The daily struggles of divorced women in ancient times

The further west they traveled, the more desolate the official road became. After traveling for nearly twenty days, Pei Yanxu and his party finally arrived at the mansion arranged by the court in Xiyang City.

After a long journey, Xia Mianwan was exhausted. After getting off the carriage, she felt sore all over. When she led her people into the house, she was speechless for a moment.

This house is really big, but also really shabby.

Xia Mianwan asked a servant to go to the street to buy some repair materials while it was still early, and arranged for the maids and old women to clean up the yard where they lived first.

Shi Ge'er and Yuan Jie'er still lived in the same courtyard with Xia Mianwan, Chen Ge'er and Yu Jie'er each lived in a courtyard, and the rest all lived in the servants' rooms.

Xia Mianwan actually brought quite a few people from the capital, but there were still many places to clean up in the whole house, and the house had been idle for a long time, and the stove in the kitchen could not be burned without being renovated. Xia Mianwan thought about it and asked Ruzhu and Rumeng to go to the restaurant on the street to order some food.

In just three days, the house had been tidied up and after the sign of Pei Mansion was hung up, life in Xiyang City officially began.

As usual, Pei Yanxu went to visit Xiyang Governor Zhang Pengcheng before officially taking office. Although he was the Governor of Xiyang, Zhang Pengcheng was actually in charge of two places, Xiyang and Dongyang.

Xia Mianwan had to prepare to meet the officials and their families of Xiyang. Zhang Pengcheng's rank was higher than Pei Yanxu's, but below Zhang Pengcheng was Pei Yanxu. In Dachen, governor was a real position.

When meeting an official's wife, the wife would usually prepare gifts for the meeting, so Xia Mianwan naturally had to prepare some as well. Xia Mianwan had no idea about the customs and habits of Xiyang, so she asked Xuanxue and Zizhu to string some glass bead bracelets, which were neither too expensive nor too embarrassing to show off.

Shi Ge'er and Yuan Jie'er adapted well to Xiyang. They ate and slept every day. However, Yu Jie'er and Chen Ge'er had some difficulty acclimatizing to the local climate.

Xia Mianwan asked the nanny who took care of Yujie'er and Chenge'er to prepare some light meals in the small kitchen every day. The supplies in Xiyang were very scarce, and the purchasing standards of the mansion were lowered again and again, but it was of no use. Xiyang was too poor, and even there were very few merchants doing business.

In the huge city of Xiyang, there are only two restaurants with decent environment, and both of them have some background.

There were also a lot of refugees in Xiyang. After arriving in Xiyang, Xia Mianwan held Chen Ge'er and Yu Jie'er and would not let them go out. There were a lot of beggars in Xiyang. According to the local old housekeeper, there were so many beggars in Xiyang that they formed gangs. The abducted children were sent to Jiangnan, and the young women were sent to Zhai Qiang.

There are very few adult women in Zhai Qiang, and young women can be sold at a high price and are easy to give birth to.

Therefore, even the maids in the house were not allowed to go out at will after Xia Mianwan found out about Xiyang's current situation.

After Pei Yanxu rested for a few days, he was ready to go to the government office. The former governor was over 60 years old and was from Jiangnan. After learning that Pei Yanxu was coming, he happily took over the work and left for Jiangnan. Xiyang was too hard, and few people were willing to come, so he could only serve for one term after another.

Except for the prefect who was from the capital, the rest of the Tongzhi, Tongpan, Zhizhou, Zhoutong, County Magistrate, County Magistrate, and Zhubu were all locals.

All the officials in Xiyang knew that Pei Yanxu was demoted because he displeased the emperor, but they were not very afraid of Pei Yanxu. After all, a powerful dragon who had lost the emperor's favor could not defeat a local snake.

Marquis Weiwu arrived at Tongyu Pass three days later with a secret order, and Zhang Pengcheng cooperated very well.

The situation at Tongyu Pass is grim. Although the Zhai Qiang are caught up in internal strife at the moment, it is hard to say whether Atuye will unify the Zhai Qiang. When the internal strife is eliminated, the next step will inevitably be to attack Dachen.

Before Pei Yanxu officially took office, he met with Marquis Weiwu Jiang Dingcheng. Marquis Weiwu had almost figured out the situation in Tongyu Pass and had people start training, but... Pei Yanxu hadn't even taken office yet, but Marquis Weiwu had already asked Pei Yanxu for money with a sad face.

The pass defenses need to be repaired, the soldiers need food for training, and the weapons and equipment also need to be replaced, and each of these items requires money.

Now it was Pei Yanxu's turn to stop laughing. Xiyang couldn't even collect taxes, so where could he get the money for the time being?

Pei Yanxu smiled bitterly and assured Marquis Weiwu that he would ask the emperor for money, but... after experiencing a series of natural disasters, the national treasury was basically empty.

Marquis Weiwu didn't care whether Pei Yanxu's job was really difficult or not. Everyone had different positions. Their soldiers were under great pressure on the battlefield. If they were not well fed and well clothed, who would be willing to starve and freeze to defend their homeland?

Jiang Dingcheng was not afraid of fighting Zhai Qiang, because all the soldiers he led were good. However, a good cook cannot cook without rice, so he could only force Pei Yanxu.

As for the subordinates summoned by Pei Yanxu, except for the prefect, they were all old punks. They just said "OK, OK" to everything, but when they were really asked to say or do something, they collectively started to play Tai Chi. Their goal was to eat and wait for death.

Faced with such a situation, Pei Yanxu was really overwhelmed.

Xia Mianwan knew Pei Yanxu's difficulties and did not disturb him. She just asked someone to prepare hot water and meals and send them to the yamen every day.

Ruzhu often went out with Qian Da these days. Although it was the governor's mansion, those blind beggars would have to look at the owner even if they beat the dog. However, they could not prevent someone who wanted to show off his power to the Pei family. The respectable female family members did not dare to move, so would the maids in the mansion not dare to move? Just in case, Xia Mianwan asked Qian Da to follow Ruzhu.

Ruzhu has been with Xia Mianwan for a few years and has become much more mature. After inquiring about Xiyang's situation, he returned home and explained it in detail to Xia Mianwan.

A banquet will be held the day after tomorrow for the officials' families. Xia Mianwan took out a batch of fresh vegetables and fruits from the space, and asked Zizhu to sort out some cloth, jewelry and medicinal materials from the warehouse.

As for the banquet, Xia Mianwan had only a little more people than the others, so he asked Xuanxue to teach the kitchen how to make some drinks that she had developed in the capital. Milk is easier to buy in Xiyang than in the capital, so Xuanxue prepared a lot of milk-related food.

After carefully checking for omissions and making sure there was nothing missed, Xia Mianwan went to bed early. The first meeting was very important and she could not lose her manners.

Pei Yanxu came back early today. After washing up, he chatted with Xia Mianwan while lying down. The main topic was tomorrow's banquet and the personalities of the officials in Xiyang. Of course, Pei Yanxu also said that in the next month, he would have to visit the prefectures and counties under his jurisdiction, otherwise he would not know the situation and could not think of any ideas to solve the urgent problems at hand.

Xia Mianwan smiled and said hello.