Chapter 152: Setting Out for Shanyin County

No matter how high-spirited Wang Ge was, she was no match for Granny’s large broom.

Upon returning to the Reed Pavilion, wherever she went, Granny swept the courtyard dust right behind her. "Granny, take a rest, let me do it."

"No way, a rake always leaves things scattered everywhere when sweeping, absolutely not. Move aside and don't block the path."

"Oh, alright." Wang Ge made a face at her Second Uncle nearby, realizing she would never shake off the nickname "Rake," and understanding that the elderly woman was still grieving over those eighteen strings of cash.

True to form, Granny continued sweeping dust toward her while nagging, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, my granddaughter is truly capable, eighteen strings of cash. I didn't even finish counting them all through the night, and first thing in the morning she took them away and gave them to outsiders."

Wang Ge feigned astonishment. "Ah? Outsiders? Granny, could it be that my Third Uncle isn't your biological..."

The broom head swept up from the ground toward Wang Ge like a striking snake. "Granny, don't hit me! Second Uncle, save me!"

Old Madam Jia had no intention of striking her for real, and was amused to exasperation by the sight of uncle and niece shielding their heads.

Under the small thatched shed on the west side, Wang Ai hugged the dried grass and handed it to Wang Dalang. After Wang Dalang tied it securely, the little fellow hugged it over to stack it aside, then ran back behind Wang Dalang, wrapped his arms around his neck, and kicked upward against his back. "Father! Father! Father!"

"Ah," Wang Dalang responded to every single call, his heart completely melting.

The sun set, and the crescent moon rose.

In the darkness, Wang Ge and her younger siblings lay together, all extending their palms. She spoke first: "I can bamboo-weave."

Wang Shu said, "I can weave straw sandals."

Wang Peng said, "I can clear wasteland."

Wang Xing said, "I can write."

Wang Ai said, "I can mix pig feed. Hehe."

Wang Ge said, "We can do everything. We aren't afraid of hardship, and our days will only get better and better."

"We will get better and better!"

"Better and better!"

The little ones chimed in with uncoordinated voices, Wang Peng's voice the loudest of all.

Old Madam Jia had been lying on her side, amused by the children. Although she had kept Ah Peng and his siblings at the Reed Pavilion in the past, her heart had never felt entirely settled. Now it was finally good—they were all adopted by Dalang, making things proper and legitimate at last. With two sons and two daughters, if Dalang chose not to remarry, then so be it.

In the courtyard, Wang Erlang filled the large water vat to the brim and bolted the courtyard gate tightly. Seeing Inspector Huan and Constable Cheng patrolling the night on horseback outside, fragmented memories suddenly flashed through his mind. In his past life, when the village road was being repaired, he and several tenant farmers had been sent by the landlord's family to the west of the village, pretending to pass back and forth. In reality, they were sent to spy on why the road was being repaired. But how could tenant farmers possibly dig up any useful information? They only heard that a murder case had occurred.

It was during those very few days that he learned which man was Inspector Ren of Linshui Pavilion, which one was Constable Cheng, and which one was Constable Shan, yet he had never laid eyes on young Master Huan.

Never mind, best not to think about it. His past life was entirely filled with misfortune; not remembering it was all the better.

June the eighth.

After Wang Ge finished her early meal, the family escorted her to the roadside. This parting would be for an even longer duration, and everyone felt reluctant to part, yet held it in. The moment she turned around, several of the children all pressed their lips together and wiped away tears.

She hadn't allowed her Second Uncle to escort her—they had agreed on this long ago. It wasn't because there was no time to process the travel permit, but rather because Second Uncle had just arrived at the Reed Pavilion and needed to settle down squarely like any other pavilion resident to clear wasteland and labor. Their family could not constantly rely on Inspector Huan's connections to seize advantages.

On the morning of the tenth, Wang Ge reached the border of the county town.

The assembly ground for prospective master artisans was the same area used for the乡兵 military trials. Because of the martial contests, the ground had previously been pitted and scarred with many dents, but all had now been repaired and leveled. Opposite the spot where she had once taken her test, temporary artisan workshops were even more numerous. Viewed from her current position, the workshops were arranged in a "冂" shape, still enclosed by high felt walls.

Prospective master artisans within twenty years of age were all eligible to participate in the grand artisan trials, but the intensive training camp had a strict limit of two hundred and ten slots in total. In previous years, the quota for new prospective master artisans was ten per year, but Wang Ge's batch of newcomers was granted a quota of twenty. After a day of observation, she confirmed that she was finally the youngest among all of them.

The next day, just as dawn broke, the intensive training camp contingent set out.

The journey to Shanyin County was made entirely on foot. Patrol officers were stationed at the front, middle, and rear of the procession, with no regular artisan officials present. At the very tail end of the column were male and female state-owned bondservants pushing single-wheel carts loaded with pottery stoves and grain. The patrol officers were responsible for guiding the route and maintaining security, while the bondservants handled meals, clearing waste along the road, and other miscellaneous chores. The prospective artisan candidates carried their own baggage on their backs and had to keep pace with the moving column.

Scarcely anyone chatted along the way. The artisan trials in October would admit only sixty candidates, and various competitive preliminaries awaited them before the grand trials. Everyone was a rival to everyone else; why bother with hypocritical small talk that might invite misunderstandings about fishing for information?

The season was intensely hot, yet all candidates were expected to remain in Shanyin County until the onset of winter. The thick bedding, cold-weather garments, and other sundries packed inside their carrying frames added up to a tremendous weight. Wang Ge calculated that the distance covered on the first day must have been nearly thirty miles, leaving her utterly exhausted. The cruel part was that the column would not wait for those who fell behind.

It was only after dark that those who had fallen behind successively tracked down the camp.

Wang Ge popped the blood blisters on the soles of her feet. She could no longer wear straw sandals tomorrow and switched to cloth shoes, the soles of which were stitched from multiple layers of kudzu hemp cloth. Wincing and grimacing in pain, she fetched some plant ash from the pottery stove, walked over to the water source, scooped water with a bamboo flask, and scrubbed hard at the bloodstains on her footwear lining.

"Do you need help?" Someone approached silently and suddenly, startling her. It was a female bondservant.

During the Jin Dynasty, even adult bondservants were barred from binding their hair. This young woman in her early twenties still wore her hair half-bound and half-loose—the most obvious mark of criminal servitude.

Enduring the pain in her feet, Wang Ge snatched up her bamboo flask and shoe lining and turned to leave.

"Prospective master artisan?" the bondservant followed after her.

"Why are you following me?" Wang Ge demanded loudly.

Quite a few people turned their gaze toward them.

The woman stopped in her tracks and waved her hands in explanation, "Young lady, do not be afraid. This lowly maid merely wishes to beg the young lady to help me carve a wooden ruler."

"Nonsense, all these people are prospective master artisans. Why did you single me out?"

"I... I thought the young lady looked the easiest to speak to, so..."

Two patrol officers approached. Intending for them to overhear, Wang Ge refused flatly, "Find someone else to help you. I'm timid and afraid of people like you."

"Why the commotion?" The question came from the county official in charge of the traveling contingent, who commanded both the bondservants and the patrol officers. Wang Ge recognized him instantly; he was none other than the thief-catching clerk who had investigated the case in the hackberry grove that night.

Terrified, the female bondservant dropped to her knees and rapidly blurted out the origin of the matter: "This lowly maid saw this prospective master artisan use a wooden ruler earlier today, and seeing she was young and seemed of exceptionally gentle temperament, as it happened she came to fetch plant ash to wash her clothes, this lowly maid followed her to the riverbank, wishing to ask the prospective master artisan to lend her wooden ruler for a moment. This lowly maid intended to finish carving my wooden ruler right before her eyes and return it to her immediately, unaware that it would frighten the prospective master artisan. This lowly maid knows her crime."

The thief-catching clerk rebuked sternly, "Whether bondservants or male slaves, none are permitted to converse with any prospective master artisan along the road. Thus, you have knowingly violated the rules! Patrol officers, log this bondservant's offense, and upon returning to the county town, add to her penal labor according to the code."

The female bondservant immediately prostrated herself, not daring to cry out loud. Her whole body trembled so pitifully that a prospective master artisan in his thirties could not bear it and chimed in, "Sigh, what is the point of all this? If I had brought a ruler..."

Standing very close to him, Wang Ge asked, "What if you had brought a ruler?"

"Huh?" The man was interrupted and spoke with displeasure, "If I had brought a ruler, what harm would there have been in lending it to her to carve one?"

"But right now, no one is stopping you. Why don't you help her carve a ruler? Helping her carve one would be faster and more precise than her doing it herself." Wang Ge argued her logic calmly and earnestly.

"Men and women have distinct boundaries!"

"She won't mind; she only wants to carve a ruler. Isn't that right?" Wang Ge asked the bondservant.

The thief-catching clerk remembered Wang Ge. The young girl was truly clever, tearing away this young gentleman's hypocritical facade with just a few words, and every single sentence was entirely reasonable, filling him with admiration.