Great Tang Idyll

Book 2: Chapter 43

Volume 02

The ground was covered with sand while slight breezes blew by. Withered grass and yellow leaves curled up after several days without wind and rain. The sun shone brightly as people's words were heard. It was not surprising to smile helplessly because who could avoid fighting for benefits?

After the child finished speaking, Zhang Xiao'bao smacked his lips twice, blew air out of his nose, and looked at the child calmly.

"Neighbors? It's good that we're neighbors; we can help each other out in the future. When the Zhang and Wang manors are in trouble, we will definitely go to your great manor for help."

"What a joke. Help each other out? Your family just has a mere seven-rank official. You think you're actually competent? The Bin Province is just a small province, could it even be compared to my land in the Jing'zhao Region?"

The ten-year-old child didn't seem to hear the courtesy in Zhang Xiao'bao's words. He really thought that the Zhang and Wang family wanted to cling to his family, and said this with a sneer.

Zhang Xiao'bao did not plan to argue with this person right now. It was pointless and he would not benefit much from doing so. It was also a waste of effort, but it seemed like Wang Juan did not want to let this matter go. At this time, she stopped looking around. She smiled sweetly, and said to this person,

"As soon as this brother here has said this, I realized the Bin Province is a place where incompetent people stay at. All of the competent people are at the Capital. It is our blessing that our family can be next to someone from the Capital city. Ah, older brother, you must take care of our family in the future since we're the citizens of the Bin Province. Am I right, older brother?"

"Yes, of course. You're a rather sensible little girl. All of the competent people are in the Capital city, and all of the incompetent people are at places like this---places with poor mountains and wretched rivers. Bah! It's not easy for the people here. If not, how come there's a drought here?" Once this person heard Wang Juan's speech, he became happy. He puffed out his chest, and then replied to Wang Juan.

There were many locals standing near him, and the expressions on their faces became nasty when they heard what he said.

This was not the most crucial part. At this time, Li Xun happened to come over to talk to Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan about the survival training in the desert since he felt that the mastermind must have taught them a lot.

He was listening to the conversation between the three children. He didn't think much of the conversation between Zhang Xiao'bao and this person at first, but after Wang Juan spoke up, he couldn't hold in his thoughts anymore. His father was currently the governor of this province and he also bought some land in the San'shui County to establish a manor.

The Jing'zhao Region was indeed better than other places, but in Li Xun's opinion, it was nothing more than a place for the palace to collect rent from. When did this place become a place where a mere civilian can look down upon?

Seeing that the person still looked arrogant, Li Xun didn't even think about it and he walked over in two steps and slapped him in the face.

Tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow, someone will go over to your manor to check the land. If the amount of land is greater than stated in the land deed, your manor is deceiving the Emperor and you have illegally occupied land. Humph. The outskirts of the capital? How competent. People of the four occupations1 are all equal to each other. How could a mere manor like yours decide which land is precious and poor in our great Tang Dynasty. "

At first, Li Xun's words were still fine, but his last few sentences were rather heavy. What he was saying was that even the Emperor had never classified the people of different lands to be noble or inferior, so how could a mere manor in the outskirts of the capital speak for the Emperor about which land was bad.

With this kind of conviction, it was enough for his entire clan to be annihilated. The current Emperor always said that he loves and cares for his brothers, but if the Bin Province was that bad, why would the Emperor send his brother to the Bin Province? Is it possible that he sent his brother here to suffer? He threw his brother into a place with poor mountains and wretched waters?

"No, I didn't mean that, I, I..." This person knew who was talking---it was the Young Prince. Although there were a lot of princes, regardless of how young the prince was, he was still a member of the Imperial family.

Just now he only cared about speaking freely and he didn't expect that he would offend people who shouldn't be offended. If the Emperor's nephew passed on his words to the higher ups, then he might not even be able to keep his life, let alone the land. Being thrilled that there was a drought, helping the Imperial Court classify the quality of the lands, and slandering the Emperor for mistreating his brother were all major crimes. Were there even enough people from his manor to execute?

This person no longer knew what to say. There were so many people next to him who heard his words and the Emperor's nephew was also standing on the side. He was pretty much declared guilty already. Fortunately, this person was taught well and he knew what to do at this time.

"Why is the moon in the sky so big? I saw Chang'e flying with a donkey in her arms. Hehe, hehe, gold, this place is full of gold. Look at it, everywhere is golden yellow. Hurry up and help me pick up the gold."

The person suddenly laughed while talking, and then gave orders to the guard from his manor that followed him here.

The person who came here with him broke out in a cold sweat. When he saw how his young master acted, he knew what to do. While holding his Young Master, he said to Li Xun and the surrounding people,

I'll take my young master back first. What a tragedy. Young Master, please wake up. You were perfectly fine yesterday. How come you're like this today? Young Master, wake up. "

While the guard was talking, he dragged away the boy who was still muttering something about lush green grass.

"Hmph, pretending to be crazy and stupid. I'll let you go this time. It seems that there's another neighbor near the Zhang, Wang, and Li manors. We'll see how things go."

Li Xun was not a fool either. He understood what was going on. That boy pretended to be sick to escape. If it weren't for the fact that he didn't want to delay his outdoor survival training, the matter would not be over even if that boy was actually sick, let alone pretending to be sick.

"Xiao'bao, it seems that we have things to do in the future now. This child is arrogant and knows how to pretend to be stupid; his family must not be ordinary. Our peaceful life is about to end again.

Wang Juan looked at what happened and she smiled after seeing that her plan succeeded. She spoke to Zhang Xiao'bao while joyfully squinting her eyes.

"And you said that I was horrible. I don't think you're a good person either. We just have another neighbor, there's no need to be afraid. Things will be tense for a while, but it won't affect our businesses. With an opponent by our side, we will always be alert and vigilant."

Zhang Xiao'bao didn't have many thoughts in regards to this matter. They're just neighbors. What could they possibly do to each other? They already had the Emperor's nephew next to them, so how could they be afraid of having another neighbor?

"I know that you don't care. He won't dare to provoke Li Xun, but he will direct his hatred towards us." Wang Juan said while pulling Zhang Xiao'bao to the resting area.

Zhang Xiao'bao shook his head. "You shouldn't say it like that. You should say that regardless of whether or not he offends Li Xun, we will hate him. As long as there is a chance, I will keep making trouble for his family. If there weren't any chances, I create opportunities to cause trouble for his family, and I let him know what it means by being targeted by thieves is scarier than being robbed by thieves'."

"Why should I wait for someone to slap me in the face first and then fight back? I find him unpleasant to look at, so I'll stab him." Zhang Xiao'bao said confidently.

"You're just a cooked duck that refuses to open its beak2. There are so many people, so why don't you try to scheme against them? Why do you insist on waiting for him to come over first and say a whole bunch before you make a move? Isn't that still taking a defensive position?"

"Yes, I'm playing defense. With so many people in the world, if I always take the initiative to provoke others, would I still be able to accomplish other things? When we have time, let's buy a few sheeps and put them into ice water. After they fall ill, we'll send them over to their place. Once they see the sheeps, they'll bring them home and we can wait to see if they caught the Q fever. "

Zhang Xiao'bao took small steps and was still thinking about how to scheme against others. Wang Juan burst out in laughter, "What do you mean Q fever? Is that disease even caused by cold temperatures?"

"Why not? I've caught the cold before because of cold temperatures. Sheeps work the same way too. If you don't believe me, then just wait and see." Zhang Xiao'bao used his own experience as an explanation.

"I think you're sick too. Let's hurry up. After resting tonight, we will be entering the desert tomorrow. How come I don't remember that there was a desert in this place."

Wang Juan hastened her pace. She really didn't want to discuss with Zhang Xiao'bao whether sheeps can become sick from cold temperatures.

"Geological changes. The river you saw then is not the same as the river you see now. Shang'hai is not moved far away yet since the shoreline didn't change yet. The people of Nauru don't have to worry that there's no land to live on when digging for bird dropping3. Are there people on the island now? How about we occupy it one day and then transport the droppings over here by ship."

"We won't earn enough to cover the expenses involved. Hurry up and go to sleep. This lame place doesn't even have sunscreen. The next two days are going to be hard. Once it's over, we can go to Africa to mine for diamonds. Our tanned skin will protect us from the sunlight there."

Wang Juan pushed Zhang Xiao'bao into the tent and ranted casually.

*

"Humph! I can't believe I offended the Emperor's nephew. Zhang Manor, Wang Manor, I'll remember you now. You better not let me catch an opportunity, or else I'll make sure you die together."

Just as Wang Juan said, this young master did not dare to offend Li Xun, and he put all of his hatred onto the Zhang and Wang manors. He narrowed his eyes and a trace of hideousness appeared on his wicked looking face.

"What my young master said is correct. We must not let the two families have an easy time. Originally, the master wanted to buy that place, but they got lucky. There are many trees on the mountains there, and they can be burned into charcoal. This is not a small number." The guard replied to his young master.

The young master was satisfied now, and he looked outside of the tent. "Tomorrow I will follow them and cause them trouble. It's best if they die in this desert."

Translator's Notes

1. Four occupations

This includes scholars, farmers, craftsmen and artisans, and merchants and traders.

2. cooked duck that refuses to open its beak

This phrase describes a person that refuses to tell the truth or admit to their mistakes. Wang Juan described Zhang Xiao'bao with a similar expression before in Volume 01 Chapter 93.

3. Nauru Island's bird dropping

The surface of this island is covered with sedimentary bird dropping which is high in phosphorus, thus making it a great location for obtaining raw materials to produce fertilizer and explosives.