Chapter 73 Plague

Xunxiao fell silent and Chengfeng became timid.

Chengfeng cleared his throat and pinched his throat to flatter him: "I'll go find out which goldsmith in Luojing has good craftsmanship, and I guarantee he can make me a lifelike rabbit."

Zhao Yun chuckled: "If you don't do it right, I'll cripple your other good leg too."

Chengfeng was like swallowing bitter herbs, he wanted to slap himself in the face, why did he respond so rudely.

In the end, the piece of gold Epiphyllum jewelry was limped away by the wind.

-

Yesterday's flower viewing banquet was so exhausting that Shen Shuwei slept until noon, a rare sleep. To her surprise, Jing Yin had also just woken up and was standing in the courtyard with a bowl of sweet soup. When he saw her push the door open, he smiled.

Chen Shuwei didn't say anything, but took the sweet soup and drank it in small sips.

When she was about to finish her drink, Zhao Yunxiang just remembered and mentioned: "I forgot to tell you that Mr. Shen got up early this morning and prepared a family dinner, just waiting for you to come over."

Chen Shu choked slightly, swallowed the sweet soup in his mouth and looked at him.

Did he do it on purpose? He didn't tell her about his second brother preparing a family dinner earlier or later, but waited until she slowly finished her sweet soup and was about 70% full before telling her.

Seeing the condemnation in Shen Shuwei's eyes, Zhao Yun blinked innocently, "Miss, are you not full? I'll go get you another bowl."

As he spoke, Zhao Yun reached out to take the bowl.

Chen Shu glanced at him and slapped his hand down without any courtesy, "I'm going to find my second brother."

Zhao Yun had fair skin, and his hands were especially white like jade. Even Shen Shuwei, a girl, had hands that were not as beautiful as his. This caused Shen Shuwei to slap him, and a red mark quickly spread across the back of her hand.

Zhao Yun looked down at the red marks on the back of his hand, curled the corners of his lips, and followed Shen Shuwei to the main hall.

Father Shen was like an invisible man in the mansion. He went out to court early every day and only ate in his room when he came back at night.

Therefore, Mr. Shen was not present at the family dinner today, only a few children from the Shen family were present.

Shen Shuwei estimated the date and found that today was not a day off. She looked at Shen Zhang who was peeling shrimp for Shen Zhiyang and asked, "Why did Second Brother choose to hold a family dinner today?"

Shen Zhang had just finished scolding Shen Zhiyang for being such a grown-up and still needing him, his brother, to peel shrimps. When he heard the voice, he waved at Shen Shuwei and asked her to sit next to him.

"Of course it's for celebration." Shen Zhang said half-heartedly.

Shen Shuwei was puzzled and was about to sit down next to Shen Zhang when Zhao Yun suddenly coughed. "The seat next to me offers a view of the courtyard, which is much better than the second young master's cold and dark seat."

The shrimp in Shen Zhang's hand was pinched into two pieces and dropped into the plate.

Shen Zhiyang cried out "My shrimp" distressedly.

Shen Shuwei pulled out a chair calmly and sat down on the right side of Shen Zhang. She picked up a shrimp with her serving chopsticks, peeled the shrimp, and put the shrimp meat into Shen Zhiyang's bowl. "Third sister will compensate you."

Shen Zhiyang's eyes lit up, and she said to Shen Shuwei through Shen Zhang in a sweet voice, "Third sister is the best. I like her the most."

Being interrupted by her, Shen Zhang's expression became much better. He reached out and turned Shen Zhiyang's head back, "Eat your food, don't bother your third sister."

Shen Shuwei curled his lips and started to peel the walnuts. He asked, "Second brother hasn't told me what we are celebrating at the family dinner today?"

Speaking of this, Shen Zhang snorted and threw another shrimp into Shen Zhiyang's bowl, "Chu Yunlan's leg is broken."

Chen Shuwei raised his eyebrows and paused in peeling the walnuts.

Shen Zhang continued to drop a bombshell: "Bailu Academy kicked him out for this."

"I heard that he got drunk in a restaurant and spread the news that Chu Xinrou had won the affections of Prince Jing and that his family would have a consort. As a result, he was beaten up by Prince Jing's men in the middle of the night."

Such a huge scandal was naturally kept secret by everyone in the Marquis of Jingning's mansion. Chen Zhang also heard about it from his colleagues when he was on duty in the morning. Their imperial guards patrolled the capital and heard more gossip and rumors than others.

Thinking of his elder brother's policy paper that was stolen by the Marquis of Jingning's Mansion, Shen Zhang immediately took leave and went home to celebrate.

He actually wanted to light a firecracker to celebrate, but his elder brother stopped him and advised him not to take advantage of the situation.

What a joke! This is just the beginning. He even wanted to bring some rotten fruits to visit and express his condolences, and ask Chu Yunlan how he felt about being a cripple.

Shen Shuwei split the peeled walnut kernels into two, and while Shen Zhang was happily not paying attention, he pushed one plate in front of Zhao Yun and handed the other plate to Shen Heng.

They are the only two people in the family who like to eat these.

"A person like Chu Yunlan wouldn't suddenly say something like this without any purpose even if he was drunk. Second brother, do you know the reason?" Shen Shuwei said.

Just as Chen Zhang was about to say it was because of a piece of gold jewelry, a soft sound came from the other side. It was the sound of Zhao Yun using chopsticks to pick up walnut kernels, which kept falling, and the chopsticks hitting the plate.

"Sorry, the walnuts the girl is peeling——"

Shen Shuwei covered his lips and coughed, glancing at him warningly.

He will never stop.

Zhao Yun received Shen Shuwei's warning, slowly picked up a piece of walnut kernel, and chewed it in his mouth under Shen Zhang's gloomy gaze, "It's very sweet."

After Zhao Yun's act, Shen Zhang was furious and Shen Shuwei no longer had the heart to ask further questions.

Shen Shuwei thought Jing Yin would just be quiet and have a good meal, but he didn't expect that a plate of tender white fish with bones removed would be placed in front of him soon. When he looked up, he met Zhao Yun's face, and he even smiled at him and Shen Zhang.

Shen Shuwei didn't know whether there was any provocation in his smile, but Shen Zhang's face turned dark and he looked like he wanted to punch him in the face.

Shen Shuwei coughed lightly and passed the fish meat to Shen Zhiyang, "Ayang, eat it."

Shen Zhiyang happily ate all the fish and smiled sweetly at Shen Shuwei.

Fortunately, Zhao Yun did not do anything shocking after that, and everyone at the table finished their meal quietly.

After dinner, Chen Zhang mentioned the refugees around Luojing, his brow furrowed. "The flood in Yuzhou hasn't been brought under control, and there's even an epidemic, affecting the surrounding prefectures and counties. Now more and more refugees are pouring into Luojing. I'm afraid the situation will get out of control in a few days."

Chen Shuwei held the teacup and drank tea in silence. The development trend of the refugees was exactly the same as in his previous life. It seemed that the third prince's trip to Yuzhou could not change the development trajectory of things.

The only thing that changed—

Shen Shuwei looked at Shen Zhang. She knew why her second brother mentioned this matter now.

If the situation of refugees cannot be controlled, the imperial guards will be the first to bear the brunt of maintaining public order in the capital.

Not to mention that the powerful people in Luojing dislike those dirty refugees, the fact that they escaped from places with plague is enough to make people avoid them, so naturally they don't want to let refugees enter the capital.

Chen Shuwei lowered his eyes and calculated in his mind the food and herbs he had stored during this period.

After a moment, she put down the cup and said, "I plan to distribute porridge at the city gate starting tomorrow, along with medicinal soup to suppress the plague."

Several people in the Shen family knew that Shen Shuwei was hoarding food, but they didn't expect that Shen Shuwei planned to distribute porridge in person.

Shen Zhang was the first to disagree. "I have no objection to you treating the victims, but you can't go out. I will find someone to give you porridge and medicine."

At worst, he would find time to do it himself.

The victims have already fallen ill one after another, which shows how serious the plague is. Even he has prepared not to go home for this period of time.