Chapter 203

"Rebels? What are you talking about? All I see is you harming my people. We were ordered by the Emperor to invite you to the palace, yet the governor’s furen does something so disgraceful. Not only does she beat the Emperor’s people, but she also accuses them of being rebels! Your heart is wicked and cruel."

Fang Gonggong trembled with rage. Suddenly, his people were accused of being rebels. Did this mean the other party considered him a rebel as well?

"Me, wicked? Why don’t you look at the deeds of “your people” first? They arrived and immediately tried to seize the food. Their intent was clear—they wanted to take this food to the more than 200 rebel soldiers."

"I even saw with my own eyes how they gazed at those men with such infatuation. Is this how court ladies behave in the palace? Not often encountering men, they saw a handsome one and immediately wanted to fawn over him."

"My soldiers, over 100 of them, have to deal with these 200 rebel soldiers. They need to eat meat. The governor of Red Earth City sacrificed his own money to buy this meat to boost their physical power. Yet, these two court ladies didn’t care. They didn’t realize that if our soldiers lacked the strength from eating meat, who would protect them?"

Yueqian’s shameless words continued. What infatuation with the 200 captured soldiers from Small Mountain City? When had these court ladies ever laid eyes on those coarse men?!

Of course, Yueqian didn’t care about hat the reality was. What she knew was that these court ladies dared to snatch food from her people and even injured them for it. So let this food be the cause of their downfall!

She also knew that the surrounding soldiers didn’t fully understand her actions and words. They believed she was enraged because Qu Yi was injured. But Yueqian wouldn’t let them think she was an outsider. She sat down on the ground, picked up a dumpling, and broke the dough in half to reveal the beautiful, packed meat inside.

Instantly, the soldiers’ feelings became heavy.

For those from Red Earth City, how could they not know how crucial this meat was? Not to mention the rare availability of meat, even the Kuya tribe, who raise many horses, only have a horse meat festival once a year. Given such generosity from the Red Earth City’s governor and governor’s furen, how could they not be astonished?

Even though they had passed through 2 or 3 villages and cities along the way, in times of widespread plague, most people chose to hoard food rather than sell it. Even if they did sell, the soldiers didn’t have enough money to buy it.

However, the governor’s furen had just mentioned that the governor of Red Earth City sacrificed his own money so they could eat meat directly. Previously, they had rice porridge with pork, chicken, and fish, but those were mere scraps of meat.

This was different from the dumplings that had fallen from the pot, filled with minced pork and vegetables. Just one piece was considered great kindness.

Who would have thought that the meat meant for them would be taken by court ladies from the capital? This immediately incited their anger. Initially, they were angry because the court ladies had injured Qu Yi too severely. Now, they were angry to protect their own rights!

"W-we didn’t mean it that way. Gonggong, please help us! Those dumplings are high-quality food. Gonggong has often mentioned not having enough to eat, which caused fatigue during the journey. So when we saw these high-quality meat dumplings, we wanted to bring more to you. Besides, the soldiers still have bone broth. Even if they don’t eat the dumplings, they still have strength. The words from governor’s furen are all slanderous to us."

"Exactly, Gonggong, you must help us. The governor’s furen came and immediately accused us of taking the dumplings to the Small Mountain City soldiers. How could we do that? We just wanted to bring them to you, Fang Gonggong."

The more they heard the two court ladies’ excuses, the more the surrounding soldiers felt trampled by hatred. Their faces turned dark at this moment.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Fang Gonggong glared at his own people. However, his voice was quickly drowned out almost immediately.

"Oh, these court ladies, are you telling me that my soldiers don’t need dumplings because they can survive on pork bone broth, following Fang Gonggong’s orders? Without meat, you will lose your strength?!"

Yueqian didn’t let this opportunity slip by. The corner of her mouth secretly lifted into a smile, of course it was her secret, but Fang Gonggong had already seen it.

"Wh-What are you talking about!" His face shook with fear. The anger he had felt earlier was now entirely replaced by terror.

Remember, they still had a long journey to the capital with these soldiers. Yet he had been exploiting them, and even looked down on them, deeming them fit only for broth while he had to eat meat!

"This is outrageous! How could you think like that? I barely have enough meat to make three dumplings per soldier. You even tried to take nearly half of it! Actually, unlike other places, we at Red Earth City don’t have much income. This is my husband’s personal money, prepared for his soldiers."

"Aren’t you from the capital? Why bully us like this? If you want meat, why not contribute money? Next time, I can buy more meat and prepare more food. But now we’re out of meat to make good food, left with only pork bone broth to eat with rice or sweet potatoes. If we face another battle, we’ll all die!"

Yueqian bowed her head as she spoke, pretending to wipe away nonexistent tears. Mu Heng, standing behind with a dark face, understood everything from the argument between the eunuch and his wife. The young man then caught her small figure as she pretended to stumble, feigning deep concern.

Still seething, the young woman wiped away her fake tears with resolve and shouted again.

"Let me make this clear: I won’t let this happen. Even if I have to face the Emperor’s judgment for harming his people, I will."

"But I believe the Emperor will understand. His kind heart allowed us from another Region to join Bai Region. My husband’s and my intentions are the same—no treacherous thoughts, only work hard to repay His Majesty."

"If the Emperor deems our actions wrong, we will accept the appropriate punishment. However... we must first reach the capital safely. So..." Yueqian glanced at the teary-eyed Red Earth City soldiers.

Who wouldn’t have thought that serving someone from the Du Region was wrong? They felt abandoned and, deep down, harbored great disdain for this couple. However, upon hearing the words of the governor’s furen and her unwavering resolve to serve the Bai Region, their determination surpassed even that of the native Bai citizens. The soldiers who had realized this until now seemed to have their eyes opened.

In their hearts, the perception of the couple transformed into that of their true leaders.

"Arrest them all, including Fang Gonggong. Because Fang Gonggong’s orders to disrupt the army’s discipline cannot be overlooked. There might be issues in the future, and I won’t allow that to happen," Yueqian commanded the Red Earth City soldiers.

In truth, orders from a woman would typically be dismissed. What soldier would heed the words of a woman? Yet, the moment Yueqian’s voice ended, more than eight soldiers moved immediately without needing to be told again.

Her sincerity, the care she showed them, the sacrifices she made with her own money to improve everything—from Red Earth City to even outside, buying meat for them—made Yueqian’s words as valuable as a thousand gold bars.

"Stop. Don’t touch us, or else when we return to the capital..." Fang Gonggong began, but before he could finish, Yueqian, standing beside him, lunged forward.

She gagged him tightly with a piece of cloth, so that Fang Gonggong’s voice could not escape. Fang Gonggong’s current condition was utterly miserable. Since becoming a eunuch in the Emperor’s service, he had never been so humiliated.

His eyes filled with tears and hatred. This severe act of the governor’s furen would definitely be retaliated against by him in the future!

Before Fang Gonggong finished cursing Yueqian, the beautiful woman approached as if to apologize. The other partty whispered into his ear, so only the two of them could hear.

"I know you’re furious but take this time to reconsider. Do you want to be my enemy, or can we coexist peacefully?" Hearing this, Fang Gonggong’s eyes widened.

His heart trembled slightly with fear, his thoughts spinning around several times. When he met Yueqian’s gaze again, he understood—this woman before him was dangerous, extremely dangerous!

In truth, she might have known from the start that he intended to cause trouble for her. It was true that he had come here under the Emperor’s orders to deliver an imperial edict. This edict summoned both of them to appear before the Emperor to investigate the matter in front of the many people in the capital who had heard rumors that the governor was planning to punish another governor’s wife as a lesson, and had even hired an assassin to do so dangerously.

As a governor, such an offense was quite severe. A governor was sent to care for the welfare of the citizens, but instead, this one was accused of being so ruthless. The citizens would never tolerate this, including those who were genuinely virtuous and those who merely pretended to be.

But that was the matter of the investigation. As for him, a eunuch, he had come here with one purpose: to mock and make things difficult for the woman named Yueqian. Initially, when she and her husband were at the Wang’s manor, they were already unhappy because they were not shown respect. Who would have thought that the next day, the Wang would come to the palace to confront him, just because he had said that this couple was nothing more than leeches, trying to cling to their Bai Region and suck all the benefits for themselves?

Of course, those were indeed his words, but they were spoken in anger and reflected the thoughts of many! He believed that even the Emperor might think the same.Who would have thought that the other party would report this minor issue, leading to him being severely reprimanded and punished? His income for three months was donated to refugees from the borders. This made him despise them even more. He believed that the one who reported this matter could not have been Mu Heng, who rarely expressed himself. Such a trivial matter that caused a headache was likely handled by the woman.