I was divorced because I got pregnant during the lean years, so I went back to my parents’ home and

He walked quietly to the door and looked out through the crack.

"It's me, open the door!"

Ji Xiaobei said while rubbing his hands outside.

Fu Jichang opened the door with a bang.

Ji Xiaobei entered the house and closed the door.

Fu Jichang lit the lamp.

"It's cold!" Fu Jichang said as he handed her the hot water bottle.

Ji Xiaobei sat in the armchair, holding the hot water bottle, looking at Fu Jichang.

"Can't sleep?" Fu Jichang asked in a hoarse voice.

"You are in danger!" Ji Xiaobei said.

Fu Jichang sighed softly, sat down, and looked at Ji Xiaobei with deep eyes.

"Tell me what you think!" Fu Jichang really wanted to know what Ji Xiaobei thought.

Ji Xiaobei said: "The emperor wants to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. He wants you to fight with Prince Qing. He can take down both of you without any effort!"

Fu Jichang did not object, he thought so in his heart.

I just don't want to admit it.

"On Laba Festival, the emperor will go to the Fuling Temple to pray for blessings, and he will ask you to go with him..." said Ji Xiaobei.

Fu Jichang raised his head and looked at Ji Xiaobei in surprise: "How did you know? I have received an imperial decree asking me to bring a team of secret guards to protect the emperor's safety."

"What do you want to do?" Ji Xiaobei asked.

"I, I will protect the emperor! That is my duty!" Fu Jichang said in a firm tone.

Ji Xiaobei: …

She wanted to say something, but she didn't say it. Fu Jichang had been taught to obey orders since he was a child, so it was impossible to suddenly change his mind.

But Ji Xiaobei couldn't help asking, "You're just going to let the emperor deal with you?"

"The most important thing between the emperor and his subjects is obedience. I cannot disobey the emperor's order!"

Fu Jichang said, gritting his teeth.

"If he tells you to die, will you die?" Ji Xiaobei asked coldly.

Fu Jichang suddenly raised his head and looked at Ji Xiaobei in horror and helplessness.

Ji Xiaobei stood up, threw the hot water bottle into his arms, and strode out of the room.

That was all she could do. If he didn't plan to save himself, no one else could save him.

Ji Xiaobei held his breath and fell asleep.

She and Jiaojiao got up before dawn.

Both of them were worried about their children at home.

Ji Xiaobei was feeling depressed, so he didn't take the donkey cart. Instead, he rode the little white horse out of the city in one breath and waited for Jiaojiao at the city gate.

The little white colt ran very fast and arrived at the city gate just as daybreak.

She rode the little white horse around the city wall.

She noticed that the city wall was being reinforced not far away.

She heard that the city wall reinforcement work is usually done in spring, so why reinforce the wall in advance?

She asked the common people passing by, and an old man carrying a load into the city said with a bitter face: "Look at the situation this year, next year will definitely be a year of famine. They are probably afraid that refugees will attack the capital!"

Ji Xiaobei: …

She saw that the people repairing the city wall were not ordinary people, but the Green Forest Army.

This is really strange.

After waiting for a while, Gide hurried out of the city gate.

Jiaojiao pulled aside the curtain and asked, "Sister, it's too cold, please get on the donkey cart!"

"No need, I'll just get some fresh air outside, it's not cold!" Ji Xiaobei said as he walked forward.

She let the little white horse run for a while, then stopped and waited for Jiaojiao for a while. Only after they entered Anzhou City did she feel relieved and ran to Mingyi Lane alone.

After a while, Mrs. Lin came back. She was worried and came back to see if Xiaobei had returned.

The emperor's reward arrived in the afternoon. There were three horse-drawn carriages, and the eunuchs from the palace took an hour to move them back and forth.

It took up half of Ji Xiaobei’s yard.

Ever since he knew the emperor's intentions, Ji Xiaobei no longer had any interest in his reward.

Mrs. Lin leaned on the doorstep, staring blankly at the sealed wooden boxes in the yard, and trembling all the time.

There are surprises, but more fear.

What on earth did Ji Xiaobei do that the emperor would reward her so much?

The old woman couldn't understand it, she really couldn't understand it.

Ji Xiaobei gave the eunuchs some money as a reward and sent them away.

As soon as she returned to the yard, Mrs. Lin, who was slumped at the door, waved at her and shouted tremblingly, "Close the door first!"

She was caught by Mrs. Lin and brought into the house. Mrs. Lin stared at her and asked:

"Bei, why did the emperor give you such a thing? What did you do?"

Ji Xiaobei's arm was clamped by Mrs. Lin as if he had done something bad.

"Mother, I didn't do anything bad. It might be because of the potato planting in Xishan that I went to Xishan early and came back late. The emperor rewarded people based on their merits, and other people got more than me."

Ji Xiaobei evaded the question.

She let go of Ji Xiaobei and thought to herself that she had given Lord Cao a lot of constructive suggestions, so why didn't the emperor reward her?

Forget it. Maybe he knows that Ji Xiaobei and he are a family, so he won’t give it to him.

Don't care anymore.

Mrs. Lin was shaking her legs, touching this and looking at that.

Jiaojiao went back to see An An and only then did she feel relieved.

She saw that Ji Xiaobei didn't look well, so she came to Mingyi Lane to see her.

Ji Xiaobei pulled Jiaojiao and said, "We need to stock up some food. There are more and more refugees outside, and it is said that the court is not stable. I am afraid that next spring will be difficult."

Jiaojiao widened her eyes and asked in astonishment: "Sister, is something going to happen?"

Ji Xiaobei said: "I don't know, let's make some preparations in advance, just in case."

Ji Xiaobei had just come out of the palace. He must have heard some news. Jiaojiao nodded to Ji Xiaobei and said:

"Sister, I want to go to Golden Leopard first and take out some of the money I have stored there!"

No matter what, you won’t go wrong by following Ji Xiaobei.

"Go ahead and hide the things!" Ji Xiaobei instructed her.

Jiaojiao nodded.

After sending Jiaojiao away, there was a yard full of stuff, all in wooden boxes, which provided the best storage space.

And I can't do anything under Mrs. Lin's nose.

Ji Xiaobei said, "Mom, take out the things so we can clean them up."

Mrs. Lin said, "Xiaobei, these are all your things, you can keep them. I'm going to the south city to see the kids. If you can't move them, wait for Xiaoyao to come back and pack them together!"

Mrs. Lin leaned against the wall and went out, closing the door for Ji Xiaobei.

Ji Xiaobei: "Mom, please don't leave. If you see anything you like, take two..."

Mrs. Lin closed the door with a bang.

"I do not want……"

Ji Xiaobei: …

Although Mrs. Lin has never seen the world, she is not greedy or obsessed with money.

Ever since Shitou got married, the division has become clearer, and she didn't take a single cent that belonged to Ji Xiaobei.

The same goes for Shitou and Liang Yuyao; they only receive wages.

Ji Xiaobei doubled their wages. The textile workshop was basically run by Shitou and Liang Yuyao, while Liang Yuyao was in charge of the accounts of the handicraft workshop.

When Ji Xiaobei was going to settle the accounts before the New Year, he was going to distribute dividends to Liang Yuyao, Shitou, Aunt Song, Ji Ernai, and Xiao Qiniang.

After Mrs. Lin left, Ji Xiaobei put the wooden box directly into the cold storage.

The cold storage is packed full.

Zheng Guo went in to look for something and found that the room was full. She looked at it curiously and saw a row of wooden boxes made of rosewood placed against the back wall of the cold storage.

My God, there’s a seal on it with traditional Chinese characters written on it: a reward from the Emperor!