After the light rain, the air was filled with the fresh fragrance of earth. The apricot blossoms had finished blooming, and the peach blossoms were just beginning to open. Yun Ye wore a straw rain cape and held a hoe, looking at the fields in the thin mist. His heart was full of joy. The wheat seedlings had just sprouted new shoots—tender and yellow, swaying in the breeze. The endless wheat fields spread from before his eyes all the way to the limits of his vision.
Like Yun Ye, there were many farmers wearing straw capes clearing weeds. Hoes jumped rapidly between the ridges. This was the first weeding of spring. Yun Ye’s weeding movements were already very skilled. Even walking backward, he wouldn’t trample the wheat seedlings. Truth be told, this was a skill of old farmers. Only those good-for-nothing idlers who didn’t farm properly would clumsily hoe forward. The soil just loosened by hoeing would be trampled solid again by their big feet.
As a landlord, Yun Ye didn’t allow himself to be unfamiliar with farming. He believed this was a kind of betrayal. The Yun Family had made their fortune with potatoes. Leaving the land to do business? That was an extremely uninteresting matter.
A strong man always picking on little kids to beat them up—once or twice was fine, but over time, not only would others despise him, he himself would find it boring. Now the Yun Family’s means of acquiring wealth was very simple—obtaining rental income.
The Yun Family estate was now very large, its scale even exceeding that of the county seat. The county magistrate had already submitted a report requesting to move the county office to the Yun Family estate, because most of Lantian County’s economic and cultural activities were near Yushan. Managing things nearby was still more convenient. Others said the Yun Family already showed signs of decline. Only Lantian County’s officials believed this was pure nonsense.
Rumors from Chang’an city would immediately be smashed to pieces upon arriving here. “I’m not your father—why should I teach you to be clever?” This saying had a huge market among the farmers of Yushan and even Lantian County. Whether the Marquis was a scoundrel or not, people here had different views. The most prosperous place in the Great Tang—having some differences was appropriate.
Whenever relatives from their Chang’an city family sympathetically mentioned how they could possibly live under Yun Ye’s hand, the farmers would listen with smiles. If they were ordinary relatives, they would nod and echo a few sentences, complaining about the Yun Family’s bad reputation. If their own nephews said such things, the old farmers would roll up their sleeves and deliver a slap across the face. After hitting them, they would say: “You’re my family’s nephew. Doing this is teaching you to be clever. Don’t learn from those fools outside babbling nonsense. Did the Marquis steal your wife or take your family’s silver?”
Farmers most valued personal experience and practical examples. Once they believed something, they wouldn’t change their views after hearing a few groundless words—that wasn’t the way of farming folk. They only knew that their copper coins increased every year, the grain storehouse was always full, their children were as sturdy as calves, and the Marquis had no habit of snatching people’s daughters. This was a good master family specially given by heaven. Being tenant farmers, they lived even more prosperously than independent farmers—this was simply enjoying such blessings that it was sinful.
Yun Ye’s hoeing speed still couldn’t match the old farmers. At such times, farmers who had finished hoeing their own land would come over to help the Marquis finish that plot. Then a group of people would sit at the field’s edge with hoe handles placed horizontally under their bottoms, legs crossed, predicting this year’s harvest. The Marquis’s pastries and the farmers’ flatbread and eggs would be piled together for everyone to eat freely. Yun Ye would occasionally tell some frontier jokes, causing everyone to roar with laughter.
“Marquis, don’t mind this old man speaking bluntly. Now that you’ve handed over all your duties, this is a great thing! Fighting at the frontier sounds glorious, but after all, you have to abandon home and family to risk your life for it. Since the nation doesn’t need the Marquis to fight wars now, the Marquis should stay home and properly enjoy a few days of peaceful blessings.”
“This old man has been on the estate for many years. Every time you went to battle, this old man’s heart was in his throat. This old man served in the army back in the day. Many people on the estate have served in the army. We know what it’s like in battle formations. In critical moments, if a great general’s life needs to be thrown in, then it’s thrown in. Look—every time you went to battle, our estate always had funeral rites to perform. Although everyone had military merit, people were still gone.”
“Our family now has all the merit it should have. Trading lives for more isn’t worth it. The estate is also prosperous—we don’t lack those two coins of reward from the authorities. Moreover, the big portion of the reward money still came from you, Marquis.”
“Fighting the enemy with swords, spears, and arrows, yet in Chang’an now you get such a reputation? Are the eyes of those dog officials in the court all blind? Stubbornly putting a shit pot on the Marquis’s head?”
“We won’t go out anymore. Whoever wants to fight wars can go. We’ll close up our estate and live our own lives, no longer getting in anyone’s way. Marquis, you’ve been busy all these years—you should also rest.”
These words made Yun Ye’s eyes turn red. He patted the old farmer’s arm and said: “Uncle De’s words make sense. Our family has indeed gotten in people’s way. Hahaha! I’ll listen to everyone. We’ll hide on the estate and not go out. If we feel bored, we’ll go far away to visit friends and see mountains and waters. Not attracting people’s hatred means we won’t have all these messy matters.”
Seeing the Marquis cheer up, the surrounding people also spoke with beaming smiles about happy events on the estate. The court was too far from the farmers. Besides, saying too much wasn’t good either.
“Marquis, the young men on our estate who want to marry wives—it’s too difficult! That damned Liu Shuan, guarding four daughters, considers it a great fortune. Just because his daughter Xiao Xi served Old Madam, he dares to ask this old man for two cartloads of betrothal gifts. Listen to that—two cartloads!”
“My boy is also considered one of the top strapping young fellows on the estate. These past few years, following the family’s steward traveling south and north to gain experience, he’s now already a chief clerk, earning plenty of money and grain. But even so, he can’t withstand Liu Shuan’s extortion like this.”
“I’ve seen Xiao Xi—a good woman. Grandmother praised her plenty. She’s beautiful to look at, and what’s rare is she also has a pair of skillful hands. Among the New Year gifts Madam sent to the palace, there were her embroidery works. Those were for the Empress to use! Uncle San Zi, you’re getting a huge bargain. In my opinion, even two cartloads of betrothal gifts is light. Hurry up and arrange to get the matter done. If another family gets ahead of you, you can go cry!”
Knowing the old man was showing off, Yun Ye played along. The old man scratched the back of his head and said heroically: “Good! I’ll listen to the Marquis. Even if I have to smash pots and sell iron, I’ll gather two cartloads of betrothal gifts for Liu Shuan.”
Joking and laughing with the old farmers, it was time for the evening meal. Seeing cooking smoke rising everywhere on the estate, the group shouldered their hoes and carried their own baskets home.
The baskets were all full of freshly dug wild vegetables. Knowing the Marquis liked this, and seeing that the Marquis’s basket didn’t have much, they all poured what they’d dug into Yun Ye’s basket. This couldn’t be declined. Declining would actually seem fake. Tomorrow during farming, bringing an extra jug of wine to express thanks would be fine.
Wang Cai wasn’t allowed in the farmland, so he obediently guarded at the memorial archway entrance. Seeing Yun Ye approaching from afar, he called out and ran over. Wang Cai was now in his prime—tall-legged and most majestic.
His mouth was just increasingly picky. Fed a wild vegetable, he would turn it around in his mouth and spit it out. He didn’t like eating wild vegetables now because they always had a bitter, astringent taste that didn’t suit his palate.
The Yun Family seemed to have guests today. A carriage with a black canopy was stopped in front of the gate—couldn’t tell whose family it was. The carriage also had some years on it. The willow wood of the cart shaft had cracked. The horse pulling the cart wasn’t majestic either. At least Wang Cai ran over to warn it, snorting loudly in its face and spraying a mouthful of saliva on it.
After confirming his dominant position, Wang Cai returned to Yun Ye’s side, showing off by rubbing his big head against Yun Ye’s neck. He had to be pushed away. This bastard had learned a whole set of bad habits now. Recently, he’d learned to wipe his mouth after spitting saliva. The most convenient method was to rub on acquaintances. The groom had almost become a full-time cleaning rag.
Not an important guest. If important, Liu Jinbao crouching on high ground would have come to report, and Xinyue would also have sent the steward over to attend to things. Looking at the water droplets on the draft horse, they’d probably been here for quite a while.
The visitor was a court gentleman from Chang’an’s Commerce Regulation Bureau, specifically managing Chang’an’s commodity transactions. Previously, such low-level officials would automatically avoid coming, not entering the Yun residence gate. Now he sat in the guest hall sipping the Yun Family’s tea, neither hurried nor slow, treating the Yun residence steward with indifference, constantly urging and asking when Marquis Yun would return.
Yun Ye, wearing his straw cape and carrying his bamboo basket, walked directly into the great hall. For such a person, he had no need to change clothes to show solemnity. Entering the hall, he handed the bamboo basket to Old Zhao, instructing the cook to blanch it in boiling water and mix it with lots of vinegar and garlic to have with wine tonight.
After Old Zhao helped him remove the straw cape, as if only just discovering there was someone in the hall, he ignored the man’s bowing and saluting, directly asking: “Who are you? What business brings you to the residence?” After speaking, he even glared fiercely at Old Zhao, reproaching him for bringing someone of no consequence to the guest hall.
“Marquis, this is a court gentleman from Chang’an’s Commerce Regulation Bureau. This time he came specifically to ask why, when previously goods from our estate entering Chang’an all had certain quantities, there would be so much less this month.”
“This is your duty. Why are you reporting it to me? If I have to do everything in the household, are we keeping you all to eat idle rice? You’re all old people of the household—how can you still not let people rest easy?”
Old Zhao lowered his head to receive the instruction. That court gentleman looked embarrassed. Yun Ye took a towel and wiped his face, then directly entered the back hall. Who had time to waste words with him? He Shao was organizing large quantities of goods to send to other regions. He heard that no matter how much was organized, it couldn’t fill the enormous appetite of the outside markets. Many merchant caravans, eyes red, scrambled for goods. The Yun Family estate’s inn was filled with out-of-town merchants waiting to get goods. This month, apart from green vegetables being organized by the county office for farmers to sell in the city a few times, other goods hadn’t even entered the city gates. The Commerce Regulation Bureau hadn’t collected more than a few copper coins in taxes.
Spring’s dandelions, bitter vegetables, and other wild greens mixed into cold dishes were delicious. When he returned home, Xinyue and the others had already eaten. Yun Ye’s evening meal was just a large bowl of whistle noodles and a plate of wild vegetables.
Na Rimu also held chopsticks beside him to eat along. The result was that the prepared wild vegetables—Yun Ye didn’t eat more than a few bites. Most of it went into Na Rimu’s belly. The greedy woman even drank the vinegar soup clean.