My Fulang is a Delicate Flower Chapter 86 Part 2

Yesterday, Huo Shu returned quietly, and Ji Yangzong and his wife only found out he was back after they woke up.  

Knowing how long the young couple had been separated, the family understood they would need private time to reconnect.

This morning, Huang Manjing deliberately refrained from waking Ji Taoyu, wanting to give the reunited pair their space while she prepared for a proper family meal.

The couple still hadn't emerged by mid-morning. Ji Yangzong sat waiting for a while, but as village head, he had his own duties to attend to. He needed to survey all the fields being prepared for spring planting - this annual task involved accounting for how much land each family would cultivate. In normal years, he could leisurely submit the reports by the fourth lunar month without urgency. Yet now the prefectural office was demanding immediate submission as if lives depended on it.  

When the wild onion and pork buns Huang Manjing was steaming were ready, Ji Yangzong grabbed one to fill his stomach before hurrying to the fields to work for a while.  

He would come back later to eat breakfast and rest.  

By the time Ji Yangzong returned, it was nearly si shi (9-11 AM). He entered the courtyard with his hands clasped behind his back, his brow furrowed with worry. But the sight that greeted him made his stern expression soften immediately - there was Huo Shu standing watch as Ji Taoyu scattered feed for the chickens and ducks.  

"Father’s back, let’s have breakfast!"  

Ji Yangzong nodded, washed his hands by the water vat in the yard, and went inside together.  

Today’s breakfast was plentiful—wild onion and fresh pork buns, duck eggs stir-fried with Chinese toon, and spring flavors that couldn’t be missed on the table this season.  

"It’s good you’re back. With Xiao Taozi pregnant and many things inconvenient, his mother and I have been unsettled. Spring plowing is also busy, and even his grandfather has been coming to the village every few days."  

Ji Yangzong held his bowl and spoke to Huo Shu: "And now, with sudden troubles arising, it would’ve been even more worrying if you hadn’t returned."  

Ji Taoyu took a few sips of the porridge Huo Shu had cooled for him and, hearing his father’s words, couldn’t help but ask, "What happened?"  

Ji Yangzong said, "A couple of days ago, the prefectural office started demanding every village report their spring cultivation lands immediately. Only this morning did I learn why—tenant farmers in Quan Village are causing trouble."  

Last year’s taxes were heavy, with additional prefectural taxes added. While ordinary households struggled under this double burden, tenant farmers suffered even more severely - exploited not only by the government but also by their landlords who took their share of the harvest.

As the imperial court demanded higher revenues and local prefectural officials strictly enforced collections, the wealthy landlords responded by squeezing their tenant farmers mercilessly. They raised rents and demanded larger portions of the harvest, leaving barely enough for the farmers to survive.

The situation grew so desperate that by winter's end, many tenant families had been forced to sell their children by year’s end. The old and weak simply wasted away - some found frozen in their huts, others collapsed in fields where they'd gone to scavenge for food.

When spring planting came, the tenant farmers of Quan Village made a desperate appeal. They begged their landlords to reduce rents just enough to let them keep seed grain for the next planting. Instead of showing mercy, the landlords sent people to beat those who spoke up. Unexpectedly, tensions escalated, and the normally docile tenant farmers banded together to fight back.  

The landlord was accidentally killed by the tenant farmers during the clash.  

"The situation has blown up, and the prefectural office is taking it very seriously."  

Ji Yangzong said, "Perhaps fearing unrest elsewhere, the prefecture ordered village heads to rush through spring affairs ahead of time."  

Huang Manjing, hearing that someone had died in this way, was so shocked she stopped her chopsticks mid-air: "How could such a thing happen!"  

"Can’t blame those tenant farmers. The imperial taxes were already unbearable, and now they’ve added prefectural taxes—who can handle that?"  

Ji Yangzong shook his head: "All these policies just exploit the poor. When people can’t even eat, tenant farmers have nothing left to lose—of course they’ll rebel."  

Ji Taoyu was worried. Last year’s bandit uprising was said to have started with tenant farmers from disaster-stricken areas. Instead of learning from it, why was the prefecture trying to tighten its grip even more?  

Huo Shu stuffed a bun with extra filling into Ji Taoyu’s mouth and said, "In that case, we should be cautious when going out lately."  

Ji Yangzong agreed: "Exactly."  

After breakfast, the sun was warm, and the weather was nice.  

Huo Shu planned to visit the Zhao family to see Yuan Huiru and decided to take Ji Taoyu out for a short walk.  

After having lunch at the Zhao family’s place and returning under the midday sun, Ji Taoyu sat under the shade of the courtyard’s awning for a while before drowsiness set in.  

Huo Shu carried him back to the room and gently laid him on the bed.  

Huo Shu now treated Ji Taoyu with utmost caution, handling him as carefully as one would hold a porcelain doll - any careless movement might bring unforeseen consequences.  

He watched by the bedside until Ji Taoyu was sound asleep before quietly leaving the room.  

Huo Shu rode into town to check on the archery workshop and the horseback archery range.  

Nothing major was happening at the shops—everything was as usual.  

Huo Shu casually asked the shop workers if they’d heard about the Quan Village incident, but even Jiang Yuhou didn’t know.  

He guessed the prefectural office must have suppressed the news, but since villagers had relatives in other areas, word had still reached Ji Yangzong.  

Just as Huo Shu was about to go out and gather more information, he spotted a familiar figure entering the archery workshop as he stepped out of the horseback archery range.  

He glanced over and recognized a hunter who often delivered bows to the shop.  

The man had decent character. Ever since Huo Shu allowed him to sell wild game at the horseback archery range’s entrance, he’d come by the archery workshop a few times, even bringing some pheasants and rabbits.  

This time, however, the hunter didn’t seem to be here to sell bows—instead, he looked like he was buying.  

Huo Shu didn’t rush out but entered the shop first.  

"Choosing a bow?"  

The hunter turned and, seeing Huo Shu, acknowledged with a sound.  

Then he added, "The clerk said Boss Huo had stepped out. You’re back now?"  

"Mn."  

Huo Shu noticed the hunter had picked out over ten bows and raised an eyebrow. "Going on a long trip?"  

The hunter set down the bow and said, "There’s trouble in the village. Just preparing some things for self-defense."  

"Quan Village?"