Yu Ren Chapter 24

Three days later, Yang Heng received the first job of going to the school to teach slaves to read and write .

There is a difference between good and lowly, even an ordinary good citizen is ashamed to a.s.sociate with slaves, not to mention teaching them to read . Thinking it was a deliberate humiliation of him from Bai Ping Zi, an angry look flashed in Yang Heng’s eyes and he asked Gan Lan, who had come to inform him: “Is this an errand from Steward Bai?”       

(良贱有别 [Liáng jiàn yǒu bié]= There is a difference between good and lowly; meaning different social cla.s.s should mingle differently . ) 

Gan Lan nodded and said: “Yes, your body isn’t fully healed yet, so it is more appropriate to take a light and economical job . Bai Family Village has a monthly salary of 3 . 2 taels of silver, deducting the cost of food and lodging, and the remaining 2 . 2 taels are used to cover the previous medical expenses . “Some of the words that he said were business-like and understated, as if he didn’t feel the resistance from Yang Heng at all .

Yang Heng; in the face of this unmovable boy, suddenly felt weak . He wasn’t worried about getting tired at work, let alone how much he was being paid!

After squinting, Yang Heng tried to calm down and said, “I’d like to see Miss Bai, please pa.s.s it on . ” 

Gan Lan nodded his head and put down his little bundle . “I’ll ask Miss if she has free time . This is the textbook for the cla.s.s; please prepare first . ” While still ignoring the anger in Yang Heng ‘s eyes, Gan Lan didn’t seem to see that he didn’t want to take the job, put it down and turned away .

He didn’t know if Yang Heng was lucky or not . But, more than half an hour later, he met Bai Fu Ling, who had just made a round in the hospital and checked the progress of her family’s ‘Ox and horses . ’ Hearing Gan Lan saying that Yang Heng was very dissatisfied with the job a.s.signed to him, she took the time to see Yang Heng .

The meeting place was under the big trees on one side of the courtyard, and the thick shade fended off the hot summer sun . It was cooler than anywhere else .  

Before coming, Yang Heng had already thought about it . His current status is just a commoner, and he still owes Bai Fu Ling the kindness and money . In fact, he has no position to oppose her arrangement, but it does not mean that he will ‘wait for his doom’ .

It is an affair to choose beauties in the border areas . Educating slaves and untouchables is not a touching deed . If it comes out in the future, the chance of becoming a laughing stock is 100%, and a bad one will be used by political opponents as a starting point to attack and embarra.s.s him .

“You don’t want to teach my servants to read and write?” Bai Fu Ling was in such a good mood today . That’s why she didn’t embarra.s.singly uncover what Yang Heng was thinking . Just now Yang Mei told her that another group of slaves could be redeemed soon, and that the newly-learned in the school would be added to their original posts so that she would have dozens of new forfeited contracts in her hands .

Today, she was wearing a pink and yellow lotus leaf dress . Her long hair pulled up in a turquoise green hair band, several strands of long hairs fell, fresh and delicate as the new white lotus in the spring . Yang Heng looked at her in secret and praise in his heart while his anger dissipated involuntarily .

“None of them will be slaves all their lives, and they will all redeem themselves as good citizens in the future . You don’t have to worry that their ident.i.ty will affect your future reputation . All the ‘official-slaves’ I buy are literate and don’t need to be taught . ” Bai Fu Ling smiled without waiting for him to answer . In the past, she met many people who refused to be hired to teach slaves to read even though she paid a high price . Therefore, she fully understood the concerns of these people .

The so-called ‘official-slaves’ refers to the Qi State government’s household registration records as slaves . Many of these people are children and family members of high ranking criminals . Once they become ‘official-slaves’, their children and grandchildren will be inferior slaves for generations unless they are granted amnesty .

There are also people who are sold into slavery for various reasons . As long as they meet good owners that are willing to let them be redeemed, they can still become civilians again . These people are called ‘private-slaves’ . The deed of sale of a private slave is divided into a red deed and a white deed . The red deed is stamped with the seal of the government and is officially approved . On the other hand, the white deed is only marked by the signatures of both the buyer and the seller, and there may not even be witnesses . The white deed is also legal, but if there is a conflict between the red deed with the same slave and the different buyer of the white deed, the red deed will prevail .  

Whether official slaves or private slaves, the state has an express order to limit the number of household slaves that each family can have, nor can it trade in private at will . It is only that no one has carried it out, and the rich and senior officials have unscrupulously raised slaves .

This Peng Tie claimed to be a Jianghu person . He shouldn’t care too much about this . If he cares so much, this further proves Bai Fu Ling’s speculation about his ident.i.ty . However, out of her evil delight, she was happy to pretend that she didn’t know . She happened to be messing with this seemingly gentle but arrogant guy .

This is why, Bai Fu Ling decided to get Yang Heng to teach slaves . The more he didn’t want to, the more she wanted to force him to do it!

After she moved to Beiguan City these years, her life has been very smooth . Especially after Lu Ying; the big supporter, arriving . She was even more unscrupulous . Therefore, she knew she shouldn’t do some things, knew she was playing with fire, but still can’t help doing it . If she had known the troubles that would follow in the future, she would have stayed away early this morning and would never have offended Yang Heng .

But, is there any medicine to cure regret?

Yang Heng listened to her words; he got a big shock . He asked, “Since they would be redeemed sooner or later, why bother to teach them how to read?”

“If they can’t read and don’t have the ability to settle down, in a world like this, in the blink of an eye, they would sell themselves again as slaves in order to make a living . Isn’t it a waste of my family’s good intentions? The people who redeem themselves from my Bai Family must not only be literate, but also have some skills, so it won’t be a problem for them to make money and stand on their own feet . ” When Bai Fu Ling said what she was most proud of, she looked even more glamorous .

“So, the Bai Family is doing good deeds, the merit is boundless . ” Yang Heng doesn’t think so . He’s not a three-year-old, and he says, “at the beginning, the intentions are good . ” He doesn’t believe that anyone would give money for no reason and do good deeds without fear of trouble . Moreover, he has never seen any family that has acc.u.mulated good deeds; raise a large group of vicious slaves who are too skillful . They also collude with local officials and claim to represent the law of the land .

Bai Fu Ling did not seem to understand the irony in her words, raising her little face and saying, “well, we Bai Family never ask for anything in return for doing good deeds . ”

Regardless of the strange look from Yang Heng, she pressed step by step: “will you do or won’t you do the job of teaching people to read and write? As you said, this is a rare opportunity to do good and acc.u.mulate good deeds! You are a Jianghu person, shouldn’t you be more informal?  Not to mention you still owe me 528 liang, plus accommodation for these days …”

Yang Heng knew he was at a disadvantage, and the result would only be worse if he went on . Moreover, Bai Fu Ling mentioned his current status intentionally or unintentionally in her words … Although he could refuse on the grounds that his body had not recovered, on second thought, he might find out more about Bai Family and Lu Ying if he contacted the servants of Bai Family, and most importantly, Lie Dang left that day intending to go to Bai Family Village to find out the actual situation in person . He had to contact Lie Dang and contact others even more, so he agreed with a wry smile .

Bai Fu Ling won a complete victory, looked at the faraway figure of Yang Heng, pulled the pa.s.sing Bai Guo to her side; with a sneer: I going to tell you a secret!  I won’t tell just anyone!”

Bai Guo rolled her eyes and asked helplessly, “What secret?”

“Blessed are the students in the school in the coming days!”

“Why is that?” 

Bai Fu Ling kept her voice down mysteriously and said, “they will be the students of His Highness the Sixth Prince of the Qi State . ”

“What?!” Bai Guo’s voice suddenly went up an octave, scaring the birds on the trees in the yard to fly away .

“Don’t get excited . Don’t get excited… Do you want all of Qi State to know that you are so loud?” Bai Fu Ling patted Bai Guo sympathetically and smiled sweetly .

Bai Guo was aware of the seriousness of the matter, lowered her voice and said: “Miss, you … you said that Peng Tie was His Highness the Sixth Prince?” As she spoke, her eyes swept around . There were many people coming in and out of the courtyard . Her heart was anxious, and she did not care about being superior or inferior . Before Bai Fu Ling could answer, she went to the Lengquan yard .

(冷泉 [lěngquán] = Cold spring)

Bai Fu Ling walked with her, and she was in the mood to say something irresponsible: “Bai Guo, you might as well carry me back . It’s hot and sunny . I’m walking slowly . I’m so tired . ”

Bai Guo looked back and glared at her, but she bent down, shouldered the lazy Bai pig, and went to Lengquan with her qigong skill .

(轻功 [qigong] p.r.o.nounced chee-gong = lightness skill; it’s a skill to defy gravity with swift movements as if flying . )

Each of the maids with the Bai Family surnames around Bai Fu Ling are skillful; Despite the weight, her steps are still very stable . In less than half an incense time, they returned to Lengquan courtyard .

Bai Fu Ling easily jumped off and leaned against the marble reclining chair under the shade of the spring . She felt so comfortable that she almost wanted to roll on the spot . It was always better to be in her own nest .

Bai Guo was not so easy to get rid of . She went up and stared at her and said, “tell me clearly, what’s going on?”

“The day before yesterday Dad received a letter, the court sent someone to Beiguan City to reward the northern army of the town . It was the Sixth Prince . Although there was no specific description of his appearance, but from the age and manner, it’s very close to this Peng Tie . ” Bai Fu Ling just shrugged .

Bai Guo also wanted to ask more, but Ma Lan had come over with fruit refreshments, so she had to be quiet for a while .

A cup of chilled fresh grape juice and a large bowl of various fruits cut into small pieces and mixed with yogurt . Bai Fu Ling smiles and eats happily, while Bai Guo could only look on with envious eyes . Ma Lan only handed her a cup of warm tea and said, “sister Bai Guo, you just ran all the way here . It is easy to get a bellyache if you eat ice . Let’s just take a sip of tea and talk . ”

“My Ma Lan really takes care of people . Bai Guo, you can drink your tea at ease . ” Bai Fu Ling deliberately slurped to tease them .

Bai Guo threw her a supercilious look full of envy, jealousy, and hatred . She dismissed Ma Lan with a few words, then she continued to ask: “A young man with a straight face and a monarchs’ profile is rare in Beiguan City, but it is not absolutely impossible . You knew he is His Sixth Royal Highness? His Duanzhou accent is not like a person from the capital . Moreover, even if the imperial envoys have to travel in private, they always have to bring some guards with them . How come he was on the verge of losing his life in the wild, alone?