FID – Chapter 1027

Chapter 1027: Spring Planting Comes to an End

  Walking up to the Empress Dowager, Grandma Liu rinsed her hands in the irrigation ditch, then supported the Empress Dowager as she guided her toward the Qing River. “I’ll take you to wash up. Let’s clean the mud off your shoes first. You can change into clean ones once you’re back home.”

  The thought of washing off the mud on her feet was tempting, but the Empress Dowager couldn’t bring herself to admit it. “I am not that delicate. Finish your work first. It’s the same if I wash later.”

  “Do you really think we women came here to work half a day?” Grandma Liu gave her a playful glare. “We’re just here to join the fun and lend a hand. We’ll be going back soon too. Yuzheng and Muqiu both have to look after the children and cook. It might be too much for them. And besides, neither of them cooks as well as I do. With all those people at home, they won’t be used to eating the girls’ cooking.”

  “Since that’s the case, then let’s go.” The Empress Dowager straightened her back, giving the order as naturally as if she were in the palace.

  Grandma Liu’s teeth ached from the attitude. Weren’t they already walking? She really could put on airs anywhere.

  Standing on a narrow field path yet acting like this was the Yangxin Hall—only the Empress Dowager could manage that.

  She led the Empress Dowager to the stone steps where the village women washed clothes. Choosing a dry spot for her to sit, she guided her feet into the river and began scrubbing off the thick layer of mud caked onto her shoes.

  Spring had only just begun. Though the weather was warming, the river water remained icy cold.

  When her feet entered the water, the Empress Dowager couldn’t help but flinch. It was cold—very cold—but she could clearly feel the gentle current flowing around her feet.

  Even through the shoes, she could feel the water streaming over the tops of her feet.

  Watching the river water flow past, carrying away wave after wave of dirt from her shoes, the Empress Dowager found the sensation oddly fascinating. Once she adapted to the temperature, the initial chill faded, replaced by a soothing comfort that relaxed her whole body.

  When Grandma Liu told her to get up, she actually felt a little reluctant.

  “Feels good, doesn’t it?” Grandma Liu easily read her expression. “The water’s still a bit cold now, but wait until summer. Washing your feet here is really comfortable. And you’re still wearing shoes. Washing your feet with shoes on is like scratching an itch through your boots. You can’t feel a thing. Wading barefoot is the real fun.”

  “Stop talking nonsense. A woman’s feet may only be seen by her husband. Going barefoot outside, in broad daylight—how improper.”

  “What are you saying? We may be village folk, but we still uphold propriety. Who would casually show their bare feet to outsiders? Can’t you see I’m wearing socks?” Grandma Liu lifted her foot and swished it through the river a few times. Once the mud washed away, her white socks—now stained yellow by the muddy water—peeked through.

  Seeing the Empress Dowager’s face darken, Grandma Liu deliberately wiggled her toes inside the sock in a playful show of defiance.

  The Empress Dowager turned her head away. Childish.

  “Mother, Your Majesty, if you’re done washing, let’s head home. We don’t need to help in the fields anymore. Father told us to go back and cook.” Chen Xiulan and Du Juan approached carrying several pairs of shoes—among them Grandma Liu’s.

  “Have Zhixia and Zhiqiu finished moving the seedlings?” Grandma Liu asked.

  “They’re done. They’ve already started helping with the planting.”

  “Good,” she nodded. “Then let’s go home.”

  All three women understood perfectly well: the men had told them to go home and cook only because they didn’t want them tiring themselves out in the fields. For years now, the men of the family had rarely let them handle farm work.

  When they returned to the courtyard, the first thing they saw was the three beans playing on a straw mat in the courtyard—crawling, rolling, and thoroughly enjoying himself.

  From the kitchen came sharp chopping sounds—one could tell immediately it was Wei Hong splitting firewood.

  Fu Yuzheng and Liu Muqiu were sitting at the kitchen doorway, chatting while washing vegetables and keeping an eye on the three children. 

  Seeing the group return, Liu Muqiu immediately set aside her work and fetched clean water from the kitchen so they could wash their hands and feet. After they cleaned up and changed into fresh clothes, they would need to start preparing the meal.

  While washing her hands, Grandma Liu noticed the lingering smiles on her two granddaughters-in-law’s faces and chuckled. “What were you talking about just now? Laughing so happily.”

  “We were talking about how Zhiqiu used to scare people.” Fu Yuzheng couldn’t help laughing again as she brought it up. “Back then, Zhiqiu went around telling girls that if they married him, they’d have to work in the fields and couldn’t be pampered young ladies at home. He scared one poor girl so badly that she turned pale and never dared come back again. And now look at him, cherishing Muqiu like she’s made of gold. She won’t even let her go near the fields. Thinking about what he used to say is just too funny.”

  Muqiu’s face flushed bright red. “You’re only making fun of me. Doesn’t Big Brother cherish you just as much?”

  “Neither of you should be laughing at the other. Which of the men in our Liu family doesn’t dote on his wife? Even at my age, when I get up early to do chores, that old man of mine still gets up to light the fire for me,” Grandma Liu boasted proudly, then went to her room to change clothes.

  The two granddaughters-in-law stood at the kitchen doorway, glancing at each other before both covered their mouths, stifling laughter.

  In everyone’s eyes, there was a quiet, personal kind of happiness.

  Hot water was boiling in the kitchen. When the old maid carried some to the bathhouse to attend to the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager asked softly, “Granny, isn’t this place wonderful?”

  The old maid smiled. “It is indeed wonderful.”

  Listening to the laughter, the babyish babbling of the little children, even the sound of firewood being chopped in the kitchen—everything brought a sense of calm and ease to the heart.

  Here, there were no palace intrigues, no suffocating oppression of court life. Everything felt warm.

  For people like them, it was a place one could easily grow attached to.

  The Empress Dowager fell silent, and the old maid dared not say more.

  After the spring planting, they would have to return to the capital. Days this relaxed and carefree were few.

  She knew the Empress Dowager was reluctant. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have suddenly asked that question. But such a wonderful place did not belong to them, nor could they stay for long. In the end, they would still have to leave.

  The Liu family spent a full three days busy at work before the dozen-plus acres of fields were finally planted.

  After those three days, all the men of the family were exhausted to the point of collapse; once they sat down, they didn’t even have the strength to move a finger.

  Liu Zhixia, the utterly useless scholar, was mocked yet again by Liu Zhiqiu. Then Liu Zhiqiu, still full of energy, was chased around the yard several times by the old lady wielding a pair of fire tongs, and the foul-mouthed brat ended up with a head full of lumps.

  And every time Liu Zhiqiu was taught a lesson, the Liu family courtyard rang with the loudest, happiest laughter.

  Even the three little toddlers who didn’t yet understand anything giggled nonstop as they watched him being chased all over the yard in such a ridiculous manner.

  The spring planting was finished.