Great Tang Idyll

Book 2: Chapter 90

Zhang Xiao'bao also agreed that they should not go meet that person. They decided to go to where Li Xun was to find Han Yong'yao and let him know that others would not try to seek revenge on a person if that person did not do evil deeds.

The two of them told Hu'zi to go rest first, and then they sent bailiffs to tell their family what happened. Since the opponent made a move, they had to counterattack.

After arranging these matters, Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan ate their meal in a hurry, made some preparations, and rode a carriage to that place. The place Li Xun chose was next to San'shui County, and some of them have already left San'shui County.

Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan sat in the carriage with their faces sullen, and they did not speak. They bounced with the bumpy ride. Shi'liu was sitting across from the two of them. She tried to persuade them,

"Young Master, Young Miss, it's not worth getting angry with such a person. If you teach them a lesson, they will know what to be scared of."

"Hmm, yes, let's not be angry. He's just a bit annoying. Such a young child, yet he's filled with so many evil ideas. It seems like the adults in his family have never disciplined him properly before. Let's go over there first and deal with him. We can't let his family off easily too. "

Zhang Xiao'bao adjusted his posture and leaned on the cushion behind him.

Wang Juan also agreed with him. Even though he was just a child, he could act just as evil as an adult, especially since his family has some power. At first, he may just want to vent his anger, but if you don't do anything to him, he will treat it as a fun activity, and will scheme against you whenever he's bored.

Shi'liu felt that her Young Master and Young Miss were the most interesting during times like this. They called him a child even though they were even younger than him. She thought for a bit and then asked, "Can't we get the government to arrest them? Those three have been caught already, so we have witnesses."

"We don't have any proof though; there is no written evidence. When the time comes, he can just say that he doesn't know anything and that those three people are framing him. What can be done to him then? Anyone knows how to be bad. Let him be bad."

Zhang Xiao'bao felt that it was the greatest misfortune to have a neighbor like this. They spent their entire day wanting to cause trouble, and he had to expend energy to guard against them. Who has that much time to waste like that?

Wang Juan replied, "We can't let him off. Xiao'bao, how should we teach him a lesson? We can't just beat him up, right?"

"We don't need to beat him up. We just need to scare him and slow him down. As long as he can't get to the place in the end, Li Xun will hit him. Li Xun has always wanted to show his competence to adults. We need to fully take advantage of this mentality."

Zhang Xiao'bao also smiled sinisterly and poked his own face with his finger. Seeing her young master make this gesture, Shi'liu began to feel sorry for that Han Yong'yao. She had no clue what kind of idea her young master would come up with this time.

"Xiao'bao, that Xing'yi guy is next to the Han family, right? His surname is Yuan. He also helped with coming up with this idea. We should give him a warning this time too." Wang Juan leaned her head onto Zhang Xiao'bao's shoulder and closed her eyes to rest.

"Yes, how could there not be a single good person over there? It's also the perfect opportunity to discuss with Li Xun about the construction of another restaurant next to Between The Water And Clouds. We should get Li Xun to help." In order to get ready for the long arduous journey ahead, Zhang Xiao'bao also closed his eyes, leaning his head on the carriage.

The carriage rushed the entire way, and finally caught up with Li Xun and others in the evening at the Shen hour1. The team was split up-- the faster people were leading in the front while the slower people were behind by about one li [~454 meters].

Li Xun did not walk that fast, and the people around him also tried to conserve their stamina. Han Yong'yao was also in this place; this was ordered by his family. They even sent a servant to watch him.

Everyone was walking on the road when a carriage suddenly joined in, and Li Xun's expression suddenly became ugly. Who was so daring to drive over at this moment?

Han Yong'yao's and Yuan Xing'yi's expressions also changed. They knew about what they did. They came up with their idea and sent people to add poison just yesterday, and today, these two children, who didn't join the training at the beginning, suddenly came? Did e here for me?

"Young Master Li, we have also come to participate. We're a bit too young, and we're budding in at this time, do we need to start from the beginning? If that's the case, we will get the carriage to drive us back."

Zhang Xiao'bao jumped out of the carriage first, turned around and stuck his hand out to help Wang Juan down. Then, he turned around to ask Li Xun.

With a happy smile on Li Xun's face, he stepped forward and said, "If it was someone else who was as young as you two, then of course that would not be permitted. However, because it is you two, I don't have to worry. Just as you said, you two are a bit too young, so it only makes sense that you have to walk a shorter distance. You can join us starting from here. Did you bring everything you need? This time there are no tents for you two to go into and discuss about the quality of the food."

When Li Xun spoke, his eyes swept across the backpacks Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan carried. He wanted to know what they brought over this time. In his opinion, the two backpacks were no different from magical bags.

Zhang Xiao'bao stretched out his hand and patted the side of the backpack, and said with a smile, "We did, we brought everything. We can start now. Young Master Han is also here? Did you dream of falling into the pond last night? And found that the water inside the pond was poisonous and that there were dead fish floating around?"

After greeting Li Xun, Zhang Xiao'bao turned to face Han Yong'yao and asked gently.

"What pond? I don't know what you're talking about? I'm in a hurry." Han Yong'yao shivered, and took two steps backwards in shock, not daring to look at Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan.

Yuan Xing'yi smiled and said at this time, "I didn't expect that the two people who were highly praised by others would come. Young Master Zhang, we will depend on you for the rest of the journey."

Zhang Xiao'bao also smiled back, but he did not say anything. In his mind, he thought to himself. Children from wealthy families were indeed better than from ordinary families. Although they may be a bit worse at enduring hardships, they were better at dealing with people or matters. This was because they learned this from adults.

"Xiao'bao, can I have a look at your backpack?" Li Xun couldn't resist the curiosity in his heart, so after the other children started to leave, he walked beside Zhang Xiao'bao and asked.

Zhang Xiao'bao shook his head. "It would take up too much time if you look at it right now. You will get to see when the items are being used. We didn't plan to come, but something happened at home when Wang Juan and I were playing at Little Luo'shui, so we had no choice but to come here and ask Young Master Li for help."

The surrounding children were all well taught at home, so they spoke just like grownups. Zhang Xiao'bao didn't bother with acting child-like anymore and also spoke to Li Xun with the tone of an adult.

Of course, Li Xun was not dumb too. After hearing what Zhang Xiao'bao said, he seemed to understand. Then, he thought about how dodgy Han Yong'yao's eyes were just now. He smiled and said, "Could it be that somebody went to your house to poison your pond? How many fishes died? Last time your household sent someone to deliver a fish recipe. I was planning that after this training ends, I could go to your pond and catch a fish or two. It seems like that's not possible anymore."

Han Yong'yao and Yuan Xing'yi, who were not far behind, heard what the Emperor's nephew said and they almost tripped and fell. They immediately felt sweat form on their foreheads. What they wanted to know most at this time was whether those people they sent were caught or not. If they were caught and exposed who sent them, then wouldn't that mean the two of them wanted to murder the Emperor's nephew?

Zhang Xiao'bao seemed to know that the two people behind him were scared, and he deliberately turned his head to glance at them. He said with a meaningful tone, "Young Master Li, you may not know, but there are some people who wish to poison everything in my house to death. Unfortunately, we have let them down. One of the manor's residents happened to get up at night, and he saw three people. Master Li can come and pick a few good fish later on."

Yuan Xing'yi felt scared in his heart, and he spoke to Zhang Xiao'bao with a concerned expression on his face.

"Yeah, they were caught and sent to the Administrative Office. However, these three people are too stubborn. The messenger told me that the bailiffs have not gotten any answers from them yet. It seems that the person who wants to poison Young Master Li is not that ordinary."

Zhang Xiao'bao attached this label to these two people.

How could Yuan Xing'yi possibly admit to this? He quickly said, "Young Master Zhang, your words are too extreme. Young Master Li only mentioned that he wanted to eat fish just now, so how could those three people know ahead of time? If they know that Young Master Li plans to go there to eat fish, they would not have the guts to do that."

"Yes, they won't dare. Perhaps someone from another manor was jealous that the Zhang manor had a fish pond, so they went over there. This is something minor. Why would there be someone who is secretly instructing them? The only thing to be scared of would be that the three of them will cause random trouble. Later, I'll get someone to go back and check it out. If it's a resident from my manor, then I will not let them off easily."

Han Yong'yao replied. The only thing that he hoped for right now was that the three people would say nothing or die suddenly---that would be even better.

"Of course, the government will take care of this kind of thing. It's important to keep moving. According to the current situation, we have to travel for half a month. There is a long way to go."

Li Xun knew what was going on now, but he didn't say that he was going to punish these two people. In particular, when Zhang Xiao'bao said that someone was planning to poison him, he felt that Zhang Xiao'bao was interesting. If that was the truth, then these two people's families would have to be executed. Even though he didn't have the opportunity to sit in that position, and was only part of the extended family, his status as the Emperor's nephew still had to be protected.

Zhang Xiao'bao and Wang Juan also knew that they couldn't get revenge right now. They could only wait for an opportunity. They stopped paying attention to these two people, and looked at the road that never seemed to end as they walked beside Li Xun.

"Young Master Li, when we rest at night, I still have some matters to discuss with you." After taking about a hundred steps, Zhang Xiao'bao thought of the cooperation opportunity and spoke to Li Xun.

Translator's Notes

1. Shen hour

This is equivalent to 3 pm.