Climbing on the Sparrow Branch – CH 248

Chapter 248: Leaving the City

The rain An Zhi had been hoping for didn’t come. Not a downpour, not even a drizzle.

An Zhi and the other three returned to the pavilion disappointed.

Concubine Zhang was the more talkative, livening up the atmosphere. “If it didn’t rain today, it might rain tomorrow. Heaven can’t just keep the rain away forever.”

Concubine Cheng was the most timid and prone to overthinking things. “Do you think it was really the late Crown…”

“Shut up!” Meng Jie was horrified and snorted. “You’re telling me to tell you anything!”

Concubine Cheng, startled awake by the madam’s yelling, realized she had nearly said something awful and quickly stood up to apologize.

Since the rain wasn’t coming and it was getting late, the others dispersed.

An Zhi returned to her courtyard alone. It was a good thing the Madam had spoken to Concubine Cheng, as it would prevent her from being careless and saying something outrageous later, which would be disastrous.

She was worried not just about the lack of rain but about the rumors of resentment from the late Crown Prince.

The Fifth Prince couldn’t escape suspicion and would naturally retaliate against Pei Que.

Since that day at the teahouse, she hadn’t seen Pei Que again. Thinking the Ministry of Public Works was occupied and Pei Que was still investigating a case, he must have been incredibly busy, so An Zhi didn’t think much of it.

It was just that it was inevitable to feel a little worried after not seeing someone for a while.

Half a month passed before a sparse drizzle finally fell, barely dampening the ground before it died.

Still, this rain did bring some comfort to the people—a glimmer of hope.

The day after the rain, An Zhi harnessed her carriage and headed for the manor outside the city. Every year before spring plowing, An Zhi would walk through the fields for the master to show the tenants that they cared for the land. She would also give the tenant farmers some money to encourage their work.

Originally, this task would have been handled by the family’s sons, but An Xu was in the northwest, and An Jing was only seven years old, so An Zhi had no choice but to bring him along.

The siblings walked around the fields, watching the servant distribute the money to the tenant farmers. Then, An Zhi took her brother to the riverside. Noticing that the water level was much lower than in previous years, An Zhi sighed.

An Jing followed his sister. Though young, he possessed considerable experience. “Eldest sister, if it doesn’t rain again this year, and the soybeans the tenant farmers plant don’t yield, do we still have to collect 100% rent?”

“Of course not.” An Zhi walked along the riverbank, while Fusheng followed slowly along the road in the carriage. “Since there’s no harvest due to a natural disaster, we naturally have to reduce or waive the rent. Otherwise, the tenant farmers won’t even have enough to eat, and yet they’ll still have to pay us rent; they’ll definitely become agitated. It’s just like how you manage your subordinates. You need to be relaxed and strict, but not too much. Too relaxed and you’ll raise lazy people, while too strict can easily lead them astray.”

An Jing listened thoughtfully. He’d never heard such words from his aunt, because she would only teach him to read people’s expressions and act cautiously, never teaching him how to lead people.

“Eldest Sister, you’re outstanding,” An Jing praised sincerely after figuring out a little bit of the meaning. “When I grow up, if I can be as resourceful as you, I’ll definitely be better than Father.”

“Haha,” An Zhi smiled and patted her brother’s head. “You’ll definitely be even more outstanding.”

Their father, aside from his looks, was unremarkable in every way. Without the Bai family’s support, he would never have reached the level of fourth-rank official.

And now that An Jing was no longer timid, he displayed intelligence far surpassing his father’s, which was why An Zhi was willing to talk so much with her brother.

The trees by the river provided shade, so An Zhi walked for a while without feeling the heat. However, Binglu mentally calculated the time, fearing it would be too late to return, and reminded her young lady when to board the carriage.

An Zhi, thinking it was a rare trip out of town, wanted to walk a little further. After walking for a quarter of an hour, a magnificent carriage suddenly appeared in front of her. She didn’t know whose it was.

An Zhi was worried about which young master it was, so to avoid suspicion, she tried to board her carriage. Just as she turned with her brother, she heard a woman in front of her exclaim, “What’s wrong, young lady?” She hurried over with Binglu.

When they reached the back of the carriage, they saw a plump young lady inside, pinching her own throat and coughing furiously, as if she had something stuck in her throat.

Seeing the plump young lady’s face flush, An Zhi and Binglu hurriedly boarded the carriage, one on each side. Before the other maid could react, one of them grabbed the plump young lady’s hand, pulled it up, and then violently hugged her stomach.

“Cough, cough!” Xu Wenjuan’s stomach churned for a moment, and she coughed twice before her airway popped open, finally easing her breath.

An Zhi heard the plump young lady gasping for air and breathed a sigh of relief. She shook her aching arm and got out of the carriage. Once she had regained her balance, she realized that the plump young lady in the carriage was the legitimate daughter of the Deputy Minister of Revenue.

The two of them weren’t familiar with each other and rarely met. Since Xu Wenjuan rarely went out, An Zhi didn’t recognize her at first.

Now that she remembered who it was, she introduced herself and greeted her.

Xu Wenjuan took the tea handed to her by her maid and drank it in two gulps. She then dismounted from the carriage. She stared at An Zhi for a long moment before reluctantly saying thank you. Then, looking at her warily, she asked, “When did you get here? Did you just hear about me being disliked?”

Oh my goodness, An Zhi hadn’t heard any of this.

She shook her head hurriedly. “Young Lady Xu, I only came here because I heard your maid screaming for help. I didn’t hear a word of your earlier conversation. Since you’re well now, I’ll take my leave.”

An Zhi knew Xu Wenjuan. She wasn’t just unattractive but also had a terrible temper and was quite spoiled. If she hadn’t been so focused on saving a life, she wouldn’t have bothered to meddle in her affairs.

Seeing An Zhi about to leave, Xu Wenjuan became anxious again. She ran over to An Zhi and opened her arms to stop her. “Even if you didn’t hear me before, I just said I came out because I was disliked. Since you know my secret, you can’t leave!”

An Zhi almost laughed out loud. She had heard that Young Lady Xu was unreasonable, but she hadn’t expected her to be so unreasonable.

“Young Lady Xu, I don’t have time to gossip about you. I can also swear I won’t tell anyone about your affairs, alright?” If she hadn’t been afraid of trouble, An Zhi really would have just walked away. Xu Wenjuan pursed her lips, her chubby cheeks puffing out even more. She neither nodded nor shook her head. After a moment, she suddenly burst into tears.

Her maid bowed to An Zhi and apologized, “Young Lady An, I’m truly sorry. My young lady didn’t mean to argue with you. It was only because she was so upset that she said something that angered you. We will all remember your life-saving grace just now. I kowtow to you first.”

Binglu quickly supported the woman. “No need to kowtow. My young lady doesn’t mean to ask for your gratitude. Our two families are not close friends. Today’s incident was just a coincidence. We will definitely not mention it to anyone.”