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

Fires flickered at the city gate, and the night wind blew, pulling Shen Zheng's shadow crooked.

Zeng Tongshi lifted the car curtain slightly but did not get out to disturb them.

The gatekeeper thought for a long time before answering uncertainly, "That horse seems to belong to Lord Garder's. Actually, I'm not familiar with that horse. It's the tassel it's wearing that I've seen on another horse. That horse belongs to Lord Garder's."

As the soldier finished speaking, a feeling of "as expected" arose in Shen Zheng's heart.

There seemed to be few people in the court who could find ways to deal with her, even sending people to watch her day and night, and destroying the people's rice fields without any guilt, except for Jiadebo.

"Thank you." She turned around and prepared to get in the car, but after thinking for a moment, she felt something was wrong and turned back to ask, "Which general's soldier are you serving under?"

The other party immediately replied: "In reply to Lord Shen, I am a soldier under General Lin's command!"

"Lin...?" It can't be such a coincidence.

She didn't believe it and asked again, "General Lin?"

The soldier was slightly stunned. "Sir, it's General Lin Fanyun. After returning to the capital, the general will concurrently serve as the city gate lieutenant..."

Shen Zheng really didn't know about this.

Lin Fanyun has been running to the dam every day recently. She thought that the other party was idle because of training troops, but she didn't expect that he also had a real job.

Deep down, she didn't want to have too much contact with Lin Fanyun.

But she couldn't just ignore the young soldier. If Gadber was accused and an investigation was carried out, the case might be traced back to the young soldier.

Although she felt that the other party might not have the ability to do so, what if Prime Minister Cui offered to help?

It's better to be careful when sailing the ship of ten thousand years.

"You..." Shen Zheng glanced at the young soldier, but didn't know what to say.

The young soldier seemed to see her turmoil and lowered his voice, "Although I don't know why you are asking about that person's origins, I only shared my suspicions with you. It's nothing serious. Please don't worry."

Shen Zheng asked herself, she was not a person who would show her thoughts on her face, but the young soldier guessed what she was thinking directly.

"You are very observant." After thinking for a moment, she did not offer any direct benefits. Instead, she said, "I will explain today's events to your general. For your personal safety, it is best not to let anyone else know about today's conversation."

To a soldier guarding the city gate, her words carried a great weight.

He gave a standard salute and said, "I understand. Thank you for your appreciation! It's windy tonight, so you'd better get in the car quickly."

Shen Zheng nodded and returned to the carriage. After the two carriages drove into the city, the city gate slowly closed with a dull sound.

"You're great, kid!" As soon as the young soldier returned to the city, several people hugged his shoulders.

Several people pressed the issue, "Did you catch Lady Shen's eye? What did you say to her? Are you getting a promotion and won't be guarding the city gate with the other brothers anymore? We saw what Lady Shen said at the end, and you were secretly delighted!"

The young soldier was bent over by the pressure and struggled, saying, "Lord Shen praised me for opening the door quickly! Oh, stop clinging to me, guard the door, guard the door."

......

Shen House.

The gate was bathed in the warmth of the night, two lamps hung under the eaves, and the night breeze made the lamp wicks sway gently.

Before the carriage came to a complete stop, the doorman came to greet them, followed closely by Nanny Gu and a few others.

As soon as Shen Zheng got out of the car, the thin cloak in Peiyu's hand was covered on her. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Peiyu, it's already June now."

"There was wind at night..." Pei Yu said with her head down.

Shen Zheng smiled, and Nanny Gu asked her again, "Are you hungry, my lady? I'll tell the kitchen to make you a bowl of noodles. Eating noodles at night won't hurt your stomach."

"No need, I'm not hungry." Shen Zheng called Hua Duo to take down the bamboo basket, and then said, "If I come home late, don't wait at the door, go back to your room and sleep."

"How can this be possible!" Nanny Gu was the first to shake her head. "You are the backbone of the mansion. No one can sleep peacefully without you. Just now, these girls... wanted to leave the mansion to look for you."

Pei Yu and the others all lowered their heads, their faces stern.

Shen Zheng took the bamboo basket from Hua Duo and said as they walked, "Something urgent will delay me. If I come home late in the future, I will send someone to inform the mansion, don't worry."

Several people's attention was drawn to the bamboo cage, and they didn't take her words to heart at all.

The bamboo cage swayed from side to side, and the bullfrog couldn't help but make a sound of resistance: "Ga-moo-ga-"

"Ouch—" Nanny Gu and the others only heard the sound but could not see the person, and they shivered inwardly, "Sir, what is this?"

Sir, you came home late today just because of that thing in the cage?

"I think it's a toad, or a frog." Shen Zheng opened the bamboo cage a little by the light. "I don't know where it came from. It suddenly appeared in the rice fields outside Beijing, so I caught a few and brought them back to take a look."

"Toad?" Mu Qing leaned over and said, "In my hometown, toads are the protectors of the fields, eating rice borers and planthoppers. The elders often say, 'To harm a toad is like harming a seedling.' If that's the case, then this one you caught... ah! How come it's so big!"

After seeing the toad's appearance clearly, Mu Qing swallowed back the words he had not finished saying.

Ordinary toads are only as big as a fist, but those in the bamboo cage are even bigger than her palm. They don’t look like “field protectors” at all!

The bamboo cage lid was replaced. Shen Zheng said with a smile, "This fellow probably isn't a good person. He might cause trouble among the people. Let's keep him for a few days and see what happens."

After some thought, she made the arrangements: "Hua Duo, go and clean up the large vat in the courtyard with Pei Yu. Mu Qing, go find some moss and wet mud. Wu Dan, go to the storeroom and cut some linen. Gan Tang, go to the kitchen and find some brown rice and minced meat. Let's make a home for these guys first."

Several people took the order and left, while Shen Zheng returned to the study, ground ink and wrote a letter.

To strike first, she had to deliver the news about the bullfrog to the Ministry of Revenue as soon as possible to prevent Gadber from causing trouble.

In the darkness of night, a figure in black swept across the wall of Shen's residence. The Yulin Guards carried a letter and went to Ji's residence.

......

The morning light is dense and delicate, with specks of dust floating in the beam of light.

Ji Mansion, main hall.

Ji Benchang had just returned from the palace. The housekeeper came forward and pointed at the table and said, "Master, it's that letter. It was there this morning for no apparent reason. The envelope is unsigned, and I dare not open it rashly..."

Ji Benchang stood in front of the table, lowered his eyes, and his gaze fell on the corner of the envelope.

"Go down," he said.

The butler didn't dare to ask any more questions and left with his head down.

"A letter from Xiao Shen..." Looking at the almost invisible small mark, Ji Benchang opened the envelope directly.

Familiar words jumped onto the paper.

"It seems to be a toad from outside the Great Zhou? Where did it come from? It weighs... nearly two kilograms?!"

Ji Benchang rubbed his eyes and looked again in disbelief.

"It really is two kilograms...and this is just the ones Xiao Shen caught." He slowly sat down on the chair and whispered, "Those that weren't caught, will they be even bigger?"

No matter what it is, if its size exceeds normal cognition, its habits... will also change accordingly.

This is probably not good news for the Great Zhou.