Great Tang Idyll - Chapter 129

When Li Xun, Zhang Xiaobao, and Wang Juan arrived at the place where the wooden houses were being built, many people were already busy working.

Zhang Xiaobao had said that he wanted Li Xun to give pointers, but in reality, Li Xun didn’t understand anything and could only watch others work. After a while, the people from the Li manor arrived. Practically everyone from the manor came—men, women, children, and elders. Everyone who could work immediately pitched in, while those who couldn’t work watched from the sidelines.

Because Li Xun treated his manor the same way the Zhang and Wang families treated theirs, every resident had bright, healthy faces and wore uniforms. Compared to the residents of the Zhang and Wang manors, there was no noticeable difference.

Many of the people had met each other before at the market, and now that they were working together, they were able to chat. The children, however, were more exclusive and often had a hostile look in their eyes.

With more people, the work progressed faster. The houses were erected one by one, and the children were running back and forth inside the completed houses. One moment, they would poke their heads out of one door, and the next, they would show their faces at another door. Occasionally, there was some friction between the children of the Zhang and Wang families and the children of the Li family.

Li Xun was still a little dissatisfied with the speed of work. There were still some things that hadn’t been prepared yet. At noon the following day, a meal would be served, and then they would leisurely wait for the night to come. At this pace, it seemed a bit unrealistic.

Just as he was about to ask his 200 guards to help, a group of cavalrymen came over from the small bridge. Seeing this extraordinary group, the 200 guards became nervous and waited until they could see more clearly. The people on the horses were all wearing bailiff uniforms.

“What’s this for? Why have the bailiffs all come here?” Li Xun asked. He knew that the bailiffs in Sanshui County were different from those in other places. They were recruited with money, and there were a lot of them. No matter how far away, a bailiff would patrol the area every two hours to ensure peace throughout the county. No one dared to cause trouble in Sanshui County, so why had they all come here today? Were they going to celebrate the New Year together?

When Zhang Xiaobao saw the bailiffs arriving, he felt even more at ease. He said to Li Xun, “Didn’t I tell you last night that something interesting would happen? You’ll see it today. There are 600 bailiffs here, and the rest are still patrolling the county. There are firecrackers, so there’s a higher risk of fire accidents. We have to guard against that.”

While they were talking, Steward Zhang, who had also been waiting, greeted them. Chen Dong and Song Yang were leading the bailiffs, and Recorder Zhao and Magistrate Assistant Zhang followed the group.

“Steward Zhang, everything is proceeding smoothly,” Chen Dong said immediately, making a fist-and-palm salute.

“Good. Thank you, everyone. After this, the Zhang and Wang families will definitely thank you all,” Steward Zhang said, no longer worried. With so many bailiffs, he was confident that no trouble would arise.

Song Yang dismounted from his horse. His face looked unwell, with frostbite visible on his skin. He said to Steward Zhang, “Steward Zhang, don’t be polite. We all know that our families live well because of the help from the Zhang and Wang families. This is no big deal. Anyone who tries to harm the Zhang and Wang families is only obstructing our path.”

“Someone, bring the badger oil! Bailiff Song got frostbite on his face during the pursuit,” Steward Zhang instructed. A person immediately handed him a small jar.

Steward Zhang took it, handed it to Song Yang, and said, “Song Yang, don’t worry. As long as the Zhang family has a bite to eat in the future, they won’t let you go hungry. Apply this oil.”

Song Yang nodded silently, knowing that the small jar of badger oil probably cost more than ten strings of coins.

Li Xun watched as Steward Zhang arranged for people to enter the built houses to warm up and eat. “Xiaobao, tell me the truth, is something wrong?” Li Xun asked Zhang Xiaobao, who was standing beside him.

Zhang Xiaobao, no longer wanting to keep things a secret, replied, “It’s a small matter. Do you know the new Magistrate Jia? He always wants to take my family’s things, including our money-making recipes. His goal in coming to Sanshui County is to make a fortune. My father already warned him once and gave him many benefits. There’s no money at the Administrative Office because we’re afraid he will take it. But when he saw that he was running out of funds, he set his sights on my family, the wharf at Little Luoshui, and the land we own. The bailiffs are protecting my family, so he hasn’t been able to do anything to us. Were you aware of this?”

“Yes. The bailiffs act like they were raised by your family. If your family hadn’t done so much for the people of Sanshui County and offered gifts to the higher-ups, my father would really have to think about what to do with your family. Your family is truly remarkable. You bought a rugged mountain and turned it into a wharf, farmed land, and sold seeds. You can make money from anything. How could there not be people who are jealous? So, Magistrate Jia’s first plan failed, and now he’s come up with another plan? He plans to target your family?”

Li Xun’s face turned slightly red as he heard Zhang Xiaobao mention someone preying on his family. At first, Li Xun had thought the same, but after spending more time with the Zhang and Wang families, he realized they had no evil intentions and conducted themselves honorably. They had also made Sanshui County, once struggling, much more prosperous.

When dealing with those who came to cause trouble, they would always take a step back and then strike back only when necessary. And when they struck back, it was always powerful. Everything was calm as long as they didn’t act, but once they did, it was like a thunderbolt. They repeatedly defeated the offenders. It was because of this that his father had advised him not to meddle with their manor.

He had told Li Xun to find a way to win them over and figure out who was pulling the strings behind the scenes. Li Cheng had been sent out every day, playing games with the person who might be the mastermind. He had become smarter and more clever, but unfortunately, he had only learned arithmetic and a few trivial things.

This wasn’t enough. What he really needed to learn was the ability to think ahead, strategize from a distance, and come up with foolproof plans.

For this reason, Li Xun kept trying to interact with the Zhang and Wang families, especially the two smart children, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. It seemed that the mastermind hadn’t fully focused on teaching Li Cheng, instead passing on his skills to Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan.

Because of this, his father permitted the Zhang and Wang manors to continue their activities and hoped that Li Xun would have more contact with the people of the Zhang manor, eventually learning something useful from the mastermind.

Who was the easiest to reach out to? Of course, it was Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. No matter how the wilderness survival event had ended, it had made him more determined and helped him understand a lot of things. In his father’s opinion, this was a way for the mastermind to use Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan to teach Li Xun.

It was also for this reason that Li Xun had been allowed to return to Tuqiao Village during the New Year.

While Li Xun was lost in his own thoughts, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan were silently mouthing words to each other.

“A big tree attracts the wind, Xiaobao,” Wang Juan sighed.

“Small trees don’t attract the wind, but there will always be people who step on them. Unless you’re not a part of society, as long as you’re in it, you must interact with others, and it’s impossible to avoid conflicts. Are commoners really that stable?” Zhang Xiaobao’s thoughts were more thorough. If they developed further, people would scheme against them. But if they stayed quiet, they would be targeted by those of a different level. He would rather use a lot of effort to go in circles with those people than swallow his words like the common folk. At least now, he didn’t have to worry about the commoners.

Wang Juan understood this truth as well. Not just here, but even from the start, nothing had happened to certain murderers—especially if the victims were ordinary commoners. In some people’s eyes, life could be measured by money.

“That’s right. Then we have to get along well with the Emperor’s nephew and his father in the future. We can send some money. Li Longji won’t object, right?” Wang Juan asked.

“No, absolutely not. He’s watching how many troops these brothers and their families have, and which officials they come into contact with. As for money, he would love to let his brothers embezzle more. As long as they don’t get too involved in politics, nothing will happen,” Zhang Xiaobao replied, understanding the situation well. Ordinary people would think the same way too.

While they were talking, Li Xun finished thinking and said to Zhang Xiaobao, “Tell me what Jia Shan is going to do this time, and I will help you. I was scolded by my father last time. Why didn’t he drown to death?”

“He wants people from another prefecture to arrest us. We were granted four thousand mu of land, and my family and the Wang family occupied four thousand mu. However, with the mountains, it’s six thousand mu. We didn’t occupy the remaining two thousand mu. Magistrate Jia secretly rewrote the documents we sent and changed the size of the land.

“He let his son take the document with him and went to the border of Sanshui County and Huayuan County. He went there himself too and sent away all the bailiffs who followed him. Fortunately, the carriage we made for him had a secret compartment at the bottom. There were two people hidden there, and later, Song Yang went back after he found a horse.

“Under the guidance of the two people, he chased after them and discovered that Magistrate Jia was in contact with people from Han Manor and Yuan Manor. There may be a lot of people coming this time. He deliberately wrote a fake letter, and before leaving, he asked the bailiffs to gather at Little Luoshui. No matter what, all the bailiffs will be sent away. At my manor, there is no one left apart from the residents.

“Last night, Bailiff Song came over to tell us and then went back overnight. Now all 600 bailiffs have arrived here. My father is afraid they will rush over and arrest us and the Wang family.”

Zhang Xiaobao told Li Xun the entire story. At first, Li Xun didn’t think much of it, assuming Magistrate Jia had used a small trick. But when Zhang Xiaobao mentioned that Magistrate Jia had colluded with people from other prefectures and counties to arrest them, his face immediately changed.

“How dare they! How is this arresting you? They’re obviously bullying me and my father. Great, great! No wonder you asked me how many men I brought. Don’t worry. Even I, a prince, don’t bring a single person with me. What can he do? Does he want to rebel now? Xiaobao, I’ll help your family. It’s his fault that he wants to embezzle money. Let’s see if he can keep his life,” Li Xun said with a sullen face.