Who is giving who a hard time?

  Bai Minghe's tone softened: "Isn't there any possibility of relief?"

  "I've said it, no one is to blame. It's all about survival, and some things are unsolvable. Let me tell you, the passing of your wife's grandfather and father were related to the vendettas between villages. My family has also lost children and nephews in these feuds. The county magistrate came, the prefectural governor came, even a passing imperial inspector handled it, but this isn't hatred, it's an unsolvable dead end."

  The old man finished speaking and turned around to go back to the inner chamber without even saying goodbye.

  Bai Meng can sit here and not move, but he absolutely cannot chase after people to their backyard. Having no choice, he had to leave first.

  When he was about to leave, an old man from the Yan family came over and said: "Master of the Imperial Examination, my master has a saying. Master of the Imperial Examination cannot borrow grain unless you go fifty miles away."

  Bai Minghe clasped his fists together: "Convey this message for me, just say that Bai Minghe thanks you."

  Fifty li away, going east is Zhuozhou Prefecture City, and going south is Laiyuan County Town.

  In the late afternoon, I returned to Xiaquan Village. Many villagers of Xiaquan Village just looked from a distance and saw that the county magistrate's expression was not good, so no one dared to come forward to greet him, and they all scattered and ran away.

  Back home, Bai Minghe told Sun Yuanchun about what happened during the day. Sun Yuanchun pretended not to understand why things were like this.

  "Husband, according to your words, these seven villages and twenty-eight villages are not allowed in my Xiaquan Village?" Sun Yuanjun, no matter how smart she was or how many books she had read, was only a sixteen-year-old girl. She didn't know what had happened between the villages over the past few decades, nor could she analyze the current trouble.

  After some thought, Sun Yuanjun said: "Husband, why don't we go ask Uncle instead?"

  "No way!" Bai Minghe directly refused.

  Sun Yuangun asked the reason, and Bai Minghe said: "There are only two days left until New Year's Day. I don't have time to ask too much about old things for the sake of the new year. In my eyes, there is only success, and I will not find any excuses to justify my own failure. To say nothing of 40 stones of grain, even 400 taels of silver are not a problem in my eyes."

  Bai Menghuai was indeed generous and unrestrained.

  Sun Yuanjun didn't dare to believe it, nor did he dare not to believe it.

  Bai Minghe said, "There are too many ways to make money, but as Bai Minghe from Guanzhong, I am a straightforward and upright person, those petty tricks will never be used."

  Sun Yuanjun was a bit skeptical this time and said: "Husband, if there really is no way, why not invite the elderly in the clan to discuss it together?"

  "Joke, what's called having no way." Bai Minghe was stirred up with pride and said loudly: "There are many chicken farmers in the village. If I can make square eggs, I don't know if they can be sold for ten times the price."

  "Wow!" Who has ever heard of or seen a square egg? If you take it to the city of Zhuozhou, one square egg can sell for dozens of coins.

  Bai Minghe sneered coldly: "But I, Bai Minghe, don't need to resort to such petty tricks."

  Sun Yuanjun's eyes immediately made Bai Minghe become extremely tall and majestic, this was her own husband, a gentleman, a dignified scholar-official, the upright and proper Master Bai.

  "Help me gather some things and find a few reliable people." Bai Minghe's eyes changed, becoming very serious.

  Bai Minghe wanted something strange, first he wanted green bamboo, in the middle of winter finding green bamboo was not easy.

  The second thing is a turtle, which is even more absurd, as turtles hibernate in winter.

  Sun Shu's uncle threw down a ruthless remark, and the whole village's men went out to search overnight. If they couldn't find Xiaquan Village, they wouldn't be able to celebrate the New Year.

  There were two more things, one was mercury and the other was clean hair.

  Mercury is easy to say, Lao Shu went to a Taoist temple and begged hard to get some. Hair has to be sacrificed, the body's skin and hair come from parents, and letting someone cut some hair is absolutely a sacrifice.

  It was naturally Bai Minghe who made sacrifices. He couldn't bear to cut his own distressing long hair into a short one.

  In the dead of night, Bai Menghe took out the snowflake in his room and began to mix it with three other things. His hair had been rubbed into the mud and then washed clean, all to get rid of the oil.

  "If it weren't for this snowflake, I wouldn't have thought of this trick." The four materials mixed together, only a tiny bit.

  First is snow foam. Second is the juice extracted from green bamboo by roasting it over charcoal. Third is turtle urine. Fourth is hair ash.

  Four kinds of materials combined into one, Sun Yuanjun poured out all her learning and used these materials to paint a Tang Dynasty lady on the most rustic copper mirror found in the village. The reason for choosing the Tang Dynasty is that this copper mirror itself is a product of the Tang Dynasty.

  Next, in the courtyard, several old men took turns to work on it. First, they used a whetstone to grind away the original painting, then they started polishing the copper mirror with soft wood and mercury. This was a meticulous task, if the polishing wasn't done finely enough, the surface of the copper mirror wouldn't be smooth enough.

  Another night and more than half a day passed, the tightly closed courtyard gate opened again, Old Uncle led several exhausted elders who could no longer walk to leave, leaving behind a spotlessly clean copper mirror.

  This copper mirror looks ordinary at first glance. But upon closer inspection, inside is a vividly lifelike Tang-dynasty servant girl, as if about to dance!

  "Hubby, this..." Sun Yuanjun really couldn't believe her eyes. She turned around and took a fierce glance at the remaining materials on the table, immediately preparing to clean them up. But who would have thought that Bai Minghe would throw all those materials into the toilet, not only that, but also slapped Sun Yuanjun's little PP.

  "Hubby!" Sun Yuanjun's face was full of grievance, not understanding why she had been hit.

  "This is not the right way, if it weren't for the life and death of the two villages, I would never use it. Thinking that I, Bai Minghe, have read extensively, am loyal and righteous, and value honesty above all in my dealings with others, this kind of tactic will absolutely not be used again." Bai Minghe's dignified demeanor made Sun Yuanchun's eyes sparkle with stars.

  Adoration, greatness, this man is indeed his own husband, really a dignified gentleman.

  Bai Minghe looked at the copper mirror and smiled, thinking of the story of the two famous stamps in later generations. The rare stamps, only two in the world, each worth five million. But if one were to burn one of them, how much would the only remaining rare stamp be worth?

  Such a bronze mirror should be unique in the world.

  Fortunately, Sun Yuanjun's painting skills are absolutely at the level of a small master, and this thing is definitely a treasure.

  Bai Minghe was tired and fell asleep on the bed, Sun Yuankui held the copper mirror, looked at it for a while, and found it more and more wonderful. She looked at Bai Minghe again, and the more she looked, the more she liked him. Her face was full of smiles, and she leaned against Bai Minghe's side and fell asleep, still smiling in her dreams.

  On New Year's Eve, every village, every household and every family are preparing for the Spring Festival. Many large households have already hung lanterns and decorated with colorful streamers.

  Bai Menghuai came to visit the Lu family and was still treated with courtesy.

  In the Lu family's courtyard, fireworks had piled up into a mountain. The servants were discussing that these fireworks were worth at least over a hundred taels of silver. As the largest household in Fangyuan within a hundred li, it was not excessive for the Lu family to spend over a hundred taels of silver on fireworks during the New Year. There were dozens of firework craftsmen alone in the household.

  Lushi, today is New Year's Eve, many people have already returned home.

  There are over a dozen people with education above the level of juren, including several high-ranking officials in Beijing. There are also dozens of shengyuan, including those from the main house, side houses, and branch families, as well as those who study at the Lu family school.

  Bai Minghe was a scholar and had some status. Today was another good day, he paid a visit to the current head of the Lu family according to etiquette, and then went to pay his respects to the old lady of the Lu family to celebrate the New Year.

  Lu Lao Tai Jun comes from Taiyuan Wang Jia and is also the eldest daughter of a large family, with an imperial edict identity.

  She is a noble and virtuous woman!

  Old Lady Lu said after seeing Bai Menghua: "Your father-in-law had some relationship with the Lu family in his early years, and he once lectured on classics at the Lu's school. Many of the Lu family children also studied under your father-in-law. I've heard about you borrowing grain everywhere, and it should be helped once, but the Lu family doesn't want to offend the 28 villages within seven miles either."

  Bai Minghe hastily stood up, bowed and said: "Please tell me, old lady, what's going on?"

  "The old lady asked you, what was your intention when you came to our Lu family originally?" Madam Lu asked.

  Bai Minghe took out a cloth package from his bosom: "As for Old Lady He's words, originally this junior had planned to take out a treasure as collateral!"

  "Pawned?" Old Lady Lu showed interest and asked about the pawn without looking at the treasure.

  "I won't deceive you, madam. I don't know what happened in Xiaquan Village. But since my wife is from Xiaquan Village, it's my duty to solve this matter for Xiaquan Village. No matter what, I'll do my best!" Bai Minghe said, bowing deeply without getting up.

  A middle-aged man in casual clothes stood up and came to Bai Meng's side: "Do you know that this matter has been going on for at least twenty years, and none of the previous officials have solved it. There are still forty-five days until the day of the imperial examination, I advise you to go back and study hard, prepare for the exam, my family will give you ten stones of grain to alleviate your current difficulties!"

  "I won't decide on this matter, and I won't try!" Bai Minghe stubbornly bowed again.

  Everyone present in the Lu family is a person of great reputation, and anyone knows what reputation means to scholars. To dare to say such harsh words, one must be either mad or truly loyal and righteous.

  "Alright, San'er, tell him what happened!" Old Lady Lu said, standing beside Bai Minghe. The middle-aged man next to her first bowed to the old lady: "Respectful mother's orders." Then he spoke to Bai Minghe: "This matter is a dead knot, in these 32 villages of eight miles, all problems are on the water."

  After listening to this fifth-grade official from Beijing's detailed explanation, Bai Minghe understood.

  These villages have only two sources of water, one is a spring, which is the spring in the western mountain of Xiashan Village. The other is a small tributary of the Juma River, but this stream has very little water, and during the dry season in the spring, there is not enough water for all the land in the eight villages.

  Because of this, among the 32 villages in Bali Township, more than 70% are low-lying fields. All the high fields only amount to 100 mu, and they are all located in Xiachuang Village. This is because the stream runs through Xiachuang Village.

  For more than twenty years, people have been fighting and dying for water, year after year.

  It's just as Old Yan said.

  No one is wrong, everyone is just trying to survive.

  Xiaquan Village does not monopolize these water sources, but also divides them among the nearest three villages, because these four villages are one mile apart. But if the water is not intercepted here, how can the four villages be enough to irrigate the land and make the crops grow well?