Great Tang Idyll

When Zhang Xiao'bao was thinking about how to finish off Magistrate Jia in one go, Shi'liu came over and told him that Li Xun was here.

"Why is he here? Is he not celebrating New Year's Eve?" Zhang Xiao'bao was puzzled. Why didn't the emperor's nephew stay at home during the New Year? What will his family do after he has run over here? Did he sneak out?

This time, Zhang Xiao'bao didn't dare to handle the situation as casually as before. If the emperor's nephew sneaked out and went here, his own manor would be in trouble. He pulled Wang Juan along with him to greet Li Xun.

By the time they arrived at their courtyard, they saw Li Xun with his hands behind his back as he watched the stars. Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan were now certain that he did indeed come here.

"Young Master Li, why have you come here? You didn't stay at home, and instead you came here. Do you intend to cause trouble for our family?" Zhang Xiao'bao moved closer to see if Li Xun was beaten or disciplined.

Wang Juan also knew that the matter was important, and nodded, waiting for Li Xun to give a reasonable explanation.

Li Xun smiled and looked at Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan, and said, "Good, good place. When I came here, I saw many houses along the way. People can easily enter from one house to another. There are door frames, but there are no doors. This is interesting. I saw that there were a lot of tables there. Are you planning to gather a lot of people to eat together?"

Li Xun did not answer Zhang Xiao'bao's question, but commented on the place used for the New Year celebration.

"Yeah. It's more lively to celebrate the New Year with the residents. How did you come here? You're not going home?" Zhang Xiao'bao talked about the purpose of the place over there, and asked again.

Under the illumination of lights in the courtyard, Li Xun looked around at the yard and said, "I'm returning. I'm returning back to the prefecture. My father is going back to the capital for the New Year, and he said he would take me with him, but I don't want to go back. The people over there are not fun, so I told my father that I want to mingle with the civilians. I didn't expect that my father would agree. Thus, I came here to have fun with you."

"My family is also an official. Did no one come with you? You came here alone?" Zhang Xiao'bao looked behind Li Xun. Apart from the guard in his yard who was responsible for protection, he saw no one else.

"When we arrived at the gate, I told them to go to the Between The Water And Clouds. Perhaps a few are standing guard there; let them guard. I'm Li Wang'xun, you don't need to open the main door to greet me. I can just push open a side door and come in. It's not like you would hurt me, would you?" Li Xun was quite courageous, so he dared to come in by himself.

Zhang Xiao'bao shook his head, "How would I dare to harm you? You don't sleep at night? What are you doing here? Go rest at the Between The Water and Clouds. Wouldn't it be better to come here tomorrow morning?"

"The night is long and I can't fall asleep. I want to talk to you guys. Li Cheng is here too. I wonder what he has learned all these days. Sigh~! He didn't even come talk to me. Judging by the amount of time it took you two to arrive here and the clothing you two are wearing, you haven't slept yet?"

Li Xun found a good reason. He looked at Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan again, and said with a smile.

Zhang Xiao'bao didn't speak right away; he was thinking about something. Wang Juan tugged on him and he snapped out of it. His gaze towards Li Xun was different from before. He made way and said, "Yeah, we haven't slept yet. There's something fun, and we're thinking about how to play it."

Li Xun followed them in. Hearing Zhang Xiao'bao saying there was something fun, he became interested and asked quickly, "What is so fun? Tell me about it."

"No rush, you'll find out tomorrow. How many people did you bring this time? Maybe our family can use them." Zhang Xiao'bao asked expectantly. Originally, he wanted to say 'I can use them', but he felt that this might expose himself.

Li Xun stretched out two fingers, "Not many. This time I came here spontaneously and only brought 200 people. What does your family want to do? Do you want to build more houses? That's good, I will do the same at my manor next year. It's too late to start this year.

How about this, on the 30th, I will also tell my residents to come over to your place. Everyone can gather together. Get someone to discuss with your family and see if they will agree."

Li Xun finally found something fun, and he talked excitedly there. Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan were both surprised and happy.

Wang Juan mouthed her words to Zhang Xiao'bao, "Great, now we have another 200 people."

"Hmm, it's good. The matter is not just about 200 people, there are other things." Zhang Xiao'bao replied, and then he said to Li Xun, "Of course. They will definitely agree. Xiao'hong, go to my mother's place and see if my mother has slept yet. If she's asleep already, go to the study room to find my father and tell him that Young Master Li brought people to celebrate the New Year with us."

"Okay, young master, I'll go right now." Xiao‘hong agreed and ran off. As soon as she ran outside the yard, she met the people sent by Zhang's father and Zhang Wang's to inquire. It was impossible for them to not ask about Li Xun's arrival.

After listening to Xiao'hong finish talking about the matter, Madam. Zhang-Wang thought for a moment and then said, "Husband, let's not go over there. Let Xiao'bao and Juan'juan accompany him to talk. Xiao'hong, go over there after a while and say that the Zhang manor is will prepare everything that is needed."

Li Xun and Zhang Xiao'bao chatted for a while, and Xiao'hong came back to relay the message.

"How could I, the Emperor's nephew, let you prepare everything? Tomorrow, I will tell my residents to come over so that they can build the houses. I will pay however much is needed."

Zhang Xiao'bao wasn't thinking about this and was thinking of something else. He said to Li Xun, "Alright, then call all your residents over tomorrow. I have a lot of wooden boards, so it can be constructed quickly. There are also other materials that need to be prepared.

How about this, tomorrow, during the day, let's watch from the side to see where they are not doing well, and you can also help point it out. This time, the Between The Water and Clouds will not close on the 30th so we can go back and forth. An official is there to celebrate the New Year and will not be returning home. Juan'juan and I do not know which family to go to, so this is our only choice. "

"Okay, let's do that. Those people who are going back to the capital can suffer. This is not allowed, and that is not allowed— so annoying. I have foresight, don't I? Hahahaha~!" Li Xun said and laughed.

Zhang Xiao'bao also laughed, and Wang Juan added, "Also, there are many objects made of straw in the fields. There was a light snow but the objects were not crushed. Later, we can crawl around in it and play. We can tell the children in the manor to come along and play hide and seek inside."

"What is it like? What is it like? It was dark when I came, so I didn't see it. There is a fun place like that here?" This time when Li Xun returned home, he was indeed disciplined, so he ran out for some fresh air. Hearing that there was something fun to play with, he was even more excited.

"There is. Young Master Li should rest early, otherwise you won't be able to get up tomorrow." Zhang Xiao'bao persuaded Li Xun to go to sleep when he saw that the conversation was almost over. Of course he couldn't go to the Between The Water And Clouds this time so the best guest room in the yard was tidied up for Li Xun to stay at.

Li Xun also didn't want to chat anymore, so he agreed and was sent to the guest room by Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan. He laid there thinking about tomorrow's fun events.

After sending off Li Xun, Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan returned to their room. They laid down on the heated brick bed together, looked at each other and laughed.

"It's even better now. Originally, I thought it would require a bit of effort to push Magistrate Jia over, but now we don't need it. I was thinking of pulling that old man in. If he doesn't die this time, then I will die. Let Li Xun change into the same clothes as the children in manor. We should change too."

Zhang Xiao'bao finally let out a sigh of relief at this time. He was not afraid of Magistrate Jia coming, but he was worried that he would not be able to deal with the people all at once. Now he doesn't have to worry about this matter anymore.

Wang Juan was lying there and said, "This is what it's meant by ‘a good man will receive good karma'. Did he really think that if Song Yang was driven away, we would not know his whereabouts? We were the ones who manufactured that carriage and we were also the ones who renovated the house he lives in. We spent so much effort. If we let him get away, then that is a waste of our money."

Zhang Xiao'bao laid down for a while, turned over, and sat next to the desk again. Thinking about things there, Wang Juan sat up and asked, "What else are you doing? Let's not study today. Let's go to bed earlier so that we can deal with tomorrow's affairs."

"I'm thinking. I'm thinking about it again. The details determine success and failure. I have to make arrangements. This time, I won't just get rid of Magistrate Jia, but I will also make sure the Han family and Yuan family won't be able to get away. So many people with honorary official titles. Sigh~! Historical reasons."

Zhang Xiao'bao started to tap his face with his hand again. He wanted to prepare a sure-fire solution, and at the same time, he had to have a backup plan to solve the problem at once and leave no trouble for the future.

Seeing Zhang Xiao'bao's appearance, Wang Juan knew that he was about to make a ruthless attack. She pulled the quilt over, covering half of her body, and said, "Then think about it first. Tell me when you're done, and I'll discuss it with you. I'm going to lie down for a bit. Remember to call me."

It took an hour before Zhang Xiao'bao thought through the matter clearly. He got under the covers, and started muttering with Wang Juan.

*

On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, early in the morning, Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan had just woken up and finished grooming. Before they had the chance to eat, Li Xun came over. He also didn't eat yet, so they ate together.

After eating in a hurry, he called Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan to go out, and outside the yard, two guards he brought were still standing there.

"Quick, call Li Cheng for me. Let him go to the manor to find someone who can come here to work." Li Xun ordered a guard. He then urged Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan to go to the fields because he wanted to see the passages and small huts from straw.

Because of the snow, the straw here was covered with a layer of snow. Only bundies could be seen in the field and the straw was undiscoverable.

The three people arrived at an opening. Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan pushed away the straw that was blocking the opening and a hole appeared in front of them.

Zhang Xiao'bao crawled in first. He felt the air inside,and found that there was no problem. He shouted outside. "Come in and take a look first. Let's go over there to see people build houses later."

Li Xun was waiting for Zhang Xiao'bao to say this. When he heard his words, he got in immediately. Inside felt really different from the outside and was very interesting. He shouted to Zhang Xiao'bao, whose shadow cannot even be seen inside, "Do you have enough wood in your house? I still have some in my manor."

"Enough. I've prepared a lot for growing vegetables. Okay, let's go out and come back later." Zhang Xiao'bao got out from another opening.

*