Chapter 188 Crispy Sweet Lotus Root

Chapter 188: Crisp and Sweet Jade Lotus Root

On the second day after returning to Heshan County, Song Tingzhou interrogated Chen Chong and the others. To prevent them from colluding with each other in their testimonies, he questioned them one by one. However, among this group, the underlings, like San Jing, couldn't provide any useful information, while the two leaders, Chen Chong and Brother Hei, remained stubborn and refused to reveal any useful details. They were confident that someone would come to bail them out.

Sure enough, after Song Tingzhou's first public hearing announced the charges, the memorial he sent up was held back. Song Tingzhou and Meng Wan knew this all too well. Meng Wan fumed at home, "Even a poor place like Lingnan has this much shady business."

Song Tingzhou held a fresh invitation in his hands and sighed softly, "Prefect Liu sent the invitation himself. It seems the person behind this is no small fry."

Meng Wan couldn't help but worry, "Could the one behind it be Prefect Liu himself?"

Song Tingzhou got up from behind his desk and led him toward the bedroom, "Most likely not. Prefect Liu is my direct superior; if it were really him, he wouldn't go to all this trouble."

Meng Wan took off his fur coat and hung it on the rack, "So that means the person is probably of lower rank than the prefect, but still connected to him?"

Song Tingzhou drew him onto the bed, "I have a pretty good idea who it might be. It all depends on what Prefect Liu has to say when I go to the prefecture capital for the appointment."

Meng Wan gently stroked his sharp, cold cheek, "Since Brother Ge is home right now, let him accompany you to the prefecture capital. That way, you won't fall into anyone's trap." Logically, Prefect Liu, as the head of the prefecture and without deep roots, shouldn't dare act rashly, but it's better to be cautious.

Song Tingzhou caught his finger, brought it to his lips, and bit down gently, causing a slight sting.

"What are you doing?" Meng Wan asked, puzzled.

Song Tingzhou buried his face in the crook of Meng Wan's neck and said in a muffled voice, "You're friends with Fang Jinrong, so you should call Ge Quan 'brother-in-law' just as Fang Jinrong does."

Meng Wan: "???"

What kind of nonsense is that? It's not like he doesn't know Ge Quan. Calling him 'brother-in-law' would feel weird, okay?

"Ow, easy." While he was distracted, another gentle bite landed on his fair neck.

Alright, was this jealousy?

Meng Wan found it amusing. This was clearly manufactured jealousy with no basis. He might as well coax him.

"Zhou Lang?" He draped his arms lazily over Song Tingzhou, lifted himself up to kiss the corner of his mouth, his tone sweet and sticky, "Go blow out the lamp first."

Song Tingzhou was unusually defiant today. He pulled Meng Wan closer, lifting him slightly, and pressed his lips down fiercely, forcefully compelling Meng Wan to respond. They kissed until both were breathing heavily before he pulled back slightly, his voice hoarse and resolute, "No."

Meng Wan gave in helplessly. The flame in the oil lamp flickered without wind, now bright, now dim, now fast, now slow, until it finally burned out late into the night.

The next morning, Meng Wan, in a daze, felt the warmth beside him fade away. Without opening his eyes, he mumbled, "Remember to call Ge... brother-in-law, and take Xiao Ci along to see the world."

Warm lips pressed against his forehead, and Song Tingzhou's gentle voice sounded in his ear, "I know. Get some good sleep. I'll be back in a few days."

After he left, Meng Wan couldn't fall back into deep sleep. He tossed and turned for a while before getting up to wash. In the yard, the snow wolf was playing with A Yan, while Fang Jinrong carried Tong'er for a walk nearby. When he saw Meng Wan, he said enviously, "When will Tong'er be able to run and jump?"

At the beginning of October, A Yan had celebrated his second birthday, and at the end of the month was Tong'er's first birthday, which was celebrated modestly at the Song household. Tong'er was now one year old, but his legs just wouldn't touch the ground. At A Yan's age, he could already take his own bowl to the kitchen door to wait for Chang Jinhua, but Tong'er still needed to be carried everywhere.

"I think Tong'er just misses you too much and is deliberately being difficult so you'll hold him more," Meng Wan teased.

Unexpectedly, Fang Jinrong took it seriously. He lifted his son and carefully examined his cute eyebrows and eyes, straining to see a hint of nonexistent slyness in Tong'er's pure, innocent eyes.

"Ge Chengtong, are you pretending you can't walk just to mess with me?"

So when Chang Jinhua came out, she saw Meng Wan and Fang Jinrong taking turns supporting Tong'er as he tried to walk, a tearful look in the little child's eyes.

"What are you two doing!" Chang Jinhua rushed over and scooped Tong'er into her arms. She had spent even more time watching him than his own fathers; he was practically raised by her.

"Wan Geer, don't join Rong Geer in his nonsense," Chang Jinhua scolded her own son first.

Meng Wan gave an awkward smile, "Mother, we were just testing if Tong'er could walk. I have something to do at the county office, so I won't be back for lunch. Don't wait for me."

With that, he slipped away, eager to escape Chang Jinhua's scolding and avoid being held up by A Yan.

His stomach was empty since he hadn't eaten breakfast. Meng Wan planned to stop by the back street and buy two red bean glutinous rice cakes to tide him over. The old man selling the cakes recognized Meng Wan and offered them for free ingratiatingly. Meng Wan pretended not to hear, tossed a few copper coins into the bamboo basket, and left.

As he passed by the Wei family in the back courtyard, he heard a commotion inside, though he couldn't tell what it was about. Previously, their household had held a wedding celebration. To appease the Wei family elders, Zhenniang had reluctantly taken a concubine for her husband, but it seemed life had only become more chaotic.

Meng Wan shook his head. Women and young men had low status; many things were beyond their control. Those in power considered the people's welfare and worried about the common folk, yet they still treated vulnerable groups as appendages. This couldn't change overnight, and Meng Wan could only do his small part to alter the current situation bit by bit.

Just as this thought crossed his mind, the Wei family's door flew open, and a bundle and a man were thrown out.

A man? Wasn't that Zhenniang's husband? How had he been kicked out?

A woman in peach-red clothes stood with her hands on her hips, cursing the expelled man loudly: "Let me tell you, ever since I entered your Wei family's door, every meal has been boiled cabbage until my face turned green. You useless waste, with good hands and feet rotting away at home—what's the difference between you and a mangy stray dog? Get out and beg! Don't come back if you don't earn any money!"

The man clutched his bundle, his face ashen. But the two women running the household—his mother was busy comforting the peach-red clad woman, afraid she'd harm the baby she was carrying, while Zhenniang herself was also soothing the woman.

"Little sister, don't be angry. If you want meat, I'll buy some tonight. You're pregnant; don't let your anger harm your health."

The woman waved her sleeve, "Sister, don't try to talk me out of it. Ever since I got pregnant, everyone at home has been tightening their belts to feed me alone, and I've noticed it all. Once this useless man leaves, there'll be one less mouth to feed, so you and Yingniang can have a bit more meat."

"What are you staring at?! Get out there and earn some money!" A moment before, she had been speaking gently to Zhenniang; the next, her shouting made the man outside shrink back. Yet the whole household, from top to bottom, dared not provoke her, which was something else.

Meng Wan laughed to himself. Great, just great. It was true that women and young men held low status, but there were always the lucky ones like that woman who could carve out their own space rather than be helplessly controlled by others.

In a cheerful mood, he finished both rice cakes. But when he got to the county office and saw the six women and young men locked in the women's prison, his spirits inevitably sank.

Tao Jiu led Meng Wan inside, "Sir, these are the forced laborers that Chen Chong and Chen Yunmo took from the tin mine over the years. Some still haven't completed their sentences, but they're dead on the books. They have nowhere to go and no way to survive, so they had no choice but to become prostitutes under Chen Chong."

Meng Wan looked at their numb, huddled figures in the corner of the cell and asked Tao Jiu, "Is there one among them called Shen Qinghe?"

He Niang turned her head a little.

Meng Wan's heart skipped a beat. His eyes fixed on the woman, who looked about eighteen or nineteen, and he said to Tao Jiu, "Alright, I know who she is. Wait for me outside. Oh, and my mother misses Bi Yun and always talks about her. You two come back to the Song house for dinner tonight."

"Then I'll go pick him up after my shift," Tao Jiu said, then went outside to wait as instructed.

"Shen Qinghe?" Meng Wan called softly to He Niang.

He Niang didn't move, but replied faintly, "It's been many years since anyone called me by my name."

Meng Wan looked around, found a wooden stool, and sat down in front of the cell to talk with her, "I've heard about you before."

He Niang laughed bitterly, "I'm just a whore selling myself. What's there to say?"

"But the word 'whore' was defined by men. Why would you use it to describe yourself?" Meng Wan's tone was calm, but his voice was forceful, loud enough for all the women and young men in the cell to hear.

"Your father was the guilty one; you did nothing wrong."

"You were tricked away from the tin mine by Chen Yunmo and his ilk. You are a victim."

"And becoming a prostitute was under coercion, something you had no choice in."

Meng Wan said regretfully, "He Niang, you are pitiable, you are innocent. The only thing that could be called your mistake is that you were deceived so badly you no longer dare to trust others, and that's why you missed the chance to seek help from Lu Su."

He Niang trembled all over, unable to speak. But someone beside her, moved by Meng Wan's words, spoke up for her: "It's not that we didn't want to seek help from others. We were just afraid. When we were intimate with those men, what promises didn't they make? But they changed the next morning."

Another said, "Wan Niang's little brother is still in their hands, and we don't know his fate. All of us have family members they hold hostage. Those without family were sold off long ago."

Meng Wan's lips were pressed tight, a faint frown line forming between his brows. "Do you know where your families are?"

He Niang shook her head painfully. "My mother and sisters-in-law all died of illness on the road. Only my eight-year-old brother and I survived. I don't know where he is. Brother Hei uses them to keep us barely alive."

Meng Wan stood up from the wooden stool and said solemnly, "I will do my best to help you all find your families, but..." His gaze suddenly turned sharp. "Is there anyone here who has helped the villains deceive others?"

The scene fell silent for a moment. A cold-faced young man said hoarsely, "What do you take us for, sir? We are children of officials, taught by the mistresses of our households. Even if we lost our innocence against our will, we would never stoop to the same deeds as those beasts."

Meng Wan asked, "May I ask your name, young sir?"

The cold-faced youth replied, "Lin'an Prefecture, Tang Jinshuang."

Meng Wan bowed to him as a sign of apology. "You have all been taught etiquette and the rules of conduct. I mean no disrespect, but I have no intention of saving those who have willingly degraded themselves."

Tang Jinshuang's expression softened slightly. "You are a man of great deeds, sir. A guilty servant dares not accept your bow."

"I must still trouble you all to remain in the prison for a while longer. When my husband returns, he will arrange a proper plan for everyone's future." Meng Wan knew they were still wary of him, but he understood—if he were in their position, he would be even more wary himself. These people were literate and resilient; once he sorted things out, they would surely be of use.

After leaving the prison, Meng Wan was burdened with thoughts. He greeted Chang Jinhua and went straight to the study. He selected an ink stick from the ink box and began grinding it finely.

After thinking for a moment, he raised his brush and wrote deliberately: "Lu Yun Town, sugarcane cultivation has become proficient, gradually spreading to surrounding towns. Lu Shan Town, initial planting of sugarcane with obvious results, also suitable for planting. Both Lu Qiao and Lu Xi towns have numerous rivers, with no land for cultivation..."

He tapped the brush handle thoughtfully, deep in thought. What could rivers be good for?

Despite having modern ideas in his mind, after thinking for a while, he came up with nothing but far-fetched goals. He simply got up to find Song Tingzhou's manual. He remembered he had said that after the roads were laid by the end of the year, he would begin reorganizing Lu Qiao and Lu Xi towns. Perhaps there was a ready-made solution in the manual.

He opened Song Tingzhou's manual, and the first thing that caught his eyes was a forceful and powerful regular script, highly artistic. Meng Wan admired it silently for a moment before flipping through.

"Found it!"

"Lu Xi Town, many small streams of water, thin and continuous, converging into rivers, enduring without drying up. There are many shallow areas, suitable for introducing Jiangnan rice for trial cultivation."

"Lu Qiao Town, centered on rivers, every village connected by waterways, supplemented by wooden bridges, difficult for cement roads. Need to build docks and ferries, travel by boat. The villages are dominated by lotus ponds, pink lotus swaying in summer, green leaves stretching to the horizon. Frogs croak loudly, and the jade lotus roots are crisp and sweet..."

Meng Wan's eyes widened. "Jade lotus roots crisp and sweet! Jade lotus roots crisp and sweet!"

"Right, lotus root fields!"

Meng Wan smiled, his eyes curved. "I've got it!"

"What did you come up with? Come eat quickly, everyone's been waiting for you for a while." Chang Jinhua called him from the door.

Meng Wan tidied up the items on the table, carefully placing Song Tingzhou's manual back on the bookshelf. "I'll wash my hands and be right out."

Bi Yun and Tao Jiu had already arrived. While Chang Jinhua was preparing the meal, Bi Yun also went in to help, moving even more deftly than Huang Ye.

Taking advantage of Tao Jiu talking with Xue Sheng outside, Chang Jinhua quietly asked Bi Yun, "When you two live in the county town, do Tao's parents give you a hard time when you go back for New Year?"

Bi Yun naturally knew Chang Jinhua cared about him, and warmth filled his chest like a cup of ginger tea. He deftly chopped vegetables and replied with a smile, "Tao's parents are honest and simple. They feel uncomfortable when we go back, and we do too. There are many Tao brothers, and except for the eldest brother who lives with my in-laws, the other brothers are all married. No one gives me trouble."

Chang Jinhua handed the cooked dish to Huang Ye to take out. "That's good. If they treat you sincerely, you two should also be filial to the old couple."

"Mm." Bi Yun responded warmly.

Chang Jinhua chatted with Bi Yun a little more. After finishing all the cooking, she noticed Meng Wan still hadn't come out. The winter dishes would cool quickly, so she went to call him.