And so, for two months, not a single case of the epidemic remained in the northern country. Jin Shu silenced the unsettling elements with her actions.
They also dragged out all the loudest and most boisterous people who had been the ones taking in the refugees.
The Right Chancellor, though old, remains wise and experienced, but his failing eyesight prevents him from seeing the true nature of some people.
He remembered that they were all colleagues who had been exiled to the northern frontier together, and that they had developed a friendship over the years. So he tolerated the other party's many overstepping of boundaries out of consideration for their past relationship.
He gave them a chance, but Jin Shu didn't.
It turns out that not all those exiled were truly wronged. People like them, who couldn't do much real work, only knew how to muddle through and form cliques, would be a menace no matter where they were placed.
After Jin Shu cured the plague among the people in the outer city, she had the time to tie them up and throw them out.
Those people were naturally unwilling, so they clung to the Right Chancellor's leg and begged him, crying and pleading.
These people were all his former colleagues in the court. The Right Chancellor was somewhat reluctant and was about to plead with Jin Shu, but all he got in return was a cold remark from Jin Shu.
“Right Prime Minister, if the Northern Kingdom is a person, these people are like insects attached to the thigh. Right now they are just chewing on the skin and flesh, but in the future they will burrow into the flesh and blood to eat flesh and drink blood. When you try to dig them out then, you may have to break your leg to save your life.”
After saying this, the Right Chancellor could no longer utter a single word of pleading.
In the end, these people were driven out, but it wasn't cold in the northern border region at that time, so they didn't freeze to death.
Jin Shu stood on the city wall and watched the group turn away timidly, her face filled with hatred that was almost overflowing.
She narrowed her eyes slightly, raised the crossbow in her hand, and shot it without hesitation.
The people who were insulting Jin Shu just a second ago suddenly felt a gust of wind brush past their ears. Just as they were about to take their next step, a sharp arrow suddenly shot out at their feet. The force was so great that only a small piece of the arrow feather remained outside!
The group was terrified and didn't dare to waste a second, running wildly towards the northern border.
After that, the entire management team became unusually obedient. Those who used to always argue with the Right Chancellor were now incredibly compliant, doing whatever they were told without daring to disobey even a single word.
Especially when they saw Jin Shu, they were like quails seeing eagles; fear and submission were ingrained in their bones. They couldn't even muster the thought of rebelling, let alone think about it and felt they deserved to die.
State affairs were still left to the Right Chancellor, Zhou Yinghuai, and others.
These people were truly loyal to Jin Shu and had real skills, so Jin Shu tried to slack off and do other things.
For example, we can plan urban construction and road construction, and upgrade the management of horse farms, using scientific and visual methods to ensure that every batch of horses can grow into the best warhorses.
Jin Shu usually rides her little white horse around aimlessly when she has nothing to do. Now, she owns almost half of the Northern Frontier. Because she can't sit still most of the time, many people outside the main city can recognize her.
Without any further rules, these people would all kneel down upon seeing Jin Shu.
This situation is very similar to the scene when Jin Shu first became a god. No matter whether they were mortals or immortals, all she could see when she went there were heads crawling at her feet.
Life gets meaningless when it reaches this point.
The most outrageous thing is that even when Jin Shu's horse goes out for a stroll alone, it will be worshipped by thousands of people.
Later, Jin Shu gradually stopped liking to go out during the day. Anyway, she had already traveled through most of the vast northern frontier, so she could spend more of her remaining time outdoors.
But the days of leisure were few and far between. One day, Liu Lingzun stormed into the council hall and shouted loudly.
"Those two old bastards, Qi Yuan and Qi Yuan! They actually swallowed up the entire coal mine of Da Zhou behind our backs! This coal mine was seized by our three kingdoms together, and those two actually took it over in secret! Today, when I brought people to mine the coal, they actually asked us for money!"
"They're charging us a box of gold for 10,000 jin of coal!! That's more expensive than what the Great Zhou Dynasty sold it for back then!"
Liu Lingzun was clearly furious; he was punching and kicking the air as he spoke, his hands trembling with rage.
The Right Chancellor threw down his writing brush and fell into deep thought, remaining silent.
Zhou Yinghuai, standing to the side, said helplessly.
"This kind of thing is quite common. It's not the first time that the rulers of Qi and Yuan have done something like this."
That's why he advised Jin Shu to make her move sooner rather than later, otherwise she would be tricked by those two old geezers, Qi Yuan and his wife.
Now look what happened! Just as he said, those two old bastards went back on their word and became bandits in the mountains!
Everyone watched Jin Shu silently as she fiddled with the small parts scattered across the table. Finally, she pulled out a round-hole, long-mouthed, short-handled object from a pile of messy iron blocks. The dark, lumpy iron looked rather strange.
Jin Shu gripped the gun handle with one hand, aiming the muzzle at the stone lion outside the council chamber.
"Didn't I tell you before that I want the stone crane, not the stone lion? And who made this lion? The one-eyed lion, which genius?"
Jin Shu had long disliked the stone lions at the entrance.
Unfortunately, this thing was a gift from the Jin Kingdom in the northern border region. They said it was their country's divine beast and could protect the northern kingdom.
To show his respect, Zhou Yinghuai placed the one-eyed stone lion outside the council hall.
“Miss Jin, haven’t I already told you? This was made by the King of Jin himself as a gift to seek peace. It looks a bit strange, but it is, after all, a token of goodwill from a friendly country.”
Jin Shu slowly closed one eye, opened the other, raised the gun in her hand, and whispered.
"Aggression? And this is all they give us?"
After she finished speaking, she lowered her eyes and looked at the Right Prime Minister sitting below her.
"Your Excellency, cover your ears."
"Hmm? Why?"
"You block it first, I'll tell you later."
The Right Chancellor was completely bewildered, having no idea what Jin Shu was up to, but he still obediently covered his ears.
Then, in the next second, there was a deafening "bang," accompanied by the strong smell of gunpowder. The head of the one-eyed stone lion at the entrance was instantly shattered into pieces, with fragments of stone flying everywhere.
The deafening sound still echoed throughout the council hall. The Right Chancellor, who was covering his ears, was still trembling with fear. Zhou Yinghuai covered his ears even more, his face pale with terror.
The mighty General Liu Lingzun was sitting on the ground at some point, his tall body stiff as a stone. His eyes were filled with fear and surprise as he stared at the still smoking iron lump in Jin Shu's hand. He suppressed his panic and asked in a trembling voice.
"What...what is this...what is this?"
Jin Shu put away her gun, rubbed her hand which was numb from the shock, and said calmly with her eyes lowered.
"Handgun".
"What?" (End of Chapter)
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