Chapter 252 Shenmu Villa
Chapter 252 Shenmu Villa (Part )
The next morning, Xiao Xia simply washed up, had some breakfast, and planned to ride a horse to see his manor.
"Balang, will you go with me?" Xiao Xia asked Xiao Zhurong who was in the same tent.
Xiao Zhurong said with a bitter face: "I would like to go, but this morning is study time, I can only apologize!"
"Hey! You're out having fun and still studying?"
Xiao Zhurong spread his hands, "I can't help it. You are one year younger than me, and you are already a third-rank general of the Right Wuhou Guard. I am still in the first year of the Imperial College. Your sister hates me for being useless, so she forces me to study!"
Xiao Xia nodded, "That's true. It takes four years to study at the Imperial College, and by the time you graduate, you'll be too old to learn. Why don't you take the imperial examination? If you pass, you'll be much more impressive than studying at the Imperial College."
"Do you think I can pass the imperial examination?" Xiao Zhurong looked helpless.
Xiao Xia walked forward, sat opposite Xiao Zhurong and said, "Listen to me, haven't you broken through the barrier? Breaking through the barrier is not only a good opportunity to practice martial arts, but also to study. Basically, you can remember everything you read. You can use the time to memorize books. In one year, you can memorize all the books. I have seen the imperial examination papers. You don't want to choose the selection of talents, but the Mingjing category. The Mingjing category is completely about the proficiency of the scriptures, that is, the memorization. In addition to memorizing, practice calligraphy. You will take the prefectural examination in October this year, and you can take the provincial examination in March next year."
Xiao Zhurong was also really tempted. He thought about it and nodded, "I never thought that I could study after breaking through the barrier. I'll give it a try. If it works, I'll listen to you and take part in the imperial examination next year."
Xiao Xia patted his shoulder and said, "Give it a try! It must work."
Xiao Xia took out another box of Spring Rain Pills and handed it to him, "Take my Spring Rain Pills, which are Heavenly King Pills. Take one pill every night, and the barrier-breaking effect will be better. The best thing about this is that it does not affect your lifespan."
"But once I take the Spring Rain Pill, the Small Huan Pill will be useless."
"It's okay. I don't eat much now, but I still have a lot. I'll give it to you later. I promise you'll eat until March next year and pass the imperial examination well."
Xiao Zhurong knew how expensive the Spring Rain Pills were. In order to allow him to study, Xiao Xia took out nearly three hundred pills for him. Xiao Zhurong was truly touched and nodded silently.
"Okay, read your books! I'm leaving now."
Xiao Xia stood up and walked out of the tent. He jumped on his horse and urged it to head southwest. When he passed the women's tent, he unexpectedly saw Cui Yu and Cui Mei also riding on horses.
"You can ride horses too?" Xiao Xia asked in surprise.
Cui Mei curled her lips, "You are looking down on me!"
Cui Yu said softly: "Our Cui family also has a manor, which is very suitable for learning horse riding. The elders also require it, so all of us brothers and sisters can ride horses!"
"I see! Where are you going now?"
Cui Mei rushed to say, "Sister wants to go see that sacred tree!"
"What a coincidence. I'm going there too, so we can go together."
Cui Yu smiled sweetly, "Then I'm sorry to bother you, sir!"
"fine!"
Xiao Xia smiled and waved her hand, "I plan to teach you archery this afternoon, let's go!"
The three of them rode their horses towards the southwest. Both manors had low mud-rammed walls and a small gate in the southwest corner. Outside the gate was an official road more than ten feet wide. Across the official road was Xiao Xia's new manor, which also had a small gate. Xiao Xia took the Cui sisters on horseback into their own manor.
The manor was very large, covering more than 10,000 acres. A small river meandered through the manor, and the south side was all wheat fields. It was early May, the time when wheat turned from green to yellow, and the vast wheat fields stretched as far as the eye could see.
Farmers could be seen working in the wheat fields. Xiao Xia led the Cui sisters along the ridges, and farmers kept standing up from the wheat fields and looking at them curiously. These farmers were all tenants of the government. Now that the manor was allocated to Xiao Xia, they were naturally Xiao Xia's tenants, and generally had to sign a new agreement.
They turned onto a small path and headed north. Soon, a hillside appeared in front of them. There was no wheat field here, but a lush grassland. The three urged their horses up the hillside. Suddenly, their eyes lit up. A mirror-like lake appeared in front of them. It was as smooth as a mirror, just like a green gem. The area of the lake was about 500 acres. All around the lake were various reeds and water plants. One-foot-long fish were constantly seen jumping out of the water.
These lakes are just the water surface formed after the small river flowed into the depression. They are part of the small river. To be precise, they should be called a lake. The river water flows in from the northeast corner and flows out from the southeast, forming a large lake on the west.
In the distance, there are dark green mountains, and nearby, the lake is rippling and crystal clear, with a breeze blowing, making people feel relaxed and happy.
"How is it, beautiful, right?" Xiao Xia asked with a smile.
Cui Yu sighed softly, "It's so beautiful. Living here is like being in heaven."
Her beautiful eyes were full of longing.
"Sister, come and look here!" Cui Mei shouted not far away.
Xiao Xia and Cui Yu rode up slowly on horseback. Xiao Xia asked with a smile, "What did you find?"
Cui Mei pointed to a broken wall in the bushes at the bottom of the hill and said, "I discovered there was a wall here!"
Xiao Xia looked into the distance and nodded: "I guess this was once a summer resort for some nobleman. They built a high wall to separate the agricultural area from the manor. Later, when there was no owner, the bricks were picked up by the farmers, so the high wall is no longer visible."
"Sir, do you still want to restore it?" Cui Yu asked softly.
Xiao Xia nodded. "The scenery here is so beautiful. It would be a pity if we don't clean it up. We must rebuild the high wall, build a dozen wooden houses at the foot of the mountain, and build a villa on the mountain. Then we can bring friends here to escape the heat and vacation in the summer."
Cui Mei hurriedly said: "Don't forget to call us!"
Xiao Xia laughed, "I will definitely call you, let's go! Let's go see the sacred tree."
The towering tree was located at the foot of the mountain. Along the way, there were large meadows and woods everywhere. Groups of deer were drinking water by the stream. When they saw people coming, they were scared and ran back to the forest.
Xiao Xia and the other two came to the big tree. The tree was a spruce, growing on a small hill. It was straight and tall, at least sixty meters high and two meters in diameter. It had lush branches and leaves on the upper part, and looked very spectacular. It was known as the third largest tree in Guanzhong.
"Sister, how old is your tree?" Cui Mei asked.
"I don't know either, Mr. Xiao, what do you think?" Cui Yu looked at Xiao Xia with a smile.
Seeing the ripples in her eyes, Xiao Xia felt warm in his heart, and said with a smile: "Spruce trees grow slowly in the early stage, but grow faster in the later stage. I estimate that the tree is not very old, only about three or four hundred years old. The key is that it has not been cut down, so it has been preserved."
"Why doesn't anyone cut it down?" Cui Mei asked curiously.
Xiao Xia shook his head. "I don't know either. Maybe some emperor liked this tree and ordered that it should not be cut down. Didn't you notice that it grows very straight? It's tall and strong, very unique. The locals call it a sacred tree, so they must be a little afraid of it."
Cui Yu nodded gently, "Young Master, what you said makes sense!"
Xiao Xia was very interested, "Let's go! Let's go up the mountain and take a look."
Cui Yu smiled and said, "Master, please go ahead and we will follow you!"
(End of this chapter)