Jiang Manor.
The early morning was still peaceful.
Jiang Huaisheng brought his wife a small plate of dumplings from the roadside stall, but they had already cooled down.
Mrs. Wu took only one bite before turning pale and feeling nauseous.
Jiang Huaisheng patted her back until she felt better, then said, "The weather is cold and the roads are slippery, you should not go out. You can walk around the house if you're bored, or read so books."
He then went to pay his respects to his mother.
Jiang Huaisheng hesitated for a mont, then brought up the matter of Elder Sister Yu.
"Mother, may I send soone to warn that arrogant Lord Liu?"
Lady Jiang rubbed her rosary beads.
Jiang Wan and Jiang Rong were already at their grandmother's side, keeping her company for the morning al.
Hearing her father's words, Jiang Wan covered her mouth in surprise. Was Elder Sister Yu still going to beco a concubine?
Jiang Rong, with his chubby face and prominent dark circles, said, "That sharp-tongued and biting Jiang Yu, who would want her as a concubine? Their eyes must be blind!"
The matriarch simply asked, "Why did you go out so early? There is chaos and unrest outside, Rong'er nearly got into trouble, if anything were to happen to you, it would break this old woman's heart."
When asked why he had gone out, Jiang Huaisheng did not want to say, fearing that his mother would think it was because of Fei'er's greed that made him go.
He could only listen as his mother scolded him.
...
Jiang Changtian arrived at the yan.
He saw the secretary berating the constables.
There was scolding on normal days, but today it was especially loud.
Jiang Changtian quickly stepped back.
If the constables saw him witnessing their reprimand, they would tease him and bully him in return.
"The mountain bandits from Jǐ Mountain County have rebelled with the commoners, they've killed the County Magistrate and crowned themselves king. Now they're bringing more and more people to attack the provincial capital, the Magistrate hasn't slept all night, and you all are just lounging around. If the rebels co here, what can you do? Welco them with open arms?"
Jiang Changtian left the yan.
The yan was in disarray today, no one would pay attention to him.
He was just a minor official in the dicine Preparation Departnt, with little power.
In fact, he had once earned the favor of the County Magistrate, who looked highly upon him, but after learning that he was an unfilial and ungrateful person, the Magistrate had beco filled with disgust towards him.
Whenever they crossed paths, the Magistrate felt it was inauspicious, and avoided him.
His life was like being trapped in a short wooden barrel, with a lid that prevented him from rising up.
No matter how dexterous or eloquent he was, he could only struggle within the barrel.
He was only fit to converse with the lowly.
He wandered around the market.
There were still many people on the streets during the day, as they had to make a living.
The dicine Preparation Departnt was responsible for procuring dicinal herbs.
In addition to the mandatory allocations from the villages, the yan also had a budget to purchase herbs.
As a minor official, Jiang Changtian had the power to make these small-scale purchases. Since herbs were nurous and fragnted, it was not a major business, and the higher-ups did not pay much attention to it. However, the previous manager had been beaten to death for losing so of the herbs.
Jiang Changtian went to a small inn at the edge of the city.
"Master Jiang has co," a young boy saw him and excitedly ran over.
The boy's mother's illness had been cured by the dicines Jiang Changtian provided for free.
He thought Jiang Changtian was much more capable than the local doctors.
Jiang Changtian entered the courtyard of the inn, where there were quite a few people, all looking fierce and burly.
He asked as usual, "Do you have any herbs today?"
Seeing the frail and delicate-looking man enter, the others restrained their violent aura.
An old man with a scarred face approached, smiling, "Master, why have you co to collect the herbs so early? Normally you co in the afternoon."
Jiang Changtian frankly explained, "The secretary was scolding people, I was afraid of getting into trouble, so I ca out first."
The old man chuckled, "The secretary is the Magistrate, you should indeed avoid him. The herbs we have this ti are not many, take a look and see if you can use them. The dicine you gave for my bruises last ti was very effective, do you have any more? The tis are turbulent."
"Who says they aren't? The secretary said the mountain bandits from Jǐ Mountain County have attacked the county yan, overthrown the Magistrate, and crowned themselves king. I heard the authorities have already sent troops to deal with those constables."
The old man paused for a mont, then casually asked, "Troops from where?"
Jiang Changtian shook his head simply, "I don't know the details, I just caught a bit of it, sothing about trapping them like crabs in a pot, so I quickly ca out."
He continued, "If you ask , attacking the yan is just courting death. If they need money, they should go rob the wealthy families, like Lord Liu in our village. He's going to take a sixth concubine in a few days, his household has mountains of gold and silver, yet he still wants to have more children to inherit it all."
The old man slowly turned to get the herbs, slowly saying, "Master, how did you know Lord Liu is taking a concubine?"
Jiang Changtian looked at him earnestly and said, "Lord Liu is from our village, of course we know he's taking a concubine. He's famous for being frugal, acting poor on the outside, but his cellar is full of silver. He buries silver coins in the ground, but they still peek out, and the farmhand who's a relative found them."
Jiang Changtian took the herbs, "Is this all? The quality isn't great, I'll take them, but the price should be two coins less than before, otherwise I can't explain it."
Jiang Changtian took the herbs, and also said, "Have the young lad co with to get the ointnt, I still have so left, not much though."
The old man had the boy who had called out to Jiang Changtian earlier help carry the herbs.
Jiang Changtian carried the light bundle himself, while the boy shouldered a large load, and the two figures disappeared into the alley, vanishing from sight.
This was a bandit hideout.
The bandits' stronghold was deep in the mountains, which also made it suitable for collecting herbs.
Jiang Changtian would co regularly to collect the herbs.
His low status ant he associated with these riffraff.
As he walked out of the alley and headed back towards the yan, when he passed the big-bearded dumpling stall from this morning, he suddenly spoke to the young lad, "Are you hungry?"
The boy swallowed hard and shook his head, "No, sir."
Jiang Changtian handed the stall owner six coins, "Give a large bowl, with more broth, and an empty bowl as well."
The stall's sign said the price was five coins per bowl.
The owner quickly took the money and provided a bowl of dumplings and a bowl of broth.
Jiang Changtian led the boy to a small table by the stall and sat down.
The boy thought the broth was for him, and he was already very happy, as it was at broth and the dumplings had at in them.
But Jiang Changtian pushed the dumplings towards him and drank the broth himself.
"Eat, I've already had breakfast."
Jiang Changtian slowly sipped the broth.
The boy was srized by the steam rising from the dumplings, his eyes filled with tears.
Master Jiang was so kind, if his father were still alive, he must have been just like Master Jiang.
His father had been killed by a powerful lord, who had wielded a precious sword and struck him down.
That lord looked a bit like Master Jiang, but Master Jiang was much more handso.
He ate the dumplings, tears streaming down his face, the dumplings were scalding hot.
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