Two days later, at the same location, the same envoy arrived with the same fierce condemnation: "What exactly does your Gefeng mean by this? Are you preparing to go to war with us?"
Jiang Jin looked puzzled. "Where is this coming from? Why can't I understand a word you're saying?"
The Quzhao envoy and his soldiers all glared at her.
The Quzhao envoy, in particular, was red in the face and thick in the neck from anger. "Stop playing dumb! Do you dare say that you weren't the ones who robbed our goods this time?"
Without blushing or skipping a heartbeat, Jiang Jin replied with a face full of sincerity, "I dare say it! I really didn't rob you. It's not like you don't know that we're busy farming every day. Where would we find the time to go out?"
"But really, how can you be so careless as to always get robbed?" Jiang Jin stroked her chin, her eyes full of suspicion. "You guys are just too weak!"
"You, you!" The Quzhao envoy clutched his chest, breathing heavily. He had never seen such a brazen and shameless person in his life.
Jiang Jin asked with concern, "Are you alright? If you ask me, your Quzhao is too harsh on its subordinates. At your old age, you should be properly enjoying your retirement. Why are you still coming out here to be an envoy?"
The Quzhao envoy's chest heaved violently. A mouthful of old blood surged up his throat, but he secretly swallowed it down.
Did she not have a clue who was making him run around at his age? How did she have the nerve to make such sarcastic remarks!
Wait, who was old? He was only in his early forties!
He gritted his back teeth, taking a good while to calm his emotions. "It's useless even if you don't admit it. The wounds on our soldiers' bodies were clearly made by your repeating crossbows."
Jiang Jin threw her hands up. "You really are getting senile. Didn't I tell you last time? We lost a batch of repeating crossbows. It was probably that same group of thieves who robbed your things."
The envoy gnashed his teeth. "Fine, I'll tentatively believe you that the repeating crossbows were stolen. But how do you explain the blade wounds on the corpses?"
During the ambush, they had first fired a volley from the repeating crossbows at a distance, followed by close-quarters hacking and slashing, which naturally left behind blade marks.
The soldiers Jiang Jin brought were all elites, naturally using the blades forged by Gefeng itself. Leaving aside their sharpness, the shape of the blades was also distinct. Anyone with a bit of experience could tell.
This operation had completely wiped out over 800 Quzhao men, capturing 5 carts of salt, 10 carts of dried sea fish, and 3,000 shi of grain, greatly alleviating Gefeng's current food shortage.
Speaking of which, she still had seven or eight thousand shi of grain in her spatial dimension. Every time she needed to use it, someone would conveniently deliver more grain to her.
To celebrate capturing so much salt and grain this time, Jiang Jin acted extravagantly and had already taught the logistics department how to pickle vegetables and radishes.
Previously, apart from sun-drying vegetables, they had only pickled some sour cabbage. They couldn't bear to use salt; it was simply too expensive.
Now, facing the Quzhao envoy's questioning, Jiang Jin remained unhurried. "Oh, I would have forgotten if you hadn't mentioned it. A few days ago, we lost another batch of weapons."
Saying this, she sighed again. "Alas, our Gefeng is already poor, and we keep losing weapons. Life is not easy. It's too difficult."
"Speaking of which, we really have to blame you for this. You occupy such a large territory in Fengzhou, yet you don't manage it properly, causing bandits to run rampant and making us suffer huge losses. You bear a great deal of responsibility for this."
"Our responsibility?" the envoy rebuked angrily, in disbelief.
Jiang Jin waved her hand magnanimously. "You don't have to feel too guilty. Just apologizing to me will do."
The envoy was trembling all over with anger. "Apologize? You robbed our things, and you want us to apologize?"
Jiang Jin looked displeased. "Don't falsely accuse me. When did I rob you? If you don't want to apologize, forget it. I'm generous enough to forgive you, but don't let it happen again."
The envoy finally couldn't hold it in anymore. He sprayed a mouthful of blood and collapsed face-first.
The Quzhao soldiers were greatly alarmed and rushed forward to support him. "Lord Envoy! Lord Envoy! Are you alright?"
The envoy pointed a trembling finger at Jiang Jin, panting heavily, looking like he could pass out at any moment. "You, you, you bully people too much!"
Jiang Jin took a step back. "Everyone saw it. I didn't do anything. He spat blood on his own. It has nothing to do with me, so don't try to extort me."
Pfft.
The envoy was so furious that he sprayed another mouthful of blood. His face turned as white as snow, and his chest heaved violently. Unable to say another word, his body jerked a few times before his head tilted to the side, and he passed out completely!
Jiang Jin: ...
She was dumbfounded. Wait, that was it? She hadn't even said anything yet, and he fainted?
The Quzhao soldiers panicked, vigorously pinching the envoy's philtrum while shouting, "Lord Envoy, Lord Envoy!"
However, even after his philtrum was pinched to the point of bleeding, the envoy remained motionless.
The Quzhao military commander instructed, "Quick, the envoy might not make it! Let's hurry back and find a doctor."
The soldiers clumsily lifted the envoy and shoved him into the carriage.
The commander glared at Jiang Jin. "Just you wait!"
After saying that, as if afraid Jiang Jin would hack him down, he swiftly mounted his horse and galloped away.
Watching the retreating figures of the Quzhao people, Jiang Jin's expression remained unchanged.
Xia Chanyi coldly snorted, "My Lord, why don't we just kill them all?"
Jiang Jin waved her hand magnanimously. "When two armies face off, one does not execute the envoy. Besides, we are a state of ceremonies and propriety. We must treat people with courtesy and win them over with virtue."
Xia Chanyi: ... If it weren't for the fact that the envoy bled every time he came, she might have actually believed it.
Honestly, she was quite curious if the Quzhao envoy would be able to survive this time.
If he really died, her Lord could be considered the number one person to literally anger someone to death. Coming in standing up, going back lying down—how mighty!
When Jiang Jin returned to the county office, Chen Zi was waiting for her.
"What is it?" Jiang Jin was a little surprised. Chen Zi had recently been busy teaching and making carved blocks for movable type printing.
Chen Zi, his face full of excitement, handed a thick little book to Jiang Jin. "My Lord, I have not failed your expectations. The Simplified Dictionary is complete."
Jiang Jin's eyes lit up. She took the dictionary and examined it carefully.
The book was thread-bound, using thick paper for the cover, with only the four words Simplified Dictionary simply printed on it.
Flipping open the pages, a faint scent of ink wafted over. The contents inside were similar to dictionaries from later generations, with clear printing and standardized fonts.
