Hearing Xi Qingyue’s words, Lu Jinshuang felt as though lightning had struck her.
She suddenly remembered something: many of the orchards on the outskirts of the capital had disappeared overnight.
She had actually forgotten something so important. Spending every day being shocked by Xi Qingyue really had made her stupid.
She looked at Xi Qingyue curiously, her eyes shining with excitement. “I’ve never witnessed anything this amazing with my own eyes. Hurry and show me how you move all these trees.”
Xi Qingyue smiled faintly and gave her sleeve a gentle wave. In an instant, the peach grove vanished before their eyes.
Lu Jinshuang rubbed her eyes vigorously. “It’s gone? Just like that? That quickly?”
She hadn’t even managed to see what happened. The vast peach grove had simply disappeared, as if someone had cleared away a plate of food.
Xi Qingyue lifted her chin slightly. “Of course. What did you think was so difficult about it?”
She secretly chuckled to herself. Back in the capital, it really hadn’t been this fast.
Planting all these trees in her space and watering them with spiritual spring water would bring enormous benefits. Once the fruit trees matured, they would be filled with spiritual energy, which could even strengthen the cultivation of abilities.
She hadn’t noticed this loophole during the apocalypse. If Xi Weilan hadn’t ridden around the space on a three-wheeled electric cart, carrying spiritual spring water and watering the fruit trees everywhere, she might never have discovered that such an effect was possible.
She walked to the lake beneath the waterfall and studied it for a while. Then her consciousness sank into her space as she searched for a suitable location.
She waved her hand at the lake. In an instant, all the water in the vast body of water disappeared.
Lu Jinshuang was shocked by the sight of the lake drying up in an instant, but she was also puzzled. “Yue, what do you want the lake water for? Jiangnan isn’t short of water, and you can already store food and drink in your space. This water doesn’t seem very useful.”
“It is useful. Extremely useful. I can raise fish in it, and Lan’er can go fishing whenever she has nothing to do. We can even build a pavilion beside it where we can sit and drink tea. It’ll make a lovely scene in my backyard.”
Lu Jinshuang was dumbfounded. “You can use the Cosmos-in-Sleeve technique like that? Don’t tell me you’re planning to build houses in there too?”
Thinking of all the rockeries and flooring that had disappeared from the Eighth Prince’s residence, she couldn’t help twitching at the corner of her mouth. So those missing things really had been useful. She had thought Xi Qingyue had taken them purely to annoy people.
Xi Qingyue nodded. “Yes. It’s just that I’m still short of a few beautiful houses. I’ll have them all eventually.”
With that, she headed deeper into another stretch of forest. Since she was already here, she might as well take more things back. Everything would be useful anyway.
She walked into the depths of the dense forest and stood there, slowly closing her eyes. She activated her wood and earth abilities simultaneously. The surrounding trees and weeds, along with the rocks and earth, were all drawn into her space.
Looking at the large bald patch that had appeared on the mountain in the blink of an eye, Lu Jinshuang covered her head and began to question her entire understanding of life.
Only then did she realize how terrifyingly powerful Xi Qingyue was when there was no one else around. She really had been holding back before.
Xi Qingyue still couldn’t move an entire mountain at once, but she could take it away bit by bit. The trees in this part of the forest were all quite old. Once she brought them into her space and watered them with spiritual spring water, they would grow even faster. In the future, she could cultivate her abilities while sitting beneath the trees, and her space would level up more quickly as well.
Half an hour later, Xi Qingyue finally finished.
She turned to look at Lu Jinshuang, whose expression was somewhat vacant. “Let’s go. We should head back.”
Lu Jinshuang came back to herself and nodded. “All right.”
Xi Qingyue then took her by the arm and flew into the sky. From there, they flew toward the county office.
The return journey was completely different from the trip there. Since they no longer needed to search for the exact location of Luoxia Valley, they flew directly to the city gates and only descended once they reached the outskirts of the city.
Not far from the gates, a long line had formed in front of the porridge tent. The guards maintaining order were Xi Qingyue’s own men.
Refugees and beggars watched the porridge stall with hopeful expressions. They had been sleeping rough and braving the elements for days, and had not enjoyed a full meal in a long time.
Those at the front of the line, holding bowls of thick white porridge and large steamed buns, were especially overwhelmed. Tears fell into their porridge and went into their mouths with each bite, yet satisfied smiles spread across their faces.
When Xi Qingyue and Lu Jinshuang descended from the sky, everyone was utterly stunned. Some recognized Xi Qingyue and knelt to thank her gratefully.
After all, Xi Qingyue had ordered the porridge distribution. Anyone who could give them a full meal was their benefactor, especially when the porridge and steamed buns were so generous.
Xi Qingyue wasn’t accustomed to such scenes. To her, this was hardly anything at all. She simply smiled and gave them a slight nod before walking toward the city gates.
When the soldiers guarding the gates saw Xi Qingyue and Lu Jinshuang, they behaved with great respect, though fear filled their eyes as well. They had remained behind to guard the city instead of following the county magistrate, and had only survived by sheer luck. Now that they were alive, they were grateful enough; they were terrified that Xi Qingyue might have them beheaded if she became displeased.
At the same time, they admired her. The previous county magistrate had never distributed porridge to the common people. He had only exploited them as harshly as possible.
When Xi Qingyue entered the city, Mu Jin was still busy inside the county office. Nightshadow had already confessed, and the people now knew that Prince Kang had sent men to assassinate the Ninth Prince. Many people were discussing the matter throughout the streets.
Xi Qingyue smiled in satisfaction. This was exactly what she wanted. She was sure the news would soon spread to the surrounding towns.
As they walked back toward the county office, Lu Jinshuang frowned deeply. “Yue, how long do you think it will be before Prince Kang rebels?”
Xi Qingyue thought for a moment before answering, “Probably very soon. He sent people to kill the Ninth Prince and frame me, which means he has already made his plans. The moment he receives word that the Ninth Prince is dead, he’ll launch his rebellion. He’ll also portray me as a vile criminal guilty of every imaginable offense. Not only that, he’ll call Big Sister Lu a disaster who has thrown the imperial court into chaos, while claiming that he is merely ‘cleansing the emperor’s court’ for the sake of Great Jing.”
“There’s more. I suspect something has already happened in the capital. Your father may be bedridden and unable to move. There are probably many people who don’t want him to live.”
At that, Lu Jinshuang’s frown deepened. “Would it really happen so quickly? Unless something has changed with North Yue. Perhaps those people are afraid that waiting too long will put them at a disadvantage, so they want to plunge the realm into chaos. I hope Little Nine is all right.”
She thought of the other princes, each of them watching that throne like hungry wolves. She truly had to hurry back.
Xi Qingyue shook her head calmly. “Don’t worry. As long as Big Sister Lu doesn’t let compassion weaken her resolve, she’ll be fine.”
The weapons Xi Qingyue had given her were no mere ornaments. Even if it came to killing, they were enough to fight their way through the imperial palace.
By the time they finished speaking, they had already returned to the county office. Xi Qingyue did not go to the main courtroom. She had no interest in handling trials herself; Mu Jin could take care of them perfectly well.
There were no particularly difficult cases in the city. In the past, people with powerful connections had shielded the guilty, leaving ordinary citizens with nowhere to seek justice. Now that they had been given a chance to speak, matters became much simpler.
Whether they were dandies from influential families, spoiled young ladies, or hooligans and scoundrels, anyone who deserved to be arrested was taken into custody. Those in prison who had been wrongfully accused were released.
By the time Xi Qingyue returned, Mu Jin had already handled everything in an orderly fashion. She had even arrested several young masters from branch families of the prominent clans.
Two members of the Song family’s branch households had been arrested. However, their family head, Song Linzhi, was too preoccupied with his wife turning the household upside down over the mistress he kept outside to pay any attention to the matter.
The heads of the Qiao and Pei families were so furious that they smashed teacups at home, yet not a single one of them went to the county office to bail anyone out.
They were all waiting for someone else to make the first move, since none of their direct descendants had been arrested yet.
Nanxing stood before Xi Qingyue and said with a grin, “Princess, Sister Mu Jin said to keep these people alive for now and decide what to do with them later. She said that if we kill them, we won’t be able to lure out the bigger fish.”
Xi Qingyue chuckled when she heard this. “She’s done very well. I remember those families were planning to monopolize prices, too. We can’t kill their younger generation so soon and scare them into hiding. We’ll deal with them all at once later.”
