Yingbao didn’t respond.


    Half a year ago, it’s likely that the County Magistrate had just taken office and hadn’t yet turned his attention to this issue.


    She walked slowly with Youyou and her younger brother towards the market on the outskirts of the vige. Indeed, several soapberry trees were missing from this stretch of tree wall.


    However, after having been cut in half, the remaining section of the soapberry trees sprouted new shoots, and perhaps they could be saved.


    When no one else was around, she would water the trees with water from the Pupil Spring to help them grow branches more quickly.


    The circle of soapberry trees around the vige wasn’t totally closed off. There were paths left open in several ces.


    Paths to Xichen Vige and the fields each had two routes, and there was another that led outside the vige, near the market. This route was wide enough for two carts to pass side by side with room to spare.


    Yingbao furrowed her brows, thinking about how she could quickly create severalrge gates to block off these passages?


    So many refugees had suddenly arrived, and likely more were continuouslying. It was impossible to guarantee that some of these people weren’t dangerous criminals.


    In desperate times, for survival’s sake, murders are all toomon.


    Once refugees kill a person, they may go on to kill two, or three. Human life means no more to them than the life of a pig or a dog.<div>


    If any of these people infiltrate the vige one day and massacre the unsuspecting vigers, then her father would bear the brunt of the County Government’s me.


    No, she would have to warn her father and all the vigers. They needed to be vignt, block all the routes around the vige at night, and take turns standing guard.


    After a long stroll around, the siblings returned to the vige and saw Zhou Wuchang and his disciples strolling around after having finished their meals.


    “Master, let me show you our family’s orchard.” Yingbao approached with a cheerful smile, patting the deer following her and introduced, “This is my deer, named Youyou, and the young ones behind it are its children.”


    Zhou Wuchang looked at the deer, then at the herd, and nodded, “Deer are auspicious animals. Your vige living harmoniously with a herd of deer reveals that you are all kind-hearted people.”


    Zhang Min seized the opportunity and asked, “Little sister, could you give or sell me one?”


    Yingbao nodded, “Sure, you can choose one, and I will bring it to you. But, I must specify, you can’t kill it for meat.”


    In the vige, some also bought deer, usually to keep as pets for their children. If anyone were to kill a pet deer, they would be shunned by everyone.


    “I don’t eat meat.” Zhang Min chuckled, “We follow the Eight Precepts; we don’t eat meat. Don’t you know that, little sister?”


    Zhou Hao merely nced at his brother but didn’t say a word to contradict him.


    Yingbao had long grown ustomed to the loose talk of her second senior brother, and she didn’t mind him. She used a bean sprout to tempt a young deer close.


    This young deer was muchrger than Youyou had been. It wasn’t afraid and rubbed its head affectionately against Yingbao, then against Zhang Min.


    Zhang Min was overjoyed. He petted the head and back of the little deer, unable to let go. “I’ve decided, I’ll call it Eryou (Second-You)!”


    Jiang Wu blinked and asked, “Aiyou? Brother, the name you gave is really bad.”


    Zhang Minughed, “Eryou means the second Youyou, not the ‘Aiyou’ that you are thinking of.”


    Jiang Wu’s face twitched. He looked sympathetically at the little deer and muttered, “It seems your owner is unreliable. Good luck.”


    “Little boy, what did you say?” Zhang Min asked while petting the deer, looking at the boy with a skewed smirk.


    “Nothing.” Jiang Wu darted away.<div>


    Seeing their little owner ran away, the herd quickly followed, including the newly named Eryou.


    Yingbao led her master and senior brother to her family’s orchard, picking a batch of lychees from the trees and sharing them. While eating the lychees, she led them around the vige.


    Nowadays, every household in the vige has fruit trees and grapevines in their courtyards and by their front doors, and vegetable gardens full of various produce.


    These vegetable seeds were all brought back from various ces by Yingbao.<div>


    On the bamboo fence of the vegetable garden,rge gourds hung in clusters, each as big as a washbasin.


    Of course, there were also small ones, not much bigger than a palm. These were picked up by the vigers, dried, coated with red lead, and hung on their waists for protection against evil.


    Zhou Wuchang idled around the vige, ignoring the burning sun, and covered the entire vige before dering to Yingbao, “Your vige is excellent, affluent andposed.”


    Yingbao nodded. “Our vige is the best vige, and my father says he will erge it and dig a few more canals.”


    Zhou Wuchang shook his head. “In fact, the vige at the foot of the mountain is also no less appealing. If the river channels were cleared up, a couple of drainage canals were dug, even if a huge volume of water flows downstream it will be diverted. The vige would no longer be susceptible to devastating floods.”


    Yingbao opened her mouth wide in astonishment, “How long would it take to clear up all the river channels? Digging a drainage canal is a massive project, would it not take years toplete?”


    Of course, if all thebourers in the county came, it might be possible toplete it in two or three months.


    Zhou Wuchang sighed. “Indeed, but your vige can choose to hirebourers.”


    Yingbao: …….


    Did her master just speak humannguage?


    Her vige should hirebourers to dig canals? It might result in time and resource wastage, sheer effort without return, no?


    Ah, it would be nice if Wu Daozi was still the County Magistrate. She could go and suggest to him, ask him for amand to clear this part of the river and dig a couple of canals.


    But then again, every year thebourers have no end of work. Even if she went to talk, it probably wouldn’t help.<div>


    Zhou Wuchang and his disciples finally finished touring the area and returned to the Jiang Family’s estate for rest in the room arranged by Jiang Sang.


    Zhou Hao looked around to ensure no one was around, then whispered to his master, “Master, if we bury the object here, it might be more convincing.”


    Zhou Wuchang wasying on the bed pretending to nap, he nonchntly said, “We can discuss thister.”


    He had to ensure absolute safety and could not let his young disciples bear the brunt.


    This location was actually the most suitable for that task with the most auspicious signs, but in case the n failed, not only would he die, all the people here might also be doomed.


    Forget it, better find an uncultivated field. At worst, he would create a few more extraordinary phenomenons.


    In the next few days, Zhou Wuchang didn’t let the two young disciples apany him, he only took his oldest disciple for a walk around the vige and spent a long time in a wild bamboo grove.


    Meanwhile, Yingbao and her second senior brother were sparring on the training ground at the schoolhouse.


    Zhang Min, who didn’t study martial arts, kept getting thrown over by his younger junior sister who was much shorter than him.


    Unwilling to continue failing, he turned and pleaded with Zhang Meng to take him as a student, “Master Zhang, our families were considered as one five hundred years ago, you cannot let me die.”


    Zhang Meng didn’t dare to casually take Zhou Wuchang’s disciple so he had to find an excuse to refuse, “No, you’ve surpassed the age suitable for martial arts practice.”


    “What? You’re saying I’m old?” Zhang Min had a look of disbelief. “I’m only fourteen this year and you’re saying I’m old? Master, how old are you this year?”


    Zhang Meng:<div>


    The other children on the martial arts grounds covered their mouths andughed.


    In the end, Zhang Min was kindly shown the door by his master, Zhang Meng.


    He had no choice but to sulk outside the fences of the training ground, secretly watching the other students practice.


    Yingbao came up behind him and patted his shoulder. “Second senior brother, my mother made sesame seeds, they smell so delicious. Let’s go home and have some sweet sesame paste.”


    Upon hearing the words ‘food’, Zhang Min perked up. He immediately followed his junior sister for the rumoured delicious sesame paste.