Chapter 183 Visiting Jin Gu

Chapter 183: Visiting Jin Gu

Qiu Se stayed at home. Meng Wan brought Xue Sheng, Huang Ye, and his godson Chu Ci. Chu Ci had grown rapidly in the past two years. Although he was only fourteen, from a distance he already looked like a young adult.

He and Xue Sheng sat on the driver's seat of the cart, sitting up ramrod straight and looking calm and composed. There was even a hint of Song Tingzhou in his demeanor.

Meng Wan pulled two packets of peanuts from the snack bag Chang Jinhua had packed for him and handed them to Chu Ci and Xue Sheng. "Xiao Ci, do you want to come inside and have a seat?"

Chu Ci took the peanuts and quickly gestured twice. "No, it's cooler out here."

"Alright." Meng Wan retreated back into the carriage and tied up the curtains on both sides. The ventilation kept it from getting stuffy, though it might even get cold at night.

Shakeng County wasn't far from Heshan County. They had set out before dawn at the hour of Yin (around 3–5 AM) and traveled for about fourteen hours, arriving at the hour of You (around 5–7 PM).

This was Meng Wan's first visit. Shakeng County, being a neighbor to Heshan, was no better than Heshan and certainly worse than the current Heshan.

The same worn city gates, the same old soldiers on guard, and the same empty, desolate streets.

Xue Sheng had been to Shakeng County before. The vast county had many empty lots, with only one inn near the southern city gate.

They planned to stay at the inn for the night, go shopping the next day to buy a few baskets of October oranges, and then head back to Heshan County the day after.

Meng Wan, in a show of wealth, booked four superior rooms. These so-called "superior" rooms were just four rooms with windows in a row of single-story houses.

The inn offered meals, but the selection was very simple. They just ordered a few bowls of noodles to fill their stomachs. By the time they finished dinner, it was completely dark. Xue Sheng drew water from the well in the courtyard, boiled it in the kitchen, and scrubbed the wooden tub clean before preparing bathwater for Meng Wan.

The bedding at the inn had a musty smell. Meng Wan spread it under him, took out the small blanket he kept in the carriage, and made do for the night.

The next morning, Huang Ye was the first to wake up. He went to the morning market and bought a piece of streaky pork belly with alternating lean and fat layers. After paying the vendor extra for firewood and seasonings, he started stewing the meat early, adding some wild mushrooms and bamboo shoots. The whole room filled with a rich aroma.

Meng Wan and Chu Ci were still asleep. The night before, Meng Wan had instructed Xue Sheng to take Huang Ye early in the morning to where the convicts labored. There was a village nearby where Huang Ye could stay overnight and spend more time with Jin Gu. Meng Wan would pick him up directly from the village when it was time to leave.

Huang Ye ladled the meat into a ceramic crock and carried a wooden bucket filled with steamed white rice—simple, just one dish and rice, but generous portions.

Without a word, Xue Sheng helped him carry the heaviest crock to the cart.

Huang Ye handed Xue Sheng an oil-paper bundle containing flatbread he had cooked against the side of the meat pot. This was a technique he had learned from Chang Jinhua. "Thanks, Xue Sheng!"

Xue Sheng took the oil-paper bundle, gave Huang Ye a hand onto the cart, then sat on the shaft and took a bite of the soft, fragrant flatbread. "You're welcome. Do you need to buy anything else?"

Huang Ye patted the cloth sack beside him. "I also bought five catties of flour and some cooked food this morning. Nothing else."

"Then sit tight. We're off." Xue Sheng lightly flicked the whip, and the cart moved through the desolate streets, leaving the city and heading toward the even sparser countryside roads.

Shakeng County got its name from a copper mine within its jurisdiction. Almost all convicts in West Wu Prefecture were sent to labor in the copper mines here. Men were assigned to heavy and dangerous tasks like mining and transporting ore, while women and xiaoge (young men) did lighter work like tending fires, cooking, and washing ore.

This was stipulated in Yu laws. But convicts had no basic human rights. Most of the time, there was no distinction between men and women; anyone who could work was forced to labor, and if they died, they were buried on the spot without informing their families.

With so many convicts in Shakeng County, women and xiaoge didn't have to go down the mines, but they still worked nonstop. Jin Gu was considered a connection; she had the lighter job of working in the kitchen. However, everyone shared the same accommodation and food—sleeping in grass sheds and drinking coarse porridge that barely filled the stomach.

Before arriving, Huang Ye first went to a nearby village and found an honest family to stay with. Only after the meal time passed, when Jin Gu wasn't busy, did he come to see her.

"Jin Gu, look, a xiaoge is coming over there. Could it be your Ye Ge'er?" said a woman working alongside Jin Gu.

"No, he was here last month. It hasn't been that long." Jin Gu was scrubbing bowls when she looked up and saw that it was indeed Huang Ye.

"Ye Ge'er!" She was overjoyed beyond words, but with guards watching in the distance, she didn't dare put down her work to greet him.

Huang Ye waved to her but didn't rush over. He carried a cloth bag in his left hand and a basket in his right. First, he took two oil-paper bundles out of the bag and handed them to the guard stationed outside.

The guard took the bundles and led Huang Ye inside. At the simple stove built under the grass shed, he called out, "Jin Gu, your xiaoge is here to see you. Keep it brief, don't stay too long." With that, he walked off with the oil-paper bundles to buy some wine.

"Yes, thank you, Officer." Jin Gu rinsed her hands with clean water and limped toward Huang Ye. "You were here not long ago. Why come again? Don't trouble others. Work hard at Meng Fulang's place."

Huang Ye stuffed the empty cloth bag into the basket. "Meng Fulang happened to have business in Shakeng County and thought he could bring me to see you, so he did."

He took things out of the basket. "Mom, have you eaten?" Even if she had, she probably hadn't had enough—two bowls of thin porridge a day, leaving her stomach growling even in sleep.

Jin Gu felt pained every time he came, not just for the food he brought but for the bribes he had to give the guards. "You bring so much every time, wasting money. Better save it to buy cloth and make clothes."

Huang Ye smiled happily. "Haven't I told you? Every holiday, the master gives everyone bonuses and fabric. I have so many clothes I can't wear them all. I even saved some fabric to make you a winter coat."

He set out the food from the basket on a large flat stone. The aroma of meat and the gleaming white rice drew the attention of many.

"Ah, Jin Gu is lucky. She has such a thoughtful xiaoge visiting her every month. She'll make it through," sighed a woman in her forties.

Others either sighed in shared sentiment or stared with green eyes, like hungry wolves eyeing the meat.

This was the usual scene every time Huang Ye came. He skillfully divided half the meat dishes and left only two bowls of rice for his mother, putting the rest in the kitchen.

"Mom, I've been relying on you uncles, aunties, brothers, and sisters here for the past two years. I can't bring much, but let everyone have a taste. Don't mind my crude cooking."

He spoke politely and pleasingly, but by then everyone was focused on the meat. Before he even finished, the meat and rice were gone.

Jin Gu didn't say much. She picked up chopsticks and wolfed down the food. She wasn't a glutton, but eating watery gruel day after day would break anyone.

Huang Ye sat beside her, looking at her dark, gaunt face. "Mom, it's only been half a year. Why did the guards change again?" The last time he came, it was a different person.

"They used to change shifts every year, but recently it changed to every half year. It's not that I don't want you to come, but you're an unmarried xiaoge. You should avoid this place." After eating a bowl of rice, Jin Gu felt full and slowed down her eating. She discreetly scanned the area; among the patrolling guards, two seemed to be glancing at Huang Ye.

A woman in her thirties, hearing their conversation, leaned in and whispered, "Listen to your mother. Stay away. Lately, young women and xiaoge have been disappearing from the mines. Who knows what's going on."

Having eaten Huang Ye's food a few times, she felt grateful and was willing to warn him.

Huang Ye shrank back, frightened. He hadn't experienced much. "Then, Mom, I'll stay in the village tonight and head back to the county town tomorrow to find Meng Fulang." He had hoped to spend another day with his mother, but now he had to leave early.

Jin Gu gently stroked his dry, yellowish hair—a mark of his harsh childhood that even the care at the Song household couldn't fully restore. "Good child. We have many days ahead. I'm not afraid of hardship. I can endure it, as long as you're fine."

Huang Ye's nose stung. "I understand, Mom."

Jin Gu quickly finished her food and, before the guards could chase them away, urged Huang Ye to leave.

The next morning, worried about yesterday's warning, Huang Ye found a family in the village that owned an oxcart. He paid a few copper coins to ride back to the county town to meet Meng Wan.

Halfway there, Huang Ye felt something was off. "Uncle Chen, this isn't the way to the county town, is it?"

Uncle Chen, driving the cart, replied with a simple smile, "Ah, this shortcut is faster. The road's just a bit rough."

Huang Ye clutched his bundle tightly. "Uncle, let's take the main road. I'm not in a hurry."

Uncle Chen didn't respond, just kept repeating, "This shortcut is faster. The shortcut is faster..."

Huang Ye sat upright, then suddenly leaped off the oxcart.

"Hey, what are you doing, xiaoge?" Uncle Chen seemed startled by his move and stopped the cart, about to come over.

Huang Ye twisted his ankle but endured the pain as he ran into the woods.

"Oh, who's this handsome xiaoge? Where are you going? Let your big brothers escort you." From within the woods, a group of rough, burly men emerged, all with a thuggish demeanor, clearly up to no good.

Huang Ye's heart raced as he mustered his courage and shouted, "Who are you? I am a servant of County Magistrate Song of Hexian County. If you dare touch me, my master, Lord Song, will not let you off!"

He thought he was shouting at the top of his lungs, but in the eyes of those thugs, his shout was no louder than a cat's meow.

"Lord Song? County Magistrate? Hahaha!" Those people showed no fear, but instead said arrogantly, "A servant of a mere county magistrate? We've dealt with countless young masters and misses from official families. Do you think we'd be afraid of a petty county magistrate?"

The leader, a man with a scar on his face, suddenly called out to a shorter, dark-skinned man behind him: "Old Hei, don't you have the daughter of the Assistant Prefect of Lin'an Prefecture under your control? What's her name?"

Old Hei grinned at Huang Ye with a creepy expression, as if sizing up livestock. "Boss, her name is Shen Qinghe. She also has a younger brother in my hands, called Shen Qingyu. Both are young master and miss of the Assistant Prefect's household."

He stressed the words "Assistant Prefect" heavily. Hearing this, Huang Ye's face went deathly pale. He didn't know what rank an Assistant Prefect was, but he knew Lin'an Prefecture—a prefectural city ten times more prosperous than their Xiwu Prefecture. The children of high officials there had fallen into these people's hands. What escape did he have?

—

Xue Sheng found two households near the county town to buy fruit. The October tangerines were perfectly ripe at this time, sweet and refreshing.

Meng Wan bought two waist-high bamboo baskets of them. He and Chu Ci sat in the cart, eating and stuffing themselves.

"This Shakeng County has nothing fun except October tangerines, not as good as our Hexian County. Boring. Tomorrow morning we'll go to the village early to pick up Huang Ye, and we'll try to get home before dark." Meng Wan picked a big tangerine and tossed it to Xue Sheng who was driving the cart ahead.

Xue Sheng caught the tangerine. "Yes, Master."

They rested another night. Meng Wan still had snacks in his little cloth bag. In the morning, Xue Sheng got up first and cooked a pot of porridge. The three each had a bowl to hold them over, then left the city just as the city gates opened.

Meng Wan was a heavy sleeper, and Chu Ci, still growing, was even sleepier. The two dozed off in the cart again but were awakened by violent jolts, their bodies pressed against the cart walls.

"What's going on?" Meng Wan nearly hit his head, but Chu Ci cushioned him with his arm.

Xue Sheng said from outside, "Master, are you and Xiao Ci okay? There's an old uncle with a twisted ankle by the roadside asking for help. I didn't see him in time and nearly hit him."

"Old uncle? Asking for help?" Meng Wan pressed Chu Ci's arm to check if he was okay, then cautiously lifted the carriage window curtain to look outside.

As Xue Sheng had said, there was indeed an old uncle sitting by the roadside holding his foot. The grass on both sides of the country road was deep, the sky was not yet fully bright, and a thin layer of mist hung in the air. Xue Sheng, caught off guard, had nearly run over the man and thus swerved into the grass.

Meng Wan called out to him through the window, "Uncle, where do you live?"

The old uncle raised his head tremblingly. "I live in the village ahead. It's less than a quarter of an hour's carriage ride."

Meng Wan said, surprised, "Oh, what a coincidence! We're headed to that village."

A sincere smile spread across the old uncle's face. "Great! My foot is injured and I can't move. Could you ask the driver to help me..."

"Of course, uncle, wait a moment." Meng Wan agreed readily, quickly gave a few instructions to Xue Sheng, and sure enough, Xue Sheng got off to help the man.

"Thank you, young man! You and your master are so kind... Hey, hey? Where are you putting me?" Before the old uncle could finish his thanks, his body was suddenly lifted off the ground and Xue Sheng directly carried him to a pile of grass nearby.

Without a word, Xue Sheng moved him aside, then nimbly climbed back onto the carriage and drove off.

Meng Wan was still leaning on the window with a smiling expression. "Uncle, your twisted foot makes it hard to walk. We'll go into the village to have your family come get you. The road's dangerous, so just wait here and don't worry!"