CH 45

Chapter 45 – Tactless Couple (End)

Li Jing’er did not want to pay taxes and only wanted to store more food.  She would rather donate the food to the poor than raise those ‘rice worm*’ officials in the imperial court.

(Rice worm refers to people who don’t do anything useful nor do they contribute to society and only devour rice grains like worms.)

Since there’s a reputation of benevolence at stake, why not get it for herself?  It is better than letting those imperial officials who only know to talk but do nothing at all reap the benefits.

Instead of struggling to construct a canal for three years and failing, isn’t it better for the common people to raise funds to dig a canal themselves?  People who raised the funds should be the benefactors.  The boats that ply on the canals should pay fees for their usage and whoever built that section of the canal reserves the right to collect fees for that particular section.  At most, the imperial court would only collect a little tax and would not interfere with the shipping.

Therefore, she told her son to sit for the county examination, the provincial examination, and the………that is enough.   With the status of a successful provincial examination candidate, it could help to save a lot on taxes, so it was needless to go any further.

It was only that she did not expect her son to be so smart.  Not only did he successfully pass the county examination, but also clinched first place.  Then when he casually sat for the provincial examination, he ended up getting first place.  He actually felt quite shy when he was called Elder Provincial Scholar* at such a young age.

(Jie Yuan Laoye is translated as Elder Provincial Scholar.  It is a respectful way of addressing the candidate who is the top scorer in the provincial examination in the imperial examination system of ancient China.)

“What about the second purpose?”

“The second purpose is to do things for the people but I’m already doing it, so it doesn’t matter whether I sit for the imperial examination or not.  The Emperor is a guest of my family and will stay in my house for ten days to half a month every year……..”

The Emperor is indeed vicious and even wanted him to be the Prince’s tutor.

“Uh, the Emperor goes to your residence?”  Is that true?

“Elder Brother, you’re starting to talk again.  Mother said that if you spread her glorious achievements again, she is going to bring forward the plan of seeking a wife for you.  What do you think of the Head Minister’s daughter, Miss Zhao San?  She is proficient in the qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting……..a good girl with fine embroidery skills……..”

A perfect noble lady from a wealthy family.

“Aiya!  Younger sister, I’ve done everything you wanted me to do.  You shouldn’t harm me.  Mother said that in our family, the males have to be over 20 years old and females must be over 17 years of age before marriage can be discussed.  Your elder brother, I am only 17 this year, so this matter can only be discussed three years later.”

Ai!  Sweat!  This younger sister of his was naturally born black-bellied and especially scheming……  This is what his mother said and he thinks it is true too.

This top scholar is their mother’s treasure.

Mother’s treasure is also mother’s favorite.

“Three years later, Miss Zhao will already become a mother.  Are you going to poison her husband and become the stepfather?”

Her brother is too serious………so serious that she wants to draw a turtle on his face!

Another venomous tongue arrived……..

“Younger Sister!  Is Miss Zhao the only choice that your elder brother has?  Why don’t you take a look at Miss Li of the Li Family, the youngest daughter of the Sun Family or the daughter of the Qian Family?  One must consider whether the girl has a lively temperament and not whether she is dignified or otherwise.  If it is just for gentleness and virtue, then I might as well look at a painting of beautiful women.”

At least they would not play dirty tricks behind one’s back by saying one thing but doing another thing…….being two-faced.

“Elder Brother!  Which sister are you calling?  There are two sisters in front of you, so if you don’t say which sister, we won’t know who you’re talking to.”

The playful one blinked and smiled mischievously.

The first younger sister is elegant and delicate and is wearing a light blue long skirt with a pattern of willows and a moon.  She has charming eyes that are slightly curved upwards and a lovely smile.

The second younger sister is pretty and likes to dress up in men’s clothes.  She is wearing a lotus-colored straight robe with a pattern of lotus twirling vines with a belt and a head scarf.  However, those big round smiling eyes betrayed her and at a glance, everyone knows she is a mischievous girl.  She has skin that is whiter than snow, a cherry-shaped mouth, and a voice that is soft and melodious.

One is going to be 17 while the other is 14 and both of them were born with bright eyes, white teeth, and beautiful features.

The two sisters are both beauties and the people who came to propose marriage are not only aristocrats and nobles but also heirs of high-ranking officials.  Their nonchalant mother had said………..both my daughters are very popular in the marriage market.

“Xiao Yue, can’t you tease your elder brother less?  Every time I call sister, can the two of you not know who I’m calling?”

They felt happy just to tease him.

“We don’t know, we’re very stupid.”  The little girl named Xiao Yue shook her head playfully.

“Yes, so stupid that there’s no cure.”  It’s better to poison her to death!

“You………”  He is indeed a fool!  In front of his extremely intelligent younger sister, he can only admit defeat and give in.

“Shuangming, Shuangzhen, Shuangyue!  Are your parents at home?  Uncle Chen is here to visit!”

After the shout rang out, a tall horse immediately stopped near them.  A middle-aged man with a face full of beard was sitting on the horse and following behind him were 24 imperial guards.

“Uncle Chen, why are you here again?  When my mother sees you, she will surely show you an ugly expression.”  Li Shuangming said helplessly.

Li Jing’er doesn’t like to have any dealings with imperial officials.  During the war that went on for two years, she gave birth to her child and when the child could finally speak, the father had yet to return home.  She almost took the child to the border to help the men fight the war.

After the war, the army returned to the imperial court to receive their rewards according to their meritorious services.  At that time, Xiao Jingfeng who became famous in the war was awarded the fourth-ranked title of General Zhongwu while Chen Dasheng was awarded the fourth-ranked title of General Mingwei.

However, Xiao Jingfeng ‘rejected the decree’ in Jinluan Hall and bargained with the Emperor.  He requested the reward be changed to a ‘substantive’ reward and said that he does not want to be a general and only wants to return home to farm the land.

The Emperor was so angry that he had to laugh.  In the end, the Emperor bestowed on him 4,000 taels of silver, 200 hectares of fertile land, and a mountain that was specifically chosen by his wife.

The Emperor’s grace was indeed mighty!

However, no one was aware that this thieving couple had conned the Emperor.  It turned out that hot springs were found on that particular mountain.  Li Jing’er made use of the reward given by the Emperor to build a 500-acre hot spring village resort and also hired people to clear away the mixed assortment of trees on the mountain. The whole mountain was then replanted with a vast variety of fruit trees.  A total of 500,000 trees were planted and the variety of fruits was more than a hundred.

In the first three years, no one knew about this small place.  Everyone said that Xiao Jingfeng was crazy to let go of the fourth-rank official position and return to farming.  The man’s prospect was only this mediocre.

They just came short of calling him a wife slave because the gold, silver, jewels, and land bestowed on him by the Emperor were all given away as dowry to his wife whom he married the second time.  He became penniless and except for the fourth child whose surname was Xiao, all the other children followed their mother and had the surname Li.

If he had not given up his official position at the beginning, he would already have the high position of a  first-ranked official today.  Even Chen Dasheng who only accompanied the Emperor to hunt all day long had been promoted to the position of Second-Ranked General.

Although it was initially a loss, in the end, it turned out to be a gain.

Many years later, ‘Spring Forest Retreat’ became the most prestigious forest garden in the dynasty.

The four seasons were each beautiful in their own right.  The people found the place captivating and almost everyone who had been there would linger, forget to go back, and not wish to leave.

Spring is the time to view flowers, summer is great for landscape painting, autumn is the fruit-picking season and winter is perfect for wine-tasting.

Each of the north, south, east, and west sector had a Four Seasons Hall.  Every year, only 12 slots were opened for reservation and each time it was only for a maximum of 15 days.

Any further requests would not be entertained once reservations were full and the rest of the people were directed to the foot of the mountain to sit on the steps to admire the view.

And one of the reservation slots would always be forcefully snatched by the Emperor using his powerful authority.  Every year he would come over to stay for a few days to soak in the hot springs, drink plum wine, watch the sea of clouds that changes with the seasons, and listen to the opera……..

That’s correct, the Emperor came to watch the opera.

“A Crooked Journey to the West’, ‘The Three Kingdoms’ Fight for Justice’, ‘A Dream of the Red Mansions’, ‘Jumping from the West Chamber’, ‘Anecdotes Between the White Snake and Fa Hai’, Snow White’s Modified Rendition.’……….

Li Jing’er changed the stories she knew according to her taste and added some evil zest to make the operas more interesting.  She did not care about the ending of the original versions so long as the Emperor likes them.

Who said that monks can’t return to the secular world?  Sun Wukong fought three times with the White Bone Spirit and grew to love her……..then the master and disciple fought fiercely over the woman until they were injured.  Madam White Snake loved Xiaoqing and not Xu Xian…….it turned out that Xiaoqing was a yin-yang snake.

(All the above stories are classics but LJ changed the storyline, the titles of the stories, and the endings to suit her taste.) 

She enjoyed watching the operas by herself but other people would be confused by them.  Then a fellow fan appeared and the aloof Emperor showed a liking for them as well.  Whenever the Emperor comes, he would insist on watching the operas but because he could not get enough of the operas, in the end, he took the whole troupe away when he left.

As a result, Li Jing’er was so angry that she only adapted one play a year.  When the Emperor chased her for more adaptions, he was told her inspiration had dried up and told him to observe three years of silence.

In the end, both husband and wife, Xiao Jingfeng and Li Jing’er became the Emperor’s commoner friends and it was the type of friend that could put on airs in front of him.  Every time the Emperor would be angered to death by these two infuriating tactless people.  However, if he did not visit them, he would feel uptight, so he would seek them out to be abused.

“Chen Dasheng, didn’t I say that I don’t want to see you for the rest of my life?  Why are you here again?”

With that beard of his, he looks like a bandit.  The more one looks at him, the more unpleasant it feels.

“I’m sending a message on behalf of the Emperor.  He will be coming o the 18th of next month, so make preparations and………..my dear brother and sister, the Emperor said he wants to watch the part of the opera where Ximen hung himself, so please make the arrangements.”

Aiya!  It’s really fragrant!  It’s the freshly brewed fruit wine that had just matured and is ready for tasting!

The huge varieties of wine that can be produced from tens of thousands of fruit trees!

Li Jing’er sells half of the fruit harvest for money and keeps the other half for making wine and there are a hundred types of fruit wines.

This was also one of the reasons why LI Jing’er hated Chen Dasheng.  He who had always drank strong alcohol fell in love with the fruit wine brewed in the manor.  In the beginning, he was polite and only requested one or two jars of wine but later he became more and more thick-skinned and carried the jars away on his own.

In the recent 2 to 3 years, he even used a cart to transport the jars and at least 200 jars of wine were secretly spirited off by him every year.   He even righteously and confidently said that since the wine was meant for drinking and if he did not drink them then should the wines be offered to his spirit at the altar?!

This man’s shamelessness has reached an unparalleled level in this world!

As for his younger sister’s two children, they were taken back by the Bai Family.  No matter how, the children still carried the surname Bai, so there was no reason for him to prevent the children from acknowledging their ancestors.

As for him, he only married again in his 30s and it was to a girl who was at the tender age of 16.  They have a one-year-old daughter and the relationship between husband and wife is neither good nor bad and is considered average.

“Why is he coming again?  This is the second time this year.”

Why can’t he allow others to live?  With one less reservation, she earns a lot less.  The Emperor’s favor is indeed mighty, so mighty that she could not help but proclaim poverty.

“It was because Princess An Le clamored to come for an experience.  The Emperor had a headache due to the fuss she made and nodded without realizing it.”

The Emperor was also very vexed but as an Emperor, he could not retract his words.

“Oh………Princess An Le!”

When LI Jing’er said ‘Oh’, she looked at a particular person.

Other than the Four Seasons Halls, there was also a guest house called Spring Autumn Lodge.  It was specially reserved for the long-term guest Divine Doctor Zhou Jingyu. When Li Jing’er gave birth to her seventh child, she had a difficult birth and Xiao Jingfeng dragged the doctor over to help.  After the mother and child were saved, he refused to leave and directly assumed the role of a resident doctor and used his consultation fees as payment for his lodging.

At the same time, Zhou Jingyu became Shuangzhen’s adoptive father as well as master.  She learned medicine and poison from him and both of them were very interested in the field of medicine.

However, it was not known whether the divine doctor was hiding a secret or what kind of rejuvenation pill he was refining.  Although he was already quite old, he could still maintain the looks of a young man less than 25 years of age.  His looks seduced some noble women and even caused great ripples in the hearts of little girls and stirred up their feelings of love.  All the women threw themselves at him and even threatened that other than him, they would never marry anyone else in this life.

The Emperor’s ninth younger sister, Princess An Le who is 17 years old this year is one of them.

“Jing Niang, don’t stare.  Be careful, he might poison you.”

The wife slave, Xiao Jingfeng who has been doting on his wife for more than 10 years wrapped his arms around his wife’s waist.

“Does he dare?  I’ll tell Shuangzhen to poison him with Dream of Seventeen.”

Let’s see who is ruthless!

“What is Dream of Seventeen?”  Chen Dasheng asked.

“Medicine.”  A medicine that could make one dream of the time when one was the age of 17, an age that is full of vitality.

“Pfft!”  A mouthful of wine spurted out.

“Xiao Erlang, control your wife.  She is getting more and more……out of hand.”

Zhou Jingyu’s face darkened and insinuated she was getting way too presumptuous.

Xiao Jingfeng looked at his wife affectionately.

“Isn’t this that makes people feel she is genuine?  She doesn’t value power or benefits and only focused on her husband and children.  Which one of you possesses her willingness to give alms to spread blessings widely with disregard to personal gains and losses?”

“……”  Silence.

Releasing one million stones* of white rice a year is a feat unmatched by anyone!

(A stone was equivalent to 59.2kg in the Song Dynasty.  At that time, a stone of rice cost 1000 yuan during peaceful times and the price rose to 2500-3000 yuan during the war.)

Li Jing’er did not do good deeds just for the sake of doing good but only wanted to feed the elderly and children because she did not want to see them go hungry.

At present, she owns 1,500 hectares of land and had successfully planted rice crops that yield twice a year.  She has not been short of food for many years.

“Mother!  I’m back!”

“Mother!  I’m hungry!”

“Mother!  Is dinner ready?!”

After Shuangming, Shuangzhen, and Shuangyue, she gave birth to three children named Sanlang, Silang, and Wulang with their ages ranging from 11, 9, and 6 years old.  In addition, she also had two more little ones too……named Qianjiao and Baimei.

(Sanlang, Silang, Wulang means Third Son, Fourth Son and Fifth Son.  Qianjiao and Baimei are daughters.)

Xiao Jingfeng and Li Jing’er gave birth to 5 more children and altogether there were 8 of them.

However, there was no Erlang in the family because the position of Erlang was solely reserved for Xiao Jingfeng.

And those top-notch family members in the Xiao Family were easy to get rid of.  Li Jing’er directly bought 200 acres of land in Wolong Village and threatened them.  If they stop coming to disturb Li Jing’er, the land would belong to them, otherwise, the land would be donated directly to the village to help the poor families.

For those 200 acres of land, the Xiao Family never showed up again.

Now as she looks at her hungry children, Li Jing’er’s heart is filled with happiness and contentment.

~~~ End ~~~