In a chaotic world of infrastructure development, a woman's path to survival after being reborn

"You said the King of Wu is looking for you, asking you to hand over the South City and the North City. Are you prepared to agree?" Zhao Zexuan asked with an inscrutable expression.

Upon hearing this, Prefect Su trembled involuntarily and hurriedly replied, "Yes, the King of Wu wants these two cities because coal has been discovered in a mountain between them. They want to seize it for themselves, so they are forcing me to hand over these two cities."

"Is that so? Do you still want to hand it over now?" Zhao Zexuan asked in a calm tone.

Upon hearing this, Prefect Su tightly hugged the tattered cloth in his arms and said, "No, I never thought that way. That woman was a spy sent by the King of Wu. I spoke to her like that to appease the King of Wu first. I absolutely had no intention of handing over the South City and the North City!"

Zhao Zexuan knew Su Taishou's character very well. He was a true opportunist, always swaying whichever way the wind blew. So, he didn't believe Su Taishou's words and instead instructed him: "Tomorrow, you will issue a notice and tell the people of both cities that the city officials have been replaced."

Upon hearing this, Prefect Su paused for a moment before replying, "Understood, I'll write it now, I'll write it now."

Sitting on the ground, the naked Prefect Su looked too disgusting to look at, so Zhao Zexuan ordered Wang Zong to take him away and detain him, to be dealt with after the matter was settled the next day.

Wang Zong quickly subdued the man and then came to report, "General, the man has been taken away. I have ordered the soldiers to guard him carefully and will not give Prefect Su any chance to resist."

“Alright, this matter isn’t over yet, we still need him. Prefect Su can’t be allowed to get into trouble for now!” Zhao Zexuan nodded and said.

Wang Zong nodded to indicate that he understood, and then continued, "General, should we notify the people outside now?"

“Okay, give them a message to put their minds at ease. We’ll open the city gates and let them in tomorrow morning,” Zhao Zexuan said.

Upon hearing this, Wang Zong immediately agreed, saying, "I will go and make the arrangements right away."

……

Bang! A dazzling firework flashed by in an instant. The generals who were guarding outside the north city, ready to provide support at any moment, all saw it. They exchanged glances and then excitedly said, "General, they succeeded! The operation went very smoothly!"

News of the successful operation quickly reached the team. Su Li was sleeping on the vehicle frame when she suddenly heard a commotion outside. The voices grew louder and louder. Su Li thought something had happened, so she immediately woke up, opened the car window, and looked out. Seeing the excited and happy faces of the people in the team, she felt a little relieved.

Just then, Mo Bei walked towards the carriage, and Su Li asked, "General Mo Bei, what's going on? Why is everyone so agitated?"

Upon hearing Su Li's question, Mo Bei couldn't contain his excitement and happily replied, "The general and his men have sent word that the operation went smoothly, and we can enter the city tomorrow morning!"

Upon hearing this news, Su Li was overjoyed and quickly asked, "Is this true?"

"It's true, the message was personally relayed by the general and his men, there's no mistake!" Mo Bei quickly assured him.

Hearing this, Su Li felt much relieved and said with a smile, "That is indeed a good thing. We can enter the city tomorrow and won't have to continue our journey."

After saying that, Su Li looked at the lively scene outside and couldn't help but ask, "I see everyone is very excited. Did you tell them that you're going to settle in Beicheng?"

"The generals were too excited and accidentally let it slip. However, the general told us before he left that if the operation went smoothly, we could inform everyone appropriately so that everyone could be mentally prepared," Mo Bei explained.

"It seems everyone is quick to receive information." Looking at the joyful expressions on the faces of everyone in the camp outside the car window, Su Li said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Mo Bei said, "The weather is getting colder and colder, and everyone knows that there is no guarantee of spending the winter on the road."

"Spending the winter on the road is indeed not guaranteed, but fortunately we will be able to enter the city tomorrow. We can rest early and try to settle in the city as soon as possible," Su Li said.

Mo Bei nodded, then went to attend to other matters.

After Mo Bei left, Su Li rolled down the car window, lay down in the car, and breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that the days of running around were temporarily over.

Thinking about what might happen after entering the city tomorrow, Su Li cleared her mind of all distractions and went to sleep peacefully, striving to be in good condition for the journey.

***

The next morning, there was a lot of commotion in the camp. Su Li got up and tidied up, and was now watching the soldiers load the grain onto the carts.

Aunt Liu and the others also hurriedly packed their things and rushed over. When they saw Su Li, they smiled and said, "Su Li, why didn't you sleep a little longer? You're not alone now, you're with two people. You should pay more attention to resting."

Hearing this, Su Li also laughed and said, "I went to bed early yesterday, but the aunties stayed up most of the night."

Upon hearing this, Aunt Liu and the others couldn't help but say, "We really couldn't sleep last night. We were so surprised to suddenly learn that the team was going to settle in Beicheng. You know how surprised we were? We were both happy and worried. It's hard to describe how we felt."

Upon hearing this, Su Li said, "So, have the aunties figured it out now? Are they mostly happy or mostly worried?"

"After thinking about it for a long time, I'm mostly happy. Putting aside the fact that everyone wants to live a stable life, with the weather like this, nobody wants to spend the winter on the road. It's better to settle down here," Aunt Liu and the others couldn't help but say.

After saying that, Aunt Liu didn't wait for Su Li's reply and continued, "Su Li, what about you? Do you want to settle down in Beicheng?"

“I share the same thoughts as my aunts; we all want to live a stable life. Winter is coming soon, so it’s safer to stay indoors,” Su Li replied.

Upon hearing this, Aunt Liu and the others couldn't help but clap their hands and say, "That's it! That's why everyone was so excited that they couldn't sleep much all night. As soon as it got light, we started packing our things, hoping to get into the city as soon as possible."

"Once everything is loaded onto the truck, the team can set off. Aunties, please wait a little longer," Su Li said with a smile.

The group was busily packing their luggage, while inside the northern city, a completely different scene was unfolding.

Early in the morning, the prefectural government posted a notice announcing that the officials in charge of the north and south cities had been replaced by other people, and the former prefect, Prefect Su, even came forward to acknowledge this fact.

Upon hearing this news, the people of the city were all astonished. How could such a big change have occurred in just one night? What exactly happened?

Upon learning the contents of the notice, the people in the city became restless and rushed around inquiring about who the new ruler was, what his style was, whether he would be even more harsh than Prefect Su, and if so, what would happen in the future!