"The handkerchief has nothing to do with me."
The old lady immediately became alert and denied it.
Then she glared angrily at Ye Zhen, "Are you going to torture me into confessing?"
Ye Zhen, assaulting an elder is a heinous crime. If you dare to lay a hand on me, you will find it difficult to stand in this world, and the law will not let you off the hook.
Unless you can kill everyone in this mansion to silence them.
But with over a hundred people in the Marquis's mansion, Ye Zhen couldn't possibly kill them all, nor could she expect everyone to keep quiet for her.
Thinking of this, the old lady felt more confident.
At the same time, she felt that Ye Zhen must have been bluffing her, and that Fu Jiang could not possibly have given her a handkerchief that was infected with the plague.
She was in the Marquis's residence; Fu Jiang would not disregard the safety of his mother.
Fortunately, she didn't fall for it and didn't reveal Fu Jiang's name.
Ye Zhen saw a hint of smugness in the old lady's eyes. She channeled her inner strength into the wooden stick and struck Granny Chun on the head.
Granny Chun died on the spot.
Ye Zhen calmly said, "Fu Guang, take it out and burn it."
She couldn't torture the old lady to force her to tell the truth, and she certainly couldn't jeopardize her own future for the old lady's sake.
But it's not that there's nothing that can be done.
"Guards, the old lady is very likely to have contracted a serious illness. Send her back to the hospital for isolation. To avoid infection, no servants in the hospital are allowed to approach the old lady's room."
No one will serve her until the old lady pays her dues.
The old lady was furious, but the servants already knew that she was responsible for the disaster and were even more afraid of being infected. As a result, no one in her courtyard spoke up for her.
Finally, the old lady was escorted back to her room by two rough-looking old women using long bamboo poles, as if they were herding pigs that had escaped from their pens.
As soon as the person entered the room, Cui Yihuan locked the door.
She volunteered, "Young mistress is busy with many matters, and the whole household needs your help. I will take care of the old lady."
She emphasized the word "take care" a little more.
Ye Zhen had sensed Cui Yihuan's intense hatred for the old lady, but Cui Yihuan remained quiet after entering the mansion.
Aside from taking a walk in the front yard every morning or evening, I spend the rest of my time in my own yard.
Today's epidemic has alarmed her as well, and she offered to take care of the old lady. Ye Zhen saw the hatred in her eyes again.
He nodded. "Thank you for your trouble."
Cui Yi smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "I am the Marquis's concubine, and it is my duty to take care of his mother. I will certainly not disappoint the young mistress."
Hearing their conversation from outside the door, the old lady frantically pulled at the door, shouting, "I'm not sick! You rebellious wretches dare to use the excuse of the plague to imprison me! When my son returns, I will not let you off easily..."
Ye Zhen didn't have time to pay attention to her anymore, and Cui Yihuan didn't linger either, following Ye Zhen, "Young Madam, is there a way to keep everyone here?"
During her time in the Marquis's mansion, aside from the occasional encounters with Xie Tingzhou on and off duty in the front courtyard in the morning and evening, she spent the rest of her time observing the people in the mansion and sorting out her past life.
Therefore, she also knew Ye Zhen to some extent, and knew that she was not a muddle-headed person.
Ye Zhen had also observed Cui Yihuan.
With neither the Marquis nor his son present, she wanted to try smallpox vaccination, and the household needed help.
"There is indeed a way to prevent it, but we need to try it to know if it will work."
She looked at Cui Yihuan and said, "Aunt Cui, someone is using the old lady to target the Marquis's mansion. Although we have imprisoned the old lady, I'm afraid it won't be long before the person behind it takes the opportunity to cause trouble."
We need to ensure that no one in the Marquis's household poses a threat to the capital, or even the entire Dayuan, before they cause trouble.
Only in this way can everyone have a way to survive.
Cui Yihuan understood the implications and said seriously, "Young Madam, you go about your business. I will personally keep an eye on the Old Madam. If there is anything I can do, just let me know."
Having finally gotten a chance to take revenge, she was determined not to let the old lady get away with it.
Ye Zhen said yes.
Then Cui Yihuan asked again, "Young Madam, will the Prince return?"
Ye Zhen stamped his foot. "I don't know."
Since Xie Tingzhou sent her a box of things last time, perhaps he was really busy, perhaps he was afraid she would feel uncomfortable, or perhaps he didn't want her to have a chance to return the things, the two of them haven't spent time alone together since.
Wu Desi was always unusually busy. In the past, Fu Guang and Xing Ze were almost inseparable from him, but this time Fu Guang was left behind, which made Ye Zhen feel a little strange.
She wasn't sure if she was overthinking it, but Fu Guang seemed to be something Xie Tingzhou had left for her.
"Do you have business with the young master?"
Cui Yihuan went to the front yard every morning and evening, so Ye Zhen naturally paid attention. After a while, he noticed something amiss.
She seemed to be there to see Xie Tingzhou, but if she admired Xie Tingzhou, she wouldn't have taken the initiative to approach Marquis Zhongyong in the first place.
Cui Yi laughed, "It's alright, I'm just a coward. The Marquis went to suppress the bandits, and this happened at the manor. There was no man at home, so I just didn't feel at ease."
Then she changed the subject, "On another note, it's not safe for the manor to be here right now, so it's a good thing for the young master not to come back."
She hopes her son is safe and healthy, and that it would be best to wait until the storm has passed before returning.
Ye Zhen also hopes that Tse Ting-chau will be safe.
However, she had other matters to attend to, so she didn't say much to Cui Yihuan and returned to her own courtyard.
She took out her treasured journal, repeatedly looked at the page about smallpox, and after making sure she knew it by heart and could recite it backwards, Ye Zhen tore off that page and burned it in the fire.
In her past life, it's possible that after she was sent away, Ye Wantang took this notebook and learned how to prevent smallpox.
This time, Ye Zhen will not give Ye Wantang a chance to make a contribution.
That night, another child in the manor was found to have a high fever. She was a servant born into the Marquis's household and must have been infected by Chaolu and the others in the past few days.
The next day, two more were found: a child and an elderly person.
Because of the three people's illness, the servants completely believed in the smallpox theory and dared not have any other thoughts. They all obediently waited for the doctor's treatment results.
Two more days passed, and the blisters on the three of them, including Chaolu, began to turn into pustules, accompanied by pain and itching.
Two more cases were found in the old lady's courtyard, both of whom had been close to Granny Chun.
Perhaps it was the effect of Ye Zhen's daily orders to brew heat-clearing and detoxifying medicinal drinks that made the infection situation in the household much better than expected.
Moreover, although the three who fell ill first were still suffering from the pain, there was no news of them being in mortal danger, which calmed the anxious hearts of everyone in the household.
When the scabs formed on Chaolu and the other two, Ye Zhen collected some bean scabs, roasted them over a low flame, ground them into powder, and then inhaled them through his nose.
She inoculated herself with smallpox according to Ye Jinghong's instructions.
The journal also records several other methods, such as soaking cotton balls in the fluid from smallpox and inserting them into the nose to infect smallpox and thus develop resistance.
Alternatively, they might wear the clothes of an infected person to spread the infection.
However, according to Ye Jinghong, among all the methods, Ye Zhen's success rate is relatively high and more stable.
However, it takes time for the scabs to mature, so she promptly sealed off the Marquis's residence.
Now that these days have passed, Ye Zhen is worried that those who have taken advantage of the old lady will become restless, so he instructed Wanxing and Fuguang.
"I should have a high fever and maybe even a rash next. Don't panic. Wanxing, keep a close eye on things at home. Fuguang, watch out for any unwanted movements..."
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