0p0 Chapter 89 Discrete
Chapter 89 Discrete
How could Shen Qing not know what Yuan Cong was up to? He couldn't bear to let the scapegoat escape!
“This…” Shen Qing was about to decline, but Shen Che was still waiting for him.
"Yes, Little Celestial Master, without you, no one dares to make a move."
The village elders all stood up to try and persuade him to stay, their words seemingly sincere, but what they were really thinking was, "What if there really is a punishment? The person who's going to be struck can't run away!"
"..." They're all ancient foxes, what are they trying to do with this ghost story?
Although no one can stop him from running away now, all his previous efforts will have been in vain.
Sighing inwardly, Shen Qing thought, "Hey, did you bring any nitroglycerin?"
After agreeing to this, the ancestral hall doors were reopened, and the village elders went to gather the villagers to convey the instructions from above and assign tasks.
Upon exiting the door, Shen Qing saw Du Zhong peeking out from the village entrance and felt inexplicably guilty.
What's meant to happen will happen; true warriors dare to face difficulties head-on.
"Your Excellency, I have some private matters to discuss with my brother."
There was nothing they could do; they were being closely watched, and Yuan Cong and the others were afraid that Shen Qing would run away, so they had no choice but to report it.
Yuan Cong glanced in the direction of Du Zhong, nodded, and after Shen Qing left, he signaled his servants to follow.
At the village entrance, Du Zhong saw Shen Qing walking towards him and breathed a sigh of relief. "Sanlang, let's go quickly. The eldest son is getting impatient."
"I'm afraid... we won't be able to leave for the time being..."
Du Zhong's heart skipped a beat. "What happened?"
so so, so so...
Shen Qing briefly summarized what had just happened.
Du Zhong's face twitched. "So, Sanlang has decided..."
"What I mean is... let my brother take the delegation and leave first. I will catch up with him within three days!"
Shen Qing had also given this matter considerable thought. It was not advisable for the Xuan Kingdom delegation to get involved in this matter. If things were not handled properly, the blame for the ineffective disaster relief could be placed on Xuan Kingdom, and they could be accused of having ulterior motives.
Qi Kingdom might even use this as an excuse to launch a foreign war in order to divert attention from domestic problems, which would be a terrible mistake.
What? You're saying there's no food? What do consumables need food for?
Therefore, Shen Che must absolutely not get involved and gamble with the goodness of human nature.
"Sanlang, you should go and talk to the eldest son yourself."
"..." He didn't want to face the storm head-on, so he turned to look at the person keeping watch not far away. Shen Qing had an idea. "Magistrate Yuan sent someone to keep an eye on us, so I made up a false identity. It's inconvenient to contact the Xuan Kingdom delegation anymore. My brother is very understanding, he will definitely understand!"
No, he's not that kind of person. Du Zhong didn't understand why the young lady would have such a misunderstanding about the eldest son. Family, country, and the world—family comes before country, and country comes before the world. This is the eldest son's principle.
However, Du Zhong had no choice but to return to the mission and report to Shen Che. He listened to Shen Qing's advice and made sure no one was following him on his return trip.
After waiting for a long time, Shen Che saw that only Du Zhong had returned, and his face darkened: "Where is Sanlang?"
Poor Du Zhong, under the oppressive atmosphere, repeated Shen Qing's words, and Shen Che's expression visibly grew increasingly grim.
"A man of great principle? Qingxi really knows how to flatter him!"
If he were to personally go and arrest the person, wouldn't he become a villain who abandons someone in distress? And if he couldn't bring the person back even after personally going and arresting them, it would be even more shameful.
Shen Che's head and heart ached, and he felt that his sister's ideas were getting bigger and bigger.
Looking at the wheat field in front of him, and recalling the scene he had seen on the road, he remained silent for a long time. Qingxi and he were different.
Shen Che took a deep breath and made a difficult decision, "Let's go first."
"grown ups……"
No need for further explanation.
He was not only Qingxi's elder brother, but also the leader of the delegation and an official of Xuan Kingdom.
"……promise."
The Xuan Kingdom delegation, which had been delayed for half a day, resumed its journey. Shen Che sat in the carriage, his mind as still as water, while Du Zhong, riding his horse, kept looking back, thinking to himself, "My lady, you must be safe and sound!"
Meanwhile, under the organization of the government, the people also launched a vigorous campaign to eradicate locusts.
People from each village were divided into groups to distribute the floodwaters. Some dug pits by the fields while others piled up dry grass and firewood to prepare for lighting fires at night to attract locusts.
Village Chief Zhou organized fifty people into teams, with one person playing the drum and the others following closely behind, using brooms, shovels, and other tools to drive the locusts into the newly dug ditch.
The women also got busy, working hard to make simple tools to catch locusts. The main type was a cloth enclosure, which used a piece of coarse cloth that was ten feet wide and a little over a foot long, with a wooden pole inserted into the ground at each end. When the locusts came, the cloth would be dropped in front of them to trap them inside.
Even the children weren't spared; unable to do heavy work, they would search for insect nests in the fields and report back to the adults once they found one.
Locust eradication is a huge undertaking, and every bit of labor was utilized; even the elderly helped with mixing oil and water, and lighting the smoke...
When everyone works together as one, focusing their efforts in the same direction, the efficiency is terrifying and astonishing.
Seeing this scene, Village Chief Zhou felt hope again and couldn't help but shed tears.
Yuan Cong was also very pleased. He glanced at Shen Qing, who was sitting on the high platform as a mascot, and thought to himself, "This person may not be a Taoist master, but he must be a chivalrous person with a great sense of righteousness."
Time slipped away quietly amidst everyone's busy work; the sun set and the moon rose, and night fell.
Everyone's attention was focused on the fields, and they had long forgotten about Zhang the charlatan and his little apprentice still hanging on the banyan tree at the entrance of the village.
"Cuckoo~"
"Master, I'm hungry~"
"What time is it, and you're still thinking about food..."
Before he could finish speaking, the charlatan's stomach started growling.
"Oh dear, what bad luck!"
Zhang the Charlatan's real name is Zhang Tian. He is a traveling performer. In this year of bad times, people can't even fill their stomachs, so where would they get extra money to tip them?
But they had no land and no other means of making a living, so they figured they couldn't lose their skills for earning a living, so they switched to swindling. Zhang Tian even added "division" to his name.
Why haven't Niu Er and the others come to rescue us yet?
"Master, they didn't run away, did they?"
"Hey~ Dog Boy, why are you talking about me behind my back!" A burly man peeked out furtively.
People really do have unpredictable thoughts; just like that, Niu Er appeared under the tree.
"Niu Er, why did it take you so long to get here? My arm was shaking so much it was almost broken!"
"Hey~" It's daytime and there are too many people around. If we get caught, we're all doomed.
As they were talking, the ox had already untied the rope and lowered the two of them down.
"Brother, it seems things won't be easy being a Celestial Master anymore. I heard today that the bandits in the north are recruiting heroes from all over. Let's go!"
"You mean Zhu Biao's mountain stronghold? That's a business where you risk your life."
"Aren't we in the same boat now? In chaotic times, human life is as worthless as grass."
Zhang Tian pondered for a moment, gritted his teeth, and said, "Let's do it! If we die, we die; if we don't, we live forever!"