Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1226: Chapter 1228: Black Eats Black_1

”What just happened?” After leaving the restaurant and arriving at a safe place, Bai Ruozhu dismissed everyone and asked Xiu Cuicui alone.

Nowadays, Xiu Cuicui had become much more composed. Having experienced such heartbreak, she had lost some of her naivety and gained strength and decisiveness.

”Replying to my master, the woman we just met is my junior sister, Qin Guchun, the same one who poisoned Weng An,” Xiu Cuicui said, her expression turning a shade dimmer, ”I was just reminded of the past and felt a bit resentful.”

”Back then, you feared returning to your sect because Weng An might plot against you. Now that you’ve encountered a fellow sect member, have you ever thought about telling them the truth about what happened that day and asking the sect to support you?” Bai Ruozhu asked tentatively.

Xiu Cuicui shook her head, ”I wasn’t a favorite in my sect, and they might not believe me. With Weng An’s character, he surely would have accused me of some heinous crime already. Besides, I wasn’t close to junior sister Qin, so taking the risk to find her wouldn’t change anything.”

Bai Ruozhu smiled, very satisfied with the progress Xiu Cuicui had made in her state of mind, feeling that her efforts to save her and carefully treat her, allowing her to relearn martial arts, had not been in vain.

”However, that junior sister Qin is the daughter of a Yuedao Sect elder. She rarely leaves the sect’s territory, so her appearance here is quite strange,” Xiu Cuicui said with some concern.

”I will arrange for someone to investigate this matter. You need not worry too much, just make sure that Qin Guchun does not recognize you,” Bai Ruozhu instructed.

”Yes, I’ll remember that,” responded Xiu Cuicui.

After listening to Xiu Cuicui, Bai Ruozhu also took the matter more seriously, wondering if they were coming to compete with her for the medicine field. Better to be cautious.

She called Jianqi over and gave him several instructions, having him arrange for the Commerce Association to gather some information, and also assigned a few dark guards to start investigating around North Mountain City.

On the other hand, she disguised herself as an ordinary merchant with Jianqi and a few others and rode to the vicinity of Su Yongnian’s medicine field.

Su Yongnian’s medicine field was not a single large area but was split into parts near North Mountain City, and further north within the North Mountain area, there were more fields. Although not contiguous, each area was substantial enough to warrant Bai Ruozhu’s attention.

The fields were all leased to medicine farmers for cultivation, and as Bai Ruozhu’s group passed by the fields, they often saw farmers weeding and repelling insects. Bai Ruozhu frowned at the sight, finding the farmers’ methods too primitive—purely manual labor, and truly too hard.

However, she did not overstep and offer advice; as an outsider, what she said might not be believed, and worse, they might think she was a swindler looking to harm the crop yield.

Additionally, she noticed another issue: the fields themselves were not problematic, but the farmers did not know how to replenish the soil. Their way of farming, such as pest and weed control, was quite rudimentary, whereas it could be done with medicinal substances without affecting the crops. If she took over these fields, she was certain she would need to make thorough improvements, and she believed the yields would increase.

Since there were no issues with the medicine fields, she immediately sent a message through the Commerce Association to Sui Ge, instructing him to start contacting Su Yongnian and begin preliminary price negotiations, pushing for the lowest possible price.

”There don’t seem to be any problems here; we’ll set off for the Capital after lunch,” Bai Ruozhu instructed Jianqi and the others.

Xiu Cuicui, meanwhile, had communicated with animals near the fields. Although she could not understand every animal, she could make out parts of their language and confirmed there were no adverse conditions in the fields.

Eager to return, Bai Ruozhu led her subordinates on a brisk ride out of North Mountain City after the meal.

As the group traveled on the official road, Bai Ruozhu quickly sensed that something was amiss, the surroundings unusually quiet and suspicious.

”Master, wait.” Jianqi called out, halting Bai Ruozhu in her tracks. He obviously sensed that something was amiss as well.

”It’s the scent of blood,” Bai Ruozhu spoke up.

Jianqi showed a look of agreement, ”It’s far from here, but it seems like a terrible battle. Should we avoid it?”

Bai Ruozhu didn’t know why, but an idea suddenly sprang to mind, and she instantly thought of Xiu Cuicui’s sibling disciple, Qin Guchun. Could this matter be related to Xiu Cuicui’s sect, the Yuedao Sect?

She glanced at Xiu Cuicui, who wore a look of worry on her face, clearly thinking the same.

”It should not be on the official road, so it won’t affect us, but we are few in number. Sneaking a look shouldn’t be a problem,” Bai Ruozhu pondered aloud.

”Madam, the young master has ordered that you must not take any more risks,” the Morning Breeze promptly objected.

Bai Ruozhu glared at him, ”He meant for you to protect me well, not to dictate my actions.”

Muyu gave Morning Breeze a look and said in a low voice, ”If we quietly go and do not alarm the other party, there shouldn’t be any danger. If the situation turns bad, we can just pull out.”

Left with no choice, Morning Breeze nodded in agreement.

The group headed in the direction from which the smell of blood wafted. Soon the odor of blood became thicker. Bai Ruozhu dismounted, tied her horse, and continued on foot with her party towards the deep mountains within the North Mountain precincts.

Treading at a good pace, they eventually saw from afar the clash of combatants and several scattered corpses. The scene was indeed as gruesome as Bai Ruozhu had anticipated.

There were two groups of people in confrontation, both dressed in the manner of those from the River Jiang. One group wore uniform green clothing, while the attire of the other group was less uniform. However, Bai Ruozhu caught sight of Qin Guchun among them, standing behind a middle-aged man with sharp, monkey-like features and a small goatee.

Xiu Cuicui mouthed to Bai Ruozhu: Elder Qin. Qin Guchun had come with her father, the clan elder.

Bai Ruozhu gestured towards the others, indicating to Xiu Cuicui to identify them. Xiu Cuicui squinted, scanning the area, then shook her head, signaling her lack of familiarity.

”Tou Yuquan, you cowardly and despicable villain! We had an agreement to loot this shipment and sell it to you. After losing so many brothers, you refuse to pay a single coin and even want to silence us all. Do you truly think there’s no one in the River Jiang who can deliver justice?” Qin Li, completely exhausted, pointed his sword at Tou Yuquan, the master of the Lieyang Gate, and cursed.

Tou Yuquan, who had also sustained internal injuries but not as severe as Qin Li’s, burst into mocking laughter. Contemptuously looking at Qin Li, he said, ”You speak of justice here, in front of me? Aren’t you afraid of being laughed at? Haven’t you killed members of the Yuye Sect and caused their sect’s annihilation? What justice is left to speak of? Since it’s a case of betrayal within the underworld, there’s no moral code to discuss. I might as well consider this revenge for the Yuye Sect. If they knew beneath the soil, they might even be thankful to me.”

After Tou Yuquan finished, he laughed uproariously as his subordinates echoed with contemptuous chuckles at Qin Li and his group, looking ready to flay and devour them at any moment.

Jianqi furrowed his brows; he was aware of the bloody and violent nature of the River Jiang, but he hadn’t expected they would encounter such an event, entangled with the destruction of a sect.

”Master, we should withdraw,” Jianqi reminded her.

Bai Ruozhu waved her hand dismissively, her eyes remarkably bright. Since it was a matter of the underworld cannibalizing itself, how could she possibly miss out?