Chapter 444 — Fragrant Hills

Jiang Yan and Jiang Ling, however, were enjoying themselves immensely.

When the temple's guest-receiving monk saw how taken they were with the creatures in the release pond, he sent two young novices to attend them, and brought over a few dried steamed buns for them to toss as feed, drawing a school of fish that jostled and crowded eagerly at the water's surface before them.

The two sat in the pavilion beside the release pond, feeding the fish.

Jiang Yan happened to look up and, in the distance, caught sight of a familiar figure standing beyond the courtyard gate.

Her heart gave a start. Pointing toward the distance, she instructed Yinghong, "Go and see what's going on over there."

Yinghong went off at once and soon hurried back. "It's Lord Chen of the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Zhenfu Division. He heard the Madam had come here to climb the mountain and came specially to pay his respects. Wu Yi told him the Madam is resting at midday, so Lord Chen has decided to wait..."

Jiang Yan was startled. "Why is Lord Chen here too?"

Yinghong did not know, and ran off to ask again. She returned and reported, "Lord Chen was on official business outside the city and happened to pass by the Fragrant Hills."

Jiang Yan's expression turned somewhat complicated.

Jiang Ling patted her shoulder and asked gently, "What is it?"

Jiang Yan thought for a moment, then leaned in and whispered certain matters into Jiang Ling's ear. Hesitating, she said, "I wanted to ask him to inquire about my uncle for me. No—about Li Liang's news... at the very least, I want Li Liang to know. That I am living very well in the Song family."

Jiang Ling could well understand what Jiang Yan was feeling.

She thought it over and said, "Then let me go with you to ask!"

Jiang Yan was overjoyed. She thanked Jiang Ling again and again, and repeatedly cautioned her, "Whatever you do, don't tell my sister-in-law. I'm afraid it would hurt them."

"Your sister-in-law is hardly that petty," Jiang Ling laughed. "But my cousin, I can see, is very petty indeed. Just be careful not to let my cousin find out, and that will do."

Jiang Yan defended her brother. "He's angry that I was bullied and still feel grateful to the one who did it. But if not for Li Liang, I don't know how much suffering I would have endured as a child. If only for that, I cannot bring myself to resent him."

"That's rather good of you," Jiang Ling said with a smile. "To always hold hatred in your heart—one cannot help but be affected by it, and gradually one's own face grows ugly to look upon."

She thought of how, after the family's upheaval, some of her sisters had felt aggrieved and complained endlessly, until they seemed to have become different people altogether—and so she constantly reminded herself.

Jiang Yan had finally found someone who did not scold her, and was overcome with the feeling of meeting a kindred spirit.

While she spoke with Chen Jia, Jiang Ling stood on the steps not far from them.

Faced with the hope shining in Jiang Yan's eyes, Chen Jia had to strain to keep his expression from betraying anything unusual.

Song Yan had ground Wei Quan and He Hao and He Qingyuan down until they were scarcely human—how could he possibly have spared Li Liang?

Li Liang's whole family had now been entered into the military household registers and lived in a company of a hundred households under the Tianjin Guard. If they did not farm, they had nothing to eat; a whole year of hard labor by the entire family might not yield even a third of what Li Liang had earned as a bookkeeper. And to make matters worse, the company commander had been ordered to keep Li Liang's family under surveillance—Li Liang could forget about earning a single coin by any other means. The children's schooling had been cut off as well; Li Liang could teach the children their letters himself. Others might still hope to leave the guard station through a general amnesty or the like, but Li Liang, who had voluntarily enlisted in the military household out of fear of Song Yan's vengeance, could never again rise to commoner status—not he, nor his sons, nor his sons' sons... Was this for good or for ill?

Gazing into Jiang Yan's eyes, clear as water, Chen Jia felt his head splitting with pain.

Tell her the truth?

With her temperament, she would only hide under the covers and cry quietly.

Not tell her?

If one day she discovered that he had lied to her, she would surely hold it against him.

Chen Jia bitterly regretted coming to pay his respects to Dou Yan.

It had only been to make an impression on Lady Dou with a greeting—he could have arranged a "chance encounter" on the road when Lady Dou returned to the city. Why insist on waiting here for Lady Dou to wake?

He weighed the matter again and again, and in the end could only force himself to smile and say, "Li Liang is doing quite well in the Tianjin Guard. He's been added to the military rolls, so his sons and grandsons after him will all be able to eat the emperor's grain. There's just one drawback—he was allotted a few mu of land and has to farm it himself, so he doesn't earn as much as he did as a bookkeeper for others."

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Sisters and brothers, today's update will still be around ten tonight.

o(n_n)o~