The entire city of Yuzhou was abuzz with activity. Although the expeditionary force numbered only around 100,000 soldiers, the three million inhabitants of Yuzhou were all busy working. Many of the cities under Yuzhou's jurisdiction were facing food shortages, and the majority of Yuzhou's grain was held by Chang Jianyi within the city. If Chang Jianyi refused to release the grain, these people would starve.
Yuzhou also began its next phase of plans: repairing roads and building power stations. A year had passed, and many roads had gone unmaintained, even becoming overgrown with grass tens of centimeters high. If a person walked on them, the grass would reach their waist. If mischievous children tied knots in the grass, anyone walking through would certainly trip.
Chang Jianyi assigned Zhou Xiaoxiao to be in charge of this matter, with the most important task being the repair of roads between key cities. As for the people in towns and villages, they were to be relocated to the cities. The current era was chaotic, and living in villages and towns made one vulnerable to danger. Moving them to the city would also simplify the transportation of grain.
Yang Ye was tasked with leading people to select sites for the construction of hydroelectric power stations. Once the power stations were built, any surplus electricity could be sold to the east. Cities in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River found it difficult to build hydroelectric power stations due to insufficient elevation drop, so they primarily relied on thermal power. However, with current transportation difficulties and summer floods, rebuilding thermal power stations was also challenging. As long as they could purchase electricity, the cities in the middle and lower reaches would definitely opt to buy it.
The simple task of personnel adjustments was handled by Tu Xuhuai. This fellow was originally a civil servant and had spent ten years in the system, understanding its intricacies exceptionally well. Coupled with his intelligence, which far surpassed that of ordinary people, having him in charge ensured that subordinates would not be easily deceived.
The people of Yuzhou city gathered their friends and families and headed towards the factories. The nearest food processing plant was severely short of staff and was recruiting a large number of temporary workers. The task for these temporary workers was simple: to go to the factory and process the meat of mutated beasts. First, they would skin them, then remove the organs. The prime cuts of meat would be sent for canning, while the slightly inferior meat would be sold directly. The poorer quality meat would be ground and mixed with corn flour to make luncheon meat, and the worst would be scraps.
The internal organs of mutated beasts were actually quite dirty. Even high-end restaurants required repeated cleaning when preparing similar ingredients. For parts like the large intestine, many people found them unacceptable. Therefore, these miscellaneous parts were sold cheaply, and how the buyers processed them was no concern of the factory.
Chang Jianyi rested in the Fengshen Palace, leaving almost all city affairs to Chu Chaoyan. Chu Chaoyan was completely overwhelmed. Fortunately, Feng Shicheng, as Shen Feng's advisor, was akin to a half-secretary, assisting Chu Chaoyan in handling documents, which allowed her to cope to some extent.
Chu Chaoyan couldn't help but sigh. Just a year ago, she could accompany Shen Feng on expeditions outside the city, but now she could only stay at home diligently processing documents. The contrast was too great.
When she was out before, Chu Chaoyan didn't have to worry about anything. She only needed to observe the surrounding situation and record it in her notebook for future novels. But now, Chu Chaoyan had to review a pile of documents every day, keeping her so busy that she didn't even bother to write a few sentences in her notebook.
However, Chu Chaoyan also realized that the work she disliked so much had actually been silently undertaken by Chang Jianyi for over a year. During this entire period, Chang Jianyi had never complained and had never caused Shen Feng any trouble. This was truly the ideal supportive wife that any man would dream of.
As Chu Chaoyan reviewed documents, she began to ponder, "I see that many big bosses have many secretaries. If there's work, they let the secretaries handle it. That's why there's a saying: 'Secretaries handle business, and when there's no business...'"
Chu Chaoyan quickly shook her head, expelling impure thoughts from her mind, and then continued to think, "I should find more secretaries to help me with my work. That way, my workload will be reduced!"
Chang Jianyi finally had some free time. Shen Feng and Chu Chaoyan intended for her to rest well until after she gave birth, allowing her to move around more freely. However, she did not want to be idle. Instead, she began to meet with many of the female dependents in the Fengshen Palace. Many of Shen Feng's subordinates were already married, and Chang Jianyi had not met these women before. Now that she was resting, she decided to summon them.
Among them, Yang Chang's two wives were summoned first. Chang Jianyi prepared many pastries and drinks in the garden. On the table, there was even watermelon, which was only available in summer. This was thanks to Chang Jianyi's abilities; she could ripen crops at any time, so as long as the temperature was suitable, she could enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables.
Du Xinshi was busy running around, working hard for Chang Jianyi's banquet. Zhang Xixi, with nothing else to do, took Little Dragon around. The child was babbling and learning to speak, but when he saw Shen Feng, he called him "Daddy," which made Du Xinshi quite embarrassed.
Chang Jianyi also took great care of the child, specifically arranging for Little Dragon to have Shen Feng as his godfather. This way, it was natural for Little Dragon to call Shen Feng "Daddy." As for Chang Jianyi, she naturally became Little Dragon's godmother.
Du Xinshi suffered from congenital heart disease, a condition that affected perhaps one in a hundred thousand people. Du Xinshi happened to be one of them. Due to her heart condition, she could not engage in physical labor from a young age. Although she enjoyed cooking, she could not perform tasks like tossing ingredients in a wok. She already felt that as she grew older, her body was deteriorating. Although she was in her prime, her heart could not withstand such a burden, and she often experienced severe chest pain.
Du Xinshi also complained about the unfairness of fate. If she had only been given a frail body, that would have been one thing. But then the chaotic times arrived, with zombies everywhere. After finally enduring until the city was recaptured, there were still mutated beasts rampaging. It would have been simple for her to die, but her child was only one year old. If he couldn't find a place to belong, wouldn't he suffer his entire life?
Fortunately, Du Xinshi found temporary peace in Yuzhou. She also realized that as long as her son had Shen Feng as his godfather, he would be safe for the rest of his life.
"Madam, the pastries have arrived. Please enjoy them. I'll go check on the child," Du Xinshi said after delivering the pastries she had made herself, then excused herself. Chang Jianyi found it difficult to refuse, as guests were present, so she nodded in agreement.
Du Xinshi smiled and nodded at Yang Chang's two wives before leaving the garden.
Zhang Xixi was strolling through the castle with Little Dragon. Little Dragon giggled and called out to Zhang Xixi, "Ah... Auntie."
Zhang Xixi held the child in her arms and whispered, "Call me 'sister,' not 'auntie'!"
Poor Zhang Xixi, a thirteen-year-old girl, was called "auntie," which instantly made her feel twenty years older. This left Zhang Xixi feeling helpless. She intended to correct the child's address, but Little Dragon paid no heed and continued to call her "auntie."
Yang Chang's two wives were both young and beautiful, appearing delicate and gentle. Of course, everyone liked beautiful women, and Yang Chang was no exception.
However, the two women felt somewhat constrained in front of Chang Jianyi. This constraint was not due to their beauty being overshadowed, but rather because they could not match Chang Jianyi's aura. Chang Jianyi had held a high position for a long time, naturally exuding an air of noble elegance. Although she smiled, the pressure she emanated made people involuntarily lower their heads.
"Yueqiu, Baolin, please don't be so reserved. Today is just for you to meet and get acquainted. After all, when the men are fighting to the death outside, we women should stabilize the rear, shouldn't we? In the future, if you need any help, please don't refuse," Chang Jianyi said with a smile.
The two women quickly nodded in agreement and then looked at Luo Qing, who was standing behind Chang Jianyi in casual attire.
"Miss, won't you sit down and eat with us?" they asked.
Chang Jianyi nodded and said to Luo Qing behind her, "Sit down and have some fruit and pastries. These two are Yang Chang's wives, and we are at home, so there is no danger."
Luo Qing nodded at this point and then sat down. The reason she was favored by Chang Jianyi was that she was honest and had no ulterior motives. Although Zhang Xiaoqiang and Yin Li had followed Chang Jianyi from early on, Lin Yue had found fault with them for being too talkative, blurting out things they should and shouldn't say.
Some of Yuzhou's intelligence had been leaked by these two. Although it was unintentional, Chang Jianyi realized that these two were not reliable enough.
The four of them sat in the garden, chatting. There were rockeries and flowers around. The yellow and white chrysanthemums were particularly beautiful. In late autumn, the chrysanthemums in the garden were in full bloom, covering the ground in yellow and white. It was no wonder that a poem described the city as being adorned with golden armor.
As they were admiring the flowers, a servant suddenly rushed over and signaled to Chang Jianyi.
Chang Jianyi was slightly displeased and said, "There is nothing that cannot be said to others. Just say what you have to say. The two ladies here are one of us."
The servant was embarrassed and could only deliver the news: "The laboratory called to say they caught an internal spy, but the information about the phoenix egg has already been transmitted!"
Upon hearing this, Chang Jianyi frowned deeply. She had initially thought the servant was reporting a trivial matter, but now it seemed like a major problem had occurred. The laboratory had only recently been established, and they had already caught an internal spy. What was going on?
"Yueqiu, Baolin, I have some urgent matters to attend to, so I cannot entertain you further. I will have Zhang Xixi or Du Xinshi show you around. We will meet again in the future," Chang Jianyi said, slowly standing up.
The two women were also perceptive. A major incident had occurred, and it would be impolite to continue to linger. They quickly bid farewell, "Since Madam has urgent matters to attend to, we will not impose further. We shall take our leave as well. We will certainly visit again when we have the time."
Chang Jianyi nodded in agreement and, with Luo Qing, headed towards the laboratory. However, when she arrived, she learned from a soldier, "The internal spy committed suicide by poison. We were unable to extract any information from him, nor do we know who instructed him to gather intelligence."
The soldier then explained the situation. Six months ago, the laboratory began producing evolution serum, which required many workers. They started screening personnel to be responsible for transporting zombie corpses and packaging the evolution serum. These individuals had undergone strict screening to ensure no one would infiltrate the facility.
However, today, one person used the excuse of going to the restroom and sneaked into the experimental building to steal the data on the phoenix egg. It took him only five minutes to complete this action. When the soldier noticed something was amiss, he rushed to the data storage room and apprehended the person, immediately reporting it.
The internal spy then took out a pill from his person and swallowed it. He died a few minutes later, and the device he used to transmit images was also destroyed.
"This is a death squad. Someone must have heard that our laboratory had something valuable and came to steal it!" Luo Qing said urgently after hearing the soldier's account.
Chang Jianyi shook her head and frowned, "Not only that! This person disguised himself as a worker, but how did he know the location of the archives? Moreover, he found the information about the phoenix egg within five minutes. Without someone informing him, how could he have accomplished all this?"
Chang Jianyi became suspicious. Could it be that there was an internal spy even within the laboratory? Who could it be?
The more Chang Jianyi thought about it, the more fearful she became. If the laboratory was so compromised, could other places also be under the control of an internal spy? For example, the City Lord's Mansion!