As soon as she arrived near the prefect's residence, Lin Zao saw a young doctor loitering by the roadside. She initially wanted to approach him and ask him for advice, but considering her current attire, she changed her mind.
Lin Zao secretly jumped into the backyard of the prefect's house, hiding and dodging the maids and servants along the way, and finally arrived at the inner courtyard.
"Madam! That little slut is finally dead, but Master has gone mad and wants to beat those doctors to death! What should we do? What if Doctor Ren can't take it anymore and confesses?"
Lin Zao heard an old woman's voice and subconsciously thought of the young doctor outside. Could it be that the old doctor was inside? Could it be the Doctor Ren that the old woman was talking about?
"Don't worry! He wouldn't dare say it. His daughter is in our hands! He's probably not going to make it. Have you dealt with this properly? Don't let anyone trace it back to us!" A haughty female voice replied, presumably the lady.
"Don't worry, Madam! Everything's been arranged over there! It should be almost done!"
"Um."
Lin Zao heard the people inside walking out and quickly left. She guessed that the person Xiao Bao mentioned who was poisoned was related to the two people inside, and also wondered if the old woman's words about the other side were related to those robbers.
We need to find the right person quickly! Lin Zao planned to go directly to see the prefect.
As soon as Lin Zao turned the corner, she saw three masked men carrying a child sneaking out, and guessed that she had run into the person in question.
Lin Zao hid in the corner, and as the group was about to pass by, she flicked her wrist and a hidden arrow appeared in her hand. There was no need to show mercy to the traffickers, so she shot the arrow directly at the person holding the child.
A scream of agony rang out from the prefect's back courtyard. The prefect, who was interrogating several old doctors who were being tortured on chairs in the front yard, looked in surprise towards the back courtyard and stopped ordering the beatings to continue.
"Quick, follow me to the backyard!" He led a group of people and rushed towards the direction of the screams.
In the backyard, Lin Zao was already holding the drugged child in her arms, while the other two robbers had been knocked unconscious and were lying on the ground.
"Wake up!" Lin Zao took a bottle of water from her spatial storage and splashed it on the child's face.
The child in her arms opened his eyes groggily, and before he could even see what was happening, he immediately started crying.
"Mommy~ Waaah, don't die! Waaah... Daddy! There are bad people!"
Seeing that he was awake, Lin Zao helped him up to stand and quickly interrupted his crying.
"Don't cry, I've knocked the bad guy out. I'm here to save you!"
He choked and then continued to cry.
Lin Zao was quite troubled; it seemed she could only wait for someone to arrive.
Prefect Li Zheng arrived immediately with a group of guards from the outer courtyard. Upon seeing Lin Zao and the several robbers lying on the ground, he shouted angrily:
"Who are you? Let go of my son!"
Lin Zao stood up and bowed. "Greetings, Your Excellency! I am Wang Lin from Datong Town. I saw these masked men sneaking into Your Excellency's house on the road and guessed that they intended to harm you, so I followed them in."
Lin Zao paused for a moment and then continued:
"I originally intended to go directly to the lord and tell him the truth, but these men entered the courtyard and drugged your young master, intending to take him away. Seeing the urgency of the situation, I killed the bandit leader and knocked out the remaining two, thus saving your young master and causing a commotion."
The young master in front of Lin Zao rushed into his father's arms as soon as he saw him arrive, and Lin Zao did not stop him.
Prefect Li Zheng hugged his son to put his mind at ease, but looked at Lin Zao with some suspicion. Could such a dark-skinned and thin young man handle three robbers?
"If Your Excellency does not believe me, you can wake these two up and ask them directly!"
Li Zheng seemed to be deep in thought. He gestured to the guards beside him, and several guards immediately came out and carried the two unconscious robbers away to interrogate them. Even the one who had been shot dead by Lin Zao was carried away.
"I am deeply grateful to this chivalrous gentleman for saving my son's life! Would you care to come to the front courtyard for a chat?"
Lin Zao raised an eyebrow, thought of the old doctor, and readily agreed.
"Go and arrange for someone to serve wine and dishes. I must properly thank this young friend Wang Lin!"
The prefect had his precious son carried away by a servant, gave an order, and then led Lin Zao to the reception hall in the front courtyard.
When the food was served, Li Zheng and Lin Zao exchanged a lot of polite words, but Li Zheng did not find out anything about Lin Zao's identity or background.
Instead, Lin Zao learned from the prefect that his most beloved concubine had fallen seriously ill, but had died from poisoning caused by a quack doctor's misdiagnosis and the wrong medication. The young master that Lin Zao saved was the only son that concubine had given birth to for the prefect.
Li Zheng is now forty years old, but he only has this one son, whom he cherishes like a precious jewel. If the son were to be taken by robbers, it would be worse than death for him.
"Now that you mention it, I suddenly remember hearing the robbers say on the way that someone was there to meet them. No wonder we had no trouble getting in!" Lin Zao exclaimed, seemingly genuinely.
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