Chapter 232 My wife is dead!
New Year's Eve is getting closer.
The capital city is filled with a strong festive atmosphere.
The streets and alleys are decorated with lights and red lanterns hung high.
During the most important festival of the year, even those who are poor on weekdays go out to buy New Year's goods and decorate their homes.
"Cough, cough, cough..." In the yard, a middle-aged woman was coughing so hard that she couldn't straighten her back.
A neighbor passing by saw this and hurriedly walked over with concern, his eyes full of worry, "Hey, what's wrong with you? Why are you coughing so badly?"
"I don't know either. I probably caught a cold from the snow the other day." The middle-aged woman straightened up and took a breath. "New Year's Eve is almost here, but I caught a cold. I'm so unlucky and in so much trouble."
"That's right. It's really painful to be sick during the New Year. You should find a doctor and get some medicine."
"Forget it." The middle-aged woman waved her hand, looking nonchalant. "It's just a minor cold. Drink more ginger water and it will be better in a few days. We are a poor family, how can we afford medicine? I heard that Doctor Li's medicine has risen to fifty cents per set. It's simply killing people. How can we live like this?"
at the same time.
In a luxurious mansion.
The young man stood up from the soft couch, but before he had time to stretch his muscles, he started coughing violently, which made his chest feel stuffy.
He raised his hand and slapped the boy next to him hard in the face, "Are you blind? Can't you see that I'm not feeling well? What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and find a doctor for me!"
"Yes, yes, I'll go right away, right away!" The servant was beaten so hard that he saw stars. He covered his burning face and ran out crawling.
The maidservant beside her twisted her slender waist, walked forward with a charming look on her face, and said in a voice so gentle that it seemed to drip water, "Master, please don't be angry. It's not good to get sick from anger. Let me serve you and I guarantee that you will feel comfortable."
Half an hour later, the maid walked out of the room with a blushing face and light steps.
Just after turning the corner of the yard, the servant who had been beaten before suddenly jumped out from the side and hugged her tightly, not caring at all that she had just been kissed by the young man, and kissed her on the lips.
"Look at your cheerful face. You just had sex with the young master, right? Aren't you afraid that he will pass on his illness to you?"
The maid's cheeks flushed. She stretched out her hand and pinched the boy's waist fiercely, scolding him, "Aren't you afraid? You dare to kiss me on the mouth? The young master just kissed me!"
…
Inside the palace, everything was busy, just like the New Year's Eve in previous years.
The palace servants walked hurriedly, holding various decorative objects in their hands, and shuttled between the palaces.
In the Yangxin Palace, Zhang Chengyan picked up a memorial and frowned, "Why has the number of people infected with the cold in the capital increased so rapidly recently?"
Wang Decai, who was serving beside him, bowed and responded respectfully, "Your Majesty, I have already asked the imperial physician in advance. It is the transition period between spring and winter, the weather is changeable, and it is also close to New Year's Eve. People are out shopping for New Year's goods and visiting relatives and friends frequently. It is normal for the number of people infected with colds to increase."
"Really?" Zhang Chengyan nodded slightly. "But we still can't take this matter lightly. We have to control it. Instruct the national treasury to allocate some silver to regulate the price of medicinal materials, so that the people can at least have a good New Year. In addition, send people to various places in the city to distribute hot porridge to help those poor people."
"Yes, I will do it according to the emperor's order."
Zhang Chengyan closed the memorial in his hand and put it aside.
At this moment, most of the people in the capital city still thought it was just a common cold.
Those who are wealthier would go to the doctor to get some medicine to take.
The poor families, with limited money, could only drink ginger water and grit their teeth to persevere.
The night deepens.
The middle-aged woman lay weakly on the kang, her face as pale as paper. She raised her hand with great effort and gently pushed her husband who was sleeping beside her, "I... I really don't feel well..."
The husband was awakened by her movements. He turned over impatiently and replied in a daze, "If you feel uncomfortable, drink some water. Don't toss and turn in the middle of the night."
After saying that, he fell into a deep sleep again.
The woman wanted to say something else, but as soon as she opened her mouth, a stream of blood suddenly gushed out of her mouth.
Her eyes were wide open, full of fear, but she could no longer utter a sound and left the world quietly.
Her husband, unaware of the situation, continued to snore loudly.
…
Dawn gradually broke and the morning light spread across the earth.
When the husband woke up, he found that his wife beside him was already dead. He was so frightened that he didn't even have time to put on his shoes. He stumbled into the street and shouted, "My wife is dead!"
Before he finished speaking, a violent cough came out of his mouth.
He hunched over, his hands tightly covering his chest, his face full of fear.
That’s how his wife died…is he going to die too?
Screams of fear were heard one after another on the street.
“Someone’s dead!”
“Someone’s dead!”
A masked man strode onto the street. He stood tall and straight, and spoke in a loud voice, "This is not a cold at all, but an epidemic. There is an epidemic in the capital!"
He held up a book in his hand. "This is recorded in the Records of Disasters and Anomalies. In the 23rd year of Jinghe, the imperial concubine gave birth to twins, and a great epidemic broke out in the same year! Now the Zhao concubine is pregnant with twins again. Twins have been regarded as an ominous sign since ancient times. The previous twins did not cause disasters because of the blessing of the national destiny of the Darong Kingdom, but this time it is different! The children in the Zhao concubine's belly must not be kept, otherwise all the people in our capital will die! This epidemic has no cure. Do you all want to die in vain?"
When the people around heard this, they were immediately thrown into chaos, and fear spread quickly like wildfire.
"Epidemic! What can we do? There really is no cure!"
An old man's voice was trembling, full of despair, and his cloudy eyes were filled with fear.
"It's over, it's over. I haven't married yet, and my good life hasn't started yet. I don't want to die!"
The young man collapsed on the ground, holding his head in his hands, crying.
"Is this really an epidemic? Why hasn't the government taken any action yet?"
Seeing this, the masked man snorted coldly, his voice became sharper and more powerful, "Government? Humph, how could they care about the lives of us ordinary people! In their eyes, the royal heir is the most important! Even if everyone in the capital is dead, they are still alive and well. They have precious medicinal herbs, countless silver, and the imperial doctors of the Imperial Hospital are always ready to serve them, but what about you? You have nothing, and you can only wait to die here!"
He paused for a moment, and looked around at the crowd. Seeing that some people were already interested, he continued to add fuel to the fire, "When everyone here dies, they can just call in some people from other places, and it won't be long before the capital will be bustling again. By then, the house you have worked so hard to save will be occupied by others, and you can only die with hatred in your heart, and die with your eyes wide open! Are you willing?"
"I'm not willing to accept this!" Several angry and unwilling voices rang out sporadically among the crowd.
"Not willing to give up? Then take action!" The masked man became more and more excited, waving his hands in the air and shouting at the top of his lungs, "Let's make a fuss together! Let the government take out the medicine and distribute it to us! Otherwise, let Concubine Zhao abort the baby in her belly! Otherwise, even if we survive this epidemic, there will be continuous natural and man-made disasters in the future. You can survive this time, but can you avoid it every time?"
His voice echoed above the noisy crowd, inciting everyone's fear.
A cold light suddenly flashed.
The sharp arrow came flying like lightning and instantly nailed the masked man to the ground.
"Ah! Someone's dead!"
“Murder!”
A tall horse stepped out from the chaotic crowd in a majestic manner.
Jin Zhi was riding on a horse, with an upright posture and a stern face.
His eyes were like torches, scanning the panicked crowd, and he shouted, "This is a lie to confuse the people! Don't listen to him! How could the government ignore you? The emperor has already issued an order, and the medicine will be delivered soon, so everyone can take it! If anyone dares to talk nonsense here again and disturb the people, don't blame me for being merciless!"
After Jin Zhi finished speaking, he waved his hand and suddenly pulled up the corpse on the ground with quick and decisive movements.
He squeezed the horse's belly hard, and the horse neighed and galloped away, leaving only a cloud of dust.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
