"Burn the demons! Burn the demons!"

"You say I am a demon who will devour your souls, then why have you come here? Aren't you afraid I will kill you all?" The prince felt utterly powerless. Was this the kind of people he was supposed to govern?

Without thought or judgment, and only believing in ghosts and gods, what use is there in governing such ignorant people?

What's the use!

"Fellow villagers, demons fear yang energy, and we have many people, so we have nothing to fear." Someone in the crowd stirred things up again, and the people who had finally been frightened became emboldened once more.

The crown prince tried to calm his anger, but he still did not have the intention to kill. Today he slaughtered the people, and tomorrow would be his death day, and the death day of Dayong.

But Zhao Shu didn't care about all that. She didn't have that much patience. She suddenly lifted the carriage curtain, drew the sword from Wei Tingsi's hand, rushed in front of the crowd, and without saying a word, placed the sword on an old man's shoulder. "Let's see who dares to speak again! If they say another word, I, the princess, will kill their entire family!"

"Fellow villagers, don't be afraid, she wouldn't dare!" If she dares to slaughter the people now, tonight the rebel army will storm into Jiangnan Prefecture and leave everyone in Jiangnan Prefecture without a burial place.

Among the crowd were several troublemakers. As soon as one side shouted, another person said, "Brave warriors, you also have elders and relatives at home. Are you going to watch these thugs bully unarmed and innocent people? Think of your parents, think of your brothers and sisters. Can you bear to help the wicked?"

This man was clever and tried to persuade the guards.

Zhao Shu gave a mocking smile, "Did you see who it was?" She turned to ask Su Xiu.

Su Xiu and Liang Xi nodded, then leaped into the crowd and dragged out the troublemaker.

The two men were very rough, throwing the man to the ground at Zhao Shu's feet. Zhao Shu then sheathed her sword and stepped on the man.

Although Jiangnan Prefecture was not flooded, the floodwaters on the streets still submerged his anklet. The man swallowed a few mouthfuls of floodwater and coughed violently, trying to struggle to get up, but Su Xiu stomped on his leg and broke it.

"Ah!" he cried out in pain, but Zhao Shu's sword was already pressed against his throat.

"I wouldn't dare?" Zhao Shujian pointed at the troublemaker, but then looked at the terrified crowd. "Does anyone recognize this person?"

No one answered; they stared at Zhao Shu as if she were a devil.

"The plague has broken out both inside and outside the city. The plague spreads very quickly, and perhaps some of you have already been infected. If you can name the family members of this person, I, the princess, will arrange for the imperial physician to treat him and will also reward him with one hundred taels of silver."

A generous reward will surely bring forth brave men, but as soon as these words were spoken, everyone fell silent. It wasn't that they didn't want to be treated by the imperial physician, nor that they didn't want the money. To put it bluntly, this person was a complete stranger to them. What was wrong with being a bad guy for the sake of their families?

Sacrificing one person to save a family—that's accumulating good karma.

Instead, they discovered that they didn't recognize the person at all.

Zhao Shu sneered, having known this would be the outcome all along. "What? Is everyone so kind? You should know that your kindness towards him is cruelty towards your own families. Don't you want the money? Don't you want the cure for the plague? You are all so kind, this princess is so touched!"

Zhao Shu had only one expression: mockery.

It's true that most people are selfish when faced with death; if she were in her shoes, she would be selfish too.

However, if the object of this selfishness is someone else, then it's a different story.

“We don’t know him,” someone finally mustered the courage to say.

Zhao Shu laughed out loud, "Hehe, you don't know him? Oh, you don't know him. Then who do you know?"

When Zhao Shu asked him a question, the man originally did not want to answer, but Zhao Shu's imposing manner forced him to speak. He pointed to the burly man beside him and said, "I know him. He is my brother-in-law."

"Bring it over," Zhao Shu instructed Liang Xi.

Liang Xi was a martial artist, and ordinary people were no match for him. Before the big man could react, he had already been brought in front of Zhao Shu.

Zhao Shu raised her sword, the gleaming blade resting on his shoulder, and then said to the man who had just spoken, "As long as you give me his wife, children, and parents, I, the princess, will send you to Beijing and give you a house and money. If you don't believe me, I swear to God."

"What...what are you going to do to my wife?" The big man seemed to love his wife, and his face turned pale with fright.

"What are you going to do?" Zhao Shu said slowly, "Naturally, I'm going to kill you to vent my anger. How about it?" She turned to look at the man, "As long as you confess, I will swear to God that I will give your whole family a way out."

"You need to know that there is a plague in Jiangnan. Do you know what a plague is? People die, a lot of people die, village after village. You don't want to die, do you? You're still young, you probably haven't lived enough yet."

Her words seemed to possess a magical power, capable of seducing people.

"I'll confess, I'll confess, sir! I'm willing to give up his family. I wonder if you could send me and my husband to the capital?" A woman jumped out eagerly, looking at Zhao Shu with hope.

The burly man and the woman seemed to know each other. He said incredulously, "Aunt Liu, how could you do this?"

“Your family only has a few people, but my family has more than ten. This is a good deal. Erzhuzi, Auntie will burn paper money for you during Qingming Festival.” The woman was usually hated by everyone, but no one criticized her at this moment. Some people were even annoyed that they hadn’t gotten there first.

Zhao Shu sheathed her sword, patted the burly man's hand, and pointed at the woman, saying, "See that? That's a real monster."

The big man lowered his head in shame. Zhao Shu ignored him, thinking he was just a superstitious person who was easily instigated and misled.

"In the face of natural disaster, instead of thinking about how to survive, you want to burn the Crown Prince who loves his people like his own children. What difference is there between you and monsters?" Her voice was loud, almost a shout, with the unique crispness of a woman's voice, which shocked everyone.

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