Chapter 125 The Shi family begins to make things difficult for Shi Qingchen
Ever since Yunxi and her group caught up with the Shi family's exiled convoy, Gu Nanxiao ordered the caravan to maintain the same speed as the exiled prisoners.
The intention was clear: to draw the fire away from Shi Qingchen, thus both avenging Yunxi and reducing the little girl's resentment towards him.
Given Gu Nanxiao and Qi Jinxiu's status, a simple instruction from them would be enough to ensure that the officials below would not dare to shirk their duties. Yet, the two of them would often bestow silver as rewards upon the officials.
This spurred the officials to humiliate and beat the family members even more, as if they would be letting down the adults' rewards if they didn't.
Yunxi thought that this group of officials was really going all out sometimes. In order to make things difficult for the Shi family, they even braved the heavy rain to rush them on their way.
The food given to the Shi family was getting worse and worse. The thin rice porridge they used to eat had been replaced with wild vegetable porridge, and they weren't even given any grain at all.
The officials casually dug up some wild vegetables by the roadside. Yunxi glanced at them and realized they weren't edible. It was a plant called Anhui vegetable, which, while not poisonous, could cause swelling if eaten for a long time.
Even though she knew, Yunxi didn't care. She simply called the Li siblings over when the prisoners were eating and had them eat with the guards from the Prince's Mansion.
After more than a month of this, the family members were traveling in hunger and cold, and many were on the verge of collapse. Moreover, they were often whipped, and their bodies were always covered with new wounds before their old ones had healed.
The Shi family's situation worsened, causing the clansmen to begin to resent Shi Qingchen.
Having been imprisoned for three years, they had already thoroughly investigated the reasons for their family's decline. Their current miserable state stemmed from Shi Qingchen.
He betrayed the person he shouldn't have, which led to the sworn sister coming to seek revenge. His treachery alone resulted in the exile of his entire clan; he is truly despicable.
Some clansmen began to bully Shi Qingchen openly and secretly. For example, he was knocked to the ground as soon as he was given a bowl of vegetable porridge. Just as he was about to rest, someone spoke loudly next to him, waking him up.
When he sat down to rest, people would often "accidentally" step on his hands and feet. And the night was the most difficult time for Shi Qingchen.
Because the head of the household tacitly allowed the clansmen to assign his sleeping place to the door, window, windy spot, and sometimes even near the cesspool.
At first, Yunxi watched with great interest as he was being disciplined. Gradually, she grew tired of it and began riding horses with Gu Nanxiao to play nearby.
They have now set foot on Gu Nanxiao's fiefdom, which means that from here northwards all the way to the border, everything will belong to Gu Nanxiao.
Yunxi asked Gu Nanxiao for a map. Although it was rudimentary, it was still possible to make out the directions.
Since this parallel world has the same mineral distribution as my hometown, there should be a place nearby similar to the Qinghai Salt Lake.
She and Gu Nanxiao, accompanied by a pair of guards, began searching the surrounding area. In less than half a day, they found the enormous salt lake.
When Gu Nanxiao and Qi Jinxiu, who had been chasing after them, saw the vast salt lake where the sea and sky met, they were both speechless with astonishment.
Yunxi went forward to inspect it, and the quality of the salt was indeed as pure and high-quality as that from her hometown. The total amount of salt produced by this natural salt lake is more than 40 billion tons, enough to feed the world's population for more than two thousand years.
The reason this place is so well preserved is twofold: firstly, it was due to the limited access to information in ancient times; and secondly, the salt produced in this lake is mostly coarse salt, which needs to be processed before it can be made into edible salt.
Because consuming coarse salt directly can cause adverse reactions in the body, people in the vicinity believe that the salt here is inedible.
However, the modern process of purifying salt is not a high-end or mysterious technology, and Yunxi happens to have a way to purify the salt here.
After three years of war, Gu Nanxiao's personality had become much more composed than before. Only when facing Yunxi would he reveal his childish behavior.
Even though he was usually very composed, he couldn't suppress his excitement upon seeing such a vast salt lake. He even started imagining how to trade the salt from here with foreign tribes.
After all, the neighboring vassal states have always purchased salt from the Great Yan Dynasty. The imperial court earns a lot of money from this every year, and it seems that he will be the one to make this windfall in the future.
Qi Jinxiu watched Gu Nanxiao excitedly run to the salt lake, grab salt, and laugh heartily. He couldn't help but think to himself, "This guy is really lucky."
But then he turned his gaze to Yunxi, thinking that rather than saying Gu Nanxiao was lucky, it was more accurate to say that anyone who met Yunxi was blessed by heaven.
Gu Nanxiao took out his princely decree and instructed Mo Yu to go to the nearby government office and find the prefect of the area. He ordered Mo Yu to send people to guard the salt lake until he officially took over the fiefdom, after which he would send people to officially harvest salt.
Gu Nanxiao threw down the salt in his hand, took out a handkerchief and washed his hands. Then he walked up to Yunxi, bent down, wrapped his arms around her thighs, and lifted her high up.
Gu Nanxiao looked up at Yunxi and found that against the backdrop of the sky-blue salt lake, she looked like a celestial maiden descended to earth.
Gu Nanxiao felt that Yunxi was a precious gift from heaven, and since she came into his life, his fate had undergone earth-shattering changes.
The little girl is like the daughter of a god; whoever possesses her is as if they possess the whole world.
Qi Jinxiu watched Gu Nanxiao pick up Yunxi and spin her around. At first, he felt envious, but then he gradually turned jealous. However, he quickly loosened his clenched fists and felt completely relieved.
Because he saw a genuine smile on Yunxi's face. Yunxi had also had a very difficult three years since leaving Gu Nanxiao. She was either depressed or constantly in tears.
Although Gu Nanxiao has many flaws and has even hurt Yunxi, the happiness he can bring her is something no one else can provide.
When it comes to matters of the heart, it's hard to explain them logically. Perhaps even two people who love each other can't quite put their finger on why.
Perhaps this is what is called destiny; otherwise, even though he met Yunxi six years ago, the two would still only be friends.
In high spirits, Gu Nanxiao took Yunxi for a ride on the nearby grassland. When he noticed that the little girl was a bit tired, they headed back towards the main group.
When they returned to their rest camp, they witnessed Wen's three legitimate sons beating Shi Qingchen. They seemed to be hitting him quite hard.
But the members of the Shi family just stood by and watched, and not one of them intervened. Even the head of the Shi family remained lying under the tree, pretending to be asleep, completely ignoring Shi Qingchen's ordeal.
The officials knew who the important person wanted to get rid of, so even if they fought each other, no one bothered to intervene.
Shi Qingchen had been beaten for an unknown amount of time and was now lying on the ground, barely alive. He had a large gash on his head, and blood was streaming down half of his face, indicating that he had been struck by a blunt object.
One of his arms was bent at an abnormal angle, presumably either dislocated or fractured.
When Yunxi looked over, Shi Qingchen was smiling at her. That smile contained no negative emotions whatsoever. It seemed as if he were genuinely happy, which felt very eerie.
Based on Yunxi's understanding of Shi Qingchen, she could probably read his mind. Shi Qingchen probably thought that the more miserable he was, the happier Yunxi would be.
If Yunxi is happy, she can calm down. Once her anger subsides, there might even be a chance for her to forgive him.
Gu Nanxiao found Shi Qingchen's incomprehensible smile extremely irritating and had a feeling that it wasn't a good thing.
Qi Jinxiu, who was standing to the side, ordered the officers, "Stop them. Keep a close eye on this man from now on. He cannot be allowed to die without our orders."
Qi Jinxiu's explanation was exactly what Yunxi wanted to say, so she was satisfied and didn't add anything. She just took three large pieces of beef and walked towards Shi Qingchen.
Seeing this, everyone assumed that Shi Qingchen's miserable state had finally touched Yunxi's heart. They feared that out of consideration for their past relationship, she would likely take better care of him in the future.
Shi Qingchen, who was lying on the ground, thought the same thing, and as a result, his smile deepened.
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