Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 1104 - 1101_1

Chapter 1104: Chapter 1101_1

Fortuitous blessings descended from the heavens. The Emperor was overjoyed by the birth of four royal grandsons, and the Prince An’s household was also blessed with a child. The Empress Dowager’s sixtieth birthday was soon to arrive. With such a multitude of joyful and congratulatory news, the Emperor decided to pardon those criminals who were not guilty of the worst offenses, to accumulate blessings and virtues for the five newly added members of the royal family.

Xiao’er, hearing this decree, disapprovingly said: "Father Emperor must be so delighted that he’s lost his mind! To accumulate blessings for the five grandsons, it is sufficient to reduce taxes! By pardoning those criminals, can those who have not been sufficiently punished realize their mistakes and reform?"

Xiao’er did not believe that amnesty across the Empire would bring blessings! Not delivering deserving punishment to evildoers was unjust to the victims! To release people of bad nature, there was a risk of them causing harm to even more people! How was this act connected to accumulating blessings and virtues?

"The sixtieth birthday of the Empress Dowager is coming, and according to ancestral regulations, an amnesty should be held. Now, it’s just happening earlier! The decree has already been issued, and it cannot be changed now."

After hearing these words, Xiao’er refrained from saying anything more. Moreover, the prisoners pardoned by the Emperor were just petty thieves; the crimes they committed were not that serious, and they would be released after sufficient labor anyway.

"Tomorrow is the day of the central examination, isn’t it? I haven’t been back to the Marquis Shengping Mansion in a while. Brother Shangguan, could you help me deliver these three bottles of medicinal pills to Jinghao, Zhiwen, and Zhiwu?"

In February, candidates from all over the country would gather in the Imperial City to take part in the examination.

The examination was administered by the Ministry of Rites at the examination hall, occurring over three sessions, each lasting three days.

This year, Jinghao, Liu Zhiwen, and Liu Zhiwu were all participating in the examination.

Being confined to the examination hall for twelve days was a real test of one’s physical and mental stamina. The medicinal pills provided by Xiao’er were meant to invigorate their minds.

"Alright." Shangguan Xuanyi admired Jinghao very much, moreover, as his brother-in-law, naturally, he also wanted to express some goodwill.

He picked up the three bottles of medicinal pills that Xiao’er had placed on the table, went to the warehouse and found three sets of high-quality writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, then promptly set off for Marquis Shengping Mansion to deliver the gifts.

Just as Shangguan Xuanyi arrived at the Marquis Shengping Mansion and had barely warmed up his seat, he was urgently summoned back home by Xiao’er.

Not long after he left, a Pigeon Post message arrived. It reported that a shipment of medicine for wounds was caught in the path of a landslide, burying all the medicine, and it wasn’t known whether it could be used after being dug up.

But the soldiers transporting the medicine were worried about the entire batch of medicines being unusable, so they immediately sent a Pigeon Post to inform the Imperial Court and urged them to promptly dispatch another batch of wound medicine to the front line.

At this moment, the conquest of Xuwen County in Nangong Country was imminent, and it was soon to be the time for pincer attacks – it was only fair to say that a war was impending! During combat, wound medicine must be readily available. What would they do if injured soldiers had no medicine to save their lives!

Shangguan Xuanyi rushed back in a hurry. Xiao’er had never made such a sudden call for him to return, and he wondered if anything had happened!

"Brother Shangguan, the batch of wound medicine sent out earlier encountered a landslide near the border with Nangong Country," Xiao’er simply reported the situation. She handed the message to Shangguan Xuanyi; the contents of the letter were more detailed.

On hearing this, Shangguan Xuanyi heaved a sigh of relief. He thought something had happened to Xiao’er or the baby! He took the letter and quickly skimmed it over then said:

"I see, I will immediately go into the palace and inform Father Emperor. Should anything come up, you can send Xiao Fuzi to find me in the palace, alright?"

Xiao’er nodded: "Don’t worry, I’m still in confinement after childbirth! What could possibly happen!"

Presumably reassured, Shangguan Xuanyi headed straight to the palace and thus began his busy schedule all over again after just a few days of respite.

There was no alternative. With Shangguan Xuan Jun away at the front lines, Shangguan Xuanyi had to sort out state affairs together with the Emperor.

Shangguan Xuanhao nearly jumped up on hearing that the wound medicine was buried!

"What happened? It’s not the rainy season in summer, how could a landslide occur?" Directly snatching the letter from Shangguan Xuanyi, Shangguan Xuanhao began reading it.

It’s only just turned spring – many herbs have not even grown yet. Suddenly, they need to prepare so much wound medicine. Even if they have the manpower, they also need the corresponding resources!

Preparing the wound medicine is Shangguan Xuanhao’s responsibility. With such an unexpected incident, Shangguan Xuanhao and the imperial doctor from the Imperial Hospital must now work overtime to prepare a batch of medicine to replace the buried one as soon as possible. This large batch of wound medicine, which was initially expected to last three to five months, was now suddenly gone. Shangguan Xuanhao could already envision the days ahead – he would be so busy that he wouldn’t even have time to sleep.

"Indeed, such an incident is rather strange. Isn’t the rainy season in that southern area in the fourth and fifth months?" Shangguan Ruixi said.

The transportation of reserve military supplies was the responsibility of the Prince An’s household. They had hurried to transport several months’ worth of wound medicine so early precisely to avoid the rainy season. Yet, they still encountered this unexpected accident.

"The letter says that there has been a month-long drizzle in that area. Although the rain is not heavy, it’s not impossible for a landslide to occur. However, since such an incident has occurred, we must dispatch someone to investigate the exact situation!" said the Emperor after reading the letter.

The most fearful occurrence in a war was the emergence of traitors within the ranks. Once a traitor leaked vital intelligence, the damage inflicted on our army could be immense – potentially even catastrophic.

Hence, even seemingly normal incidents must be treated with caution.

"Yes! I will certainly find out the truth and give the Emperor an explanation. In addition, this time, the Prince An’s household will allocate 100,000 taels to purchase medicinal materials, striving to produce the wound medicine as soon as possible." Prince An immediately responded.

The Emperor nodded: "Find out as soon as possible, we cannot afford to have such misfortunes occur again."

During this expedition, because of its significant impact, the division of labor was detailed. Shangguan Xuanhao and the Imperial Hospital were responsible for the preparation of the wound medicine. If there were any problems with the quality of the medicine, such as if it was ineffective for curing wounds and stopping bleeding, they would be held accountable. Marquis Shengping was in charge of preparing food and clothing for the soldiers. If there were problems such as insufficient food preparation or clothing, or the clothes were not warm enough, Marquis Shengping would be held responsible. The preparations for weapons were the responsibility of the Secretary of the Ministry of War Which if there were issues like weapons easily breaking, the Secretary of the Ministry of War would be questioned.

All transportation of military supplies was the responsibility of Prince An and the Prince An’s son. If anything went wrong during the transportation process, they would be held responsible.

"Yes, Brother Emperor." Prince An quickly responded, sighing. If he had known that transporting supplies was such a hassle, he would have changed his task!

In a few months, green-skinned walnuts will go on sale. Would he still have time to gamble on walnuts!

"Since the matter has already been discussed and resolved, you all go about your tasks! We must quickly compensate for this accident. Xuanyi, stay. I want to discuss this year’s central examination with you."

The Emperor attached great importance to this central examination. Even though Nangong Country had not been completely conquered, he had already started planning for what needed to be done afterwards, when Nangong Country was indeed conquered.

Every conquered county meant that many official positions were vacant, and the Imperial Court would certainly need to deploy officials to fill these positions! Where to transfer the officials going to Nangong Country from was a substantial issue.