Chapter 31
As for that private seal, Qingyun now has a pretty good idea of what it's intended for.
"If someone uses your name to send orders or forges documents that are unfavorable to you, wouldn't that be..." She didn't finish her sentence. The reason was obvious to everyone: if that were the case, what good would it do to be a princess?
Upon seeing this, Song Chaoyun simply smiled slightly, "So, you're putting on an act now?"
The woman, supporting herself on her arm and wearing only a tube top, squatted beside the ice tank, her body still covered in sweat and her face pale. Upon hearing this, she forced a smile and said, "How do you know I'm just acting?"
Song Chaoyun stood by the window, the dim light shining through the gauze curtains onto her calm face. "I thought I knew you wouldn't steal it," she said, glancing down at Qingyun. "Besides, you couldn't steal it anyway."
The Qin family approached Qingyun simply because they saw that she had recently gained favor with Song Chaoyun and had many opportunities to serve him. In addition, given their childhood friendship, this move, though risky, had a high chance of success. However, these fools underestimated her and actually dared to try to repeat their old tricks.
Although she knew Qingyun was acting, she didn't know her purpose in doing so, and now, Song Chaoyun wanted to know the answer. "Tell me."
She approached and looked down at Qingyun, who was trembling violently from the pain.
The reason she did this is simple: she went too far.
She came to the command post simply to find out why Song Chaohua had done that. When she asked the question, she clearly saw shock in the other person's eyes, indicating that this was something she hadn't expected. Why was this? Did she really not know about this, or did she not expect that things would be exposed?
But no matter how Qingyun asked, the other party stopped talking. Instead, she suddenly became agitated and shouted at her to die. She snatched the knife from her hand. She had originally planned to ask Song Chaoyun about the Qin family's affairs later, but she didn't expect to almost die by the knife.
Perhaps Song Chaoyun thought that she was trying to stall for time in this way, or that she had her own plans, but that was not the case. Qingyun had no such plans at all, and this situation was completely unexpected.
"Do I believe myself?" After a long while, Qingyun, who was sitting on the ground, looked up and asked calmly.
Amid the noisy crowd, several people dressed in official robes were surrounded, with no room to move. Behind them, several other officials formed a human wall to prevent people from passing. Many people shouted, "Let us out!"
Just as the young apprentice brought out the pot of brewed medicine, she wiped the sweat from her brow. The room was so hot it was making people rashes. She had just called for everyone to come over quickly when, in the next second, the pot of medicine on the table was swept away and rolled several times on the damp, muddy ground. The medicine, which she had painstakingly brewed, mixed with the dregs, spilled all over the ground and was trampled into the mud by the chaotic crowd.
"Screw you! I'm not drinking! I'm not sick!"
"Damn it, it's finally raining today, and you bunch of stinking soldiers are telling us not to drink this water? What are we supposed to drink?! Does the government care about us?! Does it care whether we live or die?!"
The leading officer quickly reassured everyone, "We're just telling you not to draw water from those water pits. There's plenty of water in the well!"
"Damn it! Why go to the city to fetch water when there's water nearby? Are you out of your mind?" A burly man charged ahead, trying to break through the officials blocking his way.
"Chen Er! What are you making a scene about! This is an epidemic prevention order from above. Do you all want to go to jail if you don't listen to it?" the officer said abruptly, stopping him.
"Who are you trying to scare?! I'm just a worthless wretch. So what if I go to jail? My wife needs water, so get the hell out of my way!"
Ahead of the commotion, several government officials were filling pits with mud and wood ash. These were pits left over from digging wells and then abandoning them. These pits, large and small, were almost everywhere in the streets, alleys, fields, and backyards of other people's houses. Because no one had time to fill them, there was a lot of water accumulating in them, allowing the villagers to choose the nearest water source.
The officials were pushed back step by step by the crowd, and even pulling out their daggers to scare them was useless. The scene was completely out of control. The air was filled with the stench of sweat, medicine, and feces. Screams and insults were deafening. It was a complete mess. Some people were pushing their knives towards the enemy, but the officials couldn't really hurt them. As a result, they were forced to fall to the ground one by one, which caused the crowd to burst into laughter.
Many people tried to rush over, while others stood still and cursed, "In this world, you either starve or die of thirst! You just say there's a plague! Who believes you! Bah!"
Amid the chaos, Qingyun walked over with a tired face. She squatted down, picked up the medicine pot that had been kicked aside, and handed it to the medicine boy. She had been scolded by many villagers for brewing the medicine, and she was wiping away tears and sobbing softly.
Qingyun forced a smile onto her pale lips and patted the other person's shoulder. "Don't be sad."
Her gaze shifted to the noisy crowd, and she sighed, thinking to herself that this was simply not going to work. If even one person got infected, it would lead to an explosive spread.
When Qingyun returned home, she stood by the well that Feng Sijing and the others hadn't yet reinforced, staring blankly into the well. Just as she was lost in thought, a weak voice suddenly reached her eardrums, "Sister, could you move aside?"
Looking back, she saw a seven or eight-year-old child standing next to her, holding a bucket. The child looked shy and lowered her head, whispering again, "My mother asked me to come and fetch water, is that alright?" She was asking Qingyun for permission, since everyone in the area knew that this was her family's well.
Qingyun snapped out of her daze, leaned against the well, and noticed that the other person's clothes were covered in pudding. For a moment, she was moved and asked, "What's your name?"
In between asking questions, she checked her points with the system. She had been planting trees on the sand dunes recently and could redeem a water purifier. She had originally planned to use the points to buy painkillers and anti-inflammatory injections. But now, looking at the other person, Qingyun chatted casually with the little girl without making a sound, while a miniature water purifier had already appeared in his hand.
The miniature water purifier slid quickly across the palm of the hand until it landed at the bottom of the well.
"You can come visit me anytime," Qingyun said with a smile, then turned around to make room for me. "Come on, I won't bother you anymore."
The little girl looked back and saw the woman staggering forward, supporting herself on her arm. She blocked the blinding sunlight, and the light shone directly along the outline of her body. At that moment, she looked like a god.
"What are you looking at! I told you to fetch some water and you haven't come back yet!" A middle-aged man suddenly walked over and gave the dazed child a hard shove. "What if that woman sees you if you don't hurry up!"
The girl, holding the bucket, looked at her father and said, "Father, my sister said I can use it as I please."
The man just snorted in annoyance, "Then you'd better hurry up! If she's going to lie to an idiot like you, she'll just send someone over to beat you up."
The man, recalling the events of the day, grew increasingly angry, muttering to himself, "Those bastards, all they did was dig a hole near their house, and they're shameless enough to not let anyone else use it!" The girl, noticing the bruises on her father's face, lowered her head thoughtfully and murmured, "My sister wouldn't do that."
After saying that, she looked up and asked the man if his face hurt.
Qingyun dragged his exhausted body and said, "Damn, Song Chaohua is absolutely insane."
[Host, are you sure you won't get infected if you keep doing this?]
Qingyun instinctively slumped onto the bed until a sharp pain shot through her arm, reminding her of her injury. She immediately sat up with a howl, "Song Chaoyun used the best medicinal herbs on me. You have to believe in the profoundness of traditional Chinese medicine, okay? It's just a pain point, ouch..." she said, tugging at her injury again.
Even so, it really hurt her terribly; it felt like someone had ripped a piece of her flesh out! Damn it, Song Chaohua really went all out!
Qingyun carefully lay down on the bed, staring at the thatched ceiling. "I might as well just die. If I can't go back, so be it."
[You should give up on that idea. Your physical body in the mortal world can only awaken after completing the mission. Your current body has been maintained by our company.]
Yes, she has no family in modern times, and if she becomes a vegetable, no one will take care of her. As for her friends, they are all poorer than her, so it's even less likely.
Qingyun chuckled, "So I should thank your company." She sighed, "Then why didn't you give me the medicine to treat my body for free? You had to kill me to bring me back to life, right?! Is this kind of 'start over' solution really a good idea?!"
System: [Host, we are not a miracle doctor system~]
Qingyun raised his uninjured hand and gave the middle finger in the air, saying, "I won't let you get away with this."
The system then asked her what to do now, how to explain things to the Qin family, and blamed Qingyun for not completing the main quest and instead doing something that wasn't even a side quest.
[What do you know? Then tell me how the original owner's father died?]
System: [I'm only responsible for your initial world-building description; I don't know anything else in that section, as it wasn't included in the information.]
Qingyun sighed. She didn't intend to explain. She wanted Song Chaoyun to take direct action. [If they bring people to block me again, I'll stay at the Commander's Mansion for the next few days. That way, I can also create a smokescreen for the Qin family.] Most importantly, she could eat for free at the Commander's Mansion. Even the leftovers from Song Chaoyun's meals would be delicacies, okay?
Their living conditions are so much better than mine, like a latrine.
System: [Host, how could you call your home a toilet?]
Qingyun: [I wasn't wrong in the first place.]
She recalled the scene she witnessed when she returned today. If things continued like this, it would be difficult to carry out Song Chaoyun's work. She couldn't expect someone who was about to starve to stop eating. She should wait a while before indulging in delicious food.
Your description sounds awkward.
"Don't worry about that for now, just give me an idea."
Upon hearing this, the system activated its big data to find her some information, but Qingyun felt that it was only suitable for modern times and not for the current era.
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