Liu Acheng said he was going to pay a return visit to his wife's family, but in fact, he set off extremely late.
It was not merely a matter of paying condolence calls to the Taiyuan Wang Clan and the Chen Commandery Xie Clan. Once he returned to the manor, a heap of affairs entangled him as well.
One person came to sound him out, another invited him for drinks. And it was not only refugees from the Huai River region and lower-ranking gentry with connections to them who came asking questions. Even some impoverished members of great aristocratic houses called on him, and invariably asked about Liu Cheng's prospects.
To this, Liu Cheng said only that he was awaiting the court's arrangements and was currently living at leisure.
Yet even living at leisure at the manor, he could not avoid first inspecting the relief provided for the dead and wounded under Liu Huzi, Gao Heng, and Liu Agan, then checking the population and inspecting the reclaimed farmland.
By the time he had checked several important matters, familiarized himself with the manor's trade with Jiangcheng, and carried out some further reorganization, it was already the fifth month. Only then did Liu Cheng leave Liu Dage to look after the place and set off for Wuxing with Awu and A She, his wife and concubine.
They took few people, with four or five carriages, but because public security had been poor lately, they brought an additional twenty mounted men from the Huai River region.
Mounted men, not mounted slaves.
This was not Liu Cheng conducting some experiment in universal equality in Great Jin. Rather, under the white register, their relationships remained murky, at least officially. These mounted men had no direct bonds of personal dependence to Liu Cheng, who had only