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Yingbao quickly coaxed: “If it’s gone, it’s gone, maybe a monkey stole it.”

In fact, these mountains did not have monkeys, but there were wild boar, roe deer, and even wolves.

However, these animals are rarely seen during the day, and they avoid adults at all costs.

But they pose great danger to children. For wild boars and wolves, children are equivalent to vulnerable cubs that can be easily hunted.

“Ehwas it really stolen by a monkey?” Jiang Wu had seen monkeys before. There were usually street performers with monkeys begging for food at the market.

The little monkeys, wearing little red shirts, would not only do somersaults but also bow to people.

Jiang Wu choked at this thought, tears welling in his eyes as he tried to suppress his sadness.

“Your sister is tricking you, it wasn’t stolen by a monkey at all.” Wei Zhan rained on his parade.

Yingbao: …I really want to smack someone.

Yuanbao also chimed in, “We don’t have monkeys here, it must have been stolen by a little thief.”

Huzi nodded vigorously: “Yeah!”

Yingbao shot them a glare, pulling away the tearful younger brother away from the bamboo forest.

Once home, Yingbao told her two brothers a story about a crybaby who had turned into a top scholar.

At dinner, Jiang Erlang discussed with his elder brother the need to go out and buy food. “Pingjiang County suffered no bandits attack, we should go there early and buy some grains back.”

Eldest brother Jiang pondered: “Don’t we have enough food in our home? Why should we need to buy more?”

“Not for our family, but the villagers need to buy,” replied Jiang Erlang.

Jiang Erlang continued, “Not only the villagers need to buy, our family also needs to. Though the grain in our home is enough, we all need to renovate our houses and courtyard walls. I plan to hire more laborers from the nearby village to expedite the renovation work.”

In hiring workers, the labor cost is minimal, but it is compulsory to provide two meals a day.

Jiang Erlang gulped down some congee and salted cabbage, “Also, the courtyard walls of our three houses need to be re-built and heightened, with broken porcelain shards embedded on top. In the event the bandits return, we could have some means of defense.”

Since the village walls entail a lot of work, they will first raise their own courtyard walls.

The Zhang clinic in town has walls that reach a yard high. Commoners can’t easily scale it, and coupled with their sturdy front gates, the bandits were unable to break in either.

During the recent bandit attack, the neighbors on both sides of Zhang’s clinic sought refuge in her home, and she single-handedly saved more than a dozen families.

Therefore, this courtyard wall is not to be taken lightly.

“Well, let’s find a few people to go to Pingjiang County together,” Eldest brother Jiang proposed. “We probably need to spend more than ten days on the road if we only rely on carrying the burden on our shoulders.”

Jiang Erlang: “Let’s hire some horse-drawn or mule-drawn carriages for the return trip, we mustn’t try to save money on this. The sooner we get back, the safer it will be.”

“Okay, let’s follow your plan,” Eldest brother Jiang nodded.

The next morning, Eldest brother Jiang set off for Pingjiang County with a few villagers to buy grain.

Jiang Erlang went to the neighboring village to hire labor, and in one fell swoop, he hired several dozen experienced construction workers.

With dozens of people working together to knead clay and build bricks, the walls of the three households in the Jiang family were completely demolished and rebuilt.

Old man Jiang went out to buy back building materials and bamboo, and also ordered a lot of tiles from the tile kiln.

Within a few days, all the bricks, tiles, wood materials, and bamboo could be delivered, and the new doors and windows were also ready.

They then began to roof the houses with tiles, dug the foundation of the wall, and build the surrounding walls.

In addition to repairing the original house, a few additional rooms were built in Jiang Erlang’s home.

The wall that was two yards high and more than half a yard wide rounded up the homes and courtyards of the three families of the Jiangs.

Watchtowers were built at the four corners of the wall, which could accommodate three people at the same time for archery.

From afar, the enclosure looked like a small city wall, robust and sturdy, giving a strong sense of security.

After the wall was built, Jiang Erlang immediately instructed his men to install two heavy doors.

There was only one gate that could accommodate horse-driven carriages. Only after entering the big gate could they see the three doors of the courtyards side by side.

The courtyard doors were three yards away from the main gate and did not affect the sunlight and feng shui of the yards.

On the day that the gate was installed, Yingbao climbed the wall from the stairs in the courtyard and walked around it.

The watchtower was excellently built and from here, she could see far away.

She could see villagers everywhere around her, occupied with their work, some were cutting bamboo, others moulding clay bricks, while the children were barefoot, playing in the mud.

Yuanbao, Huzi, Wei Zhan, and few other kids also climbed up the wall, laughing and jumping around, until they were chased and soundly thrashed by a nanny with a bamboo pole before they reluctantly came down.

The next day, after the wall around Jiang Family’s estate was completed, a village patrolman passed around a message, beating a gong. He announced that bandits had been repelled by the Imperial Court’s soldiers. The defeated bandits had scattered and escaped. He urged the villagers to stay vigilant and guard against sneak attacks by the bandits.

Jiang Sanlang, upon hearing the message, immediately sent someone to warn all the villagers, suggesting for them to gather together at night as a precaution.

Yingbao, riding on Youyou, sneaked down the mountain to the village school to find Madam Wen and Miss Wen.

Lately, everyone was busy tidying up their houses, so even the clan’s school had to close its doors. Madam Wen assigned Yingbao homework, allowing her to study at home.

“Master! Miss Wen!” Yingbao climbed down from her deer’s back and ran into the school.

Wen Shu came out of the house, holding a book in her hand. “Yingbao, why are you here?”

“Where is Master?” Yingbao asked.

“She’s inside. Come in,” Wen Shu led Yingbao into the house.

Without wasting words, Yingbao directly asked Xiu Zhenniang, pulling her towards the South Slope, “Master, please come with me to the South Slope. The villagers say that there might be a disturbance by bandits. My father advised that the villagers better gather together at night.”

Xiu Zhenniang had also heard the patrolman’s message and was worried about what to do. When her student invited them to South Slope, it fell right in line with her wishes.

“Alright, let me pack some stuff first.”

Xiu Zhenniang then said to her daughter, “You also start packing some necessary items.”

Wen Shu nodded, dragging Yingbao to the next room.

The nanny and Wen Shu shared a room and quickly helped the young lady pack her clothes and valuables.

Wen Shu didn’t have many things, she pack them all away in two bundles.

The nanny rolled up the bedding from the bed and tied it up tightly with a rope.

Wen Fu, seemingly from nowhere, brought a wheelbarrow and piled up the family’s grain bags and bedding on it, then began to push it himself.

Xiu Zhenniang, her daughter, and the Nanny only carried a bundle each, and then set off with Yingbao.

Yingbao didn’t see Madam Wen Tian and asked curiously, “Where is Madam Lin?”

Wen Shu whispered, “Auntie Lin is living at Clan Leader Chen’s house.”

Yingbao was puzzled.

Why on earth would he let her live in his house after what Wen Tian did to his grandchild, breaking his leg?

Seeing Yingbao’s confusion, Wen Shu explained, “Auntie Lin gets along well with Chen Clan Leader’s eldest daughter-in-law, so she moved in with them.”

In fact, their mother had had a falling out with Aunt Lin, even had a big fight, which led to Aunt Lin moving to Chen’s family.

But, how could she tell Yingbao about it?

Yingbao led Wen Shu and her master home and settled them in her own room.

Anyway, her bed was large enough to accommodate four to five people.

As for Wen Fu, he was arranged to stay in the newly built side room.

When Chunniang saw her daughter bringing Madam Wen and others, she wasn’t surprised and chatted with Xiu Zhenniang for a while before hurrying off to prepare a meal.

Now there were dozens of people to feed in their house. She and her sisters-in-law were kept busy all day, running off their feet.

Lunch was rice, tofu with cabbage, cucumber salad, stir-fried leek, and pickled vegetables.

Dinner was steamed buns, rice porridge, pickles, cucumber salad, and cabbage.

Although there was no meat, the food was filling and the side dishes tasted good. The hired laborers didn’t mind, as soon as they finished eating, they went straight to work without slacking.

That night, a few torches could vaguely be seen going around the village, and then moving towards South Slope.

Jiang Sanlang, standing on the watchtower and spotting this scene, immediately ordered the villagers to take up their bows and arrows and squat on the wall, ready to deal with whatever comes.