CHAPTER 415: CHAPTER 412 SISTER CHEN

Pu Shou, the steward of Li Tao, received his orders and went to find Zheng.

Zheng was standing in the courtyard holding a roster, waiting for Pu Shou. The people on this island only come in but never leave; over the years, Prince Lu’s men have guarded this place like a steel drum.

Even without guards, the people here couldn’t leave.

All the large ships were taken away by Prince Lu, and this place is far from inhabited islands. Unless one cuts down trees on the island to build a seafaring vessel, there’s no chance of escape. But... this method would take too long, and the boat would be discovered before completion.

After Li Tao took charge of this small island for Prince Lu, every twenty people were grouped together to monitor each other. If one person escaped, all twenty would be executed.

Zheng and others, like Li Tao, once vied for the throne against the current King of Yan Country. After their defeat, they were saved by Prince Lu, doing work for him on the island, waiting for a chance to return to Yan Country.

Zheng always did things meticulously, so Li Tao trusted her deeply, and even Prince Lu met Zheng twice.

That’s why Zheng wasn’t executed immediately like the others.

Pu Shou flipped through the roster: "Are all present?"

Zheng answered, "Last month, thirteen people died on the island. Their bodies were examined and buried in the back mountain; the rest are still here."

Pu Shou nodded.

Zheng glanced toward the house: "Steward, some people from the island have been taken away. What did they do?"

Pu Shou couldn’t tell Zheng that those people had gone out to sea with Li Tao in the ninth year of Yuanping, and at that time, killed a woman. That woman was Princess Guangyang. To keep this matter a secret, those people were executed, for Xie Shao Yuan and Xie Liangchen surviving might have seen them.

Pu Shou said, "I don’t know either. Perhaps Mr. Li and Prince Lu have other arrangements; even if they don’t return to the island, they’re still working for Prince Lu."

Though Li Tao held no official position, he was trusted by Prince Lu. They habitually called him "Mr." When Prince Lu’s great endeavor succeeds one day, Li Tao will naturally be appointed.

Zheng responded, "That’s what you say."

Pu Shou said, "The situation outside isn’t great, Prince Lu is short of people, so some redeployments are normal."

Zheng didn’t ask further: "Did all the goods sell well before?"

Pu Shou smiled at the mention of this: "Very well, sea merchants bought them all."

Zheng continued, "Will there be goods arriving soon again, or are you planning to have people here learn to make some?"

After the goods arrived, Pu Shou let Zheng inspect them; not sure what Prince might plan next, letting Zheng know some matters will facilitate future actions.

Currently, they mainly store incoming and outgoing goods on this island and have excavated several iron mines. The women here can also use looms to produce fabrics favored by sea merchants, and still need to stockpile military supplies for Prince Lu.

Zheng thought Prince Lu would order them to make those wool felts.

Pu Shou asked, "Can you manage that?"

Zheng shook her head, "Someone must be willing to teach, and perhaps need materials to make them; handcraft won’t be that delicate."

That’s it, Pu Shou said, "Can’t find anyone to teach now. Qi people have just started this. Once we acquire methods to make them, we’ll naturally instruct you."

Zheng nodded: "Nobody has been idle recently; boots, coarse fabrics, plenty have been made."

"Do you know what the situation outside is like?" Pu Shou continued, "Can’t keep them for nothing, they must diligently work for Prince Lu. It’s chaotic now, you must properly manage the women and ensure they don’t cause trouble."

Pu Shou thought of those women doing hard labor, all rather old and unsightly, could only trade effort for some food, unlike some younger women on the island, who could do other tasks, those tasks being much easier.

Zheng left Pu Shou and returned to their village, walked into her house, and drank a bowl of water. Zheng sat down, pondering, feeling there’s something amiss with those taken away.

Something must have happened outside, but Pu Shou and others kept tight-lipped.

While Zheng pondered, someone walked in; it was a woman with burn scars on her face, the marks were quite frightening. Without looking at the scars, her eyes seemed particularly clear.

Usually, Zheng called this woman Sister Chen. Although Sister Chen looked ugly, she was extremely smart, chosen by Zheng to stay by her side to help manage affairs.

In the past, Sister Chen was restless, always scheming to leave the island. She was caught once and beaten half to death, but Zheng saved her life.

"From now on, it’ll be harder to inquire about outside information," Zheng looked at Sister Chen, "Those guards we were familiar with have been taken away."

Sister Chen’s voice was hoarse from smoke, "Why were they taken away? Did they discover us probing them for news?"

"Probably not," Zheng replied, "Had they discovered that, I wouldn’t have come back alive."

Sister Chen stood beside, contemplating, "Those guards made no mistakes, why were they taken away suddenly? There must be some reason."

Sister Chen also believed it wasn’t just relocation to work; Pu Shou’s attitude was odd.

Sister Chen’s eyes were bright, "You don’t really think Prince Lu will avenge you, or send you back to Yan Country? Outside news coming in is less and less, you know nothing, and your future will be at their mercy."

Zheng said, "For years, you’ve said this in my ear, you want me to stop trusting Prince Lu."

Sister Chen nodded in agreement.

Zheng said, "Because you want to leave here, return to Qi Land."

Sister Chen replied, "On my own, I can’t escape, but I’m telling the truth. I want to survive, and want us to survive together."

Zheng looked at the wool felt on the table, "Take it, your body isn’t well, this might help."

Sister Chen reached out to touch the wool felt, "Qi Land also had wool felt before, but not this good. Years have passed, not knowing what’s become of home."

Sister Chen’s words moved Zheng.

Sister Chen said, "Still need to find ways to get news from outside, at least understand what the outside has become, to prepare for when the time comes..."

When the time comes... then what? Zheng didn’t know, but Sister Chen was right, not knowing anything outside made her restless.

Sister Chen unceremoniously took the wool felt and returned to her room, spreading it. She lay down and felt indescribable comfort.

Dry, warm.

Sister Chen closed her eyes, and in her dreams, a clear voice kept calling out: "Mother, mother."

...

On the night of February 25th, Xie Liangchen felt she hadn’t slept soundly. Sometimes she dreamt of childhood, sometimes about her mother, and sometimes of the Li family couple who raised her.

Perhaps because she’s getting married, she especially missed the loved ones not by her side.

If only they were alive.

Chen Yuyu woke her, but Xie Liangchen struggled with closed eyes, unwilling to get up.

Seeing this, Chen Yuyu couldn’t help but laugh, "Sister, the Song Family’s people came early to help, the wedding maid’s here too. Soon Mrs. Quanfu will arrive; sister really won’t get up?"