Chapter 1033: Chapter 245: Paper Flowers Fall in Xiayong City, Lord Pingye Plays Chess with the Beggar Children
The situation at Town South Pass has become the most concerning issue for the entire Chu State.
It’s all because the man leading the troops is named Tian Wujing, and the army under his command is called the Southern Pacification Army.
The Chu people dare not be complacent, because the Jin people were once complacent, and then the Jin State was gone.
The princess has not been found yet, although General Li Mu from Congzhou City was ordered to lead troops back to aid the frontier; it is said that Witch Master has also returned to Ing Capital City to oversee;
Yet, the various troops on the periphery still continue to search for the whereabouts of the princess.
Xiayong is a small town, connected to Mong Mountain on one side, facing Qi Mountain on the other, while the entrances on the other two sides are blocked, not only preventing caravans from passing but also causing those planning to earn silver before the New Year to stay stranded, including a gang called the Pig Grease Gang.
The Pig Grease Gang is a beggar gang, with about thirty or forty members, all teenagers, little beggars, who have banded together forming a gang.
The name lacks grandeur, but it symbolizes a longing for a better future life.
Due to the external city blockade, the Pig Grease Gang members originally planning to leave Xiayong for Ju’an City have to stay and continue enduring hard times.
The gang leader originally thought that due to the princess and the Qu Clan eldest son’s marriage, the gang could go to Ju’an City and surely catch "joys with the people" opportunities, enough to get some hearty meals, and if lucky, grab some casually distributed rewards along the streets, a promising start for the new year.
And, on this day,
The Fan Mansion is in mourning,
The master’s wife, Lady Man, has passed away due to illness.
A lavish family’s mourning naturally isn’t insignificant, and this event is enough to alarm the entire Xiayong town.
With the leader, the Pig Grease Gang took their savings to buy a lot of coal and firewood, and at the gathering place in Ant People Alley, they made plenty of hot water to start bathing.
These little beggars rarely bathe; firstly, being too clean makes begging for food and money less effective; secondly, in winter, a layer of grime adds a layer of free insulation, and they are unwilling to wash it off.
Today is different, although their clothes are tattered, they themselves are clean and flock to the Fan Mansion gate for work; the mourning process is complex, requiring many hands, naturally offering them work, and after completing tasks, they receive a bamboo token to claim a gift.
It’s a kind of red packet, but unlike celebratory red packets, the Fan Mansion is generous, not stingy with small money; to the Pig Grease Gang, it is a significant income for the gang.
Across from the Fan Mansion, in a mutton soup shop, a fifteen-year-old dirty child holds a seven or eight-year-old girl while drinking mutton soup.
The older child eats mutton, the young girl drinks soup and eats flatbread.
The two choose the seats by the window, which are cold and less populated, to avoid disturbing other guests, hoping to make a better impression on the shopkeeper.
On the table, they also have two bamboo tokens from the Fan Mansion, with different colored tokens indicating varied exchanges like silver or a small meal.
Just then, a group enters the soup shop.
Leading them is a man dressed in brocade garments, exuding extraordinary presence, accompanied by two women and a man.
One woman is mature and beautiful, naturally charismatic after sitting, while the other appears like a little maid, and there’s another man quietly sitting in a corner, drinking from his wine sac.
Ordinary patrons typically order mutton soup with a flatbread, included as part of the set meal.
But wealthier patrons find the meat in the soup unsatisfactory, like the group just seated, ordering three bowls of mutton soup, along with two plates of cold sliced mutton, one plate of beans, and one plate of mixed wild vegetables.
In this winter, drinking mutton soup with little dishes is truly an enjoyment.
Xiayong is known for its culinary delights, thanks to the presence of the Fan Mansion here; there are plenty of visiting merchants, a higher proportion of wealthy people compared to other counties, so food is also more selective, not to mention the influx of visitors bringing diverse culinary demands, requiring constant exchange and collision for improvement.
Hence, the soup from this shop is very satisfactory to Zheng Fan.
Earlier, the shopkeeper mentioned that the master of the Fan Mansion, Fan Zhengwen, also favors their flavor, often sending people to order takeout for the mansion, so for this mourning, their family also sent offerings.
What the shopkeeper said is true, as this shop was recommended to Zheng Fan by Fan Zhengwen.
Zheng Fan once asked Fan Zhengwen, with the Fan family’s financial capability, why not acquire the shop, bring the chef into the mansion for convenience?
Fan Zhengwen, caught up in organizing his wife’s mourning, revealed a rare casualness, jokingly saying,
"If you bring someone else’s woman into your home, they might not be as enchanting."
At first, Lord Zheng thought old Fan was just joking,
Only later realized upon returning,
This guy was somewhat double entendre.
Lord Zheng tasted the soup without tearing the bread to soak, having once been fascinated by mutton soaked bread in a past life; he tried it once, only to find it disappointing.
Now, in this world, he prefers sipping the soup, then taking a bite of bread, enjoying a clear taste.
