Chapter XXVII

I went back to the stable

The weather is getting colder day by day, and the fields are being harvested piece by piece

When the grain enters the granary, people will feel at ease in the past, and the farmers will start to celebrate at this time: they will gather together, make food with fresh grains and meat, and then invite the lord to come and taste itNormally, the lord will symbolize xìng to inspect the territory, so that the lords can feel his majesty and affinity, but this year is different, the people of the lord's family always hurry to ride in and out of the territory, the wagons full of goods are transported out of the castle, and the empty wagons are transported back to the territory

Occasionally, an alien land surveyor would intrude into the territory and ask for a re-survey, and the Count Kalinin would never pay attention to those who came from the Frost Castle: they would not be evicted, nor would they entertain, but if they dared to approach the castle, the Count Kalinin would have them stripped naked and then whipped away, as the lords did when dealing with outsiders who trespassed into their homes, and no one could bsp; The peasants in the territory will not be too happy this year, although the grain harvest is very good, if in the past, in such a good year, the Count of Kalinin would allow the farmers to take out some grain for wine, but this year, the earl's steward warned everyone not to waste a grain of grain, all surplus grain must be paid into the warehouse, leaving only the basic rations and seeds for the coming year, it is said that for the farmers who are unwilling to follow him to the East, Yuri originally planned not to leave a grain for them, But it was given up because of Alexei's resolute opposition

In addition, the farmers have a lot of work to do: the grain has to be dried and hulled; The grass stalks should be compacted and bundled; Cattle and sheep should be slaughtered as soon as possible and made into barrels of cured meat

The maple leaves seemed to be all red one night

The autumn morning is very cool, very clean and get up early, exhale and you can see the white fog butler dad gave me a local dog in the autumn, Tom heard about it and came to visit me, he first talked about the weather, then asked about my health, and finally he asked me when I was going to eat the dog I said when all the oak trees were burned out and then Tom pouted, let me call him when I was ready to eat dog meat, he will have thirty different ways to eat meat, "one is better than the other"

The butler's dog had six cubs in a litter, and four of them lived, and he gave each of the stablemates a Jack who always liked him, so he asked Jack to choose the three of them first, and Jack took the strongest and most beautiful one, while Hyde and Herman each chose a slightly inferior one, and the one they left me at last had a very short tail, and the dumb-headed dog did not recognize life, and the housekeeper hated this, because the only thing it would do seemed to be to add a man's hand and beg someone to give it a bone

Herman told me that Jack was very happy, because after half a year, he would not need to watch the stables at night, just keep the dog on a leash at the door, and Jack's dog was very fierce, and I knew that my dog would definitely not work, and if anyone dared to steal the horse, the stupid dog would probably add his hand and wagging his tail to see that others had taken the dog away

It dawned on me that I was in the stable, and that all sorts of animals were sniffing my hands: horses, dogs, and maybe Mr. Goth would let me play with his cats like that in the future

When all the peasants had come to the castle, I realized that the population of Romanov was really large

I thought it was not unusual for the Romanov Castle and the three surrounding villages to have a population of less than a thousand, but when I saw hundreds of people crowded into the courtyard, I realized that I was wrong about the number "hundred", which may sound ridiculous, but when these people stood in the narrow aisles of the castle and drank the wine of the bounty, you would know how many of them were

When the peasants came to pay for the grain, they would stay in the castle for three days, eating and drinking as they pleased, and the lord would bring out food and wine to entertain the lords who had worked hard for a year, and as an encouragement for their hard work, the castle would consume more than ten bags of flour, wheat, oats, several large baskets of turnips, two or three barrels of coarse wine, and several pots of cured meat and a dozen cages of pigeons every day

In those days, I couldn't help Mr. Goth move in the afternoon, because the castle was full of people, and I had to go to the kitchen, the storehouse, and the auditorium to help everywhere

Rakes, wooden plows, hoes, files, sickles, these things are thrown everywhere, and the farmers throw away their tools when they get drunk, and then they work in pairs, holding hands and laughing in circles, singing yín filthy songs, but they are actually quite good, most of these songs are taught by Tom to sing them, using the most popular tunes, but the lyrics are changed Tom changed "We Knights Have Swords" to "We Men Have Swords", which suddenly made the number of people singing this song increase dramatically, and Tom has done a lot of this kind of thing, The farmers who don't have wives like him, and the farmers who have wives hate him

I had seen the Count stand by the window, holding up a glass of wine to salute the cheerful crowd downstairs, and then disappear behind the curtains

It is said that the Countess was so angry after listening to these songs that he asked Count Kalinin to get rid of this damn Tom

The Count walked to the window and looked at the crowd below, and shook his head: "No, madam, you still need him now, do you know?" This Tom made up a lot of songs, and he lied to the peasants that the Burke women of the East did not wear kùzi, and the lower body was naked, and the Burke men were all cowardly and incompetent, and our men did not worry about finding women when they went."

"My lord, this is disgusting, it makes me uncomfortable"

"No, ma'am," Count Kalinin's expression barely changed, "it's not disgusting at all, only a third of these peasants were willing to go to the East, and now almost half of them are rushing to go, and if Tom can trick more soldiers and women to come, our family should give him a banner for merit"

"You canonized him as a knight, don't you like oaks very much, this fool? Oak for his family crest."

The Count took a sip of wine, "My 'Oak Knight'?" I like the name."

The Countess brushed her sleeves away, and went to urge the sisters of the family to sew fur capes and gloves

Recently, life has been very good, my food has improved, and I can eat white bread almost every day

Count Kalinin promised the farmer generous terms that if he followed him to the East, the serfs would be pardoned as free peasants and given land; Free farmers were given more land, and if they served in the family guard, they were exempt from food taxes for the next two years

Still, few people responded, and as they were about to leave, many of the peasants expressed their willingness to follow the Count to the East, and Tom's messenger from Frost Castle arrogantly announced the policy of a loyal vassal: the Romanovs could take anyone who would follow them, but if they forced the people to leave, they would be punished as trafficking in the commoners of the Empire

The Count still did not object, and he shrank all his defenses around the castle, as if it had nothing to do with him as long as the outside forces did not penetrate the castle

In the most recent registration, more than 160 peasants, more than 30 craftsmen, 17 soldiers and free riders, and a few civilian personnel expressed their willingness to follow the lord, some of whom accompanied the Romanov family, who had supported more than 1,000 people in the past, and when they went to the East, there were only about 500 people, and it was worrying that there were only a little more than a hundred women, and most of the farmers had no wives, which would bring great trouble in ten years' time. But now the Count had no time to estimate this

Through purchase and imitation, now more than forty horse-drawn carriages are neatly placed under the walls of the castle, these carriages have high open tops, which are the things of the mountainous people of Rhodok, and the Rhodoks have no systematic waterways in the territory, so they can only rely on horse-drawn carriages to transport goods, so they always repair the cargo boxes of the carriages to a large size

A Lordok craftsman, who was reluctant to go to the east of the mountain, taught the Romanovs how to make these carriages, left the drawings, and then returned to his hometown with a bag full of wages, and the Count Kalinin gave the craftsman an additional reward, which was said to be the same weight as his drawing scroll, and the Count asked the craftsman to return to Rhodok and tell his guild mates: The Romanovs are in the East, waiting for all their friends with gold

The stones of the castle were blown white by the cold wind, and the fluttering double-headed eagle battle flag at the top of the castle was still bright red

For many of the Romanov elders, it was an exile, they were going to abandon their homes for decades and be driven to the East, and for me it was like a grand banquet, which may not be right, but I do feel so

Countless people packed things into carts every day, and I watched Mr. Goth's rack go from full to empty, and I saw Yuri-sama and the maid a few times, but I only pretended not to know them

"Forget what you should forget", although it is difficult, but I have clearly felt that if I can't do it, it will be a big problem, and I can only force myself to adapt to this life

Once, when I was following Mr. Goth's instructions to deliver a bottle of cough potion to Lord Yuri, Lord Yuri was polishing a dagger with gauze, and when he saw me coming in, he asked me to put the potion down, and then asked me, "Who the hell were you going to see that day?" Child? It's better not to be a Messiah."

"My lord," I was a little embarrassed, I remember the scene of his dagger on the door, "I went to see Yeka"

"Ekaterina?" Yuri picked at his beard with a dagger, "But the Messira said you don't know Kaja, and Kaja doesn't know you, she's not your favorite."

"Yes, Sister Kaja doesn't know me, I'm just going to see her"

Yuri wiped the dagger clean with a white cloth and stuffed it into the dagger, "Hell, are you telling me a tragic love story?" ”

"Don't dare, sir"

"You're not really going to see my Messirah?" Yuri asked me with a tilt of his head, pouring himself a glass of wine

"No, my lord" My lord, my lord, my lord, I have to say it a hundred times a day, "When I bumped into you and the maid, I didn't know Sister Messira, and when I broke into the singing room by mistake, it was Sister Messira who helped me avoid the butler's pursuit, and I felt that she wouldn't look at her more, I swear"

"Hmm, don't you think it's my Messirah who isn't pretty?"

"There is no such thing, Sister Messira is very cute"

"But you only have Kaja in your eyes, don't you?"

"My lord, I don't know how to answer me"

"Forget it, let's not talk about the girl, let's talk about the big girl, the last time you saw me with the maid, you didn't control your mouth everywhere?"

"Did you hear the rumors?"

"Not really," he pouted, "I made a bet with Tonya, I bet you'd be tempted to say it in a week, and she bet you wouldn't look like she didn't misread you."

"Victor Knows: Forget What Should Be Forgotten"

"Hell," he frowned, "who taught you that?" ”

"Uh, sir? Am I not right? ”

"There's nothing wrong with that, but if you take it to heart and do it, if you say it proudly, it will look like you're a fool rather than a smart person, you know?"

"Victor made a note of it"

"Do you know how to look like a smart person?"

"Don't speak?"

"Think about it yourself, but you can keep your mouth shut, that's good, you have a good start" Yuri touched his chin, it felt a little rough, and asked me to get him some soap cream, mixed it with water and mash it into foam for him, and he cleaned his chin with a razor, and then beat me off

"Son, good first step" As I walked out of the room, he said behind me, "I'll keep an eye on you, go about my own business"

When I went out, a girl came into the house with her back to the sun, and she was holding the hand of a girl: Messira and Kaja

I saw them again in the gothic singing room, but I sat in the corner cleaning the coarse cloth, and they stood and sang and we didn't have a chance to talk, except for the cat curled up and yawning and sleeping

When they came over, they were supposed to be talking and laughing, but when they saw me, the laughter disappeared all of a sudden, and Kaja pretended to look inside the room, and Messira's happy expression turned into a quiet smile, and Mithera glanced at me, then pulled her head, and said to Kaja, "Go, Kaja, let's go, I'll take you to my father."

I walked along the darkening courtyard towards the front, without looking back

In a month's time, we will be leaving, and it is said that the Count is preparing for a grand parting ceremony

Torches had been lit in the distance, someone was singing, and the sound was heard far away

The only two girls I knew pretended not to see me, and Kaja turned her eyes to the side

I walked towards the stable, and at sunset, a dumbfounded dog sat on the ground waiting for me to return