After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 579 - 573 Ballad

When the caravan entered Xiping, it was already ten days later. The climate here was a bit warmer than in Luoyang. Because of the bustling winter planting last year, both sides of the road were now lined with fields of towering wheat.

Since entering Yu State, Zhao Yi had been astounded by the vibrant life here, so vastly different from the scenes in Luoyang.

People walking on the road were all smiling, with looks of contentment and happiness that Zhao Yi hadn’t seen in many years.

In his memory, such expressions were only seen occasionally on people’s faces during his childhood.

But now, most people in Yu State were like this, and from them, he felt a vigor akin to spring.

There were still many barren fields on either side, but many had been cultivated, growing wheat, millet, sorghum, and beans that he could recognize, and many things he could not name.

Upon entering Xiping, amazement turned into awe.

Everywhere he looked, the fields were lush green, growing with wheat, millet, beans, and sorghum of varying heights.

At that moment, there were people standing in the fields, carrying wooden buckets to spread manure. Upon seeing the army pass by, they did not react with the panic and fear of the people in Luoyang but merely glanced over, and upon seeing the flags in their procession, they smiled even more.

Some young children ran from the fields to the roadside, barefoot, singing songs as they followed the caravan, "Liang Province horses, dominating the world. Liang Province owls, dispersing the bandits. The owls flutter, terrifying and killing."

Zhao Yi, curious, then heard the children laughing and singing, "Xiping Iron Cavalry, dominating the world. Xiping Phoenix, dispersing the bandits. The brilliant phoenix, terrifying and killing!"

Zhao Yi’s expression changed slightly, and he couldn’t help but look at Geng Rong, "Are they singing about Third Sister?"

Geng Rong nodded, "It’s the lady and the Zhao Family Army of Xiping."

"Comparing Third Sister directly to a phoenix, wouldn’t it cause gossip if it spreads?"

Geng Rong, unbothered, said, "It’s just children’s songs for play, who would take it seriously? Besides, even if it does spread, so what? Nowadays, does our lady need to fear anyone?"

Xiping was the safest place, and since Zhao Song and the Zhao Family allowed this song to spread in Xiping, it indicated that the benefits outweighed the drawbacks.

Such matters hardly required their concern.

Zhao Yi was left speechless.

The children surrounded the caravan, singing all the way back to Xiping City, and when they approached the county town and saw that they were not heading there but were turning towards Zhao’s Castle, the bolder children loudly asked, "Are you from the Zhao Family?"

Zhao Yi, riding on a horse, looked down at the children unwilling to leave them and nodded, "Yes."

The children exclaimed in excitement, babbling and asking, "Are you also surnamed Zhao, Young Master?"

Upon receiving an affirmative answer, they asked, "Are you working with the lady, Young Master?"

"Do you need a follower, Young Master? I can be your follower."

"I can too, I don’t want money."

"Neither do I, as long as I get to see the lady in the future."

The lady had almost become synonymous with Zhao Hanzhang in Xiping.

Geng Rong saw that they were becoming increasingly excited, almost grabbing the carriage, and hurriedly waved them away, "Go, go, go back to the school and study well. Why become a follower? If you want to see the lady, learn well, and you’ll naturally see her when she returns to Xiping."

"We’re dumb; it’s hard to recognize characters, really hard to study, but being a follower might be possible."

In this world, there are smart people, and there are also foolish people, and the characters of this era are really hard to recognize. Even generally smart people need to learn with difficulty.

And for generally not smart people, it is very hard to keep up with learning, so the school would suggest they only learn some routine characters and then focus on learning a craft.

For example, farming.

Indeed, farming is also a craft, so the parents would take their children home to learn during this class, wielding whips to make them learn in their own fields, and all the problems they could answer.

Unlike before, when they muddled through farming with their elders until adulthood, only learning the essence of farming after the elders passed away, now, children around ten years old in Xiping can recite the twenty-four solar terms and recite the farming tasks according to the agricultural season.

There are many things even their parents do not know, so they have gained knowledge.

Back to the topic, the children who were rejected by Geng Rong stopped and could only jump up and down, waving to Zhao Yi, "Young Master, if you need a follower, be sure to choose me! I’m very cheap and have learned a lot already."

Geng Rong said to Zhao Yi, "Mr. Yi, don’t take it to heart. If you want to choose a follower, you can select from the school, but you need to prepare more money."

"Why?"

"Because to get someone from the school, you must settle all their tuition expenses over the years," Geng Rong explained, "This is a new rule introduced by the lady last year to provide more and better opportunities for school students, and no one from the school can sign a life contract as a slave, only a contract of employment."

Although Geng Rong and Zhao Yi had no interaction after arriving in Luoyang, he vaguely heard some rumors, and besides, he was a Xiping person, his father was once the Chief Clerk of Xiping County, so he had heard of the struggles between the two branches of the Zhao Family.

He was afraid that Zhao Yi might cause trouble, which would be inconvenient for the lady, so he reminded him, "In Yu State, the lady’s orders are law, and everyone within this area must obey the lady’s orders, even the Fifth Grandfather and Seventh Grandfather in Wu Castle cannot be exceptions."

Zhao Yi’s spine stiffened; he knew Zhao Hanzhang was not what she used to be, but he didn’t realize her influence in Yu State was so significant.

Even Fifth Uncle had to obey her; no wonder Grandfather retreated again and again, even refusing to mention the succession of the Clan Leader.

Zhao Yi was still pondering this as their group entered Wu Castle.

Looking at the bustling Wu Castle, Zhao Yi felt a little dazed for a moment.

How long had it been since he saw such a prosperous scene?

The roads inside Wu Castle weren’t very wide, only wide enough for three carriages side by side, so there were only two lanes on the road, leaving the rest for horses and pedestrians.

Unlike Luoyang, which separated workshops and markets, here, the front part served as shops, and the back as residences. Zhao Yi had returned to Wu Castle three times, and in his memory, while the front of the houses could serve as shops, not many families actually used them that way.

Most people in Wu Castle still lived by farming.

But now, the doors at the front of both sides of the road were open, with a dazzling array of goods, and there were many customers buying goods as well.

Riding by on his horse, he could still hear people loudly haggling inside, with some having accents that were clearly not from Yu State.

Geng Rong left after seeing them to the old house.

When Zhao Changyu was around, their branch had never split off into a separate family; they were always called First House and Second House, but in fact, their old residence wasn’t divided either.