Spoiled and mad critic of powerful ministers

In the northeast-facing tent of the military camp, the candlelight inside the main tent cast a dim glow, making General Wen's ashen face appear and disappear intermittently.

"Kneel down!"

With a furious shout, Wen Xiujie knelt heavily on the cold ground.

General Wen slowly rose to his feet, the clanging of armor particularly jarring in the silence.

He walked up to Wen Xiujie, looked down at his nephew whom he had raised, and his eyes were filled with barely suppressed disappointment and anger.

"You have some nerve."

The old general's voice was extremely low, yet every word was like a knife: "You dare to make copies of confidential military blueprints without authorization and hand them over to the local magistrate to close the case? Xiu Jie, do you really think the Northern Frontier belongs to the Wen family now?"

"Uncle, I just wanted to—" Wen Xiujie looked up, but was interrupted before he could finish speaking.

"What are you thinking? Do you want to settle this trouble quickly so that no one can find any fault with you settling personal scores?" General Wen sneered, his white beard trembling slightly.

"When you bypassed Magistrate Zhang and tortured Wen Xiujie to death, did you consider the consequences?"

"He's your colleague after all, at least a commander of a thousand!"

Wen Xiujie was indignant. "It was clearly you who gave the order to force us to find out where this blueprint is."

He truly hadn't expected that Pei Zhichao, despite his impressive martial arts skills, would be in such poor health. He had only had someone use a few tricks, and the fellow was already incapacitated.

Otherwise, how could they have ended up in such a passive situation?

General Wen continued, "The other day, when the newly appointed magistrate of Wu County reviewed this case, he found it full of loopholes."

"The confession you provided is not enough to prove his treason. The rubbings of the map and fingerprints are not clear enough to be used as physical evidence. When he went down to investigate, he found that Pei Zhichao's body had disappeared. Now the old case has been reopened."

Strange, Pei Zhichao's body was clearly thrown into the mass grave in the western suburbs of the city as usual, so how come it has disappeared?

"Magistrate Zhang has been transferred so quickly?" Wen Xiujie asked in surprise, as there should have been at least a month left.

General Wen said irritably, "He's also afraid that things might get complicated if this drags on, and he won't be able to clean up the mess later."

"Those blueprints, never to be mentioned again." The old general leaned down, his voice even lower. "The Marshal has already ordered this matter to be sealed off; the blueprints are now a top military secret. If you leak them without authorization, you will be executed under military law."

He paused, looking at Wen Xiujie's suddenly pale face, and then changed the subject: "However, your blueprint is fake."

Wen Xiujie suddenly pulled out the blueprints from his waist, opened them, and his pupils contracted sharply.

fake?

"The Marshal has already obtained the real blueprints." The old general straightened up, his back to him. "What you have is just a fake that the Pei family has put out in the open to cover up their true intentions."

A deathly silence fell over the tent. Wen Xiujie knelt on the ground, the face of Shen Qiongju flashing through his mind—when she handed him the blueprints, her fingertips trembled slightly, her eyes filled with tears, so sincere and earnest.

It turned out to be fake; he had been tricked by a woman.

No, that's not right.

How could Shen Qiongju, a merchant's daughter, possibly distinguish between genuine and fake blueprints?

The Pei family must have been on guard against her all along, and the picture they showed her was fake.

Wen Xiujie clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white.

"You can get away with Pei Zhichao's case. Let the new magistrate do whatever he wants," the old general turned around, his eyes sharp as an eagle. "Keep the fake blueprints. No one else can know about this."

"……yes."

.

However, at this moment, in the back hall of the Wuxian County Government Office.

Pei Zhihui, draped in a blue cloak, had a face paler than paper. His fingers pressed against the open dossier, the tips turning blue from the pressure.

"Magistrate Zhang's approval is for the eighth day of the tenth month. They should have arrived at Dabao Village ten days ago." His voice was low and hoarse, and he coughed before he could finish speaking.

Shen Mo, holding a hand warmer, frowned and said, "Winter in Dabao Village can be deadly. I'll have someone bring Aunt Pei and the others back from that awful place first."

"We can't be without a title." Pei Zhihui raised his eyes, his eyes bloodshot, yet his calmness was terrifying. "Fei Bai, first send someone to Dabao Village with the magistrate's letter to bring them back under the pretext of re-interrogation."

Suddenly his gaze fell on the file and he saw that Shen Qiongju's name was also among those to be exiled and sent to serve in the military.

He paused, looked out at the vast night, and suddenly the image of his sister-in-law's pale and terrified face in the mourning hall flashed before his eyes.

However, the case file clearly states that it was Pei Qianhu's wife who personally stole the blueprints and handed them over to the county government.

"Now that my sister-in-law has already stolen the blueprints, what other schemes does she have to stay in the Pei family?" His voice was so soft it was almost inaudible.

.

The courtyard of the laundry shop was busier than usual in the early morning.

Several soldiers guarding the city crowded at the entrance, their hands covered in red, swollen chilblains, waiting in line to buy the frostbite ointment made by Shen Qiongju.

"I heard this ointment is very effective; it stops the itching after two or three days of application."

"That's right. Old Wang's hand was ulcerated for half a month, but after using this ointment, he can hold a knife again now."

Shen Qiongju lowered her head to collect the copper coins and handed over jars of ointment packaged in bamboo tubes. Granny Kong stood to the side, holding an account book and recording the quantities.

"Miss Shen, three more cans, please." A young soldier took out his money. "Our squad leader said we should stock up on more. These past few days, the brothers' hands and feet have all been frostbitten from patrolling the city."

Shen Qiongju nodded and was about to take the ointment when she heard the soldier lower his voice and say to his companion:

"Have you heard? That scoundrel Sun Hu was publicly flogged a hundred times by the military officer."

An older soldier next to him spat, "Serves him right! That bastard usually bullies and harasses the girls in the laundry room. I don't know how it got to the ears of Military Advisor Lu this time. Military Advisor Lu immediately ordered the military officer to make an example of him."

"One hundred lashes..." the young soldier clicked his tongue. "This injury will keep him bedridden for at least three months."

"Who is Military Advisor Lu? He is Marshal Yuchi's most relied-upon brain, and he is in charge of all the weapons and provisions of our Northwest Army. Sun Hu is unlucky to have run into him."

The older soldier took the frostbite ointment and added, "I heard that Military Advisor Lu recently acquired a master craftsman who can make ingenious and clever weapons, and the armory's budget has been increased. At this critical juncture, if Sun Hu dares to provoke the Military Advisor, isn't he courting death?"

After a few more words of discussion, the group paid and left in a hurry.

Master craftsman?

Shen Qiongju suddenly remembered the person who threw stones to save him last night, and that person's figure was extremely similar to Pei Zhichao.

But in her previous life, she never heard any news of Pei Zhichao's continued existence until her death.

Perhaps she was overthinking it.

Shen Qiongju lowered her eyes and continued to organize the remaining ointment.

Granny Kong closed the account book, walked to her side, and spoke in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft:

"Sun Hu... is he the one from last night?"

Shen Qiongju paused, then nodded.

After a moment of silence, Granny Kong suddenly said, "Last night I saw a soldier escorting you back."

Shen Qiongju raised her head.

Granny Kong's tone carried a rare hint of advice, "Since someone is standing up for you, if that person is of good character and has someone to protect them, it's not necessarily a bad thing in this place."

Shen Qiongju opened her mouth, then replied helplessly, "What Granny says is true."

She was puzzled by the master craftsman of the arsenal. In her previous life, this man seemed to have helped her secretly several times, but he never spoke and would leave after helping her.

In her previous life, she had inquired about this person from Wen Xiujie.

Marshal Yuchi's highly valued artillery master wore a mask all day and made various mechanical crossbows for the Dasheng army.

In particular, the massive siege crossbow, weighing a fortune, was a key weapon that later helped Dasheng conquer the small town of Maru-ryu.