TGCFNM -Chapter 289 Ming Lake

Chu Ling froze for a moment and looked at Physician Luo to confirm again. “Ming Lake… it’s a lake?”

“It’s a lake,” Physician Luo replied. “My lord, is something wrong?”

Bai Su held her forehead. “They looked at the map and thought it was a river. They figured they could rent a boat and sail to Ningzhou.”

Physician Luo’s mouth fell open in shock. “My lord, then you’ve taken the wrong road.”

Chu Ling covered her face. She knew.

“When I was young, I went to Ningzhou,” Physician Luo continued. “You need to set out from here to Buning County first, then pass through Yucheng. From there, you can take a boat to Ningzhou.” As he spoke, he turned curiously to Ghost Scholar and Bai Su. “You two look well-traveled. Don’t you know the way?”

Ghost Scholar was silent for a long while before finally saying, “…There’s always someone to escort us.”

Bai Su pressed her lips together. She usually went straight to major destinations. County towns were places she skipped entirely, and there were always people assigned to handle the routes for her. Why would she ever need to worry about such trivial matters?

Chu Ling coughed lightly and changed the subject. “So where is Ming Lake?”

Physician Luo pointed outward. “Go out the door, pass the small square, and walk straight to the end. There’s a back gate there for the townsfolk to fetch water.”

“Actually, having a well at home would be more convenient—and cleaner,” Chu Ling remarked.

Physician Luo shook his head. “Digging a well is too expensive. And if you don’t choose the right spot, the money is wasted. The ordinary folk here work for wealthy households. Dyeing a bolt of cloth earns them only three wen. How could they afford to dig a well…?”

“Three wen!” Chu Ling exclaimed in shock. “What can you even do with three wen?”

Physician Luo sighed and shook his head. “In the past, each household dyed their own cloth and rented an ox cart to sell it themselves. But later, the wealthy families made deals with the cloth buyers—they would only purchase cloth from them. The common folk couldn’t sell theirs anymore. They still had to survive, so they could only work for those rich households.”

Chu Ling ground her teeth. “They dare to form a monopoly!”

Ghost Scholar frowned angrily as well. “What a pack of scoundrels! Skinning the people alive and sucking their blood—aren’t they afraid of retribution?”

Physician Luo suddenly gave a bitter smile. “Perhaps this epidemic driving them away is not entirely a bad thing. At least the remaining townsfolk won’t be forced to live under such oppression.”

“In any place, if those in power choose oppression, the people will still have no strength to resist,” Chu Ling said with a frown.

Ghost Scholar sighed. “The times are too chaotic.”

Chu Ling shook her head. “The chaos of the times is certainly one reason, but not the whole of it. In every dynasty, struggles for succession are paid for in blood. And as they fight among themselves, more and more innocent people are dragged into the turmoil.”

Ghost Scholar said, “There was once a proposal—to establish an organization outside the court, one that answers only to the Emperor, to supervise the officials.”

Chu Ling shook her head again. “Once that external force becomes too powerful, it could in turn oppress the officials, dominate the court, and seize control of all authority. That would only be raising another massive monster.”

Ghost Scholar looked at her in surprise. “My lord is farsighted and thorough in thought. I was too idealistic.”

Chu Ling pressed her forehead and sighed. She had simply seen too much.

“In truth, supervising officials is something the people themselves can do. As long as they are given a channel to report upward—so that when they encounter oppression, they have a path to survival, a way to resist injustice,” Chu Ling said.

Bai Su asked, somewhat puzzled, “But what if the wealthy block them? What if the county magistrate blocks them? How would they report upward then?”

Ghost Scholar suddenly smiled. In the moonlight, his eyes seemed to glisten faintly with tears. “The people are like wild weeds. They look insignificant, but they are resilient. Give them just a little soil and a little water, and they will survive. Some rulers choose to trample them, leaving them powerless to resist—but they will always rise again and go on living.”

Chu Ling smiled as well. “So there’s no need to fear that they’ll be blocked. Because there will always be someone unafraid of power, someone who will step forward to challenge all the injustice in this world.”

Ghost Scholar let out a long sigh. “If only there were such a passageway, Great Zhou wouldn’t be in the state it is today.”

“Change doesn’t happen overnight.” Chu Ling leaned closer with a smile. “We’ll take it step by step. There will always be a chance.”

Ghost Scholar lowered his gaze and smiled faintly. “Yes… there will always be a chance.”

After finishing that discussion, Chu Ling began thinking about the future of the people of Anma County. After everything that had happened, the place that used to purchase their cloth certainly wouldn’t continue doing so. They would have to open up a new trade route and start exploring again, step by step.

Fortunately, the Wan family was in the fabric business. Tomorrow she would have to ask Uncle Wu about it. And there was also the matter of Ming Lake—she needed to investigate it thoroughly.

“Tomorrow we’ll go take a look at Ming Lake and see what’s really going on with the water,” Chu Ling said, looking at the others.

“If there truly is a problem with the lake water, then the lake will have to be abandoned,” Bai Su said, frowning.

Physician Luo sighed. “What a pity. It’s such a beautiful lake. For generations, Anma County has relied on it.”

Chu Ling’s expression turned cold. “Then whoever used that lake in such a way is utterly unforgivable—after death, they deserve to be cast into the eighteen levels of hell!”

Right. Tomorrow, once Lin Fu was feeling better, she also needed to ask him what those families who fled looked like and which direction they ran.

She would find a way to catch those bastards no matter what!

—

The next day.

Chu Ling was gently shaken awake by Xiao Hua, who looked at her with concern. “My lord, you must be exhausted. Please go lie down in the carriage.”

Chu Ling blinked hazily at her surroundings. Then she suddenly snapped awake, sprang to her feet, and excitedly declared to everyone, “The medicine works!”

Wan Sanjin was still confused. “What—what works?”

“The medicine works, it works!” Cao Tong and Yan Sheng cheered excitedly. “No one’s going to die!”

Xiao Hua happily grabbed Uncle Wu’s arm. “Uncle Wu, did you hear that? My lord said the medicine works—it works!”

Uncle Wu’s eyes reddened as he held back tears. “That’s wonderful. It works… it works.”

Wan Sanjin grabbed Su He and jumped up in excitement. “Su He, did you hear that? Did you hear?”

Su He couldn’t help curling his lips into a smile. “I heard. It seems Heaven truly stands on my lord’s side.”

Chu Ling put her hands on her hips proudly. “I’m probably Heaven’s own child.”

Wan Sanjin raised a thumbs-up. “My lord is amazing!”

Uncle Wu and the others followed suit, giving thumbs-ups and praising her. “My lord is truly amazing!”

Chu Ling basked in the praise for a moment, then immediately began issuing orders—some to dismantle doors, some to grind herbs, some to tend the fire. That way they could brew more medicine today so everyone would be able to drink it.

However, today she absolutely had to remind them not to eat random things again. Otherwise, she would needle them in a way they would never forget for the rest of their lives.

Physician Luo said with relief, “Take it for ten days. After ten days, they should gradually begin to recover.”

Chu Ling noted the timeframe, then looked at the others. “You all get things ready. I’ll go take a look at Ming Lake.”