Qingchen stepped forward to compare the gap; it was less than a hand's width between the two iron bars. Her head couldn't fit through, and naturally, her body couldn't either. But finding this window gave her a glimmer of hope.
She looked around and found that the only tools she could use were tattered clothes and old furniture... After pondering over those things for a while, Qingchen suddenly had a jolt.
I've got an idea!
But... it's still daytime. If she escapes and gets seen, she'll inevitably be caught again. She has to wait until nightfall.
Qingchen moved several large pieces of furniture back to block the window.
She waited a long time, until night finally fell. The air in the room was as quiet as the night before. She hadn't drunk a drop of water or eaten a grain of rice for a day and a half. Hunger was bearable, but the most unbearable thing was not having water to drink; the feeling of thirst made her anxious and depressed.
Meng Gexing still did not show up.
Qingchen guessed that he didn't intend to starve her to death, but rather to starve her to the extreme, giving this new prefect a harsh lesson. She just didn't know if this was his true intention, or if it was deliberate revenge for his brother's arrest. In any case, Meng Gexing was a ruthless man.
Without a second thought, Qingchen moved the broken furniture aside, revealing the iron window. Then she picked up a reasonably sturdy linen garment, twisted it into a rope, wrapped it around the two iron bars, and tied a knot. Finally, she picked up the thickest wooden stick, threaded it through the knot in the linen garment, and added another knot to secure it.
Then, she took a breath and began to rotate the table leg.
The hardness of Daming iron wasn't particularly high, especially since it was used to make iron railings; it was usually leftover material from the production of other tools. As Qingchen turned the wooden stick, the hemp clothing was tightened more and more, gradually bending the two iron railings. As the railings bent, the gap between them widened.
This is the lever principle that modern middle school students have all learned.
Once the gaps between the iron bars were wide enough for her to peek out, Qingchen looked around the window, and then, taking advantage of the dark clouds obscuring the moon, escaped from the small house.
Fortunately, no one saw her during her escape.
When Qingchen returned to the prefectural government office, he was so hungry that he was almost collapsing.
When the night watchman saw her, he was momentarily stunned and surprised; his expression was almost as if he had seen a ghost.
They all knew that Lord Shen had been arrested, and that the prefect who fell into the hands of the White Lotus Sect was not the first one, and usually did not have a good outcome.
But only a little over a day has passed, and the Prefect has actually... returned on his own!
Several constables called out to her excitedly, and Qingchen could only nod reluctantly before entering the mansion with the help of the gate.
Xie Wenyuan was pacing in the courtyard when he heard a noise at the door. He immediately ran out and saw Qingchen. He was so excited that tears almost fell. "Lord Shen is back! That's wonderful!"
If something were to happen to the master, how could he explain it to Grand Secretary Song, who had been so kind to him?
"Help me inside, give me some water..."
Moonlight streamed onto Qingchen, and Xie Wenyuan noticed that her lips were dry and white, her eyes were red, and her pale face was still delicate, but it was heartbreaking to see.
As Xie Wenyuan helped Qingchen into the backyard, he said, "My lord, you've suffered. It seems that Meng Gexing tormented you. How did you manage to get back?"
"We escaped," Qingchen said weakly. "I heard you captured Meng Gexing's younger brother..."
“Exactly, his brother is still in jail. Meng Gexing captured you, so we had to capture his brother to exchange for you,” Xie Wenyuan said, frowning. “But I didn’t expect Meng Gexing to seem so indifferent to his brother, and not in a hurry to exchange him… That man is a complete madman. Luckily, you escaped, sir…”
Qingchen's mind conjured up Meng Gexing's smiling, handsome face, the way he tempted her with a chicken leg, saying she wanted to eat chicken. When he heard that his younger brother had been captured, he clearly seemed anxious, yet he wasn't in a hurry to replace him, revealing his deep thoughts and his ruthless unwillingness to submit to others.
I wonder if he would have starved her to death in a fit of rage if she hadn't escaped.
Thinking this, Qingchen couldn't help but look up at the star-studded night sky. If she died in Yunnan, what kind of commotion would there be in the capital? If she were truly buried in Yunnan, a farewell without a final goodbye would truly be a final farewell.
"It's late tonight, let's release them first thing tomorrow morning."
"Just like that?" Xie Wenyuan said somewhat unwillingly, "His brother has tormented you so much, sir. Let's keep his younger brother here to deter him and prevent him from making any more rash moves."
"No need, there's no need for that." Qingchen thought of something and then asked, "How old is his younger brother this year?"
"Yes, sir, I am ten years old."
She's only ten years old; what does this have to do with an adult's business? Besides, she disdained using this method to deal with Meng Gexing. Although, he was more troublesome than she had imagined.
"Arrange a room with a bed for him, and give him some food so he can rest for the night. Contact Meng Gexing's people first thing tomorrow morning to send the child back."
"...Yes, sir."
...
Daylight broke.
Meng Gexing woke up before the rooster crowed.
He put on a loose coat and slowly walked to the room where Qingchen was being held, and had someone open the locked door.
A person can go five to seven days without food and three days without water. The newly arrived prefect has already been imprisoned by him for two and a half days. That slender body must be nearing its limit.
Meng Gexing originally intended to wait until the full three days had passed before coming over, but for some reason, he woke up before dawn today, and the image of the refined and gentle Lord Shen kept lingering in his mind.
So he came.
His younger brother had been held by the authorities for over a day. He knew they wanted to exchange him for her, and he did indeed intend to do so. However, he wouldn't let them achieve their goal so easily. If they wanted to play tricks on him, Meng Gexing would play along to the end.
He had the servants bring him a pot of water and then went inside. What he saw there took him completely by surprise.
The clutter that had been blocking the iron bars on the windows had been moved away, and the iron bars on the windows were wide open, with a garment twisted into a rope hanging from them. There was no one left in the room.
He actually ran away!
Meng Gexing stared at the iron window, his brows furrowing slightly. He stood there quietly for a while, hands on his hips.
Then he smiled.
Shen Qingchen is quite clever.
interesting.
"Someone come here!"
Upon hearing this, Meng Gexing's men rushed over to ask, "What are your orders, boss?"
"Go kill me a chicken, I want to eat chicken this morning."
The new prefect excited him so much that he wanted to eat a chicken so he would have plenty of energy to deal with the man.
If they dare to lay a finger on his brother, they'll never have a peaceful life.
Meanwhile, Qingchen had already gotten up.
After a night's rest, she had basically recovered her energy. There were still many things to deal with after the disaster, so she only had a quick breakfast before heading to the court to handle official business.
The rice stalks were crushed, leading to a reduced grain yield—this was the most pressing issue in Yuanjiang Prefecture. She couldn't allow the people to go hungry, no matter what.
Qingchen had the account books delivered and personally checked the grain reserves in the official granaries of Yuanjiang Prefecture to see how much grain was available for emergency use. The result was far from satisfactory—there was hardly any grain left in the granaries; there wasn't enough to eat last year, let alone enough to last this year.
Yuanjiang Prefecture was extremely poor.
She frowned. It seemed that borrowing grain was inevitable. She summoned someone again and inquired about the grain yields of the nearby prefectures in previous years, hoping to borrow from the wealthier ones. However, the official in charge of finances simply lowered his head and shook his head.
"What's wrong? Tell me the truth."
The man then presented another ledger, saying, "Sir, these are the ledgers and IOUs for grain loans in recent years."
Qingchen read through the document and realized that starting three years ago, as more and more people abandoned their fields to join the religion, Yuanjiang Prefecture's food supply had become insufficient. The previous prefect had already borrowed grain from several nearby prefectures, borrowing more each year, and before these debts were repaid, he passed away.
In other words, Yuanjiang Prefecture was not only poor, but also burdened with a mountain of debt. With its existing debts unpaid, who would lend it new grain?
Qingchen was completely overwhelmed, frowning silently as he stared at the ledgers and IOUs.
Just then, Xie Wenyuan knocked on the door and entered, reporting on some post-disaster matters. After listening, Qingchen remembered something and asked, "Has the child been sent back?"
"We've already sent someone to contact the White Lotus Sect. Once we made contact, we sent the child back as instructed by the master. However, the child refuses to leave, saying he's not feeling well."
"What's wrong with him?" Qingchen put down the ledger in her hand and asked.
"I touched his head, and it was a little hot. He probably just had a fever, but it should be nothing serious."
"Have you called a doctor?"
Xie Wenyuan shook his head, "Since we were already sending him back, we didn't call a doctor. Besides, his brother treated you like that..."
"Go and fetch a doctor," Qingchen said as she stood up. "I'll go see him."
Meng Gexing's younger brother was placed in a small room in the back hall. When Qingchen went to see him, he was curled up on the bed and looked very uncomfortable.
Qingchen touched his forehead; it was very hot.
She did indeed have a fever.
Upon seeing the visitors, the child weakly opened his eyes briefly, then closed them again, murmuring, "I'm sick and can't walk. Please help me get a doctor."
Qingchen pulled the blanket up for him. "Don't worry, I've already sent someone to fetch him. Are you feeling very unwell?"
The child nodded, then opened his eyes and looked at Qingchen, "Are you Shen Qingchen?"
"I am."
"No wonder you let me go. It turns out my brother let you come back." He had heard that his brother had captured the newly appointed prefect, who was quite handsome. So this was the man in front of him.
Qingchen remained noncommittal, only asking, "Besides feeling feverish all over, what other parts of your body do you feel uncomfortable about?"
The child was about to speak when he coughed twice. Qingchen noticed his hoarse voice and dry cough and asked, "When did you start coughing?"
"It's been several days..."
"Has it been several days? Have you experienced dizziness or weakness?"
"have……"
Qingchen frowned. This child probably didn't just have a simple fever, but rather pneumonia. This disease was extremely difficult to treat in the Ming Dynasty; without timely treatment, his life would be in danger…
Qingchen summoned a yamen runner and asked him if Xie Wenyuan had returned from fetching the doctor. The runner shook his head and said he had not seen Lord Xie or the doctor. However, a large crowd suddenly gathered outside the yamen, all clamoring for the government to open the granaries and distribute grain.
Yuanjiang Prefecture suffered a hailstorm, which destroyed most of the people's rice crops. Their remaining grain would not last long, and they were probably worried about not having enough food for the winter, so they all gathered in front of the prefectural government office.
Qingchen had anticipated facing these challenges, but she hadn't expected it to happen so soon.
"How could it be so fast..." she murmured.
The constable said, "Sir, I think I saw a few members of the White Lotus Sect among those people. I suspect that these people might have been instigated and incited by the White Lotus Sect..."
It's Meng Ge Xing again.
Qingchen gazed at the sickly child on the bed, the image of Meng Gexing's arrogant smile flashing through her mind. That smiling wolf truly was a smiling wolf; his actions were swift and precise, making her very uncomfortable. The official granaries of Yuanjiang Prefecture were completely empty; where would she get any grain to store?
Does he know that his younger brother's condition is serious?
Qingchen sighed and ordered, "Go and cook a bowl of bellflower soup. Go quickly."
The constable was taken aback. "Platycodon grandiflorus soup?"
Platycodon grandiflorus decoction can relieve the symptoms of pneumonia. Give the child some Platycodon grandiflorus decoction before the doctor arrives to prevent his condition from worsening.
After the constable received his order and left, another constable hurriedly came forward.
"My lord, Lord Xie has brought the doctor, but the gate of the government office is blocked by the people. We dare not open the gate, because if we do, the people will push and shove, and the doctor will not be able to get in."
"What about the back door?"
“People were gathered at every gate, all complaining and demanding that the officials open the granaries and distribute grain.”
"Open the door," Qingchen said decisively. "Let the doctor in."
Meng Gexing's actions were not only a blow and a demonstration against her, but also a hint and a threat. He wanted her to understand that if she dared to harm his brother, he had plenty of ways to deal with her.
But he didn't know that his move would delay his brother's treatment.
"Your Honor, please reconsider. If you open the gates, the people will flood into the government office. It's a small matter if it disturbs your peace, but what if someone takes advantage of the chaos to injure you..."
"Saving lives is the priority." Qingchen touched the child's forehead. "Open the door."
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