Great Tang Idyll

The people who tried to poison the pond were caught. Madam Zhang-Wang and Father Zhang went to rest after having a quick look, and the rest was given to Housekeeper Zhang to take care of. Liu'er watched from the side, suggesting ideas. She came up with two ideas--- one was to treat the captured people well so that they can act as witnesses later on, and two was to send people to bring the third brother's family over.

Housekeeper Zhang accepted the second idea, and sent the Seedling Protection Team to do this. As for treating them well? It was decent enough that they were just tied up and thrown into the woodshed. They were at least better off than their older brother. It was unknown what kind of treatment the oldest brother will be facing after being taken away by the bailiffs.

Housekeeper Zhang watched the Seedling Protection Team leave. He wasn't worried about whether they could bring the people back or not since the other manors were not as strict as the Zhang and Wang manors. He instructed the guards in the inner courtyard, "Hu'zi1, rush to the Little Luo'shui on horse and tell the Young Master what happened just now."

Hu'zi agreed, and ran to the back to get a horse. Along the way, he took out a water pouch and two steamed buns from the wooden box at the door. This box was specially prepared by Wang Juan and Zhang Xiao'bao. Not only did it contain food and drinks, but also some simple medicines and other small tools. This made it convenient for people to use in times of emergencies.

Sitting in the side hall, Housekeeper Zhang copied Zhang Xiao'bao's and Wang Juan's way of drinking tea. He made a pot of strong tea for himself, got a plate of snacks, and frowned while thinking of things.

Standing next to him was a servant who was usually responsible for running errands and doing miscellaneous tasks. Seeing that Housekeeper Zhang only sat there without drinking the tea he made for himself or eating the snacks he prepared, the servant yawned to remind him.

"Housekeeper Zhang, the tea is going to turn cold. Do those two need to be interrogated? If we get more answers from them, then when morning comes tomorrow, our Master and Madam will be happy."

"Wait for our Young Master and Young Miss first. As long as nothing happens here, then we shouldn't intervene. Otherwise, if we make a mistake, we would end up disrupting the Young Master's plan."

Housekeeper Zhang warned the servant with a look. As long as he kept watch of the manor and didn't make any mistakes, he did a good job. When his Young Masters made plans, he made arrangements far into the future. If Housekeeper Zhang did things randomly, it would make things more difficult for his Young Master.

"I understand, I shouldn't say things that I shouldn't say. Housekeeper Zhang, why are two rivers being dug at the Between The Water and Clouds? Even after branching the main river, the amount of water flowing through is still the same."

The servant was frightened as he almost caused himself trouble. The rule in the master household was that everyone was in charge of one line of work. If a person has managed their own work well, then they can learn from others how to do other work, study words, etc. However, they were not allowed to manage other people's work. If they noticed that another person had made a mistake, they could give them a reminder, but they were not allowed to deliberately wait and then report them.

If they want to secure more benefits and be valued by their Master and Madam, then they have to gauge their own capabilities. If they were not capable, then it was best to not rush forward. If people wanted to trick others to gain an advantage, then that person would be the first one to get rid of it.

Because of this, the people in the master's house were divided into different star rankings. However, this ranking only allowed them to manage work, and could not be used to bully others. The master household didn't need their servants to conspire against each other to fight for power.

Housekeeper Zhang was relatively satisfied with the servant's response. He poured two cups of tea and motioned for the servant to sit and drink. Then he pondered while saying, "Buildings are going to be built over there, and roads are going to be built over here. Those two rivers are dug to divert the water away, and then a larger pond can be made there. It will be like a small lake."

"Buildings are going to be built too? Our master is really rich. Housekeeper Zhang, if other buildings are built there, will there still be a lot of people coming there? Things are pretty good at Between The Water and Clouds. There's also those stores that are connected to each other at Little Luo'shui. The roads in the front have been built already, do we still need to build more?"

The servant sat on the side excitedly. He has been in the side hall a few times previously, but he has never sat inside before. Originally, the main house only had a main hall, and did not have a side hall. The change in the layout was only made after their master became an official. Being able to sit here made him feel like his status became higher. He didn't quite understand what Housekeeper Zhang was talking about though.

The road leads to the mountain, and that mountain now belongs to us. Later on, people can climb the mountain and explore the place, and walk around among the restaurants there. Our Young Miss has drawn a general outline already. The buildings will be built by hired workers and the overall set up will follow the drawn picture. In the future, several of the restaurants will be connected together, and there will be a corridor-like place at the top. "

Housekeeper Zhang spoke slowly beside him, and the servant listened without even blinking. With a face full of anticipation, the servant added more tea for the Housekeeper. He continued to listen to the Housekeeper talk.

"Also, for our place here, we will connect the six ponds together, build a corridor in the middle and a canal, and then plant flowers and grass on both sides. The mist would be heavy this way, so the place will appear foggy, regardless of whether it is during the day or night."

"So beautiful. What should I say?" The servant imagined what the scenery would be like and he searched for words to describe it, but he couldn't find any so he felt frustrated.

"The Young Miss said that the place will have green mountains outside of the mountains, and buildings nested in buildings. Reeds will be planted too. We will plant patches of them near the restaurant so that boats can weave through them. The center will have a platform built from stone, and a pavilion can be built on top. The pavilion will be connected to two separate areas of the restaurant with two corridors."

As Housekeeper Zhang spoke, his face was also filled with anticipation. He will be able to see the place next year. It was as if there were deities living in this manor.

The servant's eyes widened, and then he suddenly said, "I get it now. A lot of people will come. As it says in the poem, with more women, the reeds are lush and white dew turns to frost. The so-called lover is at the side of the water. Moving against the current, the path is long and hindered; moving with the current, as if in the center of the water."

"Hehe, you brat, it seems that you have managed to learn something. Yes, that's the idea. The mountain is to the side while being in the center of the water. However, the reeds are not planted just for this. The feces in the house needs to be composted, but firewood from the mountain alone is not enough-- reeds could be used instead. The reeds can also be woven into mats.

You should study hard. As long as you can learn just a bit from the Young Master and Young Miss, it will be more than enough for you to use in your entire life. The plans that our Young Master and Young Miss set up are never that simple. There are other things that I would not be able to think of if our Young Master and Young Miss did not mention it. I'm only able to guess about the built roads and buildings. "

Housekeeper Zhang was surprised to hear a poem about "reeds" coming from the servant's mouth. He briefly praised him and then expressed his sentiments again.

The servant shook his head embarrassingly, he laughed sheepishly, "Everyone in the household is learning, and I don't want to fall behind. When our Master's official ranking becomes higher, I don't want to embarrass our Master when I go out. I need to study harder and work well, and then let those scholars see what kind of people work as servants at the Zhang manor."

The servant became more excited as he spoke. He had already memorized a lot of things and knew around a few hundred words. He also practiced writing during his free time. After speaking, he calmed done a bit, and then he continued,

"I would feel confident if I'm comparing myself to outsiders, but I wouldn't dare to compare myself to our Young Master and Young Miss. As long as I can learn a tenth, no, half a tenth, from our Young Master and Young Miss, I would be content."

When the servant spoke, he wasn't acting humble at all. He really didn't dare to compare himself to his Young Master and Young Miss. His two young master's plans were as far-reaching and complex as they needed it to be.

Last year, when the grains were harvested and the chickens were raised, who would have thought that it was for a locust plague? With just that, two official titles were obtained for their masters.

"Go to sleep, don't delay tomorrow's affairs." After speaking for a while, Housekeeper Zhang finally felt sleepy, and ordered the servant to get up and leave. The servant tidied up the things on the table, and also left the place with his mind full of dreams and aspirations. Perhaps he will have a good dream tonight.

Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan hadn't fallen asleep yet. A letter sent from that mansion was laid out in front of them. The letter clearly stated that they had no malicious intent and they wanted to meet the person in charge of the household.

"There's no name; who sent it? If they have no malicious intent, then they shouldn't have sent people to follow us. For us, tracking is considered to be malicious. No one would be happy if they are constantly being watched by other people."

Wang Juan observed the calligraphy of this person; she wanted to read the writer's personality from their written words.

"Then let Song Jing'gong go talk to them tomorrow morning. We will go with him and then we can see what's going on with this person. What you wrote was taken away by their people, but it was not delivered directly to the mansion. Instead, they left by boat, and went to two places. What do you see from this?"

Zhang Xiao'bao rested his chin on his hand, thinking. He didn't know which noble family or government official or even rich merchant had sent these people.

"The brush strokes are restrained; this person should be more calm when doing things. The outside parts of the characters are nicely written; this means that this person often makes arrangements and plans. His tone is a little bit self-centered, so his status shouldn't be low. He thinks that our two manors are insignificant."

Wang Juan observed and analyzed the writing; this was her specialty. She was able to write with both her left and right hand, and she knew how to write with different calligraphy fonts. She always adjusted her mood when writing, so as to prevent others from extracting information from her writing style.

Zhang Xiao'bao picked it up and took a look. He really didn't know anything about the calligraphy fonts, so he wasn't able to tell much from the writing. He only felt that this person's handwriting was better than his own. He put down the letter and said, "We'll go meet him tomorrow and ask who is behind him. It can't be that someone thinks that we're cute so they sent someone to protect us, could it?"

"Let's go to bed early then. After we meet that person tomorrow, let's play for a bit before heading home. We need to make some arrangements, and we need to welcome the new county magistrate."

Wang Juan tossed away the letter in her hand. She pulled onto the thin quilt and lay inside it first. Zhang Xiao'bao stayed there for a few seconds, shook his head a few times, and then got on the bed too.

The next day, at twilight, before Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan even got up to get ready to meet that person in the mansion, Hu'zi rushed over to them on horseback.

"That damned Han Yong'yao. I can't believe he's not done yet. Let's go over there. Let Song Jin'gong take care of things here." Wang Juan said angrily.

Translator Notes

1. Hu'zi 虎子

This name literally means "tiger".