TKTWC 08

Chapter 08

Voluntary Grain Donation**

There was too much to think about, so that night Liu Yi simply didn’t think at all and went straight to sleep.

She woke very early the next morning but stayed in bed until dawn broke.

To conceal her identity as a woman, Liu Yi had her own private suite—not very large, but with a small inner courtyard of its own.

Apart from Xiao Shan, no servants were allowed to enter, which made it convenient for her daily washing and for removing her disguise to relax.

The room that had been ransacked yesterday had already been restored to its original state by Xiao Shan. She was very meticulous. If not for the sword scars on the cabinets and the shattered, vanished tea set, Liu Yi might have almost believed yesterday’s search was just a dream.

She pulled out a qin—a zither—that had long gone unused from a box that had been forced open, plucked a few strings to check the tuning, and moved it to the stone table under the courtyard.

She didn’t actually have the leisure to play the qin today. In truth, the instrument had been bought by her parents when she was little, because she was too clever and they wanted to cultivate her cultural refinement.

But she had no interest in musical instruments and seemed to have no talent for them either. After a half-hearted attempt, her parents gave up.

“Miss is awake.” Xiao Shan brought breakfast from the kitchen. “The governor and madam went out early this morning. They asked me to tell you they probably won’t be back until late.”

When no outsiders were around, Xiao Shan called her “Miss”; when there were others, she used “Master.”

Liu Yi hummed in acknowledgment and sat down to drink her porridge: “They’ve probably gone to the Qian family to ask for help.”

The Qian family was the wealthiest clan in Yuyang Commandery, but they were only a local power—far inferior to the Xun family of Yingchuan or the Yuan family of Runan.

When war broke out, they would also need to protect themselves. They couldn’t possibly commit their entire clan’s resources to help Guangyang.

Liu Yi estimated there would still be a shortfall of about ten thousand hu that would need to be resolved elsewhere.

“Was everything alright at the residence last night?” Liu Yi asked about the servants.

“Don’t worry, Miss! Everyone was a bit scared, but no one caused any trouble. I told them what you said—just do your work steadily and don’t worry about anything else.” Xiao Shan quickly replied.

Liu Yi showed her first smile of the day: “Good. With you looking after things for me, I feel at ease.”

Xiao Shan’s heart raced at the compliment. Seeing Liu Yi finishing her meal, she quickly took out a palm-sized dark cloth bundle from her bosom.

“The governor asked me to give this to you, Miss. He said you must not make it public,” she said in a low voice.

Liu Yi unwrapped it and found a perfectly square official seal—the Seal of the Governor of Yuyang Commandery!

Before she could say anything, Xiao Shan gasped!

“So what everyone says is true!”

“What does everyone say?” Liu Yi was also startled.

“About the succession!” Xiao Shan said urgently. “They all say you’ll inherit the governorship in the future!”

“…” Even in such a stressful moment, Liu Yi couldn’t help but laugh at Xiao Shan.

“The governorship isn’t a throne—it can’t simply be passed down to descendants. Even if Father stopped being governor, the court would send someone else to replace him.” She explained to Xiao Shan.

Of course, if the court lost control and couldn’t oversee local officials, then local officials could pass their positions to whoever they wanted—just as later Sun Ce passed his legacy to Sun Quan, and Tao Qian gave Xuzhou to Liu Bei, with no one to stop them.

But for now, the court still had some deterrent power, and her immediate superior, Liu Yu the Inspector of You Province, was publicly loyal to the court. If Governor Liu really tried to pass his office to his “son,” Liu Yu would be the first to come after him.

“This seal is just temporarily lent to me, to make things easier,” Liu Yi explained quietly.

“Oh.” Xiao Shan nodded blankly.

With that, Liu Yi took out paper and brush, wrote out a list, stamped it with the official seal, and handed it to Xiao Shan.

“Give this to the chief clerk. Have him purchase these items for me as soon as possible and deliver them to my courtyard. The faster, the better.”

Xiao Shan could read a little and saw that the list included things like coal, silk fabric, lime, tung oil, and so on. Though the quantities were large, they were all cheap materials.

She didn’t dare ask questions and left to carry out the task.

The small courtyard was once again left with only Liu Yi. She gathered some things and went alone to the market.

The morning market in Yuyang Commandery was bustling with activity, unaffected by the brief disturbance at the governor’s residence the day before.

As soon as Liu Yi hit the street, she was recognized everywhere—”Master Yi” here, “Little Immortal” there—people greeting her and bowing.

Grandmas stuffed freshly baked flatbreads into her hands. Groups of young girls gathered to look at her, and if they accidentally made eye contact, they’d all run away giggling in a fluster.

Liu Yi quickly made excuses to slip away and headed to the stage at the north end of the market.

Normally, when the government wanted to requisition grain from the people, they’d post a notice at the city gate. If that didn’t work and not enough grain came in, they’d send people door to door to “persuade” donations.

But Liu Yi didn’t want to do that. She didn’t want to treat the people simply as resources to exploit.

She had lived in Yuyang for fifteen years—from initially not understanding the thoughts and behavior of ancient people, to recognizing their simplicity and diligence, to teaching them techniques, to being loved and respected by them. She was no longer a stranger to them.

She would explain everything clearly.

Liu Yi planned to first post a large banner reading “VOLUNTARY GRAIN DONATION” on the wall to set the mood.

But before she could even mix the paste, a large crowd had already gathered around the stage.

She sensed trouble immediately, and sure enough, she heard the crowd excitedly buzzing.

“What do you reckon Master Yi is here for today?”

“Must be good news! When has Master Yi ever come without good news?! I feel happy just seeing Master Yi!”

In the past, that had indeed been the case. Once expectations were set too high, reality became even harder to accept.

Liu Yi had underestimated her own influence. But now she had no other choice—she couldn’t just turn around, flash a sly smile, and say “You guessed wrong.” She calmly finished her preparations.

After the notice was posted, the crowd quieted for a moment, then began chattering again.

Most of them couldn’t read. They only recognized the character for “grain”—because it hung above the grain shops—and they all looked expectantly at Liu Yi, hoping she would teach them some new method or announce some new policy.

“Fellow villagers.” As soon as Liu Yi spoke, the crowd fell silent. “Today I’ve come to bring you some bad news.”

“There’s been a rebellion in You Province. The rebels have already reached Guangyang Commandery. If Guangyang falls, Yuyang will be the next to be attacked.” Her voice was clear and bright, reaching every ear.

“But right now, Guangyang is desperately short of grain. Their soldiers are shielding us from disaster, and now they need our support.”

“The Yuyang government has already opened its granaries and will send all grain to Guangyang. But even that isn’t enough. If any of you have surplus grain at home, I hope you can generously contribute and lend a helping hand!”

After this impassioned speech, the field remained silent.

The people looked at each other in confusion, as if a great boulder had been thrown into a lake, splashing some water—and then nothing happened.