Chapter 42

Qingyun is still ostensibly the daughter of a disgraced official, but everyone isn't blind. The higher-ups value her so much, so why would they bother her?

Looking at this scene, although many people died not because of Qingyun, she still felt a sense of annoyance.

"You can't control them, these people are used to it."

Upon hearing this, Qingyun turned to look at Mu Helian. Seeing her gaze, Mu Helian brought up an incident from years ago: the head of the rice farm was targeted for revenge, and the entire rice granary was poisoned. When this was discovered, the higher-ups issued a death order for every household to take out and discard the poisoned rice. Even so, there were still those who were not afraid of death who wanted to eat it. I'm afraid that even if you put a knife to their throats, they would still pour poisoned rice down their throats.

This is something that people can't change. When people get rich, their first priority is food; when people are poor, their first priority is still their stomach. This is the instinctive desire to live. Besides, there's a saying that it's better to die well than to be killed.

Seeing that the woman opposite her remained silent for a long time, her pretty face was all furrowed, and her eyebrows were even forming a deep frown, Mu Helian also fell silent. Just like this matter, it's something you have to think through yourself; others can't dictate your thoughts.

Qingyun was silent for a moment, then her eyes suddenly cleared. She seemed to have made a big decision, and simply replied softly, "I understand."

“I’m telling you, just leave this to your own devices. Her family is just too poor. They have nothing to eat, and they’ve sold their children.” A woman standing nearby said. Qingyun had met her a few times before.

"Don't worry about me, I'm going back now." She said this to the two people standing there and then walked back.

The woman watched the man walk away before speaking, "Lord Mu, another message has arrived, requesting your presence."

Mu Helian stood with her hands behind her back, her face expressionless. Upon hearing this, she glanced at the woman with her head down, but said nothing. She simply turned and ordered the others to bury the bodies further away.

The surrounding area was bustling with noise, but Qingyun was preoccupied with her own thoughts and didn't notice the carriage speeding past behind her. By the time she realized what was happening, she had already been pulled aside. A burly young man frowned at her and asked, "What's wrong with you? Trying to get yourself killed?"

Watching the carriage disappear into the distance, she turned to look at the man, only then remembering that she should thank him. "I'm so sorry."

The man glanced at her and sighed, "Girls should watch where they're going!"

Before Qingyun could answer again, his eyes suddenly caught sight of a very familiar figure in the teahouse next door: Song Chaoyun.

She hurried over to look and found that it was not Song Chaoyun, but Song Chaohua. She was dressed in plain clothes and sitting with someone, as if they were talking about something. As if she noticed the gaze, she turned around and glanced at where Qingyun was.

Fortunately, Qingyun hid quickly and wasn't discovered. No one knows what she's up to, but it's strange that this person is here.

She remained silent, watching him until Song Chaohua went upstairs, at which point Qingyun stopped her spying.

Faced with this situation, she felt frustrated for the first time. She stayed in her room all day, lying on the bed staring at the ceiling without saying a word. When she was hungry, she would eat a few potato snacks. That's how the day went by.

Finally, on the third day, Lin Wanjun came over. Qingyun didn't say anything, so she stayed by his side. In the quiet room, even the air seemed to move so slowly.

"I feel like I've lost my way," Qingyun suddenly said, peeking out with half her head and looking at Lin Wanjun with restless eyes.

As she was speaking, she turned her head back to stare at the ceiling, a bitterness she couldn't express, as if she had lost her original aspirations. "This is the first time I've felt so helpless. Without Song Chaoyun's help, I feel like I'm nothing."

These past few days she's tried everything but haven't come up with a good solution. It's like she's walked into a dead end, unable to move forward or backward. This frustration is something she can't shake off no matter what she does.

Actually, it's because subconsciously, Qingyun still believes that she shouldn't rely on others for help. It's as if to become a protagonist, one must have the ability to solve problems on their own and possess unparalleled intelligence. But deep down, she's not that kind of person, and she'll feel helpless.

Just like the current situation, without Song Chaoyun, she wouldn't know what to do, wouldn't understand how she, with her weak power, could achieve perfection, and wouldn't be able to think of a solution.

“I don’t know what to do! I don’t know how to do this properly! As you can see, I can’t stop people from eating the poisoned potatoes and leaves. It’s a vicious cycle.”

Qingyun hysterically shouted out her innermost thoughts, her eyes brimming with tears, and after the emotional outburst came a deep sense of powerlessness.

Seeing that Qingyun had finished expressing himself, Lin Wanjun, who had remained silent all along, finally spoke up, "Yes, you have to say it out loud."

Upon hearing this, Qingyun paused for a moment, only to see Lin Wanjun continue, "Qingyun, you're not a god, you're just an ordinary person. Do you have to shoulder everything and do everything yourself?"

"But……"

Lin Wanjun interrupted her, "Have you ever thought that even if you rely on Song Chaoyun, Song Chaoyun also relies on you? Your ingenious ideas about divine soldiers descending are things we could never have come up with. Without your suggestions and ideas, wouldn't she have been playing a dead end game?"

How can this not be considered leveraging an opportunity?

"So what do we do now?"

Lin Wanjun: "What do you take the villagers for? How could you know that people who die from eating trees will still eat them? They'd rather gnaw on tree bark than eat the leaves again."

An indescribable emotion welled up inside her. After Lin Wanjun's words of comfort, Qingyun felt a little better. She felt both helpless and heartbroken.

Look how insightful they are!

Qingyun was already used to the system's hindsight bias. She ignored it and picked herself up to find someone. Yes, wasn't this a mutually beneficial arrangement? She didn't need to carry so much burden; she was just an ordinary person, and shouldn't act like the protagonist of the world just because she transmigrated.

To put it bluntly, these are things that the country's leaders should be concerned about.

"Lord Song." Qingyun stood up and smiled.

Song Junwu was quite surprised by her arrival. After all, Song Chaoyun had left, and he thought Qingyun would never step into the house again. The man was still in his military uniform. Seeing the woman's lowered face, he sat down with an air of authority. "What is it?"

Based on Song Junwu's understanding of Qingyun, the other party wouldn't bother him unless there was a reason.

"Now that some people have mistakenly eaten the poisonous sprouts, I want to know how many people have been infected."

"Is this all you're here for?"

Qingyun nodded, and seeing this, Song Junwu told her to sit down. The maid beside her steadily placed the teacup in front of the man, glancing at Qingyun sitting there from time to time. She seemed quite relaxed and content.

Just as Song Junwu was about to put the tea in his mouth, his nose detected something amiss. He didn't react, but quietly pushed the teacup back onto the small table. Instead, he crossed his hands, relaxed them on his lap, and slowly drew circles with his two thumbs before asking, "Aren't you afraid I'll come after you?"

Upon hearing this, Qingyun replied calmly, "I warned them at the beginning, but ultimately I couldn't control what others ate. If they wanted to eat, they ate; and they have to bear the consequences." As she spoke, her sharp eyes swept over the man before her.

"Lord Song, so how many people actually died?"

Song Junwu smiled, "In previous years, many people died. If we really spent that much time counting how many people died at the hands of Potato Leaf, would the army in this city be able to keep up?"

Qingyun understood. "I won't waste my breath on you. The deaths in Muyun City won't spread far, but I believe there will still be people eating potato leaves."

Seemingly guessing what the other person was thinking, Song Junwu raised an eyebrow and teased, "You have ideas?"

Qingyun was still wearing that hard-won but rather unsightly cotton coat, but her expression was now resolute and cold, and her entire demeanor exuded an extraordinary aura. The scene was reminiscent of when she confronted Liu Ruo in the hall.

But Song Junwu felt that things were different from before, as if Qingyun had become a different person. Just as he was racking his brains trying to figure it out, he heard the other party continue, "I want you to give the order that if even one person dies from eating potato leaves, the entire family shall be buried with them."

Her eyes were fixed on Song Junwu, filled with an unfathomable darkness, and her tone was icy as she slowly added, "Just like I was back then, we should all suffer the consequences of being implicated."

Song Junwu was speechless for a moment.

Qingyun: "What, are you afraid you can't take the responsibility?"

Is this just about being afraid of taking responsibility?

System: [It feels like an honest person has been driven crazy.]

Qingyun: ...

System: [What good would that do you? If someone actually eats it, are you really going to do it? Wouldn't you become a sinner for all time? Let's not even talk about whether Song Junwu would agree to this...]

"Alright, then we'll do as you say." Before the system could finish speaking, Song Junwu, who had been sitting in the armchair without responding, finally spoke up.

System: [Two lunatics...]

Upon hearing this, Qingyun smiled, a rare occurrence for her. She was quite surprised by Song Junwu's answer, realizing that she had underestimated him.

Qingyun: [What do you know? I just suddenly realized that sometimes you do need to use some force.]

The system trembled, [You sound like an honest person who's turned evil. Has your personality really changed that much?]

Qingyun: ...

Song Junwu acted swiftly and quickly passed on the order. Seeing that Qingyun was about to leave, he couldn't help but say, "Don't you like today's pastries?"

Faced with these nonsensical words, Qingyun subconsciously glanced at the small square table beside her. Sure enough, there was a plate of steamed rice cakes on it, which looked freshly made. She had been busy preparing what to say and guessing the other person's reaction, so she hadn't had time to pay attention to such things.

Song Junwu scrutinized Qingyun with a discerning gaze. No sooner had he finished speaking than the other man picked up a piece, took a large bite, and then pulled out a brown cloth bag, dumping all the rice cakes from the plate into it.

Finally, he added a compliment, "Delicious."

Upon seeing this scene, Song Junwu lowered his eyes and chuckled.