proposal

Mingyu thought that since no one in the city had gotten sick until now, it must be because someone had left some medicine.

But who has it? Who is willing to give it to me?

Mingyu thought of someone in the city who poisoned the river in order to escape the crime of expelling his own people and forcing the government to pay.

If someone could be offered a spot in exchange for being acquitted, would that encourage some people to provide hidden medicinal herbs?

With this idea in mind, Mingyu made a suggestion to the city lord, but the city lord looked hesitant when he heard the proposal.

The city lord seemed to have aged several years in the past few days. He sighed and said, "Doctor, the people here and I are very grateful for your help. We understand that your proposal is to save people. But what do you think of this place? I'm not talking about the city, but about the people who have been driven out. How have they been doing recently?"

Mingyu hesitated for a moment, "This is the first time I've seen such a tragic scene."

Although Mingyu did not like Emperor Dewen very much, he also admitted that although Emperor Dewen could not be considered a wise ruler in history, he was sensible and restrained, and there had never been a large number of disaster victims near the capital.

Corpses were everywhere, people were deserted by their friends and relatives, and blamed each other, abandoning benevolence, righteousness, propriety and law.

She had only seen these in books.

"That's it. Who do you think they resent the most?"

Mingyu was stumped by this question. Who would they blame? The culprit thousands of miles away, the source of the poisoning, released back to Sulou County by a general amnesty, or Lincheng, who stood by and watched with indifference?

It was the people in the city and their so-called relatives and friends who gave them the final push over the cliff.

Seeing that Mingyu understood, the city lord smiled bitterly.

"Your thoughts are good, but not everyone will forgive them."

No matter what they thought at the beginning, or whether they joined the ranks of expelling patients, once they were bitten back by the rules they had originally acquiesced to, they would only resent the people who were still in the city.

"But it's still worth a try, isn't it? If the people in the city don't behave themselves, it will be us who will be in trouble, and we will have to divert our energy to prevent them from causing trouble."

The city lord wanted to say something, but Mingyu did not stop and continued.

"I understand the feelings of the people in the terraced fields, but we really have no medicine left. And within a week after the county governor arrives, we really have nothing. The death toll will continue to increase in the last week."

Mingyu looked at the city lord seriously.

"I sincerely ask that the people of the terraced fields be allowed to discuss this resolution together. Even if everyone disagrees in the end, it is an attempt to give these people on the brink of death a chance to live."

The city lord looked at Mingyu's determined expression, and felt a little reluctant when he thought of the corpses piled up outside the temple.

"I understand your thoughts. I will seriously consider this proposal."

"Thanks."

Mingyu said goodbye to the city lord and walked out. Someone was talking quietly nearby.

"Why did the weather suddenly turn cold?" The man coughed twice and complained a little.

"It's good to be cold." The old man beside him wrapped his coat tightly around the man. "It was poisonous insects that caused us this. Now that it's cold, there aren't so many poisonous insects. It's God taking pity on us."

The man suddenly responded: "That's right."

The old man turned around and saw Mingyu, and smiled at him in a friendly manner.

Mingyu nodded and greeted the old man with a smile.

"It's getting cold, and your son's cough isn't suitable for being exposed to the wind. It's better to find a place to hide from the wind."

After saying goodbye to the old man and turning to leave, he saw the young man who was following Gu Pingyuan at the time. He looked around and his eyes lit up when he saw Mingyu, and he walked towards Mingyu.

Mingyu sighed in his heart. How could Yu Tongan do things? He couldn't even take care of a teenager.

"Hello?" Seeing that he couldn't escape, Mingyu simply greeted him directly.

"Hello, I was pulled away by my master and didn't have time to say hello. I'm Gu Muxing, and like you, I was picked up by my master."

Gu Muxing has a very good personality. He was not angry when Mingyu rejected him. It's just that this is not a good place to talk. Gu Muxing's words, which are equivalent to "We are all orphans", attracted a lot of attention from others.

“…Let’s talk somewhere else.”

Mingyu led Gu Muxing up the mountain, and the figures gradually became fewer.

"Did you perform the ritual last night?" Although they were in Mingyu, Gu Muxing seemed to have already made up his mind. "With this talent, there's nothing wrong with it. If I had this talent, wouldn't Master praise me to the skies?"

Even though it wasn't his talent, the master praised him to the sky. It would have been better if he hadn't been disappointed with him at the same time.

As he spoke, Mingyu, who was walking in front of him, stopped and turned to face him. Judging from his expression, he didn't feel anything about the master's praise.

"Your master asked you to come and persuade me?"

"Yes." Gu Muxing was very calm. "He said that you have done everything you can do. There is not much use for you to stay here. You might as well go back to Xinghe Valley with us."

"Star Valley?"

"No way? Your master never said that? My master grumbles about your master every day." Gu Muxing was a little surprised. "Then what did your master say to you?"

Mingyu just watched as Gu Muxing began to deviate from the task assigned by his master.

"Hmm?" Mingyu thought for a moment, "They taught me to recognize officials and told me not to make the wrong one. If I get complained about, I'll be blamed by the emperor." The fact is that his movements will be restricted for a short period of time, which is a disaster for Mingyu who is still very active at this age.

"So boring, even what the master said was boring." Gu Muxing said, shifting his focus to another leg. "So you don't plan to come with us?"

"In fact, I don't know you, and I haven't heard the master talk about you."

Gu Muxing stared at Mingyu and blurted out, "Is this what you wanted to do?"

"What?"

"Master said you were coerced and forced to follow them. I've also looked at your horoscope, and it does indicate coercion." Gu Muxing said as he took a step closer. "Isn't following us the best option?"

"I'm an orphan, how did you see the horoscope?"

Gu Muxing listened with some pride: "If your master can figure it out, why can't we? Master has been specializing in this area all along."

"We followed your horoscope all the way here, even though we encountered an accident along the way," Gu Muxing said, his eyes wandering and a bit embarrassed. "But we're still sincere, right? Or do you think there's some entanglement behind your master's severing of contact with my master?"

Mingyu agreed. In fact, after seeing the old man's robe and hearing Gu Muxing's words, she had already begun to believe it, but she couldn't understand why her master hadn't mentioned it to her.

"Oh, is it because of this?" Gu Muxing breathed a sigh of relief. "I don't know the details, but Master said it's because you are stubborn."

"It is said that our sect rarely interferes with worldly affairs. I don't know why your master has lost his mind." After saying this, he realized that he had said that someone had lost his mind in front of Gu Shuqi's disciples. Fortunately, Mingyu did not say anything, so he continued speaking with peace of mind.

"Emperor Dewen's father invited your master to the palace, and he actually went. Then, he said something about not wanting to bring trouble to the sect, and he cut off contact."

Gu Muxing muttered to himself, Gu Shuqi is really stubborn, why do they have so many rules in Xinghe Valley? Why do they have to cut off contact as soon as they leave?

If it was true, Mingyu could understand what his master was doing. The people in the palace were unpredictable. If he could find the master through contact, it would probably bring disaster.

"I see."

Gu Muxing changed his foot again, somewhat happily: "Now that you understand, just follow us."

Mingyu was stunned and looked at the people at the foot of the mountain. She could always just leave, whether it was to return to the Yu family or embark on an escape again, or now follow Gu Muxing and the others' third choice.

But the county magistrate would not arrive for another week, and Xueliu was still waiting for the medicine.

"Ignore it." Gu Muxing followed her gaze and said, "They have their own destiny. You guys are just too powerful, that's why you always want to save everyone. You're just a messenger for God, you can't save everyone."

Mingyu was silent for a moment, then said to Gu Muxing, "I'd better wait for the county governor to come. You guys go first. If I need anything, I'll follow the horoscope to find you."

Gu Muxing was speechless after hearing this, and muttered after a while, "You inherited stubbornness, right?"

Finally, Mingyu was given his birth date and the method to enter the Galaxy Valley.

"You didn't tell anyone else, did you?"

"What's the point of others knowing? Can they read a horoscope or calculate the stars?" Gu Muxing said with disdain, "You are still too worldly."

After Gu Muxing left, Mingyu stood there for a while, reflecting on whether he was really as Gu Muxing said.

To no avail, we returned to the terraced fields.

…

At night, Yu Tongan found the Ming fish.

"The master and disciple left."

"I understand." Gu Muxing is quite capable in doing things. I wonder how he persuaded Gu Pingyuan.

Yu Tongan looked at Mingyu's calm expression and understood something: "It seems that the kid found you this afternoon."

"Yeah, I asked them to leave." Mingyu looked at Yu Tongan with a complicated expression, "Strange?"

"Something. I'm curious about what you said."

"Nothing was said. They came to me today because they thought I was a blockhead and left when they couldn't convince me." Mingyu watched the city lord come out and say something loudly, and the people around him instantly exploded.

"Then what are you thinking? You don't want to go with them?" Yu Tongan also looked at the city lord. "What did he say?"

"I made some suggestions to the city lord, probably referring to this matter."

The man coughed twice and roared loudly: "They swallowed all the food and medicine! They kicked us out! And they poisoned us! Now that the county magistrate is coming, why should we give them a chance to live? Have they ever given us a chance to live?! They just want us dead!"

This cry immediately aroused the anger of many people. They wanted to take all the suffering they had endured back on the people in the city before they could vent their anger.

"That's right! The county governor is coming now. As long as we can survive this week, there will be good things in store for us!"

"We can't give them a way out!"

The situation is pretty much the same as what the city lord said.

"Your suggestion?" Yu Tong'an looked calmly at the screaming people, completely unaffected by their actions. "This method is quite good. It suppresses the unrest in the city and alleviates the demand for medicine in the terraced fields."

Yu Tongan gave his conclusion in a cold voice: "The problem is, this resolution is difficult to pass."

"But I think there is still hope." Mingyu looked at the angry crowd and shouted loudly, which actually brought some life to this lifeless place.

Mingyu thought of Ding Yuan who secretly delivered food to people outside the city. He glanced sideways at the people on the verge of anger. They did not respond and stood beside the dying patient.