The news that Xue Wu was taken in by Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess reached the ears of those who were paying attention to the matter that night.
For example, Baili Yue who made a bet with Xue Yao.
Baili Yue kept her promise. She brought a box filled with neatly stacked gold bricks and sent it to the Xue family.
Baili Yue opened the lid herself and asked, "Miss Xue, please check the quantity, is it correct?"
Xue Yao put his hand on the top of the box and closed the lid. "No need. I trust Miss Baili's character."
The box was quickly carried away by the Xue family's servants, and attendants brought the two of them exquisite cakes and drinks.
The Baili family has a relative who is an imperial merchant. The family has a lot of money, but no matter how much money they have, it is impossible for them to spend a thousand taels of gold just for Baili Yue's bet.
In name, the 1,000 taels of silver were paid as compensation for gambling losses, but in reality, the Baili family used this legitimate excuse to bribe Prefect Xue.
Even if Baili Yue wins this bet, the Baili family will use another name to give the gold to the Xue family.
Baili Yue swallowed a piece of cake and sighed with regret, "What a shame, what a shame. I thought I was lucky enough to get to know Mr. Xie Shen, the top prostitute of Ningshuang Pavilion, but I didn't expect that Miss Xue was more skilled and made me lose miserably."
Xue Yao laughed heartily, "Sister Baili, please stop calling me Miss Xue all the time. It sounds too distant. From now on, you can call me Xue Yao, or Sister Xue."
As the two of them exchanged cups, the one who looked better actually became half-sisters.
Xue Yao drank the remaining wine in the glass and raised her chin towards the west side door.
A frail young man with a veil on his face walked out.
As the man got closer, Baili Yue opened his eyes wide and said in disbelief, "He is Xie Shen?"
Xue Yao nodded.
A servant brought a bowl of black medicinal juice and poured it into Xie Shen's mouth.
Xie Shen spat out the first mouthful of medicine. He knelt at Xue Yao's feet, his eyes filled with tears. "Miss Xue, please..."
He had barely begun to speak, and before he could even utter his request, the servant behind him roughly pulled him back.
The servant pinched Xie Shen's cheeks hard, forced him to open his mouth, and then poured the whole bowl of medicine into his mouth. Xie Shen was choked and started coughing violently, but the servant had no intention of stopping. Until the bowl of medicine was empty, the servant finally let go of Xie Shen.
Not long after the medicine entered his stomach, Xie Shen's forehead was covered with sweat. He first squatted down in pain, and finally curled up and began to twitch on the ground.
Although Xue Yao didn't say anything, Baili Yue could guess that what the servant fed Xie Shen was 99% likely an abortion drug.
Xie Shen felt as if his intestines were tangled together, as if there was a needle inside, moving madly. He bit his lower lip desperately, blood oozed out from his lips, and his mouth was instantly filled with a strong smell of blood.
Xue Yao stood up at this time. She grabbed Xie Shen's arm, held him like a chicken, and pushed him into Baili Yue's arms.
Xue Yao smiled and said, "It's impolite not to reciprocate. Since you like Mr. Xie so much, then take him back with you. Consider it a gift from my sister as we become sworn sisters."
With the sweet and soft beauty in his arms, Baili Yue had no time to say anything when he heard a few "ding-ling" sounds coming from the back door.
Xue Yao looked back.
Xue Wu had just lifted the door curtain with one hand when the foot that had stepped out of the threshold retracted.
Xue Wu's gaze jumped back and forth between his sister and Baili Yue's faces, and finally stopped on Xie Shen's bloodless cheek.
The moment Xue Wu met Xie Shen's eyes, he lowered the door curtain as if he had been electrocuted and fled away.
Xie Shen was a young man brought back from outside by his sister. As a young man raised in a noble family, he had nothing in common with the young men who were born in brothels and sold their smiles.
Only once, he was in a bad mood and secretly ran to the back garden to relax, but the beads in his hand fell into the pond.
The beads were a gift from his mother.
He didn't dare say that he had dropped it.
Just when he was at a loss, Xie Shen appeared out of nowhere, volunteered to go down into the river, fished out the string of coins and returned it to him.
Xie Shen said at the time that he really envied his background. He had been dressed in fine clothes since birth, and he didn't even know how to go into the water. He had never suffered any hardship.
Xue Wu just felt normal at the time.
After all, their identities are vastly different.
But now it seems that there is no difference.
It was nothing more than Xie Shen being given to Miss Baili.
And he was given to Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess, who was of a more noble status.
They are just objects that are disposed of at will. How can there be any distinction between high and low?
…
Time flies and it’s been more than a month.
Ling Shumo has tried her best to prevent the plague after the flood, but small-scale epidemics still break out.
The Minister of Works said that the epidemic was first discovered in Yancheng, under Quanzhou.
As long as the village where the epidemic is located is sealed off and set on fire, burning both the people and their belongings, the problem can be solved perfectly.
It’s not that the Minister of Works is mentally twisted and has to come up with such a cruel method.
In the past, the imperial court tried to find a way to treat people who had the plague, but the initial outbreak wasn't cured, and the plague also spread to surrounding towns.
Putting aside other humanitarian concerns, gathering the sick people together and treating them is definitely the best policy.
Ling Shumo looked at the officials sitting below her, tapping the table lightly with her knuckles.
If she agreed with the Minister of Works' approach, this disaster relief effort would have been a perfect success, and she could have immediately set off back to Kyoto to report to the emperor.
Several more officials stood up at the same time. "Your Highness, please do not hesitate any longer. Although this method is somewhat cruel, it is the best solution considering the overall situation. Although you have sacrificed the lives of one city, you have saved tens of millions of people in Zhongdu."
The officials had not yet waited for Ling Shumo's decision.
Shi Qi walked in with a middle-aged woman, who was none other than Lord Liu, the director of the Imperial Medical Service.
Envoy Liu bowed to Ling Shumo, who was sitting on the high throne, and then spoke to the officials below, "Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess submitted a memorial to the palace half a month ago, hoping that His Majesty would send personnel from the Imperial Hospital to assist Her Highness in dealing with a possible epidemic. With the exception of those with mobility issues, almost everyone has arrived."
A look of shock flashed across the eyes of the Minister of Works.
This place is a thousand miles away from Kyoto. Even if we ride at full speed, it will take half a month to arrive.
The palace received the letter half a month ago, which means that Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess had only been here for two days when she predicted the possible epidemic and submitted a memorial to His Majesty.
Fortunately, they had been arguing for such a long time, trying to persuade His Highness to give up Yancheng.
It turned out that His Highness had already made a decision.
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