kingnovel Chapter 1350 Eating Peanuts
Chapter 1350 Eating Peanuts
One day after the Empress Dowager left, the Salt and Iron Bureau sent people to help the Tongan County government build iron smelting and weapon-making workshops.
The workshop was located three miles behind the training ground, a spacious location that would not disturb the local people, and the county soldiers could keep an eye on the situation in the workshop at any time, which was a win-win situation.
Two days after the Empress Dowager left, Xu Yunyan, Shen Xingjian, Ba Lezhan, and Yang Zhou jointly drafted a road repair plan and officially began purchasing materials and tools. Construction was tentatively scheduled to begin in seven days. Shen Zheng was happy to be a hands-off manager and handed over all matters related to the road repair to Xu Yunyan.
Three days after the Empress Dowager left, Tong'an Workshop was officially established, located on the west side of the weapon-refining workshop. After working hard for most of his life, Old Qiao finally became the workshop owner by relying on his skills and abilities.
Four days after the Empress Dowager left, the government sent someone to report that Chengxin Hall had been completed and the location of the newsstand had been finalized, right in front of the bookstore of the prefectural school. In addition, the government clerk also brought a letter to Shen Zheng.
The letter was written by Hou Yirui, the headmaster of Luming Academy.
The letter stated that Huai Shaoyong's parents arrived at Luming Academy a few days ago. After learning that Huai Shaoyong had taken the spiritual powder and severed ties with Luming Academy, they hurriedly set off for Liuyang Prefecture.
Hou Yirui also mentioned in the letter that he was also preparing to set off for Liuyang Prefecture a day later, firstly to give lectures, and secondly... to visit Huai Shaoyong.
The bond between teacher and student, formed over many years, could not be severed in the end.
Five days after the Empress Dowager left, Shen Zheng was assassinated while strolling on the streets of Tongan County.
Hua Duo drew his sword, not intending to kill the assassin, but the assassin, seemingly undeterred by death, charged directly into the snow-white blade.
A single slit to the throat, and blood splatters everywhere.
Shen Zheng was stunned by the scene, but only for a moment before she ordered Hua Duo to carry the assassin's body back.
Yu Shizhang was terrified and stayed close to Shen Zheng, but Shen Zheng acted as if nothing was wrong and took Xu Yunyan to examine the body.
Corpses don't speak, but they speak in riddles.
The first riddle: This person has been consuming spirit powder for a long time, and his body has long been hollowed out.
The second riddle: This person's stomach is empty, indicating that he didn't eat or drink well before the assassination attempt, and was only focused on rushing to Tongan County to kill someone.
The third riddle: This person has a snake-shaped carving on the tiger's mouth, which clearly indicates that he belongs to the same organization as the person who wanted to silence Huai Shaoyong.
At this point, no further useful information could be obtained from the body.
Shen Zheng summoned Jin Zhanpeng, a teacher at the county school, to draw a small portrait of the man, which served as both a memorial portrait and the image on the warrant for his arrest.
Jin Zhanpeng made more than twenty copies of the portrait and sent them to the surrounding county and prefectural governments.
After doing all this, it was already midnight.
The county government's defenses were several times heavier than before. Not only did the constables, including Zhao Xiu, stay overnight in the backyard, but even the county soldiers, including Su Yan, were transferred by Xu Yunyan to stand guard all night.
Yu Shizhang followed Shen Zheng closely until they reached the gate of her courtyard.
Seeing Shen Zheng's relaxed expression, Yu Shizhang couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you scared?"
Shen Zheng tilted her nose up to the sky: "My life is not meant to end here."
Upon hearing this, Yu Shizhang knew that she was also afraid.
Shen Zheng went back to her room with a sullen nose and bolted the door. Hua Duo, still feeling lingering fear, stood guard in the outer room, not daring to blink even once.
The room was quiet for a while, then suddenly—
"Holy shit!"
The moment Shen Zheng's voice came from inside the room, Hua Duo, like a frightened bird, immediately knocked on the door: "Master, are you alright? What happened? Your subordinate is coming in?"
Inside the room, Shen Zheng sat on the stone floor and looked up at the door, saying, "I'm fine. Hua Duo, go and get something to eat. They lost one person today, so they won't be sending anyone else."
Given the current situation at the county government office, let alone an assassin, even a sparrow would get stabbed twice if it came in. Even if an assassin is completely brainless, they wouldn't choose to kill her again at this time.
Hua Duo knew this, but still refused to leave: "Master, I'm not hungry. You should go to sleep. I'll stay outside and watch over you."
Shen Zheng knew that she was stubborn, so she didn't try to persuade her anymore after hearing this.
The room fell silent again.
Half an hour later, just as Hua Duo thought Shen Zheng had fallen asleep and began cleaning his knife, he suddenly heard Shen Zheng start muttering again—
"Damn it, I almost died..."
"Xin Ji's information is quite accurate."
"At that moment, the knife was only 0.01 centimeters away from my throat..."
"No, we can't just sit here and wait to die."
"Eat peanuts! If they dare come again, we must treat them to peanuts!"
"We need to check if the dog system has a peanut launcher."
Of the six sentences, Hua Duo only understood the first two and the fourth.
She couldn't understand why her master would want to serve peanuts to the assassin.
That's far too kind.
She often heard scholars say that one should "repay evil with kindness" when encountering trouble, but now that her master has been assassinated, she is still thinking of inviting the assassin to eat.
Master, could it be... that you've lost your mind from fright?
After a moment's hesitation, she couldn't help but gently knock on the door: "Master..."
Inside the room, Shen Zheng paused, her fingers hovering over the system, and asked, "What's wrong?"
“Hmm…” Hua Duo was silent for a while, then mustered his courage to speak: “Master, whether you like it or not, I want to say that you are one of the few kind people in this world, but those thieves are after your life. If they dare to make any further moves, you can’t just treat them to peanuts.”
Shen Zheng sat on the ground, stunned for a moment.
Oh, what a beautiful misunderstanding.
Let's continue with this misunderstanding.
“Hua Duo, I just can’t bring myself to do it…” she sighed and said to the door, “Even though those people want my life, I still don’t want to lay a hand on them. What should I do?”
Outside the door, Hua Duo gripped the hilt of his knife tightly.
"Master, I am your weapon!" Her voice was firm, even ruthless. "If you want someone's life, you don't have to do it yourself. I will do it for you and will never dirty your hands!"
Shen Zheng was deeply moved.
To be honest, having been given a second chance at life, she is someone who deeply reveres life.
Even now, she still can't stand swords and fighting.
Today, the sight of the assassin's carotid artery being severed and blood splattering everywhere truly terrified her, but at the same time, it also served as a wake-up call in her heart.
She increasingly understood that if she didn't become more ruthless, she might be the next person to have her throat slit.
If you and I insist on fighting to the death, then...
Let's just let our fellow Daoists die.
After all, I haven't finished my system tasks yet.
She practically ransacked the system all night.
Bad news #1 – The system has neither peanuts nor peanut launchers.
Good news one – the system has blueprints for both peanuts and peanut launchers.
Bad news number two – she doesn't have enough points; she can only exchange one peanut and one launcher blueprint for now.
The sky outside the window is gradually turning white.
The plan to use peanuts to defeat the enemy has been temporarily shelved.
She pushed herself up from the ground, rubbed her numb buttocks, changed into clean clothes, and left the room.