Chapter 752: Chapter 41: Chaos in the Village Chapter 752: Chapter 41: Chaos in the Village Hong Liangzhang was thirty-nine this year, a Scholar from the Jiaqing Bingchen year’s imperial examination. He usually taught the children of the wealthier families in the village, a true teacher in demeanor.

After having his morning tea, he shuffled out of the door with his shoes half on, holding a dry tobacco pipe, and looked up to see a burly man with thick eyebrows dressed in a coarse cloth shirt entering the courtyard. His face straightened at once.

“Elder brother.”

Hong Liangyu approached his brother and greeted him respectfully.

“Where did you run off to last night?”

“I was drinking with some old friends, we got carried away chatting and it got late, so I spent the night at a friend’s house.”

“Those were your old friends from your days working on the ships, right?”

Hong Liangyu stuttered for a long time, unable to form a complete sentence.

Hong Liangzhang sighed and pulled out several coins from his sleeve, handing them to Hong Liangyu, “Go buy some soapberries.”

Hong Liangyu, not expecting his brother to be so calm, clutched the coins and asked, “What are the soapberries for?”

“Once you’ve bought the soapberries, wash your neck and face clean. When the scandal breaks and the officials arrest you, me, your sister-in-law, and Xiao Zhier, and take us to the execution ground to be beheaded, at least they’ll see a clean head on your shoulders and we won’t be ridiculed.”

Hong Liangyu’s face turned bright red with frustration, unable to utter a word, and he just bowed repeatedly on the spot.

Hong Liangzhang didn’t look at him anymore, propped his tobacco pipe upside down behind the door, turned and entered the house, the wooden door closing with a slap. He left Hong Liangyu standing alone in the courtyard.

The loud noise startled Madam Liu in the kitchen. She glanced up over the stove and then lowered her head again, ignoring the situation as she continued to stir-fry the cured pork in the wok.

It wasn’t until midday, after everyone else had finished lunch, that Hong Liangyu was still standing in the courtyard.

“Liangyu.”

Madam Liu carried out a bowl of steaming glutinous rice topped with a big piece of cured pork and handed it to Hong Liangyu.

“Your brother, he just has that temper. He’ll cool down later. You still have to work this afternoon, how can you work on an empty stomach? Don’t look toward the house, I’m here, eat in peace.”

Madam Liu, in her early thirties, neither ugly nor beautiful, was a typical housewife with a bit of a fiery temper but had a good reputation among the neighbors and was known for her kind heart.

“Thank you, sister-in-law.”

Hong Liangyu took the large bowl, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Only then did Madam Liu turn and enter the house, shutting the door behind her. After what seemed like the time it took to smoke a pouch of tobacco, the sound of intense, terse arguing leaked from the inner room.

“If you really want to protect Zhier, give him some money and let him set up his own household! If that isn’t enough, sell my jewelry box to give to him. This is also for your brother’s sake. He’s over thirty years old and still being lectured by you all the time, wouldn’t he hold a grudge in his heart? We shouldn’t become the villains for nothing.”

“Set up his own household? With red bandits being hunted everywhere now, with his conspicuous appearance, where can he go? Liangyu and I are born of the same mother, I must take care of him.”

“Oh, you take care of him? Haven’t you heard what everyone says? Down to the South Seas, protecting Guangzhou, the Red Haired Devils were killed by three or four! How capable is that? If he didn’t worry about having you as a brother, he would’ve followed Tianbao to Borneo already! Is there a need for a sour Scholar like you to worry?”

“Keep your voice down.”

“I know.”

Liangyu, with the blood of the Gaoli ghost, could hear earthworms burrowing within a yard’s distance, so naturally he couldn’t be deceived by his brother and sister-in-law’s quarrel.

He lowered his head to glance at the sea bowl he was holding; Madam Liu had carelessly forgotten to give him chopsticks, but it was really inappropriate to knock on the door for them now. Liangyu didn’t mind; he squatted in the courtyard, grabbed a handful of rice and stuffed it into his mouth, wolfing it down.

Unable to hold the sea bowl steady, Liangyu finished it, rice and meat together, in just seven or eight bites. After wiping his mouth, he waited for a while. When the noise inside the house ceased, he called out, “Brother, sister-in-law, I’m off to work. I won’t be back for dinner tonight.”

Madam Liu answered from behind the door, “If you don’t come home for dinner, would you go hungry? I asked Tan, and he said you would be off work at 9 P.M. I’ll keep the soup pot waiting for you. Don’t make your brother angry again.”

“Indeed, there is something. Recently, a worker at the kiln died from coal poison. He only has a younger sister left. We collected some money at work and asked me to deliver it.”

Hearing this, Liangzhang could only agree, “Alright then, Master Dong said things have been uneasy lately, with bandits roaming everywhere. Be careful on your way.”

Liangyu turned to leave the courtyard when he heard someone calling loudly from outside the fence.

“Mr. Hong, Mr. Hong.”

The visitor wore a gray long robe, his messy queue hidden under a melon skin cap, and sported black-rimmed glasses. Two greasy goatees fluttered up and down with the movement of his mouth, giving him a somewhat low and cunning appearance. Two porters in short clothes followed, carrying bags of rice and pork.

The man also noticed Liangyu.

With broad shoulders about two feet wide, muscular arms, and a wasp waist, he had thick eyebrows and piercing eyes, bearing a slight resemblance to Liangzhang.

He squinted his eyes and pushed his glasses up, squeezing three horizontal lines on his forehead, sizing up Liangyu for a while without speaking.

Liangzhang hurried over with hastened steps in his straw shoes, opening the door, and coming forward to salute the visitor, “Steward Song graces us with his presence; my apologies for not welcoming you from afar, truly.”

“We are old acquaintances, why so formal?”

Steward Song returned the gesture, “The Mid-Autumn Festival is nearly upon us, and Master Dong has commanded me to bring an extra gift to our Western guests. By the usual practice, it’s ten strings of cash, two pheasants, fifty catties of rice, and a fan of fatty pork. I checked the storeroom and found an additional pig’s head. I thought I might as well bring it all to Mr. Hong myself. The money is with me, please take a moment to count it.”

“Steward Song, your kindness is appreciated, truly.”

While speaking, Steward Song gestured for the porters to bring in the meat and rice.

The fan of pork was substantial, easily weighing a hundred and fifty pounds. The two yellow-faced, skinny porters struggled to carry it, their hands trembling. Liangyu, without a word, took the entire fan of pork on his back and grabbed two bags of rice, stepping steadily into the kitchen. After calling out to Madam Liu, he left the house.

“Who was…”
Liangzhang waved his hand nonchalantly, “That’s a distant cousin from my mother’s side; his family was struck by a plague and fled here. He begged Master Dong for a job at the charcoal kilns in the hills, really just manual labor, nothing noteworthy.”

“I remember now; I recall him.”

Steward Song nodded vigorously, “Eh? Master Dong is actually organizing a militia to work with the authorities to eradicate the Xiang Army bandits. Your cousin there seems a good fit! The militia has good benefits, surely better than being a charcoal burner, right?”

“No, no, that won’t do.”

Liangzhang’s heart skipped a beat, shaking his head like a rattle drum, “He faints at the sight of blood; he couldn’t handle being a militiaman. He’s the only surviving child from my aunt’s family. Eh, how did the Xiang Army come up again?”

“Sigh! Ever since the big bandit Tianbao was eradicated by the authorities, there has been no end to the troubles here–Ten United Righteousnesses, Xiaodao Club, and Five Dragon Sect, all causing chaos. Just take this Xiang Army, they rebelled in Wuzhou. Unfortunately for them, they killed Governor Yang’s envoy and also stole a secret letter meant for the Grand Secretary Zhao Yun. No wonder Governor Yang is so anxious to wipe them out.”

Liangzhang half-listened, occasionally interjecting, managing to cover up the matter regarding his brother.