Chapter 206
Chapter 206
While Ji Yan’an and the chief discussed rebellion, Jiang Yunsui sat on a stool and fished snacks from the table.
Every so often, she listened to their conversation.
She was starving.
The chief, Lin Zheng, had not expected such bold words from this young man.
“Who… who exactly are you?”
Lin Mu became wary as well. A person who spoke so casually of rebellion could not be the son of an ordinary merchant family.
Ji Yan’an stopped concealing himself and revealed his true identity.
Lin Zheng’s eyes widened in shock.
“You’re Duke Ji’s grandson!”
“A Ji Family member… You’re truly from the Ji Family.”
Their reaction puzzled Ji Yan’an.
“Chief, have you met someone from my family?”
Lin Zheng sighed. “There was a man from your family named Ji Jingyu. I don’t know how he was related to you. He served as our county magistrate thirty years ago. He… he truly wanted to help us. He did a great deal for us. The road down the mountain was built under his leadership, and he brought men to construct our waterwheels…”
“He campaigned on our behalf. Our only school was established because he insisted upon it. My son and I both learned the language of the Central Plains there.”
“Such a good man, yet he died so young.”
“They said he was poisoned by the miasma, but I believe he threatened the clans’ interests. They united against him. Five years after taking office, at only thirty-five, in the prime of his life… he died.”
“He once told us he was from Duke Ji’s household, a member of the Ji Family.”
By this point, Lin Zheng’s voice had choked with emotion.
“I was young then. He was the most responsible and gentle man I had ever met. You could even call me half his student.”
Lin Zheng looked at Ji Yan’an as if seeing through him to a man deep in his memories, a man whose face he had nearly forgotten.
“He was a cousin of my father’s generation,” Ji Yan’an said.
Though Ji Yan’an had never met Ji Jingyu, his grandfather had spoken of him.
He had been one of the Ji Family’s rare scholars. Upright by nature and at odds with court officials over policy, he had been demoted to serve as a county magistrate in Dali. By then, the emperor had already grown suspicious of the Ji Family.
And Ji Jingyu had died in Dali.
Lin Zheng struck the table.
“This old man isn’t terribly clever, but if I understand you correctly, Young Master, Great Liang is in turmoil. Can we mountain people stake everything on one fight?”
Of course, Lin Zheng’s decision was not based solely on Ji Jingyu.
He had seen Ji Yan’an’s ambition.
A youth this courageous and resourceful could never remain insignificant.
Lin Zheng also sensed what he intended to do.
The chief did not want the mountain people to remain under another’s heel forever. If so, why not take the gamble?
Ji Yan’an met his gaze.
Then he rose and cupped his hands respectfully toward the chief.
“If you are willing to contact the other mountain tribes and lend me your aid, I, Ji Yan’an, will not betray your trust!”
His voice had not fully matured, yet his words inspired belief.
Jiang Yunsui blinked, utterly lost.
What were they talking about now? Why did she understand less and less?
Forget it. She was still little. Of course she could not understand.
Jiang Yunsui continued eating.
Snacks alone were not satisfying. When would they have a proper meal?
She wanted to ask, but everyone looked so enthusiastic while plotting their grand rebellion. Better not.
She would find food herself.
Without telling anyone, Jiang Yunsui ran outside.
No one nearby noticed.
Once outside, she wandered around. Whenever she saw a white goose, she made a wide detour.
She did not want another fight.
Little Mushroom was not a fighting mushroom.
The mountain people’s clothing differed from that of Great Liang. Most garments were dark blue, sometimes paired with distinctive hats, and the patterns were unique.
Unfortunately, Jiang Yunsui could not understand their language.
Even when she encountered an argument and went over to watch the excitement, she could not follow a word. She could only sigh.
At last, as she wandered, she heard a voice speaking in words she understood, though haltingly.
“Heaven and earth, dark and yellow; the universe, vast and wild…”
She followed the sound and found a child reciting a primer while writing characters in the dirt with a stick.
“You wrote these characters wrong.”
Jiang Yunsui’s sudden voice startled him.
“Who are you?!”
She crouched beside him and used a stick to correct the errors.
Her handwriting was not pretty, but it was reasonably neat.
Even though she disliked studying, the pressure of living with a brilliant scholar like Ji Yan’an meant she could recognize quite a few characters.
“My name is Jiang Yunsui. This is how you write this one.”
The boy looked older than her, but he was not as smart!
Jiang Yunsui felt rather proud.
The boy looked at her correction and scratched his head.
“I think I really did write it wrong.”
“Whose child are you? Why haven’t I seen you before?”
“I’m not from here,” Jiang Yunsui said.
They began chatting. Jiang Yunsui learned that this was the home of the chief’s third son and that the boy was Lin Shitou, the chief’s grandson.
“Father says I can’t go out to play until I can recite these lines and write them.”
“Then recite them. I’ll correct you,” Jiang Yunsui offered.
By the time Lin Shitou stumbled through the passage, the two children had become good friends. Lin Shitou loyally declared that he would take Jiang Yunsui out to play.
“Wait here. I’ll bring out the buffalo.”
His family owned a large black water buffalo. It walked slowly and looked honest and gentle.
Lin Shitou climbed onto its back.
“Jiang Yunsui, do you want to try? My buffalo is amazing, and really obedient too.”
Of course she wanted to try!
Jiang Yunsui climbed onto its back behind him.
The buffalo needed no guidance. Carrying the two children, it followed its usual route out to graze.
They arrived beside a stream, where many other children had already gathered.
Some had stripped off their clothes and jumped in to swim, filling the air with laughter.
“Shitou’s here!”
Jiang Yunsui looked around. Including Lin Shitou’s buffalo, there were only three water buffalo, but there were more than a dozen sheep, a flock of ducks and geese, and carrying baskets set on the ground.
Some baskets were empty. Others were already filled with fodder grass.
They belonged to the children, the oldest of whom was only twelve or thirteen.
Children their age did not do heavy labor, but they still had to graze cattle, sheep, ducks, and geese, then gather fodder for the pigs on the way home.
“Shitou, who’s she?”
Lin Shitou’s friends spotted Jiang Yunsui on the buffalo and crowded around curiously.
Jiang Yunsui was well cared for and plumper than other children her age. At this age, her fair, chubby prettiness and arms like sections of white jade lotus root made her look genuinely blessed.
Adults liked such children, and other children did too.
“My name is Jiang Yunsui.”
After everything she had experienced, she was braver than before. Around children, she was not nearly as wary as she was with strange adults.