As a lord, I was forced to farm

Chapter 803 Anding Bridge

Ah Sheng knocked on the carriage. "Your Highness, we have arrived at Anyuan Town."

As Ah Sheng's childish voice faded, several adult male and female voices came from outside the carriage.
“Li Mei, the magistrate of Zeyan County…”

"Chen Haofeng, the head of Anyuan Town..."

"Zhuo Qin, the head of Shijin Town..."

“On behalf of the people of Zeyan County, Anyuan Town, and Shijin Town… we have come to welcome Your Highness.”

This is quite a grand affair. A servant lifted the carriage curtain, and Jiang Ran stepped out, saying calmly, "Get up, everyone."

Jiang Ran led her army straight to Anding Bridge; it was early morning.

Before everyone's eyes stood the An Ding Bridge, a symbol of unity and stability for the people, which Da Su had painstakingly built.

Ah Sheng and Chun Ya exclaimed, "Your Highness, this Anding Bridge is so magnificent! It will surely be able to last for thousands of years, just like the Great Su."

Two favored servants beside Jiang Ran spoke up, and Li Mei and the others also said obsequious things without regard for their own safety.

Jiang Ran was already used to it, and looked towards Anding Bridge.

In spring and summer, when the river is raging, it rushes through the darkness, creating a terrifying roar, and the wide river channel isolates the people on both banks.

As dawn broke, the morning light dispelled the hazy sky, and golden light enveloped the long stone bridge, illuminating its majestic outline with exceptional brightness.

The Anding Bridge is wide and stable, with dozens of stone piers standing in the middle of the river. The waves crash relentlessly against the piers, yet they remain unmoved, providing a strong sense of security. The bridge deck is very wide; judging by appearances, it can accommodate three horse-drawn carriages passing side by side.

After Jiang Ran conquered Shijin Town and Zeyan County, the people on both sides of the Kuanhe River began to communicate. However, crossing the river was difficult, and they had to travel between the two places by bamboo raft or small boat on days when the water was calm.

Li Mei said with hopeful eyes, "Starting today, the Anding Bridge will be officially open to traffic. The people on both sides of the river have been waiting for this day for a long time."

As the carriage crossed Anding Bridge, some people were so excited to see the legendary Prince that they followed him onto the bridge.

"His Highness the Prince is ahead!"

"This bridge is so tall!" Someone leaned on the stone railing, stood on tiptoe, and looked down at the rushing river water flowing downstream.

"I've never been to the South before! Now that we have this bridge, we can travel freely to the South."

"Actually, there's not much to see. A little past Yajin Town is the Twilight Swamp, and no one can go any further than that."

"Ah, that's a pity. They say you live off the land, but Yajin Town is backed by a forest, yet we can't hunt there."

"..."

Zhuo Qin, the head of the village of Shijin, was delighted by Jiang Ran's arrival, because she had heard that His Highness the Prince was trying to find out where the poisonous miasma in the Twilight Swamp came from.

There is an eagle-eye stone mine in Shijin Town, so it is not actually poor. The roads in the town are relatively flat and easy to walk on. Jiang Ran's gaze swept over the houses of the people, and she turned her head to let Zhuo Qin walk to her side. "Shijin Town has suffered from poisonous miasma for a long time. Do you have any medicine to prevent the harm of poisonous miasma?"

Zhuo Qin gave a bitter smile. "Some doctors have done some research and have a couple of preventative measures, but they are not very effective. At most, they can make people less likely to get infected, but weak children or the elderly will cough and have a high fever as soon as they breathe in the miasma, and they will die a few days later."

"No one has ever entered the Twilight Swamp to investigate where this poisonous miasma comes from?" "We have sent some able-bodied men to investigate, but they couldn't get deep into the swamp. Without an antidote for the poisonous miasma, no one dared to stay in the Yellow Spring Swamp for too long."

They are temporarily stuck in a dead end.

After a day's journey, Jiang Ran and her group settled in the best inn in Shijin Town for the afternoon, arranged by the town's headman.

Under Jiang Ran's arrangement, Zhuo Qin found two cultivators in town who were familiar with the terrain of the outer area of ​​the Twilight Swamp. One was a man and the other a woman, both with cultivation levels around the two Gathering Spirit Realm. Their names were Cao Yang and Liu Qi, respectively.

The sun hung high in the sky, its scorching rays sweeping across every inch of the ground as if disinfecting it.

Yakini Town was located a few kilometers away from Twilight Swamp, so the group braved the scorching sun and arrived at the Twilight Swamp Forest.

Before even entering, the dark forest blocked out the sunlight, giving off an ominous atmosphere.

"Your Highness, are you going to the Yellow Springs Swamp yourself? No way!" Li Mei was so shocked when she heard that Jiang Ran was going to step into the Twilight Swamp that she broke out in a cold sweat. If something happened to the Prince in Zeyan County, she would become the eternal enemy of the entire Dasu.

Therefore, even though she had already tried to stop them once before, when they arrived at the forest, she couldn't help but get very anxious and stepped forward to stop them again, saying, "If anything goes wrong... let the soldiers go and explore."

"It's alright, I have a detoxifying pill."

While the detoxifying pills may not be effective against miasma, they can accelerate the body's metabolism and achieve the effect of detoxification and health improvement through sweating.

When Li Mei was a minor official in the central government, she had heard Lord Lin Sha mention that His Highness the Prince was always a man of his word. Now that she saw him, she realized that was indeed the case. She opened her mouth, but in the end, she dared not stop him anymore.

Bai Mei extended a small dragon head from Jiang Ran's wrist. It transformed into a small dragon and had been wrapped around her hand ever since they arrived in Yajin Town. Seeing that Jiang Ran was somewhat troubled, it volunteered, "Master, should I cast a spell to summon a hurricane and blow away this poisonous miasma?"

Its method might indeed be effective. Even if it cannot solve the source problem, it can still create a safe zone, allowing Jiang Ran and the soldiers behind her to enter the Twilight Swamp smoothly and investigate the source.

But after a moment's thought, Jiang Ran worried that the storm stirred up by Bai Mei would have a chain reaction on the other side of the Twilight Swamp. If there were villages or cities where humans lived, the hurricane stirred up by Bai Mei would become a death warrant for others.

"Let's think of another way. If all else fails, we'll use your trick."

Unable to solve her master's problems, Bai Mei felt a little disappointed. She pouted and pulled her head back into her sleeve. "Alright, Master, remember to call me when you need me~"

Although Bai Mei's suggestion was not used, it gave Jiang Ran a flash of inspiration.

She remembered that one of the Seven Deadly Arrows of the Southern Crown was the Phoenix Crying at Dawn Arrow, which possessed the extreme yang energy of the phoenix and could dispel miasma and poison.

After thinking about it, Jiang Ran decided to give it a try.

He took out a fire-type longbow of the Heaven Rank or higher from his storage ring. The bow was made of the scales of an earth dragon, with exquisite patterns carved on the bow arm and flowing gold flames in the gaps. As soon as the bow was taken out, it immediately attracted the attention of everyone present.

"What an extraordinary bow and arrow!"

"What is Your Highness trying to do?"

"His Highness's actions are naturally based on reason, and we have no right to question them!"

The brief commotion quickly subsided.