Their day's wages were enough to buy a month's worth of salt. Why did they need to work so hard?
In the end, only a few of the joint creators of well salt managed to produce high-quality product, creating the first homemade salt shop in Plague City.
Nevertheless, most of the salt was still bought from the government suppliers.
That evening,
Gu Sang and the Elder Princess connected online.
“Gu Sang, we've started producing well salt, and the fine salt is indeed much tastier than the coarse salt," noted the Princess.
"Although salt is cheap, it's an essential part of our daily diet."
"The method you developed for salt manufacturing has solved the long-standing issue of hard-to-get-salt."
"Pei Changying gave up on Plague City long ago. He has severed supply of food essentials like salt. His intention was to starve the citizens."
"In the past, I used to ask Xiao Xue to help buy some from Jiangnan or pay high prices for merchants to bring it into the city."
"Fortunately, you publicised your salt-making method, and Pei Changying relaxed his control over the salt supply in Plague City."
Gu Sang nodded and asserted, "In history, there have definitely been several salt famines. When people can't get salt, they become lethargic; they can't even stand up, let alone go to war."
"Pei Changying's tactic of controlling your salt is clever. There are some merchants brave enough to buy salt privately and ship it to you, making a tidy profit."
"But even though Plague City's salt production is small, we can't neglect this skill."
"I'm afraid that if Pei Changying once again strictly controls the sale of salt to the city, we will have well salt to rely on, so the city will not be without salt"
The Elder Princess conceded, "I have already ordered that. We must produce our own salt and also buy from outside. We need to stock up."
"Then there's General Guan's case of attacking the city, they have spent half a month here, and I'm worried about the border."
"Pei Changying, that good-for-nothing, is crazy. Just to suppress us, he actually dared to relocate the army guarding the border, it's simply ridiculous."
As the Elder Princess and Gu Sang were worrying about the border,
Thousands of miles away from Plague City stood the frontier.
Somehow, the Xiongnu learned the secret that the border was undefended and called upon tens of thousands of soldiers, storming the border city!
The cries of slaughter woke up the citizens, who, still half-asleep, were caught surprised as the Xiongnu quickly broke through the city gate.
"Kill!"
"Rob! All this is ours!"
"Hahaha.......let us shout our thanks to the Emperor of the Middle Kingdom!"
The Xiongnu on horseback, wielding crescent-shaped blades, cruelly thrust the weapon into a soldier's body and with a twist,
Entrails and flesh were thrown about and dropped piteously onto the ground.
Conducting a brutal rampage throughout the city, anyone they encountered, be it the fleeing commoners or soldiers, were ruthlessly gutted, and the streets ran red with blood.
The whole border city was crying, calling out, trying to escape; it was like a living hell.
The people were desperate to escape, but how could they outrun horses? Before they could cover a few steps, their hearts were gripped from behind, the blood sputtering as they fell to the ground.
Witnessing the streets littered with corpses, a husband protected his wife and child, fleeing back to their house.
But before they could find a hiding place, the voices of the Xiongnu resonated outside.
Soon after, the door was kicked open.
Holding his wife tightly, the husband, trembling but resolute, said, "My wife, promise me you'll keep our child alive."
With unknown courage, the husband dared to step out and confront the Xiongnu.
The wife hid their child in the stove, her tears unstoppable, whispering in a pleading tone.
"My child, you must remain silent. No matter what happens outside, you must not come out!”
"Never, never come out."
After smearing a layer of soot on the child's face, the wife pushed the child's head down and placed a pot above.
Looking around, there was nowhere else to hide.
Outside the yard, the husband's death screams could be heard, followed by the mocking laughter of the Xiongnu.
The wife picked up the fire stick from the kitchen, waiting for the moment the door was opened by the Xiongnu to strike them.
But before the stick could descend, a swift Xiongnu spotted it and sliced her throat, leaving splatters of flesh on the wall.
"Hahaha! This land will soon be ours!"
"Didn't expect this woman to be so beautiful, what a pity! You should have waited with your knife, let me have some fun."
"There's no scarcity of women in this city for your enjoyment."
"Let's go! Kill every last one, snatch everything, burn it all!”
The Xiongnu laughed and scoured the kitchen for all the food they could find.
After they left, a fire consumed everything.
In the distance, hundreds of fires lit up around the town, forming a searing dragon, flagrantly burning everything in sight.
The whole town's population failed to escape alive; those bodies not consumed by the fire were dragged by the Xiongnu to the nearest burning spot, discarded in the flames.
Old, young, male, female; their bodies became fuel to the fire dragon, emitting cries of despair in the night wind.
It wasn’t until dawn began to break that the fire gradually ceased.
Several traders intending to do business at the border town arrived gradually.
However, before arriving, they witnessed an appalling sight.
"Those are bodies!!! Look at the multitude of bodies hanging on the walls.”
"Blood, the walls are drenched in red blood!”
A gust of wind caused the bodies on the wall to sway, a strong reeking smell of blood permeating from the town.
Instantly, all the traders witnessing this site felt a chill running down their spines.
With pale faces, they scrambled back in the direction they came from, forgetting their goods in their hurry to inform the nearest city officials.
The Xiongnu have invaded!
The Xiongnu have annihilated an entire city!
The news travelled at a rapid pace, reaching the capital city in fear and delivered to Pei Changying.
Pei Changying sat atop the towering perch of the great hall, a glance at the letter in front of him caused his whole body to tremble in fury. He directed a stormy gaze at the surrounding courtiers.
Under the bewildered and horrified glances of the high officials, Pei Changying gave a cold, cruel laugh.
The cold, bitter edge to his laughter sent shivers down the spines of those present.
“Heh, here I sit, before all my officials. Yet I cannot discern who among you is loyal and who is a spy!”
“All of you so righteous, devoting yourselves for the state and the people! But, some are not loyal to me, nor are they loyal to the Central Plains!"
"How would the Xiongnu seize such an opportune moment to launch a large-scale offensive against the Central Plains if there wasn't a traitor leaking the timing of my private troop deployment! How would they manage to bulldoze our borders?”
“Who? Who turned traitor and became the dog of the Xiongnu?"
