Chapter Twenty Conflict

  On the ground were two earthenware pots, one large pot filled with braised cabbage, floating with a few drops of oil, and only a few pieces of meat could be counted. The other pot was coarse rice, and on each person's rice bowl were placed two fried sparrows.

  "Zhao Ren, you guys eat this every day?" Zhao Yan asked.

  "Second Master, it's almost done. Sometimes it's just radish, but today there's more with the sparrows you gave!" Zhao Ren said as he put down his bowl and stood up.

  "Can you guys eat this every day?"

  "Second Master, when I'm at home, I can never get full from just plain rice every day. This has both rice and dishes, it's great!" Zhao Li said with a smile.

  "Yes, in the past when winter came, there were pickled vegetables at home and greasy dishes in the government office, enough to fill our bellies!" Zhao Lian said.

  "When my father was alive, we could still eat meat during the holidays, but after he died in battle in the northwest, the pension was only half of his former salary, and I never had meat again!" Zhao Yong said.

  "Bring over the dishes, let's have a lively meal together!" Zhao Yi said to Jian Xi with a smile. He then picked up another bowl and handed it to Zhao Xin, saying: "Zhao Xin, serve yourself some rice too!"

  "Second Master, how can you eat the same food as us?" Zhao Ren said with a hint of fear.

  "You don't know, I love to eat this. Zhao Xin, pour me some vegetable soup, and stir it well, it's delicious!" Zhao Zhan said with a smile as he sat down next to him, his leg touching Zhao Li's.

  "Second Master, your meal!" Jian Xi brought over Zhao Yi's lunch: a plate of braised lamb, a plate of fish in sauce, a plate of chicken, a plate of kimchi, and a bowl of soup.

  "Put it together, everyone eats together!" Zhao Che said as he placed the dishes in the center. Having lived in the army for over a decade in his past life, the idea of equality between officers and soldiers had already permeated into his bones. He felt uneasy about the rough food served to the servants, but in this rigidly hierarchical imperial society, he couldn't change this situation immediately.

  "Second Master, how can this be? How can we eat your food?" The small servants were all flustered, and even Xi was shocked. The emperor's leftover food from the palace would not be finished, and it was possible for the emperor to bestow it upon high-ranking officials or imperial princes, but it would never be given to lower-ranking servants to eat. The king's actions could be said to have already overstepped the rules.

  "There's so much food, I couldn't finish it all by myself. It would be a waste and unfair to the farmers who grew it. Let's share it with everyone, that way you'll be helping me out!" Before Xi could offer any words of caution, Zhao Zhan had already picked up a spoon and started serving the dishes to the crowd. "Zhao Xin, why are you crying? And what about you, Zhao Yi? Why so many tears?"

  "Second Master, I haven't had such a good meal in a long time!" Zhao Li said with tears in his eyes.

  "Second Master, I've been an orphan since childhood and have experienced the hardships of the world. I've never seen a master share their own food with their servants," Zhao Yi said with his head bowed and tears streaming down, the others also looked sorrowful. If they had a good life at home, who would sell their children to be someone's servant? They were all hoping for a good master.

  "Heh heh, what's the big deal? You guys try our kitchen lady's cooking and see how it is. I eat it every day and can't even tell if it's good or bad!" Zhao Xiao said with a smile, but her heart felt a pang of sadness.

  "Hmm, this cook's skills are not bad, but the fish used for the fish paste is not from the smooth river, and they didn't wait for the water content in the fish meat to dry before adding ingredients, so the texture is a bit loose. Still, it's top-grade!" At this point, Zhao Xin picked up a piece of fish paste and put it in his mouth, chewing as he spoke.

  "Oh, really, there are connoisseurs! You used to eat this often!" Zhao didn't have any other family's fish to compare with, but for someone to be able to tell which river the fish came from, that wasn't something ordinary people could do. He said in surprise.

  "Zhao Xin, you can brag all you want, but I've never had this dish before in my life. However, I do know that fish maw isn't cheap, and yet you can still tell the good from the bad!" Zhao Lian said with a dismissive curl of his lip.

  "You know what, my house is next to He Wu's dried fish store, and I often get to eat it!" Zhao Xin said with a red face.

  "You're a lucky kid, living next to their house. The fish jerky made by the Wu family from Donghua Gate in Beijing is caught from the Baisha River and then dried and stored in bamboo baskets. It's transported into the city after being soaked in water along the way, cut into ten or so small pieces and sold as a bundle, called 'a bundle of jerky'. The meat is tender and flavorful, famous throughout the world, to the point where there's even a saying 'who doesn't know about the bundle of jerky?'". He said with envy that it wasn't easy for him to get to eat a bundle of their fish jerky in the palace either.

  "Come on, come on, eat quickly. After we finish eating, let's go to the empty land behind the courtyard to catch some wild rabbits. Tonight, I'll roast them for you to eat!" Zhao Ke glanced at Zhao Xin and said. Zhao Xin felt as if his thoughts had been seen through by Wang Ye, and he lowered his head in embarrassment, hastily shoveling rice into his mouth, not daring to look up again.

  "Second Master, I've been hunting with Grandfather since I was a kid. Catching rabbits is my specialty. As long as it's there, it won't get away!" Zhao Zhi exclaimed excitedly. Several young men who were fed up with the dullness of the manor rules couldn't help but cheer at the prospect of such an exciting event.

  The sun had risen high, and the endless wheat fields still had residual snow covering them, with some places revealing green wheat seedlings. Zhao Che led his servants to encircle a piece of barren land, wearing thick winter clothes, but his small face was still frozen red. The other day they caught a few rabbits in the garden, everyone ate with oil dripping from their mouths, this thing is also addictive, the garden can't catch anymore, today taking advantage of Huang Jingchen's outing, they slipped out of the mansion to 'hunt'.

  "Zhao Zhi, is it okay to put it here?" he asked.

  "No problem, Second Master, I've passed through here, and there are rabbit tracks left behind!" Zhao Zhi said confidently, blowing hot air onto his hands.

  "Alright, let's get started. Drive the rabbits from north to south and make them crash into each other!" Zhao Che said to everyone.

  "Oh, oh!" More than a dozen people opened up the distance and lined up in a row, using sticks to poke and beat in the grass and stone crevices while shouting loudly. Five or six wild rabbits, unable to withstand the disturbance, scurried out of their hiding places. Everyone gained momentum, blocking off all sides and driving the rabbits towards Bu's direction.

  The rabbit was about to be driven into the encirclement when suddenly a string of ringing sounds 'ding ling ling' came from the air, and a black shadow swooped down from the air like an arrow, grabbing a wild rabbit. The sudden change in circumstances startled everyone.

  "Second Master, it's an eagle!" Zhao Ren said.

  "Don't mind it, charge this way, don't let the other rabbits run away!" Seeing the eagle swooping down from the sky, the wild rabbits became even more terrified and ran wildly in all directions. Zhao Zhe hastily directed everyone to prepare to block the gap. But before they could take a few steps, 'whoosh' two feathered arrows flew over, pinning two rabbits to the ground. Everyone panicked, and the remaining rabbits all slipped away.

  "Master, got it!" Along with the sound of horseshoes, five or six horses rushed past them. Two men jumped down, one picked up a rabbit that had been shot dead, and the other grabbed a hawk that was still struggling with the rabbit, snatching the rabbit from its beak, seemingly without noticing Zhao Che and his companions.

  Zhao Zhan stood still, sizing up the several uninvited guests. The leader was dressed in white and clean, with a clear brow and bright eyes, wearing a white fox fur hat, a purple satin robe, a golden silk belt around his waist, and a red cloak draped over him. His feet were clad in black official boots, adorned with two large pieces of white jade the size of chicken eggs. He rode a fine red horse, with a bow slung over his left shoulder and arrows on his right, looking every inch the noble young master - except that his furrowed brow and pursed lips somewhat spoiled his handsome appearance. The four men behind him were dressed as servants, also carrying bows and arrows, riding horses with two wild chickens hanging from their saddles.

  "Master, we caught three at once! We'll have a dish to go with our wine at noon!" one of them said, holding up the rabbits and laughing.

  "No fun, there are only rabbits here, no big game!" The young man said discontentedly as he fed the eagle on his arm a piece of meat.

  "Master, twenty miles east, there's a forest with big game, shall we go there?" asked a villager with a smile.

  "Never mind, I'm tired today, let's go back to the villa first!" The young master waved his sleeve, and the eagle immediately flapped its wings and took off. He said lazily.

  "Alright!" The leader of the villagers responded with a single word and turned his horse's head to leave.

  "Halt! What are you people doing? You've stolen our prey and now you're leaving without even a word?" Zhao Che said, visibly displeased, as if the others had been ignoring him from the start.

  "Halt, what's your prey?" A seven or eight year old child blocked their path, the leader of the Zhuang guests seemed to think it was a ridiculous thing and said disdainfully.

  "Of course, we've been busy driving out the prey for half a day, and you two just shot two arrows, it's yours? Doesn't seem quite right?" Zhao Chu said calmly.

  "Scram, you're the ones who came crashing in! Whoever gets here first, these are ownerless things, whoever grabs them is theirs!" Zhao Yi, dressed and looking no different from the young servants, was yelled at by the leading servant as if he were just some family's underling.

  "How dare you be unreasonable to our Second Master, you're too bold!" Zhao Ren saw him scolding Zhao Zhe and stepped forward, pointing at the villager with his staff.

  "Whose family are they from, won't be..." The young master furrowed his brow and asked the servant behind him. Xiangyi County is now one of the four auxiliary counties, with fertile land and the Bian River running through it, making transportation convenient. Many wealthy officials in the capital come here to buy land and build gardens, so he was also afraid of offending someone he couldn't afford to mess with.

  "Young master, the nearby villages were originally owned by the former Minister of Revenue, who was demoted two years ago. It's said that they were sold to a wealthy landowner from Beijing, and there are no adults in charge at home, only children managing things. It seems that they don't have any powerful backing. The old master is now governing a region, how could this be!"

  "There's a bastard born of a mother but not taught by a father, daring to block my way. Beat him for me!" The young master originally didn't understand the situation and had some reservations, but after hearing the introduction, he immediately gained confidence, shouted loudly, and charged forward on his horse, whipping Zhao Ren with the horse whip in his hand. Zhao Ren dodged to the side, and the whip hit his back, instantly tearing his cotton-padded jacket apart, causing him to stumble and almost fall over.

  "Fight!" Zhao Yi, having been taken advantage of by Zhao Ren, picked up a stone and threw it like a young noble on horseback. The others also rushed forward, shielding Zhao Yi behind them as they charged with their wooden staffs.

  "Rebelled, rebelled! What are you waiting for? Fight!" The young master in brocade clothes shouted angrily when he saw these kids dared to fight back.