bookrebus Chapter 311 Ruined City Wall
Chapter 311 Ruined City Wall
As they headed west, the team encountered heavy snow from time to time, delaying their journey. They should have arrived in Ningchuan City long ago, but in the end they were more than ten days later than originally planned.
Fortunately, they had anti-skid chains, otherwise they would not have been able to reach Ningchuan City before the New Year.
At the end of the journey, the road was covered with ice. Even with anti-skid chains, the carriage moved slowly. More importantly, the weather was getting colder and colder, and people could not stand walking in the ice and snow for several hours.
Even though Ye Jintang boiled medicine for everyone every day, some people still developed snow blindness, some suffered from recurring frostbite on their hands and feet, and some even suffered from hypothermia.
Amidst all these difficulties, the carriage team finally arrived near Ningchuan.
"After crossing the mountain ahead, we will reach Ningchuan City in two days' walk."
Xiao Mo pointed at the snow-capped mountains not far away through the carriage window. At the end of December, the entire Ningchuan Province entered winter. The snow on the snow-capped mountains was getting thicker and thicker. From a distance, the vast expanse of white looked very beautiful.
"We are finally almost at Ningchuan City. If we don't get there sooner, my bones will be broken by the shaking."
"After we settle down, I will have the official road rebuilt. When we return to the capital, I will make sure you can travel freely without any obstacles. You will never suffer this pain again."
Ye Jintang smiled with curved eyebrows.
"It will cost a lot of money to build a bridge from here to the capital. Your Highness, you should save up money early. Don't wait until we return to the capital before you have saved up enough money."
Xiao Mo laughed loudly, "Don't worry, I will guard Ningchuan Prefecture, this treasure trove, and I will definitely be able to save enough money to repair the official road."
After 4 months, Ye Jintang finally saw the city wall of Ningchuan Prefecture.
Before coming here, she felt that Ningchuan City was the largest city in Ningchuan Prefecture, and it must be very prosperous and lively, just like Luojiu City and Quyang City.
But the fact is not so. The wall of Ningchuan City in front of us has long been dilapidated, and in some places there are even missing bricks.
As for the city gate, it was even more unsightly. No one knew how many battles Ningchuan Prefecture had experienced. The entire city gate was full of potholes, and some places even had cracks as wide as a finger.
Looking at this dilapidated city gate, Ye Jintang wondered if this city gate could withstand the attack of the enemy's siege wood if the enemy came to attack the city?
"Ningchuan City is too dilapidated. Has no one ever repaired it in all these years?"
"Ningchuan Prefecture is a place of exile, so it would be nice to have a city wall." Xiao Mo took a look at the city wall but didn't care much about it. Ningchuan City was not on the border, so the chance of being attacked by alien races was very low, so it didn't matter if the city wall was broken.
"The city is already in such a state of disrepair. I can't even imagine how dilapidated the palace we live in will become."
"In the history of Tianqin, Ningchuan Prefecture has never been granted to anyone as a fief. As for the royal palace, it was renovated using the former city lord's mansion. That city lord's mansion has not been occupied for seven or eight years, and no one knows what it looks like after the renovation."
At this point, Ye Jintang no longer had any hope. It was winter now, and even if she was not satisfied with where she lived, it would be too late to renovate it. She could only wait until next spring to repair the house.
The carriage team entered Ningchuan City unimpeded. The city was even more desolate than Ye Jintang had imagined. There were no stone roads in the city, not even slightly flat roads. It had snowed heavily a few days ago. The weather had warmed up in the past two days and the snow melted a little. Then the temperature dropped sharply and the melted snow froze into ice again. The carriage drove on the uneven ice and Ye Jintang was almost bumped out of the carriage.
After a lot of effort, the carriage team arrived at the palace. Ye Jintang looked at the gate of the palace and felt very disappointed.
I don’t know which god built the City Lord’s Mansion, but the wall is only one person high. Anyone who is a little taller can jump over it with a strong jump.
It seems that there is no difference whether there is a wall or not.
On the contrary, the palace gate looks like it is new. It would be better if the worn-out door lintel could be replaced.
From the moment Xiao Mo's carriage team entered the city, there were people watching all along the way.
"Hey, our Ningchuan Prefecture is so great that it has even become a fiefdom. Will the exiled prisoners not be sent to us in the future?"
"It's hard to say. I heard that the King of Qin is not very favored. Maybe prisoners will be sent here in the future."
"I hope God will bless us and stop sending prisoners here. They are treated like cattle and horses and don't ask for wages. I can't even find a job."
"That is to say, a few days ago I found a job moving bricks, but after two days the boss didn't want me anymore, saying that a group of prisoners had arrived and the price was cheaper, so they wanted to use those prisoners."
"It would be great if the King of Qin could take care of the officials in the city. They rely on the little power they have to screw over us ordinary people."
Ye Jintang had good hearing, and he didn't expect that he could hear gossip just by standing at the gate of the palace.
From what the two men said, it seemed that the officials in the city were maliciously lowering wages and not letting the common people survive.
The entire Ningchuan Province is now like a sieve, with wind blowing in from all sides, and Xiao Mo and she need to patch it up.
The main gate of the palace opened, Xiao Mo and Ye Jintang got off the carriage and entered through the main gate together.
Ye Jintang, who had already prepared himself mentally, was so angry that he laughed when he saw the main house in the front yard.
On the surface, the six main houses seemed to have been renovated, and even the floors were paved with new bluestone slabs, but Ye Jintang could tell at a glance that the six main houses were all just for show.
Logically, the back wall of the main house should be made of thick brick and stone, so that it will be warm in winter and cool in summer.
But the back walls of the six main houses in front of us are only as thick as one brick, and the windows at the back are all specially made, otherwise they would not be able to be installed.
Not to mention the front wall, not a single brick was used, it was just built with wooden boards.
Ningchuan Prefecture is in the northwest, and even a foot-thick mud wall can be frozen through, let alone wooden boards.
If Xiao Mo comes here to host a banquet in the future, he will probably have to put ten charcoal braziers, otherwise the main house will be no different from an ice cellar.
This is the case for the main house in the front yard, and the houses in the back yard are almost the same.
"Your Majesty, do you think that this is the palace that Noble Consort Dehui deliberately ordered to be renovated in this way?"
The back wall of the house they lived in was also made of bricks, and there was no floor heating. In such cold weather, sleeping in such a house at night not only required someone to be in the room guarding the charcoal brazier at all times, but also required them to wear warm clothes, otherwise they would wake up from the cold.
Ye Jintang suddenly remembered that in the original novel, the original owner and Xiao Mo died of illness not long after coming to Ningchuan City.
In this kind of environment, it would be strange if the original owner, who had been spoiled since childhood, did not get sick.
"That's all the Imperial Noble Consort Dehui is capable of."
Xiao Mo had already experienced many of the methods used by Imperial Noble Consort Dehui. Looking at the tampered palace, he felt no wavering in his heart.
"Come on, I'll show you the yard I prepared for you."
Ye Jintang's eyes lit up. He didn't expect that Xiao Mo had a backup plan.
"You knew that Imperial Noble Consort Dehui would tamper with the renovation of the palace?"
"Yes, I have fought with Imperial Noble Consort Dehui so many times, so I naturally know her character very well. How could she let me live a smooth life? She has shown mercy by not planting a few villains who have cast witchcraft in the palace."
"Noble Consort Dehui would not do any witchcraft, but I'm afraid there are already agents planted in the palace to monitor us at all times."
"Don't worry, none of her nails will remain."