“I didn’t think you could get Madam Liao to speak for you.” Zheng Yi looked at Zhao Jinge in surprise.

“Who exactly is Madam Liao?” Zhao Jinge asked; he didn’t know any Madam Liao. He hadn’t even heard about her before.

“Do you know Liao Qinghe, one of the four gentlemen of Jiangnan? She is the wife of Liao Qinghe, who is known for her bad temper,” Zheng Yi said. He was not a person who likes to gossip about other people, and he also did not want to say bad things about Madam Liao. In truth, Madam Liao was only bad-tempered, but she was also a notoriously bad-tempered tigress.

Who doesn’t sympathize with Liao Qinghe in Hecheng County? A sensitive and handsome son who finally married such a rich but not-so-virtuous woman . . .

However, there was no need to say too much, Zheng Yi simply mentioned it and then said, “Take a look at Jiang Zhen’s letter. If you have anything you want to ask him, we can ask it together. If you have anything you want to bring to Jiang Zhen, go back and prepare it today. I’ll have someone get it from you tomorrow.”

Zheng Yi said so, but he felt that Zhao Jinge should not need to ask him anything more.

The information Jiang Zhen had given him was surprisingly not as thick as Zhao Jinge’s letter!

Zhao Jinge nodded and started to read the letter.

That day, Zhao Jinge could almost recognize all the commonly used words, so Jiang Zhen’s letter was easy for him to understand but then . . . Zhao Jinge’s face could not help but redden.

Jiang Zhen he . . . he directly wrote in the letter that he missed him very much . . .

Zheng Yi, seeing Zhao Jinge’s expression, had the feeling of being blindsided again.

When Jiang Zhen and Zhao Jinge were together, he often had the feeling that he was blindsided. But right then, even when Jiang Zhen was away, he had the same feeling.

When Zhao Jinge started reading the letter, he regretted not taking it home to read; after all . . . Jiang Zhen wrote so many confident things only for him to read . . .

However, after reading that later, he did have something to say to Zheng Yi. “Young Master Zheng, Are you going to contact the sea merchants? I will go with you!”

“Jiang Zhen even told you  about that?” Zheng Yi looked at Zhao Jinge in surprise.

“He won’t keep anything from me,” Zhao Jinge said. Jiang Zhen had explained his situation very clearly in the letter.

Zheng Yi glanced at Zhao Jinge, thinking that he was different from the ordinary woman who lived at the back of the house. “Alright. You can come with me.”

“Thank you, young master Zheng.” Zhao Jinge looked at Zheng Yi gratefully.

The connection between Zheng Yi and Jiang Zhen was not close, but it was still there. The next day, Zheng Yi had someone bring some things that Jiang Zhen wanted as well as a package Zhao Jinge prepared for Jiang Zhen.

 

Seaside

Jiang Zhen asked someone to catch some fish from the sea, then he and his men simply prepared them before putting them into a pot to cook.

They were now so short on food that they often had nothing other than fish to eat.

The fishes from the sea were very delicious, and Jiang Zhen liked it very much when he first ate them, but after so long . . . Every time it was just a fish cooked in water, it made him want to throw up.

However, Zhu Erlin got very well-adapted.

As salt workers, Hongjiang Salt Farm has regulations on how much salt each person should hand in every day. They were also not allowed to catch fishes, so after cutting off the treasure trove that was the sea, the salt workers often went hungry.

But this time, they were no longer hungry; even if boiled fishes were difficult to eat, they were still very satisfied. Each person desperately stuffed food into their mouths.

They have been settling down the old and weak for several days, and just yesterday, they fought with the soldiers.

Jiang Zhen did not come out but gave them the idea how to get rid of the soldiers while also telling them some tactics.

“When the enemy advances, we retreat. When the enemy is stationed, we stir them up. When the enemy is tired, we fight. When the enemy retreat, we chase.” After hearing this, Zhu Erlin worshipped Jiang Zhen, and his men became all the more friendlier toward Jiang Zhen.

As for the people previously saved by Jiang Zhen, they didn’t even need to be mentioned since they already worshiped Jiang Zhen very much.

“Brother Jiang, what are we going to do from now on?” Zhu Erlin asked.

“There are too many soldiers. They still have food, supply, and logistics, so we can’t beat them. In my opinion, we might as well just drag it for some time and let them get bored and take the initiative to withdraw their troops,” Jiang Zhen said.

Jiang Zhen didn’t like seeing people dying. Before those people from Hongjiang Salt Farm were killing people everywhere, so he killed them. He could do it, but these soldiers . . .

Many of those imperial soldiers were previously ordinary people, who have never harmed anyone,now can even  slaughter innocent people for military merit. It was also the order from the officers above; they had to do it, so Jiang Zhen couldn’t bring himself to harm them.

He preferred if these officers and soldiers give  up the siege voluntarily.

The number of imperial soldiers coming was very large, but the number of people under Zhu Erlin was few. He also had to protect the old and weak . . .

Zhu Erlin also did not want to fight directly with these soldiers, so he discussed with Jiang Zhen how to fight them.

As they spoke, the things sent by Zheng Yi arrived.

“Boss, here’s something your wife sent you!” Jiang Ming found a package.

Jiang Zhen, who was talking to Zhu Erlin, immediately jumped up when he heard his words and snatched the things in Jiang Ming’s hands before running to the side to look at them.

“Brother Jiang, he has a wife ah . . .” Zhu Erlin was full of envy. He was still a bachelor . . .

“Of course Our boss has a wife,” Jiang Ming said.

“Brother Jiang’s wife must be very good, right? Is she very good looking?” Zhu Erlin asked again. This was a person who knew the imperial envoy! His family must be good, and his wife was probably the kind of gentle and beautiful woman.

“He is good,”Jiang Ming said, adding, “Pretty good-looking.” Zhao Jinge was more handsome than him . . .

Zhu Erlin and the others were even more envious.

At the same time, Zhou Maohe counted the food in the hands of those salt workers again and, once again, reduced everyone’s rations. Finally, he was given only a bowl of very thin porridge.

This porridge was the same as not drinking it . . . But he was so hungry. Zhao Maohe wanted to cry.

Where did Jiang Zhen go? How come he didn’t take him away yet?

 

Edited by: Faro

Proofreader: Xiao Hua

 

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