Chapter 122: How Can You Face the Old Master?

Sensing that something was amiss, Old Master Zhou and his estate stewards intercepted a family attempting to flee in secret.

Like most in the village, this family shared the surname Zhou, yet they lived in abject poverty. They toiled in the fields from dawn till dusk, but after paying the land rent and the imperial taxes, they were left with almost nothing. In the past, they, like their neighbors, had survived mostly on wild vegetables and grass seeds. With the current drought, they had been forced to peel bark and dig up roots just to pacify their perpetually gnawing stomachs.

Facing the stewards and their band of henchmen, the family, who had hoped to slip away from Zhou Village under the cover of night, was struck with terror. In Zhou Village, Old Master Zhou was the heavens themselves, and his stewards and servants were the hands with which he exerted his will. In an era where the influence of clan power far outweighed the laws of the state, any act of defiance against the Old Master could invite the most brutal of punishments.

Although the family could not articulate exactly what was wrong with moving away, they felt a gnawing intuition that this departure had to be concealed from the Old Master and the Zhou household.

"Er'gou’s wife, it’s the middle of the night. Why aren't you sleeping? Where are you taking your mother-in-law and the children?"

The steward blocked their path. His grim face, flickering in the torchlight held by his subordinates, looked for all the world like a demon from the underworld.

"Third Uncle, Er'gou has been held at Yushu Bay for a long time. I followed the masters' orders to go there and make a scene, but those people at Yushu Bay are heartless; they refuse to let him go!" The woman, who usually couldn't string two sentences together in the presence of the steward, spoke with unnatural speed, as if she had rehearsed it a thousand times. "I figured they wouldn't release him because I wasn't being troublesome enough, so I decided to take my mother-in-law and the children to cause a real stir! If we sit in their village, old and young alike, and make a scene twice a day, surely they’ll be forced to release him!"

Looking at the family with their two tattered bundles, the steward gave a sinister laugh.

"Er'gou’s wife, taking your family to cause trouble at Yushu Bay is one thing—after all, since Er'gou is being held there, you have to fight for him. They’re demanding two taels of silver for his release; they’re more ruthless than mountain bandits!" Seeing her expression soften slightly, the steward’s voice suddenly rose, turning vicious. "But why are you carrying your household goods with you? Were you trying to run away in secret? You ungrateful wretch! The Old Master rents you land and allows your family to survive, yet you try to sneak out of Zhou Village? You heartless, treacherous thing! Do you have no shame toward the Old Master? Do you have no conscience toward the Zhou family?"

The steward bellowed the questions at the top of his lungs, his voice carrying across the silent night and reaching the entire village. Many were startled awake, listening intently from the shadows of their homes.

"No, no... we weren't running away. We really are going to make a scene at Yushu Bay. These bundles only contain some dry rations. Once we reach Yushu Bay, the old and young can't just starve to death there, can they?" The woman was terrified, but she still tried to bluff her way through. Her mother-in-law trembled, clutching the two wailing children and wiping away silent tears.

"Dry rations? People like you deserve dry rations?" The steward burst into raucous laughter, as if he had heard the world’s greatest joke. "You eat wild vegetables and tree bark at home—how is it that you suddenly feel entitled to dry rations just because you're going to Yushu Bay?"

"Third Uncle, it’s just that... a poor family needs food for the journey..."

"Shut your mouth! Still lying! Men, bind this family up! I’ll see if this woman dares to spout such nonsense once we reach the ancestral hall!"

The servants, long since impatient, pulled out pre-prepared ropes. Ignoring the woman's screams and pleas, they bound the entire family. The sound of their wailing and begging echoed through the night. The steward did not gag them, allowing the family to cry out at the top of their lungs, for it was the Old Master’s intent that everyone in the village hear clearly the consequences of attempting to flee or betray the Zhou family.

For years, being dragged into the ancestral hall for punishment had been the greatest fear of every villager. In this village, the steward’s word decided all minor beatings and penalties. But to be dragged into the hall to face the judgment of the clan elders and the Old Master was a grave matter indeed. In everyone's memory, no one who had been dragged into that hall ever came out alive.

The night in Zhou Village grew deathly quiet. Save for the barking of dogs from the Old Master’s manor, there was not a sound—not even the cries of Er'gou’s family remained. Countless households whispered in the dark: Would they survive? Was it worth the risk to leave, just to get to Yushu Bay? And what of the rumors that had been circulating—that at Yushu Bay, if one was willing to work hard, there was plenty to eat and even wages to be earned? Could those rumors be true? If they weren't, why would Er'gou’s family risk so much to move there?

No one could answer these questions. Most of the women who had planned to flee with Er'gou’s wife were paralyzed with fear. They hid in their homes, quietly unpacking their bundles—they couldn't let anyone discover they, too, had intended to leave for Yushu Bay.

In the darkest hour before dawn, a thin, small figure slipped out of the village. Once clear of the perimeter, the figure broke into a desperate run.

Yushu Bay was short of hands everywhere. The old village head and the stewards were practically begging for any stray child in the village to come work in the workshops. As for the women and children sent from Zhou Village to cause trouble, the leadership at Yushu Bay didn't see them as agitators—they saw them as potential laborers.

Unwilling to work? That was fine; Yushu Bay had no rule forcing anyone to work. They would simply be invited to the staff cafeteria for a full meal and then have the terms explained to them. Anyone with a functioning brain knew which choice to make.

Furthermore, the young men from Zhou Village undergoing "labor reform" in the kilns were allowed to see their families. These men were not the emaciated husks the Old Master had claimed they would be; instead, because they were well-fed, they had grown plump and strong. Far from wanting the Old Master to spend two taels of silver to ransom them, they had no intention of leaving at all. The women sent to cause trouble simply ended up as employees in the Yushu Bay workshops.

By mid-morning, the security team assembled in a rush. Led by their master, Zhao Hengyi, the men, fully armed and mounted on tall horses, charged out of the village. Their murderous aura was enough to make anyone tremble. When some cautiously asked the old village head what was happening, the answer they received was that a female worker from the textile workshop had been illegally detained by Zhou Village. Because she had signed a contract for a two-tael debt just the day before, the master was taking his guards to bring her back.