knife

Chapter 407 Amazement
Around four in the morning, Li Dachui finally returned.

Riding a horse with a bag across his front and two more bags on his shoulders, he managed to ride all the way back using only his legs.

Seeing Li Dachui's appearance, Jiang Ping, who was standing by the window, chuckled.

Li Dachui stuffed a few bags of grain through the window and said with dissatisfaction, "What's so funny? I went through a lot of trouble to keep these bags of grain from getting wet!"

"It's just a few bags of grain. What's that to a ninth-rank expert like you?" Jiang Ping scoffed.

"There are only a few bags of grain there!" Li Dachui shook his head repeatedly, saying, "They've rebelled!"

"what?"

"I mean, the villagers rebelled, they rioted! When I got there, everything was fine. They were just carrying a few bags of grain out of the warehouse and were about to leave when the fighting started." Li Dachui said, "You didn't see it. In the rain, those villagers, all dark and murky, I don't know where they came from, surged over in a dark mass. Some were climbing walls, some were smashing doors, some were building ladders. Hmm, there were some experts among them too, they just flew in in a flash."

"You mean a village uprising?" Jiang Ping asked in surprise, "So fast?"

"What do you know?" Li Dachui retorted.

Jiang Ping shook her head: "I don't know anything, but looking at this old couple, I feel that this place is bound to rebel sooner or later!"

“You’re absolutely right!” Li Dachui shook his head and said, “There are just too many people. You have no idea how uncomfortable it is to drag several bags of grain around people, because there are people everywhere, even in the latrines.”

"The original owner of that manor is probably..."

"Is there even a question?" Li Dachui shook his head: "Of course they'll all die, men, women, and children, no one will escape."

Jiang Ping's face showed a strange expression, and after a long while, she said, "You didn't even try to save those innocent people?"

"Who is innocent?" Li Dachui looked at Jiang Ping and said, "When an avalanche occurs, no snowflake is innocent. The villagers' situation is not much better than that of the old couple outside. I can feel their hatred, that deep-seated hatred for those people. I can save this family, but can I save more? Just like I can carry a few bags of grain to this old couple today, but even if I work non-stop, how many old couples can I deliver grain to in a day?"

Jiang Ping fell silent.

"You haven't slept at all?" Li Dachui looked at the mattress behind him. It was the same when he left, but it wasn't the same now.

Jiang Ping shook her head: "I can't sleep while waiting for you!"

"You care about me that much? I really didn't expect that!" Li Dachui laughed. "Although I encountered a riot when I went out, those people couldn't hurt me. On the contrary, I just didn't want to hurt them."

Jiang Ping nodded, walked to the bedside, and with a thud, fell straight back onto the mattress. "Those people won't come here to kill us, will they?"

"What are we doing here? Going to starve!" Li Dachui lay down on the straw mat on the ground, crossed his legs, and said, "I heard them say they're going to the county town. They probably only have what they want there!"

"Approximately how many people are there?"

"There are at least several thousand!" Li Dachui said. "When they head towards the county town tomorrow, there might be even more!"

"There is a regular army in the county town."

"I see quite a few martial arts masters inside! Perhaps the Demonic Sect has also gotten involved?"

"Would you like to go and take a look?" Jiang Ping asked.

“I was going to take a look, but considering your status, I think I'll pass!” Li Dachui shook his head. “You’re a princess of the Great Chu. If those rebels find out who you are, they’ll pounce on you and tear you to shreds! Thousands upon thousands of people would swarm over. Even if I were a mere ninth-rank cultivator, I’d be overwhelmed. So, I’ll bring you safely to Danyang first, and then I’ll go watch the show!”

At this point, Li Dachui chuckled and said, "It seems that your Great Chu isn't doing a very good job of governing. This riot is like trying to suppress one problem only to have another pop up, so there's always something to watch!"

Jiang Ping pouted, "I'm afraid you're mistaken. Yong'an is just an exception. The sacrifices made here during the Battle of Xiangcheng a few years ago were too great. Later, my sister must have misjudged him again, thinking that Lin Hong was a capable general, so she put him here. Originally, she wanted Yong'an to recuperate, but now he's become Yong'an's death knell."

"Let's hope so!" Li Dachui stretched out his legs. "Go to sleep, we still have a long journey ahead tomorrow!"

"Li Bao, do you particularly hope that our Great Chu will turn into a mess?" Jiang Ping asked, lying on the bed.

“I don’t know.” Li Dachui pointed to the elderly couple outside: “When the country prospers, the people suffer; when the country falls, the people suffer. Sometimes I really think that way, but when I see an elderly couple like this outside, I feel that it would be better if the world were more peaceful.”

At this point, Li Dachui turned his head and looked at Jiang Ping with a smile, saying, "Besides, I don't have the final say in this world! Look at your Great Chu, it's chaotic, Great Qin, it's chaotic. But the remote area beyond the Great Wall, which you consider a secluded paradise, now looks somewhat like a Shangri-La!" "Can you tell me what your Shangri-La is all about?" Jiang Ping asked with interest.

"What do you want to know?"

"I'm very curious about how you govern the people and manage officials in your area, what special laws you have, and so on!" Jiang Ping said.

“Alright, I’ll tell you what I know. There are really a lot of differences!” Li Dachui sat up straight.

Before I knew it, dawn was breaking outside the window.

Its daybreak.

The two of them talked and listened, with Jiang Ping occasionally chiming in with questions. Li Dachui was quite surprised that Jiang Ping's questions always hit the nail on the head and immediately struck a nerve with him, so he had to explain more about things that Jiang Ping didn't understand.

"The Protectorate General of Beiting outside the pass has some unique features in the management of officials, but otherwise, I can't see anything particularly remarkable about it!" Jiang Ping stretched lazily, stood up and walked to the window.

"Is that what you think?"

“Of course, what you’ve said is not something we don’t want to do in Chu, but something we can’t do!” Jiang Ping sighed. “Outside the pass, there are few people and much land. Your worry isn’t about not having a livelihood, but about having too few people, isn’t it?”

"indeed!"

“Our Great Chu is worried about having too many people!” Jiang Ping said. “Without enough land and enough mulberry groves, we cannot produce enough grain or weave enough cloth.”

“Wrong!” Li Dachui shook his head and said, “In my opinion, even if you doubled the population on the land you have now, you could still support them and they would live very well. Your most critical problem is that the land and wealth are in the hands of a few people. Of course, the most crucial thing is that you also have the same problem as the Qin state: the channels for ordinary people to move up in society have been almost completely blocked. Only a few narrow openings have been left, which have become the facade of the imperial court.”

"My sister is working on this!"

“If she could have handled it, there wouldn’t have been so many riots!” Li Dachui said with a smile. “Speaking of which, your sister has been in power for quite some time now. The State of Chu looks very strong, but it is actually weak inside. She was very accurate in predicting the hardships of the State of Qin back then, but she was undermined by her own people because of the internal problems of the State of Qin.”

"My sister also stepped back into the spotlight around that time! And it's only been a few years?"

"That's true!" Li Dachui laughed. "Then let's wait and see!"

A soft knock sounded at the door. "Breakfast is ready, guests!"

Jiang Ping opened the door, and the old lady glanced at Li Dachui, who was sitting cross-legged on a straw mat on the ground, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.

On the table was a bowl of wild vegetable porridge, in which some yellow millet could be seen. It was probably something the old couple had kept hidden away, since the young couple had given them quite a few copper coins yesterday.

Jiang Ping picked up a bag of grain from the wall and went outside. With a tearing sound, she opened it and was stunned to see the white rice inside.

“There are two more bags inside. These are for you as a token of our appreciation for letting us stay here yesterday!” Jiang Ping said.

"Are you...are you gods? Where did this food come from?" the old woman asked in a trembling voice.

"Don't worry, this grain is absolutely clean," Li Dachui said with a smile, leaning against the door. "We bought it with our own money. But you still need to hide the grain well. Things will definitely be chaotic outside for a while, and if others find out you have grain, they might come and steal it!"

The old woman stepped forward and tightly grasped a handful of rice. "Is this really for us?"

"These are really for you!" Jiang Ping nodded.

The old lady grabbed the rice bag and walked towards the back of the house, seemingly to hide the grain.

Li Dachui walked to the table, picked up a broken bowl, scooped out a bowl of wild vegetable porridge, and handed it to Jiang Ping, saying, "Want some?"

Jiang Ping took the bowl, grabbed two wooden sticks, and started shoveling food into her mouth.

Even though she clearly didn't like the food and found it difficult to swallow, Jiang Ping's forced eating surprised Li Dachui.

(End of this chapter)