Chapter 45 Old Sword: They'd never seen such a beautiful glass bottle before! ...

Goddess, He Qinglan.

No one knew who she was, and no one knew where she came from.

I know that one day last summer, she appeared in Yunhe County.

The local people, regardless of gender or age, all received the white porridge and pickled vegetables bestowed upon them by her.

She provides two meals a day, and all those who are willing to believe in her are fed by her.

Over the course of half a year, the food she provided changed from plain porridge and pickled vegetables to steamed buns, fried chicken and hamburgers, and then to three dishes and a soup.

The number of people willing to believe in her has increased from just Yunhe County to more than a dozen counties.

These people formed an army, started planting and raising livestock, and developed the local economy.

They stormed into Anling County and ousted all the officials who had previously served there: those who were willing to submit continued to work for them, while those who were unwilling were either executed or sent to work in the coal mines.

They selected talented individuals and reorganized the administrative office.

"He Qinglan herself is a woman, yet she insists on appointing women as officials! Throughout history, has there ever been a woman in office? And what talent do women possess for being officials?"

"We kindly advised her, but He Qinglan not only ignored us, but also drove us out of Anling County!"

"How can such a willful, dictatorial, and autocratic person go far, even if he has some extraordinary abilities?"

"The governor may send troops to take Anling County once she has complete control over it."

"...That's right, He Qinglan can indeed conjure food out of thin air! And it's real food! The seasonings are plentiful, and the vegetables and meat are all fresh! The rice is free of any impurities!"

"If the governor has He Qinglan in his hands, why worry about not having enough food and supplies to feed the army?"

The group of people who fled from Anling County to Maozhou cursed He Qinglan while urging Sun Yannan to send troops to attack Anling County.

Sun Yannan remained silent for a long time.

Xiao Yong ordered the guards at the door to take the person away.

Sun Yannan asked, "Do you believe it?"

Do you believe that someone can provide three dishes and a soup for the people of an entire prefecture? That sounds like bragging.

Xiao bowed respectfully, saying, "I didn't believe it originally."

Sun Yannan looked at him and waited patiently.

Xiao Yong's gaze fell on the books on Sun Yannan's table. He sighed and said, "Let's send someone to Anling County to check whether it's true or false. We'll know soon enough."

Sun Yannan understood what Xiao Yong meant and said, "I'll leave this matter to you."

If it's fake, then so be it.

But if it's true...

Sun Yannan clenched his fists tightly, enough to provide an entire prefecture's population with unlimited three dishes and a soup! If he had such a person in his hands…

Just thinking about it made Sun Yannan's gaze burn with desire.

He Qinglan was certainly not unaware of the potential covetousness of Maozhou.

Selling books, tea, wine, and other goods from Anling County to other states was bound to attract attention.

And sooner or later, news of her unlimited food supply will reach the ears of leaders in each state.

He Qinglan didn't care.

The major states are quite far from her small place. If they send large armies to attack Anling, she should be careful that other states don't take the opportunity to raid her home.

So it's highly likely that they're sending a small elite force. That's alright, the Anling military camp has artillery support.

She actually hopes that people from other states will know that she provides free food and come to her for help.

This will allow for the expansion of the teams working on road construction and farming.

Those who originally worked on road construction and farming were able to expand production in various workshops after a period of learning.

He Qinglan is never worried about a lack of talent; talent can be cultivated.

What she cares about is the lack of personnel, a shortage in terms of quantity.

But she has enough time and patience; as her reputation as a goddess spreads, more and more people will flock to her.

Having successfully unlocked the Nine-Turned Intestines, He Qinglan was in a good mood. She glanced at the still-grayed Braised Sea Cucumber with Scallions and Stir-fried Double Crispy Dishes in the system and decided to give herself a break.

She opened the [Quick Transmigrator Alliance] group that had been popping up in her mind for a long time, to see who was going crazy this time.

Wen Zheng: [I've been researching for a while and found a way to get a high score.]

Wen Zheng: [That would be to develop a dating game, with talented but unfortunate people from my world as "lovers," and then release the game to other worlds, allowing young men and women in those worlds to spend money to buy equipment for their "lovers."]

Wen Zheng: [In this way, the talented people of my dimension can receive support from people in other dimensions, enabling them to develop, change their original fate, and promote the development and progress of the world.]

Wen Zheng: [Then I'll get a high score.]

Wen Zheng: [What do you guys think?]

He Qinglan: "..."

Several crosses appeared on her forehead.

Wen Zheng is a mad scientist from the wasteland world.

Because of his innate paranoia and cold-bloodedness, and his extreme lack of empathy, he either fails to complete tasks in various worlds or passes with low scores.

Cen Ying patiently taught him how to get high scores, but it was no use.

Unexpectedly, he came up with such a solution.

After thinking about it carefully, He Qinglan felt it was feasible.

For example, if her classmate in the modern world were to bind with Mo Jingchun through a dating game, he could spend money to "buy medicine" for her when she was short of medicine, spend money to feed her when she was short of food, spend money to buy her equipment when she was in danger, and even spend money to buy her books so she could study.

Isn't this just a cyber parent who takes care of everything for their child?

Very good, as expected of Wen Zheng. Since he couldn't change the native inhabitants of his own plane like we do, he outsourced this task to people from another world.

He Qinglan replied immediately.

"I'm the best in the world: [I think your idea is very good and highly feasible.]"

Savior Shrine Maiden Sakura: [?]

This Lord is Number One in the World: [You can bind not only to people in your own plane, but also to people in our world. You can play not only dating games, but also raising virtual pets.]

I am both an angel and a demon: [6.]

Wen Zheng was very satisfied with He Qinglan's speech.

He accepted her suggestion and said that once his game system was successfully developed, he would warmly invite He Qinglan to join him.

He Qinglan smiled faintly.

By the time you successfully develop it, the second generation of my world will have grown up and be ready to take up local positions.

Perfect! Let the people from the modern and interstellar worlds assist our second generation in poverty alleviation.

Xingzhou.

On this day, the Treasure Pavilion was packed with guests.

The pavilion master personally presented a treasure to today's guests.

Lu Yingfang was sitting and sipping tea, thinking that the new tea from Zhenbaoge was really delicious. She wondered what ingredients were used to brew it and would send someone to ask later.

Suddenly, gasps and exclamations arose from all around. Lu Yingfang was startled and looked up.

In the center of the pavilion, the pavilion master held a glass bottle in his hands. The bottle had smooth lines, was crystal clear, and its body shimmered with colorful luster.

She caught her breath.

The guests present were the same as Lu Yingfang.

They had seen glassware before, but they had never seen such a beautiful and perfect glass bottle!

It is beautifully designed.

It has no extraneous debris or bubbles.

The pavilion master watched the guests' reactions with satisfaction.

He delivered the lines he had prepared long ago.

"This is a treasure brought back from overseas by a friend I met by chance. It's the only one of its kind at the moment."

He smiled and said, "I am reluctantly parting with this and am willing to sell it to the highest bidder."

Lu Yingfang's expression changed.

She put down her teacup and listened to the rising and falling bids all around her: one bid eight hundred taels, another one thousand taels, one one thousand three hundred taels, and another two thousand taels.

Lu Yingfang glanced at the glass bottle again.

She parted her lips slightly, "Two thousand gold coins."

The young woman's voice came from the private room and reached the ears of many people present.

Someone asked, "Who is it?"

The person next to him answered, "Xue Rang's wife."

"What? That's not..."

"Yes, she is... the daughter of Prime Minister Lu."

Some of the bidders stopped, but there were still quite a few members of the royal family and sons of officials present, and someone continued to bid: "Two thousand three hundred gold coins."

"Two thousand five hundred gold coins."

"Two thousand six hundred gold coins."

"Two thousand eight hundred gold coins."

Lu Yingfang smiled dismissively, "Three thousand five hundred gold coins."

A private room in the pavilion.

A few people sat inside drinking tea and eating snacks, listening to the shouts of prices outside, and couldn't help but sigh, "The capital city is just so different from our small town."

"Yes, we encountered so many starving people along the way, but the high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital could still spend money lavishly on vases."

"The book says, 'Behind the red gates, meat and wine go to waste, while on the road, the bones of those frozen to death lie.' Is that what it means?"

"The way they were bidding was making me a little..."

"Hold on, Minister Yun said that things are valued for their scarcity."

Lu Yingfang ultimately won the bid with 5,000 gold coins.

She glanced smugly at the rooms she had just lost the competition to, made arrangements with the pavilion master for payment and delivery, and left haughtily with the glass bottle.

The Xue Residence.

"Be careful, if anything goes wrong with the treasure, your whole family will lose their heads."

She gently gave her instructions.

At this moment, Xue Rang carrying a bamboo basket walked through the corridor towards this side.

The young man had a handsome face, and his coarse mourning clothes only accentuated his extraordinary demeanor.

When Lu Yingfang caught a glimpse of Xue Rang's mourning clothes, her face stiffened and turned pale. But she was already used to it and quickly adjusted her expression.

She gave Xue Rang a gentle and considerate smile, "Is my lord going to pay respects to Sister Caiwei?"

Xue Rang nodded and said, "Today is the anniversary of Caiwei's death."

Lu Yingfang frowned slightly. "Yes, my lord, could you wait a moment? I'll change my clothes and come with you."

Xue Rang refused without hesitation, "No need, I'll go alone."

Lu Yingfang maintained her virtuous smile as she watched Xue Rang walk out the door carrying a bamboo basket.

She turned and went back to her room.

The smile on her face vanished instantly. She grabbed a porcelain bottle beside her and smashed it heavily on the ground.

Lu Yingfang's face was ashen, her eyes filled with rage.

"Xue Caiwei! Xue Caiwei!" she murmured, the name that haunted her. "She's been dead for so many years! You still can't forget her!"

The person who will stay by your side is me, the person who will marry you is me, and the person who will grow old with you is me!

Why do you always remember Xue Caiwei?

Why can't you forget her? Look back at me!

The maids waiting outside perked up, listening intently to the sounds of things being smashed inside.

They were used to it; every year on this day, the husband would go out to pay respects to the deceased, while the wife would go crazy at home.

Before long, the woman regained her composure and told them to come in and clean.

The maids breathed a sigh of relief and went into the room with brooms.

Lu Yingfang walked out of the room.

She was also the proud and elegant daughter of the Prime Minister and the wife of the Minister of Works.

The country girl who had captured Xue Rang's heart was now just bones buried in the earth.

She has a lifetime to win Xue Rang's heart.

The woman gave a cold smile.

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Author's Note: Xue Caiwei and Xue Rang are not related by blood. Neither Xue Caiwei nor Xue Rang are related to Xue Jianwei of Anling County. The names are simply chosen because the author is bad at naming things and they look very similar.

Xue Rang and Lu Yingfang are the male and female protagonists of a melodramatic romance novel in this world (if He Qinglan hadn't come).