Chapter 38

She admitted that the plan would involve many people and be very complicated, but Qingyun just wanted to do it.

System: [Even a clay Bodhisattva crossing the river can't save itself. Host, are you holding a very high-ranking position?]

The fact that an AI that's supposedly stupid understands proverbs? Qingyun just gave a wicked smile, giving off a domineering CEO vibe. [I'm surrounded by connections, do you think I wouldn't use them? Are people really that stupid?]

The plan was quite simple. It would be unreasonable to ask Song Chaoyun to go and demand the person directly, and it would be illegal to have Song Junwu seize the person. So, they would fight the law with the law, have the county magistrate's office bring a petition, arrest the person, and then decide what sentence to give. Wouldn't that be something that could be manipulated behind the scenes?

System: [You're convinced Song Chaoyun will help you? You're from modern times, is she?]

On second thought, it was indeed true. Did she really have to go and explain that woman's so-called innocence to her? After a long while, Qingyun replied, "Not necessarily." She pondered for a moment, then walked towards the command post.

This matter is important, and she's afraid there won't be enough time. If she really makes someone kneel in this cold night, they'll probably freeze solid by morning.

“Okay.” Song Chaoyun straightened her posture, hesitated for a few seconds, and then put pen to paper to add stamens to the chrysanthemums. She was calm and did not ask Qingyun why she was doing it.

Qingyun, who had just prepared her words but hadn't yet spoken, paused, touched her lips repeatedly, and finally swallowed her words.

"really?"

"really."

Song Chaoyun had already finished decorating the flower stamens. She looked up at Qingyun and saw her standing there in a daze. She couldn't help but smile and brought up the matter of potatoes, saying, "I was thinking of letting them plant them directly. If the harvest is not good next year, I will have my own way of dealing with it."

Judging from this tone, is she trying to cover her own tracks? Forcing them to plant the seed directly? Is that even feasible? She is indeed a princess, but it seems your father's treasury isn't in your hands either.

Qingyun looked at the other person cautiously and asked, "You've been going along with me so much, it's making me feel like things are going too smoothly for you."

Song Chaoyun: "Isn't it better to do as you say?"

It's not that it's bad, it's just that everything feels too smooth, like I've been given a cheat code.

"Qingyun," Song Chaoyun called out to her, "There's nothing wrong with things going smoothly. You don't necessarily need to experience great suffering to make people understand your hardships. What's valuable is perseverance." Qingyun will stay here for five years, ten years, or a lifetime, while Song Chaoyun is, after all, a princess of a country. Once she's here, there's no guarantee she'll be able to return in the future. Within her limited time and scope, she wants to do something.

How many people will still protect and help her in the future? Now she should accumulate status and power so that she can stand on her own after Song Chaoyun leaves.

Song Chaoyun was unaware that the body in this body had been replaced with a different soul. Although she had seen Qingyun's extraordinary qualities these past few days, she also understood one thing: no matter how much enthusiasm and courage she had, without money and power, it would be impossible to succeed, and there would be people making things difficult for her everywhere.

Qingyun was unaware of Song Chaoyun's complicated feelings for her, but upon hearing this, she began to reflect. In fact, the journey had not been easy. The insect plague had not yet been completely eradicated, and even when she was injured, she had to keep digging into the sand dunes. Thinking about it carefully, she couldn't explain how she had persevered.

Ever since she transmigrated, she subconsciously felt that she had to be like the heroine in novels, doing things that would shock the world and change it. It was as if she couldn't become the protagonist without those pains and tribulations. Was it because of her ordinary life in real life, or the pressure brought by the system? In short, she suddenly realized that she had put shackles on herself.

Actually, being a marginal figure in the world isn't so bad. The important thing is to live the kind of life you want to live. Even if you don't achieve anything extraordinary, you've still lived a fulfilling life.

Seeing this, Qingyun didn't ask any more questions. Besides, things were proceeding as she had expected. She just hadn't expected that the person who did this was Ye Linping. It had been a while since she had seen him.

Ye Linping continued his irresponsible attempts to get close to Qingyun, repeatedly asking her if she had already found someone else in her heart and was therefore unwilling to marry him.

Qingyun dismissed these words as mere air, for even if they were spoken seriously, there was something strange about them.

"Where is she?" Qingyun looked around but couldn't see the girl.

Ye Linping, holding a folding fan, smiled upon hearing this and said, "You want to see her?"

Qingyun, who was walking ahead, turned around and looked at him. "Do I look like someone who likes to joke around?"

"Now that she is a sinner, she should be sent to plant trees, just like you."

Upon hearing this, Qingyun paused for a second, thinking that this was for the best. Just then, Feng Sijing passed by, first giving Ye Linping a thorough once-over, then leaning closer and whispering, "Why are you with him?"

Seeing that the other party seemed to know this guy, Qingyun rolled her eyes and asked what was wrong. Feng Sijing didn't answer, but instead brought up another topic, saying that Mu Helian was looking for her.

"Lord Ye," Mu Helian bowed respectfully, glancing at Qingyun as if to ask how she had brought him here.

Ye Linping was quite sensible. He smiled and said, "You two chat," and his servants pulled out a chair. He sat down not far away and slowly began to drink his tea.

Qingyun: "..."

Mu Helian: "I heard you've been interfering in the Qin family's affairs?"

"You're certainly well-informed."

People who come to her naturally need her approval, so how could she not know? Mu Helian said earnestly, "This Qin family and the Qin family that was going to marry you that day share the same origin. Don't you really think there's anything wrong with that?"

Qingyun: "So what if we're family?"

Mu Helian: "Don't you think it's too much of a coincidence? I checked the date that woman was arrested. If she really wanted to be punished, she would have done it long ago. Why wait until you come to make someone kneel there?"

She pulled Qingyun aside and carefully examined the expression on his face. "Have you thought about any of this?"

Qingyun: "..."

Qingyun was already somewhat resigned to her fate, begging and pleading, only to be told that it might be a trap. If it was a trap, then so be it. What else could she do? Besides, the Qin family hadn't been in a hurry for her to steal the seal recently. Could it be that they wanted to use this person to steal it?

She couldn't figure it out, so she simply stopped thinking about it. She looked around but couldn't see Lin Wanjun. "Why don't I see Lin Wanjun? She's usually here when you look for me."

I don't know what Qingyun was thinking, jumping the topic so far away all of a sudden. Seeing this, Mu Helian didn't know what to say. Thinking that she hadn't seen this person these days, she said, "She did come to sign some documents, but I guess she's been rushing to meet deadlines. If you want to find her, you'll have to go somewhere further away."

"Do you know what she did to be exiled here?" Qingyun suddenly asked.

Upon hearing this, Mu Helian pondered for a moment before recalling the document she had seen from Lin Wanjun that day, which contained only four words: "framing a loyal and virtuous person."

"Frame a loyal and virtuous person?" Qingyun narrowed his eyes, gently rubbing his chin as he repeatedly chewed on the words.

Mu Helian: "I don't know if she was the mastermind or if she was implicated, but in any case, she's not someone to be underestimated." She suddenly lowered her voice, "The higher-ups even instructed us to make things difficult for her on a regular basis."

Qingyun: "Then why haven't I seen you bully her?"

Mu Helian just smiled and said, "I don't like bullying people." Rather than saying that, it was more that she felt Lin Wanjun was not as she appeared.

A gray-white bird spread its wings and soared steadily in the air with the help of the wind. Then it suddenly began to swoop down. After a moment, it landed steadily on an arm. The person took the note from the bird's ankle.

"Sir, everything is going well," a man said.

Upon hearing this, Song Junwu glanced at it, his hands still moving, placing the paper over the fire to heat it. After seeing the handwriting clearly, he smiled slightly, then turned around and instructed, "Collect everything carefully. Put the documents and receipts in the Xia Pavilion, and the gold, silver, and valuables..." He paused, "...send them all to the princess."

The subordinate acknowledged, then continued, "There's a woman named Mu Helian among the foremen who investigated Old Master Qin's concubine today. She also seemed to have spoken to Qingyun about something. Should we give her a private warning?"

The man, dressed in a brocade robe and standing as straight as a pine tree, waved his hand and said, "Let her go. There's no need to hide this."

We'll find out someday; it's just a matter of time.

Song Junwu seemed to remember something else, "Is there any news about the eldest son of the Qin family?"

"Nothing yet. Perhaps he has blended into the group of refugees, making it difficult to investigate."

Seeing this, Song Junwu only gave a few instructions and then dismissed the servants.

At first, some people didn't believe the potatoes could be grown, and those who took them home ate them directly. This caused Qingyun to frantically ask the system for potatoes, basket after basket. The problem was, when people asked her where she got them, she couldn't easily answer. Song Chaoyun then meaningfully said she wanted to go see the land where she planted the seedlings.

He was drenched in sweat, thinking that if he distributed potatoes to all the farmers in the city, they would not plant them and would instead take them home to eat as a sham. Even if he were the god of potatoes, he couldn't afford to support them. Suddenly, he remembered that he should let a few households plant them first. Once they had some success, others would naturally follow suit.

"Oh my god, why did it take me so long to remember! You have to choose the guinea pigs before you can do an experiment!"

You're only realizing it now?

Hearing the system's words, Qingyun realized with a start, "[You didn't already know, did you?! Why didn't you warn me?]"

Actually, this system was just making empty promises after the fact; when it heard Qingyun ask it that question, it simply pretended to be dead.

The people around her scrambled for potatoes, and Qingyun was busy chopping them up. She quickly poured the chopped potato pieces into the wooden basin in front of the soldiers. Before she could even react as she returned to her stool, a hand covered in calluses and mud reached out to her.

"Girl, we'd like to try it too."

Looking up at the sound, she saw a peasant woman bending over and smiling apologetically at her, with a child of a few years old beside her. She seemed embarrassed that she hadn't gone to queue up to get her things and had come directly to Qingyun's place instead. She kept her head down and glanced at her cautiously from time to time.

The peasant woman's face was dark and weathered, and she seemed rather shy when she first saw someone, clutching the hem of her clothes tightly.