The next day, when Leng Yi got up, Zhuo Qiaoniang had already prepared breakfast.

Leng Yi saw that she was radiant, and she was still humming a little song in her mouth, like a flower moistened by rain and dew, which was even more delicate, and thought that a harmonious married life was indeed the best beauty agent for a woman.

After Leng Yi finished washing, he sat down at the table, and the breakfast was kimchi porridge.

Zhuo Qiaoniang sat beside him, glanced at him a little shyly, and then put a piece of kimchi in Leng Yi's porridge bowl, and said, "Officials eat vegetables!" Porridge is better with kimchi. ”

"Hmm!" Leng Yi smiled, and suddenly felt a little guilty in his heart, so he leaned over and kissed her on the face.

Although Zhuo Qiaoniang and her husband are very affectionate, she has never done such intimate actions in broad daylight before. So this time, Zhuo Qiaoniang's face was flushed, and she lowered her head shyly, like a new daughter-in-law who had just passed the door, but her heart was full of joy, and she quickly sandwiched two pieces of kimchi and put them in the cold Yi bowl.

Leng Yi smiled: "Enough, enough, it's all full." ”

Zhuo Qiaoniang smiled and said, "Officials eat more, aren't you going to see the people's New Year today, maybe when you can have lunch." ”

Leng Yi just said it so casually last night, making up a reason to prevaricate, but I didn't expect Zhuo Qiaoniang to remember it, Leng Yi thought about it, and used this excuse to go out with Cheng Luojie to kill Zhu Peng. However, this reason can't be told to Yin Vulture, otherwise they will follow, and it will be difficult to start.

At this moment, I heard the hurried footsteps outside, and Zheng Yan's voice said outside the door: "Master, as far as the Yamen Gatekeeper is concerned, there are many people outside the Yamen who want to pay New Year's greetings to the eldest master." ”

Leng Yi was a little surprised, stood up, and said to Zhuo Qiaoniang: "I'll take a look." ”

"The official has changed his official uniform and will go again?"

"No, when you see the people, you don't need to wear official uniforms. It's not a lord. As he spoke, he paced out.

Seeing Cheng Luojie looking at him with a smile, Leng Yi immediately remembered her pair of white and flawless breasts, and quickly turned her head as if she was a thief, and saw Cheng Luojie looking at him here, her eyes were a little strange.

Leng Yi smiled disguisedly, and walked out quickly, Cheng Luojie and Zheng Yan followed, and when they arrived at the outer house, Yin Ying and Wei Du also followed, and came to the gate of the yamen together.

The first-class Wu catcher on duty at the door smiled and said: "Master, many people from all over the country have come to pay their respects to you, Master." Hehe, I have been on an errand in Yinling County for more than 20 years, and this is the first time I have seen people come to pay New Year's greetings to the eldest lord. It can be seen how much the people love the old man! ”

Leng Yi hurriedly went out, stood on the steps of the yamen, and looked around, only to see that on the street under the gate, there were hundreds of people in the dark, men and women, young and old, some holding chickens and ducks, some holding wine jars, some carrying baskets full of eggs, and some holding pheasants, hares and other game.

Seeing Leng Yi come out, these villagers all knelt down and kowtowed, and said: "The grass people kowtow to Lord Qingtian for the New Year!" ”

Leng Yi hurriedly went down the steps, helped the old men in front of him up, and said, "Fellow villagers, please get up quickly!" Get up and speak! ”

A few white-bearded old men and women stood up tremblingly, and an old man with white hair and beard held a red oil-paper umbrella with a long handle in his hand, which was much larger than the usual. The old man bowed down and said: "Lord Qingtian, your care and love for our poor people, we are grateful in our hearts, and we can't repay it, so we send this Wanmin umbrella to the lord to express the gratitude of our poor people in all four miles and eight towns." ”

As he spoke, an old man and an old woman came over and helped him open the umbrella.

I saw that under the red umbrella, there were many small strips of cloth densely hung, on which either the name was written or the handprint was stamped.

The white-bearded old man raised his hand tremblingly, pointed to the strips of cloth under the umbrella, and said: "These are the names of the heads of the poor people who have been favored and relieved by the eldest lord. Some families even starved to death and froze to death. Everyone is really grateful for the kindness of Lord Qingtian......"

Speaking of excitement, the old man burst into tears. The people behind him were also full of tears, looking at Leng Yi gratefully.

A white-haired old woman next to her was on crutches and said, "Lord Qingtian, our family of twelve would have run out of food a long time ago, if it weren't for you, I'm afraid I would have starved to death." Thank you, thank you......" said that, trembling and about to kneel.

Leng Yi hurriedly hugged her and said loudly: "Fellow villagers, as a parent official in Yinling County, I didn't take good care of you, but you gave me such high praise, I am deeply ashamed. Our county is a place of exile, the mountains are high and the waters are deep, and the people are poor. Rest assured, I will continue to do such things, and I will continue to do them. Let every family be fed and clothed, this is my greatest wish! It's also what I'm striving for! ”

As soon as they heard this, the people all knelt down and kowtowed in thanks.

The white-bearded old man held the Wanmin umbrella above his head with both hands, knelt down tremblingly, and said, "Please take the Wanmin umbrella!" ”

Leng Yi straightened the sleeves of his robe, first bowed to the Wanmin umbrella, and then took it with both hands. handed it to the head of the Wu Catcher next to him, and said: "Put this Wanmin umbrella on the warm pavilion in the lobby of the yamen, so as to always alert the county to make decisions for the people." ”

"Okay!" Wu Zhutou agreed.

The white-bearded old man stood up, took a hare from a young man behind him, held it and handed it over, and said: "Lord Qingtian, in order to express the gratitude of our poor people in all four miles and eight towns, we have prepared some things, this is a hare that the old child went up the mountain to fight, and if you are filial to the old man, please accept it." ”

Leng Yi pushed, raised his voice, and said: "Fellow villagers, I accepted the Wanmin umbrella you gave, and I should be vigilant at any time to do things for the people, but I must not accept your things." I, the parent official, is to do things for the people, you are the most difficult, I said, to let you be fed and clothed, is my greatest wish and pursuit. If I take your things, I won't be slapping myself in the face! Therefore, I resolutely can't accept things, please bring them back, I understand your intentions! ”

Several old men persuaded him repeatedly, but Leng Yi insisted on not wanting to.

When the villagers who knelt down saw it, they were moved to tears, and they only kowtowed in thanks, and they were speechless when they choked up.

Leng Yi said: "Today, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, I also have New Year's greetings for everyone here!" "Let's go, give a long salute. panicked so much that everyone hurriedly kowtowed and returned the salute.

Leng Yi said again: "If the villagers have any difficulties in the future, they will come directly to the yamen to talk to me." I'm going to be visiting you all often. In a few days, we will organize dragon dances and lanterns in the county seat to celebrate the Chinese New Year and welcome everyone to come to the city to be lively. ”

When they heard this, all the people began to rejoice. The white-bearded old man arched his hand with tears in his eyes and said: "My lord, we only heard that there are dragon dances and lanterns in those big places in Bazhou and Beijing, but I didn't expect that we can do this in Yinling." That's great. ”

Leng Yi smiled: "It's the New Year, naturally there is a lively person who wants to celebrate the New Year." Don't worry, I won't apportion the money for the dragon dance lanterns, I will find rich people to raise it. They are all villagers, and helping each other is a family. ”

When everyone heard it, they were even more happy to see it lively, and they didn't have to pay for it.

The white-bearded old man turned to everyone happily: "Lord Qingtian not only thinks about our food and clothing, but also thinks about our New Year's happiness, this is really the intimate person of our poor people!" ”

Everyone nodded one after another, looking at Leng Yi with eyes full of reverence and love. Leng Yi's heart is also warm. Raising his eyes to look at the gloomy sky, he said, "Seeing that it is going to snow again, let's go back and celebrate the New Year with our families." Come to the county seat in a few days to see the dragon lantern, and let's get together again. ”

Everyone said yes, thanked Leng Yi, and slowly dispersed.

Wu Zhutou stepped forward and asked excitedly, "Master, do you really want to dance the dragon lantern?" ”

"Of course! In this way, you will have a banquet in the afternoon, invite all the merchants of the city to dinner, and discuss with them about the dragon lantern dance to raise money. Let them help with the money. Whoever pays for it, when the dragon lantern comes to the gate of their house to dance for a while, the more money is paid, the longer the dance time. In this way, their family is also decent, and everyone has a lively look. ”

"That's a good idea, sir!" Wu Zhutou said: "I want to pay some money to let the dragon lantern dance twice in front of the house." Hey hey"

"Okay, you are responsible for the specific organization of the dragon lantern dance."

"No problem! Haven't you ever eaten pork and never seen a pig run? ”

Leng Yi was about to go back to the inner house, when he heard someone in the distance say loudly: "Master! ”

As soon as Leng Yi turned around, he saw Hong Lichang coming over with dozens of people, followed by a porter, and came over with a big box dressed in red and color.

Master Dong next to him said with a smile: "Dong Weng, the elders of Sili and Eight Townships have come to pay New Year's greetings to you, they come to the county every year, but they used to come on the seventh or eighth day of the first lunar month, and they came on the first day of the Lunar New Year this year, which is really rare." ”

Leng Yi smiled, thinking that he had given Hong Lichang and them a dismount, these people knew that they were powerful, so they naturally came early.

Hong Li ran at the front and said, "My lord, our lieutenant chief and the squires of all villages have come to pay you a New Year's greeting." ”

"You're welcome," Leng Yi arched his hand and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, please speak in the flower hall." ”

Pacing in square steps, a group of lieutenants followed, came to the flower hall, and sat down the guests. The waiter serves tea.

The chief and the squires glanced at each other, led by the chief of Hong Li, got up and knelt down in his robe, kowtowed, and said, "It's a New Year's greeting to the county lord." ”

Leng Yi held his hands half empty, and said, "Everyone, please get up, don't be polite." ”

The lieutenant and the squire got up and sat down.

Leng Yi swept the same and found that Zhu Peng was not there, and said strangely: "What about Zhu Yuanwai?" Why didn't he come? ”

Hong Li let out a long sigh and said, "Zhu Yuanwai, he, he's dead!" ”

Leng Yi and Cheng Luojie behind him were taken aback, and Leng Yi hurriedly said, "Dead? On the twenty-ninth day of the new year, he still came to give me a gift, why did he die? ”

"I heard his family say that on the way back from the county government to give gifts to the master, he fell off the cliff and died on the spot."

(To be continued)