Quick Transmigration: Underdog Turns out to be Untouchable

Chapter 1198: Chapter 1108: The Female Chancellor 46

Upon hearing the news Yan Qi brought back, Yin Shuangshuang finally understood the purpose of those cattle carts in the morning.

The wooden barrels on those carts were filled with water, and the people driving them were water vendors.

The reason for the grand spectacle of the water-selling convoy is because a dozen villages and several towns nearby have been experiencing water shortages for three consecutive years.

It is said that this year’s water shortage is especially severe, with the town’s few wells gradually drying up and unable to provide water.

Now, the people in the town rely entirely on water vendors who fetch water from nearby mountain springs to sell to them.

Every morning is the fixed time for selling water, and when Yin Shuangshuang went out, it coincided with the water vendor’s carts entering the town, blocking her way.

After sending off Yan Qi, who came to report, Yin Shuangshuang couldn’t help but start pondering that this place has been short of water for three years, and it’s especially severe this year; it seems likely there will be a drought disaster.

If the County Magistrate here cares about the people, they should already be considering ways to cope with the drought and looking for places to drill deep wells.

If the common people here are unfortunate and have a County Magistrate who doesn’t pay attention to such matters, they will have a tough time this year.

But soon Yin Shuangshuang couldn’t think about anything else because the continuous tension and fatigue from the journey caused her to finally experience motion sickness.

She was so nauseous that she couldn’t eat anything, causing Wei Yingnan to be anxious and constantly circling around her.

”No, you can’t stubbornly continue on the road. Your health is already poor, and you’re so sick now that you can’t keep traveling.

You have to listen to me on this matter. We must quickly go to the nearest county city and find a clinic to see if they can prescribe something to prevent your motion sickness.

Continuously vomiting like this is unbearable even for a healthy person, let alone someone as physically weak as you.

Yan Yi, quickly lead the way to the county and send someone to find out where the best clinic in the county is?”

Wei Yingnan insisted that Yin Shuangshuang should not continue the journey, directly ordering Yan Yi, who was also worried about Yin Shuangshuang’s health, to head towards the county without further ado.

Yin Shuangshuang weakly slumped in the carriage, lacking the energy to stop her friend.

In the end, Yin Shuangshuang couldn’t resist Wei Yingnan, and combined with her physical discomfort, she could only follow Wei Yingnan to find a clinic for treatment.

Yin Shuangshuang’s body couldn’t endure fatigue, and as soon as they stopped, she fell ill and couldn’t get out of bed at all.

Helpless, Yin Shuangshuang had to rent a courtyard near the clinic to recuperate and heal her illness; otherwise, she wouldn’t survive until reaching the Capital City.

With her fragile body, Yin Shuangshuang felt a sense of helplessness; she had never felt so weak and powerless before, as if any child could defeat her.

In the past, for matters like Wang Zhongxuan’s, she could have used martial strength effortlessly without all this trouble to easily overcome challenges.

She could have stealthily entered the Capital City, sneaked into the Heavenly Prison, brought the person out, and then returned, living under a pseudonym without exhausting her mind like this.

Even if she wanted to elevate her personal status, Yin Shuangshuang could have chosen to become a female general, as female military officers were more readily accepted.

This way, she wouldn’t need to enter the court and face those rule-following male civil servants daily; she could just fight or guard the border without really contending for power with civil servants.

While Yin Shuangshuang had the mind to become a female official, she also prepared herself for the possibility of becoming the most powerful strategist, offering advice to others if being an official didn’t work out.

While living in the county, aside from seeking medical treatment, Yin Shuangshuang didn’t forget to gather information. A plethora of information was compiled by Yan Qi, Yan Ba, and Yan Jiu and laid in front of Yin Shuangshuang.

All three were literate, recording their observations and insights in notebooks assigned by Yin Shuangshuang.

Now, Yin Shuangshuang was flipping through these three notebooks, finding the information quite varied and plentiful.

For example, it was noted that all the grain, salt, and oil shops in the county were owned by a prominent family in the city. This family, known for their unscrupulousness, would inevitably raise prices during natural disasters.

Unfortunately, they had a powerful patron, even the local magistrate had to show them courtesy, leaving the common people to suffer their oppression.

Another piece of information mentioned that the County Magistrate was particularly lecherous, frequenting the red-light district.

Ironically, this County Magistrate had a fierce wife at home who constantly argued with him. Eventually, he divorced her just to frequent Flower Street freely.

Yin Shuangshuang used these intelligence reports to pass the time, and after three or four days, she finally recovered her health and set off again for the Capital City. Traveling intermittently, she finally reached the Capital City.

Upon entering the Capital City, Yin Shuangshuang rented a small courtyard and moved in with her companions.

When asked by the neighbors, Yin Shuangshuang explained that her family had fallen on hard times, her parents had passed away, and only she and her sister were left to rely on each other, now coming to the Capital City to seek relatives.

However, since the relatives had moved and their exact location was unknown, they could only rent a courtyard in the meantime.

After entering the Capital City, Yin Shuangshuang instructed Yan Qi, Yan Ba, and Yan Jiu to gather information, regardless of its nature, and bring it back to her for analysis.

The information brought back by Yan Qi and the others was quite mixed, some useful and some useless, but one piece of information caught Yin Shuangshuang’s attention.

It was said that the Emperor, disliking the summer heat, had gone with the harem concubines to the suburban Palace to escape the heat. Surprisingly, recently, those concubines were all sent back to the palace, while the Emperor stayed at the Palace, unwilling to leave.

Initially, the Emperor would still review the ministers’ memorial submissions, but recently the speed of reviewing these submissions had noticeably slowed down.

Moreover, the Emperor summoned two new Beauties to the Palace; these two beauties were stunning, and since entering the Palace, they had been highly favored. Every night, music and dance could be heard from the Palace.

Now, the civil and military officials in the Capital are speculating whether the Emperor has been captivated by these two beauties, resulting in neglect of state affairs and an indulgence in pleasure.

Due to the Emperor’s sudden absurdity, the Imperial Censors and officials continuously advised the Emperor to return to the palace and properly attend court, yet the Emperor ignored them all, paying no heed to their advice.

Everyone says the Emperor’s recent actions are ridiculous. Previously, he would occasionally meet with ministers, though each time he looked exhausted from indulgence, but recently he hasn’t even met with them, completely refusing all ministers.

The ministers seemed to find the Emperor’s sudden absurdity somewhat normal; after all, a ruler with immense power suddenly indulging in sensual pleasures isn’t entirely surprising. But Yin Shuangshuang felt something was amiss.

The current Emperor was a wise ruler, genuinely wanting the common people to live well; otherwise, he wouldn’t have considered reform.

Even if a wise ruler were to become foolish, it should be a gradual process, not an abrupt descent into indulgence.

If it were truly a case of suddenly being enamored by an extraordinarily beautiful woman, it could be somewhat understandable.

The key issue is that these two beauties had been in the Emperor’s harem for a long time; why hadn’t he been captivated earlier or later, but suddenly now? There must be some hidden reason.

More likely, this apparent indulgence and refusal to meet ministers may just be a pretense by the Emperor to avoid leaving the Palace. Why does the Emperor refuse to leave his suburban Palace?