A breakfast filled with chaos and shouting finally concluded, thanks to the "lively" performances of Ke Bin Na and Wan Yan Er. Su Mu Qing couldn't help but let out a long sigh. Did these two never tire of bickering and contradicting each other every single day?
Truly two overgrown children!
After the meal, Su Mu Qing returned to her room, packed some necessary items, and then the group mounted their horses, heading towards the nearest land by the lake.
The tenant farmers responsible for cultivating the land here rushed over, gathering together, their heads constantly craned towards the manor, their eyes filled with boundless anticipation.
They had heard that yesterday Li Lao San and the others had accompanied the noble guests and, upon their return, not only received a packet of white steamed buns for each person but also a large piece of fatty pork.
Someone by the roadside had seen it at the time and immediately swallowed in envy. They couldn't resist stepping forward to weigh it, estimating it to be over two jin. The glistening white pork was truly rich in oil, visible from afar, and it seemed to tremble with every step.
For commoners like them, eating meat once or twice a year was considered good. Even with infrequent consumption, they could only afford a few liang or half a jin at a time, to share among the family and satisfy their cravings.
If there wasn't a significant family event requiring them to receive gift money, who could afford to buy so much meat at once? Li Lao San and the others had truly struck it rich this time!
And now! A steward from the manor had come to the village looking for people to work. He said they were looking for strong laborers in the nearby villages, and the steward also mentioned that the noble guests had decreed that there would be substantial wages for this work!
According to the steward, the noble guests would be going to Many Moon Lake shortly to select people, and the villagers were urged to gather at the land to wait. If they could be chosen by the noble guests to work, the income and benefits would be considerable!
This news was like pie falling from the sky for the villagers. People from the nearby villages rushed over as if they had gone mad. Not a single person who could walk was left behind, lest they be too late and miss out on this good opportunity.
So, when Su Mu Qing and the others arrived, they could see a vast sea of people about a hundred meters away.
"Greetings, noble guests!" As they approached, the tenant farmers immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowing to pay their respects.
Su Mu Qing dismounted and waved for everyone to rise. "There's no need for such formalities. Please get up quickly!"
"Thank you, noble guests!"
"Thank you, noble guests!"
Looking at the densely packed wall of people before her, Su Mu Qing couldn't help but frown.
Many of them, at first glance, appeared to be at least sixty years old, and some even had difficulty walking steadily, requiring assistance from those around them.
Hadn't she told the steward to recruit workers? Why were so many elderly people here? Their daily lives depended on others for care; how could they still do work?
Su Mu Qing smoothed over her inner unease and said to the gathered villagers, "Those who have carpentry skills, please register with the head steward. We also need several teams to dig irrigation channels. The remaining work will be selected by the stewards from among you. In this hot weather, if others are not chosen, please return to rest. Do not stand here baking in the sun."
"Your Highness, rest assured, we will carefully select them." The steward bowed and accepted the order, then walked to the edge of the crowd to begin his task.
Lu Yu Zhi and the others walked towards the lake. When they reached the grassy area by the lake, Su Mu Qing stopped. She gathered two streams of wind in her palm and then flung them out forcefully.
The impact of the immense wind severed the surrounding grass and wild trees as thick as an arm at their waist. Combined with the winding paths the tenant farmers had trampled while transporting water, a large gap instantly appeared before them, making the area much more open.
Lu Yu Zhi pointed out the spots he had selected the previous night to Ke Bin Na and briefly explained the principle of the waterwheel. The three of them, holding the blueprints, discussed in detail.
As Ke Bin Na listened to the explanation, he imagined the future waterwheel being built and the irrigation channels being opened. With just one person treading, the water from the lake would flow continuously into the land, saving both time and effort.
Those selected for their skills were roughly forty-odd people. Su Mu Qing divided them into several groups, and then instructed them.
Before long, the head steward led a group of people over, stating that these dozens of people had been selected. Several of them were proficient carpenters, while the rest, though not masters, had some understanding of the craft.
Su Mu Qing nodded and called a few of the skilled craftsmen to her to look at the blueprints together. The craftsmen were seeing such detailed diagrams for the first time and were all astonished by the exquisite details depicted.
Lu Yu Zhi had researched this aspect more deeply than Su Mu Qing, so he took over explaining and analyzing it for them. After a while, a few stewards also came to report, saying that the strong laborers for work had also been selected, totaling over sixty people. They aimed to ensure each family had a strong laborer to earn money.
Su Mu Qing nodded and reminded the stewards to advise the villagers who were not selected to return home. Those who had been chosen to work were to first roughly clear the weeds along both sides of the lake. Once discussions here were nearly complete, they would be assigned their tasks.
The stewards took their orders and began to direct. The workers scurried forward efficiently, in groups of two or three along the edge of the lake, moving outwards in a circle to pull weeds and chop down trees.
With over a hundred strong laborers chosen, the onlookers were now primarily women. Seeing the men getting paid just for pulling weeds made them incredibly envious.
But there were many able-bodied men beside them who had not been selected, let alone women like themselves with less strength.
Su Mu Qing suddenly remembered that with so many people working, they couldn't just work without eating! It seemed she would need to find more people to cook.
She looked around the crowd and beckoned the head steward of Heng Qing Manor. "Head steward, there's one more thing I forgot to mention. Find ten more women to help prepare the daily meals for these laborers. We will provide the ingredients, and they will be paid fifteen wen per day. Go and see if anyone is willing to do it!"
The head steward quickly nodded, preparing to go find people. "Yes, Princess. I will go find them now. Fifteen wen a day is high wages; they will surely be overjoyed, and there's no reason they wouldn't be willing!"
"Wait, come here, I need to tell you a few points for when you select people..." Su Mu Qing whispered a few instructions in the steward's ear. The steward nodded, accepted the order, and then headed back towards the crowd of onlookers.
Those who hadn't been selected were preparing to disperse, but when they saw the head steward quickly approaching them, they once again looked at him expectantly.
The steward reached the edge of the crowd, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and after catching his breath, said, "The Princess just said she needs to find ten or so women among you to be responsible for the daily meals of these laborers. Each person will be paid fifteen wen per day, and meals will also be provided. Those willing to do it should come forward to sign up!"
As the steward finished speaking, a moment of silence fell over the crowd. Had they misheard? Did the steward say fifteen wen per day?
After all, even the men carrying heavy loads at Rongcheng Pier might not earn such high wages, let alone the village women. Once they snapped back to reality, a chorus of excited responses erupted.
"I am willing..."
"I am willing to go..."
"I am willing too..."
"Steward! Me, me, and my sister-in-law and sister-in-law too, they are all willing!"
"Me, me! Chen Si's wife, don't get any ideas. Your family wants to hog all these good jobs!"
As it turned out, where there were many women, conflicts were more likely to arise. Seeing the situation becoming increasingly chaotic, the women were no longer satisfied with just verbal arguments; they began to roll up their sleeves, ready to spar.
The steward's face fell, and he shouted loudly, "What are you all making a fuss about? The noble guests are watching over there, and you are acting like this here? Princess Ning An is simply trying to sympathize with your hardship of toiling in the soil and wants to find ways for you to earn more wages. She's giving you fifteen wen a day and providing meals. Can women like you find such good jobs outside? Since you are so ungrateful, I will just find people from outside to do the cooking. With such good conditions, I'm sure many people outside would be willing to do it!"
Seeing the head steward's anger, the onlookers were frightened and quickly apologized. Such a good opportunity could not just vanish. These villages and their families had been tenant farmers of the Regent's Estate for generations. What if they offended the steward and were no longer allowed to lease the land?
The most vociferous women quickly knelt and begged for mercy.
"Head steward, please, please..."
"Head steward, please calm your anger. We know we were wrong!"
"Steward, please calm down, calm down. We won't cause trouble anymore. We'll do whatever you say."
"Yes, yes... we'll listen to you. We are just simple village women, sir. Don't hold it against us."
Seeing their earnest pleas, the steward, thinking they truly regretted their actions, suppressed his anger and began to select the women. After a rough screening, he primarily kept about thirty, those under forty-five.
He had the selected women line up on the vacant land, fifteen to a row, forming over a dozen rows.
With his hands behind his back, the steward walked back and forth between the spaces. First, he looked at their clothes and hair to see if they were particularly dirty, as the Princess had said those who were too filthy could not be accepted.
Indeed, after one round, he had disqualified more than half due to severe unsuitability. Did these women not look at themselves in the water before coming out? Why were they so disheveled? Some even had lice practically jumping out of their hair, and the steward felt itchy just passing by them!
After the first round of selection, over seventy people remained. The steward then asked them to extend their hands. The Princess had said earlier that since they hadn't started farm work this morning and had rushed here to wait, their fingernails should not have much dirt under them.
The steward began inspecting the remaining people again and finally selected twelve, whose fingernails were relatively clean, and brought them before Su Mu Qing to make the final decision.
The rest of the villagers were sent back to their work. Over a hundred people had now been selected. Although most of the planting had been done, people still needed to tend to it from time to time.
The steward brought the people over, and Su Mu Qing took the opportunity to examine them. Perhaps due to the sea breeze near the coast and years of labor, the exposed skin of these women was quite dark. Fortunately, they were indeed reasonably clean.
Su Mu Qing asked them to lift their heads. Most of the women were still timid and shy, hesitating to look up. However, among this group, there were some straightforward women who not only readily lifted their heads to be examined but also grinned at her.
Seeing their simple smiles, Su Mu Qing also gave a sweet smile. These twelve women were all kept, and their eventual assignments would depend on the personnel for the waterwheel and irrigation channels. Nevertheless, the people needed for the work were confirmed.
Lu Yu Zhi and Ke Bin Na, along with four others, were still discussing the waterwheel blueprints with the carpenters, while the other dozens with some woodworking skills had already gone to chop down large trees.
The over sixty laborers tasked with building the irrigation channels were still pulling weeds under the sun. Even the dozen women selected to cook had spontaneously joined the weeding efforts.
Everyone was busy with great enthusiasm, working diligently, filled with boundless energy.
Su Mu Qing and Wan Yan Er felt somewhat bored standing by the side. Casually glancing at the spatial scanner, she saw a dense scattering of small dots, indicating there were indeed quite a few fish in the lake!
"Shall we go fishing? Let Ba Tian take us?" Su Mu Qing nudged Wan Yan Er's shoulder.
"Okay, okay! It's good to have something to do..." Wan Yan Er was already bored to tears, so how could she refuse!
Su Mu Qing blew her whistle, and the eagle flew over shortly. Its wings were enormous, spanning over ten meters when fully extended. As the laborers were engrossed in their work, their surroundings were suddenly plunged into shadow.
They were confused as to why the sun had set when it was still morning. Thus, they all stopped their work and looked up...
Good heavens! This, this, such a huge bird! So, Old Li's story was true, and that noble princess was actually a bird fairy from the heavens!
She saw their miserable lives as common people from above and had specifically descended to save them from their suffering!
The laborers and women were so frightened that they all knelt on the ground. Finally, not just the laborers, but even the craftsmen discussing blueprints, dropped their tools and knelt on the ground with their hands clasped together.
Not only did they devoutly worship, but they also kept muttering prayers, asking the bird fairy for blessings to make their future lives easier.
There were even some exaggerated individuals whose wishes were quite outlandish. They prayed for the bird fairy to bless their sons to become high officials in the future and for their daughters-in-law to give birth to sons.
Leng Ren, seeing that everyone had lost the will to work, quickly said in a loud voice, "Everyone, there's no need to panic! This is our Princess Ning An's mount. It will not harm you. Please just continue with your work."
Su Mu Qing suddenly heard Leng Ren's words and turned around abruptly, only to see everyone kneeling on the ground, kowtowing towards where she and Wan Yan Er were standing. She looked at the selected people with confusion. What was wrong with these people now? Why were they bowing again?
When the eagle let out an impatient "chirp," as if asking them why they were still standing still, Su Mu Qing finally understood. These villagers were likely intimidated by the eagle's size and probably thought it had become an animal spirit!
Seeing them resume their work under Leng Ren's admonishment, Su Mu Qing finally turned around, put her arm around Wan Yan Er's waist, and flew into the air.
She firmly held Wan Yan Er's slender waist in the eagle's talons, while she herself floated on the surface of the lake. Taking out a folded wire net from her waist pouch, she unfurled it, her eyes fixed on the verdant lake surface.
Just then, a large fish swam up in the water. Su Mu Qing spread out the wire net, preparing to catch it. However, before she could make a move, the eagle swooped down, and with its free talon, it grabbed the large fish from the water and then leaped out of the water, flying up.
Su Mu Qing was knocked squarely by the person who descended from the sky, and the wire net in her hand fell into the water. After the collision, Wan Yan Er grabbed Su Mu Qing's waist, and the two of them were pushed into the lake. In an instant, after catching the fish, the eagle brought them out of the water and flew up again.
"Princess fell into the water!"
The incident happened too suddenly, and the head steward cried out in fright. Suddenly! A dark shadow flashed past his eyes, the strong wind it generated blowing out his saliva.
The laborers on the other side heard the commotion and hurried over. After the head steward regained his composure, he saw that Lu Yu Zhi had, at some point, rushed onto the lake.
Ke Bin Na also jumped out with a worried expression. He wasn't as fast as Lu Yu Zhi and, after only a few steps, fell into the water with a "plop."
At the same time, the hidden guards concealed around the area. Seeing the Princess and Miss Wan fall into the water, then Master Lu chasing after them, and then even the young lord falling into the water,
They quickly leaped down, heading towards the lake, intending to rescue them as soon as possible. However, as the hidden guards had just reached the surface of the lake, the Princess and Miss Wan were again scooped up by the divine eagle and flown back into the air.
They saw Master Lu also grab the other leg of the eagle at this moment and then use its momentum to leap onto its back.
The hidden guards didn't possess Su Mu Qing's seamless lightness skill and couldn't fly as she did, like ghosts. Nor did they have Lu Yu Zhi's skill and agile reaction.
After they leaped into the air, they lost their footing and, like dumplings, they all "plop, plop..." fell into the lake, just like Ke Bin Na.
Ke Bin Na, by this time, had already emerged from the water. He looked up at the three people and the eagle in the air, and the large green fish still struggling in the eagle's talons.
He raised his hand and wiped the lake water from his face. Just as he was about to go ashore, he suddenly felt something moving in the water. Ke Bin Na quickly reached into the water and grabbed, his hands firmly gripping the living creature.
The object in his hands felt slippery and had scales. However, he couldn't get his hands to let go, so it seemed to be a large fish. Ke Bin Na suddenly tossed his hands upwards, and a fat fish was thrown into the air.
The fat fish's tail flailed erratically, and water droplets continuously sprinkled down from above. In the sunlight, the water droplets shimmered with rainbow-colored halos, and the scales of the fat fish also looked silvery.
Seeing the fat fish flop around and about to fall back into the water, Ke Bin Na leaped out of the water, lifted his robe to catch the fat fish, and then flew to the shore, standing steadily. Looking at the large green fish wriggling on his hem, he smiled exceptionally happily.
Haha! What good luck today! He actually caught such a big fish. He'll have to think carefully later whether to have grilled fish or spicy fish for lunch!
On the other side, after Lu Yu Zhi confirmed Su Mu Qing was unharmed, he flipped over and sat on the eagle's back. He patted the eagle's neck, and the eagle seemed to know it had made a mistake. It flapped its wings and flew towards a pile of dry grass nearby.
Seeing the eagle about to land, Lu Yu Zhi jumped off its back. As he descended, he smoothly pulled Su Mu Qing out of Wan Yan Er's grasp and held her tightly in his arms.
"Brother Lu, I'm fine. My clothes are just wet." Su Mu Qing jumped down from his embrace, tidied her wet hair that was sticking to her face, and simply tied it into a bun.
Hearing her say she was fine, Lu Yu Zhi prepared to take her to change clothes in the back, but Su Mu Qing refused. She said since they were already soaked, they might as well continue fishing, and they could change clothes together after they had caught enough fish.
Fortunately, to make it easier to work, both girls were wearing relatively simple clothes and not anything particularly complicated.
"Peh, peh, peh~" The eagle placed Wan Yan Er on the grassy ground. The clothes on her body were wet and heavy. With a moment's carelessness, she lost her balance, and her face landed first, making her eat a mouthful of grass and dust.
The eagle dropped the half-dead fish on the ground and then stood nearby, even hiding its head under its wing. It looked inexplicably cute and a bit foolish.
Shaking the water off her body, Su Mu Qing walked to the eagle's side and squeezed into its wide wings. Looking at its rolling eyes, she pushed its head out from under its wing, as it was too stuffy inside its wings!
Su Mu Qing walked over to Wan Yan Er and helped her up. "Yan Er, do you still want to go fishing? Since we're already soaked, why don't we just jump in and catch as much as we want!"
Ke Bin Na came running over with the large green fish, mocking her, "Hahaha! You hag, did you drink enough water just now?"
"Hmph! Let's go, we're going fishing again." Wan Yan Er snorted, not giving Ke Bin Na a chance.
Casually dusting off the grass from her body, she took Su Mu Qing's hand and walked back to the edge of the lake. The eagle moved its two large claws from side to side like a penguin, following them.
Lu Yu Zhi, seeing the two of them walking towards the lake hand in hand again, pulled Ke Bin Na back to the large trees on the other side to continue discussing the waterwheel with the craftsmen.