Great Tang Idyll

The night was approaching and the slightly exposed distant stars entwined around the new moon. The sky was clear and the overcast was gone. Who was blowing the willow flute again, and subtly reciting to the mountains?

"The place at this moment is truly an immortal's residence. Uncle, what do you think?" Zhou Xi'hu and his uncle walked to a place ten steps away from the others, and they found a big rock and sat down on it. Facing another mountain, he loudly spoke.

Those who came here to be freeloaders no longer have the same high spirits they had earlier on. Everyone one of them laid there like dead dogs, and they didn't care whether or not the half-withered grass would poke their body uncomfortably, and furthermore, they didn't even care that the ground was cold during the night when the dew was condensing. They didn't have any strength left on their entire body, and their stomachs never stopped growling.

Originally, they thought that Magistrate Cheng had made proper arrangements beforehand such that food and wine would be served to them when they became tired, so at the beginning, they were able to bear with it for a while. Then, after four hours of walking, some people began to question Magistrate Cheng but every time he would reply, "Almost, we will be there if we walk a bit more."

How long have they been walking for? It was 10 pm1 already, and after a while, which was 11 pm, they saw some smokes of civilization. A few lights flashed vaguely on the short mountain ahead, and the sound of the willow flute was also heard. When they heard it at first, they thought that it was melodious, but at this moment, it was an ear-piercing noise.

Magistrate Cheng was also tired. Except for the two bailiffs who often did work, every single person was tired. The only difference was the two fourth-rank officials, the bailiffs, the Magistrate Assistant, Zhou Xi'hu and his uncle, and the magistrate have all eaten before, while the others didn't eat anything. They ate some porridge in the morning, and that was the last thing they ate. They were only able to continue walking down this mountain path because the way back was even further away.

Magistrate Cheng drank a sip of water. "I heard people say that the place here was good, but who would have thought that this seemingly close place was this far away? If we had ridden horses, we would have unknowingly tire our horses to death because we only kept our eyes on the mountain ahead2. I thought that we would arrive there at dusk, but I have miscalculated. I apologize to my lords. Drink some water first, but drink conservatively. When we first came, we only prepared each person half a sac of water; there's not much anymore."

While saying that, Magistrate Cheng ordered the bailiffs to give water to everyone. The freeloaders were all given big water sacs, and each person took a few sips. The two leading government officials were given small water sacs. When they first received the water, they drank it the same way they usually did, but then they suddenly froze for a moment. Their eyes borrowed the light of the moon to sweep their vision across the surrounding people, and then they turned their bodies slightly to the side and started to drink slowly.

The two of them drank while chewing, and they tried their best to control the sound of their chewing. The content inside turned out to be thick lotus porridge. It was a bit cooled already, but it was better than being hungry.

The bailiff went over to Zhou Xi'hu to deliver the sacs. Zhou Xi'hu opened it and knew what was inside after he sniffed it. He handed it back, indicating that he didn't need it. He took a salted duck egg out of his robe and handed it over. The bailiff was stunned, and then he nodded gratefully and took the salted duck eggs. He turned and left.

"It's delicious. When your father and I were young, our family was poor and couldn't eat anything. One day we picked a piece of pancake that someone else accidentally dropped on the ground. Your father and I ate it for three days; that taste was similar to the taste of this. Why are the duck eggs so salty?"

Zhou Kong took a bite of the pancake and ate a little bit of the duck egg white, then he whispered to his nephew.

Zhou Xi'hu also ate, and took out the beef jerky and put it in his mouth to chew. "There are only a few people who would buy non-salty ones. The small shop that the Zhang Manor has here is only visited by people with little money. Usually, when a small group of people ate there, they would order two dishes, and a few salted eggs. They would eat the dishes with some wine, and then eat some staple food with a duck egg, and this was enough.

There are also a few that would go there to have a bowl of wine and a salted chicken egg. Chicken eggs were cheaper. They would take a tiny bite of the salted chicken egg and drink a sip of wine. After they're done drinking, they would pack up the remaining half of the salted egg and bring it back home; this was enough for another two meals. The non-salted ones won't work, so a lot of people eat at that shop. "

Zhou Kong was gladdened by the intentions of the little shop, but he was a little puzzled.

Zhou Xi'hu shook his head, "I don't know, that Manor seems a bit mystical. Everything they do seemed bold and unstrained like a heavenly horse galloping in the sky. Uncle, eat more pancakes and drink some water."

He handed the water sac over and waited until his uncle finished eating a bite of the pancake before letting him drink it, otherwise there would be a taste of salted duck eggs in his mouth, and this will make the water off-tasting.

Some were hungry and some were secretly eating. After a quarter of an hour, Magistrate Cheng, who had finished drinking the porridge, greeted everyone, "My lords have already rested, should we continue on?"

"No, I can't walk anymore, Magistrate Cheng, send someone to that place's houses to get some food and bring it back to us. Also, bring back two rugs. Let's not walk anymore." The person who spoke first earlier on was now being lazy and laid there while sighing.

Magistrate Cheng thought about it a little bit and nodded. "Alright, since my lords are willing to wait here, then the three officials and I will go on ahead. When we get there, we will order someone to deliver things to here. Everyone, take care."

Magistrate Cheng was about to leave as he spoke. The three officials he was referring to were those two from the court who came here with actual duties to complete and Zhou Kong. The bailiffs, the Magistrate Assistant, and Zhou Xi'hu also got up too. Zhou Kong and the other two had eaten already, so of course, they followed too.

When the few people left and had walked about ten steps away, one of the people who was still lying there yelled, "Oh no! Once they leave, what if Magistrate Cheng prepares food for those three to eat first and only remembers about us afterwards, then wouldn't we have to wait until tomorrow morning for food to be sent here? If the bailiff also takes a few rests along the way, I would either starve to death or freeze to death. I must follow them."

As soon as he finished speaking, he got up and ran. His hungry and tired look was not apparent at all anymore because he forced himself. The others froze for a moment, and followed after they came to their senses. They didn't think they would die of freezing and starvation. They would be fine bearing it for another two days, but the suffering wouldn't be light.

Hearing the sound of footsteps behind, the corners of Magistrate Cheng's mouth turned upwards, but he didn't make any no sound.

The two bailiffs were up ahead leading the way; fortunately there was still a bit of light from the star and moon, otherwise everyone would really have to walk until tomorrow morning.

Everyone didn't talk along the way, and there was nothing to say. They were so tired that they were struggling to breathe. They continued on like this until 3:00 AM, and they arrived at the place. There were about 30 houses and more than a dozen households. There was a torch that was lit and around twenty people standing there waiting.

He was sent here by Zhang Xiao'bao. Originally, they did not intend to torture these people like this; Magistrate Cheng just had to take everyone to a place and let Zhou Xi'hu's uncle sneak off to the Zhang Manor. However, Magistrate Cheng was angered so he made slight adjustments to the plan, and it turned out to be like this now.

"You can't even handle a task that is this small? Is it so difficult to prepare some food?" Magistrate Cheng's expression darkened and he shouted out.

When those freeloaders heard this, they understood that Magistrate Cheng had arranged for people to come here to prepare first, but it seemed that the people who came did not get the task done. The slight hope they had just now had turned into disappointment. If there was nothing to eat, they would starve to death.

Song Jing'gong's head lowered, and he explained: "My lord, it's not that I didn't prepare it. The people here did make the food, but they insist that money must be paid. I didn't bring money with me. My lord, did you bring any?"

"I didn't bring any. Wait for me to ask the other lords. My lords, the food has been prepared there already, I wonder which of you have brought money?" Magistrate Cheng shook his head and turned around to ask.

Everyone shook their heads, who would bring money here, we are all waiting to bring some bribery money back. Zhou Xi'hu had brought money, but he wouldn't foolishly take it out, and he copied others and shook his head like a rattle.

"Oh no! Everyone didn't bring any money, what should be done? It's better to put it on a tab first, then I will send the money later. Zi'jin, try to negotiate with them."

Magistrate Cheng spoke embarrassingly and then Song Jing'gong left as ordered. After a little while, Magistrate Cheng turned around and smiled helplessly, "My lord, it's not possible, they won't believe that I will send the money later."

"Don't put it on a tab. I have a jade pendant here, let them hold onto it first, and then Magistrate Cheng can help me retrieve it later." An official couldn't bear with his hunger anymore and took out a jade pendant, which he normally hung on his waist, from the inside of his robe. He handed the jade pendant with a bit of reluctance. When he was hiking in the mountains earlier, he was scared that the jade pendant would be scratched, so he had placed it inside his robe.

"My lords, it's not that the people in the village are stingy, but the days are really hard to go byand there is a drought again. We don't know what the harvest will be like in autumn so the people in the village are scared. Oh, I'm the village chief of the village. My surname is Qin, so it is fine for my lords to call me Old Man Tuo."

After saying this, he did not wait for others to speak and he continued to speak, "I don't know who this pendant belongs to, forgive me for my clumsy eyes, but I can't tell whether it is jade or stone. If it was in the hands of a connoisseur, it may be worth thousands of gold ingots, but if it was placed in this village, then it's not even as valuable as half a bowl of whole grains. I ask that my lords take this stone, oh no, this jade pendant back."

"How is this a stone? You...you?" The official who took out the jade pendant carefully took the jade pendant into his hand, and questioned the old man with his eyes widened.

"It's not a stone, I made a mistake. Jade, it is jade, good jade, but no one in the village understands." Village Chief Qin was obviously frightened, and he shivered and explained incoherently. He meant to say that giving jade wouldn't work, and there was food, but it depends on what they intended to give in exchange.

Magistrate Cheng held back a smile, thinking that this Village Chief Qin was really good, and he tried to resolve the dispute, "My lord, don't be angry, do not think too much of their words, it's not worth it. Village Chief Qin, tell me, what should be done so that you would give us food?"

1. "10 pm" 亥时四刻

Since the story takes place in the early periods of the Tang Dynastry, the timekeeping system is such that 亥时 (Hai Hours) is the time interval from 9 pm - 11:00 pm (this system changes in the late Tang Dynasty and 亥时 is actually from 10 pm-12:00 am). So the literal translation could be "four quarters past the Hai Hours", which would be 10 pm.

2. "this seemingly close place was this far away? If we had ridden horses, we would have unknowingly tire our horses to death because we only kept our eyes on the mountain ahead" 望山跑死马

This Chinese phrase describes something that is really far away but looks like it is nearby. The literal translation means "looking at the mountain, and the horse dies from running". I tried to modify the translation a bit to make it fit better into the translated text.