Men, listen, grab the top of the mountain and stand in the center position

"Oh no, oh no, Sister Qing!"

In the side room, Xiaoqing, who was combing her hair as she prepared to go on duty, suddenly stood up, took two steps at a time, and stood at the door. She held back the figure rushing in, "Shut up! You're so flustered so early in the morning. If you alarm the master, I won't be able to protect you!"

The one who rushed in was Cuizhu, who was on night duty. She had just been transferred from the Martial Academy to the Inner Court a few days ago. She was running so fast that she almost couldn't stop when she ran into Xiaoqing coming out. Xiaoqing steadied herself, and Cuizhu didn't care about anything else. "Sister Qing, Senior Sister... No, they're here again! Several old men and women holding babies are kneeling outside! They say there's a huge injustice, and they're here to seek justice!"

Thinking it was a big deal, Xiaoqing rubbed her forehead and scolded her, "Even if the sky falls, the general and his wife will support us! You are making such a fuss, how can you be so disrespectful!"

Cuizhu stammered, lowering her voice, "Sister Qing, I'm too anxious."

"What did Qin Shiwu tell you?"

Qin Shiwu is the night watchman of the outer courtyard. He comes to the inner courtyard to report something if it is not an emergency. He will never choose to come at this time of daybreak. It is just a few people kneeling. It is not worth disturbing the master's sleep.

Cuizhu raised her face, a small flame of fire on her tender little face. When she met Xiaoqing's indifferent expression, the small flame was extinguished. "Sister Qing, I heard this from the guards who were on duty. I don't know why they didn't report it to me..."

"That's naturally a small matter, not urgent, not important."

Xiaoqing pointed at her head, feeling dissatisfied with everything about her. She was too young and impatient. She seemed nimble, but who knew she had such a loud voice!

"What are you doing so early in the morning? Even if you have good intentions and want to report something, you shouldn't be so reckless!"

"Sister Qing, I was wrong! But they said that group of people came to kneel shortly after midnight..."

Xiao Qing said lightly, "Even the government office isn't afraid, so what are you afraid of?"

Cuizhu suddenly realized that the general was in the city and all these people came here to make trouble. If there was any injustice, the government would be in a panic. It seems that they are just making trouble for no reason.

"Then why are they still coming!"

Who knows? It seems that breaking the man's leg is still too light a punishment. This family will never learn their lesson.

Half an hour later, the door of the main room closed gently. Xiaoqing bowed and saluted. She saw the general wearing light armor and carrying a sword, striding forward and meeting Qin Qiyi at the gate of the courtyard. The two of them rode straight out of the house.

Qin Qi arrived early, so he naturally knew about the matter at the mansion gate. He mentioned it twice before getting on his horse. Such a small matter was just a few casual remarks, and mentioning it meant that he had fulfilled his duty. Sure enough, the general patted his horse's back, left a sentence "My wife will make the decision", and then left the mansion first.

The two of them rode at full speed through the inner streets and side roads and arrived at the small path on the back mountain of Zhongshan Temple. This was originally one of the most popular temples in the suburbs of Chang'an. Even during the years when the rebels entered the city and occupied it, there were hundreds of monks here, who took in homeless refugees, provided them with porridge to fill their stomachs and shelter in the temple... Chang'an has been stable in recent years, and the people have lived a stable life. The incense in the temple is not as popular as before, but the monks ring the bell every day, and the monks chant scriptures in unison in the morning class, and the sound of waves never stops, accompanying the birdsong and insects chirping in the mountains.

“These guys really aren’t lazy!”

Qin Qi glanced at him. There was a horse trail behind Zhongshan Temple. In the past, refugees had built simple houses around the temple. When it was crowded, the mountainside was filled with people...

Now it's all deserted.

During the years that Zheng Da was in charge of Chang'an, life for the monks was tough! First, everyone had to register their household registration, then their previously vast tracts of fertile land were confiscated. Monks with property no longer had any special privileges, and they had to pay taxes and perform Yao labor. If they didn't want to perform Yao labor, they had to pay silver...

Compared with the peaceful days of the previous dynasty when people were exempt from taxes and labor service and had fields and shops, and their income only came in but never went out, things have now fallen into a slump.

Moreover, unlike other noble ladies who were devout Buddhists and often burned incense and worshipped Buddha, the general's wife never believed in ghosts and gods, and had no need to consult fortune-telling. Following the example of her superiors, most of the family members, women and children in the army, big and small, were not keen on this incense stick...

The monks' attitude towards their armored and sword-carrying soldiers was not good, Qin Qi thought, maybe it would be even worse...

This is because the horse trail behind Zhongshan Temple is so suitable for horse racing. The mountain stream gurgles and the breeze blows gently. The horse trail is wide and the terrain is flat. Most importantly, the sound of morning prayers in the mountain temple is quite rhythmic. Running a horse makes you feel calm and relaxed, and you feel comfortable and happy!

Occasionally, the sound of horse hooves would drown out the sound of chanting scriptures in the morning class. The sound of morning class was not willing to be outdone and regrouped again, going back and forth between them. Riding horses added another point of pleasure to the victory!

They ran three full laps until the morning service ended, and then the master and servant returned to the city. They saw the man kneeling in front of the palace gate still there. The sun was scorching, and the children in the woman's arms were already crying breathlessly, shouting, "Please, General and Madam, help!" But they had lost all their energy.

"What are you doing? The government office is not in the general's house! A scoundrel in a big family!"

"These babies are so pitiful, they haven't even been weaned yet and are suffering so much. These women are so cruel, even a tiger will eat its own cubs!"

"Didn't the housekeeper say yesterday that everyone is free to marry. If they give you money, it's a favor. If they don't, it's their duty. You're addicted to taking it, and you think the money is yours!"

"That's right, families with daughters, please be fair. The female general had to lead troops in battle and defend the city. She also gave birth to a child for his family, and spent so much time on them with such a high salary. Now it's been a while since they divorced, and he still wants the female general to remarry and asks her for money!"

"Poor little kids!"

"The General's wife doesn't know how to deal with them this time. The adults can be chased away, but these people are abominable. They threaten us with a nursing child..."

Seeing that the onlookers were talking more and more badly, the woman holding a little child on the ground pulled herself together and couldn't help crying miserably, "My dear kind brothers and sisters, we are almost unable to make ends meet. My husband's leg was broken and we don't even have the money to invite a doctor to our house for treatment... We agreed at the beginning that my son would stay at home and the mansion would take care of him, provide him with food and drink, and his mother would pay for it. Now we have raised him well, but they broke their promise and not only found a new lover, but also didn't give him a single copper coin. Now everything my son eats, drinks, and even every stitch and thread is paid for by the mansion... This little boy is eating me out of money. We can't live like this anymore!"

The nosy woman in front of the mansion was not happy to hear this. "If you don't have money, go and earn it. It's shameless to just think about taking money from me every day!"

"That's right, the housekeeper said yesterday that if you can't afford to raise the baby, don't raise it. Just give the baby back to the female general to raise. Your man is shamelessly refusing to give it to her. He thinks the general's mansion is a place where he can run wild. I advise you to go back early, or you might get a beating later!"

"They can't be so cruel, right? The people in the General's Mansion even beat the elderly, the weak, women and children!"