The Fang family, starting with Fang Yantong's great-grandfather, had served in the Hanlin Academy, making them a family of Hanlin scholars.
Upon learning of this, many students went to the general's mansion to demand an explanation.
"Why did they arrest members of the Fang family?"
Ye Wantang panicked and lashed out at the head of the guards in the mansion.
The guard leader lowered his head.
He didn't personally go to arrest the person; he only ordered his subordinates to do it. Who would have thought that Fang Yantong would leave his perfectly good mansion and go to live in a dilapidated house in the village?
But there's no use talking about this now; we still need to find a solution.
"I heard that Lord Fang and Imperial Censor Wang have entered the palace, Miss. What should we do?"
If they complain to the Emperor, I'm afraid the Emperor will reprimand the young lady.
Ye Wantang knew perfectly well that after pacing back and forth in the room a few times while wringing her handkerchief, she whispered something to the maid, instructing her to leave through the back door.
Then he looked at the head of the guards.
"You wanted to share my burdens; I was unaware of this matter."
The head guard was terrified. The young lady was making him take the blame. He quickly begged for mercy, "Young lady..."
Ye Wantang interrupted him, "Fang Yantong is not dead yet. Only if I am well can I protect you."
After this matter is over, I will give you indentures and let you leave. Your sons will be freed from slavery and will be able to take the imperial examinations and engage in commerce.
She thought of Ye Zhen using his freedom to seduce the servants, and tried to imitate him.
The guard leader had no choice.
Ye Wantang delayed for a while before bringing the guard leader to the Fang family.
She knelt down with the head of the guards.
"Wantang wanted to help with smallpox, but when she got home, she couldn't find the notes her mother had left for her."
Upon learning that I couldn't remember the method my mother had mentioned, he took it upon himself to find two people to experiment with it.
"It was Wan Tang's lax management that implicated Lord Fang, but he was only trying to ease my burdens. Wan Tang will take full responsibility for all the mistakes, and will have no complaints whatsoever, even if he is to be beaten or killed."
She did not try to deny it, but knelt down in public and protected the servants. Her original intention was to prevent smallpox, so some students felt that she was responsible and thought that what she said might be true.
The people from the Fang family who came were Fang Yantong's elder brother, sister-in-law, and wife.
They had heard about Ye Wantang's plan to vaccinate Dongshi, but they hadn't actually implemented it.
Now that they have found Fang Yantong at the dilapidated Taoist temple, they guessed that Ye Wantang was not confident about the matter, so she arrested people to conduct experiments first, and then pushed the blame onto her servants after the incident.
But they were civilized people, and no matter how angry they were, they couldn't bring themselves to beat Ye Wantang in public.
But Wang Yushi's wife didn't care about that. She rushed over and slapped Ye Wantang across the face.
"Don't try that with me. A first-rank general's mansion has its own rules. If you hadn't ordered it, how would the servants dare to arrest people arbitrarily?"
You are greedy for credit but incompetent. Before my younger brother, you had already experimented on beggars.
After failing, he instructed Imperial Physician Li to secretly learn from the Marquis's residence. Imperial Physician Li was caught red-handed and confessed to everything. Chief Physician Feng also reported it to the authorities.
"Miss Ye, don't take others for fools. I'm telling you this now: if anything happens to my brother, I'll tear you to pieces today, so you won't embarrass General Ye."
Ye Wantang was beaten and lost face, but she was more afraid than anything else.
How could Madam Wang know about the beggar?
He retorted, "I know nothing about beggars. I've been busy looking for my mother's notes lately."
That was part of my mother's dowry, containing instructions on how to defend against smallpox. She told me to pass it down, but it was stolen.
The beggar's body had already been burned, and they had no evidence.
As Ye Wantang was thinking this, she saw the maid who had gone out earlier nod slightly to her.
She stood up. "The lady has already hit me. Whatever else she wants to do, Wan Tang will bear it. But right now, Wan Tang has important matters to report to His Majesty in the palace."
Just then, the emperor summoned her to the palace, and the Fang family followed her in.
At the same time, two groups of people entered the city one after the other.
Leading the way was Fu Jiang, who returned to the capital with a heart full of hatred for Marquis Zhongyong and the remains of Nianxi.
She had hoped to have a good cry in front of the Grand Princess, but she learned that the Grand Princess had just entered the palace.
He hurriedly inquired about the reason, but the servants said they didn't know. So he asked about the situation at the Marquis's residence.
He was somewhat disappointed to hear that no one in the Marquis's mansion had died from smallpox, and that the disease had not spread outside. The old lady had been burned, but she was still alive.
All those vaccinated in the Marquis's mansion were healthy, and it was time to open the gates. Xie Tingzhou led Feng Xing and the Imperial Guard leader to the old lady's room.
"His Majesty wants to investigate the source of smallpox. All the servants in the mansion can testify that the handkerchief was made by you at the behest of Granny Chun."
Intentionally spreading smallpox is a capital offense. Please tell me the truth about where the handkerchief came from, otherwise, I'm afraid I can't protect you.”
When the old lady learned that Xie Tingzhou had risked his life to save her from the fire, she was shocked. Xie Tingzhou then asked the imperial physician to examine her.
The old lady realized that although Xie Tingzhou was sharp-tongued, he still had some humanity and knew to protect his grandmother in critical moments.
In contrast, that rebellious son Fu Jiang…
Although he was vicious, he was still her son. Just as the old lady was about to continue to hide it, Xie Tingzhou said again, "The Grand Princess is convinced that the Fu Jiang family was the work of the Marquis's mansion."
Fu Jiang had just returned to the capital when the Grand Princess entered the palace. The Marquis's mansion had been given such leverage; they wouldn't let it go easily. If you truly refused to speak, the Imperial Guards would have to escort you into the palace.
The old lady was furious. She was a member of the Marquis's family, and if the old princess and Fu Jiang wanted to deal with the Marquis's family, they would include her.
Even in this state, Fu Jiang still won't let her go.
In her anger, she identified the handkerchief as being given to her by Fu Jiang, but made no mention of her mother-son relationship with Fu Jiang.
Xie Tingzhou was in no hurry. After obtaining her confession, he took Ye Zhen into the palace, accompanied by Feng Xing and the head of the Imperial Guards.
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