Qin Xiangyang looked at Pei Zhi, "Princess, shall we reply to the capital now?"
"If we send a reply to the capital now, even with the fastest horse, it will take at least seven days for the whole trip."
Pei Zhi looked at the prefect, "You have closed the city gates for three days. The people in the city cannot wait any longer."
Even if imperial physicians were sent from the capital, we would still have to wait for them to examine us, diagnose us, and devise a prescription.
Everyone in the city had long since died.
Yin Lu said with a sorrowful expression, "I really had no choice but to close the city gates."
"May I have your name?"
"Your humble servant is Yin Lu."
Pei Zhi stood up. "Lord Yin, I have some medical knowledge. Would you be willing to come with me, carry provisions into the city, and fight for your family?"
Yin Lu looked up at Pei Zhi, and kowtowed amidst Qin Xiangyang's rebuttal.
"Even if my family isn't in the city, I'm still willing to risk everything for the people of this city."
Pei Zhi knows medicine, but she hasn't seen the patients' exact conditions, so she's unsure if she can cure them.
"Princess, you mustn't! This is far too dangerous."
Pei Zhi firmly replied, "My mind is made up."
Pei Zhi sent Yin Lu to count the grain, and half an hour later, they entered the city.
After Yin Lu left, Qin Xiangyang hurriedly said, "Princess, even if it's for the Fifth Prince, you don't have to risk your life like this."
"You must stay alive so that you can..." Qin Xiangyang wanted to say that Pei Zhi must stay alive so that she could enjoy wealth and honor when Pei Yuance ascended the throne.
Pei Zhi retorted, "Who said I did this for him?"
"The lives of the people in these cities are in my hands, and I cannot stand idly by."
Qin Xiangyang said anxiously, "But can the princess be so sure that you can save them if you go in? What if you get infected?"
Qin Xiangyang disapproved of Pei Zhi's rashness, "Anyway, the idea of closing the city was given by Prefect Yin. When His Majesty settles the score later, it will be the prefect who suffers, not the princess."
In the future, all the people of the three cities will die in the city. Such a heinous crime is so great that even a hundred heads wouldn't be enough to pay for it.
Pei Zhi seemed not to have heard Qin Xiangyang's words: "The Prince Consort can wait for me outside the city. If I need anything, I hope the Prince Consort will do his best to help."
Qin Xiangyang sighed, "Princess, are you really not afraid of death?"
The women nearby were terrified when they heard about the plague.
As a result, Pei Zhi actually wanted to go into the city. Wasn't that courting death?
Pei Zhi smiled and said, "I have a face that signifies great fortune, so I shouldn't die easily."
Qin Xiangyang was so angry that her face turned red. "What kind of time is this, Princess? You're still joking?"
Pei Zhi straightened her expression and said, "Then I will not joke about it. My actions are not for Pei Yuan Ce's sake."
"Who is the princess fighting for?" Qin Xiangyang asked sarcastically. "Does the princess have the heart of a bodhisattva, unable to bear seeing so many people who have nothing to do with you die?"
Pei Zhi looked at Qin Xiangyang and said, "I will tell you when I come out alive."
Pei Zhi brought all the grain, and Yin Lu simply arranged for some of the soldiers who were willing to follow them into the city.
Yin Lu was quite humane; his trip was entirely voluntary, and he did not force anyone.
Those who were willing to go to the city were people whose families were all in the city.
Even if they were to die, all they wanted was for their family to be together.
Pei Zhi walked at the front, with Chun Hua following behind her.
"You don't need to go. Just wait for me outside."
Chunhua shook her head firmly, "The princess is my mistress. Wherever my mistress goes, I will go."
Pei Zhi wanted to say something, but Chunhua said, "If the princess dies inside, this servant will have to be buried with her. Why don't you let this servant go in with her?"
Pei Zhi simply sighed and reached out to gently pat Chunhua's head.
"When you come out, I will reward you handsomely."
Yin Lu handed over the veil, "Princess, it will be better to wear a veil."
Pei Zhi took the veil, threw it on the ground, and stepped on it, saying, "This is unnecessary."
Once inside the city, this thin veil offers no protection against the virus; isn't it just a waste of effort?
Seeing Pei Zhi's actions, Yin Lu also removed his veil.
Pei Zhi shouted loudly, "Open the city gates!"
Several squads of soldiers guarded outside the city gate, only allowing them to enter. If anyone came out, they would swiftly strike and behead the people in the city.
When the city gates opened, the people in the city poured out like madmen.
After the soldiers killed more than a dozen people, the crowd in the city finally stopped surging.
"I am Princess Chang Le. Today, I will enter the city with the local prefect, Lord Yin, and live and die with the people of the city!"
“Listen up, people of the city! I have brought enough food and herbs. The country has not abandoned you. We will definitely be able to get out of the city alive.”
Pei Zhi shouted loudly, "Now, everyone in the city, please make way for me to enter the city."
Many of the people in the city had pustules all over their faces and their eyes were vacant.
Everyone stared in disbelief at Pei Zhi, who was dressed in magnificent clothes. Slowly, they made way for her.
Pei Zhi walked alone at the front, with Yin Lu following behind her.
Then, the officers and soldiers transported cart after cart of grain into the city.
Qin Xiangyang, watching from behind as the city gates were about to close, knelt down and cried out, "Princess Chang Le, live a thousand years, live a thousand years!"
The refugees who were originally outside the city knelt down upon seeing this, shouting "Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor!"
Qin Xiangyang lowered his head, letting his tears fall to the ground.
Qin Xiangyang also hesitated for a moment about whether he should go into the city with Princess Chang Le.
In the end, Qin Xiangyang still didn't want to go.
Pei Zhi was willing to risk her life for the sake of the Fifth Prince.
Qin Xiangyang, however, was unwilling; the Qin family had never wanted to get involved in the court.
Before Qin Xiangyang married the princess, his family had already told him about it.
If the royal family needs the Qin family to provide funds, the Qin family will do everything in its power.
He also warned Qin Xiangyang that even if he married the princess, he could not participate in the struggle for the throne.
Everyone believed that Pei Zhi was the Fifth Prince's sworn sister.
In the future, the princess will certainly spare no effort to plan for the fifth prince.
As soon as Pei Zhi entered the city, he asked Lord Yin to arrange for people to distribute grain and cook porridge, so that everyone could fill their stomachs first.
The people in the city became restless upon seeing so much grain.
Yin Lu hurriedly shouted, "The princess is in the city, how could you possibly starve to death?"
With just one sentence, everyone finally behaved themselves.
Yin Lu arranged for all able-bodied people to set up the boiler and cook porridge.
Chunhua carried a medicine box behind Pei Zhi, who was squatting down next to an old man lying on a straw mat, barely alive.
The old man's face was sallow and his lips were chapped.
Pei Zhi fed the old man some water before taking his pulse and examining his wounds.
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