amaotonovel Chapter 161 Being pushed along by incompetent teammates
Chapter 161 Being pushed along by incompetent teammates
After expressing his feelings, Yan He felt something was off.
"Is that guy surnamed Qin only arresting men because he's plotting a rebellion? Is he planning to set up camp here and secretly do something?"
Meng Fuqing was also pondering. He could easily guess the secrets hidden in the valley; they were nothing more than equipment for rebellion and provisions.
The number of Qin Su's men hiding in the valley is likely to be large, meaning that if they were to attack Qin Su, it wouldn't be difficult for them to raze their caravan to the ground.
Not cost-effective.
Thinking of this, Meng Fuqing put down his chopsticks: "Don't make this public. If word gets out, we might not be able to get out of here."
Yan He nodded seriously, shoveled a few mouthfuls of porridge into his mouth, and suddenly said, "That person is strangely good-looking."
"What? You've got your eye on something?" Meng Fuqing tidied up his empty rice bowl, picked it up, and walked out of the house. "Trying to betray your master and ancestors?"
Upon hearing this, Yan He almost spat out his porridge, but managed to swallow it down with difficulty, and couldn't help but look at Meng Fuqing with new respect once again.
Having seen many women who blush before even opening their mouths, Meng Fuqing's straightforward personality was exactly to her liking.
"Pah, pah, pah!" Yan He cleared his bowl and chopsticks, followed Meng Fuqing's steps, and whispered, "Who doesn't like a beauty? I, the second leader of the Xuan Yi Sect, am just admiring her! It's better than staring at a mask, isn't it?"
Meng Fuqing nodded, "That makes sense. If you like Qin Su's face, then I'll hand Qin Su over to you."
"How about I give you 20% of the silver you extorted from him, minus the 1,000 taels he originally promised?"
That's how it is with oxen and horses; without incentives, there's no progress.
Yan He's eyes gleamed. "Leave it to me. I'll make sure he gives in."
After saying that, she quickly washed her rice bowl, put it away, and left excitedly.
Meng Fuqing wiped the water droplets from his hands and went to find Meng Linlang again.
This time, she wanted to ask about Jing'an Prefecture.
If the benefits of going to Jing'an Prefecture could outweigh the dangers she might encounter on the way, she wouldn't mind continuing onward.
If not, this place is near the Canglan River and there will be no shortage of water in the short term, so finding a place nearby is not out of the question.
Except for... Xie Jin.
When Meng Fuqing was conflicted because of him, and when she imagined how to tell Xie Jin about her decision, she realized her own wavering.
But she knew very well that they both knew what they wanted, and it would be unfair to make either of them compromise.
Besides, we've only walked a short distance together; how could there be any deep feelings between us? Meng Fuqing thought indifferently.
When he parted ways with Meng Linlang, the sun had already disappeared more than halfway down the horizon.
The people who went to the cave to store water returned one after another in their horse-drawn carriages. When they got off the carriages and saw the water spilled, they couldn't help but look worried.
Meng Fuqing also went over to take a look. The road was uneven, and there were relatively few large wooden barrels in the caravan. The water bags were okay, but the water in the wooden basins and barrels had spilled almost half of it as it came back from the cave.
"Let's leave it outside tonight and see if it freezes. It would be much luckier if it froze into an ice block."
As she spoke, Meng Fuqing wondered if there was any saltpeter among the military supplies she had seized. If all else failed, she thought she might have some in her spatial storage.
Some of it can be used to make ice.
"That's the only way," the driver said with a smile. "It's time for dinner, Miss Meng, you should head back now."
Back in their own courtyard, some women were cooking, while others chatted and laughed as they took out the red pine cones from the pine tree towers.
Seeing that the two little ones and Zhao'er were helping with the cooking, Meng Fuqing went into the house, closed the door, took out paper and pen from her spatial storage, and started writing and drawing on the paper.
According to Meng Linlang, Jing'an Prefecture was the first prefecture to take in refugees and the first prefecture where the government distributed relief grain to the refugees.
The drought and locust plague in the dream only affected a small part of Jing'an Prefecture, so a large number of refugees poured in.
The situation only eased after the Hu people withdrew their troops, and the imperial court successively dispatched troops to suppress the refugees and distribute disaster relief grain.
As for the plague, the plague in the dream did not spread widely.
She highlighted the four characters "suppressing refugees".
If they cannot find a place to stay, they will also be the targets of suppression.
Unless they hide deep in the mountains and never show their faces, they have no way of knowing what's going on outside.
Meng Fuqing was caught in a dilemma; Jing'an Prefecture gave people the feeling of being neither worth keeping nor worth abandoning.
As I was pondering, I heard hurried footsteps coming from outside.
Before seeing him, Meng Fuqing heard his voice; Yan He's call interrupted Meng Fuqing's thoughts.
"Meng Fuqing!"
"How many taels do you think he'd be willing to pay to redeem himself?"
Meng Fuqing coughed and said, "Keep your voice down. We're not human traffickers. You don't need to be so rude."
Yan He looked excited and held up three fingers, "Three thousand taels!"
Meng Fuqing praised without reservation: "As expected, we still need Miss Yan's help."
Despite his obvious delight, Yan He said, "Flattery won't work. Don't forget my four hundred taels."
"Oh, by the way, he also asked me to pass on a message to you."
"What?"
Yan He hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said directly, "He told us to get out of here as soon as possible, or the situation will be completely different when we meet again."
"You didn't beat him up?" Meng Fuqing suddenly looked at Yan He.
"I... this isn't for beauty..." Yan He stammered.
Meng Fuqing: ...
"Deduct one hundred taels."
Yan He was incredulous. "You're deducting a hundred taels from my account for such a trivial matter?"
"Or two hundred..."
Yan He quickly interrupted her, "Hey, hey, let's talk this out, let's talk this out... I didn't do nothing, I fed him a heart-nourishing pill and lied to him that it was poison."
"Tell him to come to me for the antidote in a month. By then, we'll have arrived in Jing'an Prefecture. Even if he has more men, can he lead them into Jing'an Prefecture?"
Meng Fuqing: ...
I don't know how to evaluate this terrible idea. It's neither a solution nor a solution, but at least we can live in peace for a month.
I felt like I was being pushed around by my incompetent teammates.
However, one thing is certain: if she stays near the Canglan River, given Qin Su's personality, he might actually chase her for hundreds of miles.
The road to the north is the same one we came from. The Cangxia Plain is too chaotic. If we want to find a place with water and suitable for settling down, we can only go south, which is not much different from going to Jing'an Prefecture.
"The Cangxia Plain is flat, and with our carriages and horses, it should take us less than a month to reach Jing'an Prefecture."
However, one thing is certain: if Qin Su really goes to Jing'an Prefecture, you will handle it.
As the fog cleared, Meng Fuqing's mind became crystal clear.
"A promise is a promise, and I will definitely handle it properly. By the way, what do you plan to do with Granny Su and her people?"
“We exchanged grain for water, the transaction was settled, and we are both at peace.” Meng Fuqing did not dwell on this point.
Qin Su discovered the hiding place of Granny Su and the others. An old woman with seven or eight children would likely be driven out of Qin Su's territory.
But in the end, they were just strangers who met by chance.
Yan He hesitated for a moment, but quickly came to terms with it.
After their conversation, the two went about their own business.
Meng Fuqing walked to the place where they kept their supplies, searched around, and finally found only a box of saltpeter.
The guards gathered around. They had only ever seen boxes of yellow sulfur and had no idea what this box of small white stones was, so they couldn't help but ask.
"I'm not sure what it is, but we'll find out once we try. Could you bring some water over?"
Meng Fuqing spoke vaguely; she wasn't sure if the world had already discovered that saltpeter could be used to make ice, so she could only proceed step by step.