Great Tang Idyll

Chapter 111 Shifting Responsibility

As soon as they got to the shore, Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan hurried home and took the items out to have a look at them – one was made of wood that had a distinct pattern, and the other was made of jade. Both items had something that was blood-red inside and both were missing a half.

"Good thing Li Xun brought the person away with him, otherwise once we saved him, we would not have the chance to take the two items. The patterns don't match up with each other. Let's send someone to go trade them in for money. The sooner the better. Once they get the money, bring it to Little Luo'shui, and then let people send it directly to the capital by ship. We can't leave it in our hands."

Wang Juan inspected the two items while she spoke to Zhang Xiao'bao. Zhang Xiao'bao thought for a while, "There are still two families on the manor who have not been registered. They were recruited during the autumn harvest. Just like the previous fisherman, he should go far away and come back after a while. His family can be directly sent to the inner courtyard."

"Sure. Get him to go to the county seat and find some part timers to help carry things. Get Song Jing‘gong to arrange people to help switch him out half way through the voyage. When they reach the first dock, get off the boat. Separate the money and travel by land. At the second dock, each person should board different boats, and then switch again and travel by land separately. This way, those transporters will not know where they went and how much items they have. Along the way, they must keep changing the way they dress."

Wang Juan planned the procedure for avoiding being tailed by others. Once those people leave San'shui County, it would be hard to investigate.

*

There is water everywhere, but I can still breathe. The surroundings feel warm, and I don't feel cold at all. What's in front of me? He has horns on his head and he is wearing silk and satin on his body. He walked over with a smile. Huh? Water Dragon King, I'm looking at the Water Dragon King. Oh, he's telling me that I need to follow him. What is this place? The palace?

What are inside the boxes over there? Ah, it turns out to be gold and silver jewelry. Oh, let me take it home. This is wonderful, there's so much money. If I give it to my superiors, I can be promoted to a higher position. Then I can defeat the Zhang Manor and the Wang Manor. Then I can be governor of the prefecture and the Little Luo'shuo will also be mine.

It's so heavy. It's so hard to carry each of the boxes back. Who is it, who is grabbing me. Don't take my money, don't take my money.

"Don't take my money." Magistrate Jia, who was lying on a bed, suddenly opened his eyes and shouted.

"You're awake? The Young Prince has ordered me that once you wake up, I should ask if you're experiencing any discomforts. What do you want to eat?" The person on the side of Magistrate Jia's bed was fixing the blanket and then he noticed that Magistrate Jia had woken up. He asked with a light tone.

Only now did Magistrate Jia realize that he was lying down. He looked around, and then made eye contact with the speaker. He asked, "Where am I?"

"The Li Manor. You fell into the water, and the Young Prince sent someone to rescue you. I asked you, are you feeling unwell anywhere, and what do you want to eat?" The servant was a little dissatisfied with Magistrate Jia's foolish happy look, and repeated what he just asked again.

Magistrate Jia recalled what happened during the last few moments before he passed out, and he finally understood what happened. He nodded to the person next to him. He moved his legs and feet under the blanket, and said: "I'm okay, I feel alright. I just feel a bit sore and hungry. Is there any porridge? Give me a bowl."

Magistrate Jia had a respectful attitude when he spoke as this was the Young Prince's person. After the person assented and left, Magistrate Jia suddenly remembered something important. He touched his body and found that his clothes had been changed. He lifted his blanket and checked carefully. From the inside to the outside, there was not a single article of clothing that he wore originally.

When he was eager to find his own belongings, the door was pushed open. The person from before came in with a tray and he put it on the small table next to the bed. There was a big bowl of porridge, two small pickled dishes, and nothing else.

Magistrate Jia wasn't in the mood to eat at this time. Looking at the person who brought the food, he courageously asked, "May I ask where my clothes are? And the items inside."

"It was washed. Are you talking about the small seal inside? There is also the jade pendant that was hanging on your waist. We put them away for you. If you want them now, we will bring it over to you. Who would want to take those worthless items?"

After he replied, the servant turned around and left again. While Magistrate Jia was anxiously waiting, the servant came back after a while and he put the two items in front of Magistrate Jia.

Magistrate Jia looked at the two items that he didn't care about losing or not. "Where are the other items? The half piece of wood and half piece of jade. I have been carrying them on my body the entire time."

"No, just these two. The Young Prince won't take your items. The Young Prince was on the side when your clothing was being changed. No one else will dare take your belongings. Perhaps when you were being rescued, the items fell. If you want them, then ask people to fish it out of the lake."

The expression on the servant's face was foul. They saved him yet he was still asking them for items? How could it be possible that someone took it from him? If he drowns to death, would those items still be that precious? It was good enough to be still alive.

Magistrate Jia naturally understood what he meant, but that was 13,000 strings of coins. He believed that no one would keep those two things. They didn't know the purpose, so the items aren't worth much to them. Furthermore, the Young Prince was there on the side. Could it really be that the items fell into the water? How would the items be fished out? Unless the water in the lake was drained, and people dug through the dirt bit by bit.

No, this was not possible. The Zhang and Wang manors would not agree to draining the lake. That's right, I can go find Han Wang'zhu. There is nothing to be afraid of. The money is not lost; they are left in those two places. A piece of wood and a piece of jade only costs about a hundred or so strings of coins anyway.

Thinking of this, Magistrate Jia smiled at the servant and said, "I was momentarily too impatient. Sorry, sorry. I wonder what time it is now?"

"It's three quarters after the Shen hour (3:45 PM). Hurry up and eat. I heard that when they were trying to get the water out of you, you puked out everything in your stomach. You spat and vomited. You're lucky that you encountered our Young Prince. If not, who would save you?" The servant pointed to the porridge and pickled dishes as he spoke.

"Yes, yes, my thanks goes to the Young Prince. I will eat now, I will eat now." Magistrate Jia didn't dare to say anything. He was indeed hungry, so he ate the porridge with the pickled vegetables and finished both off. He finally felt comfortable. Vomiting things up made his entire body ache.

However, he felt aggrieved in his heart. He thought about how he wouldn't have rode the punt if the Young Prince wasn't over there. If he didn't go over there, the punt would not have capsized and he would not have lost those items. The Zhang manor's people would definitely not save him, or they would save him at a later time, and then they could say that they couldn't save him in time. What could be done then?

The Imperial Court wouldn't say anything since no one harmed him. Wait, how come the punt capsized in the middle of the lake? Even if there was a wooden stake, at most, I would be stuck there. I didn't randomly move around at that time. There must have been something wrong with the punt. That fisherman must have deliberately tried to harm me.

Yes, that must be the case. Once he saw that the bailiff was going to drag him onto the shore, he messed with the punt, deliberately causing me to almost drown to death.

Magistrate Jia found a reason to explain why the punt capsized. Even if he didn't believe it, he did indeed fall into the water and someone should take responsibility. Otherwise, what would it be surmount to if he died in front of the Young Prince? There was no choice but to wrong the fisherman.

Thinking about this, Magistrate Jia felt better. He was about to go back to find Han Wang'zhu to talk about the lost items, but he discovered that his entire body was sore and weak, and couldn't exert any force. He could only sigh and lie down again, and waited to leave tomorrow morning.

"Since you're done eating, tell your subordinates. They are still waiting outside the courtyard. Not everyone can enter the Young Prince's house." The servant was unwilling to be angry with someone who almost died from drowning and he gave the Magistrate a brief reminder.

"Okay, please help me call one in." Only now did Magistrate Jia remember about the bailiffs. There was no way that they would leave him behind and return to the Administrative Office.

After a while, Bailiff Tong came in and he cried when he saw Magistrate Jia, "My lord, you finally woke up. If you were unable to wake up, what would we do? My lord, you can't be so rash next time. There were two brothers who swam over to save you. They were almost unable to get out of the water. The water was freezing cold."

"Alright, alright. Stop crying. I'm perfectly fine right now, aren't I? Did the fisherman who lent his punt to me get caught yet? He was the one who messed with the punt."

Magistrate Jia didn't know if Bailiff Tong really cared about himself or was worried that he might get into trouble too, so Magistrate Jia calmed him down and then asked about the fisherman.

"How could it possibly be that he didn't pull some trick? If he didn't do anything, then why did my punt capsize? Would it be possible that I intentionally flipped the punt in front of the Young Prince? It must be that that person did something, but all of you did not notice." Magistrate Jia insisted.

"Yes, yes, what my lord said is correct. That man did something to the punt. My lord, do you remember what he looks like? I will find someone to draw him and then we will try to arrest him." Bailiff Tong went along with Magistrate Jia's words. The man had already left anyway, so where would they go to find him?

Magistrate Jia pondered for a while, and then shook his head helplessly, "I can't remember. I didn't pay attention to him at the time. He seemed to be wearing hemp clothes, his trouser legs were rolled up, and he was also wearing a hat on his head. After drowning in the water, my mind became cloudy. Did none of you have a clear look?"

Magistrate Jia tried hard to recall but found that he could only think of the style some fishermen would usually dress. It was not realistic to go around catching fishermen and furthermore, this was outside of the San'shui County, so he could only pin his hopes on the bailiffs.

Of course the bailiff would not say anything. Bailiff Tong shook his head and said, "I didn't have a clear look. I'll ask the other brothers later. I am now certain that it was that fisherman who messed with the punt."

"Hmm, yes. The rest of you should find a place to stay tonight. We will leave tomorrow morning." This was what Magistrate Jia wanted to hear. As long as the responsibility was shifted onto someone, everything was fine. He gave out some orders and made a tired look.

Bailiff Tong nodded, "My lord, then you rest early. We will come over early tomorrow morning. I will leave now."