After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 556 - 550: Peace of Mind
Zhao Hanzhang froze for a moment, quickly helping the person up, "This... it hasn’t reached the point of needing arbitration, has it?"
"It has, it has," the young man said, "The sunset is almost here, and he still won’t give me the cow. If he plows into the night, won’t the cow be very tired tomorrow?"
Old Man Jin blew his whiskers in anger, "You’re talking nonsense. This cow is the treasure of this mile, how could I mistreat it? Don’t you see it’s grazing now? I think you want to take the cow away now to plow all night, and use it again all day tomorrow. You’re the one mistreating the cow."
Zhao Hanzhang quickly stopped the two from arguing, mediating, "I don’t think the old gentleman is such a person. How about this, let him graze the cow here, and when it gets dark, take the cow to the village chief’s house. You can go there tomorrow to retrieve it, how about that?"
Old Man Jin immediately said, "That’s a good idea. Let’s listen to the lass."
After speaking, he realized and turned to look at the young man, "What did you just call her?"
The young man looked at him disdainfully, "This is General Zhao, and this is Mr. Fu, who is our general’s fiancé. When we first settled, it was Mr. Fu who arranged it all; only those who came later, like you, weren’t part of it." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞
Zhao Hanzhang glanced at him and smiled, asking the old man, "Old gentleman, did you come to Luoyang later? Where did you come from?"
The old man said, "We followed Lady Fan and General Beigong. Originally, we fled Luoyang with Prince East Sea, but on the way, we ran into Shi Le’s army and dispersed. Speaking of it, it was the general who saved us. But at that time, we were far away, and I didn’t see the general clearly. Now that I’ve met, I must kneel and thank her."
He then kneeled to kowtow.
Zhao Hanzhang quickly held him up, "Old gentleman, you flatter me. I’m not worthy of such a gesture at my age. Please, get up quickly."
She turned to the young man, "Young lad, you should have some respect for elders, why mock and ridicule the old gentleman like that?"
She assessed him up and down, "It’s a pity for someone with your build not to join the army. Why not come to my army and let me teach you to respect the elderly and care for the young?"
The young man turned pale with fright, quickly waving his hand and stammering, "I-I’m not fit for the army, I’m too weak. Alright, he can use the cow first, I’ll come back for it tomorrow."
With that, he turned and ran.
Zhao Hanzhang shook her head, sitting on the grass by the field chatting with the old man, "Old gentleman, do you resent me for forcibly bringing you back to Luoyang?"
Old Man Jin’s cloudy eyes fell on Zhao Hanzhang’s face, tears glistening in his eyes. "I don’t resent you. Our whole family is powerless and poor. Even if we went out, we’d only wander around. If we’re lucky to find a place to settle, that’s good. If not, it’s just a few more days of struggling to survive."
"In fact, living a few days longer or dying a few days earlier doesn’t make much difference. If we are destined to die, it’s better to die in our homeland," Old Man Jin said. "After returning to the capital, the general treated us well, and Lady Fan arranged for us properly, far better than wandering outside."
Hearing this, Zhao Hanzhang also sighed.
Seeing the worry on her face, Old Man Jin asked, "Is there someone who resents the general among those who returned?"
Zhao Hanzhang tacitly agreed.
Old Man Jin comforted her, "In this world, there’s nothing that can please everyone. Don’t blame them."
He said, "They’re different from us. We’re commoners and can go anywhere, just living is a blessing. They’re nobility, and they fled Luoyang seeking better opportunities. The general cut off their future, naturally, they hold some resentment."
He laughed, "But I think this resentment is temporary. The general is the rare good official I’ve seen in twenty years. When one encounters a good official, grievances can always be pacified."
Zhao Hanzhang pondered. Did she really cut off their future?
Then she’d give them another future.
Saying ’heart for heart’ felt hypocritical, let’s talk in terms of gains and losses.
Zhao Hanzhang suddenly understood and shared a laugh with Old Man Jin, "Thank you, old gentleman, I understand now."
She glanced at the precariously hanging tangerine sun on the mountain top and smiled, "It’s getting late. Old gentleman, it’s time for you to head home."
Old Man Jin looked at the cow still engrossed in grazing and shook his head, "I’ll wait a bit; it’s still eating grass."
Zhao Hanzhang stood up. The old man on the hillside was still planting beans with his grandson, just two rows left. He didn’t want to leave them for the next day.
He glanced at Zhao Hanzhang and the others indifferently, not knowing who they were nor caring about what they said, and continued burying the beans.
Zhao Hanzhang looked at the sky, and feeling there was still time, rolled up her sleeves and said, "Let’s go, everyone help out and plant these two rows of beans."
Zhao Hanzhang went to ask the old man for beans.
Old Man Chen looked at her in surprise.
Zhao Hanzhang smiled brightly, "Old gentleman, we have many people; we’ll finish quickly."
Old Man Chen hesitated, but still grabbed a handful of seeds for them.
Zhao Hanzhang gathered the seeds in her robes and quickly went to sow them.
Fu Tinghan also gathered seeds in his robes, heading in another direction, while the guards helped cover them with soil.
Old Man Chen stood by and worriedly instructed, "Don’t sow the seeds too thinly, nor too thickly. The soil should be thin, or they won’t grow..."
Amid his chatter, over a brief period in the sunset’s afterglow, Zhao Hanzhang and her group finished planting that piece of land.
Only then did the old man smile, remembering to ask Zhao Hanzhang for their names, "Are the lady and gentleman officials in Luoyang? What position do you hold?"
Zhao Hanzhang carefully poured the remaining seeds into the basket carried by the child and smiled, "It’s a minor position, not worth mentioning."
With just these few words, the last trace of the setting sun disappeared beyond the horizon, and it turned dark. Everyone could barely make out the person opposite them.
Zhao Hanzhang smiled, "Old gentleman, you’d better head back now; it’s hard to walk when it’s too dark."
Old Man Chen’s attitude improved significantly, nodding, "Yes, yes."
Zhao Hanzhang clapped her hands, mounted her horse, and left.
Old Man Chen leisurely gathered his things, holding his little grandson’s hand as they headed home.
Old Man Jin, no longer grazing the cow, slung his plow over his shoulder, following with the cow close behind. Initially, neither spoke.
They weren’t familiar, just crowded together on the road during their flight. When they were brought back, because their villages were far from Luoyang, Lady Fan saw no need to disperse them too much, so they were grouped into a mile and given houses in an empty village not far from Luoyang City.
Coincidentally, their houses were in the same place, and their allocated fields were together. Neither had able-bodied young men, so they got used to sticking together, going in and out together, so one could help if the other was bullied.
Walking for a while, Old Man Chen turned to look at Old Man Jin and asked, "That Jia family lad didn’t do anything, did he?"
"No, with officials there, he wouldn’t dare."
Old Man Chen muttered, "I wonder if he’ll cause trouble at home, maybe we should speak to the village chief in advance."
Old Man Jin shook his head, "No need. The general spoke personally, even with ten times the guts, he wouldn’t dare."
Old Man Chen paused, asking, "Who?"
"The one who helped you plant beans was General Zhao."
Old Man Chen’s mouth trembled slightly, "Is it Zhao Hanzhang from Xiping?"
"Yes, she’s back in Luoyang."
Old Man Chen sighed in relief, and Old Man Jin couldn’t help but smile. In the dark, they couldn’t see each other’s eyes, but they could hear his hearty laughter, "See, relieved now, the general is back."
