Chapter 159 Sugar Mill Completed

Chapter 159: The Sugar Workshop Completed

Jin Gu was temporarily detained in the women's prison, and the Huang Dazhu family, implicated in the trafficking of people, was also taken into custody pending judgment.

Huang Ye, this xiaoge (young lad), along with another seventeen-year-old youth, were purchased by Meng Wan. Huang Ye temporarily stayed with Bi Yun, who would teach him some etiquette.

The seventeen-year-old boy lived with Xue Sheng. Meng Wan, thinking that since he already had Bi Yun and Huang Ye, simply changed his name to Qiuse.

Later, when Song Tingzhou returned, there was indeed braised pig trotter soup simmering at home. Having traveled far and conducted half a day’s trial, he was ravenous. Meng Wan directly brought him a small basin to eat from.

Meng Wan’s own appetite had also been good lately; he ate two bowls of rice and a bowl of pig trotter soup, chewing through a small pile of bones.

The children loved the dishes she made, and Chang Jinhua felt satisfied, but the matter with Huang Ye’s mother had stirred up a lot of trouble, so she couldn’t help asking.

"Wan Geer, this xiaoge you bought—won’t he bring trouble to the family? What about his mother’s situation?"

Meng Wan put down his bowl and chopsticks after finishing his last sip of soup. "Don’t worry, Mother. This xiaoge came just at the right time. The more trouble he stirs up, the better."

He exchanged a glance with Song Tingzhou, and the two smiled at each other.

On the surface, Song Tingzhou had used the exemption of terrace farming taxes to gain the trust of most villagers. But in reality, as seen from the behavior of the Shuihe villagers in court, deep down they still followed the old village ways, showing little respect for the rule of law or the distant imperial court.

The most telling example was Tong Ping, who, relying on the influence of country gentry and in his capacity as a subordinate official, had persecuted an Imperial Official. In any other place, even if backed by family power, how could anyone dare act this way?

"The emperor is far away" is a folk saying, but the truth is that in remote areas, news is scarce, people are ignorant of laws and customs, and think the little world they see is all there is. Whether it’s minor grievances or major crimes like murder and arson, they handle everything themselves.

Over time, the authority of officials vanished, and Inspector Huang could easily become the next Tong Ping.

Thus, Song Tingzhou had to use Jin Gu’s case to open up the situation and shatter the villagers’ entrenched ideas. If not Jin Gu today, it would have been another case.

But Huang Ye had the guts to go all out for his mother, and the timing coincided with Meng Wan’s involvement.

While land property was important, promoting civilizing influence was equally urgent.

To make the common people aware of discipline, they must first fear the law. Only then would they be willing to step out of their comfort zones and voluntarily learn about these unknown things.

The rest was for Song Tingzhou, as the official, to handle. Meng Wan was busy building the sugar workshop.

As autumn arrived, Jin Gu’s verdict was sent by express courier to Heshan County on horseback, along with various other letters.

Jin Gu was sentenced to five years of hard labor. Fortunately, the place of service was in the neighboring county. On his two days off each month, Huang Ye would save his wages to buy meat and shoes and take them to Jin Gu.

Knowing that his son was doing well—lacking neither food nor clothing with daily meat at the Song household—Jin Gu felt each time she saw him that he had grown plumper.

Though hard labor was grueling, compared to the constant threat to her life before, she now had more hope. After enduring five years, she could be reunited with her son.

The Huang family was convicted of trafficking people, each receiving a hundred lashes and three years of hard labor. Huang Ye’s aunt by marriage had not participated in the abduction and was released that day. But because of her family’s troubles, the villagers had been beaten for no reason, and now everyone gave her the side-eye, so life wouldn’t be easy for her.

That autumn, Tong Ping, who had spent his days in fear and torment in prison, also faced his end. He was dragged by the county jailers to the market crossroads and beheaded as an example. The Tong family silently collected his body.

The stories of Jin Gu and Tong Ping spread far and wide across the region. Meng Wan even turned Jin Gu’s tale into a play, hiring a troupe at his own expense to perform "Jin Gu Kills Her Husband" for free in each village.

Villagers had almost no entertainment, so watching a play was as exciting as the New Year. Children would bring stools to reserve seats before the stage was even set up.

Before the play began, just hearing the name prompted some to curse Jin Gu as an adulterous wife. But by the end, no one was cursing anymore.

No wonder—Meng Wan’s version of Jin Gu was even more tragic than the reality.

The play began with Jin Gu being sold by the Huang family to serve as a shared wife for two sons, treated like a beast of burden and subjected to every humiliation. Even the hard-hearted men in the audience had red eyes, while women and young boys were deeply moved, the sound of sobbing never ceased from the audience throughout.

Half the play was Jin Gu’s suffering; the other half was the suffering of her son, Ye Geer. The villagers were too busy crying or cursing the Huang family to do anything else.

By the end, when Jin Gu finally fought back to protect her son from further harm and accidentally killed Huang Erzhu, no one criticized Jin Gu. The audience erupted in cheers.

Midway through the play, an actor playing a righteous character, dressed in a stage-adapted official robe, declared Jin Gu an innocent victim. But a village head stepped forward to obstruct, pushing the drama to its climax.

"Lord Song is a good official! Don’t hand Jin Gu over to them!"

"What kind of village head is that? The two holes above his nose are just for breathing, right!"

"Goddamn village head! Bah!"

Some villagers shouted in anger.

The village head of their own village, sitting beside them, looked worse than if he had eaten shit.

"Chief, we’re not cursing you—we’re cursing that blind dog of a village head in the play."

What could the head say? He could only smile bitterly and reply, "Alright, alright, they deserve the cursing."

In the end, the Huang family was sentenced, but poor Jin Gu was also exiled, separated from Ye Geer. This bittersweet ending left everyone deeply moved. Whenever they had spare time, they would discuss it and curse the villains in the play.

Gradually, word spread that this story really happened, just in Shuihe Village near their county. The tale grew more outlandish with each telling.

After the play and reality merged, people began to wonder if there were similar dirty secrets in their own villages and whether they should report injustices to the county office.

After this play became a hit in Heshan, the troupe took it to neighboring counties. Years later, it remained popular throughout the southern region.

—

"Ze Ning's quick, huh? How long has it been, and Lan Niang got pregnant?" Meng Wan remarked, quickly scanning the letter Song Tingzhou handed him.

Song Tingzhou handed over the Zhu family letter, then opened another. Heshan was remote; aside from official government dispatches delivered by special couriers, private letters often took three or four months to arrive. So, letters to them had been collected and only now sent together.

"Zhao Yuan has studied under a Great Scholar and married his junior brother as his husband. Next autumn, he will take his husband to the capital for the Qisheng 28th year imperial metropolitan exam. After all his hardships, things are finally looking up." Song Tingzhou’s tone was full of joy for his friend.

Meng Wan smiled warmly. "Good, all good news."

Song Tingzhou added, "Qin Jiao might get a promotion." Lin Congrong’s letter mentioned the Heir Apparent was pulling strings for him.

Meng Wan understood. "No wonder—he has good connections in the capital. But it’ll have to wait until after the New Year, right?"

Song Tingzhou carefully refolded each letter on the table. "Yes, the new Deputy Magistrate will also arrive after the New Year."

Meng Wan took a sip of warm water and sighed. "I hope he’s someone who knows what's what. A bit clumsy can be taught, but the worst is a fool who thinks he’s clever."

At that moment, the newly bought servant, Qiuse, cautiously announced from outside, "My lord, master, another letter has arrived by courier."

Meng Wan, unable to move easily, watched as Song Tingzhou strode up to take the letter from Qiuse.

Meng Wan looked puzzled. "Letters from the north should have all arrived together, right? How did one get left behind?"

Song Tingzhou glanced at the name on the envelope and handed it to Meng Wan. "It’s from Qinzhou. It must be for you."

"From Qinzhou!" Meng Wan suddenly understood. When they first arrived in Heshan, he had sent a letter to Fang Jinrong, and this must be the reply.

Upon opening it, he saw Fang Jinrong’s big, ugly scrawl, filling a dozen pages—but his words filled as many pages as four or five by anyone else.

Still, it was easy to read, and Fang Jinrong’s plain and straightforward style made his letters equally clear and simple.

It turned out that when he woke up at the Zhu family that day, he and Ge Quan stumbled upon Xiao Liu committing murder. The situation was bizarre and horrifying, and the Zhu household was unsettled. Fearing being dragged into it, Ge Quan quickly took him away from Changping Prefecture.

He was also a chatterbox. Having finally left home for the first time, he hadn't had enough fun, so he persuaded Ge Quan to take him out to explore the martial world.

At first, it was all sorts of fun. He and Ge Quan stayed together day after day, just the two men. The man surnamed Ge was handsome and highly skilled in martial arts, so Fang Jinrong, a young master as innocent as blank paper inside and out, couldn't help but develop feelings.

They confessed their love to each other. People in the martial world were naturally unrestrained, and they couldn't hold back and ended up getting married.

After marriage, they needed to settle down. Fang Jinrong feared being scolded by his father if he stayed too close, and his heart was wild, so he asked Ge Quan to take him far away.

Ge Quan had saved up quite a bit of silver before, but the young master was a big spender, so they couldn't just live off their savings. He took on some night jobs that paid quickly, but to avoid nosy neighbors gossiping about his spouse, he bought himself a low-ranking military officer position as a cover.

They now live in Qinzhou. Fang Jinrong even invited Meng Wan to visit him, or said that when Ge Quan was free, Ge Quan would bring him to Heshan to visit Meng Wan.

Seeing that his tone was still as innocent and naive as when he was unmarried, and that he had the freedom to come and go as he pleased, Meng Wan couldn't help but laugh. "Jinrong is still the same as before, making snap decisions. He's doing well, and he's pretty lucky too."

But Meng Wan himself was also fortunate.

After sorting out all the chaotic errands, Song Tingzhou approved a piece of land outside the county town for him to build a sugar workshop.

In the golden autumn of October, the sugar workshop was finally completed.

This sugar workshop was the fruit of all their labor and love since arriving in Heshan, and it would hold all their hopes and love.

The whole family was overjoyed. Song Tingzhou's hands were trembling when he wrote letters to distant relatives and friends.

With the sugar workshop completed, Meng Wan felt much more relaxed. After resting at home for over a month, he began making arrangements to go to the countryside to collect sugarcane.

For the first year of collecting sugarcane, he insisted on handling the process personally. Old Gan was going to step down completely from this side of the work after this trip and return to Yangzhou to enjoy playing with his grandchildren in retirement, so there must be no mistakes this time. Xue Sheng, Qin Jiao, and the Tao brothers from Hongshan Village all had to accompany Meng Wan.

Before leaving, Meng Wan also brought along Huang Ye. Although Huang Ye was younger than Bi Yun, because of his family background, he was bold and unafraid to take risks. Meng Wan wanted to keep him close and train him well.

But it was rare for Bi Yun to proactively ask to go with him.

Meng Wan saw that he had changed into the new clothes made a few days ago and had pinned one of the silver hairpins Meng Wan had bought for him in his hair. He understood—Bi Yun was only a year younger than him, already not young, and should have started getting interested in such things long ago.

But who had he taken a liking to? Was it someone from Hongshan Village?

Meng Wan sat in the carriage, tapping his fingertips lightly on the fabric on his knees. His waist had become slender again, but his face had filled out a bit from all the good care these days.

"Husband, what's wrong?" Bi Yun sat beside him. Seeing Meng Wan glancing at him from time to time, he asked nervously.

Meng Wan rested his chin on his hand, staring straight at him. "You've been with me for so many years. You should know that our family is not the type to mistreat people. If you ever want to get married, just tell me. I won't begrudge you the money to buy back your indenture, and I'll also provide a dowry."

Bi Yun blushed at such blunt words, but knowing Meng Wan's sincerity, he couldn't help but feel touched.

He hesitated, glanced at Huang Ye who was eavesdropping nearby, and finally hesitantly whispered, "It's a member of the Tao family."

"I guessed as much," Meng Wan said.

After all, among the people Bi Yun interacted with daily, only the Tao family had unmarried men of suitable age.

Hearing Bi Yun admit it, Meng Wan felt relieved. The Tao family was good—honest and dependable, and the younger ones had all joined the county office, so things could be arranged easily.

His biggest fear was that it would be an ordinary villager from Hongshan Village. Not that he looked down on farmers, but Bi Yun had never really endured the hardships of farming. If he were to settle into village life as a spouse one day, he might not adjust.

Meng Wan sat up straight and advised him seriously, "You're not young anymore. Since you've taken a liking to someone, talk to him, and have him properly come to propose. If he thinks he can skip that step just because you're currently of slave status, then he's not worthy of you settling for someone beneath you."

Bi Yun bit his lip. "I know, husband. He's already said he wants to propose. It's just that I can't bear to leave you and Sister Chang."

Meng Wan pulled out a package of mooncakes from the carriage, gave one each to Bi Yun and Huang Ye, took a bite of his own, and comforted Bi Yun, "What's there to worry about? Growing old, falling sick, death, joy and sorrow, partings and reunions—all of these are part of life. You will eventually form a new family and have your own children. As long as you live with wisdom, you can make your own place in the world no matter the circumstances."

Huang Ye held the mooncake thoughtfully. "Husband... then... is it okay not to get married?"

No wonder he'd taken a liking to him—thinking so far ahead at that age!

Meng Wan immediately replied, "Why not? Look at your Brother Xuesheng, heartbroken. I don't think he ever plans on getting married."

"Brother Xuesheng has been through heartbreak? How come I didn't know?" Bi Yun was shocked. He and Xue Sheng were as close as brothers, yet he had no idea about this, which showed how tight-lipped Xue Sheng could be.

Huang Ye also leaned in to listen.

Meng Wan cleared his throat lightly. It was too boring in the carriage, so he started sharing gossip with his two young lads. "Let me tell you, Xue Sheng used to have a lover..."

Xue Sheng, who was driving the carriage just outside: "..."

Qin Jiao, quick-eared and