novelhk Chapter 244 Have all the townspeople arrived?
Chapter 244 Have all the townspeople arrived?
Inside the hall, after Zhang Haoyi left, Li Qingqing quickly went forward to check if Da Shuang and Xiao Shuang were injured.
Li Feng quickly stepped in to help untie the ropes.
"Da Shuang and Xiao Shuang, you two did a great job just now!" Li Qingqing praised the two children.
"Big sister, big brother!" Da Shuang and Xiao Shuang greeted Li Qingqing and Li Feng as soon as they recognized Li Qingqing.
"Big sister, that bad guy who kidnapped us hit me." Xiao Shuang leaned against Li Qingqing's chest and complained pitifully.
The tears welled up in her eyes, then immediately started falling down in a steady stream.
Upon seeing this, Da Shuang immediately frowned and said seriously, "Neither of us can beat that bad guy. I told you not to provoke him, but you wouldn't listen!"
"Don't cry, Xiaoshuang. Your older sister will definitely avenge you." Li Qingqing half-squatted down, took out some ointment, and applied it to Xiaoshuang's swollen face.
"However, Da Shuang is right. When we encounter danger, we must protect ourselves first. It's not shameful to admit defeat. Once we have the strength, we'll fight back fiercely!"
"Uh, I want to master martial arts so I'll never be afraid of bad guys again!" Xiao Shuang stopped crying and nodded hurriedly.
"That's right!" Li Qingqing smiled, gently flicked her nose with her index finger, and stood up.
"Let's go to my place first. We're still in a bit of danger, so we'll have to continue pretending we don't know each other."
Li Qingqing and Li Feng led Da Shuang and Xiao Shuang out of the hall.
Zhang Haoyi left at some point, but none of the residents of the border town who had gathered outside dispersed.
The villagers, led by the village head and Uncle Liu, rushed over to plead for justice for General Li and Lord Qingcheng after hearing that they had been framed by villains.
Although the imperial envoy just said that he had cleared the two people of their names, everyone insisted on seeing it with their own eyes before they could feel at ease.
Just then, Li Qingqing and Li Feng appeared outside the hall. One of them, with sharp eyes, immediately shouted,
"General Li and Lord Qingcheng have come out!"
In an instant, the crowd stirred.
Li Qingqing and Li Feng exchanged a glance, both feeling quite puzzled.
The two looked around and saw a huge crowd that almost filled their entire field of vision, with some people even coming from a distance.
Li Qingqing: ...
Goodness, it feels like all the residents of this border town have come!
"General Li, Lord Qingcheng, as soon as we heard the news that you had been wronged, we all rushed here. Fortunately, it was just a false alarm!" someone shouted from the crowd.
"Lord Qingcheng, I heard from that imperial envoy that you will not be transferred back to the capital and will continue to serve as the city lord. Is this true?" another person asked impatiently.
"Is Lord Wei really going to be beheaded by the imperial court? Will the court send another Protector General?"
"General Li, after you return to the capital, could you please pass on a message to the Emperor? We humbly beg Your Majesty not to send any more officials. We only want Lord Qingcheng."
……
Everyone watched Li Qingqing and Li Feng with bated breath, their hearts filled with unease.
Uncle Liu and his group of outsiders came out of righteousness. They were taken in and settled in the border city by Li Qingqing, thus avoiding the suffering of being displaced.
If Li Qingqing were to step down as city lord, and the next official to govern them were a bad person, they would not know what to do.
And the group of indigenous people led by the village chief goes without saying.
Lord Qingcheng sent people to transport various supplies and agricultural machinery from the neighboring Qiushui Town to help them cultivate the land.
They even set up a market in the town, arranging for merchants from afar to sell rice and other daily necessities at reasonable prices, and even going so far as to buy up sorghum that was difficult to swallow at high prices.
General Li arrived in this area less than two years ago and drove away the long-standing enemy, bringing peace to the border and ending the people's constant fear.
Since the war ended, both the relief funds and the military pay owed by the court were distributed in full.
He also ordered the construction of a monument to the martyrs and the enshrinement of the fallen soldiers in the Martyrs' Shrine.
If these two good people are harmed by villains and the incompetent Lord Wei continues to govern, the lives of these common people will return to hardship.
Fortunately, the imperial envoy was discerning, and the general and the city lord were both unharmed.
The fear in everyone's hearts lessened, and a sense of anticipation increased.
Li Qingqing glanced at the village head and Uncle Liu, then looked at Li Feng.
Li Feng nodded slightly, signaling her to speak.
Li Qingqing then looked at everyone and asked them to be quiet.
"Rest assured, everyone. From now on, all areas within the border city's territory will be under the jurisdiction of the city lord's mansion. I, the city lord, will work with you to build the border city!"
Upon hearing this, the crowd erupted in cheers and jubilation.
The imperial envoy had previously said that the Qingcheng Lord would remain in office, and now that she had personally confirmed it, the heavy weight on everyone's hearts was finally lifted.
"Great! We finally have a way out!"
"Lord Qingcheng, with you here, we will never have to live a hard life again!"
Li Qingqing glanced at the sky and said to everyone, "It's getting late, let's head back to the border town as soon as possible."
Everyone obediently left immediately, except for Uncle Liu and the village head who were standing at the front.
At this moment, the two of them were looking at Li Qingqing with reverence, their eyes filled with tears, hesitant to speak, as if they still had something to say to her.
"Village head, Uncle Liu, is there anything else?" Li Qingqing asked with a smile.
The village head glanced at Uncle Liu, then spoke to Li Qingqing:
"Here's the thing, when your men go hunting in the mountains, could you take us with you? Soon, the merchants in town will be going home for the New Year and won't be back until the spring of next year."
Therefore, we plan to organize some able-bodied young men to go up the mountain to try their luck and see if they can find some food; otherwise, the next few months will be quite difficult.
Upon hearing this, Li Qingqing realized that winter had already arrived.
Snowfall in the southern region usually comes late. Once it does, it makes it extremely difficult for merchants to travel back and forth, and even more difficult to transport goods.
It seems she can't go anywhere during this time; her primary task is to resolve the livelihood issues in the border town.
Seeing that Li Qingqing was deep in thought, Uncle Liu hurriedly said:
"Lord City Lord, we are not acting out of jealousy. We understand that your men are hunting to supply the army. We can also refrain from hunting small prey. I am familiar with wild vegetables, and I will teach them to find more of them. In this way, all the mustard greens that everyone is currently planting can be pickled and saved for when food is scarce. What do you think?"
The village head and Uncle Liu looked at Li Qingqing nervously.
"Since I've brought you into the mountains, whatever you find is yours."
After a moment's thought, considering that the dangers on the mountain were no longer what they used to be, Li Qingqing gave the following instructions:
"After you two go back, organize the people and divide them into two teams. One team will be responsible for hunting, and I will send someone to give them some basic training."
The other team is responsible for collecting wild vegetables. Uncle Liu, please guide them in identifying the different types of wild vegetables beforehand.
Upon hearing this, Liu Bo and the village head were overjoyed and hurriedly said, "Thank you, City Lord. We will go back and make the arrangements immediately."
Li Qingqing and Li Feng ignored Uncle Liu and the village head and returned to their residence.
Xiao Shuang then asked, "Big sister, are you really going to become the city lord and not go back to Pear Blossom Village?"
“Little girl, of course I will go back to Pear Blossom Village, but my elder sister has important matters to attend to now, so she is going to become the city lord.”
Li Qingqing smiled and said to Xiao Shuang, "You and Da Shuang can't tell anyone that your eldest sister is the city lord here! It's our secret."
"We won't tell, we'd rather die than tell!" Xiao Shuang immediately shook her head.
Da Shuang quickly replied, "The city lord is the city lord, and our eldest sister is our eldest sister. Our eldest sister has always lived in Qiushui Town with our eldest brother!"
"You little rascal!" Li Qingqing said with a smile as she looked at Da Shuang.