In the evening, when Zhang Yanling returned to the manor compound, Tan Ruqing and others were also coming back from outside. Tan Ruqing was not idle today either. He took the women and children in the village to pick soapberry fruits in the mountains and taught them to peel them.
The juice was extracted from the peel and used as a substitute for armyworms. At the end of the day, the hot sun made her face flushed, her bun was a little messy, and there were still a few leaves and grass stems on her temples. But she seemed to be in a good mood.
In fact, women like her don't have many opportunities to interact with ordinary farm women and children in the mountains and fields. Tan Ruqing is kind-hearted and sympathizes with these people, so she is willing to do something for them.
Everyone rested for a while, ate some tea and snacks, and watched the sun slowly sinking in the west. Many people in Zhaojiazhuang had gathered at the door, so Zhang Yanling got up and went out, giving instructions for action.
Everyone in the village, young and old, knows that tonight is a unified pest control operation in the manor. All villages have been busy working on it all day long, so they are looking forward to it. Hundreds of people in the village, young and old, have taken action one after another, and people have gone to every house.
Insect-catching lanterns began to be set up in the fields.
Under the afterglow of the setting sun, the vast green fields are full of people. In addition to Zhaojiazhuang, people in other villages have also begun to set up insect traps. The fields of Xishan Manor are originally distributed along both sides of the river.
The village is not far away, so people can be seen everywhere in the fields along the river, busy working.
The sky was getting dark little by little, twilight was closing, and stars began to appear in the sky. Everyone was waiting for Zhang Yanling to give the order. Zhang Yanling held the gong, rang the gong himself, and shouted: "Light the lamp!"
Following an order, lights began to light up everywhere in the dark field. At first there were only a dozen lights, then dozens, and after one stick of incense, the entire field was dotted with lights.
The stars were shining brightly in the sky, and the fields on the ground were also shining with stars. The night wind blew by, and the lights swayed, as if the stars in the sky were blinking. For a moment, it was hard to tell whether it was the stars in the sky or the lights on the ground.
The children on the shore cheered for joy. This was the liveliest and most beautiful night they had ever seen. It was always dark after the sun set, and they had seen such a scene before. Even the old people pointed and marveled.
Zhang Yanling smiled and listened to the exclamations and admirations of the people around him, and felt a little proud. In fact, this seemed like child's play to Zhang Yanling. He had seen the brilliant neon lights of later cities, which were even more dazzling than the stars in the sky.
It's a scene, but I can't share it with the people here.
"It's so beautiful! It's even comparable to the Lantern Festival in the capital during the Lantern Festival."
Tan Ruqing's admiration came from behind. Zhang Yanling turned back to look at Tan Ruqing, and Tan Ruqing happened to look at Zhang Yanling. In the dim light, Tan Ruqing's starry eyes sparkled, like the stars in this dark night.
The moment the two people looked at each other, Tan Ruqing did not avoid Zhang Yanling's gaze this time, but looked at Zhang Yanling bravely, slightly raised the corners of her mouth, and showed a beautiful smile.
The pest eradication operation ended at midnight and lasted for two hours. The candle time limit was only one hour, and after another round of candles, the rice planthoppers in the pots were cleaned again.
The results achieved are truly astonishing. The rice planthoppers captured were piled up in a wet pile, and they were so dense that it was shocking. No one had ever seen so many insects piled together, and it was really scary.
These are still the first and second generations of bugs. Think about how their number will increase hundreds of times in a month, what serious consequences it will have. People gritted their teeth and cursed and threw these bugs into the fire to be burned.
, after a crackling sound, the air was filled with a burnt smell, and the pests were burned into green smoke and dust was blown away in the wind.
The pest eradication operation was a great success. The weather cooled down in the second half of the night and the flying insects were less active, so everyone decided to continue the operation at midnight tomorrow night. According to this situation, the problem of rice planthoppers can be basically solved in three nights. Although it cannot be completely solved
Eradication, but after learning the method, even if there is a tendency to break out again in the future, you only need to follow the same method.
People happily gathered their friends and went home. That night, many people slept peacefully and sweetly. However, many people's dreams were occupied by a bunch of black and crawling insects, which became their dream for a long time.
Memories of lingering horror.
Early the next morning, Zhang Yanling and others set off back to the capital. To Zhang Yanling's surprise, he did not tell the people in the village that he was leaving, but someone actually saw him off at the entrance of the village before leaving. This made Zhang Yanling quite emotional. The people were actually very simple.
, they knew in their hearts whoever was kind to him, and as long as they did something in just a few days, they forgot the bad things they had done to them and expressed their goodwill.
"My boss, have a good trip. Things here will be carried out according to your arrangements. My boss comes to visit often, so we can rest assured." Zhao Laoji said with a cupped hand.
Zhang Yanling cupped his hands and smiled and said: "Don't worry, I will come often. The dam will start construction in ten days, and I will come to dig the soil in person. Dad, I will ask you to worry about it during this period, and make some preparations and mobilization in advance. I will also ask Ma Guanjia
I’ll coordinate with you.”
Zhao Laoji nodded his head in agreement. Zhang Yanling got on his horse, handed over to the people, and then the carriage started and left quickly in the smoke.
…
At noon, everyone arrived in the capital. When they arrived at the street leading to Baizhifang, Zhang Yanling stopped, slowly rode his horse to Tan Ruqing's carriage, and saluted Tan Ruqing.
"Miss Tan, are you going to my house or going home?"
Tan Ruqing saluted through the car curtain and said softly: "I have been away from home for a few days. I am afraid that my grandmother will be very angry, so she will not bother me. Goodbye, Mr. Zhang."
Zhang Yanling nodded and said, "I hope you won't be scolded by your grandmother. If you need me to clarify something, just send someone to send me a letter."
Tan Ruqing said softly: "Is there anything to clarify? I'm just going with you because of your injury to prevent accidents."
Zhang Yanling chuckled and said: "That's true, there is really nothing to clarify, so, goodbye."
Zhang Yanling handed over his hand again. He saw Tan Ruqing nodding in return inside the car curtain, so he turned his horse's head and prepared to leave. Tan Ruqing's voice suddenly came from behind him: "Master Zhang."
Zhang Yanling turned around and said, "What?"
Tan Ruqing whispered: "It's nothing, I just hope you pay attention to your injury. Although it should have healed, you still need to pay attention."
Zhang Yanling laughed and said: "Thank you, I will be careful." After saying that, he urged his mount to move forward. Tan Ruqing's carriage turned a corner behind and disappeared into the noisy flow of people.
…
The return of the Marquis suddenly made the mansion lively. The Marquis and the chief and deputy housekeepers have been away for three days in the past few days. Although the servants in the mansion are less restrained and more comfortable, they still feel like they have nothing to do. Now that the Marquis is back
, everyone's nerves were tense, and they immediately started to get busy up and down.
Zhang Yanling returned home and was in a good mood. He suddenly discovered that although he had only traveled through time for less than half a month, he seemed to have become accustomed to this kind of life of being served, surrounded by people, and well-dressed and well-fed. It turns out that people
Things have changed so quickly. Living in the manor is actually not considered a hardship, but when I return home and sit in the tall and exquisite back house, looking at the neat and clear high-rise buildings and the jade-carved corridors and pavilions, I feel comfortable.
A lot. No wonder the ancients said, "It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality." In such a short period of time, Zhang Yanling was no longer used to the life of ordinary people.
The first thing he did when he got home was to take a shower. In the past few days in the manor, he just wiped his head, face and body at night for convenience. Zhang Yanling could smell the smell of sweat on his body. He didn't know what Tan Ruqing was doing.
Even if she always has a faint fragrance on her body, she will definitely not be able to bathe. There is no place for women to bathe in the manor courtyard.
After taking a good bath in the bubbly hot water, Zhang Yanling put on a thin and light satin gown. When she sat on the couch in the main hall of the back house and drank new tea with her legs crossed, Zhang Yanling felt extremely happy.
satisfy.
Tao'er, Xing'er, Li'er and Putao'er, several maids from the back house stood aside with their hands down. They couldn't help covering their mouths when they saw the Marquis drinking tea and enjoying it. Zhang Yanling put down the tea cup and asked: "I'm not in the house these days.
,Is there anything going on in the house?"
Tao'er said hurriedly: "I was about to tell the Marquis. Yesterday, the Queen Mother sent a father-in-law to come and brought two boxes of ginseng. It was said that Mr. Hai from Nuer Gandusi came to the capital to see the emperor and sent ten boxes of ginseng.
There are also boxes of ginseng from Northeast China, which are said to have been there for hundreds of years. The emperor rewarded the queen with two boxes, and the queen ordered them to be delivered, saying they would be used to replenish the body of the Marquis."
Zhang Yanling sighed: "Hey, the second sister is so kind to me. She thinks of me all the time."
Tao'er smiled and said: "Yes, the Queen is very kind to Mr. Hou. I collected the things and put them in the inner house warehouse. I will make soup for Mr. Hou later."
Zhang Yanling nodded and drank tea from the cup.
"By the way, there is one more thing. As soon as the Marquis left that day, someone came to visit the Marquis. I just missed it," Tao'er said.
"Who is here?" Zhang Yanling asked, blowing tea leaves.
"That's Zhu Lin, the young prince of Chengguo Palace. He brought many gifts, saying that he wanted to visit the Marquis and invite the Marquis to a banquet or something. The Marquis was not at home, so we didn't dare to accept the things.
Besides, this Zhu Lin was the one who caused the Marquis to be injured. We all knew it, so we sent him away. He left a message that we must tell him when the Marquis comes back." Taoer said eloquently.
"Oh? Is it him?" A smile appeared on Zhang Yanling's face. Indeed, a few days ago, she was still thinking that after Zhu Lin was spared by him, he didn't say anything and never came to visit him. A few days ago, Ma
Quan once complained that Zhu Lin didn't have a grateful heart. He also felt that Zhu Lin seemed a bit ungrateful. Now it seems that this is not the case. He has been here before, but it just happened to be unlucky.
"Go tell Ma Quan and send someone to Duke Cheng's Mansion to tell him that I have returned to the capital from the manor. I'm very sorry that the young master has made this trip in vain." Zhang Yanling said.
Tao'er nodded in agreement and went to deliver the message.