The carriage slowed down, and Qi Huan lifted the curtain to look outside. She saw a prison cart passing by in the opposite direction.
People on both sides of the road were angrily throwing stones at the middle-aged man in the prison cart, causing his head to bleed profusely.
Qi Huan quickly lowered the curtain to avoid being accidentally hit.
Suddenly—
The horse neighed, and the carriage shook momentarily before quickly regaining its stability.
Yan Ge's explanation came from outside the carriage.
"Miss Qi, are you alright? Someone's aim was off, and they hit our horse with a stone. But don't worry, I have experience calming horses, and it's fine now. Please sit tight, and I'll hurry us home."
However, the crowd continued to grow, making it increasingly difficult for the carriage to move forward.
Yan Ge had no choice but to pull over to the side, planning to wait for the crowd to disperse before leaving.
The discussions outside the carriage window were loud, and Qi Huan couldn't help but overhear some of it.
It turned out that Wu Liangxin, the prefect of Yunzhou, was being taken to the street corner for public beheading. Yesterday, when the imperial envoy entered the city, his first task was to go to the prison with the imperial sword and the evidence collected by Li Shuchen to condemn Wu Liangxin.
The common people harbored intense hatred for corrupt officials. Upon hearing the news, they had picked up stones to send Wu Liangxin off.
After a guard walking beside the prison cart was accidentally hit, he covered his head and angrily shouted, "Stop!"
The people paused, beginning to think rationally: "Everyone, stop! Don't kill him. If he dies before the execution, it'll be difficult for the executioner to behead him!"
"That makes sense."
"You're right."
Gradually, the people stopped throwing stones.
When the time came, amid cheers, Wu Liangxin, who had embezzled official grain, artificially inflated grain prices, and attempted to shoot refugees, paid the price with his life.
The crowd cheered from the sidelines.
Living in Yunzhou, they desperately hoped the emperor would appoint a conscientious official to govern their prefecture.
The scorching sun continued to blaze, and though they were drenched in sweat, their enthusiasm remained undiminished.
Suddenly, someone cried out, "Someone's fainted from heatstroke! Make way, let's take him to the medical hall."
"No, it's not heatstroke! He's bleeding from the nose and has rashes..."
"...Could it be the plague?"
"What, the plague?!"
"Someone's caught the plague!"
As the saying goes, "Three people make a tiger." What started as a question quickly became a statement as it spread.
The crowd descended into chaos, fleeing in panic.
The unconscious person was left on the stone-paved road, later rescued by people under the orders of the supervising magistrate who had overseen the execution.
Sitting in her carriage, Qi Huan's thoughts were in turmoil.
Hadn't Li Shuchen already sent people to properly dispose of the bodies outside the city? How could the plague still appear?
Upon returning home, she instructed Yan Ge to prepare water. The three of them bathed separately, changed into new clothes, burned all the clothes they had worn that day, and thoroughly cleaned the carriage.
After bathing, she called for Yan Ge: "Keep an eye on the news outside. See if there really is a plague outbreak. Whatever the result, inform me as soon as possible."
"Yes!" Yan Ge agreed, then remembered the dagger delivered from the knife shop earlier that day. He drew it from his waist and presented it to Qi Huan with both hands.
"Miss Qi, this dagger is quite good, sharp enough. Please keep it for self-defense."
"No need, you keep it," Qi Huan refused without a second thought. She feared upsetting the apple cart at home.
Sure enough, when night fell.
A knock on the door sounded.
Li Shuchen arrived, carrying an ancient-looking dagger.
"Yan Ge said someone sent you a dagger today... This one can cut through iron like butter, it's much better!"
Qi Huan accepted it with a smile, lifting her face and saying sweetly, "Thank you, A-Shu."
Li Shuchen's lips curled into a smile, his eyes filled with mirth, but then he pressed his lips together as he recalled Yan Ge's description.
"The person you met today was Li Yuanxiu, the second son of my third uncle, the King of Shun."
"The national treasury is empty, and the emperor is unwilling to spend too much silver on disaster relief. Coming to Yunzhou to deal with the disaster is something many people are eager to avoid, but Li Yuanxiu volunteered, bringing self-funded grain."
Qi Huan was slightly surprised: "Self-funded grain?"
Li Shuchen nodded lightly: "Li Yuanxiu has a knack for making money, more than he can spend."
"He occasionally asks the emperor to spend it for him, so the emperor is very fond of him."
"For this disaster relief, only a small portion of the grain he brought came from the national treasury. Most of it was purchased along the way."
After hearing the full story, Qi Huan pondered, hand on her chin: "So, he's a good person?"
Hearing her praise another man, Li Shuchen's eyes darkened slightly, but he objectively said, "In terms of procuring grain for disaster relief and executing Wu Liangxin, he indeed did well. However, he is the son of the King of Shun, destined to be at odds with us."
"The King of Shun is an enemy, not a friend. So, stay away from Li Yuanxiu.
...The previous prefect of Yunzhou passed away, and Wu Liangxin happened to use the emperor's favorite concubine's influence, buying the lucrative position of Yunzhou prefect."
"Yunzhou is rich in iron ore, coveted by many. The King of Shun is no exception. Taking advantage of the drought in Yunzhou, he spread information to attract refugees to gather outside Yunzhou city, inciting them to riot. Once Wu Liangxin made a mistake, they would eliminate him and arrange for their own people to take over, allowing them to secretly exploit Yunzhou's iron mines."
"On the way, they could also arrange for assassins to mix in with the refugees, taking the opportunity to eliminate me."
Remembering the refugees he encountered on the road, Li Shuchen's eyes flickered with darkness and light.
Those refugees quickly dispersed after he distributed water and food. The hidden assassins among them chose to lie low instead of attacking directly, which didn't seem like the work of the King of Zhong.
The King of Zhong was hot-tempered and stubborn, only giving direct orders: Kill him! Kill him!
The people he encountered, who knew how to assess the situation, seemed more like the subordinates of the King of Shun.
At this point, Qi Huan asked him, "Will the new prefect of Yunzhou be the King of Shun's man?"
"No," Li Shuchen denied, then added, "I will buy the position for my man before the King of Shun can. The new prefect of Yunzhou will be my person."
With the current emperor being muddle-headed, talented individuals were like pearls covered in dust, their futures dim. He took this opportunity to win over some of them, spending silver to help those who weren't too rigid to buy official positions. While serving the people, they would also serve him.
After saying all this, Li Shuchen looked at Qi Huan, seeing his own reflection in her dark pupils, the curve of his lips unconsciously widening.
Not having seen her for days, he missed her greatly. Without expressing much in words, everything was conveyed in a long, tender kiss.
The night watch sounded, and the night had deepened. Li Shuchen held her in his arms, greedily inhaling her scent.
After a long while, he finally released her and spoke of important matters: "A-Huan, in the medical books you copied before, were there any records about the plague?"
Qi Huan was taken aback. "Is there really a plague?"
Li Shuchen nodded, his expression slightly grave. "It has suddenly appeared in multiple locations."
"Wait a moment, let me look for something."
When Qi Huan had transcribed the medical texts earlier, she had focused solely on copying without much thought, so her recollection wasn't particularly clear. She took out the medical books she had previously obtained and began to examine them carefully.
Li Shuchen joined her in the search, and they eventually singled out the "Basic Questions" section of the "Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor." Qi Huan continued her search through the medical texts, and in the second set of books she had acquired, she also found Wu Youke's "Treatise on Pestilence," Ge Hong's "Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergencies," and Chao Yuanfang's "General Treatise on the Etiology and Symptomology of Diseases: On Epidemic Diseases and Various Symptoms."
After obtaining these medical texts, Li Shuchen prepared to take them back for further study. He planned to identify the useful sections, transcribe them, and then provide them to the recruited physicians for reference.
Seeing that he was about to leave, Qi Huan quickly grabbed his sleeve. "Wait a moment, I have something else that can help you."
