60: Revisiting the Old Garden

The only person Jiang Hanwen could think of was Mu Qiancheng.

If he were Zhuang Kongming, the best approach would be to let Mu Qiancheng openly stall him, attracting attention, while secretly sending people to investigate the authenticity of the diary.

If it was fake, he would remain calm; if it was real, then it could only be a swift execution.

The moonlight waxed and waned, the dew dried and re-wet, until dawn, there was no movement, not even a single knock on the door.

The first day after the seventh day of mourning had passed.

Jiang Hanwen sighed, wondering if the other party had already searched, determined there was nothing, and thus thought he was trying to lure them out, intentionally bluffing.

Or perhaps, the killer wasn't Zhuang Kongming, but someone else entirely?

Filled with doubts, Jiang Hanwen returned to Wu Qinghe's courtyard.

He opened the door again under the guise of inspection, and this time, he finally found a new clue!

In the north and west rooms, the powder on the ground still remained.

But in the east room, about eighty percent of the powder on the ground was gone, and the rest had been blown into the corners.

It looked as if someone had been there and deliberately blown away the dust to remove footprints.

The trick of luring the snake out of its hole had worked, but who could it be?

As soon as he stepped out, Jiang Hanwen saw Xiang Jie, who had changed his clothes today. He was no longer wearing the black tiger-striped robe, but ordinary grey activewear, and his shoes had also been changed to a pair of distinct black and white layered cloth shoes.

"Chief Steward Jiang, I led two teams to search the Medicine Field, even checking the cellar.

Aside from Gong Qing, I didn't see Wu Linsheng. Is it possible he—"

As he spoke, Xiang Jie made a gesture of cutting his own throat.

Compared to yesterday, Xiang Jie's expression today was much more serious, watching Jiang Hanwen's eyes meticulously.

Something abnormal must indicate something evil; was it Xiang Jie?

Suppressing the doubt in his heart, Jiang Hanwen arranged, "It's certainly possible he was killed. You continue searching, and have the others pay attention to hiding. Focus mainly on the people Wu Linsheng recruited previously.

Don't search inside their houses; just observe their daily lives, see if they're eating more, and if there are any unusual noises at night."

"Yes!" Xiang Jie nodded decisively, but his feet remained planted, showing no intention of leaving.

Taking orders but not leaving, there must be something suspicious!

Jiang Hanwen smiled, "Let's go, accompany me to see Elder Du's side."

...The two took a detour and stopped at Jiang Hanwen's house.

Xiang Jie didn't know that while he was waiting outside the house,

separated by a wall, a grey cricket jumped straight towards the main door, landed by the door, was caught by Jiang Hanwen, and thrown back into a small jar.

Jiang Hanwen was not a dog; his nose wasn't that keen.

Xiang Jie had changed his clothes, so even if there was suspicion, there was no evidence.

Geese leave their calls, wind leaves its traces.

He couldn't smell it, but the cricket could.

The powder he sprinkled was undetectable by humans, but for crickets, it was a great tonic.

It was confirmed: the person who jumped into the east wing was Xiang Jie, and behind Xiang Jie was Zhuang Kongming!

What a pity, Jiang Hanwen sighed in his heart.

A national scholar should be repaid with the treatment of a national scholar.

Zhuang Kongming, this Liu Bei, single-mindedly wanted to be Zhuge Liang himself, helping him stabilize the rear of the Medicine Field so he could Breakthrough to the Spiritual Spring and settle in Black Stone.

However, if the initial trust was built on Old Du's human blood steamed buns, Jiang Hanwen truly couldn't accept this profound favor.

People came and went in the mourning hall, and the large incense burner in front was covered with incense ash.

People from the entire Medicine Field, whether they knew him or not, offered incense and burned paper every day, thanking this leader who had provided them with food.

After just one day, Su Xin was visibly gaunt, much thinner, and sat on the cloth cushion, looking frail, which made people feel sympathetic.

After offering incense, Xiang Jie excused himself, saying he had to go back and continue searching for Wu Linsheng.

Jiang Hanwen let him leave; the other party relaxed completely after leaving Wu Qinghe's courtyard.

Clearly, he was afraid that Jiang Hanwen would discover the anomaly in the east wing, and now that he was sure Jiang Hanwen hadn't, he wouldn't waste any time and would quickly make his escape.

Coming out of the side courtyard, Jiang Hanwen walked to the Council Hall.

How long had it been, eight years or ten, since he had stepped inside here?

The osmanthus tree in the corner had grown another circle, its dense, dark green leaves like clouds, blocking the sunlight.

The originally narrow front, middle, and back courtyards had been expanded threefold, and even the grey roof tiles had been replaced with bright yellow glazed tiles, on which rainwater glistened with a magnificent sheen.

The floor tiles had become neat marble, precisely inlaid, with not a single blade of green grass visible, all pressed into the ground by heavy stones, adding solemnity but losing vitality.

"Teacher," a call suddenly rang out.

Jiang Hanwen, who had just walked into the middle courtyard, looked up, following the sound.

Wu Shen was working in the courtyard, with the four treasures of the study on the table before him, and stacks of books half a foot high, as if he were reviewing something.

"Greetings, Chief Steward Jiang!"

Hearing the call, the other two Elders of the Medicine Field quickly stood up and cupped their hands.

Jiang Hanwen then remembered that this student of his was one of the six Grand Elders of the Medicine Field.

Old Du was dead, but the work of the Medicine Field still had to be done.

The world would not stop turning because of someone's death.

Regardless of grief, the rivets on the gears of society still had to function.

"You all keep busy, I'm just looking around," Jiang Hanwen waved his hand and walked into the room.

Wu Shen sat down with a normal expression, while the other two Elders sat upright, chests out, heads held high, awaiting the "leader's" inspection.

Leaning over, Wu Shen was verifying the quantity of Spiritual Plant seeds.

The other two Elders were drafting the Spiritual Plant plan for the next three months based on the weather and the price of Spiritual Plants in the city, and preparing for next year's planting, recording market conditions.

These tasks could only be done by experienced individuals; Jiang Hanwen watched for a moment and shook his head internally.

In the future, these tasks would likely all be his.

These two, facing the same market conditions, offered completely different explanations.

There was more than a thirty percent disagreement on what to plant and how much to plant.

The discrepancies in planting concerned the Medicine Fields they each managed.

For example, qi gathering grass was not picky about land, but Snake Tongue Orchid preferred shade.

The person managing the shaded, damp land naturally hoped to increase the yield of Snake Tongue Orchid, making their own work easier.

From a personal perspective, the easier, the better, but from the perspective of the Zhuang family, it was naturally about aligning with market needs as much as possible to earn more money.

Power—Responsibility—Remuneration.

Only when these three are equal can there be vitality.

In the Medicine Field, whether Elders or ordinary medicine farmers, the monthly salary was fixed, which was very bad.

It was the same no matter how much or how little work was done; the only reason they were willing to put in effort was out of fear of being fired.

A salesperson without commission is not a good medicine farmer; the monthly salary system, while unchangeable elsewhere, must be reformed in the Medicine Field.

However, this involved the livelihoods of over four hundred families and the stable supply of Spiritual Plants.

Even with Zhuang Kongming's full support, Jiang Hanwen could not make drastic, sweeping changes.

Have you not seen, throughout history, countless individuals of immense talent and strategic genius?

But how many, in their haste to eliminateDisadvantages, reformed too eagerly, severely offending vested interests?

Shang Yang was dismembered by chariots, Wang Anshi was dismissed, Zhang Juzheng's family was raided.

A small Medicine Field, of course, would not stir up too much trouble.

But the principle was the same: proceed slowly, which is an overt strategy—build high walls, store abundant provisions, and slowly claim kingship.

However, because of Zhuang Kongming, all of this could only be an illusion.

After observing his subordinates "working," Jiang Hanwen stopped in front of a room used for storing books.

The room had been expanded, but the plaque remained unchanged, bearing two characters—"Still Mind."

In a trance, Jiang Hanwen seemed to see himself from over twenty years ago.

At that time, Su Xin was in charge of teaching, mainly about how to cultivate bloodline grass.

His students included him, Gong Qing, and Zhuang Bai.

In a flash of over twenty years, Zhuang Bai was dead, Su Xin had aged, Gong Qing was crippled, the Medicine Field had changed dramatically, and the Zhuang family had iterated.

Only he remained unchanged, using the aged appearance of disguise to mask the marks of time.

Time flew by, like a white steed flashing past a crevice.