Chapter 97 The Virtuous Queen
The teahouse is noisy and the streets outside the railings are also bustling, which gives you a unique pleasure of having fun with the people.
Yanyu was the happiest, looking around curiously and sticking her head out.
"Hey, ma'am, what is that?"
There was a commotion coming from the street.
I saw an iron cage on a crowded ox cart, and inside it sat a dirty woman with her hands and feet tied and her head lowered.
People around her kept cursing loudly and throwing rotten vegetables and garbage at her.
"Shameless whore!"
"Being pregnant before marriage is shameless!"
"It has ruined the reputation of our Huangniu County!"
"Beat her to death!"
"Dump her in the pond!"
"Sui'er!"
Suddenly, a shrill cry was heard, and an old woman with a pale face squeezed through the crowd, staggering after the cage and crying.
"Sui'er! Tell me now! Mother knows you are trying to protect that person. Tell me now, or you will die!"
The woman in the cage raised her head, her dirty face washed with tears, but she didn't say a word and just shook her head.
"Sui'er, tell me, how can I watch you die? Sui'er, I beg you..."
Sui'er?
Su Ci paused and raised her hand to call a waiter over.
"What's going on?"
"Madam, you're from out of town, so you might not know this. This girl is a peasant girl from the county. She wasn't even married when she was discovered to be pregnant. The county magistrate ordered her to be paraded through the streets for a day before being sent to the sinking pond..."
“…”
Ling Shuang frowned and pursed her lips: "Then why don't you find out who made her pregnant?"
"She said she was defiled, but she doesn't know who did it, so there's no way to find out."
Ling Shuang looked at the angry crowd around her in astonishment: "Since she was defiled, shouldn't she be the one to die?"
"that is!"
Yanyu bit her lip as she looked at the woman who was being held captive like an animal, her face filled with indignation: "Is there still any law..."
"Waiter."
Su Ci raised her eyes: "Do you know what this girl's last name is?"
"Everyone who lives in that area has the surname Xu, so they should be surnamed Xu."
“…”
Su Ci pursed her lips and looked downstairs.
Xu Sui'er, the farm girl who was rescued by the heroine in the original novel, was almost forgotten because she was just an extra.
Fang Zhi received the king's gaze and was stopped by the queen just as he stood up.
"Fang Zhi, look at the alley over there, that man in blue."
“…”
In the narrow alley across the street, a man in blue stood on tiptoe and looked at the iron cage through the crowd. He had an anxious and tearful look on his face, and he looked like he wanted to move but didn't dare to.
Su Ci narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Find out the relationship between him and this Miss Xu."
"yes."
Xuan Yi placed his hands on her slender waist and moved slightly closer.
"Madam is angry?"
"Not really."
Su Ci shook her head slightly: "It's just that as a woman, I feel a little reluctant."
"If you want to help her, just let Su Li check it out."
"We must check."
Su Ci looked at Ling Shuang and said, "The one you saw yesterday was the local county magistrate, right?"
"Yes…"
Ling Shuang was slightly stunned when she said, "What does Madam mean?"
"laugh!"
Su Ci curled her lips in disdain: "He is a pervert himself, and he still has the nerve to parade a poor, defiled girl through the streets. It's disgusting!"
Xuan Yi's eyes turned cold: "What kind of lecher?"
"It's not me. Yesterday, Ling Shuang went out and ran into Lord Xu and the others surveying the terrain. She said that the county magistrate was staring at her lustfully. It was only after my brother gave him a cold reprimand that the lecher finally stopped."
Su Ci shook her head with a cold expression, "Xu and Qian are high officials in the imperial court. They both personally worked in the mud and paid great attention to the construction of the waterwheel. Yet, this county magistrate still had the leisure to peek at women. Just based on this fact, how clean can he be as a fatherly official?"
“…”
Xuan Yi's eyes darkened slightly. "Madam, what you said is correct. It's time to investigate thoroughly."
Fang Zhi came back soon.
"Madam, you have a good eye. The man's surname is Wu. He admitted that the child Miss Xu is carrying is his. He said that he and Miss Xu are truly in love, but their social status is so different that the elders in his family don't agree."
Su Ci wanted to throw the bowl.
"The difference in status? Is he the son of the prefect?"
Fang Zhi lowered his eyes: "He is not the prefect's son, he is the county magistrate's son."
"What?"
Su Ci laughed in surprise: "Ha, damn it, there really is no law. I'll kill him!"
“…”
Xuan Yi held down the man with his sleeves rolled up and his hair flared up. "It's not easy for you to come forward. Leave it to Su Li. He will definitely give that woman justice."
…
A higher-ranking official can crush a lower-ranking official. Su Li was a fifth-rank agricultural official, so he had no problem governing a small county magistrate. The next day, he overthrew the lecher and made public the county magistrate's past criminal history and the girl's injustice.
The entire county exploded.
When Su Ci heard that the county magistrate's son had given evidence of his father's crime and immediately married Xu Sui'er, her anger subsided and she wrote down her husband's name.
Since she has seen it, I'd better help if I can.
The fall of the small county magistrate did not affect the progress of waterwheel construction at all.
After eight days, the first waterwheel in Dayong was completed.
Because the fields were scattered across the land, Su Ci suggested digging several stream channels that led all the way to the foot of the distant mountain to facilitate the use of water in all the fields. However, this inevitably disturbed the villagers in the area.
The area was filled with farmers and villagers, staring at the huge round wheel in the river in amazement.
As Xu Shan pulled off the red silk, several craftsmen worked together to pull away the thick wood that was blocking the circular wheel mechanism.
Click, click, click!
The waterwheel slowly began to turn, accompanied by the crisp sound of splashing water.
“…The river water is being transported up!”
With an exclamation, clear river water gushed out from the ends of a row of large bamboo tubes that passed through the grooves in the road surface, flowing precisely into each corresponding stream!
“What a huge amount of water!”
"Our fields are saved!"
“We have a harvest this year!”
"Thank you, sir!"
"Thank you, sir!"
Amid the excited cheers of the farmers, Su Ci, who was sitting on the slope not far away, smiled and took a breath.
“It turns out that doing good things is so joyful.”
"Ci'er, what you said is not right."
Xuan Yi's dark eyes delighted as he looked at the people who were laughing and jumping for joy. "You are the Queen Mother of Dayong. It is your virtue that brings blessings to the people of Dayong."
"Hee~ That's right, my husband should talk more. I like to listen~"
"Everyone!"
Xu Shan suddenly spoke loudly: "The ingenious design of this waterwheel was created by Empress Chao Chun!"
“…”
"What? Queen Chun?"
"How did the Queen know about our affairs?"
Amidst the discussion, Qian Erwen raised his hands in a fist and raised them in a loud and moving voice.
"Although Empress Chun lives in the harem, she cares deeply about the people of Great Yong. Upon learning that many areas of Lian County had suffered a drought and had no autumn harvest, she painstakingly designed this waterwheel that can transport water autonomously. She ordered us to come quickly and strive to complete its construction as soon as possible so that the villagers can have a good harvest this year!"
"This is the first water truck we have in Dayong. Queen Chun will send people to continue building water trucks throughout Lian County, and even in every prefecture, county, and state in Dayong, to benefit the people!"
“…Thank you, Queen!”
"Long live the Queen!"
"The Queen is so kind!"
"Long live Queen Chun!"
“…”
Su Ci turned around speechlessly: "Did you ask them to say that?"
"uh-huh."
Xuan Yi chuckled and scratched her nose. "The Empress of our dynasty is virtuous and is a blessing to the Great Yong. How can I be the only one to know about it?"
"Um."
Su Ci smiled back: "As expected, he is very cunning."
"old…"
Xuan Yi's expression changed, and he narrowed his eyes dangerously: "Ci'er, do you dislike my age?"
"...No! My husband is not old, he is handsome and young, absolutely not old!"
Hurry up and smooth your hair, or you won’t be able to sleep tonight...
——
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