Jinghong Tower

Chapter 408 Sachet
"Why didn't you tell me earlier, Sister Nong? Don't worry, as long as this place belongs to Sister Ran, not only will I not take it away, I will also help her watch over it. If anyone dares to take it away, I will make sure he never comes back."

Nong Liuniang was far away in Dongdi and had no idea that Zhou Cangyue had formed an alliance with He Ran. She did things based on her likes and dislikes. If He Ran had not sent Zhong Yi to rescue her, she would have died without a burial place.

The girl of Dong dares to hate and love. If she falls in love with someone, she will throw herself into the fire like a moth and never stop until she dies. If she hates someone, she will also fight to the death and will poison him from a thousand miles away.

Similarly, if someone does her a favor, she will offer her whole heart, and will find what the benefactor wants and give it to him even if it means going through mountains of swords and seas of fire.

For He Ran, the poisonous insect that Nong Liuniang gave her was already a way of repaying her kindness, not to mention that the insect saved Master Lao's life at the critical moment.

A life for a life, the favor is done.

However, in Nong Liuniang's opinion, He Ran's kindness to her could not be repaid by just giving her a poisonous insect.

She is a Dong person. Her wicked brothers have been killed by her. Those from other Dong people who did not obey her were also defeated by her. Now, she is the King of Dong, and the first female King of Dong in the history of Dong family.

Therefore, she would not leave Dongdi. She had been to the glamorous world of the Han people, but she did not like it. The most miserable days of her life were spent there, so she did not yearn for it.

There are bad people among the Dong people, and even her relatives have broken her heart, but she just likes this land that gave birth to her.

Although this land is barren and ignorant, it is her roots and only here can she grow and bloom.

After she killed Wang Hao, she wanted to take over Wang Hao's territory, but she didn't want it. That was the Han people's land, not hers. Even if she occupied it, the Han people there would not accept her.

But she could give this piece of land as a gift to Mr. He, as a thank you gift.

Before coming to see Zhou Cangyue, Nong Liuniang even thought that if Zhou Cangyue did not agree, she would kill Zhou Cangyue and give Zhou Cangyue's territory to He Dadang.

Fortunately, Zhou Cangyue did not dare to confront her head-on and gave in in time.

Nong Liuniang was very satisfied with this. Zhou Cangyue called her "Sister" all the time, which made her feel comfortable both physically and mentally.

Therefore, when Zhou Cangyue was about to send the great god away with great respect, Nong Liuniang handed him a box and said, "This is the love poison. If you have a girl you like, put this poison in the water and let her drink it. Then she will fall in love with you and you will never be separated."

"Really? There is such a good thing?" Zhou Cangyue was surprised and happy, but did not reach out to take it.

Nong Liuniang urged: "It's given to you, please accept it."

Zhou Cangyue gritted his teeth, hid his hands behind his back, and shook his head: "Forget it. If she knew I gave her this, she would kill me. I'm afraid of her, really, I'm really afraid of her."

Nong Liuniang obviously didn't expect that Zhou Cangyue would refuse to accept her gift. Wouldn't the little prince like this?
"You really don't want it?" asked Nong Liuniang.

Zhou Cangyue was firm: "No, absolutely no, don't tempt me."

Nong Liuniang had a vague understanding of the word "temptation", but she didn't care. The Han people are very cunning and don't want such a good thing. Who knows what they are thinking.

"Okay, don't regret it. However, if you give me the territory, I won't let you suffer any loss. You can let me do something for you. Tell me, what do you want me to do?"

Zhou Cangyue: Are all you Dong people like this? Your enthusiasm is so overwhelming that I can't resist it.

"Sister Nong, you are good at poisons, so you must be able to detoxify, right? Is there anything that can detoxify all kinds of poisons? For example, Tianshan Snow Lotus, Precious Snake Blood, etc."

Nong Liuniang snorted coldly: "The poison used by you Han people is not difficult to cure. Why would you need any treasure?"

Zhou Cangyue's mouth twitched. "Sister, can you please consider my feelings when you say this?"

"Sister, you are so powerful. Can you give me something to detoxify me?" Zhou Cangyue asked shamelessly.

Nong Liuniang took off a sachet from her body and said: "The earthworm treasure flower pills in here will make you immune to all poisons when you wear them. They can't detoxify, but they can prevent poisons such as poisonous smoke and poisonous incense."

Zhou Cangyue smiled and looked at Nong Liuniang's waist, where there was only this sachet.

"Sister, can you get another one for my brother? Hehe, one is not enough."

Nong Liuniang asked, "Are you going to give it to your beloved girl?"

Zhou Cangyue's face turned red all of a sudden.

Nong Liuniang understood it at a glance. Han people are just pretentious. Love between men and women is a very common thing. Is it worth blushing?
She glanced at the woman next to her: "Mu Ling, do you have a sachet?"

Mu Ling shook her head. She didn't carry an empty sachet with her when she went out this time.

Nong Liuniang took out a long bamboo tube as thick as a thumb from her bosom and handed it to Zhou Cangyue: "We didn't bring any extra sachets, so this is for you. Find a sachet to put the sachet in."

Zhou Cangyue thanked her profusely. From now on, Nong Liuniang was his elder sister, his real elder sister.

After seeing Nong Liuniang off, Zhou Cangyue opened the long bamboo tube, which contained more than a dozen pills. Zhou Cangyue then opened the sachet that Nong Liuniang had given him, which also contained pills. He smelled it and the smell was the same.

Zhou Cangyue called Bai Gou and said, "Go find some poisonous incense."

White Dog: "I don't think Wang Hao's men will amount to anything. You don't have to worry about them coming to kill you."

Zhou Cangyue: "Which eye of yours can see that I am depressed? I can be as depressed as I want."

"Then why do you need poison incense? You want to commit suicide but can't bring yourself to do it, so you have to use poison incense and die without knowing it. How nice and comfortable."

Zhou Cangyue: “Get lost!”

Decent people usually don't know where to find poisonous incense, but it is easy for the not-so-decent Beggars' Gang.

In less than half an hour, Bai Gou found a basket of poisonous incense, placed a tied-up chicken in the room, hung a sachet around the chicken's neck, lit the poisonous incense, and closed the doors and windows.

An hour later, just as the window was opened, the white dog fell to the ground with a thud, poisoned!

But the chicken in the house was still waiting to be slaughtered with great energy.

Zhou Cangyue was overjoyed. He kicked the white dog on the ground and asked Hongdou, "How do you detoxify this thing?"

Hongdou: "Boy's urine!" After saying that, she was about to unbutton her pants.

Zhou Cangyue waved his hand in disdain: "Go pee over there, what's wrong with you!"

After a while, the white dog escaped death and started vomiting violently.

Zhou Cangyue spread out the letter paper and was about to write a letter, but then he had a sudden thought and decided to write it later.

He went to the market, bought some needle and thread, and praised the cloth seller a lot. The cloth seller smiled happily and gave him a bunch of scraps of cloth.

Zhou Cangyue returned to the military camp and began to piece the cloth together. The next morning, Zhou Cangyue appeared on the martial arts field following the call. Bai Gou rubbed his eyes and said, "What were you doing at night? Why do you look like an iron-eating beast?"

Iron-eating beasts were often seen in the mountains and forests of Shu. They were strong and ferocious. After the Huwei Army entered Shu, Zhou Cangyue issued an express order prohibiting the hunting of iron-eating beasts. Anyone who violated the order would be severely punished, regardless of whether they were military or civilians.

Therefore, people in the Tiger Power Army would run away as soon as they saw the iron-eating beast. Firstly, they were afraid of being attacked by the beast, and secondly, they were worried that they would not be able to resist fighting back when attacked and would be punished.

Zhou Cangyue didn't say anything. He would never tell Bai Gou that he made several sachets with scraps of cloth, each one was different.

Not long after, these sachets were delivered to the capital. He Ran opened the sachets and found that each one contained a pill, emitting a faint herbal fragrance.

In the letter, Zhou Cangyue explained the origin of these pills and also told He Ran about Nong Liuniang's plan.

A month later, He Ran met Mu Ling again. This time, Mu Ling brought letters of surrender from the four prefectures, seven states and forty-two counties under Wang Hao's rule. These letters of surrender were collected by Nong Liuniang who sent people to various places. They were signed and sealed by local nobles and gentry.

He Ran was overjoyed and sent Feng Zan to lead the army. It was the spring examination time at that time, and the newly-produced Jinshi were waiting to be sent to various places for internships. They had to go through a long and rigorous internship period, and only after passing the assessment could they officially become officials. Therefore, they did not indulge in the joy of being named on the list of successful candidates, but had to face the anxiety of internship.

The news of the southwest's surrender quickly spread among these Jinshi. Some were excited, some were uneasy, and some wished they could take the exam again next year.

The southwest is a land of barbarians, full of miasma and with fierce folks, so they don't want to go there.

And this time there is a great possibility that they will be sent to the southwest.

Today, He Ran was in a good mood and she met two people.

One is Aqiu. Aqiu graduated from the medical class of the Imperial College. Now there is war only in the northwest, so all of their military doctors were sent to the northwest. She came to say goodbye to He Ran. This was her second time to say goodbye. The last time was in Jinling, when she was going to Beijing to study.

Just like last time, she personally cooked a meal for Mr. He. He Ran smiled and said to her, "Now I have to call you Military Doctor He. I have eaten a lot of meals, but this is the first time I have eaten a meal cooked by a military doctor."

A Qiu was a little embarrassed. Her name was now He Qiu. She was already a formal military doctor and would be going to the battlefield soon. She wanted to devote herself to saving lives and healing the wounded with enthusiasm, just like her predecessors.

Since the year before last, some generals have been recommending military doctors for honors, allowing them to make military contributions just like the soldiers. So far, eight military doctors have made contributions and received awards, and have been summoned by the great leader He.

Ah Qiu's wish is that next time she will come to see Mr. He as a meritorious military doctor.

Another person He Ran met was Xu Qiuli. She ranked first in this spring's imperial examination and was chosen by He Ran as the top scholar.

She was the second woman to rank at the top since the establishment of the official examination, and the first female champion.

Xu Qiuli is already 37 years old. At this age, most people have become grandmothers, but this year she has ushered in the highlight of her life.

At this time last year, after she had ranked first in the county, her exam nameplate was sold by her so-called husband for ten taels of silver, her rank was taken by someone else, and she was locked in a cave, waiting to die.

Who would have thought that in just one year, Xu Qiuli would transform herself into the first female top scholar in history.

When the news came out, not only the capital, but the whole Jiangnan area was in a sensation.

There were many candidates from Jiangnan this time, and their scores were excellent. Among the top ten, there was only one northerner, and the other nine were all candidates from Jiangnan. However, among so many candidates from Jiangnan, it was Xu Qiuli who took the top spot.

He Ran asked Xu Qiuli: "Do you want to be an official or do you want to concentrate on studying and teaching?"

After all, Xu Qiuli is old, and a 37-year-old woman does not have an advantage in the modern workplace, not to mention that this is a chaotic ancient time when the average life expectancy was only in the early 40s.

Before coming to the capital to take part in the Spring Examination, Xu Qiuli had been teaching in the Women's Academy in Jinling, and she was already Master Xu.

He Ran's question hit the mark, and she said, "I heard that the capital is planning to set up a women's academy. If the headmaster doesn't mind, I would like to become a teacher in the academy."

He Ran said, "The difference between the women's academy in the capital and Jinling is that they mainly teach skills. Of course, there are also cultural courses, but they only teach elementary knowledge. If you go there, I'm afraid you will be wasting your talent."

Xu Qiuli was a little disappointed. Just as he was about to speak, He Ran said, "You don't have to limit yourself to women's academies. I have already issued an order that the Imperial College and major academies in the capital will recruit both men and women. There will be both male and female teachers. Yao Linlang is a guest teacher at the Imperial College and Shenglin Academy. You might as well go and take a look at these academies. If you want to be a teacher, I think these academies will open their doors to you."

Xu Qiuli opened his mouth wide, and after a long while he said, "Is it really possible? My students thought that only women's colleges would let me teach."

He Ran smiled: "You were selected from among tens of millions of candidates. Your knowledge is better than most men in this world. Of course you can be their master."

Ten days later, Xu Qiuli entered the Imperial College as a teacher, and several major academies in the capital also invited her. When the news reached Jiangnan, the four major academies in Jiangnan were almost shocked.

That Xu Qiuli, it would have been fine if she had become the female top scholar, but how could she also teach at the Imperial College?

Can't she be a teacher in a girls' college like before?

How can a woman be a teacher to a man?
What kind of system is this?
What followed was a debate that lasted for years. In He Ran's eyes, these scholars who were bored first wrote articles and then organized discussions. The theme of the discussion was whether women could be teachers.

There was also endless debate in the evening paper, and the number of submission boxes in front of He Yamin's official residence increased from two to ten. Even so, these submission boxes were still packed full, and some people stuffed manuscripts through the crack in the door.

He Ran smiled and shook her head. This was good. These scholars should not be too idle. We should find something for them to do every now and then to prevent them from looking for trouble.

At the same time, the marriage of Zong Qi and Lu Chang also began to be arranged.

Mrs. Shangguan wanted to arrange the wedding for Zongqi personally, and Zongqi did not refuse. Having an elder help to arrange it would show his respect for the woman.

He gave Mrs. Shangguan 50,000 taels of silver in cash, and Mrs. Shangguan was shocked. 50,000 taels? Not to mention now, even in the past, I have never heard of anyone spending 50,000 taels to marry a daughter-in-law. It would not cost that much to marry a princess.

Zong Qi said, "I only have this much cash on hand right now. In two days, tens of thousands of taels will be delivered to the capital. I will bring it to you then. You don't have to save. If it's still not enough, just tell me."

Madam Shangguan shook her head: "No need to send more, these are enough, don't worry, grandma will make sure to give you a lively and beautiful wedding."