The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

"I got here first!"

The nephew who was holding Heifu's left leg laughed, with a broken tooth in his mouth and a little slurred speech.

"Uncle, my brother bullied me."

The little niece pouted her lips and began to show her special skills: complaining, but she spoke in a baby voice, which sounded like a spoiled child to her ears.

She had dark hair, a small red mole on her eyebrow, and pouty cheeks, which was very cute - although Heifu's family was not very rich, his mother, as a grandmother, would rather eat less herself, but she must make sure that the two children were full. His family was not the poorest. As long as there was no epidemic or famine, and they were frugal, the children in the family would thrive.

"Yang, you are the elder brother, you should give in to Yue."

Heifu squatted down and wiped Yang's snot that was about to flow into his mouth with his sleeve, and patted his niece's head with his other hand. In front of them, he was a kind elder.

"Go wash your hands, I brought you something good."

Yang and Yue looked at each other and ran away. This was Zhongfu's quirk since September. Every time they had a meal, he would urge them to wash their hands first. At first, they were a little uncomfortable, but gradually they got used to it. Especially Yue, she gradually felt that her white little hands after washing were also very comfortable, and she began to dislike the dirty hands of the girl next door who played with her.

What Heifu brought back for them was the most favorite sweets of children in this era: maltose. This is a food made from wheat and other grains through fermentation. The liquid ones are the maltose that people often eat in later generations. What Heifu bought at the county market is harder white maltose, made of millet. After drying, it has a faint sweetness and is quite fragrant, but it is a bit sticky.

"Thank you, Zhongfu!"

The two children ran away with the maltose, giggling. Heifu passed by the kitchen and greeted his eldest sister-in-law who was cooking. Then he walked up the steps and entered the main house. There was an old woman with gray hair and a thorn hairpin and cloth skirt sitting under the eaves, bowing her head to weave things with bamboo strips...

Her skin was yellow, and her face did not look very old, but her hair was more white than black, her body was not very healthy, and her spirit was a little decadent, as if she had just recovered from a serious illness.

"Mother, I'm back."

Heifu knelt down and bowed to the ground. It seemed that what his eldest brother said was right. Because of him, his mother fell seriously ill.

"You still remember to come back."

The mother knew he was back, but she only sent her youngest son to pick him up. She didn't go out to meet him just now. At this moment, she still had a stern face, and no one knew who she was angry with.

Hei Fu knew what was going on, so he went over and smiled flatteringly: "Are you weaving bamboo sieves again? It's winter, what should I do if my hands are cut? Let me do it..." As he said that, he was going to take the bamboo strips.

But the mother hit him lightly on the back of his hand with a bamboo strip and scolded him: "Among the three brothers, you are the most clumsy. The sieve you weave can leak even stones, not to mention rice! I don't want it!"

Hei Fu had to retract his hand and looked at his eldest brother who was cleaning fish in the yard. But his eldest brother just smiled and shook his head at him.

Sure enough, after a while, the mother couldn't help but ask, "Which hand was injured when fighting with the thieves?"

"Right hand." Hei Fu said hurriedly, "It's a minor injury, not serious."

"Minor injury? Let me see."

Hei Fu had to roll up his sleeves and show the almost healed wound.

The mother touched the thin and hideous scar, feeling a little distressed, and sighed, "What did I say when I sent you out? Don't be impulsive when encountering things, and don't fight with others, let alone those vicious thieves. When your uncle came back and told the story, others praised you for fighting three people alone and taking away the blade with bare hands. I was so scared that my heart almost jumped out. You said that if the thief's sword was more accurate, your hand would be useless, and maybe your life would be in danger! Are you trying to piss off this old woman?"

After poking Hei Fu's head fiercely with her fingers, the old woman stopped weaving the bamboo sieve and began to wipe her tears.

Her husband died a few years ago, and the year before last, her eldest son injured his leg on the battlefield, making it difficult for him to work in the fields. Her third son was young and ignorant. If the second son, who was usually the most stable, had any accident again, she really didn't know what to do.

"Mother, isn't Hei Fu fine? It's all over."

Zhong hurried over to comfort his mother, and Hei Fu also patted her back and kneaded her legs, saying only good things, and it was not easy to make the old lady stop being sad.

"It's good that you are fine. You have won the title of a duke, which is also a glory for the family. When I walk in the neighborhood and hear people praise my son, I feel proud."

Mother is such a person. She can't stop crying when she should be sad, but after a while, she stands up again and does what she should do. In Hei Fu's memory, whether his stepfather died or his eldest brother was carried home with blood, it was the old lady who gritted her teeth and managed to maintain the family.

At this time, the old man started talking again, patting Heifu's hand and said: "The sheepskin coat you asked Zhong to buy is warm, but I am so old, I don't need to spend money. I have saved all the money under the bed for you. In two years, Jing will be an adult. I have discussed with your uncle and decided to let you live separately. The house must be built first."

Unlike later generations, the separation of families in this era is helpless. When Shang Yang reformed, in order to collect more taxes, he stipulated that "if there are two or more sons who do not separate, the tax will be doubled"! So in Qin State, the former clan family was broken up into a small peasant family with five to eight people.

There are now 7 people in their family, including three brothers. When Jing becomes an adult, one of them must separate.

With Jing's temper, I don't know if he can survive if he separates and lives alone. His mother must be worried, so it's better to stay by his side. Zhong is married, has a pair of children, and is responsible for taking care of his mother. Since Heifu became a duke and was allocated a house, the best way was naturally for him to divide it, and Heifu had no objection to this.

But he had a lot of objections to what happened next...

But he heard his mother say again: "You will be 18 after the winter solstice, and now you are a duke, it is time to talk about marriage. I am planning to go to your aunt in the plaque to talk about this in a few days to see if there is a suitable woman..."

Heifu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. His eldest aunt knew the "Daily Book" and liked to match people up, a bit like a matchmaker in later generations. The greatest achievement of the eldest aunt was to help the eldest brother Zhong marry the eldest sister-in-law, and she also arranged the marriages of Heifu and Jing.

But Heifu had no plans in that regard at all, and according to his aesthetic taste as a person in later generations, even if he wanted to marry, it had to be a beautiful, fair and graceful lady, and he couldn't just find a ugly girl from the neighboring village to make do with.

So Heifu hurriedly said: "Mother, let's talk about this slowly. I came back today and I have something important to discuss with you and my uncle!"

Mother stopped talking and put down the work in her hands. Lian Jing also poked his head out of the kitchen to look at him.

Heifu smiled and said, "Mother, because I captured the thief and won the first place in the night watchman's military exercise, the county's right lieutenant admired me very much, so he asked the county to recruit me to be the head of Huyang Pavilion! If I can pass the assessment, I can take office next month!"

"Head!"

As soon as these words came out, Zhong opened his eyes wide in surprise and then joy, and Jing laughed out loud in ecstasy, while his mother's face was mixed with joy and sorrow...

...

The next morning, Heifu was awakened by the crisp sound of pounding rice...

Although the couch at home was also made of straw, it was warmer and softer than the one outside. He slept very soundly and peacefully last night. The days of a family getting along well, although a little hard, were the most comfortable.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang..."

He took a look. It was not yet dawn. The sound of pounding rice came from outside again. It was solid, powerful, and rhythmic. It penetrated the hazy morning light and rose and fell in the house.

This was the village life that Heifu had long been accustomed to.

He closed his eyes and listened to these sounds, but suddenly he had an idea and wanted to turn over and get off the bed.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he turned around, he found that Jing, who was sleeping on the couch opposite, had woken up and was kneeling in front of Heifu's couch, looking at him with shining eyes!

"What?"

Heifu was startled by this kid.

"Brother Zhong!"

Jing's eyes were bloodshot, but his eyes were bright. Maybe he was too excited to sleep last night. He bowed to Heifu without saying anything, and then earnestly pleaded:

"If you go to Huyang Pavilion to be the head of the pavilion, take me with you!"

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