Chapter 241 - 241 Captured (5)
241 Captured (5)
Zhou Jia only returned to the back office at midnight. Li Yu looked at the tired Zhou Jia with sleepy eyes. “Xiao Xi, did you get any information from the interrogation?”
“I didn’t get anything valuable out of him. They’re all tough. One of them tried to bite his tongue off as soon as he arrived at the government office. It looks like we’ll have to wait for Sir to come back and concoct the medicine before we interrogate them.”
Li Yu comforted him. “Don’t be too anxious. The people who went up the mountain to report should be bringing people down the mountain tomorrow. I’m wondering if there’s a shortcut to cross Great Green Mountain, or if these people are just here to gather information.”
Zhou Jia went up and hugged Li Yu’s slightly swollen leg. He gently massaged it. “When Sir comes back, I’ll ask him to take a look at you. Why are your legs swollen?”
“Xiaoyu said that her legs were swollen in the last two months of her pregnancy.” Li Yu looked at Zhou Jia with some heartache. “Come over and sleep! I can’t even open my eyes.” Zhou Jia returned to Li Yu’s side and lay down. The couple fell asleep together.
The next day, when Mr. Wen and Yang Wei returned home from the mountains, Zhou Jia had already gone to the front office. Yang Wei reported to Li Yu, “Madam, that place is really not bad. The soil in the col is soft and is half the size of our Phoenix Village. There is also hot spring water at the foot of the mountain. Uncle Dashui, who went back with us, said that the water has not stopped flowing over the years. I want to hire people to develop the fields there next year.”
The land that was half the size of Phoenix Village was at least a thousand acres. The soil quality was also good, which was really not bad.
Li Yu smiled at him. “Alright! I believe in your judgment. Go to Ruyi for silver and seeds at the beginning of spring. Go back and drink a bowl of ginger tea and take a hot bath. Rest well for a few days.”
“Thank you, Madam. I’ll go back to the manor.” Li Yu smiled and nodded. Yang Wei bowed and left.
Mr. Wen came out of the house after washing up and said to Li Yu with a smile, “Come, let me take a look at you. How have you been?”
Li Yu reached out and placed her hand on the pulse cushion. She smiled at Mr. Wen, who was looking at her pulse. Mr. Wen narrowed his eyes and kept nodding. “Not bad. The child is growing very well.”
“How was your time on the mountain, sir? Did you pick any rare herbs?”
When Mr. Wen heard Li Yu ask him, he was overjoyed. “The harvest this time was really good. I picked mulberry, turkey tail, and a few immortal herbs… The best is a hundred-year-old ginseng.”
Li Yu looked at Mr. Wen. “Sir, help Xiao Xi make a few pills to make people hallucinate.”
Mr. Wen looked at Li Yu curiously. “Xiaoyu, tell me, how did you know that there was such a medicine? Do you know the types of herbs that can make people hallucinate?”
Li Yu told Mr. Wen about the few suspected Great Qi spies they had caught and the reason she had asked him to make the medicine. She smiled and said, “I know a few plants that can make people hallucinate. Datura, absinthe, marijuana… There are some I can’t remember.”
Mr. Wen began to worry when he heard this. If those people were really spies, Xiao Xi would probably be in trouble. Using medicine to make those spies tell the truth was the best way.
“That’s right. These herbs do make people hallucinate. There are still some herbs at home. I’ll make them for you.”
Li Yu smiled and said, “Thank you.” Mr. Wen waved his hand and walked towards the pharmacy.
Zhou Jia did not know that Mr. Wen had already returned home. He sent someone to the inn to retrieve a few of the spies’ luggage. Wang Cheng had already returned to the county office from the Green Dragon Stronghold and brought back General Zhong’s letter.
The key message of the letter was that they had already received news from the spies lurking in Great Qi. They said that there were spies everywhere in Qingzhou. The shortcut from Great Green Mountain to Qingchuan was in a cave under Azure Dragon Stronghold.
After Zhou Jia finished reading the letter, he was relieved. Since it was only a few spies who were asking around for information, he did not have to worry about the Great Qi army coming to attack. It had snowed heavily last night, and he had not gone to West City to take a look. He did not know if those houses had collapsed from the snow!
Zhou Jia went out and led a few bailiffs towards West City. When he arrived, he saw someone leaning on the bamboo ladder and sweeping the snow off the roof with a broom. The child and his mother cowered below and instructed, “Stand firm and be careful.”
The roofs of several houses had collapsed in several places under the weight of the snow. Someone had gone up on the roofs and was using straw to fill the holes that had collapsed under the weight of the snow.
The village chief ran out of his house when he received the news. He bowed and said, “Master County, thank you for thinking about us. Everyone is filling up the roofs that have been crushed by the snow. It’s just that this year’s winter is really worrying. It has snowed twice in a row. Fortunately, it did not snow for too long. Otherwise, everyone would have suffered.”
Zhou Jia looked at the commander with a worried expression and the citizens who were trembling with worry. He sighed. “Commander Wang, is everyone’s food sufficient?”
Chief Wang hesitated for a moment and pointed at the dozen or so people behind him. “These families don’t have fields and all rely on short-term work to support their families. Their lives are especially difficult. As for food, nine out of ten neighbors would mix a handful of coarse water with two scoops of water. They won’t starve to death but it’s difficult to fill their stomachs!”
Zhou Jia looked at the few people Wang Li pointed at and thought for a moment. He said, “I’ll go back and discuss with someone to see if I can think of a way to resolve your current predicament.”
The county magistrate wanted to think of a way to help them resolve their predicament. Did he hear wrongly? Which of the officials who came to Qingchuan to take office didn’t earn a lot of money the moment they took office? If not for them, would Qingchuan have become like this? Although Lord Zhou was different from the previous officials, would he really help the poor commoners like them?
Wang Li flattered him with a smile. “Master County, you’re really the best. Our Qingchuan finally has an official who loves the people.”
When Zhou Jia looked at Wang Li and the commoners, he knew that they would not believe that he was really going to help them. However, Zhou Jia could understand that these commoners had been bullied for a long time and would not easily believe that the high and mighty county magistrate would care about them.
Zhou Jia looked around the city and walked towards the Rejuvenation Hall, planning to go to Tu Hui, who was recuperating.
Tu Hui’s mother’s eyes were red and swollen as she looked at her sleeping son. She was worried. The government office had left after sending him to the medical center. In a short period of time, they had spent a few taels of silver. She did not have enough to pay even with Ah Hui’s annual salary. She wondered if the government office would give him money to recuperate. There were still a few mouths to feed at home. When he was better today, she would let him would go home and slowly recuperate!
Zhou Jia saw Tu Hui lying on the bed with a pale face. His mother stood at the door and secretly cried. He remembered that he had forgotten to order the office to give Tu Hui money in a hurry yesterday. Zhou Jia said to Tu Hui’s mother, “Aunt, don’t worry. The government will pay for Tu Hui’s medicine. The government will pay back the money you paid. Tu Hui has made a great contribution this time and will be rewarded.”