Sheng Tang: What is Liu Jianjun going to do today?

Chapter 6 Radishes for Rice
Li Xian didn't know the way, so Liu Jianjun gave him directions the whole way.

After traveling for about a morning, the donkey cart finally arrived at a place that looked like a town.

“This is Huacheng County, the largest city in Bazhou! I’m telling you this because I was afraid you’d think I kidnapped you!” Liu Jianjun said, as if to comfort Li Xian.

But Li Xian felt that he simply wanted to talk to someone.

“Huacheng County…isn’t it the seat of Bazhou?” Li Xian asked.

"That's right! So the person we're going to see later isn't the county magistrate, but the prefect of Bazhou!"

"The Prefect of Bazhou?"

A hint of doubt flashed in Li Xian's eyes.

It's just sending away a few thugs, why bother coming to the governor?
In addition...

Qiu Shenji was transferred to Diezhou as governor after he was demoted to Bazhou. As a result, Liu Jianjun found the governor of Bazhou. Is this a coincidence?
"Even you, our county magistrate, are afraid of me! These bullies dared to provoke you, so their connections must be stronger than yours. How can I possibly send them to the county office again?"

As if he could see through Li Xian's doubts, Liu Jianjun said, "If we send them in here, someone will be able to bail them out later, which is why we need to send them to the government office!"

Li Xian suddenly realized.

It turned out to be the case.

Liu Jianjun is indeed a thoughtful person.

Then, Li Xian thought of the Prefect of Bazhou.

Li Xian knew the Prefect of Bazhou, or rather, he had heard of him.

The prefect of Bazhou was surnamed Li and named Li Mingshi.

Yes, he was also from the Li family of Longxi, and could even be considered a distant relative, just a very distant one.

Such a person would certainly know that he had been demoted.

Would he... be willing to help me?
Li Xian was worried when he saw Liu Jianjun suddenly jump off the cart, untie the end of the rope that bound the four thugs to the cart, hold it in his hand, and say to himself, "You wait here for me and watch my radish. I'll take them inside!"

Li Xian looked up and realized that the two of them had already arrived at the governor's mansion.

Then, he looked stunned.

Liu Jianjun just left him outside? He wouldn't let him go in?

Was he really just there to escort those four bullies to safety?
Are you thinking too much?
But after a brief moment of surprise, Li Xian felt a sense of relief.

He didn't know how to face Li Mingshi.

In the past, he was the crown prince, and if the two met, Li Mingshi would even have to bow to him. But now he is a commoner, and in principle, he should bow when he sees an official.

Li Xian wasn't too embarrassed to greet him, he just felt a little awkward.

Therefore, it's better not to see each other.

Just as he was thinking this, Li Xian suddenly felt that passersby were giving him strange looks. Li Xian subconsciously touched his face and found nothing unusual, but he quickly realized that he was sitting on a cart, which was a little unseemly.

So he immediately coughed awkwardly, pretending to brush dust off his shoes, and slid off the cart.

Then, looking left and right, he found that the pedestrians around him were not paying attention to him, but his two coughs attracted some attention.

But just then, an old woman walked up to Li Xian. The old woman was dressed smartly and seemed to be a wealthy old woman. She pointed to the radishes on the cart and asked, "Hey, how do you sell these radishes?"

Judging from the old lady's expression, she seemed to really like Liu Jianjun's radishes.

Li Xian blushed instantly and waved his hands frantically, "Auntie... I don't understand what you're saying!"

Hearing Li Xian say this, the old woman looked enlightened, and then said in broken Mandarin, "Tell me, young man, how much does it cost to buy radishes in your village?"

Now Li Xian understood, and hurriedly waved his hands, "Auntie, these radishes belong to my friend... I'm not selling them..." Before he could finish speaking, a figure suddenly rushed out from behind him, shouting, "Sell! Sell!"

It's Liu Jianjun.

Li Xian's heart suddenly calmed down.

"Auntie! You're buying radishes, right?" Liu Jianjun greeted her with a grin. "One pound of radishes for one pound of millet! I have over thirty pounds of them in my cart. If you want to trade, I'll give you thirty pounds!"

The old woman breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Liu Jianjun could speak Sichuan dialect, and said with a smile, "Then don't give too much! An old woman like me can't finish it all and it'll go bad!"

Li Xian couldn't understand what the two were saying, so he could only stand there awkwardly.

Liu Jianjun and the old woman hadn't been chatting for long when Li Xian saw Liu Jianjun, all smiles, hand over the bags of radishes to the old woman, who in turn gave him a large string of copper coins.

Then, the old woman carried the bag of radishes and left. She looked old, but she was quite strong and could carry more than 30 kilograms of radishes with ease.

Liu Jianjun waved to the old woman's retreating figure, calling out, "Take care!"

Once the old woman was out of sight, Liu Jianjun spoke up smugly, "How about that? My eloquence! Even Hua Qiang would have to sell his radishes to me!"

Li Xian felt he should say something after being silent for so long, so he asked, trying to make conversation, "Who is Hua Qiang?"

"A melon buyer, annoyed that the melons were too raw, chopped the stall owner up!" Liu Jianjun grinned. "That old lady originally didn't plan to buy so many radishes, afraid they would rot if she couldn't finish them. I told her these radishes were sweet and big, and that she could exchange one pound of radishes for one pound and two ounces of millet at the West Market, so she paid for them all!"

Li Xian felt that Liu Jianjun's actions were unfair, and frowned, saying, "Didn't you complain this morning that the radishes weren't sweet enough?"

"Not sweet is only to me. This radish was specially cultivated by me. I'm picky and think it's not sweet, but in your eyes, it's incredibly sweet!"

After Liu Jianjun finished speaking, he grabbed Li Xian's hand and pressed the string of copper coins that the old lady had given him into Li Xian's hand.

Li Xian, no longer caring about whether or not to nurture the child, asked in astonishment, "What are you doing?"

“I was originally planning to exchange these radishes for millet for you, didn’t you know you’re struggling to make ends meet? But that old lady didn’t have any millet, and I didn’t want the hassle, so I just exchanged them for cash. You can use them the same way!” Liu Jianjun was still as carefree as ever.

Li Xian was stunned.

A warm feeling washed over me.

Liu Jianjun was right; the family really did have very little food left.

But his pride as the crown prince prevented him from accepting the gift readily, and he stammered, "This..."

"Stop dawdling. You don't eat, but your wife and kids do, right?" Liu Jianjun waved his hand to interrupt. "Alright, I've already scouted out the governor's mansion. Next time we come, we'll solve your problem once and for all!"

Li Xian was taken aback again: "You came to the governor's mansion to resolve my matter?"

"What else? If it weren't for scouting this place for you, I would have had Liu Laosan feed those guys glutinous rice balls already! I'm willing to spend two ounces of glutinous rice!"

A warm feeling rose in Li Xian's heart again, and he felt he shouldn't hide his identity from Liu Jianjun any longer, so he stammered, "Liu Jianjun... actually, I am..."

"broken!"

Liu Jianjun suddenly slapped his forehead.

Li Xian turned around in surprise and found Liu Jianjun circling the cart like a donkey pulling a millstone.

Li Xian asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

"When we came here, we were only thinking about saving trouble, so we let those four people pull the cart. Now those four guys are locked up in the government jail, which means that now this cart... we have to pull it back!" Liu Jianjun said with a frustrated expression.

Li Xian looked at the cart, then remembered that he had walked all morning along the mountain path, and his face began to turn pale.

……

(End of this chapter)