Chapter 109: The Transformed Yun Family Manor

The lands of Jinyang are truly uncanny. No sooner had Yun Hao thought about a few rebellious bigwigs than someone actually staged a rebellion. Yun Hao felt a bit bewildered, wondering if his own thoughts possessed some sort of telepathic influence. If he truly had such a peculiar ability, he would certainly have to test it out.

Wu Duan’er, a man from Longmen. His birth date, height, and appearance were all unknown. He was a "three-no" individual about whom nothing was known. For reasons unknown, he suddenly lost his mind and rallied several thousand brothers to revolt. His force grew like a snowball, now reportedly numbering in the tens of thousands. Having occupied the strategic point of Hejin, it was said they were currently launching a fierce assault on Huozhou.

Li Yuan had been granted a new official title: Pacification Commissioner of Hedong. One must never be deceived by the name of this position. Whether it was the current Saint or Li Yuan, there was only one way to "pacify": root and branch, leaving nothing behind—better to kill a thousand innocent people by mistake than to let a single rebel escape.

Yun Hao knew that from the day that fellow named Wu Duan’er raised his banner of revolt, a tragic end was destined. That bastard was a dead man walking, and he was dragging tens of thousands of people to their deaths with him!

Li Yuan had departed, taking with him over ten thousand garrison troops from Jinyang City. A mere peasant rebel army was no match for these professional killers. No one doubted that as soon as the formidable garrison troops moved out, the rebellion would vanish like frost under the summer sun.

Jinyang City suddenly grew quiet. The Wu family, who had been itching to pick a fight with Yun Hao, retreated into silence. There was no help for it; Wang Wei and Gao Junya had both been taken away by Li Yuan. Li Yuan did not trust himself to leave those two fellows as masters in his own lair.

Ignoring those who sought their own destruction, enjoying life was what mattered most. There was nothing better than staying in a warm, comfortable house on a cold winter day.

They had built a heated brick bed, or *kang*, in the house, and the fire wall radiated a cozy warmth. Yun Hao wrapped himself tighter in his blanket; no matter how warm the room was, one still felt a chill without clothes. Zhang Miaoke beside him was the same, though she at least had a bodice on. The two of them lay on the *kang*, staring at each other with wide eyes, possessing a wealth of raw energy but lacking the courage to get out of bed.

Zhang Miaoke was the first to give in. The roosters had already crowed three times; if they didn't get up, they would be laughed at. Zhang Miaoke did not want to earn the reputation of a lazy wife!

"Get up!" She wanted to rise, and she couldn't stand seeing Yun Hao lazing in bed. Zhang Miaoke was definitely the type who wouldn't let others be comfortable if she wasn't.

"Not getting up. My blanket is sick, and I need to take care of it." Yun Hao wrapped himself tighter in the blanket again, pinning the edges under his body, prepared to resist to the death.

"What!" Zhang Miaoke was almost angered into a stupor by Yun Hao's ridiculous excuse.

"Just die of laziness then!" She tried to tug at Yun Hao’s blanket, but seeing him curled up like a silkworm, she gave up the idea. She forced herself to get up and called for Yuan’er to come in and help her dress. The image of the mistress of the Yun household was quite important, after all.

The early-rising farmers were already busy at work. To accommodate the women of the village, Yun Hao had opened a canteen. Ever since the canteen appeared, the villagers rarely cooked for themselves. The women of each household worked there, and the meals were for their own husbands and children. The hygiene issues common in canteens of later generations were simply not a problem here.

Any woman who prepared food without washing her hands would be scorned by everyone. Since Yun Hao took over the Yun family village, it had changed day by day. This was first reflected in the people's spirit; although many still wore patched clothes, everyone was washed clean.

The disheveled, unkempt fellows were gone; everyone kept their hair neatly combed, and the women all wrapped their heads in scarves. Yun Hao had put in great effort to improve the hygiene of the Yun village.

Not washing hands before eating meant a fine of three copper coins. Lice in the hair meant a fine of ten copper coins... Yun Hao discovered that as long as you touched a person's purse, these fellows would become incredibly diligent.

In just three or five days, you couldn't find a single disheveled person in the village. The children whose hair looked like bird's nests were hung up and soundly thrashed by their fathers for half the night. The reason was simple: because of their poor hygiene, their fathers had lost ten days' worth of wages.

Latrines were built, separated by gender. The rows of squatting stalls were neat and tidy, with quicklime sprinkled on the ground. Liu Laoliu was leading men to repair the rammed-earth roads; Yun Hao’s opinion was to replace them all with bluestone slabs. It cost more, but it would be much cleaner. Yun Hao still had vivid memories of the sandstorms of the future.

Gossip was inevitable, with the prevailing view being that the master of the manor was just bored and had too much time on his hands. Some dark-minded fellows even thought the master had come up with this method to dock everyone's money just to avoid paying their wages. Hmph! Trying to use this trick to take away their hard-earned money? No way! No matter how cold it was, they would still make their boys wash their hair and bathe.

At first, everyone resisted, but since the public bathhouse was built, people grew to love bathing. The reason was simple: it was warmer inside the bathhouse than at home.

Yun Hao didn't care about these things; after all, there was plenty of coal. If it wasn't burned, it would just keep burning underground by itself. That damned underground fire had been burning for two full months without the slightest sign of stopping. Of course, Yun Hao wasn't bored enough to think about putting it out. In the middle of winter, where would he go to get that much water? He had been hoping for the heavens to send down a heavy snowfall, but he had waited a long time without a single snowflake falling.

Regardless of how disappointed Yun Hao was, the people in Jinyang City spent this winter in great comfort. They no longer had to endure the cold in their rooms to save on firewood and charcoal, nor did they have to smell the fumes from charcoal braziers every day. The girls no longer had soot in their noses when they woke up in the morning.

The coal shop owner was a good man! Knowing that the commoners didn't have much money, he let them take the stoves on credit. As long as they signed a document, they could take the stove home to use. They only needed to pay the shop a few copper coins every month, and although there was some interest, looking at their warm homes and their children's rosy faces, it was all worth it.

Hou Junji had followed Li Er and Li Yuan to the Huozhou battlefield to earn military merit. The manager of the coal shop now was a steward from the Li family. He was very shrewd and diligent, standing at the shop entrance all day, smiling and greeting everyone. Yun Hao thought this fellow should be enshrined as a lucky cat.

"Time to eat!" Zhang Miaoke finally lost her patience. She went out for a stroll, and when she returned, she shoved her icy hands into Yun Hao’s bedding, causing him to shriek and jump up immediately.

Helpless, Yun Hao let Zhang Miaoke dress him and grumbled as he walked into the courtyard. After paying his respects to his mother, he sat down at the dining table. Just as Xin’er finished tucking a napkin around Yun Hao’s neck, a troop of cavalrymen stormed into the Yun family village in a frenzy, throwing the chickens and dogs into a panic.