Great Tang Idyll Volume 02 Chapter 123
Chapter 123 No One Can Be Trusted
After several days of light snow, the snow finally stopped falling on the afternoon of the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month. The gray clouds in the sky dissipated, revealing dazzling but sunlight that was not so warm.
Magistrate Jia finally sent out all the things that could be given. He asked a few of his bribed bailiffs to help send the gifts to remote areas because he really was not in the mood to do this himself.
Those bailiffs who delivered the items didn’t say that the items were given by the Magistrate. Instead, they told the receivers that the items were from the Zhang manor. This was not entirely wrong since the items did come from the Zhang manor. Consequently, the people thought that the Zhang family were the ones who gave the gifts to them.
The restless Magistrate Jia put on his normal clothing and carried a package in his hands. It was unknown what was inside. He shouted to the bailiffs, "Someone, come. Follow me to some place."
Today, Song Yang brought two bribed bailiffs with him to wait here. The matters had already been arranged. On Magistrate Jia’s return trip from Tu'qiao Village, someone sent a letter to him. Apart from himself, none of the other bailiffs knew what was written in the letter.
After reading the letter, Magistrate Jia became even more excited and nervous. It was not until he saw that the letter was turned into ashes that he cautiously looked at the bailiffs outside the carriage.
Today was the day for him to start his plan, but to be precise, it was tomorrow. He had to go to a place today. People who were recruited to help him were waiting at the junction of Hua’yuan County and San’shui County. Yesterday, at the Administrative Office, he did something secretly, and he didn't even tell his family about it.
"My lord, where do you plan to go?" Song Yang asked respectfully when the accompanying carriage was ready.
Magistrate Jia didn't tell Song Yang where he planned to go. He looked left and right and asked Song Yang, "Have you finished making the arrangements?"
"Don't worry, my lord, the arrangements have already been made, and the brothers are all waiting there, but which of the several roads will my lord take?" Song Yang replied.
Magistrate Jia smiled inexplicably, "You'll know then, let's go."
After he finished speaking, Magistrate Jia got into the carriage, and was escorted by three bailiffs and Song Yang. They traveled on a small path and headed in the direction of the Tu’qiao village.
The carriage was not going fast. A donkey was used to pull the carriage so that they could travel a greater distance. Now, there was no need to worry about the scenario where the horse would freeze to death before reaching the destination.
After traveling for two hours, Magistrate Jia lifted the curtain of the carriage and instructed a bailiff outside, "You go back immediately and stay guard outside the Administrative Office. If anyone asks about me, tell them that I went to visit the people."
The bailiff agreed and turned to leave.
The carriage drove forward again, and after another hour passed, Magistrate Jia instructed another bailiff, "Go back now and gather all the bailiffs. Not only the twenty of you, but also the bailiffs from the other locations. Let someone use a fast horse to report to the bailiffs at the Tu'qiao Village.
By the time everyone arrives, it will be almost midnight. Go to the Little Luo'shui Wharf and surround the area for me. Something happened there and I will wait for you there. Later, the days in this San’shui County day will be different."
Just as the bailiff was about to leave, Song Yang persuaded him by the side, "My lord, then only my lord and I are left here. My lord should go back first and find more people."
"Hmm? Song Yang, you have to believe that the San’shui County is safe and no one will hurt me. Go on." Magistrate Jia looked at Song Yang in the carriage. His “hmm” seemed to have another meaning to it. He waved his hand dismissively and asked the bailiff to leave.
After doing this, Magistrate Jia continued to let Song Yang drive the carriage forward. This time he urged him to go faster. From time to time, Magistrate Jia lifted the carriage’s curtain and looked out. When they reached a small slope with two trees on the side, Magistrate Jia stopped the carriage again.
This time he got out of the carriage, looked at the puzzled Song Yang and asked with a smile, "Song Yang, tell me, can I trust you?"
"My lord, what do you mean? I am loyal to my lord. As long as my lord gives me a command, I would dare to barge through mountains of daggers and seas of fire." Song Yang had a firm look on his face, and patted his chest to assure.
The smile on Magistrate Jia's face grew even brighter. He took out a letter from his robe, handed it to Song Yang, and said, "If that's the case, take this letter to Tu'qiao Village. Hand this letter to the person at the Han’s family courtyard in the Between The Clouds And Water. Then follow his arrangements. Be quick. Whether or not I can have a footing in the San’shui County depends entirely on this."
Song Yang took the letter, looked around, and then looked at Magistrate Jia, and said, "My lord, this won’t work. If I leave, then what about you?"
"I will drive the carriage back by myself. Don't worry. I deliberately brought these items, look." Magistrate Jia took out a bamboo hat and loose hemp clothes from his large package. The items looked a bit shabby.
"I’ll put on these clothes, and drive the carriage slowly back. You have to hurry over there. Unfortunately, there are no horses for you. You can look yourself for where there are horses around. Find them and use them. It's better than walking there by foot. Once you finish this task, I will definitely not treat you poorly. Go quickly."
As he spoke, Magistrate Jia put on the straw hat and wore the clothes over top of his own. He sat in the spot to drive the carriage, and traveled forward. He did not forget to look back at Song Yang.
Song Yang stood there for a while, and shouted to the carriage that didn't travel in the direction to return back, "Don't worry, my lord. I will deliver the letter as quickly as possible. My lord, take care."
After saying this, Song Yang looked around and chose a path without a paved road and waded through the snow.
After a short while, the donkey carriage stopped, and Magistrate Jia jumped out of the carriage. Motionless, he stared at the direction Song Yang had left in until Song Yang could no longer be seen. Then he climbed back onto the carriage. He opened the package, and put away his hat and loose clothes.
Then he took out a robe made with fine linen, untied his hair and changed his hairstyle. After doing all this, Magistrate Jia lifted the curtain of the carriage, and looked at the direction Song Yang left in. He poked his head out, looked back, pushed the carriage door open and closed it. He opened and closed the door a few times.
He repeated this five times, and the cold wind kept pouring into the car. Magistrate Jia stopped and waited.
After a while, four figures appeared on the hillside. Three stood there and looked around and one of them quickly ran over to the carriage door, opened the carriage door, and got in.
"My lord, hurry down and leave this to me." The man got into the carriage and said to Magistrate Jia. At the same time, he took the hat and clothes from Magistrate Jia and put them on quickly. His stature was similar to that of Magistrate Jia.
Magistrate Jia nodded without speaking. He got out of the carriage directly, glanced around, and trotted up the small dirt slope. He joined the three guards, and went down the slope on the other side.
The person in the carriage came out and sat in the spot to drive the carriage. He traveled forward, and the wheels of the carriage left deep marks in the snow. After traveling a few dozen feet, the donkey that pulled the carriage felt that the carriage seemed to be lighter and walked faster. A gust of wind swept through, and there were two messy traces on the snow that looked like it was deliberately made by others.
Magistrate Jia went down from the slope and immediately got into another carriage. There were three identical carriages parked here. Without getting close, even the horses pulling the carriages could not be seen clearly. One of the carriages was driven to the Administrative Office, the other carriage turned around and went up the slope to follow the carriage that Magistrate Jia was previously in.
The carriage that Magistrate Jia was in currently waited for a while and took another path. The driver seemed to be in a hurry. He kept whipping the whip, urging the three horses pulling the carriage to run fast.
*
Song Yang, who had left, walked to a farmhouse. Seeing that there were no animals that could be ridden, he had to run to another place. He ran to the side of a house. After Song Yang looked around and saw that no one was there, he took out the letter in it, opened it and looked at it carefully.
In the letter, he only saw, "The waterway is blocked. The people coming here should go around Xin’ping County. I have already sent the county’s bailiffs to Little Luo'shui. We will start in two days. Come quickly." ’
Song Yang was shocked when he saw these words. Judging from the situation, Magistrate Jia was going to find someone from outside to deal with Little Luo'shui. After thinking about it, Song Yang couldn't make up his mind. He knew that there was a small manor in front of him with around 70 people and there were also horses. Holding onto the letter, Song Yang ran towards the manor desperately.
*
"My lord, have you finished the task at the Administrative Office? You know, without that thing, we will have one less thing that we can rely on when we execute our plan tomorrow."
When the carriage that Magistrate Jia was in had traveled roughly a kilometer, a person who had been waiting for a long time got into the carriage and spoke to Magistrate Jia.
Magistrate Jia knew that this was the person sent by the Yuan family, and nodded, "Don't worry, I did it last night. I let my kid carry that on him, so nothing will go wrong. This time, I want to see what could the Zhang manor say about this?"
"That's good, my lord. Will all of the bailiffs actually gather at Little Luo'shui? Will they then be mobilized together?" The man relaxed a little after hearing Magistrate Jia’s words, and he asked about the bailiffs again.
Magistrate Jia smiled and said, "It doesn't matter whether they gather or not. Even if I don't ask them to gather, someone will help, and then they will still go over to Xin’ping County to guard.
"My lord is amazing. My master only asked my lord to help move the bailiffs away, but we didn’t expect my lord would come up with such an unpredictable strategy. After my lord succeeds this time, we will be one family." This person flattered him on the side.
Magistrate Jia was really relieved at this moment. He opened the package and took out his official uniform and official seal. After putting it on, he said to the man, "How are things going on your side?"
"My lord, it’s pretty much done. It's just that the residents of the Zhang and Wang families are building houses over there. I don't know why?" The man couldn't help frowning as he spoke.
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