This method of dealing with disasters has been passed down for thousands of years. When the disaster is severe, the emperor himself would pay homage to the emperor to hear the news and relieve the people of their suffering.
"Your Excellency, you must save us! We'll die without food, and we don't want to die..."
"Yes, we don't want to die yet..."
"Your Excellency, you must find a way to get rid of these pests!"
The villagers were ignorant and placed all their hopes on the county magistrate, whom they considered their benefactor.
"Magistrate Jiang, how is the rice in the fields?" Nangong Qing dismounted and went straight to Magistrate Jiang.
"Young master, the rice leaves are turning yellow, and the main stalks of the rice ears have been bitten off by insects. I'm afraid it's..."
Jiang Bowen glanced at the villagers and whispered in Nangong Qing's ear, "I'm afraid there's no hope."
Nangong Qing gripped the fan in her hand tightly, turned her head and glared angrily at Magistrate Jiang.
"How dare you! As an official of a county, how can you speak like this? Take me to the fields and have a look."
Jiang Bowen replied in a flustered manner, "Yes, yes, please, young master!"
Su Luo had been trying to find a solution ever since she returned from the fields. Zhao Ruyun took Yan Chuan and Yi Huan to see the county magistrate to see if he could help them.
"Miss Su, I've brought everything you asked for. Do you think it's usable?" Du Xiuyuan gave Su Luo more than fifty kinds of herbs, as well as the ten glass bottles that Su Luo had requested.
“It will work. Dr. Du, could you stay here for the next couple of days to help me? I need to make a pesticide that can kill insects.”
Du Xiuyuan had never heard of pesticides. In Nanning, when insect plagues occurred, people almost always performed rituals and sacrifices to expel the insects, never pesticides.
"Okay! I'll do whatever you tell me to do."
When Zhao Ruyun and the others returned, Su Luo learned from Zhao Ruyun that the county magistrate wanted to perform a sacrifice to eliminate pests. She found it utterly ridiculous, thinking that relying on heaven was not as good as relying on herself. Su Luo needed to quickly develop a pesticide.
"Mother, where are you going? I want to go too." Yi Huan saw that Su Luo had several glass bottles hanging from her waist and a net bag in her hand.
"Aren't you afraid I'm going to the field to catch bugs?" Su Luo was going to catch some bugs and bug eggs to do experiments and prepare medicine as soon as possible.
"I'm not afraid, I'm going to catch bugs too." Yi Huan picked up a net and waved it around a few times, as if she were trying to catch butterflies.
"Mother, I want to go with you too." Yan Chuan also took a net bag.
"Okay, let's go together."
When they arrived at the field, there were many insect eggs on the leaves, and insects were flying on them. Su Luo first used tweezers to put the live insect eggs and larvae into a glass bottle.
Then, catch flying insects and place them in different glass bottles, conducting many experiments.
Yan Chuan and Yi Huan, unaware of how hateful the pests were, ran around catching them with nets, finding it fun, and their laughter filled the fields.
The incongruous laughter quickly attracted the attention of Nangong Qing and the county magistrate, who were all feeling uneasy, while Su Luo and the others acted as if they were playing a game.
"What are you doing? How can you still laugh when the country is in crisis?"
Nangong Qing lost his temper and yelled at Su Luo's mother three times.
The oppressive aura of a superior instantly struck, and Yi Huan was so frightened that she burst into tears and ran behind Su Luo to hide.
"Mother... Waaah..."
Yan Chuan didn't cry; his small stature still stood in front of Su Luo and Yi Huan.
Su Luo stared at Nangong Qing, then pulled Yan Chuan behind her. She could scold her, but she couldn't scold her child.
"Why are you being so fierce? What we're doing is none of your business. Mind your own business."
Su Luo was also upset. The crops in the fields were almost gone, and she was yelled at for no reason.
"Su Luo, you, you, you..."
"Me! Me! What happened to me?"
Seeing the anger on their faces, Ah Xu quickly interrupted, "Madam Su, my young master didn't mean that."
"That's not what I meant. And Ah Xu, what are you doing carrying a sword all the time? Do you want to fight? Do you think I'm afraid of you?"
Su Luo stuck the net pole into the ground, looking ready for battle.
"No, Madam Su, why are you bringing me up again?" Axudon felt innocent; he hadn't yelled at Su Luo or the two children.
"I'm talking about you. Instead of relaxing at Fu Man Lou, you rich kids are running around in this field. Be careful not to fall into the ditch."
Su Luo rolled her eyes at A Xu and Nangong Qing.
Seeing that Su Luo and the young master seemed to know each other, Magistrate Jiang didn't want to scold them directly. Instead, he said to Su Luo sternly, "Madam, what are you doing here?"
Su Luo was still angry when Yan Chuan stepped forward and said, "We're catching bugs, the bugs are bad."
So it turned out they were catching insects. Magistrate Jiang shook his head. These insects couldn't possibly be caught by one woman and two children. A woman's view is just that—a woman's view.
"Young master, they're just grasping at straws in their desperation. Don't get angry with a woman; it's not worth it," Magistrate Jiang kindly advised Nangong Qing.
Nangong Qing knew he had misspoke, but he couldn't bring himself to bow his head and apologize to Su Luo.
Looking at Su Luo, his face darkened, and he said, "Incomprehensible!"
Su Luo had caught most of the insects, and led Yan Chuan and Yi Huan back. As she passed Nangong Qing, she said, "With such a strong back, even if you fall into a ditch, it won't break."
After saying that, he left without looking back. Nangong Qing turned around and pointed at Su Luo. He had only taken two steps forward when, with a 'bang,' Nangong Qing disappeared from A Xu and the others' sight.
Nangong Qing's angry voice could still be heard from the ditch: "Su...you...you..."
"Young master, young master, are you alright?" Ah Xu quickly jumped into the ditch and pulled Nangong Qing, who was covered in mud, out of the water.
"Young master, this...this..." The magistrate was at a loss.
Nangong Qing returned to the field, covered in mud. He instinctively tried to wipe it off with his fan, but it snapped in two strokes.
"Young...Young Master..." Ah Xu was now truly afraid of getting into trouble and dared not say any more.
"go back!"
Ah Xu helped Nangong Qing, but because Nangong Qing's shoes were muddy, she would slip after taking a few steps and stumble for a long time before finally reaching the magistrate's carriage.
He had arrived on horseback, and now he was in such a sorry state that the magistrate had no choice but to give his own carriage to Nangong Qing.
Su Luo returned to the kiln and immediately began her experiment. She first crushed the herbs and then burned them to create a smoke effect.
However, Su Luo soon discovered that it wasn't very useful. The smoke could only repel mosquitoes, but they wouldn't die, and the insect eggs would remain, so it didn't achieve the insect-killing effect she wanted.
"Lady Su, this has some effect, but it still doesn't seem to be working very well," Du Xiuyuan said, observing the leaf miners in the glass bottle.
"Let's start over!"
If one solution doesn't work, Su Luo will think of a second one.
The herbs around Su Luo are now all poisonous, so Zhao Ruyun can only keep an eye on Yan Chuan and Yi Huan and tell them not to get close to Su Luo.
Su Luo failed four or five times in a row. Du Xiuyuan wanted to persuade Su Luo to take a break, but Su Luo seemed to be bewitched. She couldn't stop until she succeeded.
Even late into the night, Su Luo was still conducting experiments by the light of an oil lamp. The paper she had bought for Yan Chuan and the others to write on was now being used by her to write and draw, using strange symbols that Du Xiuyuan couldn't understand at all.
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