Union

Chapter 106, Section 105: Setting Fire to the Mountain
The night passed in chaos.

The next day, before dawn, Yunying and the others went out to check on the newly purchased tea plantation.

At this point, the people who had been waiting at the door filed away.

However, there were still a few exceptionally devout people who continued to chant prayers outside the door.

Leaving aside the people outside, just talking about Sui'er's family, they weren't fast asleep. As soon as Yunying's door opened, the people from those other rooms came out as well.

Sui'er's mother asked, "Does the young lady want to go out?"

Yunying nodded and said, "Auntie, we want to go and take a look at the tea plantation I bought."

"Please wait a moment, young lady. I'll make you something to eat before you leave."

Yunying looked up at the moon in the sky; it was still hanging in the west. At this time, it was at most around four in the morning.

Yunying felt bad about making someone get up at four in the morning to cook for her.

But there's nowhere to buy food in the surrounding villages. Even if they don't eat at Sui'er's house, they'll have to eat at other villagers' houses. It's troublesome either way, so they'll try to only trouble Sui'er's family and give them more compensation later.

Seeing that Yunying didn't object, Sui'er's mother quickly went to the kitchen to cook.

Sui'er's father fetched cool stream water for her, and Sui'er's grandfather chopped new firewood. As for Sui'er's younger brother and sister-in-law, the younger brother swept the yard with a broom, while the younger sister ran to the chicken coop to collect eggs.

The whole family was busy with this and that, which made Yunying and the others look like idiots who couldn't do anything.

Yunying gave Sui'er and Liu'er a wink, and the two maids closed the door and hurried off to the kitchen to help.

The meal was prepared quickly; it was just ordinary flatbread with some porridge.

The meal was perhaps meager, and certainly couldn't compare to the lavish feast the villagers had brought yesterday, but it was the best that Sui'er's family could offer.

In particular, there was a bowl of golden steamed eggs in front of her, a privilege that even Sui'er's grandparents and her five-year-old sister did not receive.

Yunying naturally didn't eat the steamed egg. She placed the bowl containing the steamed egg in front of Grandma Sui'er, saying, "You're injured, you should eat something good to rest and recover faster."

After saying this, Yunying put down her chopsticks and stood up.

Her presence made the whole family uncomfortable. Fortunately, she finished eating, so they decided to leave as soon as possible.

As they approached the gate, the remaining villagers saw Yunying and her entourage getting into the carriage and about to leave, and they quickly came over to stop them.

Sui Yun immediately turned cold, stood in front of the carriage, and scared everyone away.

Yunying knew these people meant no harm, and she was afraid that Suiyun would frighten them, so she quickly stepped forward to explain, "I am really not the Queen Mother of the West that everyone talks about, nor have I descended to earth to undergo tribulation. I am just an ordinary girl who works in the county government and has recently bought Changshun's tea plantation. I need to go and check on the tea plantation now, so please make way for me."

The people looked at each other, completely ignoring Yunying's denials of being the Queen Mother of the West. But when Yunying said she had bought Changshun's tea plantation and was going to inspect its condition, the people took her words to heart.

An elderly woman said, "Chang Shun is no good, but his tea plantation is quite nice."

"That tea plantation can make money; it will make a lot of money for the girl in the future."

“Oh dear, I went to visit relatives there a few days ago and heard someone say that the families who were tricked into working by Chang Shun destroyed a lot of the tea trees, and I heard that they were going to burn the tea mountain down.”

Shaocha Mountain?
Upon hearing this, Yunying's heart skipped a beat. She dared not delay any longer, gave Suiyun a wink, and prepared to head to the tea mountain.

When the villagers of Xiwangmu Niangniang Village saw Yunying's anxiety, they became anxious as well.

Those tea plantations now belong to Yunying, to their Queen Mother of the West. They would be heartbroken if they were ruined.

Then the locals said, “Girl, don’t take the carriage anymore. We’ll take you along a side road. It’s uphill, and the carriage can’t go that way.”

“Yes, yes, let’s take the side path. Taking the main road will take too much time. By the time you get there, the tea trees might have been dug up and the tea plantation burned down.”

Upon hearing this, Yunying immediately got off the carriage and, together with Suiyun and the others, followed behind the leading uncle as they ran towards the tea mountain.

The tea plantation is located on Wutou Mountain.

I heard it used to be called Wutou Mountain.

It got its name from the five mountains where tea trees were planted.

Later, a scholar emerged from the village. The scholar said, "Where do you talk about mountains in terms of 'heads'? They're all just a few mountains. Talking about a few heads of mountains makes the people in our village seem uncultured."

But if they rashly changed the name again, they were afraid that people wouldn't know where they were referring to. Therefore, they simply changed Wutou Mountain to Wutou Mountain.

Chang Shun's home is located on Wutou Mountain. He bought the five mountain peaks that are said to have excellent feng shui, cleared the land, planted tea trees, and turned them into tea mountains.

The uncle who led Yunying and her companions was clearly very knowledgeable about the surrounding area.

As he led the group forward, he said that after Chang Shun's accident, his wife ran off with a rogue from the village, taking all the family's money.

As for offspring... perhaps due to their many misdeeds, Chang Shun and his wife tried for many years but failed to produce a single son or daughter.

Chang Shun was no good man. Besides his wife, he was involved with many widows or young girls in the surrounding villages. But perhaps even God thought he was too wicked and never allowed him to have any children.

The uncle also told an interesting story, saying that one of Chang Shun's lovers got pregnant, and after seeing a doctor, it was said that the baby in the belly might be a boy.

Chang Shun was overjoyed and spoiled his mistress rotten for a time. He even bought her jewelry and headwear, built her a brick house, and helped her two younger brothers get married.

After much anticipation, the lover finally gave birth, and it was indeed a boy. However, as the boy grew to three years old, he looked less and less like Changshun, and instead resembled his lover's neighbor exactly.

In other words, Chang Shun became a cuckold, raising someone else's son for three years for nothing.

As the man finished speaking, he suddenly realized that the topic was too vulgar and he didn't want to offend the Queen Mother of the West's ears.

But it's too late to regret it now that it's already said.

The middle-aged man who had led the way was filled with frustration. He couldn't help but slap his head twice and muttered under his breath, "You idiot!"

Yunying didn't notice any of this because she was already panting heavily and only managed to keep up thanks to Sui'er and Liu'er pulling her along.

Yunying had never thought that she was physically weak. After all, she used to follow her second master to Qiantang Village and Houtang Village, and she didn't feel very tired even after a whole day of running around.

But this time, she was so tired from climbing the mountain that her legs were shaking.

Perhaps they were in too much of a hurry, as their pace was far beyond what Yunying could handle. Or perhaps she hadn't slept well the night before and hadn't eaten enough for breakfast, leaving her feeling weak and causing her to slow them down.

Actually, it was fine at first.

At first, with the uncle's gossip distracting her, Yunying walked quite easily, not falling behind at all. But gradually, her legs became heavier and heavier, and even though she wanted to catch up, she was too weak.

Fortunately, Suiyun noticed the situation and asked, "Shall I carry you across?" Yunying shook her head without thinking, "No need, no need, I can manage."

"Don't push yourself. If you really can't take it anymore, we can rest. Otherwise, if you exhaust yourself, Second Master won't forgive me."

Second Master...

Yunying couldn't help but wonder, if it had been the Second Master who spoke just now, would she have refused to let him carry her?

Probably not!
Yunying patted her face and asked the uncle who was leading the way, "How far is it to the tea mountain?"

"Almost there, almost there, we'll be there in no time. I'm not kidding you this time, it'll be there in about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea."

Yunying thought for a moment, "Shall we rest for a while before continuing our journey?"

The uncle said, "Young lady, you'd better not rest. The weather is cool now, and the journey isn't too strenuous. If you wait until the sun comes out, you'll suffer a lot if you continue your journey."

Yunying gritted her teeth, "Then let's not rest, let's keep going."

Suiyun said, "If you really can't hold on, I'll carry you on my back."

"It's okay, I'll try. As long as I don't walk too fast, I should be fine."

Sure enough, the pace slowed down after that. But just as the uncle had said, we arrived at Wutou Village in the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.

By this time, most villagers had finished their breakfast and gone to work in the fields. Only some elderly people who were unable to move sat under the trees to enjoy the shade, or chatted with their grandchildren.

Upon seeing these strangers, everyone looked over in surprise. When they learned that Yunying had bought Changshun's tea plantation and was here to inspect its condition, the old men's expressions immediately changed.

After much inquiry, the older women finally stammered, "Half of the mountain has already been destroyed."

“That wicked beast kidnapped other people’s wives and children. The victims came and smashed up his house, and also damaged a lot of the tea plantation.”

"They said they were going to burn the mountain down. If it weren't for the village elders who were worried that the fire would ruin the feng shui of the tea plantation and hadn't tried their best to stop it, the tea trees on that mountain might have been burned down by now."

“I just saw that family causing trouble again. Oh dear, you should go and check on them, lest they actually burn down the tea plantation.”

Upon hearing this, Yunying and the others immediately disregarded their rest and hurried towards the tea mountain, following the directions given by the others.

Even before we reached the tea plantation, we heard someone shout, "Chang Shun kidnapped my wife, so I'll ruin his manhood!"

Another elderly man calmly advised, "Are you out of your mind? Your wife ran away with someone else, not that Chang Shun abducted her."

"Bullshit! My wife is such a virtuous woman, why would she run away? It must be someone who doesn't like my wife and is deliberately spreading rumors to ruin her reputation. My wife must have been sold out by Chang Shun. I will never forgive Chang Shun."

"Then go to jail and take revenge on him. Chang Shun is still in jail. Kill him and pay for it with your life!"

The crazed man seemed to choke on his words, then said, "In any case, Chang Shun should compensate me."

"Didn't the county magistrate already give you compensation? I heard it was several tens of taels of silver. I also heard that you blamed Chang Shun for your sister who died young from smallpox and your nephew who drowned. The county government even gave you a lot more money for this. You've already earned enough, you should be content."

"Anyway, I don't care. He often cuts my heart out, so I'll cut his heart out too."

The old man lost his patience. "Just tell me, what do you really want?"

"I don't want anything else, I just want this tea plantation. I don't need much, just give me two of them!"

The onlookers burst into laughter, all mocking the man for his delusional dream.

The old man said even more irritably, "This tea plantation belongs to Changshun and has been confiscated by the government. The county government is going to sell the tea plantation to pay the victims. I heard it has already been sold. Now this tea plantation has absolutely nothing to do with Changshun. If you want the tea plantation, you can forget about it."

“If you don’t give me the tea plantation, I’ll set it on fire! I’ll ruin your feng shui and make you, who have done evil with Changshun, poor and miserable for generations to come, unable to face your ancestors in the afterlife.”

As the man spoke, he actually rushed up the tea mountain.

Whether he had planned this all along or not, he took out a wooden stick soaked in lard from his pocket.

The tinderbox was lit, and the wooden stick instantly burst into flames. The man waved it at the firewood and dry branches, and flames instantly surrounded the area.

The people at the foot of the mountain didn't pay attention at first, but when they noticed the fire, they screamed and ran away.

When Yunying and the others arrived, they saw that the fire was already quite large and was about to spread like wildfire.

It shouldn't have burned so quickly, but because Chang Shun was imprisoned in the county government, the tea plantation here was left unattended, and the weather had been extremely hot these past few days, with no rain at all.

The firewood was so dry it broke at the slightest touch, and many of the tea bushes had withered and died. Now, if a spark were to ignite it, wouldn't it burst into flames instantly?

When Yunying saw the raging flames, her heart sank.

Her tea plantation!

Her treasure trove!
She originally hoped to turn her life around with the tea plantation, but now it seems even God doesn't want her to earn this money.

While Yunying was still in a daze, Suiyun had already rushed out.

He shouted, "Quick, put out the fire!"

So the people who had scattered and run away earlier gritted their teeth and ran back.

These five mountains are considered auspicious sites according to feng shui principles. They felt they had failed their ancestors when someone else bought them first. If the mountains were to be burned down, the feng shui would be completely ruined.

Sui Yun took the lead, carrying a bucket from the foot of the mountain, rushing to the nearby stream to fill it with water, and returning. Seeing this, the others also quickly fetched water to put out the fire.

Unfortunately, it was too slow! And the fire was too big!
Those few buckets of water were truly a drop in the ocean compared to the raging fire.

Seeing that this method was ineffective, Sui Yun ran directly to the area between the two mountains, hoping to create a firebreak to stop the fire from spreading.

However, thick black smoke swept over, making it impossible for people to open their eyes. Inhaling the smoke caused them to cough violently.

Upon seeing this, Yunying cried out at the top of her lungs, "Suiyun, come back quickly, it's dangerous!"

Sui Yun ignored it.

If he were to stop, the tea trees on these mountains would surely be burned to the ground.

Burning the tea trees is a minor matter, but there is a large mountain range not far away.

The mountain range is vast, stretching for dozens of miles. If the fire were to spread there, the situation would escalate dramatically.

(End of this chapter)