The Red Mansion

Chapter 27: Sunset at the Ferry Head, Lonely Smoke in the Village

Xue Pan is indeed a man who values ​​friendship and loyalty.

When they encountered the pirates before, Xue Pan had promised his servants that if they could repel the pirates today, each of them would be rewarded with 500 taels of silver. Although the pirates today were not repelled by the Xue family's servants, but were scared away by Jiang Nian and his group, Xue Pan still kept his promise.

Xie Jixing, Li'er and a male servant who managed to survive were each rewarded with 500 taels of silver. The families of the three male servants who died also received a pension of 500 taels of silver.

Only the deceased servant Jier, who had no family, was on the Xue family's ship. His family was in Jiangning, and Xue Pan planned to provide relief to his family later.

In fact, Jier was different from the three male servants who died. He was not considered a sacrifice because he did not participate in the battle and did not die in the battle. He hid behind Xue Pan to protect himself, but unfortunately was shot to death by Li Liu and became Xue Pan's scapegoat.

Among them was a male servant who died not on the deck of the Xue family's ship, but fell into the water and was hacked to death by pirates. His body was found in the water of the Grand Canal.

Xue Pan, mindful of the bond between the Xue family and the servant, and the fact that the servant had sacrificed his life for the family, and also aware of the servant's family members begging for the body to be salvaged, decided to salvage the body after obtaining the consent of Aunt Xue and Jiang Nian.

It is still raining, which is not conducive to salvage.

Fortunately, the Jiang family's big ship had a small boat that could be used for salvage, and there were two boatmen who were very good at swimming. It was spring and they wouldn't feel cold when they went into the water. Xue Pan gave them some money, and they all gladly accepted the salvage mission.

In addition, the time between the servant falling into the water and the time of being salvaged was very short. Although it was raining, it was only a drizzle. During this short period of time, the flow rate of this section of the Grand Canal was always slow, and the servant's body should have been floating on the water near the place where he fell into the water.

Because of this, it didn't take long for the servant's body to be salvaged and "reunited" with the bodies of the other two servants and Jill.

However, these four corpses could not "return to their roots".

It was even inconvenient to keep the four corpses on the Xue family's big ship for a long time. Although it was spring and rainy, there was still a fear of plague if the corpses were left for a long time.

Fortunately, at that time, there were many water stations along the Grand Canal, and there were several water stations in Zaozhuang Prefecture alone.

The Jiang family's big ship was in front, and the Xue family's big ship followed closely behind. After sailing for less than an hour, the two big ships arrived at one of the water stations.

Led by He Yun, Xue Pan reported the robbery to the Shuiyi management department and buried the four bodies in the Shuiyi cemetery.

Because He Yun revealed his identity as a fifth-rank Dragon Guard, and secretly told the postmaster that he was going to the capital at the summons of Prince Zhongyi, the postmaster, registrar, inspector and others at the water post did not dare to make things difficult for him.

Otherwise, if Aunt Xue, Xue Pan and other Xue family members came to Shuiyi alone to report the robbery, and brought four corpses and a huge amount of belongings, even if they brought up Wang Ziteng's name, they would most likely be harassed, or at least extorted for money.

In the later years of Emperor Jingning's reign, due to reasons such as Emperor Jingning's inaction, the princes' fight for the throne, intensified party struggles, and fiscal deficits, the Daqing officialdom became seriously corrupt.

As far as the Grand Canal is concerned, some government officials even colluded with the pirates or personally participated in the looting, and corruption in the water stations along the canal became commonplace.

One of the reasons why Emperor Jingning abdicated the throne to his fourth prince was that he valued the fourth prince's ability to fight corruption with an iron fist and improve the administration of officials...

……

……

After passing the Zaozhuang section of the Grand Canal, if everything goes well, it will take about ten days to reach the northern terminus of the Grand Canal, Tongzhou in Shuntian Prefecture.

On this day, the Jiang family's ship and the Xue family's ship had entered Zhili Province.

In the late afternoon, two large ships docked. The sun was setting, its orange afterglow shrouding the reeds. Water birds skimmed across the water, stirring up ripples that shattered the sunset's reflection into golden foil, which drifted across the waves.

There was no one on the shore, only a few trees standing sparsely. In the distance, a few families were making a fire to cook dinner. Several wisps of smoke rose together, all of them were emerald green and straight, as if several thick pens were standing between heaven and earth, writing the eternal loneliness in the twilight.

Those plumes of turquoise smoke rising straight up carry the scent of firewood and the aroma of food. I wonder if any of those households have children far away from home? Are they studying or working away from home? If so, these plumes of smoke become landmarks of homecoming, interwoven with the sunset glow to create a sense of homesickness.

Two large ships were quietly moored on the shore.

Jiang Nian stood on the deck with his hands behind his back, gazing at the scenery on the shore. He temporarily forgot the fatigue and boredom of the long journey and felt tranquility and warmth.

His thoughts involuntarily drifted back to his past life, back to the village where he was born and raised. He seemed to hear his grandmother's voice calling him home for dinner in the twilight...

However, he has been far away from his hometown, not in terms of space, but in terms of time and space. That hometown is truly out of reach!
He is already in this different time and space world of the Red Mansion and has quickly integrated into it.

But that hometown will always remain in his heart. It is a pure land in his heart and a place where his soul can rest.

"Master, the scenery on this bank is really beautiful. I think it's even more beautiful than the scenery we saw on the Qinhuai River in Jiangning that day."

Xiangling, who was standing behind Jiang Nian, couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

Jiang Nian suddenly recited a line of poetry: "The setting sun hangs over the ferry, and a solitary smoke rises from the village."

Xiangling was puzzled: "Is the master reciting poetry?"

Jiang Nian nodded: "This poem fits the scenery in front of us very well."

Xiangling smiled sweetly. "Sir, could you please read it again? I'd like to listen carefully."

Jiang Nian recited it again: "The setting sun hangs over the ferry, and a solitary smoke rises from the village."

Xiangling listened attentively, a thoughtful glint in her eyes. However, after savoring the poem, she pursed her lips and said awkwardly, "I don't know many words, and I've read even less poetry, so I don't understand the beauty of this line."

Jiang Nian explained simply, "This line of poetry is about the setting sun, the lingering glow of the riverside ferry still lingers, and smoke rises from the village. The beauty of this line lies in the words '余' and '上'."

Xiangling said awkwardly, "I don't understand what's so wonderful about these two words, but since you say they're wonderful, then they must be wonderful."

Jiang Nian smiled slightly: "If you read more and learn to read, you may be able to write poems in the future."

Xiangling's eyes lit up and she said "hmm" happily.

Although she was a maid, her uncle Nian encouraged her to read more and learn to read. Her mother Feng was well-educated and knowledgeable, and could teach her well.

"Master actually said that I can write poetry in the future? If so, that would be great."

At this moment, a bright light seemed to light up in Xiangling's heart...

The appearance of Jiang Nian allowed the Xue family to go to Beijing earlier than the timeline of the original novel. Before the Xue family set off for Beijing, Emperor Taishun had not yet issued an edict to select talents and commend them, so the main purpose of the Xue family's trip to Beijing was not this.

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(End of this chapter)