In a chaotic and famine-stricken era, I picked up an empress to be my wife.

Watching Shen An work, he was far less skilled than they were.

Yang Tiejun and the others felt that Shen An had probably been deceived.

Otherwise, how could anyone really believe that iron can melt into water?

However, two hours later!

Shen An opened the furnace opening.

They looked up and their eyes widened in surprise.

The three broken swords that were put in earlier have now actually turned into molten iron!

"How...how is this possible?" Yang Tiejun and the others were not only shocked, but also questioned the meaning of life.

They had spent their entire lives forging iron, always believing that iron could simply be softened by heating. But Shen An, whom they considered an amateur, actually managed to smelt iron into molten iron.

Immediately afterwards, they felt incredibly embarrassed, wishing they could disappear into a hole.

Previously, they thought Shen An was an amateur and kept telling him things in a tone that they were experts!

As it turns out, Shen An is the real expert; compared to him, they are nothing!

Yang Tiejun and the others had no idea how to face Shen An next.

One by one, they lowered their heads.

Dugu Meng was surprised and relieved, and she witnessed Shen An's abilities once again. She felt that Shen An was omnipotent and could always do things that were hard for them to believe. This made her want to have a child with Shen An in the future.

Even if that child only has seven or eight tenths of Shen An's qualities in the future, I believe he will still become a wise ruler of Liang!

"Why are you all looking down? Next, we need to keep hammering this molten iron to remove the impurities, and then shape it. Only in this way can the weapons we forge be indestructible!" Shen An urged.

Having witnessed Shen An's abilities, Yang Tiejun and the others dared not disobey and immediately did as he said.

One hour later!

Once a Tang-style sword was forged, Shen An took it and slashed at his original sword.

With a clang, the sword was cleaved in two!

"A divine weapon, a divine weapon indeed!"

Yang Tiejun and the others were so shocked that they shouted loudly.

A flame almost ignited in Dugu Meng's eyes. If the army of the Great Liang were equipped with such weapons in the future, who would dare to invade?

"Officer Shen, we are convinced, we are convinced!" Yang Tiejun and the others were so excited that they almost knelt down before Shen An.

"Fine, then get to work. Next, I need you to forge this sword according to its specifications!" Shen An ordered.

"yes!"

After being subdued by Shen An, Yang Tiejun and the others became incredibly obedient, doing whatever they were asked to do!

Hei Laoliu also managed to acquire a considerable amount of iron.

If they work overtime, they should be able to produce a thousand, which is more than enough for the current garrison in Qingyang County and Shen An's trusted men from the original mass grave.

But if you want to have real power, a few hundred people are still too few.

Once Liu Wenyuan officially becomes the county magistrate, and Liao Bing is promoted to the official commander of the city garrison, they can recruit soldiers and expand the army rapidly.

After handing over the task of building the structure to Yang Tiejun and others, Shen An returned to the county government office.

Liu Wenyuan was pacing back and forth in the main hall of the county government office.

Upon seeing Shen An arrive, he immediately rushed forward anxiously: "My lord, something terrible has happened!"

It's rare to see someone act like this to Liu Wenyuan.

"Could it be that Li Huaiyi is preventing you from becoming the county magistrate?" Shen An asked.

"Li Huaiyi asked me to do it, and he had already agreed. But in order to control the counties, Li Huaiyi sent an inspector under the pretext of preventing attacks from the Western Barbarians," Liu Wenyuan said. "This means that the inspector was actually Li Huaiyi's spy, who wanted to control us and find out everything we did."

"This is indeed not good news." Shen An frowned slightly. "When that inspector arrives, we should try to keep it from him as much as possible and continue our work. If we can't hide it anymore, then we'll take him into custody!"

"But it won't be able to be controlled for long. I heard that he has to go back in person to report every month. If Li Huaiyi can't see him, he will definitely become suspicious!" Liu Wenyuan said with a frown.

"It's alright. Most of what we do is outside the county town. Even if the inspector comes, he might not find out immediately. Besides, even if he does find out, we can fool him for a month."

"I believe that within three or four months, we won't have a conflict with Li Huaiyi." For the first time, Shen An's face showed an eager expression: "And once three or four months have passed, I believe that Li Huaiyi can't just do whatever he wants to us!"

Even if all else fails, there's still you, isn't there? I believe that if you want to, you should be able to find an opportunity to meet with Li Huaiyi privately!

Liu Wenyuan was relieved: "My lord is right. As for the opportunity to meet Li Huaiyi in private, there is one! Li Huaiyi will celebrate his birthday in two months. I can go to the prefectural capital to offer my congratulations. If I give him more money, I will definitely get a chance to meet him in private, and then I will try to kill him!"

"Then you can make your move in two months. Practice diligently during this time, and make sure you can kill with one blow!" Shen An ordered.

"yes!"

"By the way, have you found out any news from the capital?" Shen An asked.

"Everything is stable in the capital at the moment, and there's no major news," Liu Wenyuan replied.

"Okay, go ahead and get busy!"

Shen An turned around and told Dugu Meng the news.

But when Dugu Meng heard this, her heart sank.

She's been gone for so long, yet the capital city remains completely calm on the surface.

What does this mean?

This means they knew the emperor was no longer alive, but no one cared.

This means that her trusted confidants have likely all been eliminated...

"Isn't it a good thing that nothing's happening in the capital?" Shen An asked, "Why are you still looking so gloomy?"

Dugu Meng had previously told Shen An that she was the emperor, but Shen An did not believe her and only thought she was a princess.

She simply couldn't explain it to Shen An.

She has no ability to go back now, and even if she did, she would die.

She could only hope that some of her confidants could escape the capital and tell her what the current situation in the capital was like.

Only then might we be able to come up with a solution.

"It's nothing, it's just that I've been gone for so long, and my brother hasn't even sent anyone to look for me."

"This is indeed a problem. It means that there must be accomplices among those around the emperor who are hunting you down. They intercepted the information, preventing the emperor from knowing," Shen An analyzed. "You members of the royal family seem to be in power, but in reality, as long as those officials unite, you won't even know what's happening outside. They say this country belongs to your Dugu family, but in reality, it belongs to those ministers."

Dugu Meng didn't think so before, but after experiencing so many things...

She had to admit that it was indeed the case.

The imperial city was the center of power, but wasn't it also a cage?

"Sigh, let's not talk about this anymore." Dugu Meng sighed and then said, "Shen An, Liu Wenyuan didn't seem to say when the Inspector is coming. You should make preparations in advance before he arrives."

"The state government will definitely notify me of the specific time in advance. I will make arrangements now to move all industries away from the county seat."

After Shen An finished speaking, he first went to the Azure Mountain where weapons were being forged. He told them to stop and move into the valley where Black Wind Stronghold was located.

As for the burning of dead people's hair, Shen An almost entirely entrusted it to Zhao Long, who was sent to Black Mountain Village.

Unfortunately, the amount of dead people's hair has been decreasing recently, and the trade in living people's hair is not yet large enough, resulting in a significant decrease in the production of blood charcoal.

But Shen An was not in a hurry. He already had more than 50,000 taels of silver, which was enough for him to use for the time being.

Moreover, Luo Li is still buying blood residue charcoal, and the price remains unchanged, which can still provide him with a stable income.

Three days later!

Liu Wenyuan found Shen An again.

This time, he beamed: "My lord, I have two pieces of good news!"

"explain!"

"I've officially been named the county magistrate, and Liao Bing has become the commander. Secondly, Li Huaiyi will be coming with the inspector this time, so the perfect opportunity to kill him has arrived sooner than expected!"