Great Tang Idyll

still food here, but the people might not even have water to drink.” Magistrate Cheng felt relieved temporarily and was in high spirits again, and asked the Magistrate Assistant to eat food and drink.

 

Chen Dong also knew that the matter was serious.
He brought two horses out of the administrative office.
He did not stop at all and switched between the two horses.
Surprisingly, he arrived at the Zhang Manor in just three hours.
He saw that the restaurant was still brightly lit.  Chen Dong licked his lips; he really wanted to go in and drink a bowl of wine, but at the same time, he knew the people would not take his money.

 

It was still more important to get things done first so he endured the dry thirst in his mouth.
He arrived outside of the Zhang Household’s yard and knocked on the door twice, and the night watchman opened the small door to look out.
To the night watchman’s surprise, it turned out that a bailiff had arrived.
The magistrate had just left at noon.
Could it be that on their way back, they got lost, and the administrative office did not see them return so they came here to ask about the Magistrate’s whereabouts?

 

This was not something he could deal with on his own, so he ran to the back to wake up the housekeeper.
Housekeeper Zhang had also just fallen asleep.
Everyone else could go to bed earlier, but he couldn’t since he was in charge of a lot of things.
He got up reluctantly and walked to the living room, and Chen Dong was waiting there.

 

Tea was served, and he chugged down two bowls.
Then he began to talk about the purpose of his arrival.
He waited for Housekeeper Zhang’s reply, but he had to go ask the masterminds first.

 

Housekeeper Zhang estimated the amount of time it would take and said to Chen Dong, “Wait here for a while, I will go ask whether it can be done or not, then I will come back and tell you.”

 

After speaking, Housekeeper Zhang left the living room and walked towards the Young Master and Young Miss’ courtyard.
He knew that his Young Master and Young Miss were just about to wake up to study at this time.
If not, then he would have to get the bailiff to come back tomorrow morning.

 

When Housekeeper Zhang arrived, Zhang Xiao’bao and Wang Juan were having a meal.
They were still growing so they became hungry quickly and they ate food whenever they had the time.

 

After Housekeeper Zhang reported the matter, Zhang Xiao’bao and Wang Juan glanced at each other and reached consensus.
He said to Housekeeper Zhang,

 

“Go tell that bailiff to use a map and circle out the wells that he wants water to come out from, then send it here.
He does not have to do anything else.
Also, tell him that not every well will have a lot of water coming out, and that doing this kind of thing will shorten one’s lifespan, so it can be done only this one time.”

 

Housekeeper Zhang took the order and left.
Zhang Xiao’bao and Wang Juan looked at each other again, and sighed at the same time.
A lot of gunpowder will have to be made.
They had no choice but to mention that it affects one’s lifespan, otherwise someone from the court would make them bomb the other two places and the surrounding areas’ wells too.
This was not doable.

 

“Xiao’bao, how about artificially increasing the rainfall by cloud seeding? Recently, there are always clouds floating above, but it doesn't rain.
I’ll try to make some rockets, do you this will work?” Wang Juan suggested.

 

“Sure.
Then you can launch me up there with a bucket of water in each hand, and I will pour it wherever you want me to pour.
Even if you can make a rocket, and it shouldn’t be hard to create the launching equipment, but I can't make dry ice.” Zhang Xiao’bao spoke as he reached out his to touch Wang Juan's forehead to see if she had a fever.

 

“Don't touch.
It’s just a random suggestion.
People should always hold onto a bit of hope, and carry that hope when working.
I believe you will make dry ice and even liquid nitrogen at some point in your life.” Wang Juan knocked away Zhang Xiaobao's hand.

 

“Dry ice? Believe it or not, if you force me too hard, I’ll become a dried corpse tomorrow.
Hurry up and eat; it’s going to become cold soon.
This is fungus soup, it’s expensive.”

 

Zhang Xiaobao knew that Wang Juan was just joking to ease the atmosphere.
Just anybody else would know that cloud seeding was not necessary at this time.

 

After finishing off the bowl of soup to drink and eating something else, Wang Juan said, “How are we going to arrange this? We can't let others discover this secret, so we can only bomb the places when others are not paying attention.
Then, it must be at night.
We need to assign some people.
Er’niu counts as one, and his elder brother, Da’niu, is another.
Who else is absolutely reliable?

 

“Hu’zi is fine too.
I’m not certain about others.
Just the three of them should be enough.
Quite a bit of money has to be spent on buying materials, and we can't get reimbursements from the County Magistrate.
Let’s do it like that.
Read your book.” Zhang Xiao’bao did not have many good candidates right now so he had to trouble those three to work hard.

 

Housekeeper Zhang told Chen Dong what the Young Master said, and Chen Dong became happy when he heard it.
He got up and wanted to rush back to tell the magistrate the good news, but Housekeeper Zhang stopped him.
He told Chen Dong that even if he goes back now, the County Magistrate will be sleeping already, and that it would be better if he waited until 5:00 am before rushing back.
This way, by the time he makes it back, the magistrate will be awake.

 

There was no need to arrange a place in the yard for him during this time; Housekeeper Zhang asked a night watchman to take Chen Dong to the restaurant, eat something, and take a good rest.
His horses were fed and allowed to rest too. 

 

When Chen Dong arrived at the restaurant, he was served two main dishes: one meat and one vegetable dish, and four side dishes.
A small bottle of wine was heated up, and he was given a bowl of rice.
Because it was a joint business of three families, a different tab was made and it was considered as a special hospitality expense.

 

Chen Dong was not in the mood to enjoy the food; he quickly finished eating and then went to lay down and sleep.
The next day he woke up by himself and left with his horses without even eating breakfast. 

 

When he arrived at the Administrative Office, he didn’t care whether the magistrate was awake or not, and he ran inside and shouted, “My lord, it's set , the matter is set.
“

 

Translator's Notes

 

Longevity Tablet

This is a memorial tablet created for people who are still alive, and is placed in a

temple.

It is usually created to commemorate a benevolent person’s good deeds.
People would burn incense and bow in front of this tablet to pray that the person on the tablet will live a long and good life.