Liu Ba, however, didn’t seem to care. “Aren’t you and your sister still alive?”
The woman’s face flushed with fury at his shamelessness and matter-of-fact tone. “Living like this is worse than being dead!”
An old man glared at Liu Ba with eyes full of rage. “You’re a beast! You boiled and ate both my grandsons. You’re not even human!”
“And my elder brother—just because he worked a little slowly, you chopped off both his legs and threw him into the mountains. He was torn apart alive by wolves…” another young man shouted angrily.
After hearing everyone’s accusations, Jiang Jin looked at Xia Chanyi. “Have their identities all been confirmed?”
Xia Chanyi nodded. “Yes. They were interrogated separately, so there shouldn’t be any problems.”
Jiang Jin turned toward Liu Ba and several of King Punan’s most capable aides. “Take them away and execute them.”
Liu Ba was startled. “Spare me! I only took to the mountains and became a bandit because I had no other way to survive. I didn’t want this either. I was only trying to stay alive—what did I do wrong?”
The others also kowtowed repeatedly and begged for mercy.
The Jinyang soldiers ignored their cries and dragged them away in different directions.
Liu Ba struggled desperately. When he saw that begging was useless, his eyes turned vicious as he glared at Jiang Jin.
“You’re a princess, but that doesn’t give you the right to treat human lives like weeds! I refuse to accept this. I—ah!”
Before he could finish, his entire body flew through the air. He landed with a heavy thud several yards away.
Yun Chengxuan withdrew his foot. “How dare you look at my aunt like that? I’ll kick the shit out of you!”
“Hmph, you refuse to accept it? Then I’ll beat you until you do. Get up! Hurry up and tell me—do you accept it or not?”
Liu Ba lay on the ground, convulsing nonstop and foaming blood at the mouth. He was clearly breathing out more than he was breathing in. How could he possibly answer?
The soldiers escorting Liu Ba were dumbfounded. Their prisoner had suddenly gone flying, and they had nearly been sent flying with him. Fortunately, their basic training was solid, and they managed to keep their balance.
Now, hearing Yun Chengxuan’s words and seeing Liu Ba lying there spitting blood, the soldiers didn’t know what to say. They could only look helplessly at him.
“He’s nearly dead. He probably can’t answer whether he accepts it or not.”
Yun Chengxuan frowned. “No way. I held back.”
He stepped forward, grabbed Liu Ba, and shook him hard. “Wake up. Stop pretending to be dead. I didn’t use much force, so don’t wrong me.”
With a crack, Liu Ba’s neck, already at the end of its strength, snapped from the shaking. His head lolled to one side, and he stopped breathing altogether.
Everyone: “…”
Yun Chengxuan: “…”
He really hadn’t done it on purpose. The man was just too fragile.
Yes, that had to be it. The man was simply too fragile.
He turned back to Jiang Jin, looking somewhat guilty. “Aunt, I didn’t know his neck was so fragile. I really only shook him lightly.”
Jiang Jin rubbed her forehead and waved her hand helplessly. “Don’t be so impulsive next time.”
Yun Chengxuan seemed to have grown even stronger, yet he himself didn’t appear to have noticed.
When he saw that his aunt wasn’t blaming him, Yun Chengxuan brightened. He tossed Liu Ba’s body onto the ground.
“Okay. I promise I’ll listen to you, Aunt. Next time, I won’t kick anyone again.”
The other prisoners were terrified by his brutality. Their cries for mercy, calling for their fathers and mothers, rang out through the heavens.
The soldiers wore expressionless faces as they dragged them toward the woods. Before long, the pleas abruptly fell silent.
Having just caused trouble, Yun Chengxuan took the initiative to dig a pit and bury the bodies. No one could stop him.
Jiang Jin turned to the other bandits. “Once we return, interrogate them thoroughly. Execute those who deserve death, and sentence the rest according to the law.”
Ye Shang quickly acknowledged the order. “Yes, Your Highness.”
Now that the common people knew they had truly been rescued, they wept and laughed at once as they kowtowed and expressed their gratitude.
Jiang Jin raised a hand to stop them. “There’s no need for this. Follow my forces to Qinglian County first and rest there. You may remain in Qinglian County afterward, or return to your places of origin if you wish.”
The next day, Jiang Jin arrived in Qinglian County. The common people were handed over to the civil officials, while she went directly to Qinglian County’s industrial district.
Di Gui was in charge of the construction there. Though several years had passed, he had not grown older. In fact, he looked even younger than before, especially in spirit and vitality.
He was extremely excited to see Jiang Jin. “Greetings, my lord.”
Jiang Jin nodded. “Can it be completed before the New Year?”
Di Gui looked troubled. “Probably not. The main issue is that the cement works and brick kilns were only built recently and can’t supply enough materials.”
Construction materials for the roads had to be supplied first. Only after that could they provide materials for his industrial district.
Jiang Jin studied the plan for the industrial district. “Then build the food-processing workshops, textile mills, and other factories producing essential goods for daily life first. Put the rest on hold for now.”
While Jiang Jin was inspecting Qinglian’s industrial district, Jiang Chun in Jiu’an was in an excellent mood because the first edition of the Sizhou Times had finally been published.
The paper had gone to great lengths to praise his achievements. Even the disaster relief efforts in Fengzhou had been portrayed as the result of his benevolence: he had humbly sought Princess Jinyang’s aid, and only then had Princess Jinyang come to Fengzhou to provide relief, and so on.
Since most of the people in Sizhou were illiterate, the local government had specially dispatched clerks to several busy locations throughout the city to read the newspaper aloud at set times.
As for the villages in various regions, yamen runners and clerks were sent there together to read the contents of the paper to the farmers and proclaim their gratitude for His Majesty’s grace.
“Excellent. Hahaha.” Jiang Chun rarely showed such a satisfied smile. This was his happiest day in a very long time.
He looked at Dong Cheng. “You’ve handled this matter well. You deserve a reward. Give him one thousand taels of silver.”
Dong Cheng hurriedly expressed his thanks. “Thank you for Your Majesty’s reward. Your Majesty is wise and far-sighted.”
Jiang Chun continued reading the articles in the newspaper, becoming more and more pleased. “Excellent. Hahaha. Excellent!”
He looked up at Dong Cheng and was about to speak when Sun Zheng hurried in.
“Your Majesty, something has happened in Tao Commandery and Shankang Commandery.”
Although Sun Zheng had handled matters poorly during the Fengzhou trip, he had always been one of Jiang Chun’s trusted ministers. Jiang Chun had therefore not punished him too severely, merely docking a year’s salary.
The smile on Jiang Chun’s face froze. “What happened?”
Sun Zheng’s expression was grim. He presented two slips of paper with both hands. “These are carrier-pigeon messages from Tao Commandery and Shankang Commandery. The Jinyang Army intends to transport all the people from both commanderies to Keyuan Island.”
Jiang Chun’s brow twitched. “Keyuan Island? Why are they taking the people to Keyuan Island?”
He had only recently learned that the Jinyang Army had a temporary wharf on the island, but he hadn’t paid much attention to it.
According to the information he had received, the temporary wharf built by the Jinyang Army was extremely crude, and there were very few ships capable of docking there. It was not worth worrying about.
A complicated look flashed through Sun Zheng’s eyes. “The Jinyang Army claims they want to open up the land on the island and plant fruit trees, and that they’re hiring the people to help, with wages provided.”
Jiang Chun was utterly bewildered. He took the slip of paper presented by the Imperial Household Office and read it. “Plant fruit trees? Keyuan Island is a barren island. How could they grow fruit trees there?”
Dong Cheng was equally confused. “Indeed. Even if they wanted to plant fruit trees, why would they need hundreds of thousands of people?”
Sun Zheng sighed helplessly. “That’s why the Jinyang Army’s real purpose definitely isn’t planting fruit trees. Their true objective must be the people of our two commanderies.”
Jiang Chun had finished reading the message by then. His eyes suddenly widened.
“She wants to steal my people?”
