Chapter 265 After being exiled, he expanded his territory and annihilated the scum emperor (11)
A short while later, the Right Chancellor and his wife emerged from the snow, supporting each other.
Mother Liang pulled the Right Prime Minister's wife into the inner room. As soon as they entered, a wave of humid warmth hit them, startling even the well-traveled Right Prime Minister's wife, who instinctively gasped in surprise.
"It's so warm! It's even more comfortable than spring!"
The room was warm and cozy, with a roaring charcoal fire in the stove. Two little children, Liang Zhaozhao and Liang Mumu, dressed in light jackets, were playing with rocking horses on the kang (a heated brick bed), while Lü Ping, also dressed casually, sat by the stove warming wine.
There was a full jar of wine, and a pot of it was already warming up. The whole room was filled with a faint aroma of wine, which attracted the Right Chancellor as soon as he entered.
Seeing Jin Shu's look, Lv Ping immediately understood and handed her a cup of hot wine.
"Your Excellency, please have a cup of wine to warm yourself up. This is wine that Miss bought on her way here from a wine-producing region. I wonder if it suits your taste?"
The Right Chancellor took it, smelled it, and then drank it all in one gulp.
"Good wine!"
He hadn't had such good wine in so long!
After one cup, my muddled mind cleared up considerably!
Jin Shu smiled and invited him to take a seat.
A round table was set up inside the room, with a plate of roasted dumplings already on it. Green Screen was pouring wine next to them, and the two of them were drinking when the others arrived one after another.
"Don't be shy, everyone! There's plenty of alcohol! Drink up!"
When they were thoroughly enjoying themselves, the former governor, clutching his cup with red eyes, uttered a curse.
"I risked my life for the Huangfu family! In the end, I was exiled here by a young emperor! How laughable! How hateful!"
His words were like a floodgate opening.
Those who came here had no intention of going back. The officials all wept and complained, bowing down before the Right Chancellor as before to lament the injustice.
Seeing that everyone had almost finished drinking, Jin Shu raised her glass.
"I know everyone's frustrations and grievances, but the world is what it is, so let's not dwell on the past. The most important thing now is to broaden our horizons."
The northern frontier is so vast, dotted with hundreds of small kingdoms, each capable of establishing its own territory. Why can't we?
Everyone fell silent immediately after these words were spoken.
Establishing independent territory is a crime of rebellion, a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family!
Jin Shu smiled at everyone.
"I want to ask, will anyone ever face a worse situation than this? Just because the court chose the wrong side, they've left their entire families to fend for themselves here. Can anyone really swallow this insult?"
After she finished speaking, she took a sip of wine.
"At today's banquet, we are free from the taboos of our past officialdom. We are just fellow sufferers, companions huddled together for warmth."
If everyone agrees with what I just said, then I'll smash the cup in my hand.
If you disagree, that's fine too. When you wake up from this drunken stupor, it'll all be a dream. The harsh days in the northern frontier aren't over yet; just endure the rest.
Everyone looked at each other, but no one dared to be the first.
Just then, there was a loud cracking sound as the cup shattered!
Everyone looked over and were shocked when they saw who had smashed the cup.
At that moment, the Right Chancellor, supporting himself on the table, smashed the cup in his hand.
"If you don't mind, young lady, I'm willing to follow you to the death!"
"Since the Right Chancellor has said so, what are we still hesitating about!"
"That's right! Screw it! The Huangfu family doesn't want us! So we'll set up our own home and do our own thing!"
The sound of shattering cups echoed, but everyone was so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't notice the figure that flashed past the door.
Jin Shu noticed, and she smiled, her expression remaining unchanged.
"The dumplings are ready! Everyone, come and eat!"
Each dumpling had a thin skin, a generous filling, and was juicy. Since the exile, everyone had followed Jin Shu and hadn't suffered much hardship.
In this world, the concept of integrity and moral character must come after the basic necessities of life. What else can we talk about if we can't even get enough to eat?
That evening, everyone returned home drunk and slept soundly through the night.
As for Jin Shu, she went to the military camp after time stopped.
Arno had told her that time standing still should not hurt people.
It only says you can't hurt people, but it doesn't say you can't do other things.
Taking advantage of the night, Jin Shu finished making all the arrangements. With plenty of time to spare, she began to radiate outwards from the military camp to conduct on-site investigations of the surrounding garrisoned tribes.
The northern frontier is vast, roughly the size of the entire Xinjiang region in modern terms. Jin Shu visited about thirty or forty tribes in one night, some with nearly a thousand people and others with only fifty or sixty.
The largest encampment within a hundred miles was a small neighboring country, with a city and an army of 50,000 men.
Having completed her investigation, Jin Shu took advantage of the stillness of the space, where there was no wind or snow, to carefully examine the materials and study the geothermal system.
The most important thing for convenient water access is to lay underground water pipes. Thanks to nearly two hundred years of research experience from both worlds, it is not difficult to make water pipes with existing materials. By the time it gets light the next morning, the simple household water access device will be ready.
Jin Shu tried it out and found that after wrapping the pipe with a thick layer of insulation, it would not freeze easily. The other end of the pipe was connected to the river water under the ice behind it, and a simple check valve could control the water flow.
Just as the whole family was marveling at the existence of such a miraculous water-drawing device, a shout suddenly came from the doorway.
"Miss Jin! The commander wants to see you!"
Jin Shu was prepared. She washed her hands, took her equipment, and went to the military camp. At this time, there was already a lot of groans inside. Many soldiers were lying haphazardly in the tents, each clutching their stomachs and unable to move.
The commander looked worried.
"I don't know what kind of epidemic has broken out again. They've been like this overnight. Do you know if there's any way to cure them?"
Jin Shu glanced at it briefly.
"There are solutions, but there's no guarantee that everyone will survive."
"It's alright, it's alright, let's try whatever method we can first."
"Okay, I'll prepare the medicine."
The commander assigned her an assistant, and after preparing the medicine, she and the assistant distributed it to all the soldiers one by one.
A day passed, and eight soldiers died in the camp. Most of them recovered after taking the medicine and had no further reactions.
When news of the epidemic broke out in the military camp, everyone was a little panicked. Then the bodies of the dead soldiers were dragged out and disposed of. After hearing who those soldiers were, many people secretly cheered.
"Thank God! We've finally gotten rid of these scourges! You might not know this because you arrived late, but those guys were notorious thugs in the military camp! They tortured the vast majority of exiled prisoners to death over the years!"
"The methods were incredibly cruel. In this freezing weather, they stripped people of their clothes, froze them on the ice, and then tore them off! It's not something a human being could do! It's good that these people are dead; things will be more peaceful here from now on!"
"It's really strange that those who died were all the violent and troublesome people. Could it be that God has finally opened his eyes?"
(End of this chapter)
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