While Shen Xingmian was lost in thought, the county magistrate next to him nearly flew into a rage. He had spent so much time trying to curry favor with her, only to have it all ruined by a few words from this wretched woman!

I shouldn't have brought her here today. If I had known her foul mouth would offend people, I should have pulled out her tongue and brought her here to apologize.

Now he's offended them again. How can he possibly beg them to give in?

This is so worrying!

However, this maid had been unconscious until the second young lady touched her, and she immediately woke up and even had the energy to curse. It seems the rumors were indeed true.

He had to get her consent no matter what, otherwise, how could he possibly have any happiness or joy for the rest of his life?

He simply couldn't accept the thought of that outcome.

He made up his mind that even if he had to stay, he would stay there and get his illness completely cured before leaving.

As for those official duties, what does it matter? The entire Quanhe County is his territory, who dares to question his actions?

Even if he doesn't go back for ten days or half a month, no one can do anything to him.

And so, the magistrate quickly found a solution for himself, determined to be shameless and get the problem cured before leaving.

The first thing he decided to do was to win the favor of this second young lady, and as for how to do it, of course he would cater to her preferences.

He took a few steps forward and kicked the maid twice hard, saying fiercely:

"Serves you right for being so outspoken and daring to offend everyone. You deserve to be beaten to death! I should have pulled out your tongue before you left the house, so you wouldn't be spouting nonsense here. You're the one who truly deserves to die!"

That maid dared to curse Shen Xingmian with such arrogance, but she didn't dare to challenge her magistrate. When she was kicked, she would just curl up and beg for mercy while trying to avoid him.

What a cowardly and bullying servant!

But they couldn't understand the situation, and they couldn't figure out who they really couldn't afford to offend.

However, Shen Xingmian no longer felt any pity for her. The consequences she was experiencing today were the result of her own actions, and she could not blame anyone else.

Even if she were beaten to death here by the magistrate, she would only feel it was bad luck, nothing more.

Her mother and maternal grandfather shared the same thoughts.

Shen Zhiheng watched for a long time, but finally couldn't stand it anymore and spoke up to stop him, saying, "Whether you cripple or kill someone is none of our business, but don't dirty our land. Go back to your residence and settle it yourselves."

His words were extremely impolite, and Shen Xingmian immediately understood the magistrate's status with her maternal grandfather—that he was someone she could offend without any fear.

Actually, there was nothing to be afraid of. They had already offended the emperor and the others. A mere county magistrate was no match for them; they could simply replace him.

She wanted to assassinate someone, but she couldn't even imagine how she could fail. She had really worried too much before.

After having a stable home, people are always thinking about not creating too many hidden dangers in the neighborhood, which makes them hesitant to do anything.

This is highly inadvisable.

Upon hearing Shen Zhiheng's words, the magistrate immediately stopped his frenzied kicking and turned to kneel before Shen Xingmian, pleading:

"Second Miss, I beg you, have mercy! I've already dealt with this maid. Now that you've vented your anger, could you please save me? My happiness for the rest of my life is in your hands!"

If he hadn't said that last sentence, Shen Xingmian might have pinched his nose and treated him out of fear that he would keep bothering her for a long time, so that he would get lost.

But when she heard that last sentence, she felt really disgusted.

She quickly took two steps back to avoid getting saliva on herself, fearing it might contain a virus.

How could such a filthy man become a county magistrate? With power in his hands, who knows how many women he will harm?

It would be best if he remained sick and in pain, with no one daring to touch him, living in torment for the rest of his life.

Seeing her retreat, Shen Zhiheng immediately understood and shouted outside, "Lu Zhan, see the guest out!"

Lu Zhan, who was guarding outside, heard everything that happened inside and immediately understood the general's meaning. He gave Li Xun a hand gesture, and the two of them pushed open the door and entered. One of them grabbed one of the magistrate's arms and dragged him outside.

Although his actions left no room for resistance, he was very polite in his words: "Magistrate, my general has military affairs to attend to and is unable to entertain you. Please leave."

Li Li and Xin Man, who followed behind, very sensibly carried the maid who was curled up on the ground out.

How to deal with it in the end is a matter for their county magistrate's office. Don't cause any trouble for the general's office. Their goddess cannot bear to see such filthy things.

Ever since these three people were cured by Shen Xingmian, they have become her mindless fans, and they spend all their free time bragging to others about how miraculous she is.

The reason so many people in the military camp were curious about her was thanks to these three people.

Now, the rumors about the "goddess" are only getting more and more outlandish. Shen Xingmian is trying hard to adapt to this title and strives to make her performance convincing to everyone.

The magistrate refused to leave, struggling and shouting, but Lu Zhan didn't care what he wanted to do; he only cared about achieving the result the general desired.

They stuffed the person into the carriage, made room, and waited for the two people behind to stuff the maid into the carriage as well.

After doing all this, he used a knife to force the coachman to drive away quickly.

As for what might happen to them on their way back, that's none of their concern. In any case, they've already achieved their goal of keeping the goddess out of sight.

Shen Xingmian finally felt relieved when she heard the door close again. It was really unlucky to have caused such a scene so early in the morning.

She breathed a sigh of relief, planning to eat something nice to calm her mood before getting back to her daily tasks.

With more space available, she planted a lot more fruit trees.

"Not few" refers to the variety, not the quantity. Anyway, as long as there is one seed, she can have as many as she wants.

She specially picked a basket of strawberries and asked her grandfather to bring them to Lu Zhan and the others, since it must be quite tiring for him to be busy with them every day.

Moreover, these people treated her incredibly well, as if they wanted to fulfill all her wishes and treat her like royalty.

She didn't know how to repay such care, so she could only give them slightly more preferential treatment than the other soldiers.

Since she's my maternal grandfather's person anyway, it's not a loss to take good care of her.

Back in her room, Shen Xingmian began to consider the iron ore. She had been in the Northern Territory for almost a month, and because of the continuous snowfall, the snow on the ground was never-ending, making it very difficult to go into the mountains.

She felt that those people wouldn't risk their lives to go in and mine, and besides, they would need a lot of manpower, so making too much noise would definitely attract attention.

That's definitely not what they want to see.

Therefore, she believed that the iron ore mine was still in an unmined state.