Chapter 128 The Shi Family Head Pays with His Own Fire
When the elder saw the patriarch kneeling down, he felt extremely remorseful, because he had impulsively said the wrong thing and ruined the last chance.
So he knelt down as well, feeling guilty. The two elders felt that since they had come along, they couldn't just stay out of it.
Therefore, the three old men knelt down in the wind and snow, begging Yunxi to save their people.
The members of the Shi family, witnessing this scene from afar, were deeply moved. Initially, they harbored some resentment towards the family head's decision.
But when he learned that the tenth family head was prepared to sacrifice his own life to exchange for some typhoid medicine for his descendants, he felt a sense of respect.
If they were in his shoes, they might not have been able to do the same. As for making the wrong decision, that's unavoidable; after all, he's not a god and can't predict whether his bets will pay off.
In the past, they enjoyed the blessings of their family and the glory of their ancestors. Now that they have fallen on hard times, it is understandable that they are implicated.
The three legitimate sons of the Wen family also knelt down following their father. Then, many members of the Shi family also knelt down behind the head of the Shi family one after another. Before long, almost all the members of the Shi family were kneeling.
The commotion at the door had obviously been reported, and Yunxi appeared indifferent, but the way she gripped the chess piece tightly betrayed her emotions.
After a while, Yunxi put down the chess pieces, got up and went to the window. She pushed the window open a crack and looked down from the second floor.
Ten families were kneeling in front of the inn. Some were so sick they were staggering, and some children had their faces red from the cold and were crying loudly.
Seeing this, Yunxi sighed deeply. She instructed Moyu to go and tell the Shi family, "Go and tell the Shi family head that the conditions we just discussed remain the same."
Upon receiving the order, Mo Yu immediately relayed the message. Soon, the Shi family members outside the inn dispersed.
That evening, they gathered firewood and piled it into a tall fire.
The head of the Shi family looked at his final resting place, sat down indifferently, and after sending someone to inform Yunxi, ordered people to light the firewood.
After receiving the news, Yunxi opened the window on the second floor and her eyes met those of the Shi family head, who was sitting in the fire.
She watched indifferently as the flames engulfed the head of the Shi family, and heard his screams of agony from within the fire. Only when the head of the Shi family was completely reduced to a charred corpse did she calmly close the window.
When the head of the family ordered Yunxi to be burned to death, he probably never imagined that he, a high-ranking official, would be forced to this point by an ant he completely despised.
Yunxi felt no sympathy for him whatsoever. He probably couldn't even remember how many people he had killed since he seized power. His current predicament was nothing more than what he deserved.
He slowly closed the window, blocking Yunxi's figure. Shi Qingchen still gazed at the window with lingering affection, knowing that he would never see Yunxi turn back.
But he just couldn't help but look forward to it, because everything he had in the past was so wonderful, and the sudden loss of it all made it impossible for him to face reality.
Shi Qingchen wondered to himself how Yunxi would retaliate against him next.
So far, Yunxi has only ruined his reputation and caused him some physical pain; he really has no intention of taking his life, right?
Did Yunxi still harbor any feelings for him? After all, they had been together for three years, and she probably couldn't bear to take her own life.
Yunxi was naturally unaware of Shi Qingchen's delusional thoughts. Today, she witnessed the death of the Shi family head, and although she felt he deserved his fate.
But the death of the Shi family child from a cold deeply saddened Yunxi. No matter what the adults did wrong, the child was ultimately innocent.
Therefore, even if the head of the Shi family doesn't commit suicide today, she still has to send some medicine over.
Seeing the Shi family's lively atmosphere now, Yunxi felt a tightness in her chest and even felt quite bored.
She and Gu Nanxiao came to the table, and she poured two cups of tea for them. After thinking for a while, she said, "Let's set off early for our Prince's caravan tomorrow. We don't need to travel with the Shi family anymore."
Gu Nanxiao smiled and agreed, but inwardly he was thinking that his little girl was still a soft-hearted person after all.
The road to exile ahead would only be more difficult for the Shi family. Even without their explanation, the officials wouldn't provide the prisoners with cotton-padded clothes, much less find them medicine.
It was common for two or three out of every thousand members of a family to die during exile. This was especially true for newborns and the elderly who were already frail and unable to endure the hardships of the journey.
Rather than staying and watching them with a heavy heart, it's better to turn a blind eye and let the ten families fend for themselves.
Gu Nanxiao didn't want Yunxi to always focus her attention on the Shi family and Shi Qingchen.
Although the little girl kept disciplining them, she still remembered it in her heart. Rather than continuing this entanglement, wouldn't it be better to simply let it go and never see each other again?
The next morning, the Prince's entourage replenished their food and water supplies and set off before noon.
Before leaving, Yunxi instructed the officials not to mistreat the Shi family any further. She also handed over the typhoid medicine she had promised the Shi family head.
After leaving the exile group, Yunxi's mood improved considerably.
He and Gu Nanxiao changed their original route and decided to explore the soil in various parts of the Northwest and look for some mineral deposits.
This region has numerous mountains, and its richest resources are underground mineral deposits: gold, silver, iron, copper, coal, and oil. The northwestern prefectures have everything.
However, given the capabilities of people in ancient times, they could only mine some open-pit or shallow mines. But that was enough for Gu Nanxiao's development.
The emperor changed the fiefdom to the northwest, harboring another wicked intention. This region borders foreign lands, and its borders have been constantly harassed by foreign enemies.
Especially during the autumn harvest season each year, they would come to the territory of the Great Yan, burning, killing, and looting.
The Emperor intended to use foreign enemies to eliminate Gu Nanxiao. Unfortunately, his plan was destined to fail.
Yunxi never expected that the influence she had cultivated in the Northwest under the guise of the drought would later lend Gu Nanxiao a helping hand. It can only be said that everything is preordained.
Therefore, Gu Nanxiao's first step in establishing a foothold in the Northwest was to build defensive fortifications.
Under normal circumstances, building city walls in ancient times was an extremely labor-intensive and costly undertaking. However, Yunxi had a way to produce cement, making the construction of a section of city wall a simple matter.
Yunxi, Gu Nanxiao, and Qi Jinxiu carefully studied the terrain of the northwest from inside the carriage. They finally decided to build city walls at three strategic passes.
Once we manage to defend against them and produce a large quantity of gunpowder, we can switch from defense to offense.
Just as they were about to arrive at the Prince's Mansion, Qi Jinxiu's men who had been sent to the capital returned to report that, according to Liu Tiaozi's confession, it was undoubtedly Shen Yujiao who had hired someone to kill him.
Because Qi Jinxiu had anticipated this, he ordered the secret guards stationed in the capital to tie up the person and throw them into the bandit's den as soon as they were identified.
After Shen Yujiao was violated by the bandits for three to five days, they threw her, disheveled, into the most bustling market in the capital.
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