Chapter 85: Same Fate, Different Fortune

The azure heavens have remained unchanged for myriad years, yet the people beneath them......

Then each has their own misery.

The children seemed to have thought of something, their faces showing fright, trembling.

Du Shanü suddenly recalled the scene she had just seen in the field——

The stalks were scattered, the pea pod shells shattered across the ground, green and yellow mixed together, indeed as if they had been forcibly pulled before harvest.

"They're deceiving people!"

The man pulled the children to kneel on the ground, his face streaked with old tears:

"I've farmed for thirty years at least; even if the grain hasn't been fully harvested, surely I can estimate a rough amount, right?"

"The grain they took is surely enough, even more! Yet those officials keep saying it's not enough, not enough!"

"They wielded knives, drove carts, and hauled away everything from the fields and homes…… We tried to stop them, but they said refusing to hand it over was tax evasion, and they'd lock us up in jail……"

By then, deep autumn had arrived.

The autumn wind swept across the fields; only then did Du Shanü feel the chill seep into her lungs.

After several breaths, she finally heard her own voice:

"The officials themselves are looting, yet not a single person in your county town comes to intervene?"

The man gave a bitter smile, that expression uglier than crying:

"Intervene? Who would intervene?"

"We'd like to seek justice, but the magistrate has been official here for forty years; the county office walls are built higher than towering trees, and if we don't get close, the bailiffs will beat us away……"

The man raised his hand, his trembling, calloused hand lifting his sleeve——

Du Shanü's keen eyes caught a long gash on the man's forearm, running from wrist to elbow, a bluish-purple streak like a centipede clinging to the bone, already showing signs of festering.

Du Shanü's riding crop turned slightly in her hand, her knuckles tightening; the smile that once lingered on her lips had vanished completely:

"Then what happened?"

"Then……"

The man lowered his head, his voice barely audible:

"Afterward, we had nothing left at home; we could only scrape the bottom of the rice bin and gather stray grains to boil porridge, lasting half a month."

"We had hoped to hold out until spring, then borrow some seeds to plant and maybe get by, but theft has become increasingly rampant these past days; frightened, we thought perhaps we could go elsewhere to beg for food……"

Former days may not have been rich, but at least we had enough to eat and wear.

But after only a little over a month, when the 'grain levy' was issued, everything changed.

In the lands under Ju Cheng's jurisdiction, more and more decent folk were reduced to destitution and misery, suffering hunger.

The southern regions have taken in northern refugees before; how could they not know what this signifies?

When even the decent are forced into vagrancy, what good days remain for them to stay?

This family fled two days ago, but because they were dragging children and had long been weakened by hunger, even after two days' travel they hadn't gotten far from Ju Cheng......

The gaunt woman covered her tears with her sleeve, while the man recounted everything in detail.

Everyone in the family was weeping, yet they couldn't say exactly what they were crying for.

Perhaps they wept for leaving home behind, for the hunger in their bellies......

Or perhaps they simply wept at this unbearable state of the world.

Autumn winds rose all around, carrying the particular chill of deep autumn, blowing the stalks left after the forced harvest on the field ridges to roll lightly, emitting a faint, dry, scraping sound.

"Your county magistrate......"

Du Shanü spoke up, her voice not loud but each word crystal clear:

"What is your name?"

The question came rather abruptly; the man lifted his head, a flicker of hesitation crossing his cloudy eyes.

In these times, reporting officials is a major taboo; everyone fears bringing disaster upon themselves.

But he glanced at the woman beside him, at the several children, then at the two horses before them, slick and gleaming, gritted his teeth, as if making a decision:

"The magistrate's surname is Qian, given name Qian Youde; he has served as official here for over forty years."

Qian Youde.

Du Shanü rolled those three syllables over in her tongue, saying nothing.

She turned her head and glanced at Chinu.

Chinu met her gaze, his expression still faint, merely giving a slight nod.

A very light nod.

Still, both of them already knew full well what they intended to do.

Du Shanü withdrew her gaze and looked again at the family before her.

Dust from kneeling still clung to the man's forehead, while the woman's tears had washed the grime on her face into streaks, making her look quite disheveled.

The three- or four-year-old child in her arms had fallen asleep again, mouth slightly open, breathing so shallow its rise and fall were barely perceptible.

Du Shanü slipped her riding crop onto the saddle, nimbly dismounted, walked to the horse's side, and reached to untie the grain bag hanging behind the saddle.

It was the dry provisions prepared before departure—roasted rice and flatbreads—filling more than half the bag, enough for two people to eat for three or four days.

She hooked her fingers on the tie, undid it in a couple of motions; the bag's mouth was tied tight, feeling heavy in her hand.

Chinu watched from the horse's back, saying nothing.

Du Shanü then shoved the grain bag into the man's arms.

The man instinctively caught it; feeling its weight, his arms were pulled down a notch.

The man stared blankly, lowered his head to look at the bag in his embrace, then lifted his gaze to her, his lips trembling, unable to speak.

"Take it."

Du Shanü opened her mouth to speak, her tone flat, as if saying something utterly ordinary:

"This is what Heaven owes you."

"Along my journey I've seen few villages; I think if I gave you money, you couldn't buy food with it, and it would easily attract bandits."

"So I'll directly give you dry food and water; these will be enough for you to travel another stretch."

"You, just head straight for Cang Cheng."

"Cang Cheng is not good; of course Cang Cheng isn't good."

"Earlier, in Cang Cheng they also said each adult would be taxed one dan of grain; the insider who stole grain and fodder in the district office still hasn't been caught, the city was also set on fire, and now I don't know how the situation is......"

"But Cang Cheng has Afang."

"Du Shanü, having earlier heard the man speak, vaguely felt that the situations of Ju Cheng and Cang Cheng were worlds apart."

"Now, I have finally figured out exactly where the crux lies."

"The two cities are actually the same; the only variable is that Cang Cheng has Chinu and Afang."

"When no one had yet come to their senses, Chinu decisively killed the magistrate."

"Afang also decisively used the pretext that the official had been harmed to delay tax collection."

"When a new official took office, they were poisoned again; when someone came to investigate, they were poisoned again."

"Back and forth like this, with several days between each incident, it not only frightened those officials who cherished their lives, but also gave the common folk much more time to bring in their harvest."

"The biggest difference between Cang Cheng and Ju Cheng lies——"

"One city has people who sincerely work for the people; the other city, when officials receive an order to raise taxes, they immediately sharpen their knives and turn on the populace."

"Since these people want to leave Ju Cheng, Cang Cheng is a good place to go."

"At least, over there there are still people who can uphold justice."

"The weary woman's tears suddenly poured out, whereas just before she had been fierce."

"She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but her throat felt blocked, and only a muffled, broken syllable escaped."

"She held the child, pulled her sluggish husband, and knelt down, her forehead repeatedly knocking the ground."

"Du Shanü didn't like this, waved her hand, and then mounted her horse again."

"From behind came a man's hoarse voice, chasing after from afar:"

"\"Your Excellency… your Excellency's grace, in the next life I'll be an ox or a horse…\""

"The words after were torn apart by the wind, indistinct."

"Chinu rode up to follow, and she and Du Shanü rode side by side for a stretch."

"Very bad."

"Really very bad."

"You don't know until you go out; only then do you realize that the affairs in Cang Cheng are merely a drizzle."

"Outside, a heavy rain has already poured down."

"Du Shanü couldn't help but mutter:"

"\"If things continue at this pace, we won't even need to wait for the southern tribes to descend and raid the grass valleys; I fear that this winter, the southern lands themselves will descend into chaos...... \""

"\"By then, who will come to manage what her identity actually is? \""

"Du Shanü couldn't say what feeling she had in her heart; there was both fortune and lament."

"And just then, she heard a faint echo from behind:"

"\"Exactly. \""

"Du Shanü slightly tightened her grip on the whip for a moment, but still couldn't help laughing out loud:"

"\"You said you hated me and wouldn't speak to me again, didn't you? \""

"?? Chinu: How come there's no step! How come there's no step! Trying to find a step. jpg"

"? Shasha: Not used to it at all. jpg"