She pointed to Zhang Yang, who was watching, and said, “I’ll leave this to you. Rebuild the huts quickly and light campfires every night. If locusts gather in large numbers, burn them without waiting for my orders.”

As long as we can ensure that the surrounding farmlands won’t be affected.

“Don’t worry, Lord Qiao, I won’t let you down,” Zhang Yang replied confidently, having been given an important task.

Although he had only dealt with enemies from outside the border before, Zhang Yang thought that dealing with locusts wouldn’t be too difficult.

He figured it was just about luring them into one spot and then capturing them all at once, and then catching the ones that were scattered around separately.

In terms of the damage they caused to the farmlands, locusts and invaders didn’t seem all that different.

With the sky starting to lighten a bit, Qiao Yan looked at Zhang Yang and could see his enthusiastic attitude, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was thinking about something strange.

But the priority now was to keep the locust plague under control, not to worry about the odd thoughts of her subordinates.

Even with the lights that attracted the locusts, as the morning light completely replaced the night.

Qiao Yan still saw some scattered signs of locust damage when she carefully inspected the yam fields.

It was clear how much locusts liked plants with thick leaves.

Although she hadn’t planted the fields herself, the crops were still growing on her land, and she couldn’t help but feel a bit distressed at the sight.

Thinking about it, the preparations in Le Ping were already quite thorough.

Even with soybeans interplanted with the yam seedlings, they still ended up like this.

It made her wonder how bad the situation was in the other areas, which was hit first by the locust plague, and in other parts of Bingzhou outside of Le Ping.

Just as Qiao Yan was thinking this, she saw Lu Yuan leading a few county officials, leading their horses and walking towards her.

After saluting her, Lu Yuan spoke, “Lord Qiao, with the locust plague upon us, it seems inevitable that Shangdang will be affected.

Since you intend to maintain relations with the Guo family of Yangqu and establish yourself in Shangdang, and I am a visitor of Le Ping, it is only right for me to go to Changzhi at this time. May I have your permission?”

“Even if you hadn’t mentioned it, I was planning to send you today,” Qiao Yan’s tense expression softened a bit.

Although she didn’t smile, she couldn’t help but give Lu Yuan a look of approval.

Her intuition for diplomatic timing matched exactly what Qiao Yan expected from her.

“Last night, Le Ping successfully proved that luring locusts with fire and then burning them is effective. Inform him of this method as well..”

“If Governor Guo hesitates about whether to capture and kill the locusts, tell him that by the day after tomorrow, the order to capture and kill them will definitely arrive in Shangdang.”

Hearing Qiao Yan’s confident words, Lu Yuan didn’t ask any more questions.

After saluting her again, she led her people over the mountains towards Changzhi.

After watching her leave, Qiao Yan went back to the yam fields in the nearby hills to confirm that the damage was still within manageable limits before returning to the county office.

By this time, the sky was completely bright.

But after a busy night, Qiao Yan couldn’t rest yet.

She had Qin Yu consult with some elderly people who had experienced several locust plagues in Le Ping to estimate the quantity of locust eggs.

She then formulated the rules for exchanging food for locust eggs: one bushel of locust eggs for one bushel of millet, and one bushel of locust eggs for three bushels of millet seeds.

After personally writing out the notice and stamping it with the seals of Le Ping and the Marquis of Le Ping, she handed it to Qin Yu to post.

Only then did she finally relax.

Seeing her so busy, even the system, which often had a lot of questions, didn’t dare to disturb her work.

Although it was still a bit strange why Qiao Yan dared to tell Lu Yuan that the order would arrive in Shangdang by the day after tomorrow.

But before it could take the opportunity to seek clarification, it saw Qiao Yan lie down on the bed and quickly fall asleep.

It started to wonder if it even needed to set an alarm today.

As a qualified atmosphere generator, it decided to remain silent.

Qiao Yan slept until evening, waking up from her overnight arrangements.

However, what was unexpected was that after she got up and organized herself, the first thing she did was say to Xi Zhicai, “Mr. Xi, please draft a letter of apology for me.”

An apology?

Why apologize?

The situation of the locust plague in Le Ping has been largely brought under control through Qiao Yan’s arrangements yesterday and during the night.

As for the possible ongoing locust storm—

With soybeans interplanted in the mountainous yam fields for protection, and with the irrigation channels dug by the “dragon bones” flipped over, all the measures to block locusts from breeding and wreaking havoc have been fully implemented. What fault does Le Ping have?

Furthermore, Qiao Yan is the Marquis of Le Ping, not just a local official.

If anyone should apologize for the locust plague, it should be Cheng Li, not Qiao Yan.

In fact, she should be credited.

After all, if she hadn’t demanded the purchase of peas, causing peas to be planted between the fields in other parts of Shangdang, the first wave of damage to these crops would have been much worse than it is now.

Her lack of disclosure about the effectiveness of the irrigation method with the “dragon bones” would also undoubtedly have made the situation in Governor Guo Yuan’s jurisdiction and the land of the Jinyang Wang family much more dire.

However, what Xi Zhicai saw as he followed Qiao Yan briskly out was her grabbing a short bow and quiver hanging on the wall in the courtyard, calling for Dian Wei and Chu Yan, along with a group of riders, and heading straight to the stable.

She quickly mounted her horse and rode out of the county town.

This series of actions was done swiftly, without any hesitation or delay.

Before the news of the departure of the leader of the county had reached the ears of all the officials in the county, she had already left the city.

The only instruction left behind was for Chu Yan, who was originally in charge of collecting fishing nets, to hand over the task to Zhang Niujiao.

That’s all.

“Mr. Xi, why…” Zhao Yun didn’t quite understand why Qiao Yan didn’t take him along.

He saw it clearly.

While others might not understand her intentions as she rode away, Xi Zhicai certainly did.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have shown such a sudden realization on his face.

And if Zhao Yun didn’t misinterpret, behind that look of realization was not worry, but a kind of indescribable admiration and excitement.

“Don’t ask too much. Immediately act as if you’re trying to catch up but then turn back to assist Zhongde in eradicating the locusts.”

Xi Zhicai pondered with closed eyes for a moment.

When he opened them, he was back to his usual nonchalant self. “I’ll go write a letter of apology for Lord Qiao.”

At the moment she picked up that bow and arrows, Xi Zhicai understood her seemingly cryptic words.

What apology? The apology for assassinating the governor!

Or perhaps it shouldn’t be called an assassination but rather—

A necessary action due to the governor’s unworthiness for his position, his refusal to listen to good advice, resulting in the disaster in various parts of Bingzhou being worse than it could have been, prompting the young marquis to act out of indignation.

Considering Qiao Yan’s sense of propriety, this wouldn’t be a bloody assassination, but the letter of apology would definitely need to be written.

Its purpose wasn’t really to apologize.

Just as Qiao Yan didn’t want this student of the Yuan family from Runan to disappear within the boundaries of Bingzhou.

As she led this group of people, unrelated to their positions or to the Le Ping County Office, to break into the Inspector office.

Inspector Zhang Yi, who had arrived at the sound, was about to blurt out “How dare you!” but he saw the 11-year-old marquis raise her hand.

She was surrounded by people, and Zhang Yi didn’t notice that she was holding a short bow in her hand.

The guards inside the prefectural office were also unaware that the Marquis of Leping had entered the prefectural office, let alone with such a weapon.

The archery she had been practicing frequently to strengthen her arm muscles in recent months now had a chance to shine.

As she frowned and took two quick steps forward, she drew her bow and shot the arrow in one fluid motion.

With her current archery skills, hitting a target within twenty paces was certain, and at such a close distance, there was no possibility of missing!

The arrow pierced straight through the official hat on Zhang Yi’s head, and because of the sudden force of the impact, the hat, which was not securely fastened, flew off!

Zhang Yi’s face went pale.

But at the moment when the crown fell to the ground, he suddenly realized that after this arrow, the person was still alive, just passing by death.

But before he could recover from this rapid heartbeat caused by fear, he saw Qiao Yan in front of him raise the bow again, and the cold light of the second arrow on the bow reflected in his eyes.

If it were just Qiao Yan committing an overstep, it would be fine—no, that’s not right.

As a county marquis, there is no definite conclusion as to who is superior and who is inferior.

At most, it is said that she dared to take action against imperial officials, which is contrary to the law.

But she also came with people.

Among the people she brought, none were dressed in official clothing from Leping County, but rather looked more like private soldiers gathered by Qiao Yan, exuding a kind of brazen banditry in their actions.

Led by Dian Wei and Chu Yan, this group of people alone, in terms of momentum, completely contrasted with his side’s people.

Zhang Yi especially hated himself for agreeing to Zhang Liao’s application half a month ago, letting him go to Yanmen to support Qianman in secret and simultaneously face the head of the bandits on the border.

Otherwise, with the exception of the thief youth by his side, there would not be such a clear contrast at this moment.

Especially Dian Wei, a strong man who looks like he can fight…

Looking at the officials in the state government, there was obviously not one who could match him in physique!

But among the crowd at this moment, the most eye-catching aura was undoubtedly Qiao Yan.

With the bow in hand, the arrow on the string, along with her exceptionally sharp gaze, formed a stunning deterrent.

So much so that even Zhang Yi, who was clearly the one being attacked, and even more in the right, couldn’t help but shrink slightly at this moment.

But he suddenly realized, what was there for him to hide from!

Since Qiao Yan dared only to shoot at his official hat and not at him personally, it meant that no matter how arrogant and domineering she was, she only dared to make such a seemingly coercive move.

He immediately straightened his chest and shouted, “Would the Marquis of Leping dare to kill imperial officials?”

However, in his state of regaining some courage and intending to regain the initiative, he saw not the slightest hint of guilt on Qiao Yan’s face.

Instead, he saw her slowly lowering the tip of the arrow, changing from originally aiming at his head to aiming at his heart.

In this change, her imposing manner did not show any restraint at all.

Instead, because her face was more clearly revealed, it was enough to let people see the stormy color in her eyes.

Under such a divine appearance, even if she spoke with a calm tone, it was difficult to change the tension in her words.

“Earlier, I submitted a memorial to the state government, saying that there was a severe drought and a high risk of locust plague. If efforts were made in dry field irrigation and early prevention, it would be better than being caught unprepared.”

“The state government refused.”

As soon as these four words “the state government refused” came out, the guards around Zhang Yi couldn’t help but look at each other.

They originally thought that the Marquis of Leping was offending for no reason, but seeing that Zhang Yi did not refute Qiao Yan’s words, it seemed that in this comparison, Qiao Yan was indeed more convincing.

Before Zhang Yi could come up with a rebuttal, he heard Qiao Yan continue, “In extraordinary times, we must do extraordinary things.

Now that the locust plague is imminent and the state government is incapable, only Qiao Yan can temporarily take charge, First for the people’s livelihood, and then ask forgiveness from the imperial envoy.”

If it weren’t for the arrow pointing at him at this moment, Zhang Yi would have wanted to curse loudly.

But he immediately saw that under Qiao Yan’s command, these bold and reckless people rushed forward and captured the guards around him, and even pressed him to the ground.

The arrow that had not been shot out was aimed at his head again.

But at this moment, the arrow was not on the bowstring, the bowstring was already drawn, the arrow was in her hand, and the only thing that did not change was the sharpness in it.

And what made Zhang Yi feel more humiliated than ever before was that his waist seal was pulled off by someone and handed to Qiao Yan’s right hand.

She held the waist seal tightly and said word by word, “The envoy can rest assured, once the locust plague is resolved, I will definitely ask for forgiveness from the Emperor.”