Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

Chapter 1205 Baiyun County's Harvest

As soon as the group left the city, Shen Zheng noticed something – it seemed that she was the only one in their group who was not good at riding.

She knew that Jiang Zhiming could ride a horse.

Yu Nanshu and Cui Jinyin also learned horsemanship when they went to the capital.

Needless to say, Xin Ji was already riding alongside them.

Even so, no one ever mentioned that they wanted to ride a horse to Fuzhou.

Seeing that the caravan was about to pass Liuyang Post Station, Shen Zheng lifted the curtain and said to Hua Duo, "Hua Duo, go into the post station and change to a fast horse. You ride the horse and take me to Fuzhou."

Hua Duo, holding the reins, paused for a moment before immediately replying, "Yes."

Xin Ji, who was standing next to the carriage, also looked over: "Lord Shen, do you want to ride a horse?"

Shen Zheng thought to herself that she could only be described as "riding a horse".

"Time waits for no one, and locusts won't wait for us either. We should try our best not to delay anything." Shen Zheng looked at the approaching post station and said to Xin Ji, "Young Master Xin, please tell Lord Jiang to ride with us to Fuzhou first, and then have the garrison soldiers proceed as planned to the cloth shops in Qingzhu and Baiyun counties to retrieve the mirrors."

Xin Ji glanced at her, a complex look in his eyes, but he still reined in his horse and waited for the carriage behind to catch up.

Inside the carriage, Yu Nanshu said with a worried expression, "Sister Shen, you haven't learned to ride before. Riding a fast horse all of a sudden won't be good for your body..."

Cui Jinyin nodded in agreement: "Teacher, why don't we go to the post station and change to a three-horse carriage? A three-horse carriage is actually not much slower than riding a horse."

Seeing the two girls' concern, even Shen Zheng, who was originally on edge, smiled slightly. "Don't worry, I can handle this little bit of hardship. But you two, are you sure you'll be alright riding horses?"

"What's the problem!" Yu Nanshu didn't hesitate at all. She immediately untied the long sash hanging from her waist, tied a neat knot in the hem of her dress, and asked Cui Jinyin with her chin raised, "Cui Jinyin, shall we have a horsemanship contest?"

Watching Yu Nanshu's fluid movements, Cui Jinyin's fighting spirit burned brightly, and her next move was almost identical to Yu Nanshu's.

In no time, the two girls were ready, arguing back and forth about who was better.

"My riding skills were taught to me personally by my brother!" Yu Nanshu said with pride.

Cui Jinyin's eyes darted around: "The horses I rode before were all from the Western Regions! Thousand-mile steeds!"

"My brother taught me!"

"A magnificent steed!"

"My brother taught me!"

"One hundred taels of gold per bolt!"

"My brother taught me!"

"You've gone too far!!"

The two argued from the carriage to the horseback, from dawn till dusk.

As dusk fell, the group rode their horses into Baiyun County.

There was no one on the street, and an invisible tension permeated the air.

Xin Ji left the group for quite a while before riding back.

"Really... it was so hard to find a lame old lady to ask her questions." Xin Ji didn't mention that he had barged into her house, but simply pointed in a direction and said, "The carriage and horse stable is over there. The old lady said it was only opened two months ago, and the horses are all strong. Also, she said that the county has already started the harvest, and almost everyone is in the fields right now. She even said that the county magistrate himself went to the fields, he's in a hurry."

After saying that, Xin Ji pointed in another direction and asked Shen Zheng, "He's harvesting rice in that village over there. Do you want to question him? If so, I'll ride over and bring him here."

Shen Zheng glanced in the direction he was pointing, then slowly shook her head: "Never mind, I'll leave him a letter. Let's go to the carriage shop to change horses first."

Baiyun County is the closest to Fuzhou. Yin Wencai probably learned about the locust plague from passing merchants and local people long before the local soldiers sent word.

If they were to specifically summon Yin Wencai now, it would not only delay their journey to Fuzhou, but they also probably wouldn't get any new clues.

Shen Zheng said "No need," and Xin Ji didn't say much either, cracking his whip as he led the way.

The group had been traveling for several hours, and the horses were exhausted. If they were not allowed to rest, they would either be injured or die suddenly.

Xin Ji was the first to enter the carriage and horse shop, where there was only the manager.

When Xin Ji asked to rent a horse, the shopkeeper refused without hesitation: "No, we don't have enough horses, we can't give them to you."

"Not enough horses?" Xin Ji pointed to several fine horses grazing in the stable. "What are those?"

"It is a horse," the shopkeeper said, "but I really can't give it to you. Those horses are reserved for the county government. Young master, you'd better not go to Fuzhou. Fuzhou... is probably going to be in chaos."

Jiang Zhiming had just led his horse in when he heard the last sentence, and his heart skipped a beat.

Xin Ji ignored the shopkeeper's last sentence and said to himself, "We only need five horses, and our horses will stay here too. Is that not acceptable?"

If that doesn't work, they'll have no choice but to "requisition" it.

“Five horses? That’s even more impossible…” The shopkeeper looked troubled, glancing at the stables: “Young master, the whole county is rushing to harvest right now, and these horses are all waiting to haul the grain. Losing even one horse is a loss. Lord Yin specifically instructed that not a single horse can be rented out before the rice harvest is finished…”

"Old Liu, change the horses!" As soon as the shopkeeper finished speaking, a group of people dressed as constables walked in, leading several horses with heavy gaits toward the stables.

The head constable stroked the horse's neck tenderly, saying as he walked, "They've carried us back and forth so many times, they're exhausted. Please take good care of them. Tonight, they won't be allowed to go..."

As he spoke, the constable suddenly fell silent, his gaze abruptly fixing on Shen Zheng, who had just entered. Disbelief was written all over his face: "Shen... Shen... Shen..."

Shen Zheng recognized the constable immediately, revealed his token, and interrupted, "I am Shen Zheng. Tell your Lord Yin that I will be accompanying Lord Jiang to Fuzhou to help control the locust plague. Tell him to hurry and lead the people to harvest the crops."

With that, Shen Zheng went straight into the main room to fetch a pen and ink, quickly wrote down lines of text, and handed them to the head constable: "This letter is for your Lord Yin."

The constable was still dazed. He took the letter with wooden movements and nodded blankly.

Shen Zheng then said, "Horse..."

"Horses, horses for you! All for you!" The shopkeeper interrupted, running to the stables and untying the ropes one by one. With trembling hands, he led the strongest horse to Shen Zheng, saying, "Master Shen, you must take care of yourself..."

The shopkeeper's gaze was too intense, so Shen Zheng took the reins and nodded, "Thank you, shopkeeper. We'll leave our horses here with you for now. After they rest for an hour or two, they should be able to pull the rice."

"Okay, okay, okay... I'll take them to eat... no, to haul rice later."

Looking at the shopkeeper's obsequious manner, Xin Ji even doubted whether the shopkeeper knew what he was saying.