Su Muxi hurriedly walked towards the water vat, but before she could take more than a few steps, she was stopped by a yamen runner.
"I thought you genuinely wanted to cure the people of our city! I never imagined you were just like your father! You both want us to die!"
"Your father brought in a bunch of fake medicines to fool people! And you're following suit, making fake prescriptions to harm people!"
"There isn't a single good person in your Su family!"
"Seeing so many people die because of you, don't your consciences hurt at all?!"
The constable looked to be in his early twenties, covered in filth, with disheveled hair, visibly tired, and his eyes were filled with rage, as if he wanted to tear Su Muxi to pieces.
McQueen quickly stepped forward and stood in front of Su Muxi.
His right hand touched the hilt of the steel knife hanging at his waist. If the constable made any move, he would kill him without hesitation.
However, the constable showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, he stepped forward and stretched his neck out in front of McQueen.
"Kill me! Go ahead and kill me! My whole family died at Su Xing's hands anyway. If you kill me, I can go to the underworld and reunite with my family!"
Seeing this, Jia Ren hurriedly shouted, "Cao San! Don't be so insolent!"
As he spoke, he ran up to Su Muxi, pulled Cao San aside, and then said to Su Muxi with a face full of apology, "Your Highness, please forgive him. His name is Cao San. His ancestors have been constables in the county government of Fukang County for three generations. Unfortunately, his family members have all contracted the plague. This morning, his father also died. This boy is in grief over the loss of his loved ones and did not mean to offend Your Highness. Please do not hold a grudge against a mere constable."
Su Muxi looked at Cao San's angry expression, which seemed genuine, so he probably didn't know the truth and was kept in the dark by Jia Ren.
Cao San shoved Jia Ren aside and glared fiercely at Su Muxi. "My lord, there's no need to plead for me. Kill me or torture me, do as you please! But before I die, I will expose the true colors of the Su family!"
As he spoke, Cao San turned around and loudly proclaimed to the group of people who had come from Jinzhou City: "Do you know why all the people of our Fukang County have been infected with the plague?! It's all the fault of the Su family!"
At first, not many people were infected. The doctors in the city treated them and their conditions improved. However, the medicinal herbs in our Fukang County were insufficient to cope with the plague. So the county magistrate emptied his coffers and found wealthy merchants in the city to raise a lot of money to buy medicinal herbs from the Su family!
But when the medicinal herbs arrived, the people's conditions worsened. Do you know why?!
Because the medicines that Su Xing brought were all fake!
The Su family is already so wealthy, why would they need to make money like this?!
Do you know what it feels like to watch your loved ones die one by one, and be completely powerless to stop it?!
Do you think we want to gather all the city's residents here and treat them like livestock?
We have no choice!
The city's food supplies are almost gone, and the medicinal herbs have long been exhausted!
Do you think we don't want to go out?
But we can't get out!
We fear that if we go out, the people in other parts of the city will also contract the plague, so we can only wait to die in the city!
After Cao San finished speaking, he covered his face with his hands, his young back slowly bent down, and then he knelt on the ground and burst into tears.
Throughout the entire ordeal, the infected people remained numb, as if they had long since died and were now merely struggling to survive.
Those young masters couldn't help but tear up after hearing Cao San's words.
McQueen was also deeply moved and wanted to tell the truth. Seeing that Cao San was about to commit suicide, he quickly kicked the knife away.
What are you doing!
"Ha! What would I do? Can't you see? I'd rather slit my own throat than die at the hands of you beasts!"
Seeing this, Jia Ren sighed heavily, "Alas! Cao San, why were you so impulsive!"
Although Su Xing deceived our Fukang County with fake medicine, Princess Yong'an was sent by the Emperor, so she wouldn't lie to us. Perhaps there's just some misunderstanding?
"Ha! A misunderstanding? So many people just died, and you call this a misunderstanding, Magistrate?! The facts are right in front of us. Just because the Su family is one of the four great Shanxi merchants, and Su Muxi is the Princess Consort of the Prince of Yong'an, does that mean the people of Fukang County have to suffer this in vain and just wait to die in this city?!"
"After I die, I will surely become a vengeful ghost, haunting the Su family every day, making sure they all suffer a terrible death!"
After Cao San finished speaking angrily, he went to pick up the knife that Mai Kun had kicked away.
Just then, Su Muxi shouted from beside the water vat, "There's something wrong with this water!"
"My prescription is correct; the problem lies with the water I used to brew the medicine!"
Xie Xuan hurriedly said, "I'll use the water I brought to brew another batch of medicine right away!"
Cao San sneered repeatedly, clearly believing that Su Muxi was making excuses for herself.
Just as he was about to make a sarcastic remark, Su Muxi said, "You're saying you're just waiting to die in the city? I'm afraid only the common people are waiting to die!"
Cao San was furious, "What do you mean!"
Su Muxi sneered, "It means exactly what it says! You're perfectly fine! Your whole family has been infected with the plague, yet you can still stand before me, the Princess Consort, and curse our Su family with such vigor! Do you think the vengeful spirits of your deceased family members are protecting you?"
Although Cao San was simple-minded, he could still hear the sarcasm in Su Muxi's words.
The young masters from Jinzhou City all became serious after hearing Su Muxi's words.
yes.
If most of the people in the city have contracted the plague, why are the yamen runners who are in contact with these sick people every day unharmed?
And the soldiers at the city gate, as well as the officials of Fukang County…
A sense of crisis arose spontaneously among the crowd, for some unknown reason.
A flash of murderous intent crossed Jia Ren's eyes. He was about to give a signal to the person next to him when Su Muxi continued, "It must be because Lord Jia governed the city well and made the soldiers and yamen runners drink water from other places that they did not contract the plague!"
There are many ways this plague can spread, but this one is likely transmitted through water.
Cao San was stunned for a moment, then said blankly, "It seems so. The magistrate was afraid that we would catch the plague, so he specifically ordered that we eat and drink separately from the people, and we could only draw water from the well at the city gate..."
But my father didn't drink any water from elsewhere, so why did he also contract the plague?
Su Muxi glanced at Jia Ren without showing any emotion, then lied and said, "Maybe your father accidentally drank this water and didn't tell you."
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