Chapter 333 Will the He Family Protect Him?
Dr. Zheng hurriedly arrived at Cheng Wanwan's house with his medicine box, and came out half an hour later looking dejected.
It was already dark by then, and many villagers had gathered in the courtyard.
Seeing Zheng Langzhong's appearance, everyone's hearts sank lower and lower.
"What's wrong with Aunt Dashan?"
"Doctor Zheng, say something! Is there no way to save him?"
"Grandma Dashan has always been in good health, how could this be..."
Doctor Zheng shook his head: "He vomited a lot of blood, his body is weak, and medicine can't cure him. We need to go to the city to fetch a doctor..."
A mournful cry rang out from all around.
No one could believe it, especially Old Mrs. Zhao, who screamed and rushed into the inner room.
"Hahahaha!" He Yan burst into laughter upon hearing this. "Women are so petty. They can get so angry over just two wolves. It looks like they won't last more than two days."
He glanced at a bowl of meat soup in front of him, then pushed it away, saying, "The wolf meat smells too bad, you guys share it."
"Thank you for the reward, sir!"
The henchmen divided and ate the wolf meat soup.
At the same time, the howling of wolves echoed from the mountain.
"Awooo—Awooo—"
"There are quite a few wolves on this mountain." The officer sneered. "Find some time to go up the mountain, capture these wolves alive, and stew them."
"No, why do I feel like the wolf howls are getting closer?"
"Could it be that the wolves have all come down from the mountain?"
The officials who were sitting in the courtyard eating meat and drinking wine were so frightened that they stood up.
The group stood on the rock and looked up at Da Dong Mountain. Sure enough, they saw dozens of green eyes.
"Aww—"
The howls of wolves rose and fell.
The men were so scared they almost wet themselves. They quickly cleaned up the mess and hid inside the house.
The gate to Cheng Wanwan's house was tightly closed.
Zhao Sidan patted Xiaodian's head and whispered, "Alright, stop yelling. What if those heartless officials go up the mountain to arrest your parents? Just scare them a little."
Little Black was jumping around restlessly in the yard.
Just then, there was a knock on the courtyard gate.
Zhao Sidan quickly said, "Xiaodian, Xiaohei, quick, hide!"
The two little guys immediately darted into the house and hid in Cheng Wanwan's room. This was mainly because Cheng Wanwan would occasionally buy some beef jerky or mutton jerky from the mall and stuff it into the mouths of the two little ones, and they loved to stick to her.
He Xiao came in from outside.
He was enveloped in the chill of the early spring night as he walked to Cheng Wanwan's room. He said in a low voice, "Cousin, that Lord He is going too far. Please allow me to teach him a lesson."
"Xiao He, come in." Cheng Wanwan wasn't lying on the bed at all; she was sitting in a chair playing with the two wolves. She pointed to the chair next to her and said, "Sit down."
He Xiao sat down properly, his face cold and stern, shrouded in frost.
"May I ask, what is your relationship with this Lord He?" Cheng Wanwan asked casually. "If the Prefect wants to deal with this Lord He, will the He family protect him?"
“That depends on how serious He Yan’s crimes are.” He Xiao did not hide anything. “I have known He Yan since childhood. Many years ago, he was a nobody. Later, he got an official position through his grandfather’s merits. He was an uneducated man who was appointed as a sixth-rank salt and iron commissioner without taking the imperial examination. Cousin, you can imagine how powerful the He family was.”
“The things he did in Dahe Village are nothing to the He family. Even if it goes up to the prefect, the prefect can do nothing about it. So—” his eyes turned cold, “I stepped in and dealt with him.”
"Don't be impulsive." Cheng Wanwan smiled. "I'm about to die, aren't I? Although the death of a ninth-rank lady is nothing, what if I die with a blueprint that benefits the country and its people? The implications would be far greater."
She kicked out a wooden box next to her. "You can ride a horse, right? Ride as fast as you can to Huzhou tonight and give this box to Magistrate Shen. There's a letter I wrote inside. After reading the letter, Magistrate Shen will know what to do."
She had originally planned to hand this over after Magistrate Shen returned to Ping'an County three days later, but now she didn't want to wait any longer.
Every extra day she waits means another day of suffering for the village. Her backyard has chickens, ducks, geese, piglets, lambs, and rabbits. She's worked so hard to raise them all, and she doesn't want them to be harmed by those people.
He Xiao vaguely understood something, and he cupped his hands and said, "Yes, I'll go right away."
The journey to Huzhou by carriage took about two and a half hours, but by galloping on horseback, it took only half an hour. Fortunately, he was fast enough to ride his horse through the city gate just as it was about to close.
He wasn't some ignorant country bumpkin. When he arrived in Huzhou, he casually inquired around and walked to the prefect's gate. He then took out a tael of silver from his pocket and gave it to the gatekeeper. A short while later, Master Yuan hurriedly walked out of the prefect's gate.
"Isn't this Master He? Why are you suddenly in Huzhou so late? Has something happened?"
"I want to see the magistrate."
Master Yuan paused for a moment and said, "My lord has been working late into the night these past few days, and just went to bed. Master He, what exactly is it about..."
He Xiao spoke slowly: "It concerns my cousin, Madam Sui, and is a matter of life and death."
"Please come in quickly."
Yuan, the clerk, led the way through the side gate of the prefectural government building to a side room in a wing. Before he could knock, Magistrate Shen's voice came from inside: "Clerk, does the prefect have any instructions?"
"Sir, Master He has arrived." Master Yuan's voice was grave. "Something has happened to Madam Sui."
As soon as he finished speaking, the door to the side room was pulled open, and Magistrate Shen, who was not even dressed properly, looked anxious: "Master He, come in and talk to me."
He Xiao carried the box inside and sat down opposite Magistrate Shen: "These past few days, Dahe Village has been in turmoil, with the people suffering terribly. It's all thanks to that Lord He. Houses in the village have been seized, the elderly have been bullied, livestock have been killed... Zhao Shagen was kicked in the chest, Shagen's wife was almost forcibly taken by Lord He, the village head is seriously ill, and even my cousin has collapsed..."
"What?!" Magistrate Shen was completely stunned. "How could such a thing happen?"
"Although my cousin fell ill, she was concerned about the people and never forgot her duty as a lady of Suizhou when she was critically ill."
He Xiao opened the box beside him. Inside was a honeycomb briquette, a letter, and a blueprint. However, there was a mouthful of blood on the blueprint, and the slightly black bloodstains obscured the important data.
“My cousin originally intended to hand over the tools, but they were destroyed by those officials.” He Xiao’s voice was low. “Although the blueprints are missing key data, we can still get a general idea. If we find more craftsmen to try it out and put in more effort, we can eventually figure it out.”
Magistrate Shen didn't know what the black coal was, nor what it was on the blueprint, but he saw bloodstains—a large, shocking patch of blood—and his hands began to tremble.
He regretted leaving Ping'an County.
He shouldn't have left Dahe Village.
How could he...?
His hands trembled as he opened the letter.
The letter explained what honeycomb briquettes were, why they were made in that shape, and detailed what a honeycomb briquette machine was and how to make it, but the blueprints had been destroyed…
"Even when Lady Sui's life was hanging by a thread, she was thinking of things that benefited the country and its people. It's truly moving." Master Yuan's voice choked with emotion. "Sir, this matter must be reported to the Prefect and he must intervene to save Lady Sui!"
Magistrate Shen stood up: "Let's go see the Prefect!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
