knife

Chapter 405 The Poor
"Auntie!" Jiang Ping led her horse along a dilapidated fence to an old woman leaning against a door, and greeted her with a cupped hand.

From initial awkwardness to now being completely at ease, Jiang Ping has made rapid progress and is now able to independently arrange for someone to stay at her place.

It was getting late, the clouds were low and it looked like it was going to rain. As far as the eye could see, there was only this one house. Li Dachui didn't care, but Jiang Ping didn't want to get wet.

The old woman, her clothes patched upon patched, her hair white, her face wrinkled, and her body thin, stood in front of the dilapidated wooden door, stepping on the half-rotten threshold, staring at the two people leading the horse in with a mixture of curiosity and fear.

Upon seeing Jiang Ping bow and ask questions, the old woman hurriedly bowed and whispered, "Greetings, esteemed guest!"

In the old woman's eyes, those dressed so neatly, riding horses, and carrying knives must be noble people of high status.

"Auntie, my brother and I are lost and have missed our time. It looks like it's going to rain, and there's nowhere nearby to take shelter. Could we please stay at your house for the night?"

Listening to Jiang Ping's words, the old woman looked back at the dilapidated house, feeling somewhat troubled.

"Auntie, I won't stay for nothing!" Jiang Ping said with a smile, taking a string of copper coins from the bag on the saddle. "As long as I can find shelter from the rain and have some hot water to drink, that's enough!"

The old woman's eyes lit up when she saw the string of bright yellow copper coins. She reached out halfway, but then withdrew her hand and glanced at Li Dachui behind Jiang Ping.

Jiang Ping smiled and stuffed the copper coins into the old woman's hand, then turned back to Li Dachui triumphantly and said, "Li Bao, bring the horse in! Auntie, please boil some hot water for us; I need to take a bath, I haven't had one in days!"

After tying the horse in the yard, the two stepped into the house.

The situation inside the room left both of them somewhat stunned.

It is no exaggeration to describe them as destitute.

A table with four legs, three long and one short. The short leg is supported by a stone. There are two dark stools, one of which has a hole in the middle.

There was a teapot on the table, with only a small part of the spout remaining, and the rims of the two ceramic bowls were also uneven.

Apart from these, there was nothing else in the house.

Li Dachui looked at Jiang Ping: "Jiang Jiang, are these the people of your Chu Kingdom? Aren't they far too poor?"

“This must be just an isolated case. I’ve seen the reports from Yong’an County. The people are doing very well. Last year, their tax revenue ranked among the top five in the Great Chu. As a result, Prefect Lin Hong received the highest evaluation. If he gets the highest evaluation again this year, he can go to Danyang to take up a post. My sister said that he is very good at managing money, and the position of Vice Minister of Revenue is being prepared for him,” Jiang Ping said.

Li Dachui chuckled, "Just ask this old lady and you'll know what's going on. We've been in Yong'an County for a few days now, and to be honest, if this is the level of a county that's one of the top five in terms of tax revenue in your Great Chu..."

Li Dachui shook his head repeatedly.

As they were talking, the old woman came in and stood somewhat awkwardly by the door.

"Girl, the water's boiling. I'll bring it up for you when it's hot!" Then she pointed to a room next door and said, "We're poor, so we only have one room. You two can rest there."

"Only one? Isn't this in the back?" Jiang Ping didn't believe it. She walked to the back, pushed open a door, and then froze. There really was another house in the back, but it had no roof, two walls had collapsed, and a mess of rubble was piled up all over the ground. "It's more than just this?"

Li Dachui asked, "Auntie, who else is in your family?"

"It's just me and my husband left!" the old woman sighed. "He went out to find something to eat and hasn't come back yet!"

"Looking for something to eat?" Jiang Ping asked.

"There's no food at home, so I'll go out and dig for some wild vegetables. I'll see if I get lucky and find a rat's nest." The old woman laughed, revealing a mouthful of blackened teeth.

Don't you have children?

The old woman's face showed a sorrowful expression: "I have three children. Last time there was a battle in Xiangcheng, all three sons were conscripted. Later, my eldest son sent someone with a message saying that my second and third sons had died. Now it's been two or three years, and I still haven't heard from my eldest son. I don't even know if he's still alive!"

Jiang Ping was taken aback: "When the imperial court conscripts soldiers, they don't select only one able-bodied man, but one out of every two. How could they possibly conscript all three of your sons into the army?"

The old woman looked bewildered: "The county magistrate said so, we don't know anything about it!"

"If someone dies in battle, the imperial court provides compensation. Each person who dies in battle receives a pension of fifty strings of cash, and there are also tax exemptions. How come your family is still so poor?" Jiang Ping asked.

"What is a pension?" The old woman blinked as she looked at the very beautiful woman in front of her.

Li Dachui reached out and tugged at Jiang Ping.

Jiang Ping's face flushed red, and she clenched her fists tightly. By this time, she naturally understood that Yong'an County had not followed the imperial court's policy at all. Conscripting soldiers was one thing, but they even dared to embezzle the pensions for the fallen heroes. How could Lin Hong be so audacious?

A hurried footstep came from outside, followed by an old voice: "Old woman, old woman!"

The old woman turned and went out. “Master, two distinguished guests came to ask for lodging. It looked like it was going to rain, so I let them stay. They even gave me a lot of copper coins.”

"It's just asking for lodging. Our house is so dilapidated, how can you even ask us for money!" The old man walked in with a smile, carrying a sickle in one hand and seven or eight rats strung together with straw rope in the other. He had a bamboo basket slung around his waist, which contained not only wild vegetables but also some grains of rice and other things.

Looks like today was a really good day.

"Old man, I'm sorry to bother you!" Li Dachui stepped forward and cupped his hands in greeting. "Not at all, not at all. With such a distinguished guest, it's no wonder I've been so lucky today, catching so many field mice. Please wait a moment, I'll go and clean them right away!"

Jiang Ping felt nauseous when she saw the string of rats still wriggling and squeaking.

"Li Bao, go up the mountain and hunt some pheasants or rabbits. What are we going to do with these rats?" Jiang Ping asked.

"You absolutely mustn't, sir." The old man waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "These mountains and forests belong to the Lin family. If you go into the forest and steal their things, and they find out, then it will be terrible!"

"This mountain is so big, it all belongs to the Lin family. Which Lin family?" Jiang Ping asked in a shrill voice.

"I heard that the Lin family has a relative who is the highest-ranking official in our county!" the old man said. "Guest, please don't bring trouble upon yourselves."

Jiang Ping, panting heavily, said, "They won't even let us go hunting in the mountains?"

“The mountains belong to other people, so the things in the mountains naturally belong to other people too. How can you just touch other people’s things?” the old man said helplessly.

Jiang Ping inhaled, then inhaled again, her chest rising and falling, and it took her a long time to finally catch her breath.

"Li Bao, do we have any dry rations left?"

Li Dachui nodded, walked into the courtyard, took a satchel from his horse, went back into the house, and took out all the things inside. They were all small snacks, dried meat, pastries, and the like, which were fine as snacks, but not as a meal.

"I'll take care of these things!" Li Dachui took the rat from his father-in-law, turned to Jiang Ping with a smile, and said, "I have enough seasonings here. Actually, field rat meat is quite delicious."

"You have eaten?"

“I’ve eaten them!” Li Dachui nodded. Back in the wasteland, field mice were indeed a good food.

"How can we let the guests do it?" the old man said hastily.

"It's alright, you can light the fire for me, and your wife can boil some water and help her wash up!" Li Dachui pointed at Jiang Ping and said.

The field mouse hand, which had passed Li Dachui's hand, did indeed taste quite good.

Jiang Ping just couldn't eat anything, but the old couple almost swallowed their tongues.

The room was pitch black; naturally, there was no way to light an oil lamp in this house. Li Dachui sat cross-legged on a straw mat, while Jiang Ping lay on the only bed in the room.

The bedding on the bed was tattered and damp, and it had started raining outside. Jiang Ping, who was usually very particular, was now completely unconcerned and just lay down on the big bed, staring thoughtfully at the ceiling.

"What's wrong? Has the ethereal princess, who seems untouched by worldly affairs, now witnessed the suffering of humanity?"

"Or perhaps it's just that the lower-ups are outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant?"

"Maybe when you get back to Danyang, you can have your sister send someone to investigate properly!" Li Dachui laughed. "Aren't you hungry? I didn't see you eat anything tonight?"

"I'm so angry I'm full!" Jiang Ping said. "By the way, what was the name of the old couple's eldest son again?"

"Lin Dayou!"

“Yes, Lin Dayou.” Jiang Ping nodded. “I’ve remembered that name.”

Li Dachui smiled and said, "I hope he's still alive!"

"If Lin Dayou dies too, I'll skin Lin Hong alive!"

"You're a bit short, aren't you? Didn't your sister want him to be the Vice Minister of Revenue?"

Jiang Ping snorted: "He's no longer going to be the Vice Minister of Revenue. He'd better burn incense and pray to Buddha that Lin Dayou is alright!"

"You talk as if you can make the decisions!" Li Dachui scoffed. "Your sister is no ordinary person. In her eyes, ordinary people like her are dispensable, but capable ministers like Lin Hong are rare. So don't have too high hopes. The Empress Dowager's mindset is different from ours in terms of perspective and understanding."

Jiang Ping remained silent for a while before saying, "When you leave tomorrow, leave them with a little more money!"

“You’ve given them all your copper coins, all that’s left are silver notes. Are you sure you’re not just inviting trouble for these old folks by leaving them with these?” Li Dachui asked.

"Then..." Jiang Ping thought for a moment and said, "Li Bao, do you remember the manor we saw on the way here?"

"I remember, it's about thirty li from here?"

"There shouldn't be a shortage of food in that village. Why don't you make a trip there and get them a few bags of grain? If they store the grain well, they can at least have enough to eat for a long time!"

"In this heavy rain, you want me to run thirty miles, sixty miles round trip, and carry several bags of grain?"

"Consider it a debt I owe you, okay?" Jiang Ping said, "I can't bear to see the pitiful state of these two old people. If I hadn't seen it, it would have been fine, but now that I have, I feel really uncomfortable if I don't help them!"

(End of this chapter)