Chapter Seventy-Five: Su Nuo's Trip

White Pigeon Valley has always been cozy. ()

No one bothered the valley, and we couldn't eat all the food grown by the farmers, and most of it was sold. Next to a stream in the valley, the family built a mill, which was designed and built by Uncle Uber. During the construction, my grandfather watched for a long time, then pointed and asked You some questions, and then let You go to command the carpenter in the house.

The mill was different from the rest of the plains, and it had a huge wheel on one side, and when the stream flowed down, the wheel would turn on its own. There are many coggs on the wheel, and when the water rushes into these coggings, the troughs slowly rise, and at the highest point, the troughs filled with water are poured, and the poured water flows down a conduit into the orchard on the side.

Grandpa Bi Anwen said that fruit trees are the most watery, and no matter how much water there is, fruit trees can eat them. In the past, watering the orchard was a lot of work. But after the construction of You's mill, the orchard did not need to be looked after, and the foresters were assigned other jobs. And You's workshop is next to this mill, and whenever the crops are harvested, You will take a few farmers to grind the wheat into flour.

There is a saying on the plains that the flour from the first wheat in a piece of land can increase the life span by fifteen days after eating. He scoffed at this, but every time my grandfather would make a lot of small biscuits out of the first bucket of flour and deliver them to everyone in the valley. My grandfather probably didn't believe that either, but it was a joy to give these cookies to everyone in the family.

Most of the lords of other realms would keep the first batch of flour for themselves, and my grandfather's practice had a mixed reputation on the plains, and the lords thought he was stupid, and the lords would say, "The lord on the other side of the mountain, yes, is the lord of the White Dove Valley, but it is a rare lord."

At that time, I felt that White Pigeon Valley was like a mill water wheel in You, which would go on forever. But after my father left, everything changed.

I heard the words war in a trance, and my grandfather kept it a secret from me, he just said that my father was sick and was recuperating elsewhere.

But I still clearly feel the difference.

Milk candy from Dehrim Heights is hard to come by; The Frost Castle that people used to talk about is no longer on the topic; As for the city of Suno, there was often an extreme contrast at that time--- occasionally it was bustling, the streets were full of citizens and soldiers, and occasionally it suddenly became very depressed.

I went to the tax officer's grandfather's house significantly less, and the matter of finding me a teacher was put on hold for the time being. I'm glad that my grandfather taught me enough things when I was in White Pigeon Valley, and I think my grandfather is the wisest man in the world. Except that the news of his father is completely gone, there is no difference between White Dove Valley and the year his father left.

It seems that something happened in the Suno-Plain, and the people said that the farmers had gone to war, and all kinds of errands had made a mess of the farming time on the plains. I've heard that on the Sune Plain, the price of flour has more than doubled what it used to be.

Many times during the night I heard shouts in the valley, and Grandpa Bianwen told me that it was the hungry people from the plains of Suno who had fled to the valley of the white pigeon.

I saw those people once, they were dressed in tattered clothes, and their faces were yellow and thin. The grandfather told them to carry a whole bucket of flour home, and the men were thankful for leaving, but before long they brought more people with them. Some people also want to sell their children to the White Dove Valley, which does not have so many people, and there are many people of unknown origin among those people--- who are likely to have fled from other territories.

I asked my grandfather, "Grandpa, didn't you say that the Suno Plain is a big granary?" If we bury a seed in the ground, will God send us back dozens or hundreds of grains? ”

"yes, but I can't do anything as simple as that now."

"Why?"

"When the men are gone, the land will be left alone, and weeds will grow on it, and there will be no food."

"Call all the men back."

"Well, it's time for the men to go home."

"And when are they going to be back?"

"When Daddy's illness is cured, the men should go home."

There was a small shrine in the house, and my mother would pray with my grandmother every day.

They stay inside for so long that they always miss meals. Because my mother and grandmother wouldn't let anyone in, every time Aunt Pianwen would let me carry a food box for them to eat, which contained bread, cheese and some other food, no meat, and only some juice or sweet soup made with honey.

Aunt Bianwen always told me not to steal food, and before I was asked to deliver something, she would stuff me with a fruit pie or grab a handful of toffee from the sugar jar for me. I remember once walking in front of the house with the shrine, there were two women sitting by the door and talking. They are women of master carpenters and master tailors. I heard them say, "Second Young Master Arcadio will eventually destroy this valley." ”

I don't know why they say that, but I looked at them curiously and walked over with the food box. They stopped talking when they saw me, but I could hear them whispering to each other as I walked by.

I was curious, so when I was bringing the food in, I asked Grandmother Sumi.

I remember Grandmother Sumi was stunned for a moment, and then asked me with some annoyance who said this. My grandfather had told me not to speak ill of other people behind my back, and I immediately came to my senses, blushing and not telling the source of the words.

Mom took the food out of the basket, placed it on a small table on the side, pulled me over and kissed me on the forehead, and then told me to go out.

When I went out, the two women kept looking at me, and I was a little unhappy because they were speaking ill of my father, and I had to keep them a secret.

At that time, the tax collector grandfather of Suno City would often send people to the White Pigeon Valley, and every time I could hear some news.

What 'they went back to Frost Castle', 'The Emperor himself conquered Frost Castle', 'The Emperor was wounded and returned to Dehrim', 'They went south again'. I don't know who the 'they' in these messages are talking about, or who the 'emperor' is.

Isn't the emperor already dead? Then this emperor should be Prince Fidelik. Didn't grandfather say that Prince Fiderick was the future emperor?

I was completely confused, not knowing what they were talking about.

One day, the middle-aged man from Suno looked a little embarrassed, and he said, "The food in the city has become more expensive now, and my lord asked me to ask you, "Uh", "It's really hard to say." ”

Grandfather touched his forehead, then pressed his hand to his chest, as if groaning, and then he stood up and beckoned Grandpa Bianwen.

I saw Grandpa Bianwen take the man to the warehouse, and they removed bags of flour from it.

The warehouse was full of grain, and once I saw a rat inside, and in order to catch it, I poked several bags of flour with an iron chisel, and then it ran away. I must have looked a little scary when I walked out of the warehouse with flour on my face, and the blacksmith's daughter was scared to cry by me, she had recently been married to a young farmer, and she must have been sad when she came back.

That time, my grandfather and I went to Suno with the middle-aged man.

It was the first time I had been to Suno in more than a year, and when I went there again, I barely knew the city of Suno.

The walls of Sunno City are covered with wooden shelves, and countless craftsmen are working under them. They dug pits one by one, sawed the planks in them, and passed them to the top. At the edge of the city walls, many small stoves had been built, and many people were burning bricks there, and I saw that the bricks were piled up in a clearing, and there were some stonemasons beating huge stones around.

Looking at my curious gaze, the middle-aged man from the tax officer's house told me, "They are going to build a very high wall so that the enemy will not come in." ”

I asked curiously, "Who is the enemy?" Is it Wikibian or Kujitt? ”

At this time, the middle-aged man showed an embarrassed expression, and his grandfather's gaze became a little gloomy.

The two of them didn't seem to hear my question, nodded slightly, and didn't mention it. I fell asleep to the monotonous sound of wheels, and I remember that after entering Suno City, it was still an hour away from Tassel Street, where the tax officer's grandfather lived.

In a trance, I heard my grandfather ask, "They're now under the city of Dehrim." ”

"Well, it is said that it has been surrounded" The emperor has left Dehrim last month, and it is estimated that the emperor also thinks that he can't hold it. Actually'Master Arcadio, I said, if the young master succeeds in the future, we can still be counted'''"

"Don't talk about it."

"Yes, sir."

When I woke up, I had already arrived, and I went to the familiar courtyard, which was still very clean. As I wandered around, I could see the rose beds of the tax officer's grandfather's house--- which was the gardening that the tax officer's mother had been doing. I don't have much of an impression of the old woman, except that she has been pruning all kinds of flowers, the most of course, the ones that are roses. After her death, perhaps because the tax collector's family was sad, they stopped planting roses, and although the whole garden was full of life, it still felt different from the past.

I saw again the cook who told me about Miss Kujit, and now she had no apples for me, and she had to find me the brightest one from the biscuits she had made, but I did not feel as good as Aunt Pianwen. I took a chance to throw away the cake, but when I turned around, I found the cook looking at me sadly, and I felt a little embarrassed, and walked away quickly. Later, when I learned that the cook's own son couldn't eat cookies anymore, I felt like a very jerk.

The tax collector's grandfather and grandfather were discussing things in the study, and the tax collector's wife taught me to play a kind of checkers, which was invented by the Salander people, and the chessboard was very beautifully made, and the chess pieces were carved out of ivory, which I liked very much.

The tax collector's wife looked at me and suddenly said, "What a pitiful thing." ”

I was staring at the chessboard, but then I looked at the tax collector's wife with some curiosity: "What's the matter, ma'am?" ”

"It's okay, hehe, is it my turn?" The tax collector's wife shook her head, then looked at the chessboard with an excited expression again.

Soon after, the grandfather and the tax collector came out chatting. Grandfather's expression became even more gloomy.

I was surprised when we got into the carriage, because in the past, we would stay in Suno for a few days and then go back to White Pigeon Valley, and there has never been a case of going straight home like this time.

The tax collector was a little frustrated and said, "Arcadio, you will hurt the child like this, send this letter, he will receive it." I've written it for you, and you can sign it. ”

"Don't say it, Timmy can't hear it well", the grandfather waved his hand, "The children have their own future, I understand him, but I won't be involved, don't worry about being implicated." ”

"Do other people think that? Would Haraus think so? Think of your family, think of Timmy."

My grandfather came over, took my hand, and got into the carriage. On the way to the carriage, the tax officer's wife gave me the checkers, and my grandfather hesitated and did not dissuade them.

Our carriage drove out of Tassel Street and out onto the street.

I saw a group of soldiers escorting a column of bloodied men past us, and an officer loudly announcing that these men were 'rebels,' 'pioneers,' or something.

Grandfather looked at them deeply and did not speak.