On the street in Heshun Prefecture.

"I heard that the plague here is incurable because the higher-ups aren't giving us medicine. Otherwise, it would have been cured long ago, and wouldn't have dragged on for so long!"

"Really?"

"How could this be false? I heard it from someone in the know. Otherwise, you see, a kind person in Tianxin Village donated medicine, and the patient was cured immediately."

"Isn't it said that only the new doctor is skilled enough to cure this plague?"

"Sigh, the new doctor is indeed skilled, but it's useless without medicine! Look at those doctors who have been in Tianlong Village for so long and haven't come out yet, it's because they don't have the medicine!"

The man selling rouge at his stall wanted to ask a few more questions when he saw a woman in a gray silk skirt walking towards him.

A businessman's priority is business, so he immediately put what he had just heard out of his mind.

The woman had her hair tied up and a plump figure, clearly someone who had given birth.

The rouge shop owner smiled and said, "What kind of rouge would you like to buy, young lady? I just received a new batch of goods. They look nice and smell wonderful. Would you like to take a look?"

As he spoke, the rouge shop owner was about to find a new type of rouge for the woman.

"Don't be in a hurry, shopkeeper. I just want to ask what that person said just now?" The woman's voice was soft and melodious, arousing the rouge shopkeeper's fantasies.

The rouge shop owner recalled the man's words and told her everything.

The woman smiled and said, "Thank you, shopkeeper. My wife likes peach pink, so please choose the best peach pink rouge."

"Okay, okay." Seeing that there was money to be made, the rouge shop owner quickly agreed, took out the rouge, packed it up, and handed it to the woman. "Young lady, here you go."

The woman paid the money, took the rouge, and walked to a richly decorated carriage. With the help of a servant, she entered the carriage.

"What do you mean?" The person who asked the question was none other than Aunt Zhang, Zhu Datou's beloved concubine.

The maid truthfully relayed what she had heard, then added, "I just saw the person who spread the news leave and then go to another stall to talk to the handkerchief seller."

"It seems someone is deliberately spreading the news," Aunt Zhang sneered. "These people are quite bold, daring to go against the adults."

The maidservant lowered her head and remained silent, handing the rouge she had just bought to Aunt Zhang.

Aunt Zhang glanced at it indifferently and said disdainfully, "This kind of trash that can't be served in public is yours."

A box of rouge could be worth almost half a month's wages for a maid. She was so grateful for such a good thing that she thanked her profusely.

Aunt Zhang felt very pleased to hear this. This was also what she liked about the maid: she was sensible and knew how to read the room. Keeping her around was much more interesting than playing with cats and dogs.

Just as the maid lowered her head, Aunt Zhang suddenly slapped her.

The box of rouge was also slapped away and flew onto the street, scattering the peach-pink powder all over the ground.

"Who told you to dress like that! Didn't I tell you to cover your chest up?! You slut, who are you trying to seduce?!"

The maidservant, ignoring the burning pain on her face, quickly prostrated herself on the carriage and begged for mercy, saying, "Auntie, please spare me! My breast wrap was taken away, and I really had nothing to wear. I know I was wrong, and I will never dare to do it again!"

Looking at the prostrate person, Aunt Zhang thought that she had been quite nice to this maid recently, and that someone must be jealous and causing her trouble.

He then said impatiently, "Alright, this is the last time. Come here and give me a hand massage."

"Yes, yes, yes,"

Seeing that Aunt Zhang was no longer blaming her, the maidservant quickly got up to appease her.

With the help of her maid, Aunt Zhang comfortably closed her eyes.

Little did she know that a pair of eyes, seemingly poisoned, were watching her.

...

Tianlong Village.

"Seven seven, the villagers of Tianlong Village are gathered at the village entrance, about to make a fuss about leaving the village."

Li Changlong rushed into the house and immediately told Lu Qiqi the news.

Lu Qiqi put the dried ink from the letter into an envelope, then placed it in a bamboo tube and had Wangcai carry it in his mouth.

She patted Wangcai's head and said softly, "Go."

After saying that, Wangcai wagged its tail and ran out the door.

"Do we still need to find someone to spread the news?" Li Changlong asked.

"No, it's about stopping the spread of the news. If the news spreads too quickly, it's easy to suspect that someone did it on purpose."

“Attracting the attention of the authorities will inevitably lead to incalculable consequences.”

Li Changlong asked in bewilderment, "Then why did you previously send people to spread the word on the streets?"

Lu Qiqi smiled and said, "The reason why people spread the news so widely was to let the government know. Now that the news has been stopped, it is to let the people know that the government has suppressed the news."

After Lu Qiqi's explanation, Li Changlong suddenly realized what was going on.

What are people most interested in?

Of course, suppressing the truth that is clearly about to be discovered for some reason will only backfire and trigger an even bigger outburst.

That's exactly the effect Lu Qiqi wanted.

They colluded with the government, trying to achieve great things with small means, and this was the only way they could manage.

"Shall we go take a look?" Zhou Yi asked, sitting to the side.

“Of course I’ll go,” Lu Qiqi said with a light smile. “How will I know which way the wind will blow if I don’t go and see?”

When the three of them arrived at the entrance of Tianlong Village, they saw villagers carrying their bags, and many of them leading cattle and sheep, standing by the fence, trying to break through the fence and rush out of the pass.

"Let us out."

"I don't want to die here."

The villagers gathered together, making a racket, their voices rising higher and higher, even more lively than a bustling market.

"Second brother, let's just observe the situation from here."

Lu Qiqi called out to Li Changlong, who was still trying to walk forward.

"How can we not hear what they're saying from this far away?" Li Changlong asked, somewhat puzzled.

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