Chapter 90 - 1#
World 4: You Are the Snow on the Branch#
Qin Qing held a dough figurine in his hand, a fat cat following at his feet, as he slowly walked to the entrance of the Marquis’s residence.
Today he wore a small golden lotus crown and a pure white gauze robe. The robe was embroidered with blooming lotuses in gold thread. As he walked, he emitted a lotus fragrance, appearing ethereal like an immortal.
Ye Li stared blankly, his pitch-black eyes filled with golden light—that was Qin Qing’s figure flickering within.
“What are you staring at?” Qin Qing walked up close and poked Ye Li’s arm with his finger.
A light touch, carrying a numbness and an itch, immediately called Ye Li back to his senses.
Ye Li hurriedly half-knelt, offering his strong arm and hard knee.
“This is the last time.” Qin Qing sighed wistfully in his heart, then stepped on the knee, held the arm, and boarded the carriage.
“In the future, I’ll let you step on me. I’m sturdy.” 996 promised in his heart while also jumping onto Ye Li’s knee.
Ah Niu standing aside: “…” Has the master fallen so low as to serve as a stool for the Little Marquis’s pet?
The snow-white long robe covered Ye Li’s knee, then wrapped in a clear sweet fragrance, it brushed past Ye Li’s face and nose tip, drifting into the carriage. Ye Li unconsciously took a deep breath.
He lowered his head and saw a small footprint left on his knee. Measuring it carefully with his eyes, it wasn’t even as big as a palm.
Ye Li stared at this footprint for a while, then straightened up, jumped onto the carriage, and said hoarsely, “Depart.”
He did not brush off this footprint made of white dust; instead, he covered it with his robe, selfishly hiding it away.
Qin Qing placed a soft pillow behind his waist and leaned back comfortably. 996 used its paws to open the food box and ate the dried small fish inside, making “ow-woo” sounds.
Ye Li bent down to enter and sat opposite the person and the cat.
“Where did you buy this thing? It’s so ugly.” Qin Qing shook the small dough figurine in his hand.
Ye Li lowered his head: “I don’t remember where I bought it.” But actually, he had molded this dough figurine himself; his skills were just too rough, so he didn’t dare admit it.
He dared not admit even more that he had molded it after Qin Qing.
Qin Qing stared at the dough figurine for a while, then placed it on the low table. 996 wanted to paw at it but was patted on the head by Qin Qing.
So 996 rolled its eyes at Ye Li.
Ye Li turned his head away and smiled, but in a flash, his expression dimmed due to the sadness of parting.
Qin Qing picked out a dried small fish from the food box, nibbled it gently with his front teeth, couldn’t bite through, so he tried biting with his canine teeth, but still couldn’t bite it off.
He frowned, showing a wronged expression.
Ye Li watched him quietly, his dim eyes lighting up again with a light smile.
Qin Qing brought the dried small fish to 996’s mouth, and 996 bit off half of it in one go.
“It’s not that the dried fish is fried too hard, it’s that your teeth are too delicate!” It complained.
Qin Qing stuffed the remaining half of the dried fish into 996’s mouth, then grabbed a large handful of dried fish and stuffed them in, as if venting his anger.
996 rolled its eyes from choking.
Ye Li pursed his thin lips, worried he might laugh out loud. Having managed to suppress his laughter with difficulty, he spoke slowly: “Little Marquis, I almost forgot to mention, Ah Niu and I brought back those two thousand taels of gold yesterday. We’ve already given them to the steward to put into the storeroom.”
“You got them back?” Qin Qing was surprised. “The Garrison Commander was actually willing to part with them?”
“Jiangbei City has changed its Garrison Commander. Just last night. The new commander is surnamed Zhang, named Zhang Qi. He is very incorruptible. Commander Zhang also said that if the Marquis’s residence has any errands in the future, just go to him.”
“This Commander Zhang actually dares to look after the Qin family? Is he not afraid of being caught by his colleagues and impeached, losing his official hat?” Qin Qing shook his head, murmuring incredulously.
Ye Li didn’t know how to respond to this. The Emperor tried every means to suppress the Qin family, so much so that no one in this generation of the Qin family could enter the court as an official. Qin Qing was so smart; if he had the opportunity to advance, how could he be rumored to be a silkpants dandy?
Ye Li sighed lightly.
Qin Qing hugged 996 and asked casually, “You used to be a groom in the government office. What do you think of Qi Sifeng?”
Ye Li thought for a moment and answered, “Lord Qi became the top scholar at eighteen, entered the Hanlin Academy at twenty, and was sent to Jiangbei City at twenty-three. He is a person of unparalleled intelligence and capability. After he came to Jiangbei, the atmosphere in the official circles was cleared up, and disaster relief was handled thoroughly. He is a good official skilled in administration and litigation.”
Qin Qing lowered his eyes and remained silent.
Ye Li added, “If someone promotes him, he should be able to go very far.”
996: “Hehe, isn’t the person promoting Qi Sifeng you? You two are in cahoots to destroy the Marquis’s residence!”
Qin Qing turned to look out the window and sighed, “Some people become top scholars at eighteen, while some can still lose their own sister at twenty-two. Sigh~”
Ye Li: “…”
996: “Hahahahaha… Good roast, Qin Qing!”
Ye Li’s face burned hot, and he remained silent. He feared his image as a reckless man could never be washed away in this lifetime. He only hated why he had fabricated such a lame excuse back then.
Just then, the carriage stopped. Ah Niu said from outside, “Little Marquis, someone has dug a large pit across the road ahead. The carriage cannot pass. We have to fill the pit. Please wait a moment, Little Marquis.”
Qin Qing lifted the curtain to look out. Ye Li squeezed into the same window with him, his hot breath blowing on his cheek.
Such intimate contact would be one day less with each passing day.
“It must be a pit dug by bandits and road tyrants to stop carriages. The new Garrison Commander has already started sweeping the nearby bandit dens. The people who dug the pit have probably fled upon hearing the news,” Ye Li explained simply, then jumped off the carriage and patrolled the vicinity with his men.
“Little Marquis, there are no bandits nearby,” Ye Li comforted. “Sit in the carriage for a while; we’ll fill the pit.”
Qin Qing pointed to a group of refugees resting on both sides of the road and said, “Let them fill the pit. Whoever helps will get twenty copper coins. I have lots of copper coins here!”
Qin Qing pushed open the low table, opened a secret compartment, and knocked on a wooden box hidden inside.
Ye Li remembered. This box of copper coins was withdrawn from the bank when he accompanied Qin Qing. At that time, he only thought Qin Qing was foolish for revealing wealth in troubled times, but now he understood that this box of money was prepared for times like this.
There were so many servants guarding the carriage, all strong and powerful as oxen. Calling a few to fill the pit would be faster than these ragged, skeletal refugees.
But Qin Qing insisted on letting the refugees fill it, not because he liked to oppress people, but to give the money to those who needed it more.
Is this how the so-called “preying on the villagers” came about?
Ye Li suppressed the heartache inside him and agreed in a deep voice.
Ah Niu walked towards the group of refugees.
The refugees hurriedly scattered, showing looks of fear. Being driven away, insulted, beaten, or even dragged away to be sold or killed was the fate they encountered most often.
Only after Ah Niu explained the situation did the group hurriedly gather together again, nodding with great joy. Then they used their tattered clothes to carry stones and soil to pour into the pit. It took about a few quarters of an hour to fill the pit.
Qin Qing personally distributed the copper coins to these refugees who smelled terrible and looked barely human.
“It has already rained. Why haven’t you returned home? The drought is over; you can still rush to plant a season of crops,” he asked.
“Where do we have a home anymore!” A hunchbacked old man shed tears. “To survive, we sold all our land. Three consecutive years of natural disasters made the land worthless. Selling it didn’t buy much food. The food is finished, the land is gone, we can only go elsewhere to beg for food.”
Another thin man said, “I do still have a piece of land, but now I can’t even afford clothes to cover my body, let alone spare money to buy seeds. In a few months, winter will come, and we fear—”
He suddenly realized these words might make the noble feel it was bad luck, so he quickly shut his mouth.
Qin Qing pointed in the direction of the Marquis’s residence and said, “Do you know the Tai’an Marquis’s residence? His family is building roads, houses, and water channels. They need many workers. There are wages every day, and meals are provided. You should go there and have a look.”
These people, whose lives were gradually withering in desperation, lit up their dim eyes one by one.
“Little Young Master, is what you say true?” The old man’s voice trembled slightly with excitement.
“It’s true. They take everyone over there. Young and strong men burn bricks and build houses, children mix mud, and the elderly help cook and transport soil.”
“What about women? Can women go?” A woman holding a child squeezed forward and asked anxiously.
“Women are needed even more. The Little Marquis has a luxurious nature and is dissolute. The hair balm and skin balm he uses, the tea and wine he drinks, must all be made by women’s hands. Women who go there can make balms, pick tea, and brew wine. There is no worry about having no work, and the wages are no lower than men’s.”
Qin Qing started blackening his own name again, and even laughed aloud, finding it quite amusing.
Ye Li, however, frowned tightly, his heart wrenching. There was no luxurious nature or dissolute behavior; it was all fake.
The woman was so happy she almost cried and spoke incoherently, “Luxury is good! Nobles should be like that, otherwise where would we get food to eat! We will go right now! Thank you, Little Young Master, for the guidance, thank you!”
The group supported each other and walked towards the Tai’an Marquis’s residence, harboring joy and hope.
The carriage had been moving for a long time, but Qin Qing was still lying by the window, watching the backs of these people.
“The biggest hidden danger caused by consecutive years of natural disasters is not the lack of food, but the massive annexation of land by the gentry or high officials. The common people have no land and can only become tenant farmers or slaves, yet taxes still weigh on their heads.”
Qin Qing sat back in the carriage and looked into Ye Li’s eyes. “Even without natural disasters, the common people wouldn’t have a way to live, because there are also man-made disasters.”
Ye Li clenched his fists, ashamed to speak.
“Others say that it is because the Tai’an Marquis’s residence is here that life in Jiangbei City is unbearable.” Qin Qing looked out the window, saying no more, but suddenly let out a low sneer.
Ye Li’s cheeks burned hot at this moment.
Ah Niu, sitting outside, could actually hear this conversation, and the shame in his heart was truly tormenting.
The carriage finally arrived at Jiangbei City. Qin Qing ordered the servants to open all the rice bags, place them aside, and boil a large pot of water to make porridge.
The people coming to receive porridge saw many black stones mixed in the broken rice and couldn’t help but start cursing. Saying things like the Tai’an Marquis’s residence is heartless and rich, harming the people, and will surely suffer heavenly retribution, etc.
They cursed whatever was ugliest.
Qin Qing sat in the porridge shed, completely unmoved. Ye Li and Ah Niu stood behind him, looking coldly at this group of people.
Several children skipped and ran to the edge of the porridge shed, clapping their small hands and singing: “Tai’an—”
Qin Qing immediately stood up and looked over.
Ye Li rushed out of the porridge shed in a single stride.
However, before the children could finish singing, several little beggars picked up stones from the ground and started throwing at them, then pounced over, snatching the candy and copper coins these children had in their pockets.