Chapter 163 Conflict, Pei Yuan Injured for Shen Chu

The pulley paused for a moment, and the wooden bucket hanging on it slid smoothly to the bottom of the well.

The steward turned and lashed Pei Yuan with his whip.

"You blatant liar! Yanjing is perfectly fine here. If you dare to talk nonsense again, I'll beat you to death."

The long whip cracked in the air and landed on Pei Yuan's back.

Shen Chu's expression changed slightly, and she couldn't help but take a step forward.

Pei Yuan glanced at her with his sharp eyes and shook his head almost imperceptibly.

Shen Chu clenched her fists tightly, wanting to rush forward, but afraid of ruining Pei Yuan's plan.

She could only watch helplessly as the steward lashed Pei Yuan five times with the whip.

Pei Yuan accepted it without a word, his back hunched over so badly that he looked just like a timid salt worker.

"I must have misread it. I saw so many big pots empty, with no brine being boiled inside."

I was thinking of getting a few more buckets of brine to boil, because I was worried that if I didn't finish boiling salt today, we wouldn't have anything to eat.

The steward turned to look at the rows of empty pots, then frowned and glanced at the old man huddled on the ground, motionless.

Pei Yuan's words reminded him.

The saltworks already had half the number of people boiling salt; if a few more were injured, the task of boiling salt would be even more impossible to complete.

The steward snorted and circled Pei Yuan with his whip in hand.

"If it weren't for my kindness in giving you food, you refugees from the disaster area of ​​Hanyang might have starved to death here tomorrow."

Since you've been kept here, you'd better work hard for me and not have any improper thoughts.

"What are you all standing there for? Get up and get to work! If anyone tries to slack off or steal salt again, I won't let them off easily!"

The manager left, grumbling and cursing.

Shen Chu rushed over to support Pei Yuan and saw bloodstains seeping from his back, indicating that the steward had used all his strength.

She asked worriedly, "Are you alright?"

Pei Yuan straightened up. "It's nothing, just a superficial injury."

"Let's find a place to apply the medicine. It's so hot, the wound will get infected."

"No need, go boil the salt first, so the steward won't come back later."

Pei Yuan turned around, picked up the wooden bucket, and went to the well to fetch brine.

Shen Chu turned to look at the old man still lying on the ground, hesitated for a moment, and then walked over.

"Sir, are you alright? Let me help you up?"

The old man shuddered, propped himself up, carefully wrapped the salt in a cloth, and tucked it into his pocket.

Then he turned and glanced at Chen Chu, his expression blank, before getting up and staggering away.

Pei Yuan's sneer came from behind.

"See? You were in such a hurry to save people, but you didn't even get a thank you in return."

This is true humanity; don't act impulsively again.

Shen Chu raised her head and looked at Pei Yuan with a serious expression.

"I saved him simply because I couldn't bear to see a poor man beaten to death over a handful of salt."

There are so many people in the world who want to live but have no chance. I can't save everyone, but the fact that one more person can live in this world is a happy thing in itself.

Whether he thanked me or not is not what I care about or pursue.

Pei Yuan was slightly taken aback, a mocking smile curling at the corner of his lips.

"Ha, how naive! To risk exposing one's identity for an ungrateful person is, in my opinion, an extremely foolish act."

Shen Chu frowned and retorted.

"I only wanted to step forward to help him out; I wouldn't reveal my martial arts skills to save him directly. How would Your Highness know that it would expose your identity?"

Pei Yuan snorted coldly, "What if we get exposed? We might not be able to find anything."

We might even be silenced by others who take advantage of our disguise.

"Shen Chu, you're not brainless, don't tell me you didn't think of this?"

Of course she thought of that.

So her original idea was to plead with the steward and try to persuade him not to beat the old man.

Her thought was how to save the old man's life while minimizing risks.

Clearly, Pei Yuan did not agree with her idea, and she did not agree with Pei Yuan's idea either.

Shen Chu blurted out, "Since Your Highness doesn't agree, why did you still step in to save the old man?"

"That's because I'm afraid you're stupid and will cause me to expose my identity."

"You! Forget it, there's no point in talking to you when we don't see eye to eye. I'm too lazy to argue with you."

Chen Chu angrily picked up the firewood and turned to leave.

Pei Yuan snorted coldly and left with the wooden bucket.

Shen Chu turned her head and saw that his back was almost completely stained with blood, and couldn't help but bite her lip.

If Pei Yuan hadn't stopped her, she would be the one getting whipped now.

Pei Yuan was actually injured because of her.

The thought rushed into her mind, instantly dispelling her anger.

As night fell, someone came pushing a cart to deliver food.

The supervisor came out and inspected the salt produced by the salt workers one by one.

The salt that Shen Chu and Pei Yuan boiled was just enough for twenty catties.

The foreman tossed the salt into the wooden bucket and snorted, "Not bad. Everyone will hand in thirty catties of salt tomorrow."

Shen Chu gasped.

They hadn't had a moment's rest all day, barely managing to cook twenty catties. Tomorrow they needed thirty catties, which meant they'd have to cook until midnight.

The people around him remained expressionless, as if they were used to such things.

The manager waved his hand, "Alright, go get your food."

Those who boil enough salt to produce twenty catties can each receive a dry biscuit and a bowl of wild vegetable soup.

Chen Chu took a bite of the flatbread; it was dry and gritty. She then took a sip of the wild vegetable soup and almost vomited.

It was astringent and bitter, and most importantly, it had absolutely no saltiness.

She turned to look at Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan was looking at the wild vegetable soup with a look of disgust.

If it weren't for the manager being there, he probably would have collapsed long ago.

After serving dinner, the manager called out and left.

A figure gradually approached from the side. Before Chen Chu could react, a grain of salt was dropped into his bowl.

It was that old man who got beaten up because of salt.

He nodded slightly to Shen Chu, glanced at Pei Yuan somewhat helplessly, and carefully took out a grain of salt from his handkerchief and handed it to Shen Chu.

Chen Chu was stunned for a moment before she realized, "For my sixth brother?"

Pei Yuan turned his head and looked over.

The old man put salt into Chen Chu's palm, rubbed his hands together, and whispered, "Drink it quickly, you'll have the energy to work."

After saying that, he hunched over and quickly left.

Shen Chu placed the snow-white salt grains into Pei Yuan's bowl.

Knowing that Pei Yuan couldn't see at night, she told him about the old man giving her salt, and whispered with emotion:

"The old man valued salt more than his own life, yet he was willing to give it to us to eat. Isn't that more meaningful than just saying thank you?"

Pei Yuan lowered his eyes and silently drank the soup in his bowl.

Shen Chu didn't continue speaking, and slowly ate the flatbread with the wild vegetable soup.

Pei Yuan suddenly turned his head and asked, "What did you just call me?"

Shen Chu blinked. "Sixth Brother."

They are now using aliases, Lu Liu and Lu Qi.

"You think that's inappropriate? How about I change it and just call you brother? Or Lu Liu?"

Pei Yuan was silent for a moment, then said, "No need to change it, Sixth Brother is fine."

Shen Chu... It's inexplicable.

As night deepened, the salt fields gradually quieted down, and the salt workers, exhausted from a day's work, all went to sleep.

Shen Chu quietly pulled Pei Yuan into the woods and urged, "Take off your clothes quickly, I'll apply the medicine for you."

Pei Yuan paused for a moment, then quietly took off his shirt.

Even in the darkness, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up in a smile.

Although Shen Chu tried to avoid suspicion, she was still worried about his injuries and was even willing to apply medicine to him herself.