Chapter 73 The Fields (2) The allure of innocence is to carve out the heart of a young man...
The dim sky began to crack, and a wild and unruly wind swept through the forked branches, trying to wake the pair of doves who were greedily eating mulberries.
The young couple, however, remained completely unaware.
Changsun Qingjing clutched the Shu brocade fabric at Li Shimin's chest, unconsciously yearning for more warmth and tenderness.
The allure of innocence is a sharp blade that pierces the heart of a young man. Just as he said, his heart was thus hollowed out inch by inch.
The two instinctively pressed closer together, their burning desire filling the gaps of their innocent past.
The two, caught up in a moment of madness, had no idea who had become the first captive in whose net, and they didn't care at all who got to be the first to embrace after the Lantern Festival.
This embrace carried a touch of domineering arrogance, a touch of innocent purity, a touch of surging desire, and a touch of mutual reliance amidst hardship.
Everything was just right, flawless.
The withered branches of the poplar tree above them, too heavy with the silk wrapped around them and too urgent with the wild wind, fell onto their shoulders.
The two dodged hastily, still panting, but their intertwined fingers remained entangled.
His chest felt truly empty, while her palm could still feel his pounding, burning heartbeat responding to the trembling of her pulse.
Shiny, ornate, heavy silks and satins, along with withered, hollow, and rotten branches, fell tragically at their feet.
The two doves then truly came to their senses.
“Oh, this is the true face of Dongdu.” Changsun Qingjing murmured, “Even the most beautiful silks and satins cannot stop the withering of dead branches and fallen leaves.”
That's great!
She just wanted to escape Luoyang.
She longed to seek refuge in the farmland at the foot of Mangshan Mountain, and even more so than Li Shimin, she longed to dine on the six elements, drink the dew, and breathe in the pure and harmonious air amidst the mountains, marshes, and fields.
In conjunction with the emperor's insincere ceremony of planting rice fields, the common people also worshipped the god of agriculture after the Lantern Festival in preparation for spring plowing.
The Li family estate on the outskirts of Luoyang. Even as the morning mist still shrouded the fields, dozens of farmers had already gathered on the field ridges. A thin frost covered the withered grass between the plots, and hibernating insects.
In February, the ground is still frozen, but it can be plowed vigorously. Although it takes a lot of effort, the harvest will surely be doubled afterward. The farmers, holding iron plows, led out their oxen and prepared to harness them.
"Three people per group, let's divide the land into plots first!"
The person leading everyone in turning the soil was an old man who had participated in the Battle of Jiankang. He was unimpressed by the young master's eagerness to participate in spring plowing.
Noble families always produce a few princes and nobles with questionable minds, harboring dreams of governing the country and saving the people from their suffering, who then come to share their joys and sorrows for a few days.
Unfortunately, their grand dreams are unlikely to last until the end of February.
After tilling the frozen soil, repairing the plows and hoes, planting mulberry and hemp, and digging irrigation ditches, their dreams were crushed by the tedious and tiring work, almost to the point of disillusionment. Without the need for advice from parents, relatives, or friends, these young masters would never set foot in the fields again and would return to the life of extravagance and pleasure.
"The Duke repeatedly instructed that it is truly commendable that the young master volunteered to work alongside the farmers. Let him experience some hardship, and he will know when to back down..." The official relayed Li Yuan's message.
The old man led the way by bowing before the incense table, signifying that he had offered sacrifices to the God of Fields and received protection.
The official chuckled and said, "That's good. Coincidentally, that's what I was thinking too. Young master, you're young and impetuous, and you always think you can change the world with your own hands. Once you suffer a little, you'll become more sensible and obediently return to Luoyang to continue your life as a spoiled brat."
"On another note," the old man gestured to the boy's burly figure, patted his chest and back and upper arms and laughed, "If he had been born into an ordinary family, Young Master Li would truly be a good man at repairing fences, hunting, farming and fetching water."
"Nonsense! Be careful the Duke finds out you've spoken ill of his beloved son and he'll cut out your disrespectful tongue!" The official patted the old man's shoulder and laughed.
Li Shimin, dressed in his most worn and simple short robe, walked at the back of the farmers' procession, carrying a shovel and observing.
No one taught him how to use a sled. So he followed the old man’s instructions and slowly made his way across the frozen ground with one of the small farming teams of two oxen and three men.
After the two oxen turned the corner, Li Shimin finally took over the plowman's duties.
He gripped the plow tip and, mimicking the actions of the other experienced plowsharers, adjusted the plowshare to drive the iron plowshare deep into the hardened frozen soil.
After a winter of dormancy, the soil was as hard as a rock. When the plow tip struck it, sparks flew, making his hands numb. At first, his movements were a little clumsy, making him stand out from the other farmers, which attracted the attention and laughter of the farm women who had gone to the mulberry grove on the terrace to dry silkworm eggs. Soon, however, he got the hang of it, turning over the frozen soil with the plowshare, revealing a mixture of black and yellow like dragon scales peeling off armor.
The two ox-pullers initially thought he was just a rich young master with eccentricities, and were only waiting for him to tire himself out and ask to rest. Unexpectedly, the young man guiding the plow moved upstream like a boat going against the current, gradually reaching the middle of the stream, showing no intention of stopping.
Passersby were merely surprised that a young man with a demeanor so different from the other farmers was actually diligently plowing the frozen soil here, and no longer mocked his awkward and ridiculous behavior.
"Young master, take a rest. Even oxen need to catch their breath," a ox-leader advised.
"If the three of us work together, how quickly can we plow and loosen an acre of land?" Li Shimin asked.
"Less than three hours."
"Okay. You teach me how to turn around."
Every now and then, the underground burrows of the hidden mice would be pierced by deep furrows and ravaged by sharp iron plowshares, causing these little blind gray-black mice to either perish under the plow or scatter and flee.
The children, watching the spectacle, playfully released the raccoon cats to chase the hidden mouse, and casually grabbed clods of dirt, rolled them into balls, and threw them at the mouse that had nowhere to escape.
The three of them controlled the oxen and the straight-shafted plow, slowly turning the corner, and then casually sat down to rest on the edge of the field.
"Hey, you two, don't just stand around doing nothing. Check if there's any hard soil in the newly dug furrows, and find a mallet to break it up!" a cowherd yelled at his sons who were letting the cat throw dirt.
One of the children, around ten years old, ran to his father carrying a rough earthenware pot with a rope tied to it. He took three gourd ladles and poured a bowl of millet soup for each of the three children.
Upon seeing the unfamiliar young master of the Li family, the child asked curiously, "My mother and elder sister are pruning branches and cleaning the silkworm rearing room in the mulberry grove on the terrace. Is your wife there too?"
“She’s here too. She made plans to prune the trees with your mother and sister today. She’s not very familiar with these tasks, just like me. But my wife is very clever; with a little guidance, she’ll pick it up naturally.” He took the millet soup from the child and drank it all in one gulp. The simple farmhouse hot drink had a slightly spicy taste from the scallions and ginger; it wasn’t very palatable, but it wasn’t unpalatable either.
"Please thank your mother for me. The millet soup warms the stomach and dispels the cold." He thanked the poor child like a true gentleman, and then asked, "Have you started learning to read?"
"I can't read much." The child shrugged and, urged by his friends, went to break up the frozen soil at the newly dug furrow.
Looking at the weary oxen, Li Shimin asked the farmer who was leading them, "Father, could you teach me how to use a treadle plow?"
Several returning geese skimmed over the churning mud and flew higher. Li Shimin suddenly thought of the afternoon he had met Zhang Liang: "I wonder if he caught any live geese?"
In the distance, the faint sound of clappers could be heard, as if the village was patrolling and reciting Emperor Yang Guang's affected "Edict to Encourage Agriculture": "In the capital region, one must make the most of the land..."
"What a load of crap, they're going to drag all the able-bodied men out to build palaces and roads again," Li Shimin muttered to himself, feeling sullen.
The young people ignored the geese fleeing into the sky and focused only on the fields in front of them.
Standing in the mulberry grove on the terrace, Qingjing saw new furrows being shaped, children chasing each other, mice scurrying about, startling sparrows foraging at the foot of Mangshan Mountain...
Several elderly farm women recorded the number of mulberry trees with grayish-white cracked bark and rotten roots, and marked the dead trees.
“We’ll have the men replant the mulberry trees another day. In January, we can start by tending to the orchard and flower garden. That flat area, slightly higher than the millet field, is the hemp field. Once the men have finished tilling that field, we’ll loosen the soil in the hemp field first.” The leading woman said to Changsun Qingjing, “My late mother also raised silkworms with us. She was a very interesting and kind lady of the state. She could serve the Empress and raise silkworms as a lady of high rank, and she could also chat and laugh with us humble country folk like a true expert in sericulture.”
Changsun Qingjing nodded and said, "The whole family misses Mother very much."
"The young master's personality is somewhat like the late madam's..." The peasant woman smiled as she watched her son, who was taking advantage of the oxen's rest to ask someone how to use a plow in the fields ahead, "The old folks all say that the young master will eventually be unable to endure the toil of farming and will leave us rough folks without saying goodbye. I don't think so..."
“He won’t back down halfway,” Changsun Qingjing said definitively. “Neither will we.”
"Ladies, check if you still have musk sachets on you. Quickly take them off and place them outside the mulberry grove, making sure they don't touch the silkworms in the silkworm room!" the peasant woman shouted a reminder.
Several novices who were pruning mulberry branches hurriedly fled from the forest, taking off their sachets and placing them far away by the roadside to prevent the silkworm eggs from rotting when they came into contact with the musk while cleaning the silkworm room.
This group of people were all confidants of Madam Dou during her lifetime, and they were directly involved in the illegal act of the Li family keeping the superior seeds from the Ministry of Agriculture.
Now that Changsun Qingjing has taken over the manor's sericulture affairs, the head sericulture worker must explain the details to the new mistress.
After entering the secluded silkworm rearing room on the terrace, the group began to clean up the dust and debris that had accumulated since the twelfth lunar month and repair the silkworm rearing equipment.
Just as Changsun Qingjing was finishing making a simple silkworm cake under the guidance of a skilled silkworm farmer, Acai rushed over to deliver the news.
Changsun Qingjing excitedly opened his brother's letter. Upon reading it, he found that Changsun Wuji hadn't even offered a simple greeting like "It's still chilly in early spring, how are you feeling?" Instead, he used large, bold, cursive characters resembling a lone tumbleweed swaying in the wind, or startled sandstorms, to replace the usual poetic inquiries.
You have ruined me!
Author's note: Important point: We didn't get to kiss. Maybe next time! [laughing emoji]
Farming was genuine; the eldest grandson wasn't just a cheerleader—she truly went to clean the silkworm rearing room. The silkworm eggs were theoretically issued by the imperial court, but many large families were prone to breaking the law, especially since the matriarch of this family was Madam Dou… Therefore, Qingjing needed to hand over the work to Madam Dou's confidants.
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