Great Tang Idyll

The team went straight to a village next to Tu'qiao Village. This was where Magistrate Jia wanted to deliver the gifts. Some of the gifts were also supposed to be delivered to the Li Manor too, where there were also a few households living in poor conditions.

Magistrate Jia resisted the urge to go find Han Wang'zhu directly. Together with the bailiffs, he started to deliver the items to the poor people in the village. Seeing the people kneeling and kowtowing while bursting into tears after they received the items, Magistrate Jia felt a little better, even though he had bought those items at a high price from the Zhang manor.

Once they finished giving the gifts to this village's villagers, Magistrate Jia did not plan to immediately go to the village next to the Li manor to deliver goods. He ordered the bailiffs to go straight to the Between The Water And Clouds. He did not go upstairs to eat, and instead, together with four bailiffs, he went to the area Han Wang'zhu lived in. Of these four bailiffs, two of them were bought by Magistrate Jia, and Magistrate Jia intended to confront the other two later in the future.

As soon as Magistrate Jia entered the yard, Han Wang'zhu greeted him as if he had known ahead of time. Magistrate Jia arranged for the two bailiffs that he had not bribed yet to stay at the entrance, and he led the other two to the outside of the house, letting the two guard there.

This time, Magistrate Jia and Han Wang'zhu were extra careful. They didn't even plan to talk aloud. After exchanging a few words of greetings, Han Wang'zhu took out a brush, and the two of them wrote on the paper while covering each other.

"Magistrate Jia, why are you here today?" Han Wang'zhu wrote on the paper.

"The Zhang manor has made money again by selling firecrackers. However, I don't know how the firecrackers are made. When I got people to replicate them, they failed." Magistrate Jia also wrote.

Han Wang'zhu nodded. He thought about it, and wrote on the paper, "What does my lord wish? You don't want them to continue selling firecrackers?"

"No, we should think of another method. Don't you already have an idea? Say it, and I will do it." Magistrate Jia was not stupid. He knew that he can't stop people from selling things, mainly because the bailiffs won't listen to him. He couldn't transfer troops from other places. Unless the Zhang family manor has committed a serious matter, he won't dare to go to the people supporting him from behind for help.

Han Wang'zhu hesitated when he saw what Magistrate Jia wrote, and after a while he wrote, "It's too early. It's better to not do it during the New Year, so as not to cause trouble."

Magistrate Jia felt aggrieved again. He didn't know how to make a choice. Should he make a move or wait for a bit? Magistrate Jia wiped his sweat covered forehead. He gritted his teeth and wrote on the paper, "We can't wait any longer. Longer nights are filled with more dreams. Come up with a plan and then I will execute it myself."

"My lord, do you want to reconsider this again?" Han Wang'zhu persuaded again.

"No need." Magistrate Jia insisted.

"Alright, someone will hand over the details to my lord tomorrow. Don't let anyone else see it." After learning that Magistrate Jia wanted to make a move during the New Year, Han Wang'zhu had no other choice. This plan required Magistrate Jia's help so he had to make this kind of arrangement.

Magistrate Jia didn't continue to write this time. He nodded earnestly. Perhaps because the final moment was coming, he felt a little scared. However, he was primarily excited because he finally had the opportunity to suppress the Zhang and Wang families. Even if he couldn't defeat the two manors with one blow, he at least could gain more benefits for himself.

Everything now depended on what the two Han and Yuan manors planned to do.

Magistrate Jia took a deep breath. He picked up the paper that they wrote on and lit it on fire with a fire striker. After watching these pieces of paper turn to ashes, he smothered it with his feet and he felt relieved. He was really scared. If this news spreaded to the Zhang manor again, he could not imagine what they would do to him.

With this plan in his mind, Magistrate Jia knew that he could not turn back. He chatted with Han Wang'zhu for a bit, got up and left the house. When he saw the two bailiffs standing at the door, he said to them, "Don't tell anyone about what Brother Han and I talked about."

The two bailiffs looked blankly at Magistrate Jia, and nodded under his gaze.

Magistrate Jia said this on purpose. Any useful information was written down with a brush, and it was fine if others heard the conversation they had aloud. He planned to get the bailiffs to form a habit from now on.

"My lord, walk slowly." When Han Wang'zhu sent Magistrate Jia to the gate of the courtyard, he said goodbye.

After Magistrate Jia's figure disappeared in the distance, Han Wang'zhu did not dare to delay at all. He found the horse in the yard, jumped onto it and rode the horse to the Han manor.

Magistrate Jia left the yard. He couldn't tell what his mood was. He always wanted to go over to the Little Bridge to have a look at that side, but he felt a bit guilty. He kept walking, and unknowingly came to Between The Water And Clouds. He didn't go up to the second floor. Instead, he casually found a place on the first floor next to the window. He opened the window and stared at the snow that was still falling outside.

"Magistrate, what would you like to eat?" Magistrate Jia didn't say anything, and the bailiff did not say anything, but the waiter had to speak. He asked in a low voice.

"Whatever. You can serve anything. This falling snow is nice. It should snow more and more heavily." It seemed like Magistrate Jia was a little crazy.

The waiter was stunned for a moment, and immediately said， "Okay, my lord, I'll go prepare it for you."

"My lord, it's been snowing the whole time. Could it be that you can tell that the day will turn sunny?" Feeling puzzled, Bailiff Tong asked.

Magistrate Jia made a mysterious expression and waved his hand dismissively while saying, "No, it would snow more heavily. Regardless of whether it is snowy or sunny, the days in the San'shui County will change."

Magistrate Jia believed that the Han and Yuan manors would definitely help him a lot. Those two manors were not worse than the Zhang and Wang manors. In fact, they were even more powerful. At least, they became wealthy much earlier than the Zhang and Wang families. The Zhang and Wang families have not risen to the top for a long time, so they couldn't compare to those two families at all.

After Magistrate Jia finished speaking, he noticed that the bailiff next to him didn't make a sound, so he said again, "Wouldn't it be better if the day changes?"

"It is good if my lord says it it. With the heavy snow, there will be enough water for the winter wheat, and we don't have to worry if it doesn't rain. The wheat will grow first." Bailiff Tong replied on the side.

Magistrate Jia stopped talking at this time, and looked back and forth at the bailiffs who had not been bought by him yet. In particular, he looked at Bailiff Tong for a longer time. Every single time Bailiff Tong looked back at Magistrate Jia with a puzzled expression, Magistrate Jia would laugh.

The food was served, and the wine was warm, but Magistrate Jia still didn't speak and he didn't eat. It wasn't until these bailiffs looked at him with confusion did Magistrate Jia pick up his chopsticks and pick the food. He said to the bailiffs,

"Eat. This food and drink doesn't cost money. I need to thank the Zhang manor. All of you should be more grateful to them too, don't you agree, Bailiff Tong?"

"What my lord has said is correct. In fact, we bailiffs should be grateful to my lord. After my lord took office, you did not lay off us and allowed us to keep earning our salaries. Because of this, my family is able to live a good life. My lord, a toast to you."

Bailiff Tong knew that Magistrate Jia went to see the Han family today. Seeing Magistrate Jia's act like this, he knew that they have come up with a plan to scheme against the manor. Right now the Magistrate was happy, so Bailiff Tong had to go along with his words. As for how things would end— were there anyone who were able to beat the Zhang manor? They had a mastermind keeping a watch on them.

Magistrate Jia looked at the bailiff's slightly nervous expression, and he felt more and more confident that he would succeed this time. He picked up the wine and said, "In the future, San'shui County will be better than it is now, and the people will no longer have to starve and freeze. The houses of those people that we saw today had leaking roofs. Bailiff Tong, later, go find some people to repair them."

Bailiff Tong also noticed that today. It was true that some people's houses have not been repaired well. However, it was not leaking. It's just that when people cook in the house, there is no chimney for smoke to escape from, so the smoke just seeps through the roof and the clay had cracks.

After finishing speaking, Bailiff Tong was about to call two people over, when he suddenly thought of something. He specifically ordered the people who were "bribed" by Magistrate Jia. Including himself, they formed a group of four.

Just as he was about to leave, Magistrate Jia suddenly said, "Bailiff Tong, I think there are other bailiffs that can do a better job. How about you choose someone else."

When Magistrate Jia spoke, he pointed his finger at a few people he had not bribed before. He secretly thought to himself in his mind, it seems that the people I have bribed were really being ostracized.As soon as there was work to do, they would have to work, and the Zhang family gave them very less.

It was a given that Bailiff Tong would not refute. He called the people Magistrate Jia pointed and left. Magistrate Jia smiled. He took a large piece of meat, and chewed it vigorously in his mouth.

*

The news of Magistrate Jia visiting Han Wang'zhu was quickly spread to Zhang Xiao'bao. Listening to what the messenger said, the two of them were surprised that they exchanged messages through writing. Not knowing the specific content, Zhang Xiao'bao nodded and said,

"Okay. Surely enough, they couldn't wait any longer. They want to cause trouble for us during the New Year. If that is the case, then I will cooperate with them. Everyone in the manor has to strengthen their defenses. Hmm, also, send someone to the outside of the Han and Yuan manors to keep an eye on them. That's it for now. Let's wait for them to make a move."

"Xiao'bao, why don't you teach Magistrate Jia a lesson before the have a chance to make a move? It's better to take the initiative." Wang Juan listened on the side. She felt that this Magistrate Jia didn't know how to behave like a decent human. He just had to pick this timing.

Zhang Xiao'bao shook his head slightly, "It we want to create trouble for him right now, then it has to be something really big and could immediately drive him away. But if that is done, the people of San'shui County will also have a bad New Year. We should wait a bit. Everyone is having a hard time. It's New Year, we should all be more happy and lively."

After Zhang Xiao'bao said that, he suddenly added on happily, "I know how to let the waiters have a good year."