Jia Ren had already received the news that Su Muxi had a prescription that could cure the "plague".

After his conversation with Su Muxi, he knew that Su Muxi must have noticed something was wrong, or even knew the specific truth of the matter.

However, since Su Muxi didn't directly confront him, he didn't need to go to such lengths to eliminate her.

After all, there are so many talented people in Jinzhou right now. If we kill them all, it will be difficult to explain later.

Then he suddenly realized, "So it was the water problem! I was only trying to avoid letting the officials have contact with these people as much as possible, so I didn't let them drink this water or eat this food. I never thought the problem would actually be this..."

As he spoke, he bowed deeply to Su Muxi, clasped his hands in a respectful gesture, and said, "Thank you, Your Highness, for uncovering the truth. Please accept my bow!"

With Jia Ren taking the lead, the other officials and yamen runners also bowed to Su Muxi.

Cao San, kneeling on the ground, looked somewhat at a loss, but after a moment, hatred reappeared on his face.

"Why are you thanking her?! If it weren't for her father, the people of Fukang County wouldn't be in such a miserable state! Besides, we don't even know if it's a water problem!"

"Cao San! Don't be rude!"

Jia Ren's warning rebuke reignited Cao San's anger.

"I'm not afraid of death, so what's there to fear from rudeness! Am I wrong? Su Xing just brought a bunch of fake medicine to deceive us! If there were real medicine, the people of Fukang County wouldn't be in this mess!"

Cao San brought up the matter of Su Xing selling fake medicine time and again, which made everyone have different thoughts.

Most of these young men were sons of Shanxi merchants, whose families ran businesses of all sizes. Although they also made some ill-gotten gains, after all, no merchant is without guile.

However, they were quite certain they would not touch this kind of "plague" profit.

Su Muxi said to Cao San, "Whether there's something wrong with the water or not, you'll know once you drink some. Aren't you afraid of death? Didn't you say my prescription was fake? Then why don't you test the medicine on yourself?"

If you feel unwell after drinking the water from that tank, it means there is something wrong with the water.

If your condition worsens after taking my medicine, or you die, then there is something wrong with my medicine.

So, what do you say? Do you dare?

It's not time to explain her father's sale of fake medicine yet; the most urgent task is to treat these people.

We cannot allow more people to die.

Provoked by Su Muxi's words, Cao San immediately stood up and headed straight for the rows of water vats.

Like a traveler who has been thirsty for days in the desert, he drank water in large gulps, one ladle after another.

Everyone shook their heads inwardly.

Although they had never seen a plague before, they had read about it to some extent in books.

People who contract the plague may experience symptoms for a day or two, or even a month.

Even if there really was something wrong with the water, Cao San wouldn't have shown symptoms so quickly.

However, to everyone's surprise, after Cao San drank too much, he started vomiting not long after, and then he started clutching his stomach and crying out in pain.

Su Muxi's face was gloomy.

This is not a plague, it's a poison, and it will take much longer to manifest naturally.

Xie Xuan acted quickly as well, brewing another pot of medicine in less than fifteen minutes. He personally served Cao San a bowl, then grabbed Cao San's chin and forced the medicine down his throat.

McQueen stepped forward in perfect unison, pinning down Cao San, who was struggling from the burns. After a bowl of medicine was administered, Cao San was in excruciating pain from the burns.

Such blatant retaliation silenced everyone.

But they soon discovered that Cao San had stopped vomiting and was no longer clutching his stomach and crying out in pain.

Therefore, Princess Yong'an's medicine is effective!

Cao San also found it unbelievable.

He had just deliberately chosen a water vat that was far away from Su Muxi to drink water, just in case Su Muxi did something to tamper with the water vat. He didn't expect that there would be a reaction so quickly.

What surprised him even more was that after drinking Su Muxi's medicine, he actually felt much better.

So Su Muxi's prescription is genuine?

Are the people of Fukang County really saved?!

Although reluctant to admit it, Cao San still shouted loudly, "This prescription works! The people of Fukang County are saved!"

Qiao Ziming looked at Jia Ren and said, “Magistrate Jia, since the yamen runners and soldiers are all fine, it means that the water in the well at the city gate is safe, right? In that case, we would like to trouble Magistrate Jia to send some people to fetch some water from there.”

Jia Ren bowed and agreed, then sent someone to fetch water from the well at the city gate.

Su Muxi watched as everyone got busy again, glanced at the sky, and hoped that nothing else would go wrong.

As it turns out, the medicine that has been re-boiled is still effective for people who are sick.

However, these people have accumulated too many toxins, and a single bowl of medicine is not enough to cure them.

However, the ability to alleviate their symptoms has given many people hope.

Less than an hour later, a yamen runner rushed over and whispered something in Jia Ren's ear.

Upon hearing this, Jia Ren exclaimed in shock, "What?! Su Xing escaped from prison?!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's attention was instantly diverted.

Su Xing was imprisoned?

Has he escaped from prison now?

"When did they run away?!"

"Just over an hour ago."

Upon hearing the constable's reply, Jia Ren narrowed his eyes and looked at Su Muxi.

A little over an hour ago, he led a group of officials and soldiers to the city gate to welcome Su Muxi and her party. But just as they left the county government office, Su Xing ran away.

Is it really just such a coincidence?

Su Muxi sneered, "Ha! What is Magistrate Jia looking at me for? The city gates of Fukang County have always been tightly closed. You have the entire Fukang County under your control. Now that the person has escaped, are you going to blame me?"

Then he addressed the crowd:

"Although Su Xing is my father, I have come to Fukang County on the Emperor's orders and will never use this official position for personal gain!"

"Now that the Heir Apparent of the Marquis of Anyang and many talented scholars from Jinzhou City are present, I, the Princess Consort, will certainly give the people of Fukang County an explanation of what really happened!"

"If all of this is truly my father's fault, I, the Princess, will not tolerate it. But if someone is deliberately framing him, I will definitely find out who is behind it!"

Jia Ren clasped his hands in a fist salute to Su Muxi, "Your Highness has misunderstood. I meant no harm. I naturally believe that Your Highness will handle Su Xing fairly. However, now that he has escaped, I must lead men to capture him."

After all, Su Xing deceived everyone with fake medicine, exacerbating the epidemic in Fukang County. I must report this to the imperial court afterwards and give the people of Fukang County an explanation.

Su Muxi gritted her teeth inwardly, without arguing, and said calmly, "If that's the case, then Magistrate Jia can go and arrest him. Anyway, Magistrate Jia has been governing here for more than a month and has not made any progress in the epidemic. Whether he is here or not is not important."