Fu Chen’an indeed knew everything, so Yao Zhi nodded. "He knows."

"Then about Lei Ting..." Xue Ya’er asked.

"It’s my husband. He was worried I would get into trouble, so he insisted on accompanying me to visit you back then," Yao Zhi said with a smile.

Although her tone was helpless, Xue Ya’er noticed the indulgence her friend had for Fu Chen’an.

Now that they had reached this stage, Xue Ya’er also didn’t want to hide anything from her and told her everything about her family’s situation and her relationship with the General.

They talked for almost two hours. When she was done, Yao Zhi was speechless.

It took her a while to regain her composure and ask, "You mean that the woman who came looking for the General before was a spy sent by the Empress Dowager, and she had been killed by the General?"

Xue Ya’er nodded and sighed. "Fortunately, the General investigated her and didn’t believe her words. Otherwise, with her having my jade pendant, it was just a matter of time before the General took her in as a concubine."

Although she showed nothing on her face, Yao Zhi was screaming in her mind at this moment.

"System, come out!!"

A second later, a mechanical voice echoed in her mind, "Host, what are you screaming about?"

"System, tell me the truth. Do you know that the supposed Female Lead was killed by the Male Lead?!"

"I know," the System admitted readily.

"Then, why didn’t you tell me?"

"This matter had nothing to do with the Host. There is no point in informing you."

"Even so, this matter concerns the world. With the Female Lead dead, how will the plot continue? What if the world gets destroyed because of the lack of a Female Lead?"

Hearing how anxious its Host was, the System replied calmly, "This world is based on the Son of Heaven. It’s not based on the Daughter of Heaven."

"The so-called Female Lead is just a person chosen by the Male Lead as his spouse. So, even if the original Female Lead was killed, as long as the Male Lead chose another woman, that woman would become the Female Lead. It won’t affect the world at all."

"What’s more, the Male Lead’s romance is just a small part of the plot. Even if he ended up with a man and had no descendants, it wouldn’t cause the world to crumble. At most, the Heavenly Dao will choose the next Son of Heaven to support this world."

The moment Yao Zhi heard this, she couldn’t help but curse the Heavenly Dao.

She never expected that even in Heaven’s eyes, a woman in this world had such a low position. They were nothing but a tool for the Male Lead to reproduce!

Noticing its Host’s anger, the System wisely shut its mouth and played dead.

Sitting across from her, Xue Ya’er noticed that her friend’s mood worsened and asked, "Yao Zhi, what’s wrong?"

Yao Zhi was pulled out of her thoughts by her words and shook her head. She looked at her friend and found her pitiful.

Recalling the things she gave her before, she asked, "Ya’er, about the things I gave you before, what do you plan to do with them?"

"You mean the compressed biscuit recipe and salt refining method?"

Yao Zhi nodded.

Xue Ya’er smiled and explained, "I planned to mass-produce the compressed biscuits and supply them to the military. It would be a great replacement for war provisions."

"As for the salt refining method, I tried it before, and it’s indeed a great method. The salt produced using this method is more refined, has no bitter taste, and is saltier. The grains are purer and uniformly fine."

"I already sent my people to check the coastal area. When they find a suitable place, I plan to build a salt workshop there. If we are able to produce our own salt, we won’t have to spend so much money buying salt from the Zhiyue Kingdom." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

After a moment of pause, she continued, "But with how the Emperor treats the White Tiger Army and targets my husband, I’m not sure if we will be able to get permission to produce and trade salt."

Hearing this, Yao Zhi tapped her fingers on the table as she thought of a solution.

The coastal area was dangerous because it had been plagued by pirates for decades. The Great Yan Kingdom’s military power grew weaker with each passing year.

Not to mention the naval army, they could barely support the land army. Without proper ships and a strong naval army, it would be impossible for them to defeat the pirates.

If they built a salt workshop there, they not only had to guard against the Imperial Court, but also against the pirates. Even if the Emperor agreed to give them permission, they might have to pay a high price for it. This deal was not beneficial at all.

She considered the pros and cons for a long time when a thought suddenly flashed through her mind. She slapped her thighs loudly, startling Xue Ya’er.

"What’s wrong?" she asked as she patted her chest.

"How could I forget such a good thing!" Yao Zhi slapped her thighs again.

Turning to the startled Xue Ya’er, she said, "Ya’er, you don’t need to check the coastal area. There are too many pirates, and Great Yan has no naval army. If you set up a salt workshop there, it only benefits those pirates."

"But, in the entire kingdom, there is no salt lake at all. If we don’t use seawater, what can we use?"

"Besides the sea and salt lakes, there is also mountain salt."

"Mountain salt? Will the mountains have salt?" Xue Ya’er asked doubtfully.

Yao Zhi nodded. "Mountain salt is different from sea salt. It’s not produced by evaporating seawater, but mined from ancient, dried seabeds located in underground deposits."

Lowering her voice, she continued, "Aren’t there mountain ridges near this city? I will bring my people to check the mountains and see if we can find underground deposits."