Spoiled and mad critic of powerful ministers

Thirty miles south of Wuxian County lies Laoyaling, a mountain covered in ice and snow.

The newly appointed magistrate of Wu County, Shen Mo, was trudging through the knee-deep snow on Laoya Ridge, muttering about this godforsaken place.

The pageboy carried the luggage and followed behind him; both master and servant were red from the cold.

"Young master, look over there!" The pageboy, with his sharp eyes, spotted a striking dark red in the snow.

Shen Mo's nonchalant expression vanished as he followed the intermittent trail of blood to a pile of rocks beside a mountain path.

He exchanged a glance with the pageboy, gripped the bow in his hand, and cautiously approached.

Behind the pile of stones, the stench of blood was thick. A person was curled up deep inside, with a gruesome knife wound on his back, his skin and flesh turned inside out, and the snow beneath him had melted into a pool of blood.

Shen Mo crouched down to check his breathing; it was extremely faint, but still present.

"He's really tough." He frowned and, together with his page, carefully turned the person over. The face was covered in blood and ashen white, and blood was still seeping from the wound on the forehead.

A vague sense of familiarity swept through Shen Mo's mind, but he shook his head and mocked himself, thinking, "In my current state, how could I possibly meet an old friend?"

"Give me a hand," he instructed his page. The two wrapped the wounded man in a cloak and hastily bandaged him with pieces of their clothing.

The man was in excruciating pain, but he only furrowed his brows and clenched his teeth, remaining silent.

"He's a tough guy," Shen Mo murmured, as he and his page took turns carrying the man on their backs, staggering forward in the increasingly heavy snow.

Shen Mo, panting heavily, still muttered, "Hey, hang in there... I don't have this kindness of mine every day."

Back at the inn, which offered only slight shelter from the wind, the pageboy brought hot water and carefully wiped the bloodstains from the injured man's face.

Shen Mo watched from the side as the blurry features gradually became clearer.

He suddenly stopped, and that pale face looked so much like his mortal enemy from when he was seven years old and they had fought at the Imperial College.

Yes, the Pei family was exiled to Wu County in the northern border region back then.

.

The next day, the women of the Pei family began their laundry work at the laundry workshop.

Fifty military uniforms were piled up like a small mountain. Shen Qiongju rolled up her sleeves and put her hands into the wooden basin. The icy water was bone-chilling, like countless needles piercing her skin.

She gritted her teeth and scrubbed, the filthy mud melting on her fingertips, and the bloodstains had to be repeatedly rubbed with soap to remove them.

After washing only ten items, her hands were already red from the cold, and her knuckles were so stiff that she could hardly bend them.

Pei Junlan took the medicine and felt a little better, so she came over to help.

But she was weak, and after washing only a few clothes, she felt dizzy and lightheaded, and was panting heavily while holding onto the wooden basin.

"Aunt, please rest." Shen Qiongju quickly helped her up. "We'll wash your portion separately."

Liu and her two other aunts exchanged glances but remained silent.

Even little Pei Zhichun tried to help, clumsily tapping the clothes in the water with a wooden stick thicker than her arm.

There were more than just them washing clothes in the courtyard. There were about thirty other women in the laundry room. Some of them were from nearby villages and came to wash clothes to earn a living, while others were punished for committing minor crimes and made to work.

Each of them occupied a wooden basin, washing their clothes with their heads down, occasionally exchanging a few words in hushed tones, pointing and commenting on the clumsy way the newly arrived noblewomen were scrubbing clothes.

Shen Qiongju was struggling to wring out a blood-stained military uniform when a woman in her thirties suddenly approached and whispered, "Miss, let me wash a few of your uniforms."

She was startled and looked up.

The woman was of ordinary appearance, with rough skin and calloused hands, clearly someone who did manual labor.

But her eyes were gentle, and she had a kind smile.

"This... I can't possibly accept this..."

"It's alright." Without saying a word, the woman scooped two pieces of clothing from her basin and put them in her own. "I'm quick, I'll be done washing in no time."

As they were talking, another younger woman, who looked to be in her early twenties, came over from the other side. Her face was red from the cold.

She also took two items from Shen Qiongju's basin and whispered, "Miss Shen, we are from Shenjia Village, our name is Chunxing. A few days ago, we received a message from home saying that you had someone send a lot of grain back, which is why my mother, my younger brother and sister-in-law and I didn't starve to death..."

Her eyes reddened, and her voice lowered: "This is nothing, we'll help you."

Shen Qiongju was stunned.

Another woman next to Chunxing chimed in, "I'm also from Shenjia Village, my name is Qiuju. My husband was conscripted for labor last year, leaving only me and my two children at home. If it weren't for the grain you sent, I really don't know how we would have survived this winter."

As they talked, their hands moved swiftly, washing the clothes. Before long, half of the clothes in Shen Qiongju's basin were gone.

Pei Junlan and Liu Shi were both stunned.

A warm feeling welled up in Shen Qiongju's heart, and her nose felt a little sore.

She never imagined that the grain she sent to Shenjia Village to recruit workers and brew wine would lead to such a positive connection.

"Thank you, sisters-in-law," she said, her voice choked with emotion.

"Don't say that," Chunxing shook her head. "We should be thanking you."

With their help, Shen Qiongju's burden was greatly reduced.

After a whole day, Shen Qiongju's hands were red from the cold, and her fingernails were bluish-purple.

Liu was in an even worse situation than her. She was already weak, and she couldn't hold on any longer while washing and collapsed to the ground.

"stand up!"

Granny Kong's whip struck the ground, making a crisp sound.

"Don't be lazy, or you'll miss dinner!"

Liu stood up trembling, tears streaming down her face.

Shen Qiongju couldn't bear to watch, so she went over and helped her up.

She said to Granny Kong, "Don't worry, Granny, we can finish washing."

With that, she resignedly took half of the clothes from Liu's basin and began to wash them.

The days passed one by one, and all of them developed chilblains on their hands, yet they had no choice but to soak their hands in icy water every day, making the time even more unbearable.

That night, she was tormented by the pain and itching of frostbite and couldn't sleep, so she got up, wrapped her cotton-padded coat tightly, and prepared to go to the yard to find a snowdrift to cool it down and relieve the itching.

The moonlight was faint, casting a hazy glow over the courtyard. As soon as she reached the back gate, she heard rustling sounds coming from afar, mixed with suppressed noises that sounded like sobs or groans.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she stopped, hiding in the shadow of a nearby pile of firewood to look outside.

At the other end of the courtyard, near the wall, a woman dressed in coarse cloth was being pinned against the wall by a soldier.

The soldier's movements were rough, and the woman bit the back of her hand, letting out muffled sobs.

The moonlight shone on her face; she was one of the women washing clothes in the courtyard during the day.

Shen Qiongju remembered that she also came from a nearby village, and her husband farmed at home.

Not long after, the soldier finished, took out a small handful of copper coins from his pocket, stuffed them into Gui Xiang's hand, pulled up his pants, and left.

Gui Xiang stood there for a while, carefully tucked the copper coin into her bosom, straightened her clothes, and hurriedly went back into the house with her face flushed.

The next day, while doing laundry, she couldn't help but secretly observe the woman from the previous night.

The woman was probably in her early thirties, of average appearance, very efficient at her work, and not very talkative.

She kept her head down and focused intently while washing clothes, as if nothing had happened the night before.

At lunchtime, Shen Qiongju sat down next to Chunxing.

Chunxing had been secretly helping her with the laundry these past few days, and the two gradually became acquainted.

"Sister-in-law Chunxing," Shen Qiongju lowered her voice, glancing at Guixiang not far away, "Does Guixiang and the others often go out at night?"

Chunxing paused, holding the steamed bun in her hand. She looked up at Shen Qiongju with a complicated expression.

"You saw it?"

Shen Qiongju nodded.

Chunxing sighed, leaned closer, and lowered her voice even further: "There's more than one like Guixiang in this courtyard. Sister Liu in the next house, and Xiaocui in the house across the street... they're all like that."

She paused, her voice tinged with bitterness: "Do you really think these women from the nearby villages are here just to earn a little money washing clothes?"

She scooped up a spoonful of thin porridge and ate it slowly, her voice low: "When the soldiers come looking for someone, they give me a few dozen coins each time, and sometimes a piece of silver. That's enough to buy a few pounds of grain, enough for a family to eat their fill for a few days."

"Everyone is buying the military officer's money."

Shen Qiongju was speechless. She had always known that such things existed, but she did not expect them to be so common in the laundry department.

Indeed, chastity is worthless in the face of life.

The rigid Pei family patriarch regarded a woman's chastity as a paramount ancestral rule.

Thinking of Pei Shoulian's weathered, ashen face, I wonder if I'll ever see the old man again.

After Shen Qiongju finished inquiring about the matter, she stopped talking and silently ate the rice in her bowl.

"Ptooey, spit it out—" Chunxing suddenly spat out a small piece of bright red stuff, which made her gasp from the spiciness. "Why does this stuff keep getting mixed into my multigrain porridge these past few days? It's so spicy it hurts my tongue."

Shen Qiongju looked up and saw that it was dried chili flakes.

chili?

How could she forget this?

In her previous life, her personal maid, Wumei, at the Wen family estate made a frostbite ointment using chili peppers, ginger, and lard, which sold extremely well on the estate.

One winter was particularly cold. Wu Mei saved up enough money selling frostbite ointment and secretly bought her half a roast goose.

Shen Qiongju looked down at her red, swollen, and itchy hands, feeling that there was finally hope.

After finishing her meal, she immediately went to the kitchen.

The kitchen was steaming, and several elderly women were cleaning up the dishes and stove.

Shen Qiongju carefully explained her purpose: "Auntie, do you know if there is any extra ginger and chili in the kitchen? I would like to try making some frostbite ointment."

A round-faced old woman glanced at her and was about to wave her away when Kong Mama's voice came from the doorway:

"Can you make frostbite ointment?"

Shen Qiongju turned around and saw Granny Kong standing by the door, holding a small bag of coarse salt in her hand.

She quickly bowed and explained that she wanted to make frostbite ointment: "All you need are ginger, chili peppers, and some liquor, and finally, lard to solidify it. They're all common ingredients."

Granny Kong stared at Shen Qiongju for a moment, then suddenly said to the round-faced old woman, "Go and fetch some of the sprouted ginger and the damp chilies from the storeroom."

She then looked at Shen Qiongju: "You'll work here. If it really works, I'll give you some materials every day so you can make more for the people in the neighborhood. Their hands are all so rotten that they can't even look at them, and their work is being delayed."

This Granny Kong is a person with a sharp tongue but a kind heart.

Shen Qiongju was overjoyed and quickly agreed.

She chopped the ginger into fine pieces, dried and crushed the chili peppers, and asked for a small cup of cheap liquor... She spent the whole afternoon tinkering with it.

But at the last moment, she froze.

Without lard, how could the laundry shop possibly have this precious ingredient every day?

Granny Kong frowned as she looked at her frozen face: "Can't you do it?"

Shen Qiongju said in a hoarse voice, "Only one last step remains... it needs to be mixed with lard and solidified. But this stuff..."

Granny Kong stared silently at the basin of prepared medicinal paste—ginger, chili peppers, and wine, all of which she had personally allocated from public funds. If it were wasted, she would also be held responsible.

After a while, she said to a little maid beside her, "Go to my room and bring me that jar of lard from the windowsill."

The little girl was startled: "Granny, that was just delivered from your house..."

"Go when I tell you to."

A moment later, a jar of solidified white lard was placed on the stove.

Shen Qiongju carefully scooped out the lard, melted it in the hot pot, and slowly added the filtered medicinal liquid.

The pungent aroma was enveloped by the rich fragrance of lard, gradually blending into a warm and mellow medicinal scent.

"Alright, it will be ready to use after it solidifies tomorrow." Shen Qiongju breathed a sigh of relief.

Granny Kong looked at the jar of lard, which was clearly half empty, and her eyes twitched with pain.

Shen Qiongju saw this and said softly, "The old lady is kind-hearted and wants everyone to be able to use the ointment. However, lard is expensive, and if this continues, even with her own subsidies, the old lady will find it difficult to make ends meet."

She paused, then raised her clear eyes: "Why don't I offer this recipe to Granny? Granny can have it mass-produced and sold to the women in the neighborhood at cost price with a small profit."

"This way, everyone can afford it, and the nanny can also earn some income so she doesn't have to pay out of pocket."