After watching Wei Lan lead the elders away, Luo Wei returned to the house. He went over every piece of furniture and item in the wooden house. This place would be his home from now on. It seemed like he had to inspect everything carefully before he could feel at ease. There weren’t many things in the house, but with Luo Wei looking at everything in detail, the whole afternoon passed quickly.
On the kitchen table, there was dried food left by Wei Lan. Luo Wei gnawed on a steamed bun and when he felt thirsty, he realized there was no water in the house. After walking around the house again, he found two wooden buckets for carrying water. Remembering the Old Wei’s words that there was a stream behind the house, Luo Wei put all the bowls and chopsticks from the kitchen into the buckets. The two pots on the stove couldn’t fit in the buckets, so Luo Wei would have to make a few more trips to wash all these by the stream.
When Luo Wei carried the two buckets into the courtyard and looked up at the tung tree again, he noticed that there were ropes tied to the tree. Following these ropes, Luo Wei found two clotheslines stretched across the courtyard. Seeing that sunlight could still leak through the gaps in the leaves, Luo Wei put down the buckets, went back into the room, found a dry cloth in the package, brought a stool to the courtyard, and wiped the two clotheslines. After they were cleaned, he went back into the house to fetch his and Wei Lan’s bedding to air out in the sun. Once the bedding was aired out, Luo Wei carried the two wooden buckets to the stream behind the house.
The stream was easy to find, just a few hundred steps behind the house. Even before getting close, one could hear the gurgling sound of flowing water.
What caught Luo Wei’s attention first wasn’t the clear bottom of the stream, but the clusters of forest flowers by the creek. Large red flowers grew among the green foliage. Luo Wei didn’t recognize what kind of flowers they were, but he felt that these mountain flowers were no worse than the peonies in the imperial garden. They were equally beautiful and fragrant, but could only be enjoyed by those destined to see them, making them seem even more precious than the peony, the king of flowers.
A bird’s call in the forest brought Luo Wei back to reality, and he quickly walked to the edge of the stream. The stream wasn’t narrow; Wei Lan could probably jump across, but Luo Wei estimated that with his ability he would need to take three large steps to reach the other side. Looking into the stream, he saw many small fish swimming around, but the water wasn’t deep, at most reaching up to his shins. Luo Wei dipped his hand into the water, and as soon as the water touched his hand, he quickly withdrew it. The stream was as cold as ice, much colder than regular river water. Luo Wei blew on his hand a few times and dared not waste any more time. He placed the wooden buckets by the stream and went back home to fetch the pots.
Wei Lan escorted the old men back to Xuanzhou City. Old Wei insisted that Wei Lan accompany him home to give him some vegetable seeds, saying, “You can plant these seeds when you return.”
Wei Lan didn’t recognize these seeds and asked, “What kind of seeds are these?”
“Brother Lan, have you never planted before?” Old Wei asked.
Wei Lan honestly replied, “I’ve only heard about it from others, but I have never done it myself.”
Now, the old men didn’t want Wei Lan to leave. If he didn’t know anything, how would he and Brother Fu be able to support themselves after returning to the valley?
Listening to the old men talking about farming, Wei Lan realized that farming wasn’t simple at all. It seemed to have more intricacies than the martial arts he had learned in his youth.
“Does Brother Fu know about these things?” After a lengthy speech, Old Wei asked Wei Lan.
“He,” Wei Lan shook his head, “doesn’t know about these things.”
“Brother Fu can’t even recognize a tung tree. Do you think he would know?” One of the old men teased Old Wei, “What nonsense are you talking about?”
Old Wei was teased this time, but he didn’t retort. He had asked a pointless question; that Brother Fu might not even be able to handle a hoe.
Wei Lan asked again, “Is there a place in the city to buy grain and seeds?”
The old men then took Wei Lan to buy grain and seeds.
As they walked down the street, the old men continued to teach Wei Lan about farming without wasting any time.
“When it comes to farming, Brother Lan, you have to listen to Old Wei,” an old man pointed to Old Wei and said to Wei Lan, “He was a skilled farmer in his youth.”
At this moment, Wei Lan noticed a caravan not far away.
The old men also saw the caravan and said, “The caravan is here. Tomorrow when they set up shop, we can buy some things.”
Wei Lan asked, “What do they sell?”
“They sell everything,” Old Wei said, “like cloth, salt, and so on.”
Wei Lan said, “Don’t the shops in the city sell these?”
“What they sell is much cheaper than what the city shops offer,” Old Wei said, “Brother Lan, when you go back today, discuss with Brother Fu and see what else you need. Tomorrow, come into the city to buy it. They’ll be staying here for three days.”
“Brother Lan, there’s no need to buy grain and seeds anymore,” an old man said. “You’ll buy them from the caravan tomorrow.”
“Do you know?” At this moment, a member of the caravan loudly addressed the teahouse owner.
The teahouse owner was familiar with the member of the caravan so she smiled and said, “What do I know? Halfway through, how would I know what you’re asking about?”
“We’re going to war again in Great Zhou!” the merchant said.
Wei Lan’s steps halted.
“Don’t talk nonsense,” the teahouse owner said. “Our emperor has just ascended the throne. Why would we go to war again so soon? Who are we fighting against?”
“Against Northern Yan.”
“Against Northern Yan? Why?” This time it was Old Wei who asked.
Wei Lan lowered his head and stood aside, not wanting the wandering merchants to notice him.
“It’s better to live in a place like Xuanzhou,” a slightly older merchant said. “No matter how chaotic it is outside, life here goes on as usual.”
“You tell me, why are we going to war again?” Old Wei urged.
The merchant cleared his throat and said, “Didn’t our Lord Luo resign from office?”
“People in Xuanzhou know about this; Lord Luo retired,” someone said.
“The Luo family still has two great generals. They also wanted to resign, but His Majesty refused and said that the great feud1 was not settled. How can you, the elder brothers, return to farming?”
“The great feud is not settled? Could it be that this time we’re going to avenge Prince Jin?” another old man said.
“Correct,” the merchant pointed to the old man, praising him, “It’s for Prince Jin. Our Majesty said that Prince Jin was personally conferred his title by the late emperor, the first son to enjoy such a royal title. He was the lifeblood of the late Emperor and the Our Majesty’s most beloved younger brother. Even if your Northern Yan claims that Prince Jin was accidentally burned to death, you must return Prince Jin’s body. The sons of the Dragon lineage, after death, must be buried in the imperial tomb in Xiachuan. Until Prince Jin enters the imperial tomb in Xiachuan, Emperor Xingwu will not be able to rest in peace for a day.”
“This is a bit strange,” the teahouse owner said. “If Prince Jin was burned to death in the fire, would there be a body left?”
“If there’s no body, there’s still ashes, right?” the merchant said. “Our Majesty wants to demand Prince Jin’s ashes from Northern Yan’s Sima Qingsha!”
- 仇 – chóu : feud, revenge, vengeance ↩︎
Boundless Dao 
Leave a comment