Great Tang Idyll

Deep into the night, the dew was heavy, and the wind blew cold, so how does one stroll in the rice paddy? Where do the three drunk talking people come from? Facing each other, moving in the dim vagueness.

Torture used haphazardly, allowing others use their power, only to dig holes in the ground. Don't mention the noble person you rely on; for the sake of the future, suffer the short-term pain by being buried.

The three people who intended to poison the pond were caught. They could not even begin to fathom how much energy, money and manpower Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan had invested into this place in order to keep the place safe.

According to two people's personal understandings of reconnaissance, counter reconnaissance, seizing, and counter seizing, the two people designed a special offensive and defensive routine, and maximized the usage of the entire manors' population as much as possible. Given the same weapons and the same physical fitness of people on both sides, they were able to defend against troublemakers that were three times as many as their own people.

Thus, the operation that was codenamed "My manor, my space" began. The emergency flashing light code was three short, three long and three short. If a meaning had to be added onto it, it would be ‘Send Our Succour', or ‘SOS'.

For this purpose, Wang Juan also drew a three-dimensional defense map of the Zhang and Wang manors. It was the type that had the navy, armed force and airforce joined as one, and worked with coordinated operations. However, due to the limitations of resources at hand, they only made a system to defend a few important locations on land. Apart from the main yard, the other places had undercover guards instead of patrolling ones since they lacked usable manpower.

The Strong Seedling Protection Team formed the central body. Hidden guard posts were set up in places where Zhang Xiao'bao or Wang Juan felt like others could go through to sneak into manors, and the posts were paired with second-tier teams. These teams focused on defense, such as defending rice crop patches, which can't be burned since that would affect the grain output next year.

If it weren't for the fact that there was not enough time, Wang Juan would have created an underground tunnel network that linked the Zhang and Wang Manors to the Between The Water And Clouds Restaurant. The adamant Wang Juan was planning to realize this idea within three years, and create an underground army made up of thousands of men. Those who wanted to ambush them can come and try.

When this arrangement was first made, the residents didn't quite understand it. They only knew that since their master told them to do it, they had to do it. The people from the inner yard also didn't understand, but they knew that they had to follow their young masters' words.

That night, the 30 plus people, who were holding hunting weapons, divided into small groups and surrounded each person. The residents were amazed by their master, and the servants of the inner courtyard praised their little masters.

"What are you doing? Bring me wine. I haven't had enough yet." The youngest of the three were surrounded by a dozen people, and he squinted and shouted out.

"What wine? Who are you trying to deceive? You want to poison the pond. You must be blind, do you think that bridge can be crossed that easily? Keep pretending, keep on pretending. Captain, the three of them want to poison our manors' fish. I heard this clearly with my own ears."

The man standing at the hidden door in the wall pointed his finger at the man sitting on the ground and said angrily.

The team leader was selected by Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan from a pool of more than 700 people, so naturally, he was not a simple man. He sneered, "They're not trying to poison the fish, they just drank too much. Go, go to the grocery store to get wine, get a jar of wine, and let him drink. If they can't finish the wine, then toss them into the pond."

The people around him immediately ran to the grocery store. Although he just said a jar, they knew how big the jar should be--- as big as a water basin. It was a wine jar that was buried in the ground, and weighed forty to fifty catties. It would be a surprise if they don't die from drinking this.

"Bring those two people over too. The three of them don't need to be treated like this. Splitting up and surrounding them is good, but there aren't enough opponents, so it's not worth the effort." The captain of the Seedling Team continued speaking.

He didn't know whether he should be happy or angry. This was the first time that the Strong Seedling Protection Team has encountered troublemakers and he managed to catch them, so their master would be happy to hear this, but at the same time, it was hard to believe that there were people who had the guts to come to the manor to cause trouble.

It was obvious that those people were belittling their Seedling Protection Team. Did they think the team was for show only? The most frustrating thing was that these three people came here to poison the fish. There were not many fish left in the pond since most of them were transferred to the mountains. When spring comes, they intend to throw in seedlings to allow lotus flowers to grow along with the fish. Even if they really managed to poison the pond, it was just a small number anyway.

They put in so much effort to come here all just to try to poison the fish that was going to be given to the residents. People like them were the most detestable. His seven year old son told him that once their family was given their share of the fish, he would grill fish fillet for his three-year-old sister. If the fish were poisoned to death, how would he grill fish? Trying to bully my child? Just wait for it.

After a while, the wine was brought over. A loud deep thud was heard when the wine jar was placed onto the ground; it was obvious how much wine was in that jar.

The three captured people were herded together, and the person who was the big brother finally spoke.

"Don't even bother trying. Even if we die from drinking, we still won't tell you who sent us. Come at us with all of your tricks and try to see if you can pry open our mouths."

"Good, I like people like you. Let's keep it simple and straightforward then. Go dig holes. Our master had told us that people who speak like you aren't backed by an ordinary person and are not someone we can mess with. It would be more troubling for us if we manage to extract answers. Bury them and let them be fertilizer, and then we will inform their backers. Tomorrow morning, send this news out: three drunkards drowned in the river, and were buried afterwards."

The captain snorted disdainfully, gave instructions to them, and turned to leave.

After the captain had left, a few of the remaining people went to the grocery store to obtain the items they needed, and after a while, they came back carrying shovels in their hands. The shovels were distributed to the ten or so people and they started digging a hole next to them. Sounds of feet kicking the shovel heads, moving dirt, and huffing breaths were mixed together. People who had no idea what was going on would have thought that people were trying to build a house.

What frightened the three people the most was that under the dim light of the lantern, they could see a person kneeling on the ground and arranging joss sticks, incense paper and other things neatly on the ground as he muttered something under their breath.

"If they ask you at the court of the Underworld, please tell them carefully who you are. Why did you come here looking for death, erecting a new grave in the field? Looking at your hometown from the stage of Wang Xiang1, you have already become a spirit. From here on, the realms of the alive and dead separate you; your parents at home will leave an empty dinner bowl. Babies babbling asking for their father; deep into the night, tears stain the widow's face. When arriving, everyone gives their blessing, but who will ask about the old and young who pass away? I'm burning incense paper not for myself; I only wish that the Underworld would be peaceful. If the judge of the Underworld says you must be tortured by deep frying you in hot oil, give him 300 silver coins. Also give him a dozen joss sticks so that you can have a good life in your next reincarnation. Maybe your wife will reincarnate too. The only fear is that you will walk right past her but not know. I'll burn more incense paper, you must remember..."

My mother is old, and my father died early. My mother worked hard to raise me. And I just got married recently; it's been only four months. I'll have a kid in half a year. I told you everything, don't bury me. "

The youngest of the three couldn't help it, and shouted out everything he knew.

The sound of digging ceased, and the chanting voice turned silent. The people around looked at the three of them without moving.

The person who was burning the incense paper stood up and said to the others, "Retreat. Tie up the three of them and bring them to the main yard. I will go find the housekeeper."

"Lao'san2, you must be out of your mind. They were just intimidating you, how could you tell them everything? What about the people in your family? Will those people let you off?"

The older brother couldn't stop him in time and the third brother spilled everything out, so now he was deeply frustrated.

The person who burned the incense paper frowned and asked the third brother, "Is he your actual brother?"

"No." The third brother was confused now, and he answered without much thought.

Bang. A shovel hit across the oldest brother's face. It was hard to tell how much force was used, but it was enough to knock him unconscious.

"No, my second brother is a mute and never speaks. It's been several years already and I have never heard him talk before; he only makes gestures with his hands." The third brother hurriedly interceded.

"Hmm, then stay here for now too. I will tell the housekeeper to send stuff to your house so that your child can be born."

"You don't need to tell me. From now on, you will take care of these things in the future. Yu Yong, wait for me to talk to the master and madam. I'll ask them to let you take on the surname Zhang. From now on, you will be in charge of matters like this."

Housekeeper Zhang also rushed over at this time. As soon as the person who was burning paper finished talking, Housekeeper Zhang gave away some of his power.

"Housekeeper Zhang, what do you-- I don't dare to..."

"Your captain told me that you came up with the idea. Work diligently in the main house. If I was in your place today, I wouldn't have done just as well as you did. There are more and more matters to handle in the manor, and I am unable to keep up. With another clever helper, I feel more relieved."

Housekeeper Zhang knew what Yu Yong was thinking, and spoke with a smile on his face. He actually didn't want to delegate his own power, but he knew that his Young Master and Young Miss were opening more stores, so he wouldn't be able to handle everything by himself. If he held onto the power by himself, perhaps the Old Master and Old Madam would not say anything, and his Master and Madam would be willing, but what about his Young Master and Young Miss?

Unless he gets everything done well, otherwise, if something goes wrong, and he still refuses to let go of his power, then this would anger his Young Master and Young Miss. It would be much better to make arrangements right now.

Are his Young Master and Young Miss ordinary people? They were able to come up with those kinds of schemes without even seeing the opponent's face. His Young Master and Young Miss only needed to know what the grain shop owners were talking about, and they knew what those people were thinking and what they planned to say. They absolutely would not permit their subordinates to cling onto power for things that they can't manage.

"Thank you, Housekeeper Zhang. I will definitely listen to your words from now on. I'll do whatever you want me to do." Yu Yong said gratefully.

Housekeeper Zhang was startled. "Don't. Don't listen to me. You have to listen to our Madam, Master, Old Madam and Old Master, and our Young Master and Young Miss. You will understand this later on. If you listen to me, then you might as well just continue doing whatever job you had before."

Translator's Notes

1. Stage of Wang Xiang 望乡台

The Stage of Wang Xiang is the platform that one reaches when they are at the end of the Nai'he Bridge in the underworld. "Wang Xiang" means to "look at [one's] hometown"

2. Lao'san 老三

Lao'san literally means "Old Three". It would refer to the third youngest in the group.