Great Tang Idyll

When everyone began to travel again this time, Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan stopped talking about ghost stories. Issues arose at two manors consecutively. If one were to take what happened here into consideration too, they would immediately know that Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan were deliberately trying to scare people.

Wang Juan walked beside Zhang Xiao'bao and whispered, "Is it bad that we're bullying other children? Look at how we bullied them. We're adults already, yet we still acting petty towards those children."

"Do they know that we're adults? They know that we are less than three years old, and it's not like they're completely ignorant, especially that Yuan Xing'yi. He spoke so well; he apologized to us but others can't tell that he apologized. When he bullied us, did he ever think that bullying children is bad?

Furthermore, if we don't bully them, they will never stop causing trouble. Are you able to get my parents to go talk to their parents? The best way to deal with children is to use the methods of children. In those children's shows that you've seen before, don't they all have adults pretending to be children? "

Zhang Xiao'bao didn't feel much about it. The two sides were even now, and things would be more stable in the future.

"Then let's let them off. If they cause trouble again, we will teach them a lesson then. I wonder who set off the Sky Jumping Monkey firecrackers; that person can't even be found. They're aren't scared anymore, are we still going to try to get them to leave? If there's nothing else to do, let's go back home."

Seeing that the purpose of coming here was achieved, Wang Juan lost interest in staying here. If not, why would they bring so many raw ingredients? They never intended to stay here for long. She didn't believe that Li Xun would punish them, after all, even if the two of them made it to the end, it was impossible for him to give them a xiang'gong title.

Zhang Xiao'bao thought about it, and felt that he could take this opportunity to ask certain things and make plans ahead of time.

Wang Juan nodded in agreement, and the two of them stopped talking again. They lowered their heads and continued travelling.

It was true that Yuan Xing'yi and Han Yong'yao were no longer afraid, but they caught a cold last night, have been worried for a large part of the day today, and didn't eat that much, so they didn't have much energy in them. They clenched their teeth and followed behind.

"Brother Xing'yi, why are these two children so smart, even we were deceived by them." Han Yong'yao said weakly.

"They aren't the smart ones. The adults of their family might have told them before they came, or the servants around them. As long as they are not stupid, they can be easily taught." Yuan Xing'yi would not have thought that these ideas were Zhang Xiao'bao's and Wang Juan's. He thought that others instructed them.

Han Yong'yao expressed his own thoughts, "They made things tough for us. I don't even know if I can make it until the end. When will the new county magistrate arrive?"

"When the time comes, you will know. They can grow cucumbers on the manor. When the county magistrate comes, we can find an opportunity to teach them a lesson. Things would be much simpler if it weren't for those two seventh ranking officials. Let's put up with it. We can't offend them before the magistrate arrives. We have to put away those little tricks for now."

Yuan Xing'yi finally gave up on the little ideas he came up with. He could only listen to his family's words and wait. His family had long found out what the Zhang manor was up to these days, and his family wanted to intervene but there was no chance. Otherwise, why would he give Han Yong'yao those malicious ideas?

He wanted to let the adults see that he could also sabotage the Zhang manor using his own ability and allow his family to reap some benefits when the time comes. They could keep messing with the Zhang manor until they give in. He never would have thought that he would fail on the first step. Now they were taking revenge--- they messed with his household, and also messed with him.

*

The residents of the three manors were all digging diligently in an area next to the Between The Water And Clouds at the Zhang Manor. There weren't many people from the Zhang and Wang families this time since most of them were sent to the mountain. On the other hand, the Ge manor sent out all of their manpower.

Ge Ying'xi stood on the side, watching with his hands behind his back. Bursts of joy filled his heart, and he stood on the side, constantly smiling.

"Master, once those restaurants are built here, our family's wealth will be even greater. The Zhang and Wang family are quite competent. However, they are a bit dumb. They gave so many benefits to their manors' residents and shared part of the benefits with us. They're wasting their families' wealth."

While Housekeeper Ge was calculating how much income they would have, he laughed at the Zhang and Wang families.

Ge Ying'xi turned his head and glared at the housekeeper, and said in a deep voice, "From today on, I don't want to hear you say such things again, and you're not allowed to have such thoughts anymore. The Zhang and Wang families don't want to see us live a hard life. Do you still want to live the way you used to? As the master, it would be nice to have around a hundred guan1 by the end of the year. How about now?"

"I tallied the numbers last month. In the household, we have 1,400 pieces of silk, 280 taels of silver, 160 copper coins, and 51 taels of silver pieces. The two warehouses in the house are also filled with items, which is probably worth three or forty taels of silver.

Master, the household is indeed much better. I was just saying random things earlier. I don't dare to say or think about that again in the future. However, I still don't understand. Can't they just buy our manor? Why bother being this nice to us? "

The housekeeper was excited when he talked about money, and he reported exactly how much money the manor had now. A large part of the money was earned from Between The Water And Clouds, and a small part was earned from selling seeds. The Ge family selected good rice plants and sold seeds too. The price was not so high, but the income was not bad.

Ge Ying'xi glanced at the Little Bridge and said, "Let's not talk about whether I would sell it or not if they want to buy it. Even if I sell it, so what? They have too many confidential matters on their manor. If they buy my manor, they would have to deal with other neighbors. At least we and the Ge manor's residents won't harm them now.

If they have a new neighbor, can they guarantee that the new neighbor will not harm them? Our three manors have been here for a long time, and we know each other very well. The Old Master of our house is able to get along and chat with their families. Would this be the case with a new neighbor? "

"Master, I understand. If they have a new neighbor, they would still have to share some benefits with them in order to keep things smooth sailing. Regardless of who it is, don't they still have to share with someone? At least they're more familiar with us. With this said, doesn't that mean that we would have to help them out during critical times?" Matters finally become clear for the housekeeper.

Ge Ying'xi admired the Zhang and Wang families from the bottom of his heart. He heard that when the two children were about to reach their first birthday, a mastermind arrived at their manor. Why didn't the mastermind come to the Ge manor? If the mastermind came to his manor, then would he also share the benefits like them? He would. The mastermind told them to, and likewise the mastermind would have told him to.

Housekeeper Ge was also thinking about this. He was much better before now. In particular, the residents used to look at him with fear, but now they looked at him with respect. Wasn't it nothing more than just making them some clothing and giving them some gifts?

After thinking about it, Housekeeper Ge's mind became active again, and he asked respectfully: "Master, I've seen the pictures drawn by Zhang Manor. Should our manor follow their example by digging a few ponds and bringing water in? We can then connect them with canals. It shouldn't cost that money?"

"Wait a bit. Wait until they finish and then see if it's good. If it's good, then we will copy them. By then, how many people will come will depend on how the Emperor's nephew repairs the roads connecting to Hua'yuan County and Yun'yang County. If the river can be widened and then connected to the river there, it would be even better."

Ge Ying'xi was also aware of these matters. The income will only be better if more people come. Otherwise, with the current rugged and bumpy road, the only people who come will be from Little Luo'shui.

"Master, look, there are some people coming over there. There are quite a few people. Should we go welcome them? It doesn't seem like they're going to the Between The Water And Clouds. A different path would be taken if they're going from Little Luo'shui to the Between The Water And Clouds."

While Ge Ying'xi and the housekeeper were immersed in their imaginations of a better life, the farsighted housekeeper pointed to the road over there and said.

"Let's go take a look." Ge Ying'xi was also puzzled. His greatest fear was that those people were here to cause trouble. Seeing that there were a lot of benefits, a lot of people came here to cause trouble, but they were all beaten by the Zhang family. After having an official title, the situation became slightly better.

When the two people walked over there, they could faintly see that there were about twenty people. One person was guarded in the middle, and was pointing their finger in the direction of the Between The Water And Clouds that was not far away. Then they walked to the field; it seemed like they wanted to walk through that place.

Ge Ying'xi and the housekeeper also quickly changed their directions and greeted them from the side. The residents who were digging the canal also noticed the coming people. Seeing that the master of the Ge family was greeting them, the residents stopped working one by one, and gathered together to go over there. In particular, the residents of the Ge manor were afraid that someone would hurt their master.

"Look, my lord, that's the Between The Water And Clouds. Many people want to come to place after hearing about it. My lord, watch your step."

As they got closer, a person began to introduce the Between The Water And Clouds to the protected person.

The lord nodded slightly, "Yes, I heard people say that you can eat and fish while you are there. The person who came up with this idea is pretty good. What's with the canal digging over there? Why are they digging a canal?"

"My lord, I found out a little bit about this. I heard that they want to build restaurants here. There's a saying from the Book of Poems that goes with this: with mountains on the side, being in the center of water."

The person next to him seemed to know a lot. Another person next to him added on, "My lord, I also heard something too. Yesterday, I heard from the residents that they will eventually build a road leading up to the mountains. They say it's called green mountains beyond mountains, towers beyond towers."

"Good, very domineering. Just the name itself sounds great already. I'll have a taste of their food later. I heard that the taste of the food here is just as good as the specialty dishes in the Capital city. Perhaps even better."

Translator's Notes

1. Guan 贯

This is a unit for money; one guan is 1000 copper coins.