Great Tang Idyll

Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan wanted to see the excitement, so they came over with their foldable stools. They placed the stools in the corner of the room and they sat next to each other. While hugging a pouch in their arms, they blinked their big eyes as they watched the group of people.

Now those scholars were stunned, and Jia did not try to fight Han anymore. Even the few women who were standing on the side to watch the commotion earlier had now curiously turned their eyes to the two children who came in suddenly.

When Wang Juan and Zhang Xiao'bao came here, they changed their clothes in a small house that was reserved for the Zhang and Wang families. Unlike before, Wang Juan was now wearing a pink skirt that was pulled up to her underarms. Her shoulder and arms were covered by a thin cropped robe. Her slippers were modified according to her own design and it had little pompoms.

Her hair was down, and a large bow was placed obliquely on the loose hair. She even used two small bamboo pieces to curl her eyelashes, and since it was not fixed with mascara, her lashes appeared very natural.

These two styles of clothes were slightly different from the current ones here. Fortunately, all kinds of clothes were worn by people during this time period. There were plenty of weird styled ones, so there was no need to worry about becoming a laughing stock.

In the eyes of others, the way they dressed was overly cute. In particular, some of the women were looking at these two interesting little kids without even blinking. If it weren't for the fact that they were concerned that their guardian would come over, they really wanted to hug and kiss them right now.

"Little brother, little sister, how did you get up here? How old are you?" A woman did not hug them, but instead, she bent down and asked with a soft tone.

This place on the third floor was not easy to enter. The entire third floor has only four such rooms, and were specially designed so that large sections of the upper floor protruded out from the building. Below the protruding area was basically empty. Each of the four corners on the third floor was designed like this, so the entire third floor was circular. There were windows all around so more of the outdoor scenery could be seen.

This was the second best room. From here, the river, the mountains, and the wharf can be seen. There was a room outside that connected to here and in order to enter the private room, one would have to walk through the outside room first. There was a waiter in that room to guard the place. The two children definitely did not pass through the room simply because the waiter was slacking off and didn't see them.

This meant that the two children often appeared in this place and the waiter recognized them, so they must have a bit of money in their family. Looking at the clothing they wore, the entire outfit would cost 20-30 taels of silver. In particular, the clothing that was half draped and half worn by the little girl subtly revealed her fair skin, but upon closer inspection, that area of the skin was actually covered by three layers of sheer cloth.

The woman wanted to know what the two children's families did for a living because she didn't want to say the wrong thing and anger the two little kids.

"This beautiful sister, we walked up here with our legs. We are four years old this year." Wang Juan replied and gave her a sweet smile. What she said was not wrong. Going by their ‘fake age'1 , they were indeed four years old. In a few days, after the New Year passes, they will be three years old.

Zhang Xiao'bao didn't say anything at this time. He felt uncomfortable talking to others like this. He didn't want to pretend to be a child except when necessary or when he was with his family. He liked letting his grandparents or parents hold him and kiss him. However, Wang Juan was reluctant to accept this and she even said that Zhang Xiao'bao had Abandoned Child Syndrome.

"Four years old? You're so smart already. Then tell older sister, what do you want to look at here? Won't the people in your family worry about you two?" The woman was praised by the little girl so she felt happy. She thought that the children were telling the truth, and never would she have imagined that these two children sitting in the corner were able to raise the wind and summon rain2 in the San'shui County, and were secretly supporting the Zhang and Wang manors, and used the the small bridge as the boundary line to keep troublemakers out.

"Not scared. We will go back when the time comes. We didn't run off randomly. We're here to just look, we won't interrupt." Wang Juan was still displaying a sweet smile. This was the first time she and Zhang Xiao'bao have traveled this far so she was happy.

"Oh, then don't sit in the corner. Come here, eat something. See if there's anything you like to eat. The food at the First Near Water is almost just as good as the food in big restaurants in the Capital, and there are some signature dishes here that are not available elsewhere. Come, come to older sister." The woman beckoned, and regardless of whether the two children could understand her words or not, she still introduced it to them.

Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan stayed in the same place. No one else could do anything. If someone else suddenly entered the room, they would kick the person out and complain to the waiter. However, seeing that these were two cute children, it was hard for them to kick them out and neither did they want the waiter to take the two children away.

At this time, Young Master Jia saw that the beautiful woman of his heart was also staring at the children. He could only temporarily give up his attack on Han. This was mainly because he knew that he couldn't win him in a physical fight or in a literary competition. The only strength he had was that his family's status was better.

Thinking of his family‘s status made him feel better. If San'shui County was good, then his life would become better and better. With this in mind, he changed his angry appearance and said to the beautiful woman of his heart,

"Xiao'ying, take a look down there and see if there is anything that you don't agree with. Later I will get people to correct it."

"Young Master Jia, what you're saying is that you want to manage other people's property? They bought that place, so how could you change it according to your own wants?"

Young Master Han seemed to dislike this Young Master Jia. Other people did not dare to speak like that. When the woman named Xiao'ying heard his words, she nodded in agreement.

"Indeed. After this wharf was built here, the lives of the people of the San'shui County have improved. I think it's pretty good. I really want to change something. How about repairing the road? In particular, the area following the bridge. More stones can be laid so that the delivery of goods will not be delayed after the snow melts."

"What Xiao'ying said is correct. It needs to be repaired, the road needs to be repaired. The cost should be covered by the wharf since the road was ruined because of them transporting goods. In a few days, I'll get them to repair it. Not only will they repair it, but they also have to build an ‘Imperial Road'3."

Young Master Jia agreed without even thinking about it. He acted as if he was the decision maker for the San'shui County.

Wang Juan, who was sitting in the corner, did not agree with what he said and she muttered to Zhang Xiao'bao, "The person surnamed Jia is quite cocky. He wants to build an Imperial Road, what, does he think he's the Emperor?"

She said this in a quiet voice, but everyone was thinking about what Jia said and the room was quieter, so it happened that what she said was heard. Perhaps Wang Juan did this deliberately.

Jia Wei'ran glanced at the two children. He didn't like children. He stared at Wang Juan and said, "Little girl, you don't know who I am? Ask the adults in your family. How dare you talk to me like this?"

"Don't dare. I wasn't talking about you, I was talking to Xiao'bao." Wang Juan said aggrievedly, showing a trace of fear in her expression.

"Young Master Jia, she's just a child, why are you being like this? Little sister, so his name is Xiao'bao, then what's your name? It's noon already so you must be hungry. Come and see what you want to eat, older sister will give it to you." The woman on the side couldn't bear watching this. How could he scare little children like this? Furthermore, little children don't understand much.

Wang Juan was not that scared this time. "Sister, my name is Juan'juan. We brought food ourselves."

Seeing that they refused again, the beautiful female scholars didn't bother them anymore. While they ate, they chatted about random things. Occasionally, a few of the women would glance at Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan.

Jia Wei'ran originally wanted to talk to Xiao'ying more, but he found that Xiao'ying was always looking at those two children, and this made him feel angry. He saw that the two children took something out of a greased paper packet, and it seemed to be a kind of smoked ham. For sure, it was not beef. He placed a piece of braised beef on the plate and said to Zhang Xiao'bao,

"Your name is Xiao'bao, right? Don't eat that thing. Come over here and eat good food. I have braised beef here, actual beef, you normally wouldn't be able to eat it. The color of your braised pork does not look good."

Zhang Xiao'bao raised his head helplessly, and he held the meat in his hands so that people could see it. "Beef is really hard to come by. It would be troublesome to kill cows directly. You can eat it. It's fine for us to just eat smoked venison."

"Everyone, eat. Don't worry about him. He doesn't know what is pork and what is venison, let alone smoked and braised." Young Master Han spoke with a light, carefree tone, and two women couldn't help but laugh.

Jia Wei'ran's face turned green because his pride was lost. He said that the meat in their hands was not good, and he wanted to give them beef, but it turned out that they were eating venison. The preciousness of beef lies in the livestock used for farming, but it was not comparable to that of venison. Huh? Looking closely, the venison meat was taken from the neck and there were also tendons in it.

Just one slice of the venison meat they were eating was enough to buy a few dishes on the table. If he was unlucky, this embarassing gossip would spread to everyone. Huh? What is that? The little girl took out a thick bamboo tube. Was it because she wanted to drink water?

While Jia Wei'ran was feeling upset, he saw Wang Juan taking out a thick bamboo tube, and then he glanced at the young bamboo shoot and chicken soup on the table. Finally, he felt that he had a chance to regain some pride, and he said, "Juan'juan, don't drink water. Come and drink this soup. Fresh young bamboo shoots are not easy to store until this time of the year."

"Not drinking water, eating something." Wang Juan explained in a quiet voice. She grabbed a large chunk of soaked fungus from the bamboo tube. It was only one piece of fungus but it was the size of a small bowl. She took a bite and then fed some to Zhang Xiao'bao and he took a bite of it.

"Hahahahahaha..." Young Master Han finally couldn't hold his laughter in anymore. He pointed at Jia Wei'ran with one finger and held his belly with the other.

Not just him, but everyone else laughed too. One person squatted on the ground, and even though he grabbed at his own hair, he still couldn't stop his own laughter.<>

Translator's Notes

1. Fake age 虚岁

It is tradition to consider a new born baby as one year old, so a year is added to their age.

2. Raise the wind and summon rain 呼风唤雨

This is a Chinese proverb describing a person who is very powerful/ influential

3. Imperial Road 行在

A road for the Emperor to walk on