Zhao Hu saw Zhao Hanzhang and couldn’t help but sit up properly. “Isn’t Xiping County busy? Why have you returned?”
Zhao Hanzhang made Zhao Erlang kneel down. “I brought Erlang back to pay respects to Seventh Great Uncle.”
Zhao Erlang had already knelt before several people today and was quite practiced at it. After kneeling down, he knocked his head against the ground repeatedly.
Zhao Hu silently accepted this. He fumbled around on his person and pulled out a jade pendant to hand to Zhao Erlang. “Go play.”
He looked toward Zhao Hanzhang with interest and said, “I still have another jade pendant. Would my grand-niece also like to kowtow for one?”
Zhao Hanzhang, who was about to sit down, immediately stopped when she heard this. She thought seriously for a moment, then very decisively lifted her robe and knelt down.
Zhao Hu hadn’t expected her to be so straightforward. Frightened, he scrambled up from his mat and stepped back two paces in his bare feet, flustered. “You, you, you…”
Zhao Hanzhang raised her head to look at him and smiled gently. “Seventh Great Uncle, I am no gentleman. Jade is useless to me. Please give me something else instead.”
Zhao Hu greatly regretted his momentary boastfulness. Hiding to one side, he asked, “You… what do you want?”
“I’m a vulgar person who only likes things like fields and land.”
Zhao Hu hadn’t expected her ambition to be so great—kneeling once and already wanting to seize his family property. Annoyed and angry, he timidly stepped forward a pace, pointing at her. “You… don’t even think about it. I won’t give it to you!”
“Seventh Great Uncle hasn’t even heard which land I want yet. How can you already refuse?” Zhao Hanzhang said. “It’s not particularly good land—its value is far less than a fine jade pendant.”
Zhao Hu then asked, “Which piece of land do you want?”
Zhao Hanzhang, still kneeling on the ground, said, “Just that piece in the western suburbs near the mountains. You see, our family’s fortress is in the southern suburbs, with most of our land in that area and the eastern suburbs. That piece you have in the western suburbs hasn’t been cultivated much—leaving it there is just letting it go to waste. Why not give it to Sanniang?”
Zhao Hu struggled hard to remember. After thinking for a long while without recalling it, he turned to ask the steward, “Does our family have land in the western suburbs?”
The steward thought for a moment before replying, “Yes, we do. Several years ago when Runan had a disaster, many people fled. The county office couldn’t collect taxes and couldn’t make ends meet. Magistrate Fan summoned everyone to buy land. You were generous, Master—you took a fancy at first glance to that piece with a small river running through it, so you bought over a hundred acres there. However…”
The steward smiled ingratiatingly. “However, the household is short on manpower, and that place is quite far away. We couldn’t cultivate that far, so we recruited a few tenant households at lower rates. What they couldn’t finish cultivating has just been left abandoned.”
Hearing it wasn’t particularly good land, Zhao Hu breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing that Zhao Hanzhang was still kneeling, he sat down with restraint, arranged his robe, and said, “It’s just over a hundred acres of land—I’ll give it to you. But you need to tell me straight: what do you want that piece of land for?”
Zhao Hu continued, “Don’t try to fool me. If you say it’s for farming, I won’t believe it. You have so much land in your hands already—how could you lack land to farm?”
Zhao Hanzhang said, “I’ll use it for grazing.”
She explained, “As you know, I’m currently maintaining so many military retainers, and they consume large amounts of horses, cattle, sheep, and so on. Raising our own is cheaper.”
Zhao Hu assumed she was grazing animals for meat and curled his lip disdainfully. “You’re also too petty. Just for a few pieces of meat on the dinner table, you actually knelt down to me.”
Zhao Hanzhang just smiled at him, then kowtowed once. “Thank you for Seventh Great Uncle’s generous gift.”
Zhao Hu was so startled he shrank back, then puffed up again and waved his hand. “Get up, get up.”
He then had the steward find the land deed for that property. It was just over a hundred acres of barely cultivated land, wasn’t it?
He had plenty of that!
Zhao Hu told himself not to feel the loss, but when he turned away, his expression showed some bitterness.
Zhao Hanzhang tucked the deed into her bosom, smiling as she said to Zhao Hu, “Seventh Great Uncle, when I get my pasture set up next year, I’ll invite you to eat mutton.”
After Zhao Hanzhang left, the steward couldn’t help but say, “Master, since you fear her, why did you humiliate her?”
Zhao Hu stretched his neck stubbornly. “Who says I fear her? I’m her elder. What’s wrong with her kowtowing to me? Am I not worthy of receiving it?”
The steward muttered quietly, “Even so, you shouldn’t have said such things. If word gets out, how bad will it be for Sanniang’s reputation…”
Ting He was also somewhat angry, jogging to catch up with Zhao Hanzhang. “My lady, Seventh Grand Master was too much of a bully.”
Zhao Hanzhang glanced at her. “Where was the bullying?”
“He made you kneel down.”
Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand dismissively. “He’s an elder and I’m a junior. What does kneeling once matter? During festivals when it’s time to receive reward money, don’t we have to kneel as well?”
“How is that the same? Just now he said those things, clearly humiliating you,” Ting He said. “My lady is now the lord of Xiping County. If such matters spread, what if others misunderstand that my lady is groveling for favors, weak and easily bullied?”
Zhao Hanzhang stopped and tapped her nose with a smile. “If people really think that way, I’d be even happier. Let’s go—today’s objective has been achieved. Let’s go look at our newly acquired land.”
It wasn’t that she lacked money to buy it. Small households’ land was easy to purchase, but land from great families—especially large connected tracts like this—who would sell unless desperately short of funds?
“Have Erlang play in the fortress. Tell him to return to the city before dark. We’re leaving first.”
By the time Zhao Ming learned that Zhao Hanzhang had come to the fortress, she had already disappeared without a trace.
The young man Zhao Le, who came to report, said, “Uncle Ming, Seventh Great Uncle made Sanniang kneel and kowtow right in front of the servants. Do you think she’ll hold a grudge?”
Zhao Ming continued reading the scroll in his hands without looking up. “What’s there to resent? Haven’t you all kowtowed plenty of times?”
The young man said, “But at that time, Seventh Great Uncle also said Sanniang was kneeling and kowtowing for a few pieces of meat. Such humiliation…”
Zhao Ming raised his eyelids to look at him, saying flatly, “Whatever gift an elder bestows, regardless of its value, a junior must accept it. What—if someone rewards you with a few pieces of meat, you’ll refuse it as too base?”
The young man: “…I wouldn’t dare.”
Zhao Ming snorted coldly and rebuked him, “Good that you wouldn’t dare. Never mind a few pieces of meat—even if you’re given a cup of cold water, as long as it’s from an elder, you must receive it with both hands. You’ve read so many books of the sages, yet you’re not even as good as your third younger sister. Now get out.”
The young man bowed and withdrew.
Zhao Song, however, had a different view from his son. When he learned of this matter, he went angrily to scold Zhao Hu. “It’s just over a hundred acres of land. What are you showing off for? If you didn’t want to give it, you could have asked her for money instead. Tormenting a child like that—aren’t you ashamed?”
Zhao Hu sat to one side without making a sound.
Zhao Song continued, “You’re just angry about the glass matter, aren’t you? Zinian also had a share in that. Why don’t you go humiliate him? You’re just bullying the weak and fearing the strong.”
Zhao Hu: “…Fifth Brother, that’s your son.”
Zhao Song waved his hand grandly. “I don’t mind. Go ahead.”
Zhao Hu had no words in response.
Only after finishing his scolding did Zhao Song ask, “What does Sanniang want that land for? Does she lack land?”
Zhao Hu curled his lip. “Big Brother left her so many fields—how could she be short of land? And Eighth Brother also exchanged so much for her. She says it’s for grazing, but most likely she just doesn’t want to use her own good land.”
Zhao Song frowned. “Why use good land for grazing? We’re not barbarians. Having tenant farmers and laborers raise some animals is enough—why would she specifically establish a pasture?”
—