I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 198 Arson
With the help of court officials and palace guards taking turns carrying him, Song Kai laboriously crossed Baiyu Mountain and arrived at the most remote village in Dingbian County.

Baiyu Village is a small village with only thirty or forty households. Wolves, tigers, and leopards roam the mountains, so the villagers only gather wild vegetables and cut firewood at the foot of the mountain. Their main source of livelihood is the produce from their few dozen acres of land.

These dozens of acres of land not only grow yellowish, curled-up wheat, but also densely packed white insect eggs hidden in the soil.

The government's inaction plunged the people into despair, forcing them to place their hopes on the legendary sorcerer who could communicate with the gods.

The village chief of Baiyu Village gathered all the villagers to contribute money and goods, and knelt at the place where the shaman stayed for five whole days before he finally begged the shaman for mercy and traveled over mountains and rivers to Baiyu Village to pray for divine blessings.

Song Kai and Chao Yi hid under a big tree at the foot of the mountain outside the village, watching as seven or eight men, women, and children, dressed strangely with chicken feathers on their heads, jumped and hopped around in circles and lined up in rows, muttering incessantly. It was more entertaining than any variety show troupe in the capital.

The villagers of Baiyu Village had never seen anything like this before. They were stunned by the Great Shaman's single breath of fire and knelt down to beg for divine protection.

"Should we expose them?" Chao Yi was annoyed. Didn't they want to come up with some new tricks when they were trying to deceive people?

“No,” Song Kai stopped him. “The more remote the place, the more ignorant the people are. If you go up and stop them, they will not only not be grateful, but they will also resent you.”

Chao Yi had no choice but to wait patiently until the villagers of Baiyu Village respectfully invited the group of shamans into the village for a feast. Only then did he pretend to approach them and strike up a conversation.

"Excuse me, sir, is this Dingbian County?"

The village chief of Baiyu Village, who was leading people to clean up the mess on the ground, turned around and asked, "Indeed, may I ask who these distinguished guests are?"

Song Kai stepped forward to greet him, "Brother, we have come from Lanzhou to visit Miss and her family in Qinzhou."

When you're out and about, you have to choose your own identity. Song Kai modified the story based on reality and created a plausible tale about finding someone.

“My master lives in Lanzhou. Since our young lady married into Qinzhou, she has written a letter every ten days to let us know she is safe. However, we have not received any letters from her since June. My master was uneasy and ordered us to come and look for her.”

"Who knew that as soon as we reached the territory of Qinzhou, we were driven away by government troops. We had no choice but to cross over from Baiyu Mountain."

The village chief of Baiyu Village was startled. Seeing that their clothes were torn and tattered, and that they were covered with branches and leaves unique to Baiyu Mountain, he became seven-tenths convinced.

"So you are distinguished guests from Lanzhou," the village chief said, bowing slightly. "Please come into the village and have a seat."

Song Kai did not refuse and followed the village chief into the village, where the two talked as they walked.

"Honorable guest, there is no need to worry. The reason why your master has not received the young lady's letter is because the news of the lockdown of Qin Prefecture has not been disseminated."

Song Kai feigned surprise, "A city lockdown? Why is the city under lockdown?"

The village chief sighed, "What else could it be but the injustice of the government?"

It turns out that the farmers discovered the insect eggs while turning over the soil in May, but since there were not many at the time, they did not pay much attention to them and simply picked them out and burned them.

However, as the weather became increasingly dry, the number of insect eggs in the ground visibly increased, causing the people to panic and report the situation to the authorities.

The government acted swiftly, distributing insecticides in no time. However, the quantity of the insecticide was small, and its quality was also questionable. After spraying, the number of insect eggs did not decrease but increased instead.

The people had no choice but to pool their money and organize manpower to buy pesticides from other prefectures.

Before they even left Qin Prefecture, they were driven back by government troops.

At first, they were only prohibited from leaving Qin Prefecture, but later the restrictions worsened, and they were prohibited from leaving the county altogether.

Nowadays, the yamen runners patrol the official roads and village roads every day, so that they can't even move between villages.

"Alas," Song Kaiyue's brows furrowed even more as he listened, "How can the government act in such a way!"

"There's nothing we can do!" the village elder cried, tears streaming down his face. "We can only pray to Heaven to have mercy and let us escape this calamity." "May I ask, esteemed guest, how is Lanzhou?"

“Lanzhou is doing well. Although it is drier than Qinzhou, the government has already organized the people to dig wells, and the water supply is sufficient for self-sufficiency,” Song Kai stated the facts. “Fortunately, no locust eggs were found.”

The village chief was filled with envy.

Song Kai couldn't laugh. Along the way, seeing the dense insect eggs in the fields and the occasional locust flying out, he felt as if he were in the dead of winter.

If such a massive insect plague were to break out, Qin Prefecture would certainly suffer immense devastation, but how could the Northwest remain unscathed?
Agriculture is the foundation of the people. If agriculture is severely damaged, the foundation of the country will be unstable, and war will surely break out on the borders again.

As the lord of Wuwei City, would the princess abandon the people and run away?

Song Kaiyue grew increasingly anxious, feeling that the future was bleak and that he was exhausted both physically and mentally. “We have been traveling for several days and are really out of energy. Do you think we can stay for the night?”

Song Kai grabbed a handful of loose silver from his waist pouch. "Please be lenient, brother."

The village chief repeatedly declined, but finally gave in, saying, "The village is simple; please bear with us, esteemed guest."

After eating a hot meal, Song Kai and the others forced themselves to walk around the fields despite their fatigue, and then rested after the sun went down.

In the middle of the night, Chaoyi got up groggily and heard a rustling sound.

Chao Yi instantly regained her senses and silently followed behind the shadowy figure.

Several dark figures ran along the village road, then scattered as they approached the fields.

Chao Yi cursed under his breath and followed behind the figure who was dancing the most enthusiastically.

The man walked into the wheat field and looked around. Seeing nothing amiss, he reached into his sleeve and pulled out two flints to start a fire.

Chao Yi stiffened, leaped forward, and kicked the man in the back. The man, along with the flint in his hand, flew out with the momentum and crashed to the ground.

The figure fell flat on its face, but didn't dare to stop, trying to run away on all fours.

"You still dare to run!" Chao Yi stepped forward, stomped on his back, and dislocated his limbs and jaw.

The figure was writhing on the ground in pain.

Not far away, flames rose up everywhere. Chao Yi shouted for help while rushing forward to capture the culprit who started the fire.

The palace guards were awakened by Chao Yi's shouts. They grabbed their weapons from beside their beds and rushed out the door, where they immediately saw faint flashes of fire in the distance.

The prince's guards' pupils contracted, and they shouted to rush to the water's edge to put out the fire.

The peaceful night was shattered. People who were awakened from their sleep rushed out of their homes in a panic, not even having time to put on their clothes. They grabbed basins and bowls, scooped up their treasured water, and rushed to put out the fire.

Fortunately, the fire was discovered in time and extinguished before it grew too large, but even so, it still burned down a lot of wheat fields.

The village chief wept uncontrollably, crying out, "Heavens are killing us!"

“It’s not God’s fault,” said Chao Yi, as he and the palace guards carried the captured figure forward. “Someone deliberately set the fire.”

"What?!" The village chief was shocked and rushed over to check. His face was bruised and swollen and unrecognizable, but his clothes were still easy to identify.

"The Witch God?" The village chief plopped down on the ground. "How could it be the Witch God?!"