Chapter 98 - 46: Entrustment (Part 2)

Chapter 98: Chapter 46: Entrustment (Part 2)

Normally, even that wouldn’t have been enough to make Yan Song lower himself like this.

But...

Last night, he had been a bit slow to act and hadn’t made his move. But that delay allowed him to learn something: several of his hoodlum friends, local scoundrels who had suddenly become governmental officers, had gotten drunk on their newfound power, failed to understand their new place, and then... had been killed for it.

—Clearly, Lai Liliu was not an isolated case.

This served as a stark warning to Yan Song.

So, even if he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, this cautionary tale taught him to be pragmatic and understand the situation.

You don’t hit a man who’s smiling at you.

Although Fang Rui didn’t know why Yan Song was being so polite, he wouldn’t give him the cold shoulder. More importantly, he wouldn’t be so tactless as to call him by a diminutive like ’Xiaoyan’.

"It is. If you’re busy, Brother Yan, please don’t let me stop you. I’m just going to pop over to governmental officer Jiang’s house. I won’t get in your way..." He had no intention of getting too close to the man, so after a few casual words, he took his leave.

Faint voices drifted from behind him.

"Lord Yan, even if he’s connected to governmental officer Jiang, look at the situation we’re in. That guy can barely protect himself. He could be gone any day now. Do we really need to be so polite to someone who just relies on that connection?"

"Bah! What the hell do you know?! I heard he’s at least an Entry Grade Martial Artist. In this world, no matter how things change, one thing stays the same: might makes right..."

...

Fang Rui arrived at Jiang Ping’an’s house and explained why he had come. Sister-in-law Jiang happily agreed and left with him, bringing her two little ones along.

The two little ones were a boy of seven or eight named Niu Dun, and a girl of five or six named Xiaodouya, who was about the same age as Fang Ling and Nannan.

—In this era, most names were simple and unadorned like this. Some were even deliberately humble, in the belief that it would make a child easier to raise.

After locking the door, Fang Rui led Sister-in-law Jiang and her two children back toward his home.

As they neared his courtyard gate, he suddenly heard the sound of crying and pleading from the yard to their left. It sounded a little familiar.

’Aunt Zhao?!’

A glint in his eye, Fang Rui had a guess what was happening. "Sister-in-law Jiang, why don’t you go on in first? I’m going to go check on that."

"You know Aunt Zhao, Xiaofang? I’ll come with you. Maybe I can help put in a good word," Sister-in-law Jiang said.

"Alright."

Fang Rui, Sister-in-law Jiang, and her children went next door and entered the yard.

There, they saw:

A stooped, gray-haired Aunt Zhao was kneeling on the ground, clutching Yan Song’s arm and pleading, "Lord Imperial Envoy, my family truly has no more money! Could you give us a little more time? We’ll owe you! I can sign a note, I’ll put my thumbprint on it..."

Beside her, two girls—one eight or nine, the other twelve or thirteen—stood huddled together, holding hands like a pair of frightened quails. Both were sallow and painfully thin.

"No money? But you’ve still got two daughters, don’t you? You can pay with—"

"Brother Yan."

Fang Rui let out a soft sigh and spoke up. "I know Aunt Zhao. How much do they owe? I’ll pay it for them."

He wasn’t made of stone, after all. Since this was an acquaintance of Third Lady’s family, he was willing to lend a hand where he could.

The lackey was about to say something.

But Yan Song pulled him back, forcing a smile onto his face as he cut in, "Ah, Lord Fang, what are you saying? How could I possibly take your money?"

"We’ll just forget this whole matter. Here, Aunt Zhao, please get up."

He squatted down, helped Aunt Zhao to her feet with both hands, and even kindly brushed the dust from her clothes. "My, you’re acquainted with Lord Fang! Why didn’t you say so sooner? We could have avoided this whole mess. It was all a misunderstanding, wasn’t it?"

’His ability to change faces so quickly is really... something else!’

With that sudden turn of events, the matter was resolved just that easily. Aunt Zhao was completely stunned.

Even Sister-in-law Jiang, who was watching from the side, felt her cheek twitch. In her heart, though, was an inexplicable feeling of satisfaction.

"Alright, I won’t make things difficult for you. Take this for some tea." Fang Rui took out a handful of large coins and pressed them into Yan Song’s hand.

He was a man who kept a clear ledger of favors and grudges; he didn’t want to be indebted to someone over such a small matter.

"Well now, you’re a man of principle. Thank you for the reward, Lord Fang. You must be busy, so I’ll be on my way?"

With that, Yan Song led his lackey away. He skipped right past Fang Rui’s courtyard without a second glance and headed straight for the next house.

"Aunt Zhao, it’s over now. It’s alright," Sister-in-law Jiang said, taking the older woman’s hand to comfort her.

"It’s... over?!"

Aunt Zhao was still in a daze, but she had at least recovered her wits. She quickly pulled her two daughters over to kowtow before Fang Rui. "Quick! Come and thank your benefactor!"

What followed was a flood of gratitude, which goes without saying.

After some pleasantries, Fang Rui bid Aunt Zhao farewell. As he led Sister-in-law Jiang and her children back to his own yard, sounds of shouting and sobbing erupted from the courtyard to their right—if he listened carefully, he could make out Yan Song’s voice.

"That’s Old Sun’s place over there. That family has had it rough. Their eldest son was conscripted and sent with the first wave of the Official Army to fight the bandits; no one knows if he’s alive or dead. Now, I’m afraid they’re going to press-gang the second son..."

Sister-in-law Jiang sighed.

"They’re all just pitiful people."

Fang Rui lamented with a sigh, but it was only a sigh. He immediately led Sister-in-law Jiang and the children inside and barred the door.

He didn’t go to gawk at the commotion—he wasn’t the sort of person who would watch a public execution and cheer, or dip a steamed bun in the victim’s blood.

Nor did he meddle in their affairs. He had no connection to Old Sun’s family, no friendship to speak of.

It came back to the same principle: he wasn’t a saint. There were far too many pitiful people in this world. He would protect his family. He would help friends and neighbors he had a relationship with, if he could. But he couldn’t possibly look after every stranger.

...

He had just led Sister-in-law Jiang and her children through the courtyard gate.

Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family and Third Lady came out to greet them. "Brother Rui, you’re back?"

They had heard the commotion at Aunt Zhao’s house next door, but with Fang Rui gone, they hadn’t dared to go over, fearing they wouldn’t be able to help and would only get dragged into the mess themselves.

Fang Rui briefly explained what had happened at Aunt Zhao’s, then introduced Sister-in-law Jiang and her children.

The three women began to talk, and soon they were all chatting together.

Women, especially when they’re open to making new friends, can build rapport very quickly.

Niu Dun and Xiaodouya were led to an inner room to play with Fang Ling and Nannan.

Niu Dun, being a bit older and leading his little sister, had originally entertained the idea of challenging Fang Ling’s position as the ’Child King’. But the two little girls, Fang Ling and Nannan, recounted the stories Fang Rui had told them, adding plenty of their own embellishments, and left the two "unsophisticated" newcomers completely wide-eyed and stunned.

...

Under the great sun.

Golden sunlight flooded the entire courtyard, casting shimmering circles of light and shadow that danced among the grass and trees.

In a room in the back of the house, Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family, Third Lady, and Sister-in-law Jiang did their needlework and chatted idly. In an inner room, the children—Fang Ling, Nannan, Niu Dun, and Xiaodouya—were playing.

Fang Rui sat in the main room of the front house, keeping watch over the gate while flipping through a medical text. Every so often, hearing a sound approach from outside, he would look up and listen intently, only lowering his head again once he was sure it had faded into the distance.

It was quiet and peaceful, a moment of tranquil stillness.

Outside.

News that the Taiping Bandits were besieging the city spread quickly. Chaos in the city intensified. Spies for the Taiping Bandits stirred up trouble everywhere, creating panic, and local thugs and ruffians joined in to cause mischief.

In broad daylight, countless evils were festering.

Crying, cursing, the sounds of doors being smashed in, of looting and pillaging... Some of it sounded very close.

And from the direction of the city gates, the faint sound of battle cries would ring out intermittently...

All of it wove together.

These sounds filtered into Fang Rui’s courtyard, but they failed to incite panic. Instead, everyone gradually grew accustomed to them, until they almost became a form of background music.

The reason?

The children were calm, perhaps due to their innocent ignorance.

As for Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family and Third Lady, it was because Fang Rui was guarding the front yard. His consistently calm demeanor and the fact that he always did what he said he would gave the two women an immense sense of security.

And Sister-in-law Jiang was simply swept up in the relaxed, lighthearted atmosphere.

...

In the middle of the morning.

Two petty thieves tried to break into the courtyard. Fang Rui went out, broke their arms and legs, and threw them onto the road outside, leaving them there to groan in pain.

After that show of force, no other local thugs dared to come and poke the hornet’s nest. Even Aunt Zhao and a few other nearby households benefited, enjoying a measure of safety.

...

「The morning passed in a flash.」

...