Chapter 87: Drought

Chapter 87: Drought

Upon arriving in Xinfeng County, Feng Zhong went straight to the Zheng residence to deliver the imperial edict. He did not hesitate and sat down to drink a cup of hot tea. Now that he had conveyed the emperor's decree, he felt a weight off his chest, and his spirits began to relax.

After drinking a cup of tea, Feng Zhong didn’t delay and said he would return to the courier station. He still had other duties to attend to, needing to report the affairs of Xinfeng County to the emperor so that His Majesty could make decisions.

"Lord Zheng, I’ll be heading back now. There’s no need to see me off."

Zheng Shanci escorted Feng Zhong to the door.

Zheng Shancheng and Zheng Qingyin did not dare to lift their heads, only kneeling and mumbling "Long live the emperor." They never expected to meet a eunuch.

"We’ve hit the jackpot," Yu Lanyi said as he opened the chest, seeing a hundred taels of gold. His heart was filled with delight.

The accountant, knowing the situation, stood by.

Yu Lanyi hugged the chest, eyeing the accountant warily. "This is a reward from His Majesty. It doesn’t need to go into the treasury. This is gold earned by my own efforts," he said, as if he had earned the gold himself.

The accountant: "..."

Zheng Shanci smiled. "Having so much gold makes me nervous. If Lan Yi wants some, take a few bars for spending money."

Having so much money in his care made Zheng Shanci afraid to sleep at night, fearing he might lose the gold. Judging by the accountant's demeanor, they couldn't just do as they pleased.

"Lord Zheng is sensible. Since you say so, young master, take a few bars for spending money."

Yu Lanyi gave Zheng Shanci a disappointed look, who gently averted his gaze. Yu Lanyi then glared at the accountant, feeling that praising Zheng Shanci for being reasonable was an indirect way of saying he was unreasonable.

Reluctantly, Yu Lanyi released the large chest and took twenty gold bars from it, stopping only when his hands could hold no more.

Zheng Shanci waved his hand. "Take the chest away now."

Yu Lanyi: "It’s all mine!"

Yu Lanyi generously gave three bars to Zheng Shancheng and three to Zheng Qingyin, keeping the remaining fourteen for himself. Looking around the household, Yu Lanyi thought for a moment and said, "Today is a special day for my husband. Everyone will get an extra tael of silver this month."

"Thank you, young master!"

Zheng Shanci smiled, glancing at Yu Lanyi.

Yu Lanyi turned and dashed off with the gold, determined to hide his private stash.

It was all his alone. If not for Zheng Shanci, the entire chest would have been his. The thought made Yu Lanyi’s heart ache a little.

Even though Zheng Shanci couldn’t keep the gold, he had gained a husband worth his weight in gold. That wasn’t a bad trade, Yu Lanyi thought with righteous confidence.

Zheng Shanci thought for a moment. Lan Yi had told him after returning from the capital that the emperor would send someone to reward him with gold and jewels. Logically, since Lan Yi had returned to the capital, Emperor Wuming couldn’t have been unaware. The emperor could have issued the decree to Lan Yi and had him bring it back. The Marquis of Changyang was an important court official, and the emperor would naturally take an interest. So when Zheng Shanci received a letter from the Marquis of Changyang in Xinfeng County, informing him of the emperor's reward and advising him to be cautious and not offend the imperial envoy, he knew this mission was more than just about gold and jewels.

Zheng Shanci stood firm, unafraid of any shadows. He didn’t do anything else but instructed his people to keep an eye on Feng Zhong’s movements. After Feng Zhong and his men lingered for a few days, they quietly left at night without anyone seeing them off.

The household’s possessions grew, and two more wardrobes were added to the room. Zheng Shanci sat nearby, listening to Wang Fu’s report, and nodded. "I understand."

"Lan Yi, do you know this eunuch?" Zheng Shanci asked.

Yu Lanyi shook his head. "I haven’t heard of him, but if his surname is Feng, he’s probably the adopted son of Feng De, the chief eunuch. He has many adopted sons."

Feng Zhong had left too quickly, making Zheng Shanci reconsider the man. From what he knew, eunuchs passing through local areas usually collected tribute money, but Feng Zhong had not. Aside from his somewhat effeminate appearance and sharp voice, his clear eyes made him seem like an upright person.

Yu Lanyi also bought golden hairpins. He bought a box for himself and another box to bring back to the capital as gifts for relatives and friends.

"It's been a long time since I spent money like this," Yu Lanyi said, sprawled out on the bed, rubbing against his golden silk quilt.

Zheng Shanci thought to himself, "..." A gold-devouring beast.

"Zheng Shanci, open the third wardrobe. I bought clothes and boots for you."

Zheng Shanci felt a warmth in his heart. Even though Yu Lanyi spent a lot, it was still on him.

Zheng Shanci opened the wardrobe, dazzled by its contents, and saw several sets of clothes. He took off his official robe and tried on the new clothes, also changing into the new boots.

"You look good," Yu Lanyi said with a smile.

After being with Yu Lanyi, Zheng Shanci's collection of clothes had grown rapidly. Zheng Shanci said, "You can buy clothes, but don’t go overboard. Save some money for other things, like pearl powder, or just put it aside."

"I’ll follow your advice and save," Yu Lanyi said with a nod. Yes, he needed to stash away some savings, hidden safely.

Zheng Shanci chuckled and ruffled Yu Lanyi’s hair, "I believe you."

Yu Lanyi gazed at Zheng Shanci’s charming smile and teased, "Only I could put up with you."

"Yes, my lord," Zheng Shanci replied with a playful tone.

"Why call me master? It makes me feel distant from you," Yu Lanyi jumped up from the bed. "Speaking of which, you should call me your husband."

He looked directly at Zheng Shanci, waiting for him to respond.

"You haven’t called me 'husband' much either," Zheng Shanci teased. "My dear Mr. Zheng."

Yu Lanyi blushed and softly called 'husband' three times, his voice barely above a whisper.

As Zheng Shanci moved to hug him, Yu Lanyi dodged playfully, making Zheng Shanci’s eye twitch.

Yu Lanyi playfully punched Zheng Shanci’s arm a few times.

These were new clothes, and Zheng Shanci winced as Yu Lanyi’s punches landed.

...

The summer in Xinfeng County was too hot. Zheng Shanci tasked the village head with organizing the villagers to combat the drought. To save the parched crops, they had to haul water for irrigation.

Zheng Shanci, shielding himself with a straw hat, trudged through the sun-scorched fields. The relentless sun had left half the wheat in the field wilted and lifeless. The trees planted two years prior thrived, their canopy offering a rare patch of shade.

"Lord Zheng, the weather’s been cruel. Even if the wheat dies, we’ll still owe taxes," the old farmer lamented.

Zheng Shanci, his throat dry, took a sip from his water pouch to moisten his throat and comforted, "Old man, don't worry. If there's really a problem, the county office won't stand by. Right now, we need to focus on fighting the drought."

"With Lord Zheng's words, I feel much more at ease," the old farmer said.

Zheng Shanci was about to say something more when he saw a bug fly onto Ding Xuan's face. Ding Xuan removed the bug from his face, his expression changing drastically. The old farmer also changed his expression upon seeing the bug.

"Locusts!" Ding Xuan cried out, his voice filled with dread.

Zheng Shanci's face changed.

They walked into the field and found a few scattered locusts flying onto the wheat, eating it. The old farmer, heartbroken, swatted the locusts down and stomped on them.

They all knew it was hopeless; the appearance of even a few locusts meant that a large-scale outbreak was not far off.

In ancient times, locusts were generally migratory locusts. When their numbers increased, they tended to sense each other, forming swarms and crowding together. Moreover, the most terrifying aspect was their strong reproductive ability.

The wheat in the fields wasn’t fully ripe yet. Zheng Shanci frowned as he looked around and saw locusts appearing in other fields as well. He said, "Hurry and tell your village head. Have him inform the villagers to harvest the wheat immediately."

"We must return to the county yamen at once!"

Zheng Shanci and his group hurried back to the county yamen without stopping. Zheng Shanci immediately had Ding Xuan draft a notice, ordering the yamen runners to rush to the towns and villages to notify everyone to harvest the wheat as soon as possible, to save what they could; otherwise, there’d be nothing left.

"Quickly go and harvest the wheat in the fields; the locust plague is coming soon," the village head urged, rushing to get the villagers to start harvesting right away.

Some didn’t believe it until a locust landed right on their face, leaving them no choice but to rush home and grab a sickle.

Zheng Shanci also wrote a letter to Magistrate Fang, warning him to prepare for the locust plague.

Magistrate Fang had not heard any rumors and, after reading Zheng Shanci's letter, did not take it seriously. "It’s no surprise that Xin Feng County, being so remote, has a locust plague. What locust plague could we have here? There’s no word of it."

Magistrate Fang sent a dismissive reply to Zheng Shanci, but Zheng Shanci didn’t even have time to read it.

As Magistrate Fang’s letter was being delivered from Lan County to Xin Feng County’s post station, dark clouds gathered in the sky, turning the entire sky black. They also heard the buzzing sound of insects.

People on the streets scattered like frightened animals, seeking shelter in any nearby shop.

Yu Lanyi was at home with Zheng Qingyin by his side. They’d been chatting and laughing when Jin Yun suddenly cried out, "Young master, why’s the sky gone dark all of a sudden?"

Yu Lanyi heard the buzzing of insects and felt his scalp crawl. Zheng Qingyin looked up and said, "It’s locusts!"

A thick swarm of locusts covered Xin Feng County like a net, blotting out the sky.

Yu Lanyi yanked Jin Yun inside and slammed the door shut, while Zheng Qingyin closed the windows. Yu Lanyi couldn’t sit still; he stood up and looked at the window, which had turned from bright to pitch black, with occasional slivers of light peeking through. The shadows of locusts scuttled across the window, making a scraping sound.

It was Zheng Qingyin’s first time facing a locust plague, but having grown up in the countryside, he was more accustomed to such insects. After the initial shock and a racing heart, he had calmed down.

Yu Lanyi and Jin Yun, both pale-faced, had never seen anything like this before.

"Second sister-in-law, why don’t you lie down or sit for a bit?" Zheng Qingyin supported Yu Lanyi and said with concern.

Yu Lanyi was helped to sit on the bed by Zheng Qingyin, who then poured him a cup of hot tea to help him calm down. Zheng Qingyin also poured a cup for Jin Yun, saying, "You look pale too; sit down and have some tea."

Jin Yun thanked Young Master Zheng and sat down to sip the tea, not daring to look at the window again.

Some in Xin Feng County had shut their doors, thinking they were safe, only to find locusts flying in from upstairs—they’d forgotten to close the windows, leaving them vulnerable.

Zheng Shanci was still in the countryside. He had been talking with the village head on the road when the sky suddenly turned dark. The village head muttered, "Locusts," and they quickly ran to a nearby farmer's house to take shelter.

"Who are you?! Village head, Lord Zheng..."

Ding Xuan immediately closed the door, and Zheng Shanci hurriedly shut the windows.