Chapter 168 Vomiting Blood in Public

Deng Wenyan was dressed in official uniform and riding a horse among the people.

His gentle eyes and brows reveal calmness and composure.

"Everyone, I am the magistrate of Guangyi County. There's something fishy about this strange illness. I've summoned doctors from the city, and they're examining it. I'll have a result soon. Is it a strange illness or someone else's involvement? I'll explain. Don't listen to the slander of treacherous people, gather a crowd, or cause trouble. If I investigate, you could end up in jail, get into trouble, or even lose your fortune. That would be undeserved disaster."

"Your Excellency, you are being nice. It's been two days, and more and more people are dying in the city. You're locking us up in the city without opening the gates. Are you waiting for us all to die so you can burn us and destroy all evidence?"

As soon as the man finished speaking, Changquan jumped off his horse, stepped quickly on the people's heads, and grabbed the person who had just spoken out as quickly and ruthlessly as an eagle catching a chick.

The man wanted to run, but Changquan kicked him on the knee. The crowd parted and the man knelt in front of Deng Wenyan.

Deng Wenyan said in a deep voice, "I am here. If you don't speak clearly in front of me, but hide behind the crowd and incite others, I think you are the one with bad intentions."

The man trembled constantly, but when Deng Wenyan finished speaking, he stiffened his neck and said, "Your Excellency is high and mighty. You say red is red and white is white. I just said a few words of truth, but Your Excellency wants to kill me and beat me for it. I dare not argue with you."

Retreat to advance.

The crowd, which had just calmed down a little, became restless again.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way! The evidence is here! The evidence is here!"

Pan He rode a fast horse, rushed into the crowd and came to Deng Wenyan.

Deng Wenyan frowned and Pan He nodded to him.

Li Baisong held the backpack high.

"Everyone, listen to me. I am the Li family member you are talking about. My surname is Li, my name is Baisong, and I am from Liantang Village, Hedong Town."

"Bang!" A rotten vegetable leaf successfully hit Li Baisong's face.

"You traitor who killed my husband, return my husband's life to me!"

Immediately, some people began to get ready to take action. Deng Wenyan gave a look and the yamen runners drew their swords.

County Magistrate Dong shouted, "What are you doing? Are you planning to attack an imperial official? Do you still want to keep your heads? Openly attacking an imperial official is tantamount to rebellion. What will become of a rebel? The imperial court has sent a large army, and the lives of your entire family won't be enough to pay the price!"

An Zhubu also spoke up to persuade them, "Since you took office, everything you have done has been for the benefit of the people. You all must obey me. I will find out the truth as soon as possible and restore justice to everyone. Everyone, please be patient and wait."

Li Baisong glanced at Deng Wenyan and raised the backpack in his hand again.

"There's a rumor in town that my family's dried meat is the source of a strange disease, and that anyone who eats it will get sick. To be honest, our dried meat isn't just sold in the county town. We originally ate it at home, and then sold it in Hedong Town. If it really was going to cause a strange disease, my family, our villagers, and the people in Hedong Town would have gotten it long before."

The crowd became agitated again, everyone was whispering to each other, and some people began to hesitate.

Li Baisong struck while the iron was hot. "This is the goods my family was originally going to deliver to the teahouse and brothel today. Because I suddenly got a strange illness, I was worried that the teahouse and brothel would have no business when I entered the city, so I kept the goods and negotiated with them. I will not deliver the goods for a while. I will wait until the truth is revealed and their business recovers before supplying them again. This way, they can also reduce their losses. If you don't believe me, I can taste the dried meat right here."

"If I don't have a strange disease, please look at this matter rationally and calmly, and give Lord Deng some time to find out the truth. Don't let the treacherous people take power and disturb the peace of Guangyi County."

Li Baisong grabbed a handful of dried meat and ate it in front of everyone.

Eat with gusto.

Many of the onlookers were envious of it.

Those troublemakers hiding in the crowd seemed to be at their wits' end.

Li Baisong finished a handful of dried meat slowly and was about to grab the second handful when something unexpected happened.

Li Baisong, who was sitting in front of Pan He, suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

The backpack in his hand fell to the ground, and the dried meat was scattered all over the floor.

The crowd around seemed to be splashed by boiling water and took several steps back.

"Ah! Someone's dead!"

"The dried meat is killing people again!"

"There really is something wrong with Old Li's jerky!"

"This meat jerky business must be using shady tactics."

"I heard that Li Baisong worshipped a wicked master and learned some evil magic. He uses this magic to harm others. Now he is harming others and himself. He couldn't learn it well, so he got caught in the trap too!"

"Catch the Li family members who are causing trouble!"

"Catch Li Baisong's evil master who harms people!"

"Nonsense! Keep quiet!" The county lieutenant and the chief clerk shouted until their voices were hoarse, but no one listened.

"I heard that the county magistrate is Li Baisong's senior apprentice brother. His junior apprentice brother and master used evil magic to harm people. Does the county magistrate intend to protect them?"

The questioning became angrier and angrier!

"We are just ants, but the lives of ants are lives too. If Your Excellency cannot bring justice to us, as long as we have breath left, we will file a complaint with the Emperor even if we have to crawl all the way to the capital!"

…

"Bang!" The bowl in Qin Fangci's hand fell to the ground. She was about to bend down to pick it up when Wang Sheng hurriedly ran in from outside.

"Auntie, Auntie, Auntie."

Qin Fangci hurried out and walked so fast that she tripped.

Seeing Wang Sheng's hurried look, my heart skipped a beat and the ominous premonition reached its peak.

"Mr. Wang, what happened?" Qin Fangci tried to calm herself down.

Everyone in the yard looked over here.

Qin Fangci exhaled, "Wait a moment, come with me to the backyard and continue working. Daya, come here."

Qin Fangci left Daya to watch the intersection, then looked at Wang Sheng, "Tell me, what's wrong?"

Wang Sheng then told Li Baisong everything he had said, swallowing hard. "Auntie, what should we do? We don't know what this strange disease is, but now people in the city are only allowed to enter, not leave. If Baisong goes in, will he be able to send us news? We don't know when this strange disease will end."

Qin Fangci lowered her brows in thought.

Wang Sheng whispered, "Auntie, Bai Song said I'd do today's work. Here's the five cents Bai Song gave me. I didn't take a car, I walked back with someone."

Qin Fangci pushed the money back and said, "Since it's for you, just keep it. Don't tell anyone else about this when you get back."

Wang Sheng nodded repeatedly, "Bai Song said the same thing, but he asked me to tell the village chief."

"I'll go talk to the village chief later. You should go back and don't panic. The doctors in the city are very skilled. They can even bring someone back from the brink of death in a situation like your Bai Shunsao's. This will definitely be over in a few days."

Wang Sheng nodded repeatedly. When he heard Qin Fangci say the same thing, he felt relieved and went back happily with the copper coins in his pocket.