Chapter 24 Serving the Servants with a Fistful of Tears
The system asked Yuan Yan: [Host, this isn't the way to the banquet, is it? Where are we going?]
Yuan Yan said, "After acting with them for so many days, it's time to get down to business."
"Let's go for a walk around the city and take a look."
Throughout the journey, Yuan Yan leaned against the carriage, gazing at the pedestrians and vendors on the street outside, without saying a word.
As Yuan Yan passed by a mansion, he saw from afar that the mansion gate was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, the side gate was wide open, musicians were playing, and servants were scattering handfuls of lucky money at the gate, attracting many people to gather and pick it up.
"Stop the car," Yuan Yan said.
"Whose residence is this? Why is it so lively?" she asked the accompanying guards.
Yu Liu sent someone to inquire, and they returned with the information shortly afterward.
“Your Highness, this is the residence of Governor Wang,” Yu Liu replied. “I heard from the servants that today is the day Governor Wang’s second daughter is taking a concubine.”
"The maidservant was the son of a wealthy merchant. His family was well-off, and he brought a lot of gold and silver as a dowry. He was quite well-regarded. So even though it was just a maidservant's marriage, the ceremony was very grand."
Yuan Yan then asked, "Have you found out which family that young servant belongs to?"
"This..." Yu Liu didn't expect His Highness to ask such detailed questions after just a casual glance, even wanting to know the family background of the governor's daughter's servant. She was immediately stumped.
"Should I send someone to inquire again?" Yu Liu said, scratching his head.
“Yes, go ahead and ask carefully to find out which wealthy family in the city has a son who is eligible to marry into the governor’s mansion.” Yuan Yan nodded.
Upon hearing this, Yu Liu sent two guards to gather information, while he himself continued onward with Yuan Yan.
The carriage continued forward, and Yuan Yan did not tell it to stop, so it kept going.
Gradually, the surrounding streets and alleys turned into vast fields, and the population became sparse.
"Your Highness, further ahead are villages and farmland. Would you like to turn back?" Yu Liu whispered a reminder, afraid that Yuan Yan might walk past.
To everyone's surprise, Yuan Yan showed no sign of astonishment. Instead, he said, "No need. Stop your horse. This is the place I came from."
There's nothing here but fields and farmers; it's just an ordinary village. What brings Your Highness here?
Yu Liu was puzzled, but seeing Yuan Yan get off the carriage, she quickly followed.
Yuan Yan was walking in the fields when he saw a farmer working in the field.
"Auntie, I'm thirsty as I pass by. Could I have a drink of water?" Yuan Yan asked.
The farmer looked up and saw a richly dressed woman with servants behind her asking him for water. He was immediately filled with fear.
"My family only has well water. If you don't mind, I'll go and fetch it right away."
After saying that, she told her youngest daughter, who was helping with the work, to sit there while she went to the front room to fetch water.
A little while later, the farmer returned with water in a broken bowl with a chip on the rim. Yuan Yan accepted it without any hesitation and thanked him.
"Thank you, ma'am."
So, taking advantage of the time she was drinking water, Yuan Yan struck up a conversation with her.
"Auntie, this year the weather has been favorable, so the harvest should be good."
"Thanks to God, the harvest is better than last year," the farmer said, but there was no joy on his face.
"That's a good thing, as it will provide more food for the winter."
"Oh, not at all..." the farmer sighed. "We're just barely making ends meet. Whether we harvest more or less, it doesn't matter to us."
“That’s a bit strange. You just said the harvest was better, but now you say the surplus grain isn’t much. Where did the missing grain go?” Yuan Yan asked.
"My lord, you don't know, it's true that our harvest is better this year, but the imperial tax grain has also increased... Originally, we could have some left over, but after the officials and their wives finished collecting the grain, it's no different from previous years."
Yu Liu listened in disbelief and couldn't help but say, "Auntie, are you mistaken? The amount of tax grain collected by the imperial court is fixed; how could it suddenly increase or change?"
The farmer then looked at Yu Liu behind Yuan Yan and said, "Madam, we won't lie. The amount collected by the court hasn't changed, but the officials' wives below will make sure to collect more."
“Some of the officials’ wives would fill the bushels to the brim and then keep piling them up until they were overflowing. They would kick the bushels a few times in front of us, scattering the grain all over the ground, and then collect it into the cloth bags they brought with them. This way, we would pay more than 20 or 30 percent more in taxes than we were supposed to pay... This was a common occurrence.”
Yu Liu had grown up in the capital and had never heard of such a thing before. Upon hearing this, he was speechless with astonishment.
"This is blatant exploitation!"
No wonder the harvest was good, but the people's lives didn't improve. It turns out that all the benefits were for others, and the money all went to the higher-ups.
"Auntie, take this money as payment for my water." Upon hearing this, Yuan Yan had already made up his mind. He ordered his guards to bring some loose silver and gave it to the farmer as a reward.
"It's just a bowl of water, you can't accept it, you can't accept it..." The farmer dared not accept so much money.
"Please accept this, ma'am. You can also buy some food and clothes for your daughter." After saying this, Yuan Yan turned around and led Yu Liu back to the carriage.
After listening for so long, Yu Liu finally understood that His Highness had come out today to inquire about the matter of the grain transport.
So she asked, "Your Highness, shall we continue?"
"No need, that's enough for today, let's go back now."
Yuan Yan said, "Have someone investigate the matter of Governor Wang's daughter taking a concubine as soon as possible and report back."
"Yes, Your Highness," Yu Liu replied.
...
On the way back, when we passed a long street, the pedestrians in front of us blocked the street entrance.
The guards immediately went to check the situation and returned to report to Yuan Yan.
"Your Highness, there are beggars carrying water jugs ahead, and a crowd of onlookers is blocking the carriage. Perhaps I should go and drive them away?"
Yuan Yan, who had been resting with his eyes closed in the carriage, opened them upon hearing this and stopped the guards from doing so.
"A beggar carrying a jar...that's rather unusual."
Yuan Yan looked outside.
But let's talk about what happened before a cup of tea.
A woman, covered in dirt, went door to door on the street asking questions.
"Shopkeeper, do you need any workers? I'm looking for a job..."
"Why don't you try looking at other shops? My shop is small and we don't need any more staff," the first shopkeeper replied.
"Shopkeeper, I don't want wages, just provide me with two meals a day and I'll work for you, okay?" Ah Man felt extremely hungry, so she touched her stomach and went to the second shop to ask.
This time, seeing Ah Man's dirty appearance, the shopkeeper, fearing it would affect his business, didn't have the patience to listen and waved him away.
When they arrived at the third shop, Aman pleaded with the shopkeeper, "I'm really strong, please hire me... I don't want wages, I just want food, I can do any dirty or hard work."
The shopkeeper was skeptical, looking at Ah Man's appearance with a mixture of belief and doubt.
"If you're really that strong, then lift up that pickle jar by the door and let me see."
Her large vegetable vat was specially made; it was many times larger than ordinary vats and filled with pickled vegetables for sale, making it quite heavy. Normally, it took her and her eldest daughter working together to move it.
Upon hearing this, Aman stepped forward without saying a word and was about to hug the jar.
The pedestrians who were drawn over exclaimed in surprise.
"They actually picked it up..."
However, at this moment, Aman was not as relaxed as others imagined.
She was so focused on agreeing to try it that she completely forgot she hadn't eaten for days and had no energy at all.
Just as he was holding the large vat and trying to lift it slowly, his vision suddenly went black, his hand abruptly loosened, and the heavy vat fell back to the ground.
The onlookers sighed with regret.
The shop owner felt a pang of heartache, exclaiming, "Oh, my vegetable jar!"
"You beggar, you can't even lift a vegetable jar, and you call that strong? I think it's more like you're just bragging... No, no, you'd better leave now!" The shopkeeper waved him away.
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