Chapter 54 Surrender Offer (Part Two): Reactions from All Sides

He Qinglan is still at sea and hasn't returned yet.

The news that the governor of Maozhou had sent an envoy to persuade them to surrender had spread throughout most of Anling County.

Gu Lanying was the first to receive the news. She smiled and instructed the propaganda department to do a good job of publicizing the information to prevent some people from taking the opportunity to spread rumors and cause panic.

"Don't worry, we will only listen to the goddess."

The young woman blinked. "Minister, the storybooks say those strategists are handsome and skilled in both literature and martial arts. Could I secretly go and see them...?"

Gu Lanying deliberately put on a stern face, "No, you are a member of the Administrative Office, and to a certain extent you represent the Goddess's face. You can't embarrass yourself in front of the Maozhou people."

The young woman said disappointedly, "Okay."

Gu Lanying said, "Don't think about watching the excitement yet. Let's finish our work first. The preliminary rounds of our sports meet are scheduled for the autumn equinox."

A middle-aged woman smiled warmly, "Yes, we need to get the registration done as soon as possible, finalize the list of participants, and organize them to do basic training in their spare time."

A young man looked at his notebook and said slowly, "We also need to prepare the competition equipment, set up the venue, invite referees... There's a lot of work to do."

"A question," a girl raised her hand, "why is our publicity department in charge of the autumn sports meet?"

The young woman spread her hands, "Why? Because our administrative office doesn't have a cultural and recreational department or a sports department, haha."

Everyone's been very busy lately, except for the publicity department.

Therefore, this task fell to the publicity department.

Gu Lanying thought it would be a good opportunity to train everyone's ability to organize large-scale events, so she didn't refuse and took on the task.

Later, the Administrative Office established a Department of Culture and Sports, and the corresponding activities and competitions were put under the responsibility of the Department of Culture and Sports.

Next was Zhu Youchuan.

He looked up from the case file, his eyes bloodshot. "Sun Yannan from Maozhou? Who did he send?"

The pageboy said, "It's not the eldest young master."

Zhu Youchuan: "..."

He rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter if it's Zhu Yunze who comes. I've already said they're the direct descendants, and I'm from the collateral line. Although we're brothers from the same family, our relationship isn't much closer than yours with your neighbor."

The page scratched the back of his head and explained in a serious tone, "Young master, have you forgotten? I have no neighbors."

Zhu Youchuan: "..." He continued to roll his eyes and asked, word by word, "Who sent it from Maozhou?"

Page: "Xiao Luo from the Secretariat said that the person who came is called Xiao Yong."

Zhu Youchuan said "Oh," and then added, "Xiao Xingzhi."

The page asked, "Do you wish to go see him?"

Zhu Youchuan lowered his head and continued reading the case file. "Isn't the goddess still not back? Come and call me when she returns."

What's the point of seeing them? You'd be better off spending that time reading through more case files!

He's very busy.

People in the teahouses, wineries, and ceramic workshops were getting restless. They approached their bosses and said, "In the past, people from the Ministry of Finance had to travel all the way to Maozhou to do business, and they had to ask people to act as intermediaries. Now that people from Maozhou have come directly to our territory, shouldn't we take this opportunity to talk business?"

Aunt Feng from the teahouse: "Don't talk to me. I don't know how to do business. Go talk to Minister Yun."

"Minister Yun has gone to the countryside."

Aunt Feng: "Where is Vice Minister Song?"

"Aren't there salt wells north of Jinzhou? Vice Minister Song led a group to find the locals to do salt business." After all, our jurisdiction doesn't produce salt.

Aunt Feng looked relaxed. "Then we won't worry about it. If we need to discuss business, the Ministry of Finance will take action. We don't need to worry about it."

Jiang Zhou from the winery: "Good idea. While the envoy from Maozhou is here, let's talk to them about a wine business deal, preferably a long-term one."

"So you intend to..."

Jiang Zhou smiled and said, "I plan to wait until the goddess returns and talk to Maozhou before we discuss it further."

"That's fine, so we don't waste everyone's time by negotiating a deal and then Maozhou turns against us the next day."

"Yes, we cannot act beyond the goddess's authority."

Jiang Zhou raised an eyebrow. "We're not worried about selling our wine, so what's the rush?"

He Jin from the ceramics workshop: "No, no, no, although our porcelain is good, it's definitely more profitable to do business with those suckers on the grasslands!"

He Jin: "We just need to send a few glass products from Maozhou over for auction occasionally."

He Jin: "The goddess is not at home right now, so all of you should keep quiet. If anyone causes trouble, I won't protect them. I'll have the city guards take them straight to jail."

Everyone: "...Okay, okay."

This matter did not cause much of a stir among the people of Anling County, because many people did not understand the meaning of "surrender" or the consequences of coming under the rule of Sun Yannan.

Even if someone tries to explain it to others, they can't really make it clear.

"Maozhou and Shengzhou are so far away from our Anling County, how can we belong to them?"

"Aren't we from Jinzhou?"

"It means that from now on, Anling will listen to Maozhou."

"Aren't we supposed to listen to the goddess? Why should we listen to Maozhou?"

What benefits can Maozhou offer us?

"That's right. The goddess feeds us, so we listen to her. What does Maozhou have to do with us? Why should we listen to them?"

“The governor of Maozhou wants us to listen to them.”

"Oh? I think he actually wanted the goddess to provide food for the soldiers under his command, right?"

"I think so too. After all, they need supplies for fighting. This year, Maozhou also suffered from floods, resulting in reduced grain production."

"No wonder they came looking for our goddess!"

"Of all the places in the world, only we Anling people can have enough to eat every day!"

"I knew those outsiders would covet our goddess!"

Has the administrative office posted any notices?

"Did you hear what the people in the administration office said?"

"Have Elder Cheng and Minister Gu spoken yet?"

"No, no, no, the administration office has not made any moves at the moment."

"The goddess hasn't returned yet, so it's impossible for the administrative office to post notices before the goddess does."

"Too."

"Then we'll wait for the goddess to return. We'll listen to the goddess!"

"Hmm, we'll see what the goddess says then."

The people of Anling County continued their lives, going home after get off work in the workshops, carrying crops home from the fields, and carrying hoes home from the construction sites.

Wash up and eat.

Then I packed up and prepared to go to night school to continue learning to read and write, and to learn those mind-numbing arithmetic problems from the teacher.

Longyuan Academy.

He Qinglan went to sea today, so Qiu Tang didn't rush back to the Goddess's Mansion after school. She sat in the classroom doing her homework.

About half an hour later, Qiu Tang heard footsteps running towards the classroom.

She looked up and saw Liang Xingqi and Ji Yuanheng enter the room one after the other with serious expressions, heading straight for her desk.

Qiu Tang: "?"

Liang Xingqi slammed his hands on the table with a "bang," staring intently at Qiu Tang, and said in a deep voice, "Qiu Tang, did you know that Sun Yannan sent an envoy to Anling?"

Ji Yuanheng pulled up a chair next to her and sat down, saying slowly, "They want to incorporate our Anling County."

Liang Xingqi frowned. "Isn't Sun Yannan's main goal the Goddess?"

Ji Yuanheng pursed her lips and asked softly, "Will the goddess agree?"

Liang Xingqi sighed, "If Anling County falls into Sun Yannan's hands, the world will change."

Ji Yuanheng lowered her eyelashes and said in a low voice, "My poor parents are going to become refugees again."

Qiu Tang: "..."

Qiu Tang: "..."

Qiu Tang: "..."

She looked at the class monitor and math representative, who were singing in unison, and laughed in exasperation. "Hey you two! If you want to put on a show, can't you find another place?"

Could you please give me a chance to speak?

Liang Xingqi and Ji Yuanheng extended their left and right hands respectively, making a "please" gesture at the same time, waiting for her to speak.

Qiu Tang said something pointless, "Isn't it normal for people to come after the Goddess?" The Goddess's reputation is growing, and there will only be more and more people coming after her in the future.

Liang Xingqi rolled her eyes and said urgently, "Please, I want to know what the goddess thinks about this..."

Ji Yuanheng interrupted Liang Xingqi, and with a bitter face advised, "Forget it, Qiu Tang isn't a mind reader, how could she know what the goddess is thinking?"

Qiu Tang: "!!!"

Although I don't know what the goddess is thinking, what do you mean by this?

Qiu Tang bristled, "Did you two come here specifically to make fun of me?"

Her gaze swept from Ji Yuanheng's face to Liang Xingqi's face, and then back to Ji Yuanheng's face. She said coldly, "If you have nothing to do, do a few more problems. Don't go crazy."

Ji Yuanheng glanced at Qiu Tang's homework and casually said, "The answer to this question is 37."

Qiu Tang subconsciously looked down. Huh, is it 37? Did I do something wrong?

She suddenly realized that this wasn't the main point, and anger welled up inside her. "I'm talking about you two..."

Liang Xingqi chuckled and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Sorry, sorry, we were just worried and that's why we came to you to ask for information."

Ji Yuanheng frowned and said in a deep voice, "I want to continue my studies. I want to work in the government through recruitment in the future."

Liang Xingqi closed his eyes briefly. "I want to too."

They were geniuses; they had read many books in the school and county libraries, and thus understood a truth much earlier than many adults: only the goddess could give them the future they wanted.

The morning star hangs high in the sky, and they set off towards it, braving the elements and overcoming obstacles, because they did not want their path to be cut off.

Qiu Tang is the one chosen by the goddess, and no matter what the future holds, the goddess will protect her.

But they are not.

As Qiu Tang looked at her two classmates, she recalled the time when she sat in a bucket and drifted away with the current, the people who almost died in the massacre, and the people who were rescued from the flood and cried with their families.

She reached out and grabbed Liang Xingqi with one hand and Ji Yuanheng with the other.

“Don’t worry,” the girl smiled slightly, “The goddess is very kind to us. She always pities the weak and will not abandon us.”

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Author's note: I wrote over 2200 words last night, then the power went out in my neighborhood, and I didn't come to the office this morning. I rummaged through my drawers and found 7 yuan, then took my laptop and took the bus to the office.