Chapter 219: Merit In and Out
Merit + 1 today. I treated someone. At the same time, it also increased income. I have made a humble contribution to the social economy and GDP growth.
Distributing congee: Merit + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1…
The effect was best on the first day of distributing congee; for some, it was life-saving. After distributing congee for several days in a row, the effect diminished with each passing day.
If you distribute congee for years and years, the one day you stop, you become an unforgivable villain. Such is human nature. Jiang Mianmian was not truly naive.
Just as she was wondering what to do, she saw a group of brightly and beautifully dressed young girls approaching in a grand procession, accompanied by bodyguards from their respective families.
Whoa, watching them carry pots, rice, flour, and cooking oil~~ Jiang Mianmian felt very happy. Finally. These children from other families were coming to distribute congee as well.
Wu Yian, the daughter of Governor Wu, shot a provocative glance at Jiang Mianmian. “As if only you know how to fish for a reputation.”
Actually, she had wanted to come and distribute congee from the start, but her parents felt that because the Earthquake had just happened, things outside were chaotic. They feared it would be dangerous if there were further tremors, so they didn’t let her come.
After waiting a few days, seeing that there were no problems, they finally gave in to her pestering and agreed to let her come.
The congee on Jiang Mianmian’s side was very thin; a chopstick certainly wouldn’t stand up in it. She had originally boiled it for epidemic prevention, to relieve heat and reduce inflammation. She added a bit of rice so that more people would come and could at least partially fill their stomachs.
But Wu Yian was determined to compete with Jiang Mianmian. So, the congee she had people boil was thick and glutinous, so thick a chopstick wouldn’t even fall over. The medicinal herbs were even more precious; Jiang Mianmian saw them toss in a whole ginseng root.
Good heavens! They were truly generous. She guessed they must have stolen it to bring it out. Otherwise, what parent would let you squander things like that?
Led by the daughter of Governor Wu, several young girls had come together. With so many people, opinions were inconsistent; in any case, the congee distribution was being run like a dinner party.
Watching everyone flock to line up, Jiang Mianmian saw that her own big pot of medicinal congee only had dregs left. Perfect.
She had Pang Ya pack it up and had the servants tidy up the things, calling it a day. Before leaving, she even greeted her classmate, Wu Yian.
“Do you need a small stool?” Mianmian asked as she was leaving.
Wu Yian saw that since she had arrived, she had snatched away all the people queuing in front of Jiang Mianmian, and felt slightly embarrassed. However, she hadn’t done it on purpose; she provided better things, so it was normal for people to come over. Like a proud little rooster, she lifted her head and said, “No.”
“Your calves will get thicker if you stand all day, oh.” After saying this, Jiang Mianmian strolled away, feeling extremely happy.
Originally, she had been worried that withdrawing so abruptly would cause a negative reaction and disappoint those who were waiting in expectation. Now it was fine; someone else was playing the villain.
That ugly man Zhang Weibiao, who had been squatting there to get his fill, surprisingly didn’t continue to wait. Seeing them leave, he followed them from a distance. Jiang Mianmian was curious.
She waved him over and asked, “Weren’t you doing this to get full? The congee they are distributing is thick and good, made with new rice and added tonic herbs; you would definitely be able to get full. Why didn’t you stay?”
Zhang Weibiao scratched his head and said, “I’ve never seen anyone distribute rice and tonic herbs; I fear a fight will break out. I ate my fill this morning. Because of my fault, I killed someone, and I fear someone will seek revenge, so I am following.”
Jiang Mianmian hadn’t expected that this disheveled-looking strong man would speak with such a sense of chivalry. It felt like he had no brain, yet it also seemed like he did.
“I am going to the government office. It’s fine, you can go queue up first, get a meal, and then come back,” Jiang Mianmian said.
Zhang Weibiao heard this and felt it made perfect sense; the young miss was so smart. But his code of honor wouldn’t allow it. If he ate someone’s food, he had to help them. In case something happened over there, he wouldn’t be able to help at all. So, he continued to follow.
Jiang Mianmian didn’t care that he was following, and took Pang Ya, carrying the leftover soup from the congee distribution, to the government office.
Unexpectedly, upon arriving at the government office today, Jiang Mianmian was received with extra enthusiasm and respect. Before, she felt it was just because she was a second-generation official, and everyone had to be respectful. Today was different. The smiles were exceptionally sincere. It felt like her reputation was beginning to spread.
Jiang Mianmian brought the medicinal congee to the government office kitchen. The office had simple work meals, providing lunch and food for the staff on duty. The medicinal congee was very thin, basically just a bucket of medicinal soup.
Jiang Mianmian had people distribute it, and she took some to Father and her teacher herself. The person distributing the congee also drinking the congee they distributed was also a kind of merit. It was just medicinal soup for preventing and relieving heat; it was a bit bitter, but effective. Ancient officials wore layers of work clothes, and it was very hot.
However, when Jiang Mianmian arrived at Father’s office, she saw Father and her teacher, and their expressions were not very good, as if they were arguing.
A child raised with love would never know how to read an adult’s expression. Because she wasn’t afraid of being beaten. She knew Father couldn’t bear to hit her at all.
Censor He and Jiang Changtian were reviewing the things Jiang Wan had said. The two imperial officials adopted a dialectical attitude to discuss the “dreaming of rebirth” trope.
Earlier, when Jiang Wan said that Jiang Changtian’s whole family had basically died out, Censor He had found it absurd.
What kind of malice was this, to want a whole family dead even in a dream? Moreover, Jiang the Second’s family was doing just fine now. But the other party had been too detailed; describing exactly how they died, it gave a feeling of hair-raising horror.
Later, when she mentioned the He family being exterminated to the ninth degree, and Censor He himself vomiting blood and dying of cardiac arrest at home. At that moment, Censor He really felt as if his heart had stopped. He analyzed it and felt that the content Jiang Wan spoke of might be similar to an existing place.
Just like a mirror. If there was another world in the mirror, where they all existed exactly the same, living and acting just as Jiang Wan said. Otherwise, it couldn’t be explained; Censor He didn’t even know Jiang Wan, yet Jiang Wan had given him the method of his death.
Censor He also recalled that when he first came to Jingzhou, he met a pair of young people strolling around. The woman was wearing a veil, and upon seeing him, she seemed a bit strange and turned her back.
At that time, he had only glanced at her and didn’t think much of it, but now thinking back, that scene slowly became clear and interesting. That woman was Jiang Wan, and Jiang Wan knew him.
Jiang Changtian’s family was still alive, proving that things could be changed. But that night, they had both wanted to kill Jiang Wan to eliminate future trouble, and then they encountered the Earthquake, a punishment from heaven. This meant that it seemed they couldn’t directly take action against Jiang Wan.
But Jiang Changtian had deceived Jiang Wan into taking a secret medicine, yet there were no aftereffects. Both were old foxes; they knew how to use others to kill. If they couldn’t kill her themselves, they would let others do it.
Jiang Wan talked about love, hate, and enmity, a path of domestic and palace intrigue, being unable to control her feelings, trapped by love; it had all of it.
Censor He brushed aside the romance within it and saw the future trend of the Imperial Court. In short, the Seventh Prince must not ascend the throne.
The Seventh Prince was a truly sinister villain, yet he spent his days building an image of a devoted, good man, making everyone in the world sympathize with him.
The Princess Consort had no offspring, yet he wholeheartedly doted on her; the Princess Consort’s family fell, yet he didn’t look down on her in the slightest.
He used the Princess Consort’s misery to highlight his own deep affection and harmlessness. Once he ascended the throne, his true face was revealed, and he was even more absurd than the current Emperor.
He died in less than two years. He made the Imperial Court a mess, the people lived in misery, and the world fell apart.
If the world in the mirror truly existed, then by now, The Former Crown Prince should have met with trouble, and the Seventh Prince would be emerging; Censor He needed to rush to the capital.
The Jingzhou Earthquake was also an opportunity—an Earthquake as divine punishment—the kind of event that required the Emperor to admit his faults. Censor He needed to return quickly.
The two men looked serious, discussing how to kill. At first, Censor He had thought Jiang the Second was a greedy Rebel who had rashly become an official, just wanting to amass wealth.
After meeting him, Censor He felt that Jiang the Second was a capable Rebel, deep in schemes and efficient in his methods. Now that he was leaving, he saw that in Jingzhou, despite the Earthquake, the people were not displaced, there was no famine, no rebellion, and no plague.
It was like falling down, getting a little hurt, and then getting back up to keep walking; walking a bit slowly, but gradually getting faster, returning to normal. They would summarize how they had fallen, try not to fall next time, and if another accident happened, figure out how to get up, recover better, walk faster, or perhaps use the momentum of the fall to swing forward, which might save effort and allow them to take a few more steps forward.
From the start of the Earthquake to the post-disaster handling, Jiang the Second was truly a capable person, very good at being an official and getting things done. Censor He was full of admiration for him. From an initial image of a heinous Rebel, he now appeared as a suave, cunning, and good official.
Jiang Mianmian knocked on the door and entered generously. Seeing that Father and her teacher had somewhat solemn expressions, she said, “Father, Teacher, I’ve brought you heat-relieving soup.”
When Censor He saw the little one arrive, he thought of how she had covered a person with a white cloth, leaving only a severed hand exposed, and stitched it up as if she were embroidering, and he suddenly felt a bit sober.
Seeing the medicinal soup she brought, Censor He took it and drank. His body’s heat subsided slightly, and his mood eased a lot. Jiang Changtian also picked it up and drank it slowly. Anything given by his daughter, even bitter medicine, was sweet.
“Are you not distributing congee today?” Jiang Changtian knew that with daily congee distribution, the day one stopped, one would definitely be scolded. However, for a child of this age, generally speaking, they wouldn’t listen to words; people teaching people how to do things wouldn’t work, but having things teach people, they would understand once.
Although he couldn’t bear it, within the scope of his supervision, Jiang Changtian was prepared to let the child witness the harshness of the world, lest she say things like “Why don’t they eat minced meat” in the future.
Jiang Mianmian smiled and said, “Except for the first two days when many people couldn’t find a place to stay, were injured, and were lost, and truly needed the medicinal congee, later on, some people slowly went to settle their families and tidy up. The ones who kept coming became people who didn’t like to work on ordinary days; they would take the medicinal congee, drink it, and then lie there without moving.
I couldn’t chase them away. Fortunately, today, Wu Yian and the others also came to distribute congee, so I took the opportunity to withdraw, and I brought the remaining medicinal congee to you.”
Censor He, who was drinking the medicinal soup, had a mouthful of soup; swallowing it wasn’t right, and spitting it out wasn’t right either. So you specifically brought over the dregs left from the congee distribution?
No wonder it was so clear, just medicinal soup. This student really knew how to pass away! After thinking about it, he swallowed it anyway. If the common people could drink it, he could drink it too.
Then he heard Jiang Changtian say to his daughter over there, “That’s good. Since someone else is coming to distribute congee, you don’t need to go. Later, those people won’t be able to blame you.
Wanting to help people is good, but there’s no need to stick your neck out and get scolded. You must be methodical in doing things; when we do good deeds, we should leave our name, but let others be the bad guys.”
Jiang Mianmian nodded, accepting the lesson, “Father is so amazing.”
Censor He:… You will teach my student bad habits. Forget it. He drank the bitter medicinal soup. Perhaps because it was the dregs, each mouthful was more bitter than the last. But looking at Jiang the Second earnestly talking to his daughter, he was full of warmth.
Some people use despicable methods just to plot for their own selfish interests; such people are despicable and shameful villains. Some people use despicable methods, but they plot for the interests of the common people; such a person can be called a moral model, a sage.
Thank you for reading + listening 🙂 I hope you all liked my translations. If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi 😉
