Chapter 356: Life Is as Cheap as Grass

Jia Jing's face was somewhat solemn, he asked in a low voice: "Those who died in Liaodong? Didn't the court provide any compensation?"

The old lady gave a bitter laugh, saying: "Compensation? Compensation……"

She bit down hard on that word, as if hearing some joke, she said through gritted teeth:

"They said there was a compensation payment, but we haven't even seen a trace of it."

"When we asked, they said it had been issued; when we asked where it was sent, they said it was sent to the guard post; when we asked the guard post, they said it was sent to the company commander's hands."

"We went to find the company commander, but we couldn't even enter his gate. Seven or eight taels of silver, the lifeline for feeding our family, just vanished like that for no reason."

"These days, the lives of ordinary people aren't worth a penny!"

"After his father left, the family had no labor. Five mu of saline-alkali land, nothing grows well; after paying rent, what's left is barely enough to eat."

"If we can't fill our stomachs, we can only survive by digging grass roots and tree bark; we grow our own grain but can't eat it—what kind of reason is that!"

"We adults can still endure, but the children really can't hold out; the daughter-in-law…… that is, the mother of these children…… went out to borrow several dou of grain."

"In just a few days, she was taken by the steward of the State Duke's Mansion to offset a debt, and after returning she hanged herself, leaving only these three children and me, this old fool……"

The old lady's lips trembled, and as she finished speaking, a glint of tears flashed in her eyes.

Among the three children, the older girl clearly understood as well, her face showing sorrow.

Jia Jing fell silent for a moment.

He looked at the old lady's withered, malformed face, then at the three emaciated children behind her, and finally at the bowl of wild vegetable soup so clear it looked like water on the stove.

It felt as if a stone weighed on his heart; he opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately just let out a soft sigh and swallowed it back.

Meanwhile, Jia Huan, Jia Cong, and Jia Lan each had different expressions.

Jia Cong's eye sockets were slightly red, his eyes a little sore, he drew a deep breath.

He had thought that someone like him, a concubine's son in the State Duke's Manor, unloved by father and mother from childhood, with his birth mother deceased early, had already endured extreme hardship.

But seeing the environment here and these children, he finally understood what true destitute commoners meant! What it meant for life to be as cheap as grass!

Jia Huan at this moment had a solemn expression, losing some of the restlessness he had when he arrived, and he no longer cared whether his new shoes got dirty.

Standing there for a while, a hint of cruelty in his demeanor, he squeezed out a single "kill" in a low, duck-like voice.

Jia Lan, meanwhile, tightly pressed her lips, speaking like a little adult, sighing: "Those dressed in fine silk are not the silkworm raisers!"

Immediately she took a string of copper coins from her waist pouch, placed it at the gate, and silently followed Jia Jing and the others away!

Afterwards,

A few people then went on foot to visit several households along the stockade; the situations were largely similar—poverty, hardship, occupied farmland, many misfortunes, facing death from cold and hunger.

Basically all the military households that could flee had done so; only some elderly, women, and children who couldn't escape remained, leaving less than one in ten of the village's households!

After leaving Liangxiang Camp, Jia Jing and company went east for about two or three li, when suddenly a different scene appeared by the roadside.

All that could be seen was a large expanse of level land enclosed by high walls, with the eaves of pavilions peeking over the wall tops, the blue-tiled platforms glinting in the sunlight.

At the gate crouched two stone lions, baring fangs and brandishing claws, taller than a person, exuding an imposing presence!

Above the gate hung a plaque with black background and gold characters reading the six large words "Pingyuan Marquis Manor Estate".

The courtyard wall stood about twelve chi high; looking in from outside, one could see carved beams and painted pillars, artificial hills piled with greenery, murmuring flowing water, winding corridors, and pavilions and terraces scattered about.

Moreover, a few strings of wind chimes hung from the eaves; when the wind blew, they rang ding-ding-dang, clear and piercing!

Several mule carts were parked at the gate, with a few servants moving things, carrying whole sides of pork, baskets of fresh fish, and jars of fine wine.

The servants all wore blue silk robes, each holding their chin high, their eyes full of undisguisable arrogance.

Meanwhile, on the dirt road directly opposite the gate, several people were kneeling at this moment.

A man in his thirties, his skin sunburnt dark, wearing a coat so ragged it couldn't be worse, knelt in the dust, with a grass marker planted before him.

Beside him knelt a five- or six-year-old girl, with two little braids tied with red string; the red string had faded from age, but in this ashen environment it was especially striking.

The girl was thin and weak, seeming not to know what she was doing; she timidly glanced around now and then, then lowered her head to play with her fingers.

Jia Jing stood by the roadside, gazing at that vermilion gate as bright as if stained with blood, and recalling the old lady's wild vegetable soup on the stove just before, his brows knit tightly, his face grim.

Xuanwu stepped forward a few paces and said quietly to Jia Jing:

"State Duke, this is the Jiang family's estate of the Pingyuan Marquis Manor, covering over three hundred mu, with gardens, ponds, stages, and stables; just the servants tending the garden number over two hundred."

"The Pingyuan Marquis Manor has seized and occupied farmland in various places around the capital region, totaling over twelve thousand mu; just in the Liangxiang area alone, there are no less than four thousand mu."

Jia Jing nodded, then pointed at the several people kneeling by the roadside and ordered:

"Go ask whether those people are military households, and why they are selling themselves."

Xuanwu responded, stepped forward, asked a few questions of the passersby nearby, then returned and said in a lowered voice:

"They are military households. They owe rent to the Jiang family, can't pay it back, and are selling their daughters to offset the debt."

Jia Jing gave a slight nod, his gaze turning even colder; he stood silently by the roadside, looking at those men, and then at the vermilion gate of the Pingyuan Marquis Manor!

The man lowered his head, his expression despondent and hopeless, his shoulders shrugging, not daring to lift his head.

Beside him, several other military households similarly kneeling to sell people—some selling daughters, some selling wives, some selling themselves.

From behind them, within that high-walled manor, faint sounds of string and bamboo music and the clamor of urging drinks could be heard.

Not long after, a steward-like figure emerged from the gate—big-headed and big-eared, wearing a blue-purple silk robe, with a gold-silk cord belt around his waist.

He walked over with deliberate steps to the man before him, lowered his head, and pinched the girl's chin left and right, as if inspecting livestock.

"Her appearance is passable, just a bit thin; take her back, fatten her up for a few days, send her to the Second Young Master's quarters as a rough maid—she'd be worth about one or two taels of silver. Here!"

He reached into his sleeve, pulled out a piece of broken silver, and threw it onto the ground.

The silver fell into the dust, rolled twice, and came to rest before the man.

The man didn't pick it up, but instead stared fixedly at the little girl in the steward's hand, his shoulders trembling even more.

The girl, her chin pinched by the steward, was now so frightened she dared not move; tears swelled in her eyes, but she didn't dare let them out!

Jia Jing just watched as the steward, like picking livestock, bought people one by one; his expression was solemn and his face devoid of emotion.

After a while, as the Marquis Manor's vermilion gate closed, Jia Jing turned around and led the group onward.

After walking several hundred steps, the wall of that tall-walled manor turned a bend, stretching all the way to the edge of sight.

Outside the wall were vast expanses of flat land; the wheat had been harvested, sorghum was planted in the fields, growing very well, lush green, rustling when the wind blew over.

Wooden signs were planted on the field ridges, inscribed with the words "Pingyuan Marquis Manor Fields," spaced every few dozen steps, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Jia Jing stood on the field ridge, facing the breeze, looking at those wooden signs, silent for a long time.