Chapter 226: Lost the Son as Well as the Grain (II)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The dispatch team for the grain was enormous. There were approximately 200 guards dressed like sergeants aside from the team, and each guard was equipped with a flashing spike in order to keep those who would transport the big load of grain away in line. They had to evaluate their own capabilities of undertaking the robbery before putting it to action.

A laborer of the dispatch team was soaked with sweat and was so exhausted that his face had turned dark red.

They were overjoyed to see a tea house next to the station.

“Sergeant, everyone is worn out after such a long trip. Shall we take a break in the tea house and then keep going?”

The leader of the laborers approached and tried to negotiate with head of the guards of the dispatch team.

No one was an iron man and after transporting the considerable amount of grain from Meng County, the laborers’ mental and physical powers were collapsing. The guards on the horses just played blind and they treated the cooks with whips when they had a hard time catching up.

Fortunately, Hejian County was just in front of them. There was still going to be more than a half day trip before they arrived at their destination.

There would certainly be casualties caused by exhaustion sooner or later if they kept going.

The head of the guards of the dispatch team was the one Jiang Pengji had spared the life of.

He was eager to make up for his fault by making contributions. Right after he took the mission of dispatching the grain, he squeezed the male laborers to the limit day and night and urged them to hurry along to save Meng Liang’s life as soon as possible… Day after day, his anxiety was growing and eating away at him. His fear of any changes because of the delay and his imperative mood blocked his ability to notice the tiredness of the laborers.

He couldn’t care less about them even if he had noticed.

How could just a few laborers compare with the Second Langjun of the Meng’s?

Who was going to be responsible for anything going wrong with Meng Liang because they slacked on the way to pick him up?

But his nerves were growing calmer since they were only a half day trip away from Hejian County. He was worn out, too. He just went with labor leader’s request and passed the command that the whole dispatch team could rest for an hour.

The labor leader felt blessed and yelled at his people at the end of the team as soon as he received permission. “Make it quick. There is a tea house right in front of us. Everyone take a break and get yourself a cup of tea.”

The mass was suddenly motivated. The long dispatch team was like a caterpillar slowly crawling forward to the tea house.

The tea house had been serving big caravans that traveled all over; it was common and easy for them.

The landlady of the tea house put on her standard smile and greeted some guards that were walking into the tea house. The rest of the guards found some spare seating outside and rested.

Jiang Pengji saw how fully occupied the boss was and she stood up with Qiguan Rang’s terrified stare and wore an honest and kind smile.

“I can help you if you don’t mind, landlady. I forgot to take money with me today…”

The landlady surveyed her from head to toe and was very happy with the idea. She seemed to be enthusiastic to her and said, “Sure. It happens to be very busy and we are short on people. You can start serving some cups of tea to the guards sitting outside of the house… And don’t be clumsy, or else you’ll have to compensate double or more times the loss.”

Jiang Pengji grinned at her and replied, “Don’t worry about this. I work in our own farm field everyday and I ensure you that I can do my job neatly.”

Any acerbic businessman would pick on her for her sitting in a tea house while not being able to afford a penny worth cup of tea.

However, Jiang Pengji could tell that under that mean face, the landlady was truly a kind, warm-hearted person with a sense of acrimony. She was thoughtful and nice to her customers. Sometimes she would charge nothing to those tourists who had hard time paying for the bill. She would also make some ginger soup for people when it was freezing.

Qiguan Rang was stunned and he watched Jiang Pengji carry a whole tray of tea cups out of the tea house and merge in with the dispatch team. She checked the cargo in the freight wagons and looked delighted. Her big smile made Qiguan Rang change his impression of her.

Is this still the son of the Liu County Chief, Liu Xi?

Everyone is buying that he is just a county boy for a farm’s family?

While Qiguan Rang was still fascinated by her, she had already gained something useful.

She served tea to some laborers, pretended to complain, and casually chatted with them. At the same time, she gained some valuable information from them.

Of course, the laborers who slipped their lips to her were not aware of it––especially with those guards present.

“Hey, you are just a county boy. Why are you so curious about this?” A guard finished off a cup of tea with one sip––but apparently it didn’t help with his thirst, so he asked for another one from Jiang Pengji. “Give me one more cup, I’m drained out…”

Another guard laughed. “He just hasn’t seen much of the world. It doesn’t matter that he is showing curiosity.”

She wasn’t poking at something essential, anyway. It wouldn’t be harmful to give her answers.

Jiang Pengji took the order smoothly. “Two more cups. Just a moment.”

Qiguan Rang’s eyes followed Jiang Pengji as she was busy working and moving swiftly around. He might mistake him as some boy craving money if he didn’t know what she was planning. She really threw her ego away for the sake of obtaining information as a member of the gentry clan.

He couldn’t stop laughing about the fact. After only about an hour, the nonstop Jiang Pengji finally sat down and the dispatch team took off.

“You… Why did you have to do this…” Qiguan Rang said to her, dumbfounded.

“I wouldn’t be able to get near them if I didn’t.” She was thirsty after her heavy work. She finished a whole cup of tea and slowly felt like she was cooling off. She lowered her voice to Qiguan Rang. “There is no problem with the grain, and instead of 2,000 dans, it is actually more than 3,000 dans! The Meng’s are absolutely generous with us. I’m just not sure if they will still be smiling in two days…”

Qiguan Rang was astonished and raised his eyebrows. “I only saw you wandering around in that group to talk to people. How can you guarantee that the grain is good without examining the cargo wagon guarded by those guards… And you even learned the detailed numbers…?”

Jiang Pengji answered, “That’s easy. I measured the depth of the wheels sinking into the dirt. Grain and sand bags, even if they are the exact same size, don’t weigh the same. I went to trick those laborers and I did an gross estimation of the total amount of grain with the team.”

She was multitasking even when she was busy serving.

She added something more in a low voice, “Of course, my whole purpose to get near them wasn’t to check the grain…”

Qiguan Rang was dazed. The purpose of approaching the dispatch team was not to get access to the grain? Then what was it for?

His eyebrows were twisted together. He tried hard to remember her actions in the past hour and hoped to get to know her genius intention.

“Stopping thinking too much. I went to give a gift. It is not convenient and easily suspicious to do if it was any other timing…” Jiang Pengji kept sipping her tea and relaxing. She seemed as sneaky as a fox.

Gave them… a gift?