Chapter 171 Seeds of Rebellion
Liu Ji heard the noise and hurriedly walked out of the room wearing a thick coat. When he saw the black hill, he was so surprised that his mouth couldn't close.
Qin Yao had stayed up all night and was full of energy, not feeling sleepy at all. She raised her chin towards Liu Ji.
"Come and pack up. I'm going to change my clothes. You harness the carriage and load the hare and deer. Come with me to the Ding family's old house later."
Ding Xiang said that her grandmother only looked up to scholars and hated talking to the peasant women in the village.
A handsome, young and "motivated" scholar like Liu Ji is good at speaking.
Liu Ji yawned and agreed. Seeing Qin Yao enter the bedroom, he asked attentively, "Do you want some hot water to wash up?"
"Wash." Concise and to the point.
Liu Ji: "Okay!"
First he went into the main room to light the charcoal that he had buried last night and put the kettle away before he went to clean up the prey in the yard.
The wild goat seemed to have woken up. Liu Ji thought about eating fresh meat during the New Year, so he tied it up to the stable, stuffed it with grass, and hoped that it could live one more day.
Old Huang didn't like this new roommate and stuck out his hoof in angrily. Liu Ji quickly led him out and dragged the carriage out from the backyard and harnessed it.
In order to avoid dirtying the carriage, they first laid a layer of straw inside before putting the prey to be taken to Ding's house.
After finishing all these, the sound of cleaning could be heard from the shower room. Liu Ji seized the time and quickly made breakfast.
There was no time to let the dough rise for making pancakes, so I put all the leftover vegetables from yesterday together with the rice, covered the pot and simmered it.
Qin Yao finished washing up and walked out of the shower room. When she passed the kitchen, she was overwhelmed by the fragrance!
It had been a long time since Qin Yao had eaten good food, and this pot of stewed rice in the morning made her like Liu Ji again.
Liu Ji: So careless?
But secretly I was relieved. Living in fear and living uprightly are two completely different concepts.
When he was clearing the dishes after breakfast, Liu Ji finally dared to straighten his back.
Qin Yao told Dalang and his four siblings that she and Liu Ji were going out for a trip. Erlang rolled his eyes and asked tentatively:
"Are we going to town?"
Sanlang licked the corner of his mouth. Every time A Niang went to the town or the county, she would come back with a lot of delicious food.
Qin Yao nodded, but did not say that she was going to the Ding family, for fear that if the discussion failed, the children's expectations would be dashed, so she just said that she was going to visit a friend.
Dalang and Erlang immediately guessed something and their eyes lit up.
Si Niang grabbed the corner of A Niang's clothes and said coquettishly, "Si Niang wants to go too."
As soon as she called out, Sanlang, the follower, also came over. Qin Yao tapped their heads in amusement and rejected them decisively, "No."
After saying that, without caring about the two people pouting in disappointment, he pushed them into the main room and closed the door.
Si Niang could only murmur: "Okay~"
Sanlang also said, "Okay."
The door was closed, Qin Yao got on the carriage and sat down in the compartment. Liu Ji jumped onto the shaft and threw the reins. Old Huang started moving and pulled the two of them away.
The road surface was soaked by melted snow, and the heavy wheelbarrows rolled over, leaving a deep rut.
Fortunately, the things they were pulling were not heavy, so Lao Huang slowed down a bit and the journey was smooth.
When the couple arrived at Jinshi Town, it was time for the Ding family to rest after breakfast. When Qin Yao passed by Mr. Ding's house, she went forward and knocked on the door to meet Miss Ding.
Of the four bars of soap she sent last time, Ding Xiang kept two for herself and gave the remaining two to her grandmother, and mentioned in passing that Qin Yao's children were preparing to go to school.
Old Mrs. Ding looked at her granddaughter curiously for a while, probably because she didn't expect that she would actually plead for a village woman who was not related to her in any way.
The whole Dingjia Village had long known that Ding Xiang was learning horse riding and archery. The old lady was very unhappy about this. When she heard Ding Xiang say that this village woman was the Miss Qin, her face became long.
If Ding Xiang hadn't pointed out in time that there was a scholar in Qin Madam's family, the old lady would never have agreed to consider it again.
When Ding Xiang saw her grandmother's attitude, she didn't dare to say a word of the various excuses she had prepared, such as that Qin Yao was a female hero who suppressed bandits.
Anyway, as long as she had the chance to meet him, her mission was accomplished.
It's just two bars of soap, she's already very kind!
But although he said that, when he saw Qin Yao coming to his house, his mouth was almost smiling to his ears.
"Are you really going into the mountains to get deerskin for my grandmother?" Ding Xiang was happy that Qin Yao came to find him, but was also surprised that she was so fast.
She had just asked someone to go to Shopkeeper Wu's house to inform Qin Yao about her grandmother's lack of knee pads two days ago, but she didn't expect that Qin Yao had already got all the raw materials today.
Ding Shi was not at home. He and his housekeeper had gone into the city early in the morning, bringing New Year gifts to each household.
Ding Xiang had already built up his courage and ran to the door to see the deer Qin Yao had shot.
Seeing Liu Ji sitting on the shaft of the cart, Xiao Xiao was surprised and looked at Qin Yao, as if asking: Is your husband back alive?
Qin Yao nodded lightly, revealing a helpless expression.
The two were only six years apart in age, but Ding Xiang refused to call Qin Yao "Master", nor did he want to call her "Madam Qin" according to Liu Ji's generational seniority.
She classified Qin Yao as the older sister among the sisters, and found out a lot about Liu Ji's situation in the academy.
Ding Shi said that Mr. Fan was not a good person, and Ding Xiang was secretly angry with Liu Ji for a long time on behalf of Qin Yao.
At this moment, seeing Liu Ji smiling at him and clasping his fists, he forced a curl of his lips as a response, and then asked Qin Yao to lift the curtain of the car to let her see the mountain deer.
She would occasionally sneak into the mountains by herself, but could only wander around the periphery. If she saw people coming, she would retreat and dare not let anyone discover her.
So they could only hunt some small animals. They had never seen big animals like mountain deer, so they naturally yearned for it.
When Ding Xiang saw the mountain deer with black bloody holes on its eyes, he looked at Qin Yao in surprise and was full of admiration.
Because the arrow pierced both eyes, the fur on the body was not damaged at all, and there was not even any blood on it, so it was extremely well preserved.
"It would be great if you could take me into the mountains someday." Ding Xiang sighed longingly after lowering the car curtain.
Qin Yao looked at her eyes which were becoming brighter and brighter. In those eyes was a yearning for freedom so strong that it seemed as if they wanted to break free of their body and fly into the vast mountains to explore and adventure.
Unfortunately, there was a rope called "ritual" outside of her body that bound her and pulled her soul back.
But the seeds of rebellion had already been planted. Ding Xiang raised his eyebrows arrogantly at Qin Yao.
"If grandma doesn't agree to let your eldest son and second son go to the clan school, I will write a letter to father and guarantee that they can go in and study!"
As for the time wasted in writing letters back and forth, that can be ignored for now. She first lied and said that her father agreed, so as to kill first and then beat him.
Qin Yao felt warm at heart when she heard this, but she said in a serious tone: "You have helped me enough, I can do the rest myself. If the old lady finds out, your good days will be over."
Her mother passed away, and before the new mistress came into the family, according to etiquette, she should have been raised by the female elders of the clan, her grandmother or aunt.
Now Ding Xiang can stay alone in her own home because her father and brother love her and favor her.
But Mr. Ding is in the capital now. If Ding Xiang is caught, Qin Yao feels that Ding Shi, as her brother, will not be able to stop the old lady at all.
After all, he is just a grandson in front of the old lady and he has to be respectful, filial and obey unconditionally.
Qin Yao told Ding Xiang about the pros and cons, and the girl immediately sighed and said, "Then I wish you good luck."
Qin Yao smiled confidently, and like a magic trick, she took out a bamboo dragonfly and handed it to Ding Xiang, "It's cold outside, come in, we're leaving."
As expected, he is still a child. His happiness is clearly visible on his face when he gets the toy. Ding Xiang nodded heavily: "Yeah!"
(End of this chapter)