Chapter 162 Entering the Saltworks, How Can You Be So Cold-Blooded and Ruthless?
Bang, bang, bang bang bang!
In the past eighteen years of his life, Pei Yuan had never known that his heart could beat so fast.
This made him panic, and he instinctively wanted to back away.
"Your Highness, please don't move. Close your eyes," Shen Chu said softly.
His voice was gentle and soothing. Pei Yuan paused, suddenly unable to move.
All I could do was silently continue counting my heartbeats.
Bang bang bang!
A mountain breeze swept through the forest, and everything seemed to quiet down.
Only his heart pounded like thunder, filled with unbearable torment.
"alright."
Shen Chu took a step back and looked at Pei Yuan's face with satisfaction.
"Hmm, your complexion is sallow, and with your back slightly hunched, Your Highness looks even more like a poor man."
Pei Yuan opened his eyes and looked at Shen Chu, who was smiling and chatting in front of him. His gaze deepened slightly, but his back obediently bent down.
Shen Chu clapped her hands with a smile, "Yes, that's exactly right."
Pei Yuan's lips curled into a smile.
Chen Chu smiled and said, "Let's go, let's go into the city and go to the salt field to work as salt workers for a couple of days."
Pei Yuan saw the gleam of excitement and cunning in his eyes; he didn't look like he was going to do hard labor at all, but rather like he was going on a sightseeing trip.
He chuckled, "Remember, from now on we are refugees who fled from Hanyang. My name is Lu Liu, and your name is Lu Qi."
Shen Chu's smile faded slightly, and she gave a soft "hmm".
Lu, the Lu of Pei Yuan's birth mother, Consort Yu, the Lu of Brother Zhan, and the Lu of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.
Pei Yuan keenly noticed his downcast mood. "What's wrong? Don't you like this name?"
“No, I like it,” Shen Chu blurted out.
Pei Yuan raised an eyebrow and sized him up.
Why are you speaking so eagerly and loudly? Just how much do you like the name I gave you?
Or is it that Shen Chu actually prefers someone who has my surname?
Shen Chu had no idea that beneath his calm exterior lay a turbulent inner world.
"Let's go, Your Highness."
Pei Yuan snapped out of his reverie, lifted his foot and chased after him, a smile unconsciously creeping onto his lips.
The two entered the city smoothly, went straight to the salt field, found the manager, and claimed to be disaster victims from Hanyang who wanted to find work at the salt field.
The manager looked them over and was very satisfied.
"You two seem to be in pretty good shape. Alright, come with me."
The steward led the two inside.
This was Shen Chu's first time entering a salt field. The salt field here is called Xiasha Salt Field, which is the largest salt production field in Anhua and is built in a mountain valley.
There are more than a dozen salt wells in a row, and two people take turns drawing brine at each wellhead.
The brine that was poured up was poured into a large pot to simmer.
The valley was vast, stretching as far as the eye could see, filled with large pots. Some pots contained steaming brine, while others had dried up, forming snowflake-like salt.
Many salt workers moved among them, constantly adding firewood.
Upon closer inspection, Shen Chu noticed that although the salt workers were dressed in relatively neat coarse cloth clothes, they all had pale faces and unsteady, weak steps.
Even when they heard their noise, they would only glance up blankly before lowering their heads to continue with what they were doing.
There's something wrong with these people.
The steward stopped and pointed to the two rows of large pots in front of him, saying:
"You two, each of you is responsible for ten pots. First, go and make the brine. While the salt is boiling in the pots, don't be idle. Take the salt that has been boiled in the other pots to the drying yard to dry."
Remember, everyone must boil twenty catties of salt every day, otherwise there will be no food to eat.
Shen Chu and Pei Yuan exchanged a glance.
"I'll go get the brine first," Chen Chu said in a low voice, turning to pick up the wooden bucket and involuntarily gasping for breath.
The wooden bucket was about a foot tall, almost up to her waist.
How heavy would this be if it were filled with brine?
"I'll do it, you go start the fire." Pei Yuan reached out and took the wooden bucket, secretly giving Chen Chu a wink.
Shen Chu understood, picked up a pile of firewood, and added it to the large pot one by one.
The manager stood by and watched for a moment. Seeing that the two of them were working diligently, he hummed a little tune with satisfaction and left.
Chen Chu put down the firewood, leaned over, and greeted them with a smile.
"Hello, brother. I'm a new salt worker. My name is Lu Qi."
The salt worker boiling salt next to me was a man in his early thirties. His cheeks were sunken, his eyes were puffy, and there were deep shadows under his eyes, which showed that he hadn't slept well for a long time.
Faced with Shen Chu's enthusiastic greetings, the man merely glanced at her blankly before standing up.
He scraped the salt that had already been boiled in the pot and poured it into a wooden bucket, then picked up the bucket and left.
Seeing that he was staggering badly, Shen Chu instinctively wanted to go forward to help him, but a scream suddenly came from not far away.
She turned her head and saw that the steward had come over at some point and was whipping an old man in his fifties.
"You old bastard, how dare you steal salt? You've got some nerve! I'll teach you a lesson today."
The long whip lashed hard across the old man's back, instantly revealing a glaring bloodstain.
The old man dared not dodge, and lay on the ground crying and begging, "Please, my little grandson hasn't eaten a single grain of salt for half a month."
If this continues, the child will die.
"Please, manager, have some compassion and have pity on us!"
The manager spat out a mouthful of phlegm. "I'm taking pity on you out of kindness, but who's taking pity on me?"
The month is already halfway over, and we haven't even finished half of the salt we were supposed to deliver.
"You're all useless! You've eaten plenty, but how come you're making salt at the slowest pace, like old oxen?"
The steward grew angrier as he spoke, and lashed the man several more times with the whip.
The old man's clothes were soaked with blood on the back, and he was curled up in pain, but he still held a handful of salt tightly in his hand.
The snow-white salt grains slipped through his fingers and rolled into the soil. The old man hurriedly picked them up and carefully put them back into his palm.
The steward stepped forward and pried open his palms. "Aren't you going to let go? If you don't, I'll beat you to death."
The old man clenched his fists tightly, as if he were holding his life in his hands, and didn't even bother to dodge the falling whip.
The steward was furious and stomped hard on the old man's hand.
Shen Chu's eyes reddened as she watched, and she couldn't help but take a step forward.
Pei Yuan grabbed his arm, signaling him not to make any rash moves.
Shen Chu was somewhat angry. "If we don't intervene soon, that old man will be beaten to death."
Pei Yuan frowned. "If we make a move, our identities will be exposed, and all our previous efforts will be in vain."
Shen Chu was well aware of this.
Reason told her that for the sake of the bigger picture, she should remain a detached observer at this moment.
But she couldn't bear to watch an old man be whipped to death.
"Are we just going to stand by and watch the old man get beaten to death? You're being so cold-blooded and heartless."
She shook off Pei Yuan's hand and strode towards the steward.
Pei Yuan pinched his brow helplessly, stepped forward and grabbed her arm, saying loudly, "Manager, one of the salt wells over there seems to be broken. What should we do?"
"What? The salt well is broken?" The manager looked up and glared at him unhappily.
Pei Yuan hummed in agreement and pointed to the well where he had just gone to fetch brine: "It seems the cable is stuck. I dare not mess with it. If you are in charge, please take a look."
The foreman released the old man and walked over, cursing.
"The salt production was already far short, and then a salt well broke down. We're really unlucky."
He walked up to the salt well, turned the top pulley, and his face immediately darkened.
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