The Quzhao general's heart skipped a beat, his face turning ashen. "What divine punishment? That's utter nonsense."
The envoy finally snapped out of it. Though his expression was still dazed, his tone grew firm. "Right, I was careless and lost my footing. Let's go, we're heading back for now."
The general nodded and helped the envoy onto his horse. This time, he was very careful, holding the reins with one hand and supporting the envoy with the other, afraid the horse would bolt again.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly this time. Once the envoy was securely seated, the general mounted, sharing the same horse with him.
The general shot a glance at Dong Si and the others, his eyes flashing with ruthlessness, mixed with a trace of fear he didn't even realize he had.
This place, Gefeng, was truly bizarre!
Dong Si smiled with a gentle expression. "Take care. Come back when you have the time."
The general nearly fell off the horse. Who on earth would want to come back to your Gefeng!
Without another word, he spurred his horse and led the way out.
Watching the retreating backs of the Quzhao people, Dong Si and Xie Nanxiao both turned to look at Luo A'man.
Luo A'man gave them an honest, good-natured smile, looking a bit silly.
The two instinctively took a step back; the impact of it was simply too much to handle.
Xie Nanxiao said, "That was a good horse. I wonder where it ran off to. Should I go find it and bring it back?"
Yun Yu, standing on the city tower, laughed. "Don't bother. That horse ran off toward Zhou County."
The saying about an old horse knowing the way home made sense. Even though the horse had bolted for some unknown reason, it had run in the right direction.
Just as they were speaking, Yun Yu suddenly exclaimed, "Holy crap!"
Xie Nanxiao was about to ask what was going on when he heard the sound of hooves. Looking toward the noise, he saw the horse that had run away earlier galloping back toward Gefeng City.
"Hiss." Dong Si drew in a sharp breath. "This horse is so smart."
The horse had thrown and injured its master, then run off on its own. Even if it went back, its fate likely wouldn't be good.
After running a certain distance, the horse must have regained its senses, figured this out, and turned around to come back.
Jiang Jin didn't know she had just acquired another good horse. She, Mu Qing, and Mu Wanbai were outside the north gate digging up potatoes.
Her potato seeds were optimized ones brought from the 25th century. They had a relatively short growth cycle, generally around 90 days. Based on her calculations, the first batch planted should be just about ready.
Soon, the potatoes inside were unearthed. Mu Qing excitedly and carefully brushed the dirt off the potatoes with his hands.
"This... just one seedling yielded so many potatoes. This is wonderful." He was beyond thrilled.
Mu Wanbai's nose also tingled with emotion; she knew all too well the significance of high-yield crops.
Jiang Jin understood how they felt and smiled. "We can harvest them in a few days and let them grow a bit more. Remember, when we do harvest them, put them in the underground granary according to the method I told you."
Mu Qing nodded. "Okay."
Jiang Jin continued, "Although potatoes store well, they certainly can't compare to wheat and rice. When the time comes, we can take some to the grocery store to sell."
If the common people bought potatoes, which could serve as both a staple food and a vegetable dish, the consumption of rice and flour would naturally decrease.
"Alright," Mu Qing replied.
He sighed with emotion, "Fortunately, we diverted more water down from the mountains and stored water in the fish ponds. Otherwise, given the current situation, these crops really might have died of thirst."
It hadn't rained yet this year, and much of the surrounding land had already begun to crack.
Chatting as they walked, the group returned to the new city. The city walls here had already been built to a height of three or four meters, and it was estimated they would be completed by October.
Inside the new city, they mainly planted wheat and rice, along with experimental fields.
The wheat had already eared, plump and heavy. It wouldn't be long before it could be harvested, and the yield looked substantial.
"The flax is almost ready to be harvested. The ones planted first can be harvested first..."
Because the land was planted as it was being developed, the maturity dates naturally varied.
Time flew by to August, and the Quzhao envoy didn't send anyone else to 'condemn' them.
According to the news she received, the bodies of the Quzhao soldiers at Yuqiu Mountain—aside from those eaten by wild beasts—were all buried directly in pits dug by the Quzhao people on the mountain.
At the south gate, Jiang Jin saw off Mei Sheng, Mei Ren, Chen Xi, and Mu Ning.
She hadn't prepared a lot of goods, only about ten carts in total.
However, she sent quite a few people. She dispatched 50 Dragon Shadow Guards, 200 elite cavalrymen, and dozens of 'slaves.'
Added to the dozens of Mei family guards and the cart slaves, the entire caravan consisted of several hundred people.
"Rest assured, My Lord, we will definitely complete the mission," Mu Ning promised.
Jiang Jin nodded. "Remember, you are all elites trained by my Gefeng. If necessary, abandon the goods. Your lives are the most important thing."
Mu Ning and Chen Xi both nodded, feeling a complex mix of emotion and deep gratitude. In these chaotic times, human lives were cheap.
Just their ten carts of goods could buy tens of thousands, or even over a hundred thousand, slaves.
But in Gefeng—or rather, Jiang Jin's Gefeng—human life was the most valuable thing of all. In all their years, they had never seen a lord who cherished human lives so much.
Watching the departing caravan, Jiang Jin sighed inwardly. She feared this journey wouldn't be all that smooth.
To avoid drawing the attention of Quzhao and other barbarian tribes, the caravan members had all changed into commoners' clothing. The entire group looked just like an ordinary merchant caravan.
On a rugged mountain road, two horses were galloping wildly. Riding on their backs were two travel-worn men, heading straight for Gefeng.
After riding for who knows how long, the two finally stopped beneath a large tree by the side of the road.
One of the men, who had a scar on his jaw, dismounted, grabbed a waterskin, and hurried down the slope of the road.
The other, a tall man, dismounted at an unhurried pace. He took out some dry rations, chewed them slowly, and moistened them with saliva to swallow with difficulty.
Before long, the scarred man came panting back up the slope. "That stream was so big, yet it's completely dried up too."
He was very familiar with this area and knew there was a sizable river down the slope. Even though they had seen dry, cracked earth all along the way, he had still held onto a sliver of hope.
The tall man had anticipated this. "Eat something. Unless it's deep in the mountains or a major river, there won't be any water left."
The scarred man licked his dry, cracked lips, sat down in the shade, and took out his dry rations, eating in tiny bites. "We should have brought a few more waterskins."
The tall man said nothing. They had each brought several waterskins as it was. Fortunately, they weren't too far from Gefeng now.
Just as Jiang Jin returned to the county office, she saw Luo Qingci discussing something with a few runners.
Seeing her, everyone hurriedly called out, "My Lord."
Jiang Jin nodded and asked curiously, "What are you all discussing?"
The runners were at a loss for words, their faces turning red as they looked around at each other.
Luo Qingci found it amusing. She dismissed the runners to do their work before telling Jiang Jin, "We had someone come in to report a case today."
Most of the commoners in Gefeng City had suffered hardships. Now that they had good lives, they naturally cherished them very much. Therefore, there were currently almost no crimes in the city.
It wasn't until today that the first citizen came in to report a case.
Curious, Jiang Jin asked, "What's the grievance?"
Luo Qingci's expression was hard to describe. "The plaintiff claims he was forced upon... and was repeatedly forced upon a total of seven times."
