Pig Killer

Chapter 188

When the villagers heard this, they didn't hesitate at all and said, "What are you waiting for?" They started digging mud from the river.

After the spring plowing was over, people from all over the county rushed to the riverbed to dig silt.

The craving for food outweighs everything else, so I have to give it a try anyway.

When the fertilizer was fermented and applied, the big insect looked at the green wheat seedlings and said, "Mother, mother, there are not so many weeds in our fields! Is it my illusion?"

"No. This is the benefit of deep plowing." Shen Hui'e said as she looked at them with a smile.

"Really?" Da Chong looked at her with eyes wide open in disbelief, "Why is that?"

"The grass seeds were buried deep in the soil due to deep plowing, so they can't grow anymore!" Shen Hui'e looked at them with a smile and said, "Or maybe there are fewer of them, so some have slipped through the net." She continued with a smile, "But it's definitely less than before."

"The fewer the better. We should also pull less weeds." The cat slave looked at them happily and said with his big blinking eyes, "I wonder if there will be fewer insects, too."

"Bugs?" The big insect blinked and looked at them, then suddenly realized what was going on and said, "Before we planted the wheat last year, we let our chickens out to eat the bugs, so there should be fewer bugs this year!"

"Yes!" Shen Hui'e said as she looked at them with a smile on her face.

"That's great! Bugs are more annoying than weeds. Weeds are bigger than bugs and easier to pull out. Bugs are too small to get rid of." The big bug said with a sad face.

"Hehe..." Shen Hui'e smiled but said nothing when she heard this.

"It would be great if this chicken could pick out seedlings and weeds." The raccoon slave looked at them with innocent eyes and said, "We wouldn't have to work so hard to weed."

"That's impossible. The chickens will eat all our seedlings. If they can produce ears of rice, it will be even more to their liking." Xiaodouzi said with a grin, "It's like a mouse falling into a rice jar."

"So! It's a pity!" said the raccoon with a pout.

"Okay, let's apply fertilizer." Shen Hui'e took the fresh special tools made by Liu Ding, protected the seedlings, and sprinkled fertilizer around the seedlings.

There is not much fertilizer, so it cannot be spread over a large area. It should be used where it is needed most.

So everyone in the field was applying fertilizer with special tools.

Melons and beans are planted around the Qingming Festival, and vegetables are also planted in the family garden.

"Mom, I don't want to eat steamed wild vegetable dumplings anymore." Da Chong said with disgust as he looked at the wild vegetable dumplings in his hand.

"We have finished fertilizing and weeding. Let's go hunting tomorrow." Shen Hui'e said to them with a smile in her eyes.

"Great!" said the big tiger happily.

"Don't waste food. Eat all the wild vegetable dumplings." Shen Hui'e said, pointing at the wild vegetable dumplings in his hand.

"I know!" Da Chong stuffed the wild vegetable dumpling into his mouth, picked up the bowl, and drank half a bowl of water before swallowing it.

"Huh...finally finished eating." The big tiger let out a sigh.

Shen Hui'e looked at them with pity. They were at the stage of growing up but could only eat these nutritious things.

&*&

"We're back." The Shen Changsheng brothers appeared at the gate of the courtyard and shouted at them.

This suddenly interrupted Shen Hui'e's thoughts.

"It's my eldest uncle, my third uncle." Da Chong looked back and jumped over the bench to greet them.

"Have you eaten?" Shen Hui'e looked at the two of them who walked in with her eyes as dark as black jade.

"I've eaten, I've eaten." Shen Changsheng lifted up the hem of his clothes and sat on the bench.

"You don't look well." Shen Hui'e looked them up and down and said.

"We didn't get much sleep because we were in a hurry." Shen Penglai said, looking straight at them with his dark eyes.

"It looks like the road is not safe." Shen Hui'e said as she looked at them with a frown.

"How did you know that, mother?" Da Chong looked at her in surprise and asked.

"I dare not sleep, because the road is not peaceful." Shen Hui'e frowned and looked at them and said, "Hunger and cold make people want to steal."

"It's true that the road is not peaceful, but we two grown men don't dare to let anyone have any bad intentions." Shen Changsheng said as he looked at them with deep eyes.

"I'm glad you came back safely." Shen Hui'e breathed a sigh of relief, and finally let go of her worries. "Any news?"

"There's no good news, only bad news." Shen Penglai's brows were furrowed into a shape that could pinch a mosquito to death. "Many stores in Hezhong Prefecture have closed, and people are in a panic."

"Now many people are waiting and watching the summer harvest." Shen Changsheng said as he looked at them with his eyes like black holes.

"I don't think it's a good idea." Shen Hui'e said with cold eyes, "So many civilians have been conscripted. Even if they have to eat bran, they still need food!"

"Things will only improve when we let the laborers go home and farm." Shen Hui'e said as she looked at them with her deep and bottomless eyes.

Dark clouds hovered above their heads, without a ray of sunshine.

"Don't think about it." Shen Hui'e looked at them with eyes as dark as black holes and said, "This year, our harvest may not be the same as last year."

"I heard from Afang and the others, it's river mud, right?" Shen Changsheng said with a smile on his face.

"Hmm!" The tiger nodded like a chick pecking at rice, "The yield has increased, so we are not afraid of him collecting our grain."

"I hope so! Even if we have to eat bran and vegetables, it's better than chewing tree bark and digging grass roots." Shen Penglai said with a comfortable smile on his face, "Finally, there is good news."

"Don't get excited. The food will only belong to you once you get it home. I can't guarantee it now." Shen Hui'e said cautiously and optimistically, pointing to the blue sky, "Everything depends on God's will."

"Yeah!" Shen Changsheng looked at them gently and nodded.

"Hasn't any new information been found in Hezhong Prefecture?" Shen Hui'e said, staring at the two of them with her inky black eyes.

"Yes! But this news feels fake to me." Shen Changsheng said to her with his eyebrows slightly raised.

"What news?" Shen Hui'e suddenly became interested and looked at them.

"The ministers tried to persuade him against his behavior because of his licentiousness, but he stripped off in the court and was beheaded." Shen Changsheng scratched his head and said while looking at them.

"Why do you think it's impossible?" Shen Hui'e looked at him with amusement.

"They are all high-ranking officials! They were killed just like that." Shen Changsheng said with disbelief, "I was just advising them to be diligent in government affairs and not stay in the harem all day long."

"He is the boss and he is the second. If you can't do whatever you want, what's the point of that position?" Shen Hui'e rolled her eyes elegantly and said, "I thought there were no more loyal ministers in the court!"

"But this loyal minister is gone." Shen Penglai looked at her with dim eyes and said, "Now no one advises or remonstrates. No one dares to do so. Now that no one is in charge, won't you be able to do whatever you want even more?"

"Don't think too much, just do our best," Shen Hui'e said as she looked at them with her ink-black eyes.

"Even if we want to, there's nothing we can do." Shen Penglai pursed his lips and looked at them helplessly.

"By the way! How much has the price of grain increased?" Shen Hui'e looked at them curiously and asked.

"The price of grain is so high that we dare not ask." Shen Changsheng said after swallowing.

"Okay!" Shen Hui'e shrugged and looked at them and said, "I can guess it."

"I don't want to think about it anymore." Shen Hui'e looked at them calmly and said.

"Now that we are back, it is easy to meet each other. If you want to talk, we can talk later." Shen Changsheng stood up and said to them.

"You guys should go home and rest as well!" Shen Hui'e stood up and said, "Now that you're back, you can get a good night's sleep."

Shen Hui'e sent the two Shen brothers out and watched them leave.

"Mother, the situation has not improved." Da Chong looked at her worriedly and said.

"It hasn't gotten any worse, has it?" Shen Hui'e looked at them with a smile and said, "Let's go in and talk."

Shen Hui'e sat on the bench and looked at them who had sat down and said, "There is no additional grain collection, and no more conscription of civilians. This is good news, isn't it?"

"Continue to fight!" The tiger's eyes almost popped out of the window when he heard this.

"If he wants to conquer, can we stop him?" Shen Hui'e said with cold eyes.

"That can't be stopped." Li Nu said with a pout.

"Now it all depends on the changes in the court after the summer harvest." Shen Hui'e said to them with her dark eyes.

&*&

Thanks to God's mercy, the weather was favorable and the winter wheat was not withered by the time the summer harvest was over.

"Mother, mother, the yield per mu is the same as last year." The big insect danced happily and said, "We can eat white flour buns now."

"Let's steam buns and make dumplings." Shen Hui'e said happily, but her smile did not reach her eyes. She didn't know how much tax she had to pay.

Who knows if this tax will increase again and again?

Until the boots hit the ground, my heart was always in my throat.

"I don't know how much tax I have to pay yet!" said the raccoon with a wrinkled face as he looked at him.

"No matter how much we pay, let's eat first." Shen Hui'e said to them with her crystal clear eyes.

"Yes! I've eaten first." The big tiger said with a jump.

The joy of the harvest had not yet faded, but the increase in taxes suddenly wiped out the smiles on their faces.

After hearing the contents of the imperial edict, that 80% of the summer harvest had to be handed in, Da Chong looked at the steamed bun in his hand and it suddenly lost its flavor.

"There's still 20% left." Shen Hui'e said with an insincere smile on her lips.

"It's better than conquering them all." The raccoon said with red eyes. He took a bite of the steamed bun, tears streaming down his face, sobbing, "Why?"

"Don't cry, don't cry." Shen Hui'e put down the steamed bun in her hand and put her arm around her shoulders and said.

Shen Hui'e looked at them all with tears in their eyes and said, "Cry if you want to!"

“Wow…wawa…” The crying was deafening, and everyone couldn’t stop crying.

I don’t know how long I cried before I gradually stopped crying.

The raccoon looked at her with his red eyes swollen like rabbits from crying and asked, "Aren't you going to cry too?"

"Can crying solve the problem?" Shen Hui'e said as she looked at them calmly.

"No!" said the tiger with a sob.

"Then why are you crying?" Shen Hui'e looked at them with eyes as gentle as jade, with a strange smile on the corner of her mouth.

"Mother, how can you still laugh?" Da Chong sniffed and looked at her in confusion.