Chapter 72: Drying Salt
Since arriving at the border city, Chen Yunniang had always been like a startled deer, trembling whenever she couldn’t see Cheng Yu.
But this time, she personally witnessed the Zheng family coming to demand her, and the border city soldiers enduring a whole night of hardship to protect her.
And from beginning to end, no one had intended to hand her over to ensure their own safety.
While deeply moved, Chen Yunniang also found a surge of courage. She wanted to do something too; just hiding and crying was useless.
Therefore, upon hearing Han Xing’s plan, she immediately said, “Elder Brother Cheng, Yunniang is willing to go with Miss Yan.”
“Yunniang will pray to the Bodhisattva to bless the border city soldiers and ensure their safety.”
And to bless me and Elder Brother Cheng, to overcome this tribulation and achieve our rightful end.
Yan Twelve Niang dressed her up as her maidservant, with Baozhu accompanying her on either side. To avoid attracting the Zheng family’s attention, she didn’t bring many guards, only selecting thirty elite soldiers for escort.
Before dawn, while the Zheng family was still off guard, the group quietly sped along the river embankment towards the seaside.
After daybreak, the Zheng family indeed grew impatient. They decided to disregard the Yan family, reasoning that as long as Yan Twelve Niang wasn’t harmed, Yan Jiu would have no reason to blame the Zheng family.
The Zheng family prepared to launch a direct assault on the border city. Cheng Yu and Han Xing naturally perceived their intention and immediately led their troops to meet the enemy.
What Cheng Yu and Han Xing hadn’t anticipated was that the Zheng family had left a contingent of troops to guard the halfway point, primarily to prevent interference from the Yan family or Prefect Chen.
Then they saw Yan Twelve Niang speeding towards the East Sea. They also recognized the maidservant with her face wrapped in a veil as Chen Yunniang.
This contingent never expected such good fortune to fall into their laps!
Capturing Chen Yunniang would be a great achievement!
Without a word, they immediately spurred their horses in pursuit.
Yan Twelve Niang and her group also hadn’t expected to encounter enemies so soon after leaving the border city.
The two sides immediately became locked in combat. To protect Chen Yunniang, Yan Twelve Niang was struck on the arm by a blow from a Zheng family thug, nearly falling off her horse.
Chen Yunniang couldn’t help but shout, “Don’t hurt Miss Yan, I’ll go with you!”
Yan Twelve Niang said urgently, “What nonsense are you spouting? Even if I’m crippled or killed, I won’t let them capture you!”
She had promised the Prince that she would handle Chen Yunniang’s affairs.
She had also assured Han Xing and Cheng Yu that she would protect Chen Yunniang well and never let her fall into the hands of the Zheng family.
The young lady valued her word, feared being looked down upon, feared disgracing the Yan family, and even more, feared the Li King’s displeasure.
For a moment, she didn’t think of anything else, only wanting to fight these people to the death.
Just then, the five soldiers who had been searching for cochineal returned. Upon seeing the situation, without asking any questions, they immediately joined the fight.
With their addition, the three young ladies managed to escape smoothly and were escorted by a few bodyguards, continuing to speed towards the seaside.
Chen Yunniang, sweating profusely, looked at Yan Twelve Niang, whose arm was severely injured, and felt immense guilt.
Meanwhile, on the shores of the East Sea, Jinsui and Wei Assistant Secretary, wearing hats woven from branches, were under the scorching sun, observing the salt field.
After a night of settling, the early morning brought intense sunlight and high temperatures. A significant amount of the shallow seawater on the salt field had evaporated.
The crystals below were visible to the naked eye. Wei Assistant Secretary’s eyes gleamed, as if a miser had found a mountain of gold or a flower thief had spotted a beauty.
He no longer cared about his toothache, leaning over the edge of the salt pool and touching the crystals with his hand, feeling the concentrated brine slip through his fingers.
He exclaimed with delight, “Your Highness, this is salt!”
Jinsui smiled proudly, “What else would it be? Did you really think this Prince was taking you to play in the mud all night?”
All the soldiers crowded over to look and tasted the seawater directly. They were instantly overjoyed. This saltwater would make cooking much tastier than salt mud.
Someone proposed, “Your Highness, if we boil this saltwater, we can surely get a large pot of salt!”
Jinsui scoffed, “You still want to use the boiling salt method to make salt? Then why did this Prince have you digging in the salt fields all night?”
“Just wait and see. With this temperature, it will be dried by tonight. Then you’ll know what a miracle is!”
“Wei Assistant Secretary, you participated in the entire process. Record it, write a tutorial, and lead the soldiers to excavate a hundred mu of salt drying fields.”
Wei Assistant Secretary understood and his small eyes widened considerably, “Your Highness, you mean, we can get salt just by drying it in the sun?”
Jinsui pointed to the filtration pool and the brine pool, “We also need to tread the seawater and filter it.”
Wei Assistant Secretary was instantly overjoyed and cried, “Your Highness is truly a descendant of the Imperial Family. Even heaven helps Your Highness! Our border city will no longer lack salt.”
Jinsui didn’t want to attribute the credit to heaven. With her hands behind her back, she said:
“This is called the sun-drying salt method, and this Prince invented it. If heaven truly helped this Prince, this Prince wouldn’t have been banished to the borderlands.”
“Stop talking about useless things. Just tell me which part you didn’t understand, and this Prince will teach you again.”
All the soldiers came to ask what was the use of treading the seawater? Did they have to lay grass? Could they lay something else?
What was the purpose of throwing away that branch? How to determine the salinity of the brine?
Only Hei Hu asked a peculiar question, “If we use this water to pickle vegetables directly, will it be preserved vegetables?”
…
Jinsui was not impatient at all. Half-explaining, half-guiding, she planned to leave Wei Assistant Secretary and the soldiers there to specifically dry salt.
She would only take Hei Hu back to the city. They had to stockpile a batch of salt before the cold of autumn arrived.
Wei Assistant Secretary also agreed, knowing that the Prince possessed such ‘supernatural abilities’.
Well, in his opinion, being able to devise such a method to dry seawater into salt was a supernatural ability!
Otherwise, why had people only known the boiling salt method for thousands of years, and no one else had thought of the sun-drying salt method?
“This way, not only will we not lack salt to eat, but we can also conduct trade. However, Your Highness, to trade salt, we need a salt permit.”
Jinsui was amused, “Is Wei Assistant Secretary afraid this Prince will become a smuggler of illicit salt?”
Haha, I’ve already done things like forcing the Emperor from his throne, engaging in rebellion, and besieging the city to demand funds, yet you’re only worried about me selling salt illegally without a permit?”
Wei Assistant Secretary was clearly startled. He wanted to rush over and cover her mouth, saying urgently, “Oh dear Your Highness, such words must not be spoken carelessly!
This subordinate understands. Even without a salt permit, it is legal for Your Highness to sell some salt in your fiefdom.”
He then cautiously suggested, “However, Your Highness, if this sun-drying salt method were presented to the Imperial Court, perhaps…”
“Perhaps the Emperor would remember this Prince’s merits and summon this Prince back to Chang’an?”
“You’re thinking too much! This sun-drying salt method must not be revealed to any outsiders, not a single word, otherwise, this Prince will punish you according to military law!”
Hmph, present it to the Imperial Court to curry favor with the Emperor? Do I look like I have masochistic tendencies? Or do you think I have a people-pleasing personality?
Seeing the Prince’s anger, Wei Assistant Secretary and all the soldiers immediately vowed in unison never to reveal it.
Just then, the sound of horse hooves could be heard from a distance. Hei Hu ran ahead to check and then rushed back shouting:
“Your Highness, bad news! The Zheng family is attacking!”
Wei Assistant Secretary was greatly alarmed, “How could the Zheng family find this place? Quickly, protect Your Highness!”
Hei Hu paused, scratched his head, and said, “They’re not attacking here, they’re attacking the city.”
Jinsui said angrily, “Wei Assistant Secretary, you take half the soldiers here to dry salt. The rest will accompany this Prince back.”
“Damn it, if the Zheng family dares to harm a single person from my border city, this Prince will definitely kill Zheng Pengpeng!”
