Free Web NovelChapter 200: Chapter 200
Chapter 200
Upon careful reflection, many things were indeed amiss. First, the eunuch delivering the royal decree did not wait to travel with the retinue of the governor of Red Earth City. Normally, the soldiers assigned to escort the governor to the capital were required to travel together. If there was any abnormal movement, the other party would be immediately sentenced to death.
Moreover, the number of soldiers had dwindled. If they counted carefully, they would notice someone was missing. Despite the tiring journey, the governor’s furen still woke up early every morning to cook. Everything seemed unusual, yet he was too foolish to see it!!
"This is the insignia of the soldiers from Small Mountain City." They didn’t need to interrogate for long; a quick search of the paralyzed man’s body yielded all the information they needed.
"Oh, really? So, this was a deliberate assassination attempt on the Governor of Red Earth City, using soldiers from their own city to deal with us, even ordering them to defy the Emperor’s decree. This shows they truly regard His Majesty’s words as worthless. If this isn’t called rebellion, then what else can it be called?" Mu Heng smirked slightly in satisfaction.
The punishment for harming the governor’s furen seemed too lenient, so they aimed to add the charge of rebellion to justify executing the entire family. Mu Heng was ready to exact such retribution.
He had no intention of forgiving or showing mercy with anyone who dared to harm his beloved wife. Given this chance, he wouldn’t let it slip by. Anyone who dared to harm those he loved had to be prepared to lose everything as well!
"No, no! It was us who wanted to do this. We planned to kill wicked governor like you. Thus, we planned to deal with you ourselves. It has nothing to do with the governor of Small Mountain City!" The man remained loyal to his master to the end. If the other side had been an ally, he believed that he would have respected and honored him.
However, their paths were different, never to converge. Once swords had been drawn against each other, there could be no friendship in their relationship. Not even the chance for change. Trust could never be given to someone who had the opportunity to bring death to them.
The only end for the other side should be death. The fate of those who chose to be his enemy deserved no less than death.
Mu Heng listened to the other party’s words. He sat down in front of the man, who was slowly regaining his strength. Even so, the man could only move his face, as his body was tightly bound, along with the other 200 soldiers who had come to assassinate.
"Was it you who thought of this grand scheme? Then the charge of treason should fall upon you, shouldn’t it? As a soldier, what is the punishment for plotting rebellion?" Mu Heng stared into the eyes of the soldier from Small Mountain City.
One of his men immediately reported in a loud, clear voice.
"The punishment for a soldier who dares to commit treason, if it is a high-ranking officer, is to execute seven generations of their family, from the youngest child to the oldest elder, as an example. For regular soldiers, the entire family line is to be eradicated. Anyone with the same surname and known bloodline is to be executed, except for relatives who have changed their surname and have rendered significant service to the nation; they will be punished appropriately."
Upon hearing this, the eyes of the 200 soldiers wavered. Just the mention of their entire family being executed instilled fear in their hearts. ƒreewebɳovel.com
"Is that so? Eradicating the whole family line sounds interesting. But what if their crime isn’t treason but rather following their superior’s wrongful orders? What would their punishment be then?" Mu Heng raised his eyebrow slightly.
He never took his eyes off, staring at the enemy’s demeanor as if to tease them. His demeanor was one of magnanimity, as if he had already devised a complete solution.
"This kind of punishment still warrants execution, since they followed orders to commit rebellion. However, their families would not be implicated, as the military law forbids disobedience of orders. In this scenario, they would only be responsible for their own actions."
The cruelty faced by the weaker ones was like this. If they disobeyed the orders of their superior, who held higher ranks and positions, the military law prescribed execution, including their family. This was to prevent desertion during battles. However, it was clearly a significant weakness. If their superiors commanded them to commit crimes, resulting in execution, they had to choose between violating military law or the laws of the Regions. Which punishment was more severe?
"I understand now," Mu Heng twitched the corners of his mouth upward. freewёbnoνel.com
There was no need for him to say anything further. His warning had already been clear. Among the 200 soldiers, if only one of them spoke the truth, the rest would face the same punishment. Moreover, if they weren’t completely foolish, they would choose for only one to die rather than let their families and entire lineage perish.
No matter how loyal they were to their master, when it came to thinking about their families, everyone harbored some selfishness in their hearts. Not to mention, they knew from the start that what they were doing was wrong, yet they still arrogantly and foolishly committed the crime.
How could they forget that this governor had even dealt with the assassins sent to kill his wife? Hadn’t this clearly shown everyone how meticulous he was? Furthermore, he was smart enough not to handle this matter himself. If assassins were sent to kill each other, their grudges would be settled. But instead, the other side chose to make it a big issue.
There were no flaws in this plan, no risk of it being his fault. If he had sent assassins to deal with it and the attempt failed, he could have been held responsible for breaking the law. Additionally, he was merely a man from the Du Regions. In reality, his words didn’t hold much credibility. If something happened, they would certainly be scrutinized.
But the governor of Red Earth City didn’t do that. They reported the matter to the capital and secretly sent the assassins for investigation. Meanwhile, Small Mountain City’s governor still believed there was no one backing the other side. No matter how much they tried, it was futile. While they were complacent and didn’t hurry to eliminate the sole witness, the issue had blown up.
Mu Heng was very clever. At first, he didn’t show everyone how much power he held. He acted as if he had to stand alone amidst a storm. Even destroying his own rice pots to request herbs was a pathetic act. It was like fighting only to the last breath. Everyone did not know he had methods to grow vegetables, so they thought he could only survive but would eventually starve to death. Little did they know... he still had many hidden cards left to play.
As the situation grew increasingly tense, Yueqian, who had finished preparing the food, called everyone, including her husband. Her actions suggested she was entirely unaware of what was happening. Whoever lived or died was none of her concern. Whoever fought or killed each other was none of her business either.
If it were any other woman who heard this, they would plead for mercy, asking for forgiveness, a chance for those who have repented, or at least to spare the innocent, like children, who knew nothing of the matter.
However, the governor’s furen was very calm, as if the deaths of others had nothing to do with her. This demeanor caused many people to feel a chill, not only the soldiers from Small Mountain City but even the soldiers from Red Earth City felt it too.
Yet, the aroma of her cooking was so enticing, and those who had tasted such wonderful flavors couldn’t just let it pass. Fear was fear, but hunger was hunger. So, they lined up to receive the tender bone broth to eat with white rice, which was still steaming and fragrant.
Even though this meal had only one dish, Yueqian had ensured it contained all the necessary nutrients. Protein came from pork, carbohydrates from rice, fat from pork fat, and vitamins and minerals from vegetables including mushrooms, carrots, green onions, coriander, and bright red tomatoes.
These fresh ingredients couldn’t be carried throughout the entire journey, so she had to use them quickly. Each meal was filled with fresh meat and vegetables. Fruits were available in the mornings and could last for weeks.
"I’ve prepared a tray to welcome the eunuch. I’ve included some sweets. When the eunuch arrives, please have someone bring it to him, dear." This was because the eunuch was not like others who had easily accepted her.
His thinking was quite old-fashioned, believing that women shouldn’t have too much prominence. Therefore, he didn’t like Yueqian much. She didn’t care about his opinion, whether he liked her or not was none of her concern. Their paths rarely crossed and they had no direct dealings with each other. Thus, she didn’t pay much attention to his attitude, focusing instead on doing her own duties well.
However, Mu Heng might be different. If he had to work with the royal court in the future, he might have frequent dealings with this eunuch. Although this eunuch wasn’t directly close to the Emperor, he was still a resident eunuch under the Emperor’s jurisdiction. His importance among the nobles was quite significant.
She planned for Mu Heng to be on good terms with the eunuch. It wasn’t necessary to be very close, just not hated by him. As for herself, she would simply avoid appearing in front of him, ensuring peace of mind for both sides.
After preparing the tray for the eunuch, Yueqian retreated to her tent with her husband, waiting for him to resolve the issues at hand before they could sleep together. Her husband had his own tasks to handle, and she wasn’t without work herself.
Paper and brush were ready. Yueqian’s sly expression appeared as she began to scribble an unfamiliar handwriting on the paper.
In the Du Regions, she was a master of literature, with her works becoming widely popular—even the royal palace followed her writings. She had heard that the Emperor had once gifted one of her transcribed novels to his favorite consort as a reward.
However, in the Bai Regions, Yueqian couldn’t become a renowned author. Whether due to laziness—cough cough—or the limited time she had as the governor’s furen, with many duties to fulfill, she couldn’t spend all day copying lengthy literature.
Fortunately, in the Bai Regions, people appreciated poetry and verse as much as literature. Others might say composing these was incredibly difficult, taking up to three years to find inspiration for a single good poem.
But Yueqian had a trick up her sleeve. How many poems did they want? What kind of poems? Long or short poems? She could provide any type of poem they desired, as long as it was a poem that earned money!
Selling poetry was different from writing novels, as novels could be sold as complete volumes. However, selling poetry, it took a long time to complete one page. As it’s said, in a lifetime, someone might create only one good poem. If it had to be compiled into a book, wouldn’t they starve to death first? Thus, selling this type of work was done through auctions, where the price was agreed upon.
The price was determined per poem, with no need to compile into a book. Therefore, a poet could submit their work on a single sheet of paper, which would then be copied and compiled into a book for sale.
In Yueqian’s mind, this was a great opportunity. She could even use dozens of pseudonyms to avoid suspicion. For poets, some were mere wandering bards, while others didn’t devote themselves to the craft but happened to create one excellent poem to sell. Therefore, they didn’t have to deal with ongoing contracts like those for selling literature.Concealing her identity in the Bai Regions was even easier, which made Yueqian very happy, just thinking about the substantial amount of money that would soon fill her pockets.
