Quick Transmigration: Underdog Turns out to be Untouchable

Chapter 1061: Chapter 971: Official of the First Rank

Because they never touched a single thing from the homes of the common people, the soldiers were very well-disciplined and never bullied the civilians, greatly winning the goodwill of the populace.

When Murong Shuangshuang first occupied the city, all the common people were so terrified they shut their doors and windows tightly; some even hid in previously dug tunnels stocked with food.

Every time they heard soldiers patrolling on the streets, they would tremble in fear, dreading the soldiers breaking in and discovering them, but to their surprise, the looting and plundering they feared never happened.

The years of turmoil had scared the common people to the bone. Whether it was rebel or court troops passing through, they would loot money and food.

To be robbed of food and money was considered lucky; worse yet, many were killed, or the men were taken away to be forcibly conscripted or made to join the rebellion, with women frequently subjected to humiliation, causing countless women to hang themselves, jump into wells, or smash their heads against the wall. Whether it was government troops or rebel forces, it was always the same pattern.

In the eyes of the common people, it no longer mattered whether it was government troops or rebels; their arrival always spelled disaster. They only wished for a bit of peace and safety—such simple wishes had become extravagant dreams.

To be honest, even when Luo Yunchuan, who claimed to maintain strict military discipline, led his troops to occupy the city, his soldiers initially looted before they settled down.

The common people were terrified of being robbed and tortured; they dared not trust anyone, even though the people Murong Shuangshuang brought were very gentle, the paranoid common people still didn’t dare to believe.

Slowly, however, some of those who had hastily hidden with insufficient food couldn’t bear the hunger any longer. They figured staying hidden meant death, going out meant death, so they’d rather die full and sneaked out of their hiding places.

They intended to find some food, only to discover, to their surprise, that their homes were clean and orderly, wholly lacking the chaos typically following an army’s passage.

Inside their homes, aside from a layer of dust, everything was untouched. The chickens and ducks in the yards were listless from hunger, having wreaked havoc in their vegetable gardens out of starvation.

Given the tough times, the common people had become accustomed to maintaining vegetable gardens at home; even the least savings counted. Yet now, all these gardens had been ruined by their starving chickens and ducks.

Initially, these people felt reflexively pained at the waste of such good vegetables, then they were astonished that none of them had been taken, and the chickens and ducks hadn’t disappeared. Even the grains left unfinished in their granaries remained untouched.

Seeing this, the common people who came out felt at ease, believing they had truly encountered a good general who maintained strict discipline, restraining the soldiers from harming the people. However, believing in better to be cautious than sorry, these folks still took a stroll down the street.

The streets were rather empty, barely any civilians in sight, only patrolling soldiers. Upon seeing the soldiers, the common people instinctively shrank back, but these soldiers, marching neatly with eyes straight, focused entirely on street patrol, didn’t spare the surrounding common people a glance. The soldiers’ indifferent demeanor unexpectedly reassured the civilians.

Once certain there was no danger, the common people who ventured out to scout joyfully called their families out. Seeing their homes untouched, the civilians were exceedingly delighted, beginning their chores enthusiastically.

The dusty rooms needed cleaning, and the gardens wrecked by chickens and ducks required organizing and replanting with greens. More importantly, they wished for a good meal, every household rejoiced akin to celebrating New Year. Wealthier families even slaughtered chickens and ducks for a feast to celebrate their homes not being looted and their families staying intact.

In the following days, the people grew increasingly daring as they discovered that this time, the change in occupants did not bring the usual threat of ruin but surprisingly marked an improvement in their lives.

Some heard that the new general was a woman, who imposed strict discipline, forbidding soldiers from disturbing the people in the slightest. Moreover, if a family was in trouble, like a broken house lacking a strong laborer for repairs, soldiers upon seeing it would voluntarily assist in fixing it without a charge and without even drinking a sip of water.

In just a month, the civilians fully relaxed, utterly grateful to the female general, abandoning any notion that a woman as a general was odd. In such turbulent times, so long as someone could shield them, granting peace, the people would willingly support Murong Shuangshuang as Emperor.

The once desolate city, previously empty of anyone upon entry, now bustled more lively than before, with families going out for business, vendors bustling to and fro. Whenever patrolling soldiers passed by, civilians regarded them with grateful and pious eyes.

This compelled the soldiers to adhere strictly to the military posture taught by Murong Shuangshuang during their walks, lifting and placing their legs uniformly, marching in unison, appearing incredibly impressive and handsome, with many soldiers successfully finding partners and getting married because of this.

Murong Shuangshuang managed the place excellently, yet being a military general, her forte remained warfare, and she lacked patience for trivial matters; she loved training soldiers and waging battles.

Wang Jingqi trusted Murong Shuangshuang, allowing her to seize both military and governmental control without worry. It was only after repeated letters from Murong Shuangshuang urging him that Wang Jingqi dispatched personnel to assist her, thus accomplishing the separation of military and government duties.

As Murong Shuangshuang busied herself, in the dark dungeon, Fang Keixin sat dazed in a corner, hugging her knees, mind blank, unable to recall anything except repeatedly envisioning the authoritative command of the armor-clad, heroic and high-spirited Murong Shuangshuang, whose simple order left her imprisoned.

Fang Keixin didn’t know if she or Murong Shuangshuang was the one who time-traveled. How did she, who should have been the winner in life as a time-traveling woman, end up in such a sorry state, while this native woman, Murong Shuangshuang, lived like the one who traveled through time?

Indeed, Fang Keixin’s life’s misfortunes were truly intertwined with Murong Shuangshuang. In the past life, without much renown, Fang Keixin’s wisdom gradually gained prominence, becoming the sole influential female voice in Yu Family Village.

Later, after being with Luo Yunchuan, Fang Keixin’s fame grew exceedingly in surrounding counties; however, this lifetime, early on, Murong Shuangshuang usurped Fang Keixin’s village position and increasingly shone, far surpassing Fang Keixin’s former reputation in both scale and positivity.

In the previous life, Fang Keixin was renowned for her business acumen and money-making ability; unlike men, a woman skillful in commerce was greatly prized in this era, as men excelling in trade wasn’t necessarily a virtue, but a woman adept at earning money was a tremendous advantage.