“Judging by the old gentleman’s expression, this wine seems to be brewed somewhat reluctantly. Could it be this wine isn’t for your own family?”
The ward chief sighed. “It’s for our magistrate.”
Zhao Hanzhang grew interested and squatted down by the stove with him, asking, “Does Magistrate Hu love wine?”
The ward chief said, “Oh, extremely so. Knowing my family has this brewing skill, he often comes to my house to get wine.”
Zhao Hanzhang instigated, “What if you don’t give it to him?”
The ward chief smiled bitterly. “If I don’t, not only will I lose my position as ward chief, but the people in the village will suffer along with me.”
Zhao Hanzhang narrowed her eyes. “Is this Magistrate Hu of ours so domineering?”
The ward chief smiled bitterly.
Zhao Hanzhang asked, “You brew wine for him—does he pay for it?”
“Forget payment—it would be good enough if he gave me some grain for brewing.” The ward chief complained, “When I first brewed wine for him, he did send grain. But after doing this twice, each time he only sent a servant to fetch wine, with no grain to be seen.”
Zhao Hanzhang frowned. “Didn’t the old gentleman decline?”
The ward chief said bitterly, “Of course I declined—I even declined to his face. But he said nothing at the time. That same year, though, he increased our village’s corvée labor. The next year when collecting summer taxes, the yamen runners were especially harsh. When collecting grain tax, the measuring bucket had to be heaped three-tenths higher to count.”
Tears fell from the ward chief’s eyes. “Because of me, I caused everyone to suffer together. My heart was truly uneasy. Since then, my family hasn’t dared refuse to brew wine for him.”
Zhao Hanzhang’s smile slowly faded. If at first she had been listening with skepticism, by now she believed the old man considerably.
She carefully observed the ward chief’s expression, then asked, “Old gentleman, you trust me so much—aren’t you afraid I’m someone from Magistrate Hu’s side, or that I’ll report you for profit?”
The ward chief looked at her with clear eyes and smiled gently. “The lady clearly has a kind and upright character. Moreover, anyone who can command over twenty servants naturally wouldn’t be someone Magistrate Hu could order around.”
Zhao Hanzhang raised an eyebrow. “Then why does the ward chief tell me about this Magistrate Hu’s conduct?”
The ward chief said calmly, “Our magistrate loves elegance and is keen on making a name for himself. When he does good deeds, he proclaims them openly. Naturally, when he does bad deeds, they shouldn’t be hidden either.”
“Ha ha ha…” Zhao Hanzhang laughed until tears came. She slapped her thigh and laughed heartily. “The ward chief is right. Good deeds should be proclaimed to educate the people, and bad deeds should naturally also be proclaimed so he can reap what he sows.”
Zhao Hanzhang stood up. “I’ve taken this story to heart. It’s a very good story. I’ll help you spread it.”
The ward chief’s nose stung as he rose to bow to Zhao Hanzhang.
But Zhao Hanzhang stopped him. “Old gentleman, no need to be polite. I have one more matter to ask your help with.”
Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze fell on the wine barrel. “I’d like to buy a jar of wine from you.”
The ward chief’s smile fell away, the warmth completely vanishing. He said coldly, “Not for sale!”
In the end, Zhao Hanzhang paid a high price to buy a jar of wine. The ward chief had firmly refused to sell it to her. Unfortunately, her offer was simply too generous.
With this money, he could buy quite a lot of grain—at least enough to offset this brewing session.
Each brewing session could yield about ten jars. The ward chief gave Magistrate Hu three jars each time. The brothers had already divided the household, so brewing once could supply him three times. The remaining jar would either be sold to recoup some grain, or consumed at home.
The ward chief had never sold wine at such a high price before, but he wasn’t particularly happy.
Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan were clearly people of noble status. Seeing them inquiring about agricultural matters in the fields, he had thought they were different.
That’s why he spoke so extensively about Magistrate Hu’s misdeeds, hoping these people of noble status might take pity on them and perhaps even replace their magistrate if possible.
He hadn’t expected the other party to be just like Magistrate Hu—someone who loved cups and wine.
The ward chief stood at the village entrance watching them leave in the distance, shook his head, and turned to go home. His young grandson supported him, asking, “Grandfather, will they report us to Magistrate Hu?”
“Although they’re not the good people I initially thought, they probably aren’t tattletales either.” The ward chief sighed deeply. “Besides, things are already like this. If I can’t continue as ward chief, then I won’t. Continuing like this, the village won’t have many people left anyway, and our family can always move somewhere else to make a living.”
But if possible, who would want to leave their homeland?
What the ward chief never imagined was that before long, news would spread from the county seat that their county was getting a new magistrate.
Zhao Hanzhang traveled incognito all the way toward the county seat. By the time she reached Biyang County seat, she had a general understanding of Biyang County’s situation and, of course, of this Magistrate Hu.
Zhao Hanzhang led her people straight to the county yamen.
When she arrived at the yamen, it was precisely noon—office hours—but the county yamen was very quiet, with hardly anyone inside or out.
Two yamen runners guarding the main gate were leaning against it, drowsing. Hearing the sound of horse hooves, they lifted their eyelids to look.
Seeing so many horses and people suddenly appearing at the yamen gate, they came alert with a start.
They didn’t recognize Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan, but they could sense the noble air about Zhao Hanzhang and her party, especially when their faces were solemn.
The two yamen runners exchanged glances, immediately rushed down the steps, and came forward to bow. “What business brings the noble visitors here?”
Zhao Hanzhang sat on her horse, looking down at them from her high position, and asked sternly, “Where is your magistrate? Have him come out to see me.”
The two yamen runners swallowed nervously and said carefully, “Our, our magistrate isn’t here. May we know how to address the noble visitor?”
“Not here at this hour—then where is he?”
Magistrate Hu was currently at a villa not far from here, drinking and making merry. Zhao Hanzhang led her people barging in. When she walked all the way to the back garden of the villa, he was reclining bare-chested on a wooden couch. Two middle-aged men similarly bare-chested were beside him, with many ice basins placed around them.
Zhao Hanzhang had just come striding from the sunlight. As soon as she entered the pavilion, she felt the chill. One could see how cold it was here, yet the three men had flushed cheeks and perspiration on their foreheads.
Seeing Zhao Hanzhang, the three were startled but only pulled their robes together slightly, not considering it improper.
Magistrate Hu even happily greeted Zhao Hanzhang. “I didn’t expect Commandery Administrator Zhao to arrive so quickly. Hu and Biyang County are truly fortunate. How many counties has the Commandery Administrator visited?”
Zhao Hanzhang grew even more composed, her lips curving slightly upward, though her eyes showed not a trace of amusement. She walked to the wooden couch and used her long sword to prod the bottles and jars on the table. “Biyang is the second county.”
Magistrate Hu had just taken medicine and was currently dispersing its effects. His senses weren’t very sharp, so he completely failed to detect Zhao Hanzhang’s anger. He still laughed heartily. “The Commandery Administrator’s pace is somewhat slow. You’ve been away from Xiping for so long and have only visited two counties.”
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