Chapter 114 Departure Ship! A Play! A Promise Made by Director Yu
The Li family, whose master and servants were about to embark on a long journey, chose a fork in the road not far from their villa. They found an ancient locust tree, and the mistress, Changsun Qingjing, personally tied colorful silk ribbons to it to "entangle the road god." The master, Li Shimin, took a handful of beans from the estate official and scattered them on the fork in the road to ward off disaster.
"...May you not encounter evil winds, nor be harmed by poison..." He was somewhat unsettled and almost forgot his prayer.
"Wife, the villagers have come to see us off!" Ah Cai exclaimed joyfully.
"Go on, say goodbye to Grandpa, Mom, and your brother." Changsun Qingjing saw Changsun Minxing leading a group of skipping children running along the path. "Brother, I knew you wouldn't keep your word. I wanted to keep a low profile and disappear like fleeting clouds. But your announcement has only caused a commotion and wasted half a day's work..."
"Buddha bless me, Father, Mother!" Guoniang ran towards her family.
“Shimin, Qingjing, the villagers asked me if it would be beneath your dignity to come and see you off. I swore to the heavens that you were definitely not the kind of couple who were alienated from the common people, and only then did everyone feel at ease to come…”
Changsun Qingjing recognized the middle-aged man at the head of the group as the same person who had renewed the land deed with the Li family at Jingyin Temple last month. He had previously hesitated over the division of the land between the landlord and tenant, but now he was beaming as he poured a farewell toast for Li Shimin.
At least for now, the Tang State government can protect his family from attacks by the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War, and ensure that his entire family can live in peace. He is content and satisfied with his current life.
Only Changsun Qingjing noticed Li Shimin's momentary hesitation. He readily drank the best wine the villagers could offer, which he didn't like, and said with some shame, "Unfortunately, I am weak and powerless, and my words carry little weight, so I couldn't help you more... Please don't blame me."
"What are you saying, young master?" After the eldest village head offered wine to the gods, he solemnly bowed to Li Shimin and said, "After the autumn harvest, everyone will be waiting for you to return so we can have a feast. We'll chip in, please don't mind."
"Alright, I will definitely come back to drink with you all."
"Young master, we're waiting for you to become prime minister!"
“Young master, we heard that you can meet the Emperor in Hedong. You are a man of noble character, and the Emperor will surely appreciate you and entrust you with important responsibilities.”
"When you become prime minister, remember to restore the land distribution to the people! You must persuade the emperor to abolish all corvée labor!"
"Young master, Master Changsun praised my son, Fuyou, for being intelligent and quick-witted, and for studying just as well as other children his age from noble families... Young master, when you meet the Emperor, don't forget to ask him to reinstate the policy of submitting a petition for official entry into the country. My son, Fuyou, can serve the country in the future..."
Guoniang saw her father step forward and interrupt, and nudged him lightly with some displeasure: "Father, you've had too much to drink again and are talking nonsense."
Changsun Qingjing felt that Li Shimin was indeed the most shameless young man she knew. Faced with these flattering words or sincere hopes, he didn't refuse at all, but simply agreed: "Alright, when I meet His Majesty, I'll try to talk to him about it..."
Changsun Qingjing was also surrounded by a group of women. She felt ashamed that she had only checked the mulberry grove, cleaned the silkworm room, made a few crooked silkworm cocoons with the weavers, and added a few new looms to the brocade workshop.
She felt that the men and women of Mangshan were the most innocent and lovely people in the world. As long as you shared joys and sorrows with them even once, condescended to talk to them once, put yourself in their shoes and took action once... they would naturally be regarded as people to whom you could entrust your fate.
She was trying on the dark red gradient robe with a lion and bead pattern that the Zhang family had woven for her over the past few days.
“Madam Changsun, we didn’t know what patterns you liked. We just had the children secretly ask Master Changsun, and he said you liked patterns like lynxes, tigers, and leopards, so we wove a pair of lion patterns. Please don’t mind if you don’t like them…”
"Don't mention it, I really like it... I'll meet you all wearing this shawl during the autumn feast."
Everyone laughed and clapped.
Guoniang carefully put away the cloak, approached the village official, and whispered, "Do you still remember what Lady Changsun repeatedly told you to do?"
"With such a shrewd and capable new mistress, how could I forget?" the official teased. "Liu Niangzi and I will take care of Li Fanniang and her family as if they were my husband's cousins, and we will never let her leave the villa easily. Don't worry, she is now Tang Gong's niece, a lady in her boudoir. Who would see her easily? It's not like there haven't been fugitives harbored in the Luoyang villa before. As long as Li Fanniang doesn't cause any trouble or have any strange idea of sneaking out of the villa to find her husband in Hedong, I have a way to resolve the trouble and ensure her family's safety."
"Thank you for your trouble, sir." Guoniang gestured to Changsun Qingjing from beside the clerk, and Changsun Qingjing nodded his thanks to the clerk.
After a long commotion, Changsun Minxing broke off a new willow branch and handed it to Li Shimin and his wife.
"The willow branches are green, the road is smooth; I wish to hold the willow's green and brush it against the face of the emperor!"
"I accept Master Changsun's auspicious words." Li Shimin accepted the willow branch with both hands and solemnly bid farewell to everyone.
With the wheels rumbling and horses neighing, and the farewell wine still seeping into the loess soil, Li Shimin and Changsun Qingjing embarked on their journey to Puzhou.
Under the influence of the cloudy wine, Changsun Qingjing's eyes felt hot.
The carriage had been traveling for a long time when she curiously lifted the curtain, and the villagers were still watching her go at the crossroads.
In the front row, Changsun Minxing lifted Zheng Fuyou high in his arms, the willow branch in the child's hand swaying from side to side, seemingly connecting with the blue sky on the horizon...
Around 3 PM that day, the Li family's caravan arrived at Luokou. Because people with families were turning to waterways due to the uprisings on land, and large ships were mostly requisitioned by the imperial court, there was a shortage of boats available for rent.
The Li family had no choice but to compromise and share a luxury boat with monks and low-ranking officials.
"This is a truly unprecedented predicament," Madam Liu complained to A-Cai. "In previous years, when traveling by water to Hedong, the Li family would rent the entire boat, making it convenient for the women to move around. But now we're stuck on the upper deck for more than ten days, which is extremely inconvenient..."
The Li family was in a hurry to get on their way and did not want to delay any longer, so they negotiated with the ship owner repeatedly and booked the upper-level sleeping quarters, halls, and some compartments on the middle level that could be repurposed at any time.
The inconvenience was that Changsun Qingjing inevitably met with men outside the family, making it impossible to completely shield him; the music troupe on the other side of the middle floor was noisy day and night, with the sounds of clinking glasses constantly ringing out; the monks' morning and evening chanting could be heard through the gaps into the upper hall... However, the young people who had experienced a funeral could still bear it.
This boat has traveled between Luokou and Zhizhushan (Sanmenxia) many times, and the boatmen are very familiar with the waterway. Although they are sailing against the current, the current is slow in spring, so the journey is relatively smooth. At least until they reach Zhizhushan, there is no need to worry too much about accidents during the voyage.
The only thing that made Changsun Qingjing feel awkward was that she had to share a room with Li Shimin again after nightfall. Over the past few months, she had grown accustomed to this strange yet reasonable relationship that was somewhere between brother and sister and confidant.
She had already chosen several strong maids to accompany her to bed, but Lady Liu had some doubts. She explained that in previous years, the Li family always rented the entire large ship, and there were no outsiders on board, so it was fine for the ladies to be accompanied only by maids. This time was different; there were many people around, and she was afraid something might happen. She insisted that her young husband accompany and protect his wife at night.
Lady Liu had never been optimistic about the self-control of young people during the mourning period, so she kept a close eye on the two of them as if they were thieves.
However, she has now seen and heard the truth or rumors of the turbulent times, and she is really worried about leaving the young mistress to be guarded by only a few maids who could not even protect themselves when thieves came.
The elderly and frail wet nurse had no time to spare, so she could only turn a blind eye and endure the agonizing ten-day voyage on the Yellow River before thinking about anything else.
When Li Shimin entered the bedchamber with a candlestick in hand, Changsun Qingjing was looking out the window at the night view. She was neatly dressed and didn't turn her head, but her back visibly shrank back, clearly uncomfortable with the awkward and ambiguous atmosphere.
He sat down beside his wife, moved one hand close to her knee, and gently squeezed her fingers: "Guanyinbi, I..."
He wanted to say that he was also very embarrassed and awkward. He had repeatedly told Lady Liu that Changsun Qingjing could handle any unforeseen circumstances, but his suggestions were rejected one by one.
If it weren't for Madam Liu's repeated instructions and admonitions, he wouldn't have insisted on staying here.
Changsun Qingjing withdrew his fingers from Li Shimin's grasp, grabbed Li Shimin's wrist with his own, and placed Li Shimin's presumptuous hand against his knee. He jokingly flicked the hand twice, then moved his own hand further away...
Just as Li Shimin was about to speak up in his defense, he suddenly realized that he was enjoying this game of feigned indifference.
A bronze lion paperweight was thrown between the two men.
"Is your foot injury healed, young master?" Changsun Qingjing turned his head, smiling broadly.
"I was just daydreaming," he said self-deprecatingly.
Unbeknownst to him, the seemingly self-controlled girl before him was also under his spell, just as she had been in the mulberry grove that day. Burning passion scorched both her and the other. Had he been any more resolute and stubborn, her facade of composure would have crumbled, and her propriety would have completely crumbled.
Changsun Qingjing held a book of "Collection of Separation and Combination Poems (a book of word puzzles)" in his hand, but he couldn't guess a single word and just stared blankly.
Li Shimin didn't dare laugh at her for staring at the same line of text for so long, so he simply went to the window.
During night voyages, windproof lanterns were hung on the copper lampposts around the ship, and archers took their positions when a blurry shadow appeared on the water in the distance.
Footsteps and shouts filled the deck, creating a chaotic scene.
"I'll be right back!" Li Shimin finally found a reasonable excuse to leave.
One by one, passengers arrived at the connecting corridor and deck with knives and bows, and they decided to work together to deal with the sudden bandits on the Yellow River.
Only when the other vessel approached, beating its drums, did the people on the tower ship realize it was a patrol boat. The tower ship responded with its horn, and the two vessels passed each other.
After the scare, the ship owner personally came to the deck to reassure the guests and advised them to get some rest.
The boy, whose talents had no place to be used, returned to his bedroom, a place filled with awkwardness that could at any moment ignite his strange competitiveness and greedy possessiveness.
Changsun Qingjing was already fast asleep, so at least half of the bed was left for him.
The female musicians in the middle section were still playing and singing "The Song of Xizhou," and the sorrowful and melodious tune was making people feel irritable.
He eventually found a piece of cloth in the room and stuffed it into his ears to fall asleep.
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