Chapter 982
Chapter 982
Chapter 982
The two looked at each other for a long time, then smiled brightly, everything understood without words.
Before dawn the next day, soft footsteps could be heard outside.
Pan Yun had just completed one cycle of her practice when she heard the sound and stopped, opening her eyes.
She turned her head to look at Chunlian lying beside her, gently lifted the quilt and got out of bed. She quietly walked to the window and looked outside.
The farmhouse didn't have any extra rooms, so last night Pan Yun and Chun Lian slept together, Xue Shao and Xi Jin slept in Chun Wang's room, and Chun Wang slept with his parents.
Outside the window, an old man, his back hunched, was carrying a bundle of straw to untie the three horses tied up in the yard. He patted the horses' necks with envy, then picked up a sickle from the corner and went out.
Not long after he left, the young couple got up one after the other. One of them carried a hoe and went out, while the other took a sickle and chased after her father-in-law.
Pan Yun stood quietly for a while until she heard noises coming from next door, then she turned around, put on her clothes, and went out.
She specially changed into short sleeves, and her top and trousers looked very neat.
Xue Shao also removed his robe and changed into a coarse linen outfit, with the same top and trousers, and his hair was tightly wrapped in a cloth, dressed as a farmer.
The two opened the door at the same time, looked at each other, and couldn't help but smile.
In a farming family, even sickles are scarce. Fortunately, Daquan didn't bring a sickle today, while Chunlian had her own.
Without alerting anyone, the two retrieved their sickles and headed toward the fields in the darkness.
Yesterday, Xue Shao spent half a day working in the fields with the old man and his family, getting a good understanding of the village's situation, and naturally knew where their fields were.
He led Pan Yun toward that field.
The night before dawn is very dark, so dark that you can only vaguely see the outline of the people next to you, but at this time, the sky will brighten very quickly.
After passing through the darkest period, as dawn broke and the sky began to lighten, I looked down for a moment, and when I looked up again, it was as if the clouds had parted, and people were vaguely appearing in the fields.
There weren't many families in the village replanting rice seedlings like the old man's family, but at this time of year, there were many people working in the fields.
They were holding hoes, or one person was pulling the plow like an ox while the other held the plow, turning over the soil.
Pan Yun slowed her pace, and Xue Shao stopped to wait for her.
Since taking office, he has spent two-thirds of his time on inspection tours, and coincidentally, all of them are in the Jiangnan region and areas to the south. He has seen these places countless times, but every time he sees them again, he still can't help but feel a pang of fear.
He was pleased that the farmers were so hardworking, but also saddened that they needed to work so hard.
Pan Yun seemed to just remember: "Aren't you the Imperial Inspector of Jiangnan? How come you're also inspecting Quanzhou?"
Xue Shao: "Last year, the officials in the capital suffered great losses. Nearly half of the censors of the Censorate were lost during the personal expedition. Due to the shortage of manpower, His Majesty ordered me to inspect the Jiangnan region and then proceed downwards to inspect the southeast, including Guangdong."
Pan Yun raised an eyebrow: "If one person were to inspect Jiangnan, the Southeast, and half of Lingnan, wouldn't His Majesty be afraid that you would abuse your power and bend the law?"
Xue Shao: "I thought His Majesty would only worry about me dying a violent death."
Pan Yun burst into laughter, but then seemed to fall into deep thought. The emperor trusted her even more than she had realized.
Xue Shao also said, "His Majesty's trust is a good thing, but it is also a bad thing."
His trust and reliance on Pan Yun could become charges against him should he change his mind in the future.
Xue Shao was one of the charges against him.
Pan Yun said, "Indecisiveness is not in my nature. If the reform succeeds and he does not abandon the reform policy, and he wants me dead, I will die to show him."
Xue Shao's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he glared at her unhappily. Although he knew she was talking about faking her death, he still said, "There are prophecies in the world. You should be careful."
Xue Shao paused for a moment and said, "The outcome of the reform depends on the successor. If there is no successor, even if the reform is successful now, it will only be a flash in the pan."
Pan Yun's eyes flickered slightly: "Consort Hang is already five months pregnant. Judging by the time, she will give birth around February next year."
Xue Shao gave her a strange look and said, "The Emperor and Empress have a very deep relationship, shouldn't the Crown Prince be born to Empress Wang?"
Pan Yun said calmly, "Empress Wang has no children."
Xue Shao was surprised.
Although Zhu Jianji arrived two years later than in the other timeline, he still came. Before leaving the palace, he met Consort Hang at Empress Wang's place. She was pregnant with a boy, just like in the other timeline, and was Zhu Qiyu's eldest son.
I wonder what name Zhu Qiyu will give his eldest son in this life.
But no matter what names she chose, Empress Wang was destined to have only two daughters, and even she could not change that.
Pan Yun had no intention of getting involved in this matter.
However, Zhu Jianji...
Pan Jun pondered, knowing that he would only be able to see the boy's face after he was born, and wondered if he would die young in this life.
The next emperor must be groomed early on; we can't let him be spoiled.
The two quickly walked into the field, where the old man and his daughter-in-law each took a side and began harvesting.
The old man looked up and saw them, and quickly stopped them from going into the fields: "You are guests, how can we let you do these things?"
Pan Yun laughed and said, "It's nothing, I'll be getting a free breakfast from the old lady later."
Daquan went to hoe the fields; that's quite heavy work.
Pan Yun and Xue Shao helped with the harvesting for over an hour. As the sun gradually moved over the mountaintop, around 9 AM, the sunlight intensified, and they finished harvesting the rice.
Xiu Niang smiled shyly at them, squatted down and tied the rice she had harvested yesterday into two bundles, which she then used to prop them up with a stick to make a load.
She squatted down to get up, but her back ached and she couldn't stand up.
Pan Jun saw this, quickly took two steps forward and took it: "Let me do it."
"No, no, it's already wrong of us to make the girl work in the fields, how can we let you choose this?"
Pan Yun laughed and said, "Carrying loads is easier for me than harvesting rice."
She easily put the carrying pole, which was already carrying two bundles of rice, aside with one hand, and asked her to carry three more bundles.
Xue Shao laughed and said, "Sister-in-law, just listen to her. She knows martial arts and is very strong."
Xiuniang: "She's a girl too, we should cherish her."
Pan Jun smiled, carrying four bundles of rice on her shoulder and another bundle in her hand, and walked home with light steps.
The old man and Xiu Niang both gaped in disbelief and hurriedly grabbed their sickles and chased after them.
The two of them failed to catch up.
The old man could only slow down, and after Xue Shao caught up, he exclaimed, "This young man is truly remarkable!"
Xue Shao smiled. The old man turned his head and asked, "Young master and young lady, are you old acquaintances?"
Xue Shao was slightly taken aback and asked, "Why do you ask that, sir?"
The old man smiled and said, "I felt last night that you two knew each other, but since you didn't say anything, I pretended not to know. But this morning when you two came over, I didn't think your relationship was bad."
Xue Shao smiled and said, "Yes, we know each other."
The old man didn't ask any further questions, but just smiled knowingly.
Pan Yun returned before them, but she didn't expect there to be guests in the courtyard.
She pushed open the courtyard gate, put down the rice she was carrying in her hands and on her shoulders, and raised an eyebrow at the young man standing in the courtyard.
The young man looked at her in surprise. Wasn't this the little girl who had fallen off her horse yesterday while following behind their carriage?
Young Master Gu looked at the rice she had put down and asked hesitantly, "So, young lady, are you a relative of Uncle Laifu's family?"
Pan Yun looked at Chunlian standing to the side, and Chunlian quickly said, "Uncle, these are our guests who are passing through and staying here for the night."
"Looking for a place to stay?" Young Master Gu looked Pan Yun up and down. "Didn't you say that a young master was staying there? And he even brought a pageboy with him?"
"Me!" Xi Jin, who was helping to make pancakes in the kitchen, peeked out and answered, "I am the pageboy."
Chunlian said cheerfully, "Uncle, they are two groups, not one."
The way they talk makes it sound like they're some kind of big shot.
Pan Yun coughed lightly, patted the rice stalks on his shoulder, and then clasped his hands in a fist salute: "My surname is Pan. May I ask how you are addressed, sir?"
Young Master Gu quickly returned the greeting: "My name is Gu Qingyan. May I ask where you come from and where you are going, young lady?"
Pan Yun was hesitating between making up a lie and telling the truth when his ears twitched and he heard their footsteps returning. He smiled and said, "The people Young Master Gu was waiting for have returned."
She went forward to wash her hands and took off her shoes to wash her feet. The field was still a bit wet, so they took off their shoes before going into the field.
The ditch next to us was dry, so we couldn't wash our feet. We dragged our shoes back, and they were all dirty.
She washed the shoes as well.
It seems she'll have to buy two pairs of straw sandals to have on hand.
Pan Yun rubbed the mud off her shoes, and when Young Master Gu caught a glimpse of her fair feet, he immediately looked away.
Pan Yun didn't care, and neither did Chunlian.
They weren't daughters of landlords; peasant girls also had to work in the fields and wash clothes by the river, so they didn't think there was anything wrong with showing their feet.
Chunlian also lent Pan Yun her pair of straw sandals and helped her hang them up to dry.
As soon as her grandfather returned, she happily went up to open the courtyard gate and said, "Grandpa, Uncle Gu from the Gu family has come to see you."
The old man was both surprised and delighted to see Gu Qingyan. He quickly invited him to sit down and then asked Chunlian to call Daquan back, and also asked Xiuniang to buy meat and wine.
Gu Qingyan quickly declined, then looked at Xue Shao, who was standing silently to the side, took two steps forward, clasped his hands and said, "Are you the Imperial Inspector Xue?"
Xue Shao glanced at Pan Yun without making a sound, and seeing that she was washing her feet with her back to him, he nodded and said, "Young Master Gu is quite well-informed. I arrived here yesterday, and Young Master Gu came over this morning."
Gu Qingyan gave a wry smile and said, "Lord Xue arrived yesterday afternoon. The Gu family has failed to greet you properly."
Gu Qingyan returned to the village a little earlier than Pan Jun. It was already dark when she was talking to the village elders about the land survey. Someone mentioned that a stranger had entered the village that day and was helping the villagers harvest rice in a field not far from the village entrance. It was unclear whether he was just passing by or someone sent by higher authorities to investigate.
He asked a few more questions and searched the village for a long time before finding someone who had seen Xue Shao before to give a reply. After describing him for a long time, Gu Qingyan only knew that he was a young man with a gentle temperament, who looked like a scholar. He was accompanied by a pageboy and was even carrying a sickle to help Xu Fu harvest rice at the foot of the mountain.
Upon hearing this, he immediately guessed that the person was Xue Shao.
He had heard of this Imperial Censor Xue before.
His grandfather, his uncle, and he himself were all very famous and had a great reputation among scholars, especially in the northern regions.
This censor was just as honest and upright as his uncle Xue Xuan, but Gu Qingyan always felt that Xue Shao was more proactive and gentler than Xue Xuan.
Based on this understanding, Gu Qingyan wanted to have a talk with him.
Gu Qingyan invited Xue Shao to the Gu residence, where he had prepared a feast.
Upon hearing that there was delicious food, Pan Jun immediately stopped dawdling, put on her straw sandals, got up, patted the mud off her trousers, and said, "I'll go with you."
Gu Qingyan was surprised and was wondering whether to refuse when she heard Xue Shao nod with a smile: "Okay."
Gu Qingyan's mind raced, and he smiled and nodded, "It is my honor to have Miss Pan here."
After greeting the old man, Gu Qingyan invited the two of them to move over.
Xi Jin quickly wiped his hands and came out to follow, but Xue Shao shook his head slightly at him, so Xi Jin stopped and stayed at the Xu family's house.
At 9:00 AM, people who have been busy in the fields all morning go home to eat breakfast. There are also villagers who can't get up in the morning and only come out with their hoes after eating breakfast. These kinds of people are usually looked down upon by the villagers because they are considered lazy.
So there were many villagers coming and going on the road.
Every villager they encountered greeted Gu Qingyan with a smile, then glanced curiously at Xue Shao and Pan Yun, who were dressed similarly to them but had completely different demeanors.
It's clear that the villagers' affection is genuine; it seems the Gu family has a very good reputation here.
Gu Qingyan's father, Gu Yuan, is the prefect of Baoning Prefecture, while Gu Qingyan has returned to her hometown to study, preparing to participate in the imperial examination in the capital next year.
Both the fourth-rank official and Gu Qingyan, as a Juren (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations), had tax reduction quotas granted through hereditary privilege.
It was obvious that the Gu family didn't own that much land, and Xue Shao had checked the accounts and found that almost all of this land was under the Gu family's name.
These villagers were all protected by the Gu family.
Gu Qingyan clearly knew he couldn't hide it from Xue Shao. After returning to the Gu family, he invited Xue Shao to eat while subtly glancing at Pan Yun.
Xue Shao seemed not to notice and changed the subject: "Young Master Gu rushed back from Quanzhou City, probably because he knew that the county government was going to survey the land in this area and came back to deal with it?"
Seeing that Xue Shao did not intend to avoid Pan Yun, Gu Qingyan composed himself and pondered for a moment before saying, "Lord Xue, my father and I did indeed accept some land from relatives and friends, but the rent we collected was not much. I beg you to be lenient. I am willing to hand over the rent we have collected over the years to the court and return the land we accepted in full."
Xue Shao asked, "How many acres were collected?"
Gu Qingyan said, "A total of two hundred and eighty-five mu."
Xue Shao said, "There are whole numbers and odd amounts, but do you think I believe that?"
Gu Qingyan frowned, and after a moment of silence, said, "Lord Xue is an honest and good official. He should give the people a way to make a living. If the 285 mu are cleared out, every household will have land under their name that can be taxed. Any more, and they will not be able to make a living."
Xue Shao: "Since Young Master Gu has already passed the imperial examination, he should know that the tax rate in a region is fixed. If the people here pay less, the people outside will have to pay more. What will they do?"
Gu Qingyan's heart tightened, and after a moment he said, "I can only protect my relatives and friends in my hometown. As for the others, I am powerless to help them at the moment."
Xue Shao said, "I am an official appointed by the court. As far as the court is concerned, all people in the world are the same, and it is not appropriate to show favoritism to people from any particular place."
(End of this chapter)