Chapter 7: Back Then, I Was Still Very Young

Once the grain and supplies were fully loaded, under the escort of the Erzu clan's Qihu warriors, they slowly headed into the distance.

Li Shuang stood by the Sanggan River watching the fruits of his labor slowly drift away from him, and felt a touch of emotion.

"What fine goods — and they go cheap to those useless sacks of wine and rice in Take Pingcheng!"

Hou Jing was at his side.

"How about we waylay and take them back halfway?"

Li Shuang gave a sharp rebuke.

"Nonsense!"

Hou Jing, like a child who had done wrong, lowered his head.

"We're a government army now — this sort of thing shouldn't be done too often."

"Understood, Chief!"

"And besides, you're my retainer now — drop that old way of doing things."

Hou Jing, sharp as ever, caught on at once.

"Your vassal understands, my lord!"

Li Shuang nodded, glanced at the Hu Ren busy at work in the distance, leaned in, and lowered his voice:

"What about the goods we held back?"

"Everything's been arranged. The cattle, sheep, camels and horses have all been distributed, and the grain and equipment have been put into the newly built storehouses. If outsiders ask, per your orders, it's all been logged under General Er Zhu Zhao's account."

Li Shuang sighed.

"It's not that this uncle of his is being unfair — it's just that the boy has been far too lawless."

Ever since General Er Zhu Zhao saw what Li Shuang had done that day with Qifu Moyu, General Er Zhu Zhao had seemed to have had a door flung open in his mind.

Truly a case of the pupil outstripping the master!

Hou Jing was also thoroughly fed up with General Er Zhu Zhao.

"That little brat — lately he's been strutting around with his staff of command, throwing his weight everywhere. Stealing people's cattle and sheep would be one thing, but he's even seizing their wives and daughters. Who knows how many he's ruined?"

Clearly, as the capable lieutenant of the legendary bandit Da Ye Shuang, Hou Jing utterly despised such behavior — though not without a healthy dose of envy, jealousy, and spite!

"Forget that boy. How's our village land coming along?"

"The plot General Er Zhu Rong gave us isn't exactly top-grade, but it's passable for farming. Should we try planting a season of millet first?"

Li Shuang looked at Hou Jing in surprise and asked:

"Can you farm?"

Hou Jing, knowing when to back off, shook his head.

"There's no one in our village who knows how to farm either!"

Just then, from a tea stall set up on the riverbank, a middle-aged man in plain clothes laughed.

"If you can't farm, where will the grain come from?"

The innocent Hou Jing blurted out the plain truth.

"Rob it!"

Perhaps Hou Jing's words were too blunt, or perhaps Hou Jing simply looked too fierce — the middle-aged man was startled, and his innocent smile froze on the spot.

Li Shuang waved Hou Jing behind him and cupped his fist in salute.

"My retainer speaks nonsense out of habit — please forgive him."

Seeing that Li Shuang was well-mannered and carried himself with uncommon poise, the middle-aged man felt half the weight lift from his heart.

"Not at all. I was passing through and heard…"

The middle-aged man glanced at the rather unapproachable Hou Jing, still uneasy.

"—what your retainer said. I found it rather amusing and spoke rashly — please do not take offense."

Li Shuang replied in turn:

"Judging by Mr.'s bearing, you are a scholar. Why have you come to this war-torn land?"

Nowadays, across the whole Northern Dynasty, the most chaotic place was not the border between Southern Liang and Northern Wei, but the northern frontier.

When Southern Liang and Northern Wei clashed, the focus was the Shouyang region, and the fighting was mainly large-scale army engagements. But on the northern frontier, beacon fires rose everywhere.

The man before him was refined and gentle, looking as if his combat power were under 5 — why on earth would he come here?

"To tell the truth, after I was dismissed from my post as Colonel, I resolved to write a book, so I have been traveling the realm, surveying the lands of each province."

No sooner had he finished than Hou Jing burst out laughing.

"You look like you couldn't even lift a saber — who'd make you a Colonel?"

Still a little afraid of Hou Jing, the middle-aged man explained:

"This Colonel didn't have to fight on the battlefield. It was the Agricultural Colonel post established in the time of Cao Wei, specifically for managing military farming."

Hearing this, Li Shuang grew interested.

So he invited the elderly Qihu man at the tavern, brought out beef and wine, and fell into conversation with the middle-aged man.

"In that case, how did Mr. come to be dismissed?"

"Bad luck on my part — I happened to run into Southern Liang's northern campaign… no, Southern Liang's invasion. The military-farm troops under me all fled south, and my superiors blamed me, so I lost my post."

Li Shuang had roughly pieced together the man's background, and was quite astonished. So young, yet already an Agricultural Colonel — he must have some story behind him.

"Mr. need not be so downcast. The court is in need of talent now — surely Mr. will have another chance to rise."

The middle-aged man merely waved his hand.

"My family has farmed and studied for generations. I never wanted to take office in the first place. In officialdom, it's all deceit and treachery — I refuse to go along with it, flattering those above and bullying those below. Being dismissed is for the best; now I can give myself over to rivers and mountains. My lifelong ambition is to write a book on agriculture that will benefit the common folk of the world."

Generations of farming and study, unable to stomach the deceit of officialdom — that meant he had no powerful backing.

Look at those great clan families — how many of them still know how to farm?

He couldn't flatter anyone, yet at such a young age he'd become a Colonel of Agricultural Affairs — that proved the man had real skill when it came to farming.

Li Shuang's heart leaped with joy.

"Brother, drink!"

"Gladly!"

When the wine was flowing and their ears grew warm, Li Shuang took advantage of the middle-aged man's momentary distraction and beckoned; Hou Jing, who had been standing to one side, sidled over.

"This kid is a treasure!"

The words had barely left Li Shuang's mouth when Hou Jing understood and replied:

"Later we'll get him drunk and bundle him straight back to the village."

Li Shuang gave him an approving look and sat up straight.

"I haven't yet asked your honored name, brother?"

"Not at all, not at all. My surname is Jia, given name Sixie."

Jia Sixie!

Li Shuang's expression changed.

He beckoned again, and Hou Jing sidled over once more.

"This isn't a treasure…"

Hou Jing took the hint and once more exercised his own initiative.

"Then later we'll slip away quietly and let him pay for the food and drink himself!"

"This is a rooster that lays golden eggs!"

Hou Jing scratched his head.

"My lord, roosters don't lay eggs!"

Li Shuang spat at him.

"Get lost!"

Li Shuang sat up straight once more and said, cupping his hands:

"It's getting late, Mr. — do you have somewhere to stay?"

Jia Sixie, his face flushed from drink, was beginning to get a little muddled, and said:

"I was planning to lodge at the relay station."

"What a coincidence — I just heard that relay station was burned down by bandits."

"But I never said which relay station."

Li Shuang stood up, smiling:

"All the relay stations around here have been burned by bandits."

"What bandits dare to be so bold!"

"A fierce bandit by the name of General Er Zhu Zhao."

Jia Sixie began to get anxious.

"If that's the case, what should I do?"

"If you don't mind, Mr., you may stay the night at my home."

"Wouldn't that be too much of a bother?"

"Not at all. The folk of our Taiping Village are plain and honest, we treat people with courtesy, and every one of our villagers is a warm, hospitable, honest farmer."

"Then I'll impose on you!"

……

Many years later, Jia Sixie — by then risen to the very pinnacle of officialdom — would still recall that quiet afternoon by the Sanggan River, and in his midnight dreams he would still be unable to stop himself from slapping his own mouth.

Damn it, I never should have taken that drink back then!