Linxi Town was nestled among the hollows of the hills, surrounded by flat land and abundant water—an ideal place to live. A dozen or so kilometers further back lay the mountains: small hills, then big hills, then Panlong Mountain—roughly in that order.
Song Jin's tea garden was located on one of those small hills. This mountainous land belonged specifically to Shili Village under Linxi Town's jurisdiction. Compared to the town itself, Shili Village had fewer fertile fields and more mountainous terrain, so by all accounts, life should have been harder there.
And in fact, that had always been the case—though mountainous land, if put to good use, was no worse than fertile fields at all.
Seven or eight years ago, Niu Tielan had begun planting tea trees and mulberry trees here. At first, everyone thought she was just a woman talking big—did she really think she could just plant these things and sell them on a whim?
Well, as it turned out, yes.
From the time the tea garden was established, their family had only lost money in the first year. After that, they'd been making money continuously—even more than farming. In those years, farming didn't pay, even if you had a hundred mu of fertile land.
The mulberry and silkworm garden had its ups and downs, but overall it still turned a profit, and while making money, it had also driven the weaving workshops in Shili Village.
All things considered, Song Jin held considerable standing in Shili Village.
Which was precisely why, even when she spotted a crowd of people outside the village from a distance, she paid them no mind and strode boldly toward them—until she was stopped.
Song Jin was shocked: "What are you doing?"
The man's expression didn't change: "County office business. Unrelated persons are not permitted to approach."
Song Jin laughed: "Do I look unrelated?"
The man said nothing, his gaze sweeping over Song Jin. Whether she was unrelated or not was hard to say, but one thing was clear—she didn't look easy to deal with.
Although Song Jin's clothes were ordinary—just plain fabric costing a few hundred wen per bolt—her features were striking and radiant, her figure tall, her skin fair, and her demeanor bold and unrestrained. She didn't look like any ordinary passerby.
She was probably another one sent by some family that had gotten word, trying to find a way in.
Their prince had grown up outside from a young age, in a simple and sheltered environment. If he were to be dazzled by someone like this, the guards following him would be in serious trouble.
So the guard instinctively stopped her, to keep her from going in and disturbing the peace.
Now that Song Jin had spoken, he was even more certain that stopping her was the right call—this woman was definitely up to something.
Any ordinary villager would have turned tail and run at the mention of county office business. Who would act like her?
The guard repeated expressionlessly: "County office business. Unrelated persons are not permitted to approach."
This was a first. In all these years, Song Jin had never been stopped on her own turf.
She laughed in frustration, pointing at people passing by: "Why can they pass and I can't?"
The guard: "They're villagers."
Song Jin jumped down from her mule and said irritably: "Well, I'm a mountain person. Move aside—my tea garden is right over there, and I need to check on things. Don't block me. If you keep blocking me, I'll go to the county magistrate and file a complaint against you."
That last remark would have been better left unsaid. The moment she said it, the guard became even more convinced she was one of those people. He took a step back and drew his sword halfway: "Take another step forward, and the blade won't discriminate."
"…" Song Jin gritted her teeth at this overly dutiful guard, wishing she could just punch him. But she could only think about it—in this dynasty, as a commoner with no rank, she still had to behave herself in front of officials.
She'd just have to come back at night and put a sack over his head.
"Fine, fine, fine. If you won't let me in, you won't let me in. I'll just go home." Song Jin waved her hand in frustration, then hopped angrily onto the mule's back and rode off on Little Black.
The guard watched until she disappeared down the road before turning his gaze to the villager who had been hesitating to speak: "What is it?"
The villager had been holding it in for a while: "That was Song Jin—the young miss of the family that owns the biggest tea garden in the village."
The guard gave a mental "oh" and said as before: "At a critical moment like this, all unrelated persons are strictly forbidden from entering."
The villager: "…"
That made him a bit nervous.
The villager asked anxiously: "Sir, can you tell me what's going on? Those robbers who got away—are they really that vicious?"
The guard glanced at him and repeated: "County office business. Unrelated persons shouldn't pry."
The villager: "…"
Fine. He supposed he was pretty unrelated.
Meanwhile, in a place the guard couldn't see, that "scheming" and "furious" Song Jin turned Little Black around, circled back, and came at the village from another direction.
Not that she was complaining, but a few small fry of outside guards thought they could keep her out of her own village?
As if.
Song Jin looked at the hastily constructed fence in front of her, then at the familiar old acquaintance on the other side who was leaning crookedly and yawning as he stood guard, and she patted Little Black's head with a smile.
"Be good, Little Black. Wait for me here. If there's danger, just run home on your own."
Little Black snorted and puffed, calmly munching on the grass.
Song Jin didn't expect it to understand her anyway—past experience had already proven that when trouble really came, this lousy mule ran faster than she did.
So she left Little Black behind with complete confidence, then gave a light leap. That simple fence might as well have been a doorstep—no difficulty at all.
Song Jin curled his lips, satisfied, and clapped his hands. Then, with a swagger, he walked over behind the man guarding the village and pressed a dagger to his neck.
"Sp-sp-spare me, hero, please spare my worthless life! Whatever you want to know, I—I know it all, I'll tell you everything!"
The man, who had been slouching and yawning, snapped awake in an instant. His legs trembled, his voice quavered, and his face was plastered with fawning desperation. Before Song Jin even opened his mouth, the man spilled everything in one breath.
"The village is surrounded—two guards on each of the four sides, east, west, south, and north, with one more in between. They've also sent plenty of men into the mountains. If you want to get away fast, just head straight out from the village edge over there—no one's guarding outside. Please, just spare me! I never even saw your face, I couldn't recognize you. Or—or you could just knock me out! I've got an eighty-year-old mother at home, a three-year-old kid, and a shrew of a wife in between. I—I—"
Song Jin released him, at a loss for words.
The man very obligingly squatted on the ground, hugging his head and covering his face: "H-hero, please hurry and go. I don't know anything."
What a coward.
Song Jin kicked him in the rear, sending him sprawling face-first into the dirt.
The man: "K-kicked well!"
"Jiang Qian, you spineless coward—you'd be a deserter before even setting foot on a battlefield. Did the village chief get his head stuck in a door when he picked you to stand guard?" Song Jin snapped, kicking him again in disgust. "Is this how you look after my tea garden? If someone came knocking to dig up the trees, you'd dig yourself a hole and bury yourself first, wouldn't you?"
That voice was far too familiar. The man trembling on the ground rolled over in a flash, scrambled up, and latched onto Song Jin's leg, wailing pitifully.
"Song Jin, you bastard! You scared me half to death! I already wrote my last words in my head—my eighty-year-old mother, my three-year-old little Nini, my twenty-three-year-old shrew of a wife!"
Song Jin's forehead twitched. "Shut up."
Jiang Qian sobbed. "No way! I'm going to have my uncle get justice for me! You scared me to death! I was recruited by the higher-ups—I'm technically an unofficial constable! You just assaulted a government official, you—"
Song Jin: "One month's pay."
Jiang Qian immediately let go of her, stood up, brushed off his clothes, wiped his face, and gave her a proper bow, looking perfectly presentable: "Greetings, Miss Song. The mountains have been a bit unsettled lately—what brings you here?"
Song Jin: "…Afraid that if I don't come, you'll sell off my tea garden."
If real danger struck, this coward would absolutely do it.
Jiang Qian's expression shifted at once: "Miss Song, what a thing to say! That tea garden—I've been watching it like a hawk. The first batch of new tea has already come in, and every transaction, big or small, is written down clear as day. In all the villages for miles around, you won't find anyone who does a better job than me."
If it weren't for that, Song Jin really wouldn't have hired such a flaky scoundrel who might flip at any moment. But cowardly as he was, he had a real knack for bookkeeping and business—flexible, smooth-talking, good at tending tea, and the village chief of Shili Village's own nephew to boot.
Song Jin swallowed her irritation and got back to business: "What's going on in the village?"
Jiang Qian remembered what had just happened and gave her a resentful look, only answering after she repeated "one month's pay": "What else could it be? Those bandits keep sneaking around in the mountains, and when trouble hits, we're the first to suffer at the mountain's edge. This time—Miss Song, you probably haven't heard—Da'an Village got ransacked by bandits two days ago. A lot of people died…"
At the mention of Da'an Village, Song Jin paused, thinking of the old beef seller she'd run into on her last trip to town—the man who'd raised his ox for years, finally ready to use it, only for it to fall and die. And now this had happened to his village…
Bandits?
She might have believed that when she was a proper three-year-old.
Song Jin pressed her lips together, her usual flamboyant demeanor dimming slightly. She looked at Jiang Qian, whose face was full of grief and misery, and said coolly, "No matter how tragic you make it sound, I'm not giving you a raise."
Jiang Qian: "…"
Song Jin curled the corner of her mouth again, a sharp glint flashing through her eyes before vanishing just as quickly. She said with certainty, "Don't worry. The tea garden and the village will be fine."
Seeing how sure she was, Jiang Qian breathed a sigh of relief inside.
Though Song Jin was just an ordinary country landowner, Jiang Qian firmly believed she was anything but ordinary—after all, aside from her, he'd never seen anyone who could fly.
That was also why, timid and cowardly as he was, he'd stayed at her little tea garden all these years. Even when bigger tea operations offered him higher pay, he never moved. What if he ran and this little terror came after him for revenge?
Money is precious, but life is more so.
Jiang Qian patted his still-shaky legs and said in a low voice, "A few important people have come to the village—they all speak the official tongue and have guards with them. From what I overheard, they're from the capital."
Song Jin had a guess forming in her mind—it should be that same group from last time.
She nodded, said nothing more, and headed into the village. Behind her came Jiang Qian's voice: "The number of guards I said earlier isn't right—don't go barging in! And keep a low profile! There's a lecherous one in that group—watch out he doesn't spot you and cause trouble!"
This little ancestor was difficult to deal with, but her looks were top-notch.
Song Jin merely raised an eyebrow, curled her lips, and then swaggered off toward the village.
Keep a low profile?
That was a phrase better left for that so-called libertine.
This was her turf, after all.
**
"Achoo!"
Over here, Song Xingzhi, who had been in the middle of speaking, sneezed hard. He rubbed his slightly sore nose and yawned. "Must have caught a chill in the mountains these past couple of days. I'll need to take some medicine later, so I don't pass it on to His Highness."
Qi Zheng's voice was icy. "I'd say it's more likely some romantic trouble you've stirred up somewhere."
Song Xingzhi, who had just arrived and already managed to charm a young girl, touched his nose guiltily. "A graceful lady is a gentleman's pursuit—it's a matter of mutual consent. His Highness is young; surely you haven't yet experienced the joys of the marriage bed?"
Qi Zheng's gaze flickered to the window for a moment before returning, cold and stern. "Mind your own business."
Song Xingzhi waved his fan, rakish and frivolous. "Don't be like that! It's rare to get out of the capital without all its rules. Your Highness should relax a little. Love between man and woman is only natural. This place may be remote, but there's no shortage of beauties—enough that I'm tempted to take one back home."
Qi Zheng said coolly, "Oh? Not afraid of Lord Song, then?"
Song Xingzhi waved his fan to mask his slightly changed expression, forcing calm as he boasted, "Why would I be afraid? My father would be thrilled if I sired a couple more heirs to carry on the family line, haha!"
Qi Zheng tapped the table. "So you plan to take the widow with a child from town back home, so Lord Song can become a grandfather and be delighted?"
"…" Song Xingzhi gave an awkward laugh. "Truly, Your Highness knows everything."
Qi Zheng lowered his head, studying the indistinct mountain ranges on the map. After making several marks on it, he looked up, his gaze cold and severe.
"Mutual consent, I won't interfere. But if you dare force anyone, not even Lord Song will be able to save you."
Song Xingzhi's frivolity vanished in an instant. He dropped to one knee, solemn. "I would never dare."
Qi Zheng watched him silently, until the man's back began to feel cold, before speaking flatly. "Get out."
Song Xingzhi breathed a silent sigh of relief, cursing himself inwardly for his loose tongue. Why did he have to run his mouth for no reason? Now he'd provoked the man, and who knew what kind of reckoning awaited him back home.
He didn't dare say another word. He waved his hand and was about to leave when he heard Qi Zheng speak again. "Someone came by earlier. Go see what's going on."
Song Xingzhi: …
Couldn't you have said something this important a little sooner?
Worried something had happened, Song Xingzhi hurried out of the room, intending to find the guards and ask what the situation was. But he'd barely made it halfway when his vision went black—a sack was thrown over his head. Before he could even react, a flurry of punches and kicks rained down on him.
"Who—ugh—who is it…"