Chapter Eight Sister

  Li Qin had just stepped out of the house when he heard Mrs. He calling from behind: "Son, be careful on your way into town, if you see any rascals, avoid them..."

  Then Li Tian said, "Foolish woman, what are rascals? Why should we avoid them? If my son can't even deal with rascals, how will he bring honor to our family in the future? Son, don't listen to your mother. When you enter the city and encounter rascals, don't hesitate to fight back. At worst, we'll just move away, what's the big deal?"

  Li Qin turned around and said loudly, "Don't worry, parents! A son who has lost face once will not lose it again!" He raised the wooden stick in his hand and left.

  They didn't have to walk far before they arrived at the Zhao's house. Zhao Ba Jin had been waiting at the door, and when he saw Li Qin arrive, he shouldered the dead sheep and set off with Li Qin out of the village. Fu Jiao Village was located north of Fuping County Town, so they headed south.

  On the way, Zhao Bazhen said: "Li Dazhangzi, you should go see your sister first when you enter the city? Then I'll go to the market to sell sheep. I estimate that it will be sold out soon. After you see your sister, come find me and we'll return to the village together."

  Li QIN shook his head and said: "I have to stay at my sister's house, I need to help my sister with some chores, such as chopping firewood and carrying water, and then I can go home after everything is settled."

  Zhaoba Jin nodded and said, "It's also good this way. Poor your sister, marrying a Han man, wearing clothes and eating food, but after she married Jia Wenhu, she didn't even have one good day. I advised your father not to find a scholar as a son-in-law at the beginning, but he wouldn't listen. What filial piety? I think it's fake, just like his surname."

  Li Qin furrowed his brow. His family, the Lis, were dissatisfied with Jia Wenhuo as a son-in-law, but he didn't want to hear others say the same thing. He said, "My brother-in-law is a filial and incorruptible official, so his future prospects are naturally bright, and he should return soon. My sister stays at home to take care of her parents-in-law, and even if my brother-in-law becomes successful in the future, he will still have to show respect for her. This is what they call 'bitterness ends in sweetness'."

  Zhao Ba Jin said, "He's been gone for two years without sending any news back. These days are not peaceful, who knows if he died outside... Ah, look at my mouth, Li Da Zhong Zi, don't be angry, I'm not cursing your sister's husband!"

  Li Qinchao smiled and didn't take it to heart, but felt that his brother-in-law was probably not a likable person. Otherwise, why would others have nothing good to say about him whenever he was mentioned?

  The ten-mile road was not far, and after a short while they arrived at Fuping County Town.

  Fuping County was originally the first county of Beidi Prefecture, where the prefecture government was located. However, due to its location on the border and frequent invasions by the Hu people, the imperial court ordered wealthy households in the county to relocate inland. The wealthy households were willing to relocate for fear of losing their property, but the poor did not care and remained in the area. As a result, the local population decreased, and outsiders, including many Hu people, moved in, leading to even worse law and order, which the authorities were powerless to control.

  It's fine if Fuping is in chaos, after all it's just a county. However, since it was once the seat of the prefecture, the prefect also moved inward and became an empty official in the interior. This resulted in the northern region having no prefectural governor, leaving only the magistrate of Fuping County, who couldn't command the entire prefecture. As a result, each county became autonomous, with magistrates not interacting with each other, only caring about their own territory. The consequence was that bandits and thieves ran amok.

  Although Beidi County was in a state of chaos, it produced many brave warriors. People like Dong Zhuo, Li Jue, Guo Si, Ma Teng and Han Sui from the late Han Dynasty all rose to power from Xiliang, but their main forces were all selected from Beidi County. As the saying goes: "The great horses of Liangzhou roam the world, but when they encounter Beidi, they all retreat." The soldiers of Xiliang are strong, but the strongest are the soldiers of Beidi County.

  When the Emperor Ling was in power, eunuchs dominated the government, and high-ranking officials were busy fighting each other. They were all short-sighted people who didn't care about the lives of the border people. They wouldn't have expected that a few years later, a big fire would burn from north to south, burning the entire Han court into ashes. And the source of this big fire was exactly where Li Qiang's feet were treading now.

  Li Qin stood in front of the city gate, looking at the dilapidated city wall. He sighed and thought to himself, "Is this really the county town? It's truly disappointing!"

  He had thought that Fuping should be a giant city, after all, it was once the seat of the prefecture, but he never expected that the city wall in front of him would not be much higher than the traffic lights on modern highways, and it was not a brick wall but an earth wall. What kind of enemy could withstand such a city wall? No wonder the rich families moved inland, the governor ran away, and it's strange if the Xiongnu soldiers from the grasslands didn't come!

  At the city gate, several small soldiers were squatting lazily against the wall root, sunbathing. Seeing Li Qin and Zhao Ba Jin arrive, they didn't even bother to look up, as if they hadn't seen them at all. After entering the city gate, the two separated, Li Qin went to his sister's house, while Zhao Ba Jin went to the market to sell sheep.

  When they were about to part, Zhao Baqi said: "Li Dazui, after you see your sister, come find me at the collection point. I know the tax collector's clerk, and if we give him two bottles of wine money, it'll be settled. This way, after we sell our goods, we won't have to pay taxes. Otherwise, the 20% tax is a rip-off!"

  Li Qin agreed and bid farewell to Zhao Ba Jin, following his vague memory to find his sister's home. He remembered that it seemed to be in a small alley, not too far from the city gate.

  After walking for a short while and turning two corners, the familiar alley appeared before his eyes. Li Qin looked into the alley and saw that at the end of it there was a wooden gate, through which he could see three dilapidated grass houses in the courtyard, which was exactly where his sister Li Jia lived.

  Li Qin walked quickly to the gate and called out across the wooden door: "Sister, Li Jia, Jia Li Shi, are you at home?"

  The door creaked open and Li Jia walked out, exclaiming in surprise: "Brother, how did you get here? Is your injury healed? I was just planning to head home tomorrow to see you."

  Li Jia was barely out of her twenties, an age when she should have been in the prime of her life, basking in the admiration and adoration of all. However, due to the hardships of her life, she had aged prematurely. Her tall stature was slightly hunched, and her originally pretty face now looked like it belonged to a woman in her thirties, worn down by the weight of her struggles.

  She had a hard time in the city, and she also took care of her parents-in-law. If she didn't work for one day, she wouldn't have food to eat for that day. Yesterday, she finally managed to save some food for one day, planning to take good care of her parents-in-law, and then return home tomorrow to see her brother. Unexpectedly, her brother arrived, and it seemed like his injury had healed too.

  Li Jia ran over and opened the wooden gate, saying: "Good brother, let me see, are you fully recovered from your injury?" She grabbed Li Qian's hand and looked him up and down.

  Li QIN saw her, naturally raised a sense of closeness, smiled and said: "My injury is at the back of my head, it was not serious, now it's completely healed. Take a look, there's no scar." He turned his head around to let Li Jia see the back of his head.

  Li Jia parted her hair to take a look, nodded and said: "It's true that there is no scar left, it's good if nothing happens. Next time you see the scoundrel, just avoid him." Her words were the same as He Shi's.

  As they spoke, two elderly people came out of the house, who were her parents-in-law.

  Mr. and Mrs. Jia, as well as Li Tianhe's wife, were all around fifty years old, and Mrs. Jia also looked quite elderly. However, Mr. Jia had the air of a wealthy young master about him, despite his advanced age, and he stroked his white beard as he said, "So it's Mr. Li who has arrived. How are your family members? Are they all well?"

  Li Qin was taken aback for a moment at the title "Li Lang", and he said, "My father and mother are well, please give my regards to Uncle Jia!"

  Li QIN held up the things in his hand and said, "I brought some things for you..." He told them what happened last night again, and then gave Li JIA the ribs and fine meat he had brought.

  Li Jia was greatly surprised and couldn't help but feel a lingering fear, warning Li Qin not to do such things again. Lady Jia also said the same thing, showing great concern for Li Qin. The two of them looked at the pork ribs and fine meat, even more shocked, saying that too many things had been sent.

  Mr. Jia said, "Li Lang is quite skilled, and compared to your brother-in-law, he's not much worse off. In the future, when your brother-in-law becomes wealthy and prominent, you can work for him without disgracing the Jia family."

  Li Qin furrowed his brow, no wonder everyone was annoyed with his brother-in-law. Looking at his father's appearance, he knew that his brother-in-law wasn't much better either. He said: "You all go ahead and busy yourselves, I'll go to the market to sell this leopard skin. Tonight, I'll stay here, if there's any heavy work at home, leave it for me to do when I get back." He picked up his stick and tightly tied package on his back, ready to head out.

  He stopped at the door, feeling very displeased with Mr. Jia's words in his heart. His son didn't even know where he was running around, and yet he still boasted like this, it was really boring to the extreme. He turned back and asked: "Does everyone in the village call my brother-in-law Jia Wenhu? Is his relationship with others very good?" After finishing speaking, without waiting for an answer, he turned around and left again.

  Jia Zheng scolded, "Country bumpkins will just talk nonsense. What's wrong with the name Wen Hua? It's a courtesy name for Wen He, and your brother-in-law's given name is Yu, which means to carry on the illustrious legacy of Zhang Da. It's a good name! Country people don't understand etiquette, they just spout rubbish, it's really hopeless!"

  Li Qin exclaimed, turned around and said: "Jia Yu, is my brother-in-law Jia Yu? Is Uncle Jia from Wuwei?" He only knew that Jia Yu was from Wuwei, Liangzhou, but didn't know if his own brother-in-law was the famous poison master in history.

  Mr. Jia nodded and said, "Your ancestors were indeed from Wuwei, didn't you know? Why ask again?" After a pause, he changed his tone and said, "Since we moved to Fuping, the weather has been favorable, the people have lived in peace and prosperity, could it be because of our Jia family's move here?"

  Lady Wang sighed and said, "Old man, what's the point of saying these things? We're refugees from famine, everyone knows that. Besides, didn't this place suffer a severe drought last year? Where did you see any auspicious wind or rain?"

  Jia Zheng said: "What old man, should be called husband, the older you get, the more forgetful..."

  Li Jia hastily pushed Li Qin and said: "Aren't you going to the market? Hurry up!" She didn't want Li Qin to see her in-laws quarreling.

  Li Qin nodded and said, "Brother-in-law has the honor of being a filial son, his future is certainly bright. I'm sure he'll soon return home in glory, and when that happens, sister will surely be overjoyed! Just remember to call brother-in-law 'husband'!" She laughed loudly and left the courtyard to go find the market.

  Jia Zheng praised from behind: "Li Lang has insight, knowing that your brother-in-law will definitely return home in glory, and after your brother-in-law returns, he will definitely promote and cultivate you!"

  Li Jia and Mother Jia were very embarrassed, deeply afraid that Li Qin would hear this and laugh at them. Jia Xian had been away from home for over two years without sending back a single word or message, let alone talking about returning in glory; it was already good enough if he could come back alive.

  Li QIN left the alley and turned onto the main road, thinking to himself: "Zhai Zhai actually fell into difficulties in Fuping and married my sister. Father and mother said they were deceived at first and only then did they marry off my sister, but this is not deception... Alright, even if it was deception, but this deception also had a good eye for things, among the famous people of the late Han and Three Kingdoms, the only one who could end his life in wealth and glory and die a good death was Zhai Zhai!"

  Although he couldn't remember the streets in the city, he walked along where there were many people and soon came to an open space, seeing many people shouting loudly, wasn't it just Fuping's market?

  ——

  Jia Xu's strength is still quite high, calculating others is fierce, treating himself clearly. In the chaotic world of Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms, he can end well, which is a remarkable thing in itself. Just saw the new book list, "Master" rose from 49 to 45, thank you for the support of book friends and brothers! Peaceful greetings to brothers, seeking support, collection, and recommendation votes, thank you very much!