Inviting the Eighth Prince to Drink Tea at the Board of Punishments

　　Feng Yu Heng’s understanding of this era’s geography was not very thorough. First, she had not taken the initiative to learn about it. Second, this era did not have a complete map. For example, in the desert, nobody could say for certain how many countries were in the desert. It was just that the people had found ten. As for deeper into the desert, it could not be said whether or not any other countries in the desert beyond where humans had gone.

　　Based on what Li Zhu had said, aside from Gu Shu, the other ten countries in the desert were: Wu Lan, Xiao Mi, Yi Lou, Wei Dou, Xi Yue, Hu Xiu, Wen Nai, Che Shi, Gui Shan and Nan Wan. Their names were all rather uncommon. There were some that sounded like the 36 western countries found in the archeological finds in the modern era*. Although they were all found in the desert, they were not all in the same area.

　　These ten small countries were not large. Li zhu had once visited a few of them. The largest of those countries was around the same size as a province in Da Shun. The smallest was the same size as a zhou. Each country relied on an oasis to survive, and they could be considered abundant. The coalition that these countries formed could not actually provide too many troops. Based on Li Zhu’s calculations, the army that was scraped together by the ten countries amounted to 200 thousand at most. But Gu Shu alone had an army size of 300 thousand on its own. Calculating it like this, it was still nearly twice the size of Da Shun’s Southern Army.

　　Li Zhu was a bit worried about this battle, as he said to Feng Yu Heng: “The South is extremely hot. Not to mention wearing armor into battle, but even being going out without a top, it’s unbearably hot. This is the hardest part for generals of Da Shun to account for. On the other hand, the people of the desert were already accustomed to that sort of climate. Comparatively speaking, the South is a bit cooler than in the desert. That’s why it could be said that they are handling this battle very well and were able to force Da Shun to the precipice. Long before His Highness the eighth prince took over the South, speaking truthfully, the battle was already won. But the price was too high. This subordinate always felt that it was not worth it. So many comrades gave their lives to obtain the South. There’s nothing to feel proud of.”

　　Li Zhu had a large number of complaints of the eighth prince, but things that he said were objective. Feng Yu Heng was naturally able to understand the logic. Right now, the thing that she worried about the most was the army of 100 thousand from Qian Zhou.

　　It had to be said that Da Shun’s soldiers could manage to endure the climate in the South. After all, the capital also had a Summer, and there were days that were exceedingly hot; however, Qian Zhou was blanketed in Winter throughout the year. They were born in Qian Zhou and grew up in Qian Zhou. They also began their training in Qian Zhou. Everything was carried out in cold conditions. Suddenly going to such a hot place, those 100 thousand troops would definitely not be able to endure it.

　　Even surviving might be a problem, much less fighting a battle.

　　Li Zhu saw her furrow her brow, thus he did not continue to say anything. Standing up, he bid farewell. Recently, the prefecture had found a number of new soldiers. They were all trained by him. Ji An Prefecture’s defense was gradually being built up, and it was very busy.

　　Feng Yu Heng thought that aside from military supplies and food, she also needed to quickly think of how to resolve the problem of the heat. At the very least, she could not allow the 100 thousand troops to lose their fighting power. Even if she had modern weapons, aside from the 100 thousand troops of Qian Zhou, Xuan Tian Ming had brought fewer than 20 thousand troops. The disparity was too great.

　　This was the first time that she felt anxious about the battle in the South. The climate was a troubling factor. Even in the modern world, there was no good way of resolving it. One could only rely on the soldiers’ bodies to forcefully endure. But Gu Shu’s battle would be far more difficult than in the modern world. The battles would drag out longer. If it was just for a short period of time, it would be fine, but remaining in the South for a long period of time would cause lots of damage for Xuan Tian Ming’s army.

　　It seemed that her plans to head to the South would need to be pushed ahead. At the same time, she also brought out more medicine and tea from her space to help deal with the heat. In such a hot place, with so many people, not to mention not being able to make use of ice cubes, but even if they could be, they would not resolve much of the problem. They would melt instantly in the sun. The battle needed to be resolved quickly, and she had a certain amount of control over being able to deal with the enemy quickly. What she was worried about was that the army of 300 thousand would secretly try to trip her up.

　　In Ji An Prefecture, Feng Yu Heng had already begun preparations for the military supplies and food. At the same time, she had began reclaiming the mountains nearby. She had begun planting all sorts of commonly used medicinal herbs. A portion of these medicinal herbs could be used by Hundred Herb Hall, and they could also be sent out to medical clinics elsewhere. To the citizens inside the prefecture, this was another nice place to work.

　　Recently, as long as it was working for Imperial Daughter Ji An, everyone was happy to cooperate because the salary was high. The benefits were also plentiful. Most importantly, the things that Imperial Daughter Ji An did were for the sake of the country and the people. If things were done well, the people would be able to enjoy it.

　　At the same time, the people that had gone to the capital to file their report had been led to kneel in Heavenly Hall. They began exposing the vile acts committed by the eighth prince during the morning court session. When that complaint was handed to the Emperor, his old body trembled with anger.

　　He violently threw the report at the eighth prince’s face and loudly shouted: “Who gave you the right to plot using the lives of the people?”

　　Xuan Tian Mo quickly kneeled; however, he refused to admit to a single word of it. He just insisted that he was being plotted against, as he pointed at the people filing the complaint: “How much money did your master give you? To actually dare to frame this prince?”

　　Those people did not hold back. Seeing their former master with his current appearance, they were so angry that their lungs were about to explode: “You are our master!” Someone loudly said: “Money? Our own son’s life was dragged into it. Do you think that we would give up on our own son’s lives? Your Highness the eighth prince, in the past, we trusted you, and we were utterly obedient, but what did it bring about in the end? You got rid of us the moment we had done our part, and you even caused the death of our children! Today, even if we must give up our lives, we will definitely expose your guilt in front of His Majesty for the sake of the resentful souls that were buried beneath!”

　　After saying this, the people loudly shouted toward the Emperor: “We beg Your Majesty investigate this clearly!”

　　The Emperor took this case very seriously. After all, the disaster at the mine could be considered a great disaster. He immediately ordered for the Board of Punishments to take on this case. Presently, the minister of the Board of Punishments was the governor, Xu Jing Yuan. Upon hearing that something had happened in Ji An Prefecture, Xu Jing Yuan’s face sank, as he glared at the eighth prince and snorted. Stepping forward, he then said: “Then would the eighth prince come to the Board of Punishments after court has been dismissed to drink some tea!”

　　Xuan Tian Mo flicked his sleeve with an unkind expression and said: “Then would Lord Xu please handle the case with a bit more vigor. Do not delay the arrangements for military supplies and food to be sent to the South. That is an important matter and must not be delayed.”

　　Xu Jing Yuan nodded, “Your Highness the eighth prince is correct. Since both are important matters, how about His Majesty assigns someone else to the transportation of the supplies! The eighth prince’s guilt has yet to be decided. Thinking about it, he is not suitable for the job of transporting the supplies.”

　　Xuan Tian Mo’s eyes were on the verge of shooting out fire, but Xu Jing Yuan was not at all afraid of him. In addition to this, the seventh prince, Xuan Tian Hua, also said: “Transporting the supplies is an important matter. Father Emperor must think it through.”

　　The Emperor nodded and looked around. In the end, his eyes landed on the second prince. The matter of transporting the supplies to the South was handed over to the second prince, Xuan Tian Ling!

　　On the third day of the fourth month, Spring had begun to warm up the capital. It was the time of the year when the weather was the best, but to the South, all four seasons were extremely hot. There were no clear differences between the seasons.

　　In the Feng residence in Lan Zhou, Fu Ya sat in her own courtyard while eating the fruits sent by the madam of the prefect and drinking a sour plum drink that had been chilled with ice that was stored underground. But she still felt that the heat was difficult to endure, and she was feeling extremely parched.

　　Yao shi could not handle seeing her daughter suffer and called four maidservants to form a circle around Fu Ya to fan her. She also held a handkerchief and helped wipe the sweat from Fu Ya’s forehead while advising: “Endure it a little more. If it really is unbearable, let’s just not live in Lan Zhou? As long as you and Mother are together, it would be the same for us no matter where we go to live.”

　　Fu Ya helplessly shook her head, “It’s fine, Mother. I can still endure.” This was not a question of whether or not she could endure. They had not come to the South to live idly. It was for the sake of helping the eighth prince. Only with this help paying off could a good outcome be obtained. In the future, they would be able to obtain some benefits from the eighth prince. Once the eighth prince was able to successfully take care of the ninth prince and Feng Yu Heng, she would become the true Imperial Daughter Ji An. Her entire life would be without worry.

　　A servant hastily came from the front yard to report: “Imperial Daughter, the medicine merchant, Fang Ru Jiang, who will be opening a Hundred Herb Hall with you, is just outside. He said that he wishes to see you no matter what.”

　　Yao shi heard this and frowned: “Weren’t you told to tell everyone that A-Heng was stricken by the Summer heat and will not see any guests? Why does that person act without understanding the situation?”

　　The servant that came to report said: “The news was spread, but that person was carrying medicinal herbs and said that they were to help ease Imperial Daughter’s problem.”

　　Fu Ya angrily smashed the cup and the remaining plum drink before suddenly standing up. Yao shi thought that she would be going to see him and began to take care of tidying up her clothes; however, Fu Ya said: “Mother, sit here for a while. Daughter will go and say a few words to Father.” After saying this, she hastily headed toward Feng Jin Yuan’s study.

　　Yao shi watched Fu Ya’s departing figure and for some reason, her heart began to feel empty. It was as though this daughter would quickly be leaving her. She was clearly just before her; however, she could not be held steady. The feeling was gradually lining up with the feeling of growing distant with the Feng Yu Heng of the capital. Yao shi was extremely worried.

　　Feng Jin Yuan also received word of Fang Ru Jiang in his study. Seeing Fu Ya quickly come to him, he helplessly said: “If it truly is no good, just see him! Hundred Herb Hall has been opened for a while, but you have been avoiding it. Yesterday, father went into the streets and heard quite a few citizens talk about how the Hundred Herb Hall opened in Lan Zhou is too different from the one opened in the capital. No matter how they looked at it, it looked like a fake. Father was thinking that it was time to make an appearance to give the people a feeling of comfort. Lord Ji has also sent people to the Hundred Herb Halls in other provinces to buy the special medical pills. I trust that they will be able to return shortly.”

　　There was nothing that Fu Ya could do. She could only follow Feng Jin Yuan to the front yard and receive Fang Ru Jiang in the hall.

　　That person was very polite upon seeing Fu Ya. Hearing that she had been stricken by the heat, he was very concerned about her well-being, and he brought some medicine to deal with the heat, but when the medicine was placed on the table, Fang Ru Jiang said: “This medicine needs to be made into a medical soup. Thinking about it, Imperial Daughter would not drink this type of medicine. Our Hundred Herb Hall’s good medicine was bought out a few days earlier. Ever since Imperial Daughter opened up Hundred Herb Hall, you have never gone over there. Today, the citizens would gather around Hundred Herb Hall to cause a fuss, thus this lowly one came over in hopes that Imperial Daughter could go to Hundred Herb Hall to sit for a while. Second, I hoped that Imperial Daughter could replenish the stock of the medical pills. After all, our Hundred Herb Hall’s fame mostly came from those special medicines. You think so too, right?”

　　Fu Ya facepalmed and felt her head begin to ache…