Tang Xin panted heavily as she said, "Sister Yanyan, soone ca to our house, claiming to be an underling of Sir Xiao, specifically looking for you. You should hurry back!"
Upon hearing this, Mo Yan handed the wooden bucket to Tang Xin, "I’ll go back first. Take this fish ho, clean it, cut it into pieces and pickle it."
"Alright, leave this to . Sister Yanyan, hurry back!" Tang Xin took the fish bucket and urged.
Mo Yan hurried back ho, only to see a tall and burly man standing in the hall. The man’s back was turned to her, she couldn’t see his face clearly, but just his silhouette alone exerted an imnse pressure.
Hearing the noise behind him, the man turned around, his features deep-set, his contour sharp, looking sowhat out of the ordinary. His piercing gaze sized up Mo Yan from head to toe and then he suddenly approached Mo Yan, greeting her with a fist salute, "I’ve seen the Lady!"
Lady...Lady?
Mo Yan was nearly stunned by this unfamiliar address. She stared at the man before her, wanting to insist he not call her that, but facing his stern and straight face, she couldn’t say a word.
After a long while, Mo Yan finally got used to the new address, and with a sowhat stiff smile, she asked the man, "May I know the esteed na of the gentleman, and the purpose of your visit?"
"This humble one is nad Qi Nan. The Lady may simply call by my na," said Qi Nan, saluting with a fist once more.
Qi Nan, so he was Qi Nan?
A hint of surprise flickered in Mo Yan’s eyes, not only because Xiao Ruiyuan had ntioned this man in his last letter, but also because he was the Fourth Rank General who, according to legend, had delayed his marriage and later married the widow of the Young Scholar in Third rank who had drunkenly drowned in a river.
Suppressing the gossipy thoughts, Mo Yan said with a smile, "So you are General Qi. Bro Xiao has ntioned you before—indeed, seeing you in person is better than hearing about you a hundred tis."
"You flatter , Lady!" Qi Nan did not detect the playful undertone in Mo Yan’s tone and proceeded to state his purpose bluntly, "The Great General has ordered to assist the Lady in settling soldiers who are stranded at the border here. May I inquire if the Lady has any plans?"
Mo Yan, having felt awkward being addressed as ’Lady’ repeatedly, couldn’t help but say, "General Qi, the Great General and I are not yet married; the title ’Lady’ isn’t appropriate. Please, just call ’Miss Mo’."
A flicker of amusent briefly crossed Qi Nan’s eyes, but his voice and expression remained unwavering, "Since the Lady and the Great General are already betrothed, calling you ’Lady’ is not inappropriate."
Mo Yan rubbed her temples weakly, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to change his mind, and thus she gave up. Let him call her that then—it’s not like she’d lose a chunk of flesh.
The two sat down and started to discuss how to settle those soldiers from the border who had lost their ability to work.
There were as many as twenty thousand such soldiers at the border. With limited relief from the Court, and many sending their pensions ho, apart from a portion of two thousand who had skills and could barely make a living for themselves, the rest were struggling to survive by farming. Sotis, when the harvest was poor, they couldn’t even maintain their livelihood, resulting in so starving to death.
At present, the Mo Family’s fruit gardens and herb fields could accommodate at most three hundred people, and this was calculated based on two people as one labor force. Compared to the twenty thousand, these three hundred were nothing.
Mo Yan hoped to help more people, accumulate more rit, and the Space could produce a large amount of food. Feeding twenty thousand people would not be a problem, but if these twenty thousand were willing to accept help from others, it wouldn’t have been her turn to do this.
After thinking it over, Mo Yan said, "How about this, General Qi—send over those who are living in the most difficult conditions first. If we need more people in the future, I’ll let you know. What do you think?"
Having thought about this issue before his visit, Qi Nan’s thoughts were basically in line with Mo Yan’s. He responded, "We’ll do as the Lady suggests. When I return to the border, I’ll personally bring those three hundred people. When will it be suitable for the Lady?"
Mo Yan had already considered this point and replied, "The weather is too hot right now, unsuitable for traveling, and the houses for settling the soldiers have not been built. If possible, General Qi, send those soldiers here after the Double Ninth Festival. If there are any changes, I will notify General Qi in advance so you can make arrangents accordingly."
Qi Nan found this arrangent feasible and nodded in agreent.
The two then agreed upon so details, and once all issues were resolved, Qi Nan declined Mo Yan’s offer for a al and stood up to take his leave. Before leaving, Mo Yan went to the Xiaoqing River and caught a full bucket of fish for him to take back, not only for him to try but also to pass the rest to Xiao Ruiyuan and Yan Junyu.
Qi Nan didn’t like fish, and neither did his family, so upon returning to the city, he instructed the servants at his residence to send the greater part to Lord Wei Yuan House, while the smaller portion was sent to Duke Wu’an’s Mansion.
At that mont, no one knew that these few fish almost caused a big trouble...
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