Chapter 47: Jealous
When Zhao An heard Scholar Zhao anxiously mention the empress and the crown prince, he realized that it was already the end of the year, which meant that the child in Zhao Qingcheng’s belly had been born and had probably been made the crown prince.
As for Li Xiuye’s original empress, she had long since been sent to the Cold Palace. The last time he had made Zhao Qingcheng a noble consort, he had also deposed the empress, making Zhao Qingcheng the de facto number one person in the rear palace.
Now that another empress had appeared, Zhao An guessed that it was definitely Zhao Qingcheng.
The people from Zhao Tongming’s family were very short-sighted. After being sent to the capital, it was inevitable that they couldn’t resist temptation and were instigated to harm Zhao Qingcheng. It wasn’t out of the question. Besides, apart from harming Zhao Qingcheng, they probably couldn’t get close to any other consorts.
But all of this was just Zhao An’s speculation, so he could only say to Scholar Zhao, “Village Head, don’t be anxious. Those military sirs only asked you to hand over the land deeds and didn’t pursue the people of our Zhaojia Village. This means that this matter has nothing to do with us. You should go home.”
It wasn’t that Scholar Zhao couldn’t think of this himself, but when it came down to it, he still couldn’t help but want an authoritative voice to tell him that everything was really fine before he could finally go home with peace of mind.
As he rode his donkey home, he inwardly despised himself for not being calm enough, thinking that Zhao An was indeed the son of a prime minister, to be so calm in the face of such a life-and-death matter.
Unconsciously, Scholar Zhao’s opinion of Zhao An had undergone a fundamental change. Even though he felt that some of Zhao An’s actions showed a lack of respect for social hierarchy, which he couldn’t agree with, when he encountered important matters, he still habitually wanted to listen to Zhao An’s opinion.
However, Scholar Zhao had a bit of a “once the wound is healed, the pain is forgotten” trait. As soon as he got home, he began to feel unbalanced. The land deeds he had managed to get his hands on had been taken away before they had even warmed up. In the future, would the government send people to farm Zhao Tongming’s fields, or would they be sold to others? If another family appeared in the village, would the power dynamics in the village change?
Liu Huan was far more concerned about the land than Scholar Zhao. The moment Scholar Zhao left, he came to find Zhao An to discuss it with him. “I’ve heard before that when someone commits a crime and their property is confiscated, the land will be taken over by the local government and become ownerless land that can be bought and sold.”
Zhao An also understood the meaning in his words. “The villagers have some spare money recently. Why don’t we let them pool their money and buy all that land back?”
Zhao An didn’t want any more strangers in the village. More importantly, Zhao Tongming’s lands were all connected, a type of land that was very popular with wealthy households and gentry.
He couldn’t imagine what would happen if another large household came to the village. The glassware produced by his kiln, the improved crop varieties he had secretly cultivated, and even his extraordinary abilities would no longer be a secret.
At this time, Liu Huan’s thoughts were almost identical to Zhao An’s. He was mainly considering that if another large household appeared in the village, they would definitely not be as considerate of the villagers as Zhao An. At that time, the industries in the village would also be in danger. Just like when Zhao Tongming was still in the village, the villagers had hardly enjoyed any real benefits and had to be careful not to be taken advantage of by him.
Since Liu Huan and Zhao An’s thoughts coincided, they quickly agreed to directly use the money the villagers had earned from selling bricks and tiles, plus some of the clan property that had been saved up, to go to the county yamen and buy back Zhao Tongming’s lands, and then designate all these lands as the village’s ancestral land.
These ancestral lands belonged to everyone in Zhaojia Village, and it would require using the money that had already been promised to be distributed to the villagers. So even though Zhao An and Liu Huan had already agreed, they still decided to sound the gong at the training ground, gather all the villagers, and discuss the matter together.
In fact, there wasn’t much to discuss. For most of the common people, they felt that buying land was more reassuring than holding onto money.
But there were still some discordant voices in the crowd. “If the ancestral land belongs to everyone in Zhaojia Village, does that include the Zhao family, besides us Lius?”
Liu Huan nodded after hearing this. “Of course it includes them. The Zhao family members have also taken turns to participate in the labor of firing the kiln, and they have not been late for training every day. They have fulfilled their responsibility of protecting Zhaojia Village. Naturally, they should have a share in the money for buying the ancestral land.”
Liu Hu, who had been specially arranged to ask the question, quickly stirred up the atmosphere. “Our Zhaojia Village is a whole. We really shouldn’t be divided into the Liu family and the Zhao family. I won’t talk nonsense in the future.”
“Right, right, right~” the other villagers chimed in. The dozen or so households with the surname Zhao answered the loudest.
At this time, even if some smart people noticed something was wrong, in the clamor of the crowd, they could only follow everyone’s voice.
Liu Huan nodded and wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead. This was the first time he had used this method of guiding public opinion. The effect was beyond his expectations, and the process was very smooth.
However, in Zhao An’s view, the cooperation between Liu Huan and Liu Hu seemed a bit stiff. But he just smiled and said nothing, watching them perform. In any case, their starting point was for the good of the entire village.
But the regrettable thing was that Feng Shaoping had already gone to the Nanyue Kingdom. If Zhao An wanted to go to the government to buy land, he had to have a middleman. Since the closer Feng Shaoping was not in Changxi County, he could only go to Manager Feng of Ruyi House.
Just as Zhao An began to prepare a gift to ask for help, and Scholar Zhao began to plan how to casually show Zhao An his classmate relationship with Scholar Wang in the county town, County Magistrate Feng arrived at Zhaojia Village with a group of people, beating gongs and drums. This time, there was no eunuch from the Imperial Household Department by his side, but the scene was so similar to the first half of the year, and he was even more humble.
He personally came to Zhao An’s door. Upon seeing Zhao An, he immediately cupped his hands and said, “The edict for the enfeoffment of His Highness the Crown Prince has already arrived in the county. This official is here to congratulate the Imperial Brother-in-law!”
Before, Zhao An was just the brother of a favored consort, and his status as an imperial relative was a bit of a stretch. Now, he was the crown prince’s own maternal uncle. County Magistrate Feng had finally made up his mind to come and show his face.
In fact, compared to not having come to Zhao An’s side earlier to burn incense and worship, the thing County Magistrate Feng regretted the most was that he had not given birth to a daughter. All he had were spendthrift sons who could not be sent out to exchange for glory and wealth.
Of course, this most secret thought would only appear in his mind late at night, when he was half-asleep.
Now that he was awake, he naturally wouldn’t say anything that would displease Zhao An. Without even waiting for Zhao An to speak, he directly handed the land deeds of Zhao Tongming’s family to him. “This is a small token of my appreciation. I hope it can make the Imperial Brother-in-law’s secluded life in the countryside more leisurely, without having to bow for five dou of rice.”
Zhao An would certainly not accept such an unclear bribe. Besides, he didn’t think he was qualified to accept bribes.
However, he still took all the land deeds, but just said with a laugh, “Speaking of which, it’s quite a coincidence. The people in our village have just pooled a sum of money and want to buy all these lands as ancestral land. Since you have already sent the land deeds, Your Excellency, we don’t have to make a trip.” He called out to the door, “Clan Head Liu, Village Head Zhao, come quickly! Give the silver to His Excellency Feng, and this deal is done.”
County Magistrate Feng felt that the silver Zhao An had forced on him was a bit hot to handle, but then he thought that ancestral land was tax-free, and in an instant, he felt he understood the reason for Zhao An’s action. He just wanted to write his own land as ancestral land so that he wouldn’t have to pay taxes in the future, and the money he had given him was hush money.
Both sides were very satisfied with this transaction. Of course, after the transaction was over, Zhao An really wanted to send County Magistrate Feng away, but since he had come all this way, he had to at least treat him to a meal.
Zhao An’s family’s cooking was always done by Hai Bo. His skills naturally couldn’t compare to the great chef in County Magistrate Feng’s family, who was skilled at making ham and had even been praised by people from the imperial palace.
However, after eating the home-cooked dishes made by Zhao An’s family, County Magistrate Feng could still praise them without blushing. “This is returning to the basics. It’s been a long time since I’ve had such home-style flavors. It makes me miss my late wife. Ai~.”
He took out a handkerchief and symbolically wiped the corner of his eye, then looked Zhao An up and down. “The Imperial Brother-in-law has been living in the countryside for a long time. It’s not good to be without someone to care for you. I happen to know a family with the surname He. They have a few shops in the prefectural city and happen to have a daughter of marriageable age. Why don’t we let her come to your side to serve you?”
Zhao An almost couldn’t help but laugh. This guy was introducing Feng Shaoping’s former blind date to him, and he even wanted her to be his concubine. He felt a little sorry for that Miss He.
However, Zhao An held back his laughter and waved his hand. “Hasn’t Your Excellency inquired? I’ve already married a hunter’s family from Daqing Mountain. My wife is immensely strong and has the ability to kill tigers and bears. If he finds out that I’m still thinking of others…” He shook his head as if he didn’t dare to think further, then said to County Magistrate Feng, “Perhaps he will even blame you, Your Excellency.”
“Such a shrew…” Before County Magistrate Feng could finish, he was interrupted by Zhao An. “But I can’t help it. I just love his vigorous appearance and his jealous nature.”
In that case, what else could County Magistrate Feng say? Zhao An no longer had parents. Since the people in the village all knew about this, and there was no objection, and the empress had no objection, then it was not something he, the county magistrate, could manage.
Just as County Magistrate Feng lowered his head to hide the expression on his face, a small paper ball suddenly hit Zhao An on the forehead. He picked up the paper ball from the table. When he unfolded it, four messy characters were written on it: “Am I jealous?”
Zhao An was all too familiar with this handwriting, because he had already memorized every word of Hu Sheng’s letters.
So Hu Sheng had finally returned. He couldn’t help but want to stand up, but thinking that County Magistrate Feng was still here, and since Hu Sheng hadn’t shown himself, he could only send the county magistrate away first.
So he openly hid the note in his sleeve, then picked up his teacup and took a sip. “It’s getting late. The days are short and the nights are long in winter. Your Excellency should return to the yamen early.”
Such a perfunctory way of seeing a guest off. Fortunately, County Magistrate Feng was able to adjust his attitude, knowing that his trip was to curry favor with this newly minted imperial relative, Zhao An. So, faced with such an obvious gesture of dismissal, he still said with a smile, “Thank you for your concern, Imperial Brother-in-law. It is indeed getting late. Then this official will take his leave.”
This was a complete lie. They had just had lunch. Even if it was the shortest day of the year, it would still be two hours before it got dark.
Zhao An also learned to play dumb and cooperatively saw County Magistrate Feng to the door. As soon as he saw him get on the carriage, he immediately closed the door. Looking at the empty courtyard, he took out the note from his sleeve again and looked at it to make sure he hadn’t been dreaming.
“Ah Sheng, where are you hiding? Come out,” he finally chose to call him out.
Then, a magical scene appeared. Hu Sheng walked out from the shadow of the house and said with a half-smile, “So this is how you slander my name while I’m not at home.”
Zhao An looked at him fixedly. “But I also said that I like you.”
