A Hundred of Beautiful Lives - Chapter 020
Ji Yang said, “My body is fine, don’t worry about me.”
Afraid that Shen Du wouldn’t believe her, she jumped up and down twice, “See, I’m not sneezing anymore, and my nose isn’t running either.”
Shen Du couldn’t help but wonder, ‘How did the Empress Su raise such a lively child?’
“Langjun, would you like to have breakfast with me?” Ji Yang asked again.
“You eat by yourself,” Shen Du said, turning to leave.
Ji Yang chased after him, grabbed his sleeve, and asked, “I’m going fishing later. Do you want to come with me?”
“After breakfast, we should break camp,” Shen Du said, turning back and pulling his sleeve away.
Ji Yang quickly said, “I eat fast, and I fish fast too. I even want to compete with you.”
Shen Du ignored Ji Yang.
When it was time to break camp and leave, Ji Yang came up to Shen Du, hugging a clay pot, boasting, “Langjun, look at the fish I caught.”
Shen Du glanced at it briefly and saw several large fish inside, the smallest weighing seven or eight liang.
“Did you catch all of these?” Shen Du was sceptical, as he estimated that Ji Yang had spent less than the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn on fishing.
Ji Yang nodded.
“I also caught a big one, but I gave it to the old fisherman. He was overjoyed, saying he hadn’t seen such a big fish in a long time.”
Ji Yang had even given the old man the bamboo raft and cormorant she had bought, so how could the old man not be overjoyed?
“How about I keep these few for you to make soup tonight?” Ji Yang looked at Shen Du expectantly, inviting him to join her for dinner.
Shen Du replied blandly, “We’ll see.”
Although Shen Du remained cold toward her, Ji Yang didn’t seem to mind. On the contrary, she became even more excited. She carried the bloodline of Empress Su, and perhaps by instinct, held a certain disdain for men who so easily succumbed to women like them.
Shen Du and his party travelled south along the Dàlù Zé toward Julu, which bordered the prefecture of Guangping in the Central Plains.
The people of the Central Plains suffered the most. Under the Emperor’s rule, excessive taxation and labour conscription were heavy. Six or seven out of ten able-bodied men had been taken. Yet the foolish Emperor and demonic Empress showed no restraint.
To prevent the people of the Central Plains from migrating elsewhere, they had set up numerous checkpoints along the routes.
Despite this, there were still those who could not survive and risked their lives to cross the mountains, evading the pursuit of the soldiers. They entered the territory of Ji Zhou from the southwest end of the Dàlù Zé via the Fu River and continued eastward along the marsh, hoping to find a place to settle.
However, the fields in Jizhou were scarce, and although the local people sympathised with these refugees, no one was willing to share their land with them. Thus, they could only continue on their journey.
Ji Yang and her companions occasionally saw a few refugees with their families along the way, but they were few and far between. Little did they know that by evening, they would see a large group of ragged refugees travelling along the marsh.
Most of them were elderly people, women, and children, walking with numb expressions on their faces. Even the infants were silent, likely having fallen into a stupor from hunger.
Ji Yang sat in the carriage and saw Shen Du dismount to ask the refugees where they were going.
“My lord, with such a large wave of refugees coming in, the Central Plains cannot be unaware of it. The court has already issued an imperial edict that all these people must be sent back. Since we have not yet broken ties with the Central Plains, and these people are all the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled…”
The speaker was Shen Du’s military advisor, Liu Xun. The implication was that these refugees, lacking any able-bodied men, would only consume resources and bring little benefit to Jizhou.
The world was in chaos, and Jizhou was no paradise, merely a bit better than other regions.
“Go summon the Princess,” Shen Du said to the guards.
Liu Xun quickly guessed Shen Du’s intentions and silently praised him for his foresight.
Ji Yang walked over to Shen Du, who said, “Princess, these refugees have fled from the Central Plains. But the Central Plains has issued strict orders forbidding other provinces from sheltering refugees. They must all be sent back…”
Among the refugees was an old man with a goat beard, who seemed to have some knowledge. Upon hearing Shen Du address Ji Yang as ‘Princess,’ he immediately knelt on the ground.
Anyone referred to as a Princess must be the daughter of the Emperor, and within Jizhou, there was only one Princess—the beloved daughter of Empress Su, Princess Anle.
Old Zhao dropped to his knees with a loud ‘thud’ before Ji Yang. As soon as he knelt, the rest followed in unison.
“This humble one kowtows to the Princess—may Your Highness live a thousand, thousand years! Please have mercy! We’ve come here only because we had nowhere else to go. We have no strength left to return. Our lands were seized—going back means death. Please have mercy!”
Old Zhao knocked his head against the ground, hitting a small stone without the slightest hesitation—bl00d showed after only a few strokes.
Behind him, everyone began crying out, “Have mercy, Princess! Have mercy!”
Ji Yang was at a loss and reached out to help Old Zhao up.
“Old sir, please get up. We can talk slowly. Don’t hurt your head.”
But Old Zhao refused to get up. This was the first time Ji Yang had encountered such a situation, so she looked to Shen Du for help, but Shen Du just stared at her without saying a word.
“Langjun, can Jizhou accommodate these old people?” ” Ji Yang asked aloud.
“If the Princess gives the order, who would dare defy it?” Shen Du replied.
“Then let them stay,” Ji Yang said.
These people were already starving to the point that they were all skin and bones; they had no strength left to return. Even though Ji Yang knew this was out of necessity, she had no choice but to compromise, as she could not bear to see them suffer.
Shen Du nodded and turned to Liu Xun and said, “Send a squad with my token to escort them back to Xinyang. Have Ge Tong find a way to resettle them.”
“Yes,” Liu Xun replied.
Ge Tong and Liu Xun were both Shen Du’s advisers, one was a scholar and the other a warrior, complementing each other perfectly.
The old man Zhao wept uncontrollably as he kept kowtowing to Ji Yang and Shen Du.
Shen Du stepped forward to help him up and said, “Settle down in Jizhou with peace of mind. Your son died defending our land. If we can’t care for you, we dishonour the bl00d of those brave warriors.”
Shen Du was indeed skilled at winning hearts; a single sentence brought tears to the eyes of these refugees who had lost their sons, husbands, or fathers.
In fact, Shen Du and Ge Tong had already discussed the arrangements for these refugees. The edict from the Central Plains had no binding effect on them, but using Ji Yang’s words to silence the officials from the Central Plains was no small achievement.
Although there was a plan for their settlement, these people were already at the end of their strength, starving and staggering about. It would be difficult for them to walk from here to Xinyang. Ji Yang immediately thought of the rice cakes and candied fruits she had bought, which would be perfect for them and would prevent them from going bad.
“Should we give them the rice cakes I bought?” Ji Yang asked Shen Du.
Shen Du nodded.
Encouraged, Ji Yang quickly ordered Yu Sui’er to bring the carriage over with the guards.
She began pulling out bundle after bundle of rice cakes from the carriage and stuffed them into Old Zhao’s hands without counting how many there were, until Shen Du coughed softly.
Ji Yang looked up at Shen Du, unsure of what he meant. Shen Du said nothing, but from the look in his eyes, Ji Yang realised something was off. She looked around and saw that everyone’s gaze was fixed hungrily on the rice cakes in Old Zhao’s hands—like starving wolves.
These people had gone without food for too long. Even a small rice cake might incite violence—not for themselves, but for their hungry children. Even mothers might turn savage.
Old Zhao was no ordinary man, which is why they chose him as their leader. He returned some of the rice cakes to Ji Yang.
“Enough, enough. My family doesn’t need much. Princess, please share them with the others.”
In truth, Old Zhao could have eaten all of the rice cakes himself, let alone with his two daughters-in-law and three children.
Ji Yang looked at Old Zhao, embarrassed, realising she hadn’t thought it through. But really, one couldn’t blame Princess Anle—she’d never had experience with things like this.
Ji Yang stepped back and, supported by Yu Sui’er, stood atop the carriage. After only a few breaths scanning the crowd, she jumped down again and said to Yu Sui’er, “Distribute by headcount—half a pack of rice cakes for each adult, half a pack of peach slices and half a pack of candied fruit for each child.”
Yu Sui’er nodded in agreement, instructing the guards to organise the refugees into an orderly line, then shouted loudly, “Don’t push! One at a time! Everyone will get their share!”
Strangely enough, that half-carriage of food turned out to be just enough—not one too many, not one too few. Liu Xun had watched the whole process, marvelling silently. The key to governing people lies not in scarcity, but in fairness. He couldn’t understand how Ji Yang had managed such a perfect distribution. If it was luck, it seemed too unlikely.
Shen Du asked Ji Yang, “Didn’t you say you wanted to keep those indigo floral fabrics as a memento? Why did you give it to the children?”
Ji Yang replied dejectedly, “I saw that the infants in their swaddling clothes didn’t even have a single garment, and winter is approaching. I wanted them to have something to wear. The fabric wasn’t enough to distribute among the adults, but it was just enough for the infants. I should have bought more back then.”
Shen Du said, “It’s better to teach someone to fish than to give them fish. No matter how much you buy, it’s not as good as them being able to provide for themselves.”
“Langjun, you’re right, but these refugees need land to settle down. From what I’ve seen along the way, there isn’t any unclaimed land left. How will they be resettled?”
Ji Yang was already starting to worry about these refugees.
Shen Du said, “There may be no unclaimed land, but they can clear a new land. Or they can head north to Youzhou, where vast territories are waiting to be cultivated. Don’t worry, they won’t go without a livelihood.”
Ji Yang clapped her hands and praised his plan, then couldn’t help asking, “Are the people of the Central Plains truly left with no way to live?”
As the saying goes, ‘Don’t speak ill of others in front of their relatives,’ Shen Du naturally couldn’t criticise the Emperor or Empress Su to her face. Especially since she still corresponded with the Central Plains.
So he only replied calmly, “Natural disasters and man-made calamities—there are always years plagued by disaster.”
In truth, Ji Yang had already sensed something, but she didn’t want to think about it too deeply.
Hearing Shen Du’s words, she immediately smiled brightly and said, “Hmm, I hope next year will be a bountiful harvest, and there will be no more refugees.”
Shen Du smiled half-heartedly.
‘Even if the weather were favourable, the people of the Central Plains would still have no way to survive. With heavy taxes and arbitrary levies, many able-bodied men had died—who would be left to farm the land?’
Ji Yang’s gloom came quickly and faded just as fast. By evening, when they camped at the dilapidated temple, she was already in high spirits, preparing fish soup for Shen Du.
Since this was a border patrol rather than a military campaign, the camp had cooks, and the spices were readily available. Ji Yang’s fish soup was milky-white and fresh, making one’s mouth water just from the fragrance, let alone the fact that it was cooked by the Princess herself.
Just as Ji Yang was about to pour the soup from the clay pot, she heard a loud commotion from outside the temple. She straightened up and looked at Yu Sui’er, who immediately understood and went out to investigate.
[T/N: 拔营 – ‘break camp’ is a military or travel-related term that means to pack up all equipment, tents, and supplies and prepare to leave the campsite.]