As Zhong gazed at the enormity in front of him, he wasn’t entirely sure that a foot had just disappeared from the corner of her luscious red lips.
‘Proceed’ she said.
‘My empress, I come to beg favour over my neighbour’s paddy
field. My family has harvested this land for many years and I enclose the deeds
herewith. Lately, my neighbour has not been maintaining his fence and his
livestock have broken through to eat our crops. All I ask is that we keep the
right to farm our own land without being disturbed.’
‘Show me the deed.’ A nearby guard reached out and took the
rolled-up papers in front of Zhong. He passed it up to the empress on a large
pole underneath a huge magnifying glass. There was a deathly silence while the
information was processed.
‘Your neighbour seems to have a very large estate. Very
large indeed.’
‘Yes, my Empress. All I ask is that my family continue to uphold
our traditions unabated.’
‘Very well, here is what will happen. I will evict your
neighbour for the insolence that he has paid you. This eviction will happen as soon
as possible; but while this is taking place you must reside here with any persons
or possessions you wish to keep. But once the eviction is completed; you must
farm all the land with rice in return. Do you understand?’
‘Yes, my Empress.’
‘Then get going. Inform my staff of your return and they
will make arrangements for stowage.’
‘Thank you, my Empress.’
As Zhong left, the Empress grinned. She loved a feast.
No comments:
Post a Comment