Chapter 44 At first hearing, you think you can fool the common people, but you think you can fool me? ...
The next morning, Zhu Youchuan was excitedly showing off his solar-powered desk lamp to the administration office when he ran into Xue Jianwei.
He stared in shock at the girl who was about to pass him by, and couldn't help but call out to her, "Um...were you...being bullied?"
Xue Jianwei stopped her limping steps, her forehead bearing a scar, and looked at Zhu Youchuan. Under the other's surprised and sympathetic gaze, she politely declined, "No, no, thank you for your concern."
Zhu Youchuan hesitated, then stopped, "But you're injured like this..."
Was someone jealous of her winning the essay contest and bullying her? Or did they beat her up to steal her prized bicycle?
But Xue Jianwei didn't report it to the police. Could it be that the person who bullied her was from their ceramics workshop...?
Xue Jianwei was unaware that in just a few seconds, Zhu Youchuan had already begun to suspect the owner of the ceramic workshop.
She answered somewhat awkwardly, "I... fell off my bicycle while learning to ride."
Zhu Youchuan's mouth dropped open: "Huh?"
Xue Jianwei immediately tried to save face, saying, "It's really hard to learn. Several of my colleagues in the ceramics workshop wanted to learn, but they all failed."
She was only slightly more seriously injured!
Zhu Youchuan: "...Huh?" You all fell? Is it really that hard to learn, or are you guys just too weak?
Xue Jianwei: "..." Hmph, I just can't maintain my balance right now, I'll try my best!
Zhu Youchuan successfully showed off his desk lamp in their law department first.
He pressed the switch, and the light turned on.
Even though it was broad daylight, everyone was still amazed by the white lights.
They came closer and touched the glowing spot, finding it incredibly incredible.
"How did you do that?"
"It...it can actually glow!"
"Isn't it normal for a divine artifact to glow? This is a divine artifact bestowed by the goddess."
"Boss, you've gone too far. You should have invited us to your house last night."
"Yeah, I really want to see what it looks like at night."
Zhu Youchuan said smugly, "At night, it can light up the whole study."
Everyone was shocked: "!"
"Really?"
"Boss, I absolutely have to come to your house tonight!"
"Let's go together, let's go together."
Zhu Youchuan nodded proudly, "Okay, come to my house tonight and see the light that God has given to us mortals."
The divine artifact bestowed by the goddess was indeed a hot topic among the people for a period of time, but because everyone was too busy with work, studies, and quizzes, they couldn't spare much energy to pursue something they couldn't have.
Those who longed for the divine artifact secretly went to the goddess to ask if there would be another chance to obtain it.
He Qinglan said, "Of course, we will hold many more events in the future."
The goddess's affirmation inspired many people's fighting spirit.
After encouraging her ambitious subordinates, He Qinglan continued to unlock the ten classic Cantonese dishes.
This poached chicken is a bit troublesome.
Are braised pigeon and braised pork ribs made with the same ingredients?
Steamed scallops with garlic... uh...
Braised sea cucumber in abalone sauce, ugh, just from the name it's not an easy dish to make.
When Gu Lanying came to see him, He Qinglan was feeling down because she had failed to unlock the device several times.
Gu Lanying didn't notice, since most of the time, the goddesses' expressions remained unchanged regardless of their mood.
With a mix of nervousness and excitement, she placed the first newspaper of this world, a product of their publicity department's collective wisdom, on the desk in front of He Qinglan, and said excitedly, "This is what we made after consulting many books! Please take a look!"
He Qinglan: "..."
newspaper?
She was somewhat surprised, but she didn't show it on her face.
She picked up the newspaper.
The newspaper published recent major events: the list of essay contest winners; a brief introduction to the three divine artifacts bestowed by the goddess; the official road from Anling County to Yunhe County is half-finished; early rice can be harvested, and everyone is urged to prepare for the harvest; we have defeated another army of refugees; ...
The publication included popular science articles: First aid tips; How to make farmyard manure; Protect your eyes early; Ten things you should never do; ...
A novel was published: a romance novel written by an author using the pen name Ji Chun Jun.
He Qinglan's gaze lingered on the novel, and she asked Gu Lanying, "This Ji Chun Jun, could he be Mo Jingchun?"
Gu Lanying exclaimed "Ah!" She hadn't expected the goddess to ask such a question, so she quickly shook her head and said, "No, no, of course not! The author is an elderly man in his sixties from Anling County who has recently become fascinated with Western literature."
Ji Chun Jun is a pen name for plum blossoms. The author loved plum blossoms and gave himself this pen name.
He Qinglan: Did I hear that right? A man in his sixties? A man in his sixties writing a romance novel?
She did some quick calculations and realized... it really was true. A 67-year-old man wrote a novel just to warn young girls not to be deceived by blond-haired men.
Of course, it's not impossible.
After all, in Anling County these days, only the elderly have the time and energy to write novels.
After reading the newspaper, He Qinglan thought for a moment and said to Gu Lanying, "I think we can add a section to publish major world events."
Gu Lanying paused slightly, then immediately realized that their people were already deep in the various states, partly to make money and partly to gather information. In that case, they could easily publish news in the newspapers about major events in other states: what was happening in the imperial court, what imperial edicts the young emperor had issued, which states were fighting each other, where the people had rebelled, where there was drought and where there was flooding…
In this way, the people of Anling could learn about world affairs without leaving their homes.
She immediately replied, "What the goddess says is true. I'll go back and discuss it with my department to add a section."
He Qinglan nodded, "I have no other objections. You can make adjustments during the distribution process yourselves. You can also solicit opinions from the people who read the newspaper."
Gu Lanying took the newspaper. "Okay!"
She was in high spirits. "I'll show it to you when we've finished the original product."
He Qinglan skillfully encouraged, "Keep it up!"
Maozhou.
It had been almost a month since the last drop of rain fell. After visiting the fields, the officials in charge of agriculture reported the matter to Sun Yannan.
Sun Yannan and his advisors discussed for a long time, and in order to minimize the losses, he ordered the people in the two prefectures under his jurisdiction to harvest rice ahead of schedule.
After the meeting, Sun Yannan asked the servant beside him, "Has Xingzhi not returned yet?"
When he announced the meeting, Xiao Yong's steward sent someone to tell him that Xiao Yong had received a notice from the bookstore manager early that morning to go and intercept that out-of-town bookseller.
The servant replied respectfully, "Not yet."
Sun Yannan subconsciously picked up a copy of "Han Feizi" from the table and flipped through it casually.
I wondered who the person behind these books was.
They must not belong to any current faction to be able to sell books in Maozhou, right? Otherwise, why would they be willing to sell books to other places?
At least he wouldn't agree to it; if he mastered that technology, he'd be too busy winning people's hearts.
He could then use these books to seek out famous scholars, such as the old tutor from Daishan who had resigned from his official post and gone into seclusion, the literary pioneer from Fengtai who was unwilling to serve in office, and the leading figure of the Legalist school who was stolen from my Liangzhou by Xue Rang, that treacherous lackey!
He didn't believe they could refuse the books with punctuation and translations in his hands!
Speaking of punctuation, Sun Yannan lowered his head and looked again at the commas, periods, semicolons, questions, and exclamations on the pages. He marveled at how remarkable the person who created these symbols was. These simple yet vivid symbols not only effectively broke up sentences but also vividly expressed the writer's emotions.
Recently, Xingzhi has started using symbols in his articles, and plans to promote them in Maozhou and Liangzhou if they work well.
Sun Yannan closed the book and walked around the study twice with his hands behind his back.
Xiao Yong returned when they reached the third lap.
"The booksellers who transported the books to Maozhou to sell to the bookstore owners were not real booksellers. They said they were paid by another group of people to sell the books to Maozhou City and Ningzhou City on their behalf."
Xiao Yong picked up his teacup and took a sip of tea to calm his rapid breathing and heartbeat.
Sun Yannan's expression cracked upon hearing this. "They even sold the books in Ningzhou?" Ye Hui probably saw the books too!
Xiao Yong nodded and said, "These people who transported the books to Maozhou are bandits from the mountain at the border of Jinzhou and Maozhou. According to them, the real booksellers came from Anling in Jinzhou."
Sun Yannan asked in confusion, "Anling...prefecture?"
Xiao Yong put down his teacup and looked at Sun Yannan with a serious expression. "Governor, those bandits claim that there is a goddess in Anling County."
Sun Yannan: "..."
He doubted his ears. "What did you say?"
Xiao Yongdao said, "A goddess appeared in Yunhe and gave food to all the people who believed in her for free. The local people supported her very much. In the past six months, the goddess has subdued more than a dozen counties around Yunhe, and led her army to conquer Anling County. She also repelled the attacks from the Jinzhou army and the refugee army."
Those bandits spoke with absolute certainty, and even swore an oath to heaven to convince Xiao Yong.
"They say that these books were also written by the goddess, who bestowed seeds and books to save the people."
Sun Yannan: "..."
He sneered, "The governor of Jinzhou has gone to great lengths, actually planning to create a so-called goddess! Could that goddess be his daughter?"
It's one thing to fool ordinary people, but do you really think you can fool the imperial court and the governors of various states?
Xiao Yong frowned. "I didn't believe it at first either, but the bookstore owner said that two months ago, he saw several men beating drums at the yamen gate, saying that there was a goddess in Anling County, Jinzhou who could provide unlimited food and fodder, and advised us to send troops to take Anling and capture the goddess."
Sun Yannan's expression gradually turned serious. "And then?"
Xiao Yong said, "The yamen runners didn't believe it and chased those people away. Before I came to see you, I had already arranged for people to go and look for them."
Sun Yannan narrowed his eyes, "Could it be that something really is happening in Anling..." His gaze unconsciously swept towards the paper books on the table.
goddess.
He asked, "Did you bring those bandits?"
Xiao Yong replied, "Of course, do you want to see them?"
Sun Yannan nodded, "Bring the person up. I want to ask about that goddess."
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Author's note: Goodnight~
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