Chapter 50 -44 Endless Fun
The clouds that had been brewing all afternoon finally spilled their rain.
The next second.
Clashing with the entire world, the sound of light, consistent rain instantly filled the space between heaven and earth.
In the north of Luojing City, a group of guards dressed in black encircled three carriages like stars around the moon on the road back to the city.
On the road, there was only the sound of the rain and the carriage wheels; the several hundred warriors were silent, moving through the rain, drenched and unreactive.
Zhao Rong withdrew his gaze, lowered the carriage curtain, and looked at the only other person in the carriage besides himself.
...
“The Imperial Guards, the Lin family private army, were founded by my great-grandfather.”
Lin Wenruo’s slender right hand delicately pinched a small silver spoon to add incense to a burner, the lid of which was carved into a hollowed-out artificial mountain, from which wisps of smoke elegantly wafted—filling the spacious carriage with an ethereal aura.
“As a child, I was curious as to why our poetry-loving, scripture-filled Lin family from Lanxi needed such a thing.”
After topping up the agarwood, Lin Wenruo set aside his task, casually picked up a piece of silk to wipe his hands, and looked at Zhao Rong with a light chuckle. “Little did I expect, it came in handy when it reached my hands.”
Zhao Rong nodded slightly, inhaling the pure and cool fragrance which seemed to quicken the flow of qi and blood within his body, prompting him to take several deep, refreshing breaths.
Everything that had happened earlier in Zuiweng Pavilion, Zhao Rong had observed from the sidelines, his sleeves draped, appearing indifferent without saying much.
Later, Zhao Rong and his two companions were about to bid farewell and start their journey, but were “thoroughly obstructed” by Lin Wenruo, who earnestly clung to Zhao Rong’s sleeve, saying brother Ziyu shouldn’t be heartless, that he had enjoyed their meeting today very much, and admitting his lack of strictness with his younger brother, who had offended brother Ziyu, definitely merited a proper compensation, earnestly requesting brother Ziyu to visit his modest home and not to delay.
At the time, Zhao Rong indifferently pulled his sleeve back and tried to refuse a few times, but it didn’t dampen Lin Wenruo’s enthusiasm.
Eventually, Lin Wenruo mentioned that the weather seemed on the verge of a heavy downpour which would make traveling inconvenient; hence, they might as well rest at his residence until the weather cleared. He would then send someone to escort them out of Zhongnan Country via a shorter route known only to locals, surely quicker than if they had to find their own way.
Zhao Rong hesitated for a moment, then asked the other two for their opinions.
Liu Sanbian said it didn’t matter, letting him decide. Su Xiaoxiao, with a look of “I understand,” seriously expressed she wouldn’t, like the villains in the books, obstruct their union, urging them not to care about the conventional views and the gossip of others, and to boldly pursue their true love…
Zhao Rong without a second word treated her to an afternoon’s worth of desserts, which she was probably still savoring in the carriage behind, rubbing her bright red little forehead.
“Brother Wenruo, you needn’t go to such lengths.”
“Ziyu, don’t plead for him; that scoundrel deserves to be punished.” Lin Wenruo sighed. “Our father passed away early, and during the years I was absent, our mother didn’t discipline him, resulting in him developing many bad habits that attract dislike wherever he goes. That farce just now was embarrassing to you.”
Zhao Rong glanced at his expression, somewhat helpless.
You know that’s not what I meant.
But he could only play dumb along with him and skip over the topic.
Anyway, once the rain stopped, he would promptly depart, eager to leave this troublesome place.
Zhao Rong savored the mysteriously fragrant incense in the carriage and chatted idly with Lin Wenruo when he suddenly felt the carriage make a turn. He lifted the curtain and looked outside.
He saw the caravan seemed to have left the direct official road to Luojing, turning onto another broad avenue, with vast rice fields on either side, and distant green waters and blue mountains.
“Brother Wenruo, isn’t your residence in Luojing City?”
“It’s not,” said Lin Wenruo with a smile.
“Where is it, then?”
“We’re already here.”
“…”
Zhao Rong looked around at the desolate wilderness, and upon seeing that smiling face, he suddenly felt the hair on his back stand up.
“Ahem, I mean, the hundred miles we just traveled, including that segment of the official road, are all part of our Lin estate. This area to the north of the city is known as Lanxi—also the origin of our Lanxi Lin family,” Lin Wenruo quickly explained, coughing lightly.
“The estate is not far now, just behind that mountain ahead. Given the special circumstances, we shall not stay in the city,”
Zhao Rong breathed a sigh of relief and moved his hand away from the scholar sword at his waist.
But his eyelid twitched immediately after – good grief, within a hundred miles, it was akin to half of Luojing, neighboring the capital of a country.
However, after listening to Lin Wenruo’s explanation, he came to understand the whole story.
Seven hundred years ago, the ruler of Zhongnan, seeing the decline of imperial power and hermits and Daoists not engaging in production, and with the country lacking in order and loose laws, sought talents everywhere to help govern and stabilize Zhongnan. However, due to the unique national conditions of Zhongnan, it was not only difficult to govern, but there was also hardly any culture or education; thus, all talented individuals refused the invitations.
The Zhongnan ruler even traversed thousands of miles personally to the entrance of two Confucian Academies in the north and south, yearning alongside the scholars crowded at the foot of the mountain, wishing to enter the academy. Yet, no one responded, so the Zhongnan ruler hosted a meal for the distressed kindred spirits around him and then returned to Zhongnan, disappointed.
Then, ten years later, one day.
An exhausted middle-aged Confucian Scholar came from outside the Imperial City of Luojing, seeking the ruler, and solemnly presented a jade emblem symbolizing his identity as an academy scholar, stating that if it weren’t for that meal, he might have had to return home halfway and become a mere teaching craftsman. How could he have awaited being selected by a Teacher to study at the academy? Now having mastered the Dragon Supporting Skill, Lin dared to come and put it to the test.
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The Zhongnan ruler was overjoyed upon hearing this and thus employed the Confucian scholar surnamed Lin to govern the country and handed him full authority.
Within three years, indeed, Zhongnan’s national power thrived.
Remembering his great contributions, the ruler wanted to arrange a permanent residence for him. Therefore, the ministers hesitated over the Luojing map, debating which residence to bestow upon him, which caused impatience in the ruler. He stepped forward, snatched the pen, and casually drew a large circle in the northern part of Luojing, awarding the entire Lanxi, originally a royal garden, to the Confucian scholar named Lin, without considering whether the descendants of the rulers would appreciate having a stranger snoring next to their resting place.
The Lanxi Lin family thus took root in Zhongnan and passed its legacy through generations.
Lin Wenruo smiled as he finished speaking and then instructed a black-clad guard outside the window. The latter left the convoy and soon returned from the farmland, holding something in both hands, which he handed to Lin Wenruo.
Lin Wenruo raised both hands, his wide sleeves sliding down, and gently received several stalks of rice.
He rubbed his hands over some rice grains and examined them closely in his fair hands. His lips moved slightly, his eyes slowly shifted, and he silently counted. Then he bowed his head, breathed on the rice to warm it slightly, and took a deep inhalation of its scent.
The husks were golden, the grains plump, the rice aroma pure, with very few bad grains.
The man couldn’t help but beam with joy.
“Ziyu, this year is definitely a year of bountiful harvest,”
“Our Zhongnan has a uniquely favorable climate. A single piece of land can yield three types of crops each year, but unfortunately, due to excessive land occupied by Daoist Temples, including the four hundred and eighty temples solely within Nanshan Mountain, and the severe exploitation by landlords, farmers often cannot afford the seedlings to keep their fields cultivated all year round. Therefore, every year, enormous efforts must be spent on buying grain from foreign countries, and when the grain is transported into the country, the price increases by fifty percent…”
“The Spring Seedling Law being implemented nationwide acts as a lender on behalf of the state, offering low-interest loans to farmers so they can afford to grow crops, rather than being driven to ruin by the usurious loans from powerful families. This law is divided into three stages…”
“The Equal Field Taxation Law, which I learned from a major country in the south, can uncover the land concealed by powerful landlords, increasing the national treasury’s revenue, and at the same time, reducing the burden on farmers…”
Zhao Rong sat to the side, slightly stunned, silently watching the man in front of him holding rice and speaking animatedly, sometimes gesticulating with his hands and feet, who was the current Head of Zhongnan’s top wealthy family. He was also the Confucian Scholar Gui had mentioned, who was infused with Vast Qi from his studies reaching the Heavenly Will Realm.
Listening to his detailed discussion of his Six Strategies, his new laws for enriching the country.
Time passed, and gradually, the carriage interior quieted down.
Only the outside noise was heard, but it only made the interior all the more silent.
The carriage wheels rolled through the mud.
The horse hooves trampled the earth.
Rainwater plunged from the clouds, shattering to pieces.
The sword-wearing scholar pursed his lips.
“Why bother doing this?”
The bending man straightened up, sitting upright, his hand clutching the rice.
“Why not relish doing it?”
Zhongnan has nourished scholars for seven hundred years, and we, the Lanxi Lin family, will surely live up to Zhongnan!