The magistrate looked in the direction of the voice towards Chen Xiang, then looked at his advisor with a puzzled expression, "Who is it?"
"Master, they seem to be officials from the capital." The advisor roughly guessed their identities from the official robes worn by Chen Xiang and the others.
"Official constables?" The magistrate raised an eyebrow curiously, lifted the curtain, and walked in with the help of his clerk.
Xi Xi stared disdainfully at the county magistrate, who was covered in flabby flesh, and muttered something while blowing bubbles.
[How disgusting! This person is so fat; it seems he's eaten a lot of people's flesh and blood.]
Why are these officials here too? It seems they discovered Zhu Yanyan has no medicine and have come to ask Grandma for help.
[Hehehe, serves you right! Who told you to bully your brother!]
Xixi's chatter made the Zhu family members tremble and chuckle secretly. Old Mrs. Zhu, in particular, doted on her granddaughter, looking down at her mischievous little face and touching her nose.
"We'll feed you rice water later, after we're done!"
[XiXi is sleepy, so she goes to play in the courtyard of the space.]
If they try to forcibly burn down the village, let them experience what Xixi is capable of.
Xi Xi yawned wearily, her eyelids drooping, and she gradually drifted off to sleep.
The county magistrate had already taken small steps to stand in front of Chen Xiang, looked him over in his official robes, and asked curiously.
"Sir, what is the matter?"
Chen Xiang didn't take the county magistrate seriously. He was a ninth-rank official in the capital, a rank higher than the county magistrate.
He bypassed the county magistrate and looked at Zhu Xiaobao and Pei Sining sitting on a cart at the village entrance, observing that their skin was smooth and had no rashes.
It seems that the Sun family does indeed have an antidote for smallpox. In that case, we should take Old Lady Zhu and the others away.
“There are our prisoners in Lujia Village, and we are going to take them away.”
The magistrate looked through Chen Xiang's eyes at the unfamiliar group of people at the village entrance and instantly understood his meaning.
"My lord, it's not that I'm unwilling, but those few people are probably infected with smallpox and can't come out."
"What if I, your lord, order them to come out?"
Chen Xiang's attitude was clear: he wanted to get the Zhu family out of Lujia Village. His expression was fierce as he drew his broadsword and approached the county magistrate.
Seeing this, the officials behind the magistrate also drew their broadswords, and the two groups of people were locked in a stalemate.
Grandma Zhu stepped forward decisively, looking at the group with a firm gaze, and said, "We're not going out. If anyone's going out, everyone from Lujia Village will go out with us."
If it weren't for the help of Lujia Village in taking care of these two children, they wouldn't have recovered so quickly. She couldn't bear to watch the people of Lujia Village perish in the fire.
"Grandma Zhu, what right do your exiled prisoners have to negotiate?"
Chen Xiang didn't want to risk his brothers' lives in Lujia Village because of a few words from Old Lady Zhu; he had already taken a great risk by coming here.
Zhu Yanyan stood behind the crowd, sneering as she stepped forward and said sarcastically, "Auntie, you should know your place. Lord Chen is only looking out for you because he's giving you face. Don't push your luck. Do you want all of us to get infected with smallpox before you're satisfied?"
Xi Xi, who was fast asleep, was woken up by Zhu Yan Yan's shrill voice. She looked over angrily and was surprised to find that Zhu Bo Rong's face was covered with rashes and his fat face was burning red.
Wow! His own father has contracted smallpox, and he has the nerve to stand up and make sarcastic remarks.
No wonder she came looking for her grandmother; it turns out her old man is nearing the end.
Xi Xi's reminder made Grandma Zhu look in Zhu Borong's direction. There she saw Zhu Borong curled up in the quilt in pain, shivering, his face covered with rashes.
"Zhu Yanyan, aren't you going to see your father? His whole body is covered in rashes."
Zhu Yanyan was surprised that Old Lady Zhu would see Zhu Borong. She angrily turned around and covered him completely with the blanket.
Old Lady Zhu's reminder drew the attention of the county magistrate, who pointed at Zhu Yanyan and the others.
"Quickly, lock them up in Lujia Village."
The advisor, worried that these people might contract smallpox, quickly reminded them, "Master, these people should be included too."
"Yes, quick, push them all in!" The magistrate pointed nervously at Chen Xiang and the others.
Chen Xiang never expected that his perfect plan would be ruined entirely because of Zhu Yanyan.
He drew his broadsword with a look of anger, pointing it at the approaching officials.
Even Zhu Wen and the others were at a loss and retreated, looking flustered as they asked Chen Xiang.
"Boss, what do we do?"
Chen Xiang roughly counted the number of people in front of him; there were more than thirty people in total, while they only had seven or eight people and were no match for these officials.
He turned to look at Lujia Village, gritted his teeth, and waved his hand, "Go into Lujia Village."
At his command, everyone followed Chen Xiang and ran towards Lujia Village.
By the time the officers chasing them realized what was happening, everyone had already entered the village, and even Zhu Yanyan hurriedly led her carriage inside.
Holding the large knife, Chen Xiang looked at Old Lady Zhu in a panic, "Old Lady Zhu, we're all in the same boat now, what do you suggest we do?"
"Yes! Yes! They're going to burn the village down." Zhu Wen also felt despair at the situation before him.
[Sigh! What else can we do but pay to save our lives? This magistrate is the most greedy of all.]
[Hmph! Just now, when Xixi entered the space, that Zhu Yanyan filled the treasury again. She's guarding so much money and doing nothing but bad things.]
She should be made to lose money, to wake herself up.
Xixi's thoughts made the Zhu family secretly give her a thumbs up. As expected of the daughter of the old Zhu family, her new brain is full of clever ideas.
Reminded by her granddaughter, Grandma Zhu looked at Zhu Yanyan with a smile and said, "Yanyan, what do you think? You are our team's lucky star, always able to help the team turn danger into safety."
"Her? I don't know what Chen Fusheng was thinking, to be fooled by such a little girl, a lucky star, huh? If she's a lucky star, then I'm the Jade Emperor."
Along the way, Chen Xiang no longer had much affection for Zhu Xixi. At first, he believed that she was a lucky star who could protect everyone's safety.
Now it seems she's a jinx, only bringing disaster to the team and causing him to end up in this godforsaken place.
The conversation between the two made Zhu Yanyan so angry that her face turned green. She suppressed her anger and replied fiercely, "How should I know? Don't ask me!"
"How about this? I heard you've secretly hoarded quite a few good things. Why don't you take them out and give them to the magistrate? Maybe the magistrate will give us more time because you have these good things."
Grandma Zhu was very satisfied with Zhu Yanyan's reaction and offered suggestions with a smile on her face.
Chen Xiang thought the suggestion was quite good. He had heard that the county magistrate was greedy for money, and if he could make him happy with money, he might actually be able to buy more time.
“That’s right, Grandma Zhu’s suggestion is excellent. Zhu Yanyan, hurry up and bring out the things.”
"Lord Chen, what were you thinking when you asked an exiled prisoner for something? Was it something valuable that I brought?"
Zhu Yanyan's temper completely spiraled out of control, and she roared at Chen Xiang.
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