Chapter 464 - Chapter 464:1 Can Cure It
Chapter 464:1 Can Cure It
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Wei Zhongming felt a chill run down his spine when he was stared at by the other party’s eyes. He was very curious. Shouldn’t the people sent by the Emperor be questioning the identity of that fake Empress? Why did he address her as the Empress directly?
“My Lord, in order to keep that impostor from getting suspicious over the last few days, I have already lured her into the mountains. She is still in the mountains. If Your Lordship wants to arrest her, I will send a message to the people over there to bring her back immediately.”
Upon hearing this, the man’s sharp brows knitted at once. “When did she go? Which mountain?”
Wei Zhongming answered truthfully, “It’s the mountain range outside the city. If you wish to go, I can personally bring you there, my Lord.”
“Good. Let’s set off now.”
Wei Zhongming had no choice but to immediately instruct someone to bring the horse over. Then he led this visitor out of the city on horseback.
As soon as they exited the city gate, they encountered a group of disaster victims walking toward Luo City.
When Wei Zhongming saw this, he quickly gave an eye signal to the officials at the side to drive the people away. However, that visitor immediately stopped his horse and did not allow any of them to take any action. He simply waited for the disaster victims to slowly walk toward him.
“There… there aren’t many disaster victims coming here these few days. I don’t know if it’s because there’s another drought elsewhere, but they know that we have disaster relief food here in Luo City, so they all came here.” Wei Zhongming frantically tried to make up an excuse.
Still in his disguise, Xiao Jin’s dark eyes gazed intently at the disaster victims, and his brows knitted so tightly that his forehead formed a Roman numeral III.
When the disaster victims saw Wei Zhongming’s official uniform, they all walked towards his group.
“Sir, I beg you. Please release our relatives. They are just sick and have not died yet. I beg you not to throw them into the mountains. They will surely die there.”
All the disaster victims pleaded in front of Wei Zhongming and kept kowtowing to him.
Wei Zhongming felt a chill run down his spine, and all the hair on his body stood on end because of fear. His gaze quickly swept past Xiao Jin’s body and happened to meet Xiao Jin’s two bloodshot eyes. He forced himself to calm down and said, “My Lord, you mustn’t listen to their nonsense. There’s an outbreak of plague in the city. I was worried that the sick would infect the disaster victims who were not sick, so I sent the sick disaster victims to the mountains. I definitely wasn’t intending to abandon them.”
Xiao Jin ignored Wei Zhongming and looked at the disaster victims as he asked, “What exactly is going on?”
One disaster victim looked at Xiao Jin and then at Wei Zhongming. When he saw how fearful of Xiao Jin Wei Zhongming was, he explained the situation to Xiao Jin.
“Sir, we are all villagers from Sankou Village in Xiayang County of Luo City. Because of the drought, we had to abandon our homes to flee the disaster. After we came to Luo City, the city gate of Luo City was always closed. The City Guardian didn’t care about us. Later, the Empress arrived and settled us in an open space outside the city. We were given a meal of porridge every day.”
Although the porridge could not fill their stomachs, at least they did not starve to death. The disaster victims were also content.
“But a few days ago, there was a sudden outbreak of plague in the disaster relief areas. Everyone was very afraid. The next night, the officials came to take away the sick people, saying that they wanted to bring them to a place for treatment. However, yesterday, my son escaped from the mountains and said that the officials took them away not to treat them, but to bury them alive!”
The disaster victim choked on his voice when he said this.
“Sir, those people are still alive. Burying them just like that is really… really too inhumane. Please help us, Sir.”
Even though he had disguised himself, everyone present could feel that Xiao Jin’s face was already frighteningly ominous.
Wei Zhongming felt waves of chills down his spine.
“My Lord, this is a misunderstanding.”
“Lord Wei, you really have the guts!”
Wei Zhongming’s spine went soft. He scrambled down from his horse and knelt in front of Xiao Jin. “Please forgive me, Your Lordship. I was genuinely looking for a doctor to treat those patients. It was my foolish subordinates who acted on their own initiative. Please give me a chance to atone for my sins. I will definitely be able to settle the disaster victims down well.”
Xiao Jin’s lips curled up slightly, and the corners of his eyes were chilly. “Take me to the disaster relief area for a look immediately.”
Wei Zhongming didn’t dare to object at all. “Yes, yes, yes.”
“And send a message to the people in the mountain and have them escort the Empress down the mountain immediately.”
“Yes, yes.”
Wei Zhongming was certain that Xiao Jin’s identity was not that straightforward, so he did not dare to be careless with his instructions. He got on his horse again and led Xiao Jin to the place outside the city where the plague-infected disaster victims were settled.
They could not take plague-infected patients outside the city into the city. Wei Zhongming had sent people to locate a large open space and erected some simple tents to place the people who had been confirmed to be infected inside.
The perimeter of the infection settlement area was surrounded by a fence. There were also soldiers standing guard outside to prevent the patients from escaping.
When the official saw Wei Zhongming, he quickly took out a cloth for him and Xiao Jin to cover their mouths and noses.
“Help! Save me! I don’t want to die.”
As soon as they arrived, a patient ran out. He struggled to rush out of the gate, but he was quickly stopped by the soldiers.
“Let me go, you guys let me go! I don’t want to wait for death here. I want to get out of here!”
Cold sweat broke out on Wei Zhongming’s forehead. “What are you waiting for? Hurry up and bring him inside. He is infected with the plague. Does he want to kill everyone?”
Just as the officials were about to drag him in, a pale green figure walked out of a tent.
Her face was covered with a cloth, and her black hair was also wrapped up with a thin cloth. As she walked, it seemed as if elegant lotus flowers could bloom at her feet peeking out from the corners of her pale-colored dress. She walked up to the patient and said something to the patient. The patient calmed down immediately and obediently followed the official back to the tent.
After he was taken away, Zhou Xiangrong turned to look in Xiao Jin’s direction. When their eyes met, she nodded at him. Then, she came up to Wei Zhongming and bowed politely.
“Greetings, my Lord.”
Wei Zhongming scrutinized the person in front of him from head to toe. After searching through his memory furiously, he was sure that he did not know her. “Get up. Who are you?”
Zhou Xiangrong straightened up and replied graciously, “My Lord, I am Zhou Xiangrong. I am a doctor who is here to treat patients.”
“Oh,” Wei Zhongming responded. “You are knowledgeable in medical skills at such a young age? What did you say to the patient just now to make him become obedient?”
“My Lord, I only told him that I can cure his illness and that he should be patient.”
Wei Zhongming almost laughed out loud. He felt that even if this woman wanted to show off in front of him, she was too clueless. “You said that you can cure his illness? Do you know what illness he has?”
Zhou Xiangrong’s almond-shaped eyes were full of sincerity. “My Lord, I know that this illness is the plague, but I can cure it.”
Wei Zhongming laughed out loud outright.. “Which master did you learn from? How dare you speak so arrogantly?”