Chapter 73 A cacophony of impassioned words surged forth…

A cacophony of angry words surged forth like waves, and the guards alertly drew their swords, wary of any sudden, extreme actions by the agitated crowd.

In the tense atmosphere, Feng Mian coughed weakly twice. Baili Xunzhou hurriedly stepped forward and stood beside her with concern, asking softly, "Shall I do it?"

Feng Mian shook her head. Since it was her job to do something that went against the moral principles of the time, she should be the one to explain it to everyone. She should bear all the dissatisfaction and resentment.

Although the crowd below was furious, they still remembered the good deeds Feng Mian had done before. Seeing her recovering from a serious illness and in such a weak state, they all suppressed their anger and waited quietly to hear what else she had to say.

Feng Mian raised his voice slightly, his words earnest: "I know this is hard to accept, but I would never resort to such a desperate measure unless I had no other choice."

"But if the bodies of those who died from the disease are not thoroughly burned, flies, rats, ants, the air, the soil, and even the well water may become contaminated with the disease. If this continues, when will the epidemic ever end?"

After so many days of isolation and treatment, how could everyone not know that any contact with a patient could easily lead to infection? They quickly figured out the connection: if it was so easy for a living person to get infected, how much more so for a corpse that had been buried and would decompose over time?

Everyone fell silent for a moment, feeling that Feng Mian's words made some sense, but also unable to overcome their emotional hurdle.

Some young, hot-blooded men, still indignant, said: "My father suffered greatly in life. If he can't even be given a complete body after death, wouldn't I be extremely unfilial? How could I face him again?"

Feng Mian looked at him earnestly, "Then let me ask you, if you contract the disease and die, and your body is not cremated, it is highly likely that your closest children will contract the disease and die in the future. What would you do then?"

The man was stunned. He thought of his two children who had just returned home, running and jumping and calling "Daddy." He was speechless for a moment. He was willing to do anything for the safety of his children, let alone just be cremated after death.

The others, too, thought of their own fates, and the scales of their hearts gradually tipped slightly in favor of Feng Mian. It wouldn't have been a problem for them to make their own sacrifices, but what they were about to burn were the bodies of their closest and dearest friends…

"Furthermore, if this leads to the extinction of the entire family, leaving no one to offer sacrifices in the future, is that considered filial piety towards our ancestors?"

Feng Mian returned the "filial piety" they had used to oppose him.

The crowd below choked up upon hearing this, finding her words extremely reasonable. Compared to cutting off the incense offerings, burning the body seemed to be no more of an unfilial act.

Seeing that the crowd seemed to have softened, Feng Mian softened his tone: "I have sent people to invite the eminent monks of Mingtan Temple and the Taoist priests of Lingxu Temple. They will hold a 49-day Buddhist ceremony to pray for the souls of all the dead."

"I will also erect a disease-curing monument at the foot of Xishan Mountain, inscribing the names of the deceased on it, so that they may be worshipped by future generations for eternity. Baishui County, and even the entire northern frontier and Dayong, will remember their contributions today, and will also remember your righteousness."

All people ask for is posthumous honors for their deceased relatives and friends, and Feng Mian will do her best to fulfill that wish. Her gaze swept over the slightly moved faces; now, all that was needed was for someone to take the lead and express their opinion.

"I am willing to support the princess!"

From the crowd, Wan Niang stepped forward. She stood a few feet away, gazing at Feng Mian from afar.

Half an hour ago, the princess had privately discussed this matter with her. It only took her half an incense stick's time to go from shock and resistance to acceptance. She believed that someone willing to risk their life for the people would never turn around and harm them!

Besides, Ying'er is so young, how long can those heartless people in the Yu family remember him? She wants his name to be engraved on the tombstone forever, to be remembered by future generations, so that even after she passes away, the incense will continue and peace will be ensured for eternity.

Once one person expressed their opinion, others began to echo it. Gradually, even the most stubborn old-fashioned person fell silent and said no more.

Feng Mian breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and exchanged a glance with Liu Jixue and Baili Xunzhou behind him. The three of them showed a hint of relief in their smiles.

Looking at Feng Mian's increasingly frail figure after her illness, Baili Xunzhou was both happy for her success and heartbroken that she had shouldered such a heavy responsibility with her weak body.

He stepped forward and helped Feng Mian back to rest, saying, "You've made a good start for this matter. Leave the cleanup to me. Don't worry about it anymore."

With someone volunteering to do the work, Fengmian was naturally happy to take it easy.

In the afternoon, when the sun was at its strongest, layers of smoke rose from the foot of the Western Hills.

People stood in the open space outside the house, facing the Western Hills and bowing in respect. Their cries echoed far and wide to the foot of the Western Hills, bidding farewell to the departed souls.

As a result of this action, the epidemic has not spread further, and with the application of the new prescription, most patients have gradually recovered.

Feng Mian finally completed her quarantine period and prepared to leave quietly in the early morning. Unexpectedly, as soon as she stepped out, she saw that the people were already waiting outside, bowing and paying their respects to her from a distance.

A vast, silent mass of people, yet their profound respect was overwhelming.

After returning the greetings to everyone, Feng Mianyao boarded the carriage and returned to the post station.

A line of people stood outside the post station, eagerly anticipating the arrival of the carriage. Seeing it approaching in the distance, many were itching to go and greet it. However, Gu Chunwen and Lu Mingzhu, aware of their inappropriate status, restrained themselves.

Liu Ying and Wu Liu, the two personal maids, ran to the carriage with a legitimate excuse and helped Feng Mian down from the carriage as soon as possible. Tears welled up in Liu Ying's eyes again. "The princess is finally back. We were so worried about her these past few days!"

"The princess even had people watching over us, not allowing us to get close to take care of her these past few days..." Wu Liu's small complaint paused, and she saw Baili Xunzhou following Feng Mian off the carriage, her mouth agape in surprise, "Your Highness?"

Everyone was shocked. When did Baili Xunzhou sneak in?

It's not that they were out of touch; it's just that none of the people here cared about Baili Xunzhou's movements. Liu Jixue and the others also stayed near their village and didn't move around much. When Baili Xunzhou barged in, he didn't go to the post station either. He just grabbed a guard and interrogated him about Feng Mian's whereabouts. The guards near the post station were all on loan from the Swift Feather Camp, so they wouldn't say anything.

That's why they only found out now that Baili Xunzhou had been taking care of Feng Mian inside all along!

Gu Chunwen, a few steps away, saw Feng Mian turn around and gaze at Baili Xunzhou, and felt a chill in her heart. Lu Mingzhu took a sour step, stepped on a pebble, and almost fell headlong.

Liu Ying looked the two of them up and down with shining eyes, her lips curving into an uncontrollable smile.

Excellent, excellent! Ever since leaving Shengjing, she had been secretly worried that the princess would not be able to find a suitable husband. Along the way, she had indeed planned to find a few handsome and outstanding young men for the princess in the future. Now that she saw how much the prince cared for the princess, she felt that her plans could be put on hold indefinitely.

Fu Ciyan leisurely followed Liu Ying and Wu Liu to the front, looked Baili Xunzhou up and down several times, and snorted: "Not bad, quite bold."

It sounded like a compliment, but it also seemed to carry a hint of mockery, making it hard to figure out what he really meant.

Everyone knew what had happened in Yujia Village, so Liuying asked, "Now that the epidemic is under control, can we finally go back?"

Feng Mian nodded with a smile: "For now, we just need to continue isolating Yujia Village and Xiaoshan Village. In another ten days, I estimate that there will be nothing wrong with these two places."

Having been away for a long time and trapped in a small place, feeling anxious and worried every day, everyone had long wanted to return to Yunzhong County.

"The princess will be very happy to know."

Feng Mian and Baili Xunzhou exchanged a glance, hoping that the princess would have a kind heart and feel sorry for the two of them suffering, and would punish them leniently.

They then spent another half day preparing the carriages and packing their belongings. The group couldn't wait to embark on their journey back to Yunzhong County.

Before leaving, Feng Mian lifted the carriage curtain and asked Lu Mingzhu, who was just about to mount his horse, "Lord Lu, are you free now? I have something I'd like to discuss with you."

Having been trapped here for so long, I wonder how the shops outside are doing.

Lu Mingzhu naturally complied without hesitation and happily boarded the carriage.

He had just sat down and was about to close the carriage door when another person followed him to the side of the carriage.

"Princess, I also have something to report." Gu Chunwen held the carriage door open with one hand and asked gently, "Would you mind riding with me?"

“Of course, please, Lord Gu.” Feng Mian didn’t think anything of it and nodded in agreement.

Gu Chunwen readily boarded the carriage, sat down opposite Lu Mingzhu, and gave him a slight smile.

Outside, Baili Xunzhou frowned as he watched, then suddenly dismounted, tossed the reins into the arms of a guard, strode over to the carriage, peeked out from the small window, feigning sleepiness, and looked at Feng Mian, saying, "I haven't had a good rest these past few days, may I borrow the carriage to rest for a while?"

A sliver of light from outside the car window fell on his face, the interplay of light and shadow highlighting the depth of his features. As he looked up at people, he inexplicably exuded a pitiful air.

Feng Mian immediately softened and was about to respond when she heard Gu Chunwen, who was sitting by the window, turn his head and ask softly, "Will our discussion of official business disturb Your Highness?"

Baili Xunzhou turned his head slightly to look at him, his eyebrows and eyes suddenly becoming sharp, and said rather impolitely, "In the past, when we went on expeditions, where was there such a quiet place for you to sleep? I can actually rest more peacefully with some noise around me."

"Alright, come on up. There are cushions in the car, you can lean back and rest for a bit." Feng Mian stretched out her index finger and poked Baili Xunzhou's head out the window, her actions and words full of intimacy.

Baili Xunzhou's eyes crinkled with laughter. He walked around to the carriage door and strode onto the carriage. He bent down and passed Gu Chunwen and Lu Mingzhu, who were sitting on either side of him, and sat down next to Feng Mian.

Liu Ying and Wu Liu sat by the door, and when they saw the four people sitting inside, they felt the air become inexplicably tense.

When Baili Xunzhou sat down, he deliberately rolled up his sleeves to expose his hands, and then deliberately reached out to pull the curtains by the window.

With that gesture, the red, burn-like marks on the back of his hand were exposed to Feng Mian's eyes.

Feng Mian grabbed his hand, which he was about to withdraw, and examined it closely. Her brows furrowed slightly as she asked with concern, "When did you get hurt?"

Baili Xunzhou pressed his lips tightly together, refusing to let them curl up. Just as he was about to speak, the carriage door opened again, and Fu Ciyan stood outside, arms crossed, looking at the group of people inside the carriage. "Everyone's here. Would you mind if we gave you one more ride? My legs hurt, so I can't ride."

The three young masters present wanted to say they minded, but Feng Mian said he didn't mind, so they could only watch helplessly as another person was crammed into the carriage.

Fortunately, the carriage that Fengmian was traveling in was spacious enough to comfortably fit all of them without feeling too crowded.

Baili Xunzhou hooked the fingers that Feng Mian was holding in his palm, bringing the topic back: "It's just a minor injury. I accidentally splashed some while decocting the medicine."

"How could you be so careless? Did you apply the medicine?" Thinking back to the days she was sick, he had indeed brought her medicine every day, and she hadn't even noticed when he had injured his hand.

"It's alright, I'm not afraid of getting burned. Have you forgotten? When we were little, I lit a fire in a cave to rescue you. I wasn't afraid of the flames that were so close and so high, so freshly made medicine is nothing to me."

Baili Xunzhou thus inadvertently revealed to everyone that he and Feng Mian had known each other since childhood.

As expected, this attracted everyone's attention, as the two of them had met when they were young.

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Author's Note: The carriage: Today's workload was a bit heavy.