Li Wencheng's shout carried the force of a thousand troops.
The surrounding bailiffs, already trembling with fear, heard the order "Seize her!" yet not a single one dared to move.
Are you kidding? Who was that standing by the carriage? It was Pockmarked Liu! The guy was holding a metal-tipped cudgel still stained with dark red marks from some past brawl. Who had a death wish to go provoke him?
Xu Qinghuan sat on the carriage shaft, looking down at this farce from her high perch.
She was in an excellent mood.
Listen to those wonderful accusations—"brewing poisonous fumes," "harming the common people," "at death's door." Now this was the kind of prestige a proper villainess deserved! The other day, when those pesky commoners chased after her shouting "Living Bodhisattva," she had been so embarrassed she could have dug out a three-bedroom apartment with her toes. Finally, she felt comfortable again.
Of course, actually getting beheaded wouldn't do.
Xu Qinghuan unhurriedly pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve, dabbed at the non-existent sweat on her forehead, and then made an utterly brazen gesture—she rolled her eyes at Li Wencheng.
"Magistrate Li, you can eat carelessly, but you mustn't speak carelessly."
Xu Qinghuan stood up, her red skirt beneath her feet like a burning flame. She pointed at the several dark, towering mounds of manure, her tone dripping with sarcasm: "You say this is poison? Fine. Since you're such an expert, I'll finish brewing this 'poison' right in front of everyone!"
Li Wencheng was stunned. What was this sorceress planning?
Xu Qinghuan's mind was calculating furiously.
This pile of fertilizer was now a hot commodity. If Li Wencheng really sealed it up, the authorities could sell it off, and the Xu family would still profit. They might even end up with some rotten reputation like "the intention was evil but the outcome was good."
No, she had to ruin it.
The reason this stuff was valuable now was its potent fertility. To turn it into waste, she needed to mix something in. What ruins fertility best? Of course, useless ash and rotten vegetation!
And she needed to create a big scene, to make these common people truly fear her.
"Li Sheng!"
Xu Qinghuan's sharp cry rang out.
Li Sheng, who had been cowering behind the carriage trembling, hastily scrambled out. "Y-Young Mistress, I'm here."
"Go! Cut down all the dry grass and rotten leaves you can find around here! Also, send someone to Oxhead Mountain to haul back dozens of cartloads of thoroughly burnt plant ash! Make sure it's hot, straight from the kiln!"
Li Sheng's eyes widened. "Young Mistress, wh-what for? That plant ash is highly alkaline. Pouring it into this 'golden juice' pile will..."
He meant to say it would cause a reaction, and besides, plant ash wasn't cheap either!
"Shut up!" Xu Qinghuan kicked Li Sheng in the rear. "Just do as you're told! I'm going to thoroughly muck up this whole pile! Not a single tael of silver's worth will I let them have—it'll all rot in the mud!"
Li Sheng didn't dare argue further and could only grit his teeth and carry out the orders.
Standing on the carriage, Xu Qinghuan looked at the commoners pointing and whispering in the distance, sneering inwardly.
Scared now?
Just wait until the dust fills the sky, turning this pile of carefully fermented "gold nuggets" into useless dirt clods, and chokes you all until you can't open your eyes. Let's see who still dares call me a Living Bodhisattva!
Li Wencheng, standing nearby, heard everything clearly. While he didn't understand chemical reactions, he grasped "plant ash" and "muck up."
This woman was insane!
In less than half an hour, refugees from Oxhead Mountain arrived pushing wheelbarrows, forming a long procession.
The barrows were loaded with plant ash freshly scooped from the bottom of iron-smelting furnaces, some still glowing with faint red embers. Beside them was a huge pile of freshly cut dry grass and rotten leaves, heaped up like a small hill.
The sun was scorching, the air already stifling and suffocating.
"Pour!"
Xu Qinghuan's round fan slashed through the air.
Though terrified, dozens of refugees, motivated by the promised pay, gritted their teeth and dumped cartload after cartload of scalding hot plant ash, along with large bundles of dry grass, all at once into the enormous manure mounds.
"Stir it! Stir it hard!" Xu Qinghuan shouted.
The next moment, a scene none present would ever forget unfolded.
As the scalding plant ash made contact with the damp, fermenting manure piles, it was like cold water splashing into hot oil.
"SSSSSS——!!!"
A tremendous sound, like a shriek from a demon in the earth, erupted.
A thick, almost visible white smoke billowed up with a roar!
This wasn't ordinary steam; it was highly concentrated ammonia gas released from the violent reaction between the alkali in the plant ash and the nitrogen in the feces!
The white smoke, carrying intense heat, mixed with dust and that nauseating, pungent odor, instantly formed a small mushroom cloud. Then, driven by the thermal currents, it surged and spread wildly in all directions.
It was no longer just stench; now it was acrid.
The smell shot up the nostrils as if someone had forced down a large gulp of aged vinegar followed by a handful of bird's eye chilies. Tears instantly streamed down, and throats burned with pain as if on fire.
"Cough cough cough! My eyes!"
"Poisonous fumes! It really is poisonous fumes!"
The watching crowd instantly erupted into chaos. No one dared stay to watch the spectacle now. Crying for their parents and calling for their children, they scrambled backwards. Those who were too slow, caught by the white smoke, doubled over on the spot, retching dryly.
The scene was more hellish than hell itself.
Li Wencheng, standing closest, even with a face covering, was nearly knocked unconscious by this sudden "poisonous smoke."
Through the hazy white fumes, he looked at Xu Qinghuan laughing maniacally atop the carriage. Fear finally overwhelmed his scheming.
What kind of merchant's daughter was this?
This was clearly a madwoman intent on dragging the entire city down with her!
"Sorcery! This is sorcery!"
Li Wencheng scrambled backwards, shrieking hoarsely, his finger trembling as he pointed at the churning white smoke. "She's brewing poison! She's accelerating the spread of the poison! Run! The poison is heading into the city!"
In the distance, under the shade of a tree, an unremarkable blue-canopied carriage stood still.
The curtain was slightly parted.
Xiao Jingyan sat inside, holding a piece of ambergris to his nose, his brows tightly locked together.
He considered himself well-read and had witnessed many strange techniques of the martial world, but the scene before him truly surpassed his understanding.
That billowing white smoke, shooting straight into the sky, looked nothing like a good deed.
"Your Highness..." the guard outside whispered, his voice trembling. "Should we also withdraw? This smell... it's too overpowering. Even the horses are spooked."
Xiao Jingyan didn't speak, his gaze fixed intently on the faint red figure visible at the heart of the white smoke.
Xu Qinghuan stood atop the carriage, shrouded in swirling fumes, watching the panicked crowd below, laughing so hard she rocked back and forth.
"Run? Don't any of you run!"
Xu Qinghuan's voice pierced through the white smoke, tinged with a perverse excitement. "This is a 'special treat' I spent a fortune brewing just for you! Anyone who dares run, I'll have someone deliver this right to their doorstep!"
She thought she was playing the part of a tyrant.
But in the eyes of the commoners, Xu Qinghuan at this moment was a rakshasa demon crawling out of the poisonous smoke, come to claim the lives of everyone in Taoyuan County!
"Mad... she's completely mad..."
Li Wencheng collapsed onto the ground, watching the white column shooting towards the sky, and closed his eyes in despair.
It's over.
This time, there's no need to wait for a plague to break out. Just this poisonous breath alone is enough to scare people to death.
The Xu family is truly planning a rebellion!
