Great Tang Idyll

Thank you to Jesse for commissioning chapters 02, 03 and 04!

Chapter 02Unanswered Questions

A day later, the two people who were sent back by Ying'tao arrived at the Manor. The speed was only a little slower than travelling 600 li a day¹. First, they found the housekeeper to inform him of the situation. However, one of them couldn't suppress his opinion and objected to the decision.

As a result, the housekeeper went to find the Young Master. Zhang Xiao'bao was playingwei'qi2 with Wang Juan. Even though he was bullied in the game over and over again by Wang Juan, he still enjoyed it.

"Young Master, Ying'tao asked to transport all of the poultries in the Manor over to her. One of the two people who came back was absolutely against this. Should we…?" Housekeeper Zhang waited for his Young Master to finishing placing down a stone onto the board before he spoke.

Wang Juan was about to set down another stone, but she stopped when she heard the Housekeeper talk. Zhang Xiao'bao turned to look at Housekeeper Zhang, and thought for a bit, "Let the person who objected remain on the Manor; there's no need for him to go back. Send another person to replace him and follow Ying'tao's instructions. The arrangement must be made fast. Give two catties of oil to those two people."

Housekeeper Zhang didn't quite understand his Young Master's intentions. Was his Young Master satisfied or dissatisfied that the person objected? He wanted the person to remain, so it was obvious that he was dissatisfied, but why did he award them with oil?

"Young Master, the Master family does not have to yield to the servants. So...?" Housekeeper Zhang thought that his Young Master felt that it was unfair to make him stay, so he had to make up for it with a reward. Thus, Housekeeper Zhang felt that it was his duty to teach his Young Master how to treat the servants and that it was not the correct to be that kind.

Zhang Xiao'bao motioned Wang Juan to continue playing, and turned his gaze back to the board. Then he said to Housekeeper Zhang, "It is neither a reward nor a punishment. I think he will interfere with Ying'tao if he goes back there. I'm rewarding them because they have worked hard. Later, arrange a new position for that person who disagreed; he is not suitable for cooperating with others to do work together."

"Then what position is he suitable for?" Housekeeper Zhang was unable to understand what the Young Master said, so he asked another question.

"Alright, there are many things that you need to manage, so I'll teach you something. That person is suitable for supervising others; much like being a Censorate³ official. He does not need to be correct every time and he just need to be able to look at matters from a different perspective. There's not a job position like that right now, but there might be one sometime later."

Housekeeper Zhang thought about it and agreed in his mind. Even though he felt that his Young Master was able to think comprehensively, he still asked with slight worry, "Young Master, what if he thinks he has done something wrong, and does not dare to speak up in the future?"

What he actually wanted to say was that this person might think that he has been punished, and will consequently become timid--- this would mean that they lost a useful person.

"Then that means that he has to learn more. A person who is prone to changing on the whim is not useful. It will be fine if you let him do more of other work and practice."

After seeing Wang Juan putting down another stone, Zhang Xiao'bao also put one down too, and at the same time he spoke to the Housekeeper Zhang.

Housekeeper Zhang did not have anything else to ask anymore. While thinking about how good his Young Master was, he went back to help arrange things. There were so many poultries that they could not be transported in just a few carriages so more carriages had to be found from other locations.

*

More than two hours before the two people arranged by Ying'tao came back, two other people arrived the Zhang Manor. It was a man and a woman that were both under thirty years old, and also rode four horses. Once they arrived, they left their horses at a resident's house and asked the resident to help feed the horses.

On their way here, they noticed that a lot of the manors were short of water, but when they arrived at the Ge Manor, they discovered that the crops in the fields were growing quite well. It was as if the crops were not affected by the drought at all, so this made them feel shocked.

After they crossed the Little Bridge, they were first surprised by the restaurant built on the water, and then they were beyond the state of shock and they felt like they were dreaming when they saw the rice seedlings on the Zhang and Wang manors.

Those rice seedlings were a wild mess in the paddies. Given their state, the seedlings should not be able to grow well, but they surprisingly grew to be more lush than normal. When compared to the rice seedlings they had just seen on the Ge Manor, one was like a burly man and one was like a skinny beggar.

Both of them simultaneously thought of the same thing, "No wonder my lord asked us to come here to check. It was evident how different the Zhang and Wang manors were from others just by looking at their rice seedlings."

The two remembered their mission coming here. They walked along the raise ridges in the water paddies and made their way deeper into the manor. When they arrived at the front of a house, they saw a six or seven-year-old child kneeling in the courtyard. The child happened to be facing outside so he saw both of them.

"Child, how come you're kneeling outside? Did you break something at home and are being punished? Tell me about it. I'll give you money and you can buy a new one." The man asked first. Judging by his past experiences, this young child broke something.

After asking, he waited for the child to thank him, but the kneeling child glanced at the two of them, pressed his lips together, and didn't saying anything.

While he said that, he threw the money over, and it happened to fall right beside the child. Somehow, he managed to toss the coins to a spot that was within an arm-reaching distance from the child and the coins did not roll off to somewhere else.

The little child smiled, but he didn't even pick up those copper coins. He asked the two people, "Tell me, what do you want to do here? Only an evil person or robber acts solicitously for no reason. I advise you to leave quickly. It is not easy to trespass the Wang Manor."

"Uh!" The man was exasperated by the child's words. He turned to look at his companion, and the woman quickly said, "Child, we are not bad people, we..."

"I know, you are good people. You sneaked your way to my house for no reasons, and when you saw me kneeling here, you thought I broke something and you offered me a few coins to make me happy just so that you can ask me the questions you have. I am grateful towards you two, so like a fool, I answered everything you asked. Then, after answering your questions, I will be punished to kneel here for ten days or half a month.

I have seen many people like you before. What kind of bad person will blatantly call themselves a bad person? When people go into jail, probably everyone will say they're innocent. What I have said just now should have given you a lot of information already. Leave quickly. "

The child didn't wait for the woman to finish speaking and he interrupted her. His speech made the two of them feel that they did not encounter a little child but a sly fox instead.

They were unwilling to leave just like this. The woman smiled, "Little child, you are so smart, did your family teach you to speak like that? It's a pity, your family must have been unable to properly educate you; do you know how to read?"

"Hmm, I like to listen to what you say the most. I am happy when I am praised by others. When I am happy, I hope that people will continue to praise me. Okay, let me tell you something. I can read, but I don't recognize much. I was punished to kneel here because I read too many words incorrectly. My teacher said that I always want to play when I was in school. I just told you one more thing. If you are satisfied, then leave."

The man and the woman were truly frightened by the little child in front of them. It seems that he knows everything. The man felt compelled to ask, "What did you tell us? We still don't know anything yet."

"Are you pretending to be stupid? The first thing I told you was that I was taught to be wary of people like you. The second thing I told you is that the children on the manor can go to school.

You should be wondering why the Manor wants a small child like me be this cautious? Why residents can go to school? Who built this school? How much does the Manor have to pay the teacher? If you use your brain, you can guess a rough idea. "

While talking, the child stood up and massaged his own legs. After feeling a bit relieved, he knelt down and keep his head lowered again.

"Little child, how could you stand up? Aren't you being punished?" The woman wanted to find a breakthrough.

"Just because I'm being punished, it doesn't mean I can't stand up. The point of punishing me is to make me think carefully about why I should go to school and who found us a teacher. When I was talking to you just now, I figured out something and stood up to find some relief. Now I'm thinking about the second thing." The little child looked proud while speaking.

"Then can you carefully explain to us?" The man asked again.

The little child shook their head, "Look around on the Manor yourself. Don't expect to get answers from others. The Zhang and Wang manors' residents will not say anything. Visually take in as much as you can."

Seeing that the little child refused to speak, the two of them had to give up. Of course, they couldn't go in and pick up the few coins they threw in earlier. They listened to the little child and turned around and left. They planned to go see the places on the Manor for themselves.

The child waited for the two of them to leave, and then the kneeling child jumped up. There was no time to care about the copper coins on the ground. First, the child ran into the house and said to his parent, "There's an outsider on the Manor asking about things. I told them to go see for themselves. Do we need to notify the Master household? It's obvious those two are rich people."

"Hurry and go back to school if you're done talking. Study hard and don't let the Master family worry about you." The child's mother stopped her needlework and explained to the child.

The little child turned around and ran towards the Master's house. After thinking about it, the child turned back. "Mother, you go tell them. I will keep an eye on those two people."

After the child ran off again, the mother pulled on the emergency bell. She waited for the bell on the other end to sound, and then she talked into the bamboo tube about what was going on.

The man and the woman didn't know that news could be delivered that quickly on the Zhang and Wang manors. As they walked, they suddenly realized that something was wrong. The whole manor was too quiet, and the only noise that can be heard was the croaking of frogs. Not a single person was in sight, and no voices can be heard coming out of the houses.

Translator's Notes

1. 600 li a day 六百里加急

600 li is about 300 km. The literal meaning of this phrase is "rushed 600 li". It is usually used to describe the speed that horseback messengers deliver mail. The quickest possible speed is 800 li (400 km) a day.

2. wei'qi 围棋

This a two-player strategy board game that is commonly known as Go. It uses black and white playing pieces called stones.

3. Censorate 御史台

This is a high-level supervisory agency in ancient China that acted as the eyes and ears of the Emperor. It is a branch of the centralized bureaucracy, and it parallels the Six Ministries and five Chief Military Commissions.