Chapter 294 Clearing Wasteland, Weeding and Turning the Soil
"Sir, we were sleeping soundly when our house was burgled. They stole all our valuables. We caught an accomplice, and that's him."
Jia Quan pointed at Zhang Shan and asked his men, "Who is this guy? Do you know him? Have you seen him before?"
"Your Excellency, I do not recognize you, I have never seen you before."
Xiao Xuance said, "He has tattoos on his face and calluses on his hands, so he must be a local conscript. I guess he's one of your men."
More and more people gathered in the camp to watch the spectacle. The soldiers remained calm and composed, as if they were used to such things, their eyes showing only numbness and schadenfreude.
Only a few people's unusual expressions caught Xiao Xuance's attention. Their eyes were bloodshot, filled with grief and anger, but they were hidden in the darkness and difficult to notice.
Zhang Shan, who was tied up and kneeling on the ground, glanced at them before looking away.
They knew Zhang Shan.
Xiao Xuance lifted his foot and walked towards them.
"Is that so? Someone, go and take a look." Jia Quan waved his hand.
One of the henchmen stepped forward to examine him. "You have tattoos on your face. You look somewhat familiar. Damn it, daring to steal under the adults' noses, you're really asking for death."
With that, he swiftly drew his knife and slit Zhang San's throat. "Swish!"
A bloody gash appeared on Zhang Shan's neck, a large gushing of blood spurted from the corner of his lips, his whole body trembled, and his eyes bulged out.
He then collapsed to the ground, his eyes wide open, looking as if he had died with his eyes still open.
The convicts, seeing the city defense battalion's disregard for human life, shrank back in terror, crying out, "Ah!"
If people are killed so hastily, what if they made a mistake and were killed as well?
They used to hate Lao Liao and others for whipping them at the drop of a hat, but it's much better than whipping my neck.
They missed their days on the road to exile.
The subordinate turned to Jia Quan and bowed, saying, "Sir, judging from the tattoos on his face, he must have been a member of our city defense battalion. He dared to commit theft and has been executed by me."
Xiao Xuance paused, turned around, and saw Zhang San lying on the ground, spitting blood, while the others had vanished without a trace.
Jia Quan looked at his subordinate with a hint of approval in his eyes and nodded, saying, "Hmm, well done."
"How could you kill him? He's dead, the trail goes cold, how are we supposed to find his accomplices? How are we supposed to get our money back?"
"Exactly, you're in such a hurry to kill people, are you trying to silence them?"
Jia Quan's face turned green with rage. "How dare you! You dare to slander this commander..."
"He was ordered by you! Give us back our money! Give us back our money!" Madam Li was furious that the last bit of money she had was stolen. She lunged forward, grabbed the body of the man who had just committed the murder, and shook him violently. "You killed him! Give us back our money!"
"You're asking for death!" the henchman roared through gritted teeth, forcefully shoving the woman aside and slashing her neck with his knife.
When Madam Li was pushed away, she stepped on her own foot with her left and fell. The blade grazed her neck, and she screamed in fright, scrambling to hide behind the convicts.
"You newbies, learn from me."
"Those who have been exiled here are all prisoners. If you commit theft, you will be killed on the spot. I will let it go this time since it is your first offense. But if you disturb my sleep again because of this, I will send you all to quarry, mine, and repair river embankments, to do the hardest and most tiring work. Do you understand?"
"The adults are asking if you understand?"
The convicts remained silent and turned to leave.
Jia Quan, “…”
"This is outrageous! These damned convicts dare to disregard my orders!"
One of his men said, "Sir, these people used to be very important, they seem to be some kind of princes or nobles, so they don't take you seriously."
"Fine, how dare they disregard this commander? Just wait and see how I deal with them!" A shadow crossed Jia Quan's eyes.
When Zhao Xuan returned home, he heard arguing coming from inside the courtyard before even entering.
“Your Highness, this bottle of black jade plaster is really mine. I didn’t steal it from you.”
The thief successfully sneaked into their house, stole the bundle, and fled into the courtyard where he was discovered by the guards.
The guards fought with the thieves, who were no match for them. In an attempt to escape, the thieves threw their bundles at the guards, scattering their belongings all over the ground.
The guards couldn't distinguish their personal belongings, so they picked them all up and let the women identify them.
Yun Jiaoyue checked and found that her Black Jade Broken Ointment was gone.
A bottle of Black Jade Bone-Mending Ointment was found in Su Wan'er's room.
Yun Jiaoyue insisted that Su Wan'er had stolen it.
The two started arguing.
Yun Jiaoyue sneered, "If you didn't steal it, then why is mine missing? Where did you get the Black Jade Bone-Mending Ointment? Don't tell me it was a gift from your family. I've never seen you use it."
Su Wan'er said, "I didn't say it was sent by my family, but we were trapped on the mountain in Cangwu County. I fell a few times and my legs hurt so much that I had to ask the divine doctor for medicine. I used half of it and there's still half left. This bottle is clearly mine."
"If you don't have money, how can the miracle doctor give you medicine?"
“The doctor is kind-hearted and only charges a consultation fee. I will pay on credit and repay the doctor when my family sends money over.”
Yun Jiaoyue caught sight of the tall figure at the door, put away her domineering demeanor, and softened her tone, "Sister, if you want the Black Jade Rejuvenating Ointment, just say so. Why lie?"
"I didn't steal it. This bottle of medicine is mine. The divine doctor and the group of exiled prisoners stayed at the same inn. They can all testify for me and return the plaster to me." Su Wan'er rushed over and snatched the plaster back.
Yun Jiaoyue pulled and tugged at her for a couple of seconds before letting go. She fell backward, her hands flailing in the air as if trying to grab something, but she couldn't grasp anything. "Ah!"
"Moon, be careful." Zhao Xuan quickly stepped forward and put his arm around her waist.
"Ouch, Your Highness, you're back? I think I twisted my ankle, my leg hurts so much, waah..."
"Your leg is fine now. Yue'er is pregnant, so give her the ointment." Zhao Xuan bent down and carried Yun Jiaoyue into the house, giving the guards behind him a look.
The guards stepped forward and snatched the ointment from Su Wan'er's hand.
"Give it back to me! That's my plaster. Why are you taking it from me?" Su Wan'er tried to snatch it back, but was stopped by Yun Jiaoyue's maid.
The guards ignored her; the princess was pregnant with the young prince and was the apple of their prince's eye.
"Wan'er, let it go. His Highness is on the side of the Princess Consort. There's nothing we can do."
"Yiyi, how could they do this? It's too much! I'm so angry, waaaah..." Su Wan'er sobbed, clinging to Liu Yiyi. "I'm already suffering so much, why does everyone bully me, everyone bullies me..."
Early the next morning, the soldiers banged gongs at the village entrance, telling them to go to the camp to collect farm tools and start working in the fields.
Zhao Xuan bribed the soldiers who were overseeing the work, and they agreed to let his guards take over his and Yun Jiaoyue's jobs.
Liu Yiyi and Su Wan'er also wanted to quit and pleaded with him to let guards or maids replace them.
"No, Yue'er is pregnant and needs protection and care."
The two were so angry that they gritted their teeth in anger.
So what if I'm pregnant? What's the big deal?
They could also get pregnant, but Yun Jiaoyue selfishly monopolized His Highness.
The teams distributing farm tools were divided into two groups: one group of men and the other group of women and children.
The woman leads the way with light farm tools such as sickles and scimitars to cut grass.
The men used hoes, rakes and other farm tools to turn the soil behind them.
There are a total of fifty acres of land here. Give them ten days to clear the weeds and turn the soil over.
With so many people, ten days is more than enough. If it weren't for the fact that it's still early before the autumn rice harvest, we would give them at most seven days.
But these people weren't the type to do manual labor; the one wielding the sickle nearly cut his finger, and the one wielding the hoe nearly chopped his toe.
The officers and soldiers who came to supervise them shook their heads and rolled their eyes so hard they couldn't bear to watch. Their hands, which were holding whips, were itching to hit someone.
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