The envoy almost spat out a mouthful of blood. "You farm every day?"
After saying this, he recalled the scouts' reports—Gefeng really did farm every day!
It was said they had already cultivated tens of thousands of acres, yet they kept digging and planting without end...
Since the Quzhao army had occupied the Central Plains, they had never seen a ruler who had no ambition to expand and only wanted to farm every day.
It was truly a lack of ambition!
He suppressed the weird feeling in his chest. "Fine, you farm every day, but that doesn't stop you from doing other things. We agreed to a non-aggression pact. Are you trying to provoke a war between our two armies by unilaterally tearing up the agreement?"
Jiang Jin's face remained a picture of absolute sincerity. "I don't know what the envoy is talking about. When did we tear up the agreement?"
The envoy took a deep breath, suppressing his inner frustration, and tried to keep his voice calm.
"Outside the pass, in our Quzhao territory, you sent people to rob our flocks of sheep and herds of horses, and you still say you didn't break the agreement?"
Jiang Jin sneered, "You said it yourself, it's outside the pass. How would we dare to go out there? We thank our lucky stars just to be able to hold onto Gefeng and live peacefully here."
"You..." The envoy's face flushed with anger. "Don't deny it! We've inspected the soldiers' corpses; they were shot by your repeating crossbows!"
Jiang Jin furrowed her brows deeply. "Really? That's impossible!"
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she gasped. "Hiss... I would have forgotten if you hadn't mentioned it. A while back, we lost a batch of repeating crossbows in Gefeng. Could it be that someone picked them up and used them to rob your sheep?"
"What a sin, what a sin. Next time, we will definitely secure our weapons properly and never let evildoers get their hands on them. Please rest assured."
"You!" A guard standing next to the envoy pointed his finger at Jiang Jin, veins bulging with rage.
Before he could utter a second sentence, a silver light flashed before his eyes, and blood splattered.
Yun Chengxuan withdrew his bloodstained weapon. "Dare to point at my aunt, and I'll chop off your hand. Do it again, and I'll cleave the crap out of you!"
The envoy was sprayed with blood. He turned his head somewhat numbly to look at the guard who had just lost a hand, his face turning blue and white in turns.
Gefeng was pushing things too far!
They completely disregarded Quzhao!
The guard's face was deathly pale from the pain, but he was tough enough not to cry out. He only glared viciously at Yun Chengxuan. At this moment, he also remembered the incident where their guard commander was slashed last time.
It was just that the other party's words were so infuriating that he had forgotten the lessons of the past.
The other guards also tensed up, gripping the hilts of their swords tightly, ready for action at any moment.
Xia Chanyi sneered coldly, "Want to make a move? Try it!"
The two sides were at daggers drawn, the atmosphere extremely tense.
The envoy's expression shifted unpredictably. Recalling Gefeng's brutality and unorthodoxy, faint beads of sweat began to seep from his forehead.
Jiang Jin looked at him with a half-smile. "What, do you want to stay in Gefeng permanently?"
The envoy shuddered. Gefeng was different from any other Han faction; they seemed to act without considering the consequences.
To make matters worse, Gefeng was powerful, and Quzhao truly couldn't do anything about them for the time being.
He took a deep breath to calm his emotions. "You misunderstand. We have no such intention. It's just that we have an agreement of mutual non-interference, and we hope you can abide by it."
Jiang Jin nodded. "Naturally. Don't worry, I am a person of my word."
The Quzhao envoy was so angry he could spit blood, his facial muscles twitching uncontrollably. "Then, could you return our flocks of sheep and herds of horses to us?"
Jiang Jin looked at him with a strange expression. "Didn't I just say it? I didn't rob your horses and sheep. You have a deep misunderstanding of me. I just like farming, nothing else."
"Sheep!" Just as Jiang Jin finished speaking, a Quzhao soldier cried out in alarm.
Jiang Jin's brow twitched. Following his line of sight, she saw two sheep sprinting wildly ahead, chased by two commoner shepherds.
They had originally been herding the sheep on the grasslands behind the farmlands outside the new city. For some unknown reason, these two sheep suddenly bolted, and they had no choice but to chase them all the way here.
The two sheep apparently hadn't expected so many people here either. They came to a screeching halt and let out two baas.
The shepherds were also startled when they saw Jiang Jin. They hurriedly bowed in greeting, then, before the sheep could react, each grabbed one in their arms, turned around, and ran.
Jiang Jin: "..."
The Quzhao envoy sneered, as if he had just caught her red-handed. "How do you explain that?"
Jiang Jin feigned confusion. "Explain what?"
Seeing her dead set on denying it, the envoy grew even more furious. "How do you explain those sheep? That breed is exactly the kind we raise in Quzhao."
Jiang Jin disagreed. "Look at what you're saying. You lost a whole flock of sheep, and we only have two here. How does that make them yours?"
"We picked up these two sheep in the Gesi Mountains. Don't make baseless accusations."
The envoy was boiling with rage. "I'm not going to argue with you. Just return the horses and sheep to us, and we won't pursue this matter any further."
Jiang Jin sneered. "I think you came here just to frame us, didn't you? If you want to fight, I'm ready anytime."
"You." The envoy's chest ached from anger. It took him a few breaths to calm down, realizing that Gefeng was going to deny it to the bitter end.
But he was helpless. Right now, their main army was attacking Ze'a County and couldn't spare any troops to deal with Gefeng. He could only swallow his pride this time.
"I hope Gefeng keeps its word and doesn't break our agreement." The Quzhao envoy dropped a harsh parting remark and stormed off in a huff.
Every time he came to Gefeng, he felt like his lifespan shortened by two years.
As soon as Jiang Jin returned to the county office, Dongzhi came in to report, "My Lord, Shopkeeper Mei and the others are waiting for you."
Dongzhi was a name bestowed by Jiang Jin. She was a slave Jiang Jin had bought. Seeing that she was loyal and clever, Dong Si assigned her to serve tea and water for Jiang Jin in the county office.
Jiang Jin nodded and soon entered the council hall.
The three members of the Mei family hurriedly stood up and bowed. "Greetings, My Lord."
Jiang Jin waved her hand. "No need for formalities."
She sat down in the seat of honor. "Did you come regarding the matter of selling slaves?"
Mei Sheng nodded. After weighing his words for a moment, he said, "My Lord, we have some connections in a few counties in Fengzhou. We are willing to give it a try."
A smile flashed in Jiang Jin's eyes. "Good. Then make your preparations and set off in a few days. I will arrange for guards on my end to ensure your absolute safety."
Mei Cai hesitated and said, "My Lord, we would like to bring our clansmen and relatives to Gefeng, but we wonder if..."
Jiang Jin smiled and agreed. "Of course you can. If you have good friends, they can also come to Gefeng. We welcome them."
Gefeng was too poor; most of its people were refugees fleeing from famine.
It would be better to have more rich people and merchants. Whether through their spending or their businesses, only then would she be able to make money and collect taxes.
Speaking of which, the wealthiest in Gefeng right now were the He and Li families, the Mei family, and the aristocratic merchants who had just arrived a couple of days ago. Their spending was far greater than that of all the commoners in the city combined.
Of course, this was partly because they had just arrived in Gefeng and needed to purchase a large amount of furniture. But regardless, with their addition, Gefeng became more vibrant and diverse.
Mei Cai and the other two hurriedly expressed their thanks.
Following that, the group discussed various details regarding planting covert agents this time. It wasn't until two hours later that the three members of the Mei family took their leave.
