Chapter 93: Good people and bad people have two sets of rules...
Ji Shubai did not stay in Wujiang County for long. About ten days later, he accompanied Song Jin to the old woman's place. He personally asked about Song Jin's injuries. After learning that he should focus on resting and not overwork, he would slowly recover on his own. Then he began to make preparations to return to Changzhou County.
"Are we in such a hurry to go back?"
Song Jin's relationship with Ji Shubai has become much closer recently, which allows her to relax for a rare time. She doesn't have to bend over and put on a smile everywhere. She can stand up straight and speak properly, acting like a human being. She likes such days.
So much so that even before we even separated, I already started to miss those days in my heart.
"I have to go back. This inspection of the three counties has taken too much time. The spring rice will be harvested at the end of June, followed by autumn sowing. I have to prepare for this autumn's tax collection right away. This is a big deal and I must not delay..."
Song Jin heard a strong sense of class in his long string of words, and couldn't help but think of the chickens she would have to kill again after returning, which gave her a slight headache. But then she thought about making money early, moving to a big restaurant early, and living a good life early, and her heart was full of expectations.
Two days later, everyone set off.
They took the boat all the way without getting off the boat and heading straight to Changzhou County.
Song Jin felt infinitely hopeful and relaxed. Along the way, he kept asking Ji Shubai if he could give her the red deed and the certificate of release this time. Ji Shubai was left in a state of confusion as to whether to laugh or cry.
Judging from the situation, if she is not given it, she doesn’t know how she will make a fuss.
On the day he returned to Changzhou County, Ji Shubai dismissed everyone at the dock. They were all tired from the journey, so they went home first and then made arrangements for Song Jin.
"Wait for me at my house. I'll go to the government office and bring you the things when I come back."
He said so, and Song Jin believed it. He obediently took the sedan chair and went to the Ji family's old house.
Ji Shubai didn't delay for a moment and went straight to the government office.
Lu Junnian, the Tongpan, was not very idle. He attributed this to the fact that those rich people were too idle. They were busy with lawsuits every day, which were endless and they could not finish reading the complaints. He was so annoyed that several of his hair turned white.
He had just finished one today and was sitting down to drink tea and take a break when he saw Ji Shubai walking in in casual clothes.
"Hey, our Tang Monk is back from his pilgrimage?" After saying that, he poked his head to look behind him and said, "Why can't I see your tail?"
Ji Shubai knew who he was talking about, and without explaining anything, he lifted up his skirt and sat there, and Lu Junnian asked for tea.
"How about this?"
"Not bad, it's considered good weather."
"That's good. It will be easier to collect taxes in two months. Let me tell you, the Ministry of Revenue is very tight on collecting debts right now. I guess our Queen Mother is going to build another temple."
When Lu Junnian spoke the second half of the sentence, he lowered his voice so that no one could hear him.
It’s strange to say, once a person reaches a high position, he tends to believe in something.
In the past, kings built palaces and made elixirs, and now there are empresses who believe in Buddhism and build temples. Both of them cost a lot of money.
At this point, Ji Shubai sighed: "I see the current situation. Although the land is prosperous, the people are extremely miserable."
"What happened again?"
Ji Shubai said: "Although I only visited three counties during this inspection, I saw that the number of refugees who lost their land increased significantly. If this continues, you will be involved in lawsuits in the future."
After hearing this, Lu Junnian lost his taste for tea. "Well, you are in Suzhou Prefecture, at least there is no prince to cause trouble for you. Just wait, there is another prince in our capital waiting to be conferred a title. If the time comes and he casually takes away thousands of acres of fertile land, who knows where the people will suffer. It is better not to mention it."
Both of them looked worried when they talked about this, and in the end Ji Shubai changed the subject.
"I didn't come to you today for this matter. You should give me Miss Lu's red deed and documents."
When Lu Junnian heard this, the corner of his mouth twitched: "When did you come back?"
"just."
Lu Junnian sneered: "You really care about it. You just came back today and you haven't even changed your clothes yet, but you come to ask me for something."
Ji Shubai blushed when he heard this. He was indeed too enthusiastic.
"Now that I'm here, just give it to me. Why bother letting others worry about it day and night?"
Lu Junnian stared at Ji Shubai's flushed face and sighed inexplicably: "You, don't blame me for not reminding you, you will fall into her hands sooner or later."
"No, she promised me that she would do business honestly and not do anything out of line. I also told her that if she has any problems in the future, she can come to me and there is no need to give me bad advice. How could she get into trouble?"
After hearing this, Lu Junnian slapped his forehead and shook his head, saying, "You, you are so stupid. Forget it, I will do you a favor today. I will give it to you. In the future, we will see what happens."
Song Jin was familiar with the Ji family's old house. She greeted the two elderly people as soon as she entered the door. Enthusiastic and cheerful young people are always liked by the elderly, so when Mother Chen saw her, she asked her if she was hungry or thirsty. She had simmered a pig's head over low heat in the morning and chopped it into small pieces, which was very good when mixed with noodles.
Song Jin's appetite was whetted by what he heard, and he asked for a bowl without hesitation. While eating, he talked about what he had seen and heard along the way. The two old people stayed at home all year round, and they found Song Jin's words fresh and enjoyed listening to them.
The government office was a little far away, and it would take Ji Shubai some time to go back and forth. After Song Jin finished talking, she felt bored and said she wanted to take a walk in the backyard. Since she was familiar with the place, the two old people didn't stop her.
Song Jin said she was just strolling around, but actually she had something on her mind: she was thinking about something.
She stood in the study, staring at the thing with her head tilted for a long time, and was sure that there was no way she could take it away quietly, so she could only flatter Ji Shubai and ask for it.
At about 3 p.m., Ji Shubai came back and saw Song Jin staring at the bookshelf as soon as he entered the door.
He smiled and said, "What are you looking at? I brought back your things."
Song Jin turned around suddenly and looked at the two pieces of paper in Ji Shubai's hand.
Two pieces of paper that cost her life.
"Thank you, Master Ji."
Song Jin cheered and rushed over to grab the two pieces of paper, but Ji Shubai hid his hands behind his back and said, "I haven't finished talking yet."
"You say it."
When asking for help from others, Song Jin is very well behaved.
"I'm giving you this document today, and you're my beloved. Do you understand?"
Song Jin blinked twice and pondered in his heart: "What does it mean?"
"You have to be a good person."
Song Jin's eyes almost popped out.
Stereotype.
In Song Jin's mind, the word "becoming a good woman" seemed to be only related to prostitutes. She never expected that it would fall on her head today.
After thinking about it carefully, she understood the meaning.
Song Jin was registered as a slave in the government's yellow book, while common people were registered as good people. Now that she has been removed from the list, she has changed from a slave to a good person, and is about to become a good woman.
Song Jin swallowed his saliva and asked stammeringly, "So?"
"You can't act rashly like you did before, do you understand?"
"......Can't I be a kitchen helper?"
Ji Shubai sighed and said, "I know you have different ideas in your mind, but this may not be a good thing. Cooking is your ability to be the head of the family, so I will naturally not say anything to you. But remember, now is different from the past, there are some things that cannot be done, and some words that cannot be said. You are still young, and you will naturally understand what I mean in the future."
Song Jin didn't need to wait until later, at least she understood part of the meaning right now, and also understood why some books were written that way.
When she first read "Dream of the Red Chamber", she noticed that Xiren and Baoyu did not feel ashamed at all when having sex, and were even a little proud, so they called themselves "we", which caused Qingwen to squeeze them out.
The You sisters' closeness to men caused many rumors and they were criticized.
She didn't understand it at first, but today she understands that this is the difference between good and bad.
Good people and bad people have two sets of rules.
The reason why Song Jin was treated specially in the past was not necessarily because of her great ability or because everyone was tolerant of her, but more because of her low status and no one cared about her character.
But it was different when she became a lover. She had to follow the rules of a lover. She could no longer make stripping jokes with Ji Shubai, nor could she roll up her sleeves casually in public.
Song Jin stretched out his hand to grab the document but ended up scratching his head instead: "I should... be careful."
Seeing that she was restrained, Ji Shubai comforted her instead: "Don't worry too much, just be careful. If you want to dress up as a man, don't be too ostentatious and don't attract attention."
Song Jin nodded and said okay softly.
She followed Ji Shubai's advice and understood that this was both a constraint and a protection. She had seen many cases where the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.
Song Jin has always been a timid person and doesn't like to go against mainstream thinking. That's what heroes do, but she doesn't want to be a hero.
Being noticed is a kind of love, but also a curse. Song Jin believes that she cannot bear such attention, so she simply does not provoke it and just wants to keep a low profile. However, it is difficult for her to keep a low profile in the Ming Dynasty. There is no other way, so she can only try her best to keep it that way.
Ji Shubai put the two pieces of paper into her hands, and Song Jin's unhappy heart came back to life.
"Sir," Song Jin said tentatively, "I have a favor to ask of you."
"You say." After Ji Shubai's earnest teachings, he saw that Song Jin was quite willing to accept his advice, so he was very pleased and showed infinite tenderness at this moment.
"I thought that in the future, I should not only do my job well in the kitchen, but also read more books so that I can understand the world."
Song Jin grasped Ji Shubai's thoughts. The dean of studies liked to hear words like "study hard", and sure enough, Ji Shubai was very happy after hearing it.
"That's good. What kind of books do you want to read? I have some here, you can choose whatever you want."
When he entered the room, he saw Song Jin staring at the bookshelf, but he didn't expect that she would have such thoughts, and he was happy from the bottom of his heart.
Song Jin couldn't wait to put the documents into his arms and said, "Then I won't be polite. I will choose it myself."
"Go ahead."
Song Jin turned around and ran straight towards a stack of books on the bookshelf. Ji Shubai saw him from behind and the gentle smile on his face disappeared instantly.
There are quite a few books on Ji Shubai's bookshelf, ranging from the enlightenment reading "Youxue Qionglin" to the "Shangshu" which focuses on political history, from Han Dynasty Yuefu to Tang Dynasty poetry, from Song Dynasty poetry to previous dynasty operas. It can be said to be rich and colorful, with everything you can think of.
But Song Jin didn't choose any of them. She hugged a thick stack of "Water Margin".
A book full of bandits.
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