wield her sword and carve out her own path.

After several days of good food and drink and several days of hard work in Peijia Village, one of the soldiers finally couldn't hold back any longer: "Sixth Young Master, it's time for us to return to the camp to report for duty."

Meng Ling hummed in agreement, her gaze unconsciously drifting towards Pei Qinghe beside her.

Today, an old blacksmith delivered eight iron plows by cart. Pei Qinghe was quite pleased, inspected them one by one, and readily paid the money. He also ordered twenty more iron plows from the old blacksmith.

Having struck it rich, that's how you become so extravagant!
The old blacksmith was overjoyed to receive such a large order, his mouth agape: "Sixth Miss, please rest assured, I have a strong and capable son. At most half a month, my son and I will deliver the iron plow."

After the old blacksmith left, Meng Ling stepped forward to bid farewell to Pei Qinghe.

Pei Qinghe was reluctant to part with so many strong laborers, and tried to persuade him to stay: "General Meng, are you in such a hurry to leave? Why don't you stay for a couple more days?"

Before Meng Ling could speak, he added softly, "The eldest male member of the Pei family is seven-year-old Pei Feng. Pei Jia and the others are all newcomers, so we have to keep a close eye on them. In the past few days, they have cleared thirty acres of wasteland. Now that we have eight more iron plows, we can clear even more wasteland."

The sixteen-year-old hot-blooded boy, looking at the girl's expectant dark eyes, couldn't bring himself to refuse. He gritted his teeth and nodded, "Fine, let's stay for two more days. If my father questions me when we get back, I will take full responsibility and won't implicate Miss Pei."

Pei Qinghe was deeply moved and bowed solemnly to express her gratitude: "General Meng, you have lent us a helping hand. Our Pei family will always remember your kindness."

Meng Ling straightened his chest and said loudly to the group of soldiers, "We'll stay for two more days, and everyone will take turns using the iron plow to till the fields."

The soldiers: "..."

Weren't you going to say goodbye? How come you not only didn't leave, but also brought back a great job?
The soldiers privately grumbled, "Sixth Miss Pei just smiled and said a few nice words, and our Sixth Young Master went crazy."

"Hmph! All you do is talk about others, without even looking at your own behavior. Why do you keep staring at the Pei family women while we're eating?" "You've been staring at them quite a bit too."

"Alright, alright, stop complaining. Since Sixth Young Master has already agreed, let's stay for two more days."

Although working in Peijia Village was tiring, the food was exceptionally good. Pei Liu-guniang had several fat pigs bought, one slaughtered each day, ensuring meat soup and unlimited white steamed buns at every meal. The Pei family ladies, serving the soup, had beaming smiles.

They weren't really willing to leave; they were just afraid of being beaten when they returned to the army camp if they lingered too long.

After a brief discussion, the soldiers spontaneously divided into ten teams. Each team consisted of four men, and each man worked two hours, with the plow never stopping. In just two days, they cultivated over a hundred acres of wasteland.

The other dozens of people weren't idle either; they chopped down trees and gathered firewood, piling up another small mountain in two days.

Soldiers are really useful.

When Meng Ling left with a group of soldiers, Pei Qinghe led the women of the Pei family to see him off.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, General Meng still maintained his arrogant demeanor with his head slightly raised. However, even Pei Yan couldn't bring herself to say that Meng Liulang was annoying now. After all, he was busy suppressing bandits, cutting down trees, and helping to reclaim wasteland. No matter how high he held his head, he was still quite pleasing to the eye.

"When you have some free time in the future, General Meng, don't forget to come to Pei Family Village again." Pei Qinghe's eyes showed a hint of reluctance: "In a few months, the wild rabbits I raise will be fat."

In a few months, it will be time to harvest the winter wheat.

General Meng nodded slightly, which could be considered a reluctant agreement. Before leaving, he added, "If anything happens, send someone to the Beiping army to deliver a message."

The soldiers of the Beiping Army stayed in Peijia Village for eight or nine days. Black Bear Village was uprooted, and the military flag was raised at the entrance of the village.

Who is so blind as to bully the Pei family, young and old?

Meng Ling rode his horse at full speed, covering three hundred li in a day and a night, and rushed back to the Beiping army camp.

What awaited General Meng was his dark face and a merciless beating with a military rod.

"I sent you to deliver grain, not to rashly go into the mountains to suppress bandits."

"I have already wiped out Black Bear Stronghold..."

"You might fool others with this, but you dare to lie to me like this! The imperial court has sent troops into the mountains several times to suppress the bandits, but they all returned empty-handed, not even reaching the gates of the stronghold. Furthermore, when you went to Pei Family Village on horseback, you only brought bows and arrows; you didn't even have any siege equipment. You have absolutely no ability to capture the stronghold or attack the city. Explain yourself clearly. If you keep trying to fool me, I'll beat you to a pulp!"

Seeing the baton about to fall again, Meng Liulang broke out in a cold sweat and shouted, "No, no, no, stop hitting me! I'll tell you the truth! Most of the bandits were killed by the Pei family."

“When I went into the mountains to suppress the bandits, Black Bear Village was just an empty shell with only about a dozen bandits. Someone even led the way, and we sneaked into the village through a side path.”

"We numbered over a hundred, outnumbered them, and charged in, wreaking havoc. We also set fire to Black Bear Stronghold..."

Meng Liulang recounted the true story of "suppressing the mountain bandits" as if pouring beans from a bamboo tube.

General Meng, a man in his fifties with a dark face and long beard, narrowed his eyes and slowly asked, "So, the real hero in suppressing the bandits is Miss Pei?"

(End of this chapter)