Chapter 1167: Chapter 1146: Competent
Zhou Lijun wiped her tears and said, “Fifth Uncle and Sixth Uncle said the sa thing, they said there’s no use telling the family, if it’s accomplished, it’s accomplished, if not, in the end, we can only help carry the coffin back ho.”
Manbao: “…Have you prepared a coffin for ?”
“No, not yet, but Fifth Uncle went to take a look, saying that if things look too ominous, at the first hint of trouble we should just buy it and bring it back, maybe it will turn our luck around.”
Manbao: “…Good idea, rember to pray to Heaven Master for blessings during the fortune-reversing ceremony.”
Zhou Lijun, looking around at their newly tidied cell with disdain, said, “This cell is really a ss. Niece, let clean up for you.”
After saying so, she rolled up her sleeves and got to work, calling over the three people who were talking idly by, “Uncle Daji, prop this curtain up in that corner, and you, big brother Xiang, help clear up the remains of the al on the table…”
Seeing that she had started moving the orderly pots and tubs they had painstakingly arranged, Manbao imdiately opened her mouth to stop her; these were the items she and Bai Shan had finally managed to sort out.
But by then, Zhou Lijun had already taken out several wooden sticks from the basket on her back, and the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice watched with his arms crossed, curious to see what they would do with those sticks.
As soon as Manbao understood their purpose, she stepped forward to help steady them, indeed, the sticks had notches, and with a tongue and groove joint, the sticks were secured in place.
Soon enough, a three-tiered triangular wooden tub stand was assembled.
Zhou Lijun swiftly scooped water from a large barrel to rinse two wooden tubs, placing one at the bottom and another in the middle tier, and then taking a new one from a large basket for the top tier, she turned to Manbao, “Niece, this one is for you, the second one is for Young Master Bai Shan, and the bottom one can be used by the Xiang brothers.”
Manbao nodded blankly.
The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice and the onlooking bailiffs.
Zhou Lijun, especially adept with her hands, also cleaned the pot used for cooking porridge, placing it next to the dicine pot by the small stove, and said, “Niece, use these two pots for dicine. Use this one to boil water and heat things.”
She took out an open jar from Uncle Daji’s basket and placed it directly on the big stove. It was the perfect size, not too big, not too small.
Once the curtains were hung by Daji and the others, she asked them to move the big barrel to this corner by the wall, and the leftover food on the table was quickly cleaned up as she began to take out the items.
First, a large porcelain bowl, as big as a human head, sealed tightly, she opened it for Manbao to see, “Niece, these are noodles pulled by Sixth Uncle for you to eat for tonight and tomorrow’s breakfast. Take as much as you need, and this basket contains the washed and picked vegetables. Didn’t you say that one must eat green vegetables every day?”
After setting up the items on the table, she took out another porcelain bowl of the sa size, opened it and said, “This is the sauce made from cubed mutton, stewed with dried bamboo shoots brought from ho. The seasoning is all set for you. Just boil the noodles, blanch the vegetables, and ladle a spoonful of this sauce on top.”
Manbao and Bai Shan both swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
Zhou Lijun covered it up again and said, “This is the simplest arrangent. Sixth Uncle said if we give you anything too complicated, it won’t be good for you, and it’d be troubleso for the officials guarding the cell to bring it every al. So instead, we send enough to last you all day.”
Bai Shan and Manbao nodded repeatedly, thinking this solution was a good one.
Zhou Lijun then carefully took out a large bamboo tube from her basket, saying, “This is chicken soup, stewed at ho for nourishing the body…”
Xiang Chang imdiately interjected, “This is for the patient.”
Zhou Lijun gave him a sidelong glance and said: “I know, but we purposely prepared a little extra, young mistress, you and Young Master Bai Shan should have so too.”
Besides that, she also brought Manbao and Bai Shan clothes to change into and had Xiang Chang bribe the jailers with extra money to buy two more wooden buckets.
The undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice turned a blind eye, and the jailers were elated to earn that money.
With both baskets emptied, Zhou Lijun went to empty another one, bringing out six books from inside and said: “I don’t know what books you were reading, these were all packed by Young Master Bai Cheng, he said these were what you were looking at. Oh, and here are your pens and ink, the penholder wasn’t easy to carry, so I brought you a pen case…”
Everyone: … Why don’t you just move your house over?
Yet with so many items, Zhou Lijun managed to organize them neatly, placing the books and writing materials on the side where Manbao sleeps, along the edge of the platform bed, without cluttering the room.
Last of all, Zhou Lijun took out an incense burner and a pack of incense chips, saying: “Eating, drinking, and relieving yourselves all in this room must make it sll awful, this is specifically from Madam Bai for you to burn inside, if it’s not enough, we will bring more when we co back.”
This ti it was truly everything.
Zhou Lijun had Uncle Daji and Xiang Chang take away the sorted out sundries, and once everything was packed up, to their surprise, the room actually appeared neater and more spacious than before, except for a curtained-off private space in another corner.
Manbao, holding onto Zhou Lijun’s hand with tears brimming in her eyes, said, “Lijun, I almost want to keep you here.”
Zhou Lijun: “… Young mistress, if we add one more person to this room, it will really be too crowded.”
Xiang Chao watched with his mouth agape. As they were about to leave, he finally rembered what had been on his mind, “The dicine, the dicine…”
Zhou Lijun replied with tears: “About the dicine, the officials still won’t relent.”
The undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice said impatiently: “Be content, from the second half of last night until now, do you know how many people I’ve kept away from you? Whether or not you’ll see people tomorrow is still uncertain. Without Lord Wei bringing the letter, it’s impossible for the prescriptions and dicines to co and go freely.”
Upon hearing this, Bai Shan lifted his head to look at the undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice, then nodded to Zhou Lijun: “It’s okay, you all go back. Tell the teacher and Grandma Liu not to worry.”
Zhou Lijun and Uncle Daji didn’t hesitate and turned around to leave; Xiang Chang opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say, and left with a worried look on his face.
Bai Shan and Manbao both bowed respectfully to the undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice to express their gratitude.
The undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice glanced at them, gave a slight nod, and locked the cell door, then left with his n.
The mont they left, Xiang Chao couldn’t help but ask, “What do we do without the dicine?”
Bai Shan said: “We will have it. Didn’t you hear what the undersecretary said? From the second half of last night until now, he’s fended off many groups for us. There weren’t many who would have co to see us last night; most likely, it was today. Until now, he hasn’t let anyone in, which seems to be a good sign for us.”
Manbao nodded, “Let’s wait for Grandma Liu to go prompt Lord Wei, once we get the letter, we’ll be alright. We still have enough dicine for two days.”
Bai Shan began looking through the books Zhou Lijun had brought; on top was his ‘The Spring and Autumn’. As soon as he opened it, the pages fell apart, revealing two thick letters hidden inside.
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