"Why can't we eat? The kindness of Magistrate He can't be wasted for nothing, right? Shuo Ling said again.

Runyu on the side also said, "I agree with Shuo Ling. Only when we are full can we punish these corrupt officials and help the victims."

"But..." Yang Zijin wanted to say something more, but she was interrupted by Shuo Ling.

"OK, there is no need to say anymore."

After Shuo Ling saying that, he picked up a piece of Dongpo pork and put it in Yang Zijin's bowl.

Yang Zijin had to sit down and ate the rice in the bowl.

After dinner, the maid came and led them to their room.

"Your Highness, I am Yun. I will serve you during these days. You can ask me to do whatever you want." Yun lowered her head and said.

The maid named Yun was about thirteen or fourteen years old with a shy face and maid hairstyles. She looked very cute.

Yang Zijin was lying on the bed and then asked Yun, "Why did you leave your family and come to be a maid at such a young age?"

"Your Highness, I am here for the sake of my family." Yun said with her head lowered.

Yang Zijin frowned and asked, "For the sake of your family?"

"Yes, many people starved to death after the flood subsided. One day I was told that the official recruited maids, so I came here." Yun replied.

Once a person became a maid in ancient times, she had to sign a contract, which means that there was no way out for her whole life. Her life would be better if she was favored by the master, but she could only be a concubine.

Yang Zijin continued to ask, "Would your family also agree with you to be a maid?"

"Of course my parents were not willing to allow me to do that. However, I came without telling them when I found my brother was dying of starvation. I came to exchange for some steamed bread and solid food so that they would not starve to death. Moreover, I can give some of my rations to my family every day. "Yun's tears fell from her eyes.

Yun was very sensible. In fact, it was not bad for her to be a maid at that time. At least they could fill their stomachs.

Yang Zijin sat up and said to Yun, "You don't have to be so restrained in front of me in the future."

"No, I dare not." Yun became flustered while hearing what Yang Zijin said.

Yang Zijin couldn't help but feel sad when she knew that. It seemed that these officials were often domineering.

Yang Zijin said to Yun, "Prepare me bathwater. I want to take a shower."

"Yes, Your Highness." After saying that, Yun went out of the room.

The servant took Shuo Ling to the room. Shuo Ling sent the servant away.

After the servant left, Mo Li closed the door quickly.

"How is it going?" Shuo Ling sat down beside the table.

Mo Li walked to Shuo Ling and said. "Your Lordship, we found nothing, except for finding wormholes on the dam. All traces were washed away by the flood. There was no clue. However, the guard once said that he found some strangers had arrived here before the flood broke the embankment."

"Strangers." Shuo Ling repeated. It seemed that what he was worried about had happened.

He asked Mo Li, "Where was the worst-hit area?"

Mo Li took out a map from his arms.

This was the map of Jiandu. Mo Li unfolded the map on the table and pointed to it.

"Your Lordship, Qianxi Village was the worst-hit area because it was close to the dam. There were many casualties and the dead bodies couldn't be buried in time. The plague also came from this village first." Mo Li said.

"Have all the infected people been quarantined?" Shuo Ling asked him.

Mo Li shook his head and said, "There were too many people infected with the epidemic disease. We didn't have enough people to work. There were only a few people who were strong enough to help to burn the dead bodies. However, the epidemic still couldn't be controlled, and many people died every day."

"Well, I see! What measures have been taken by the prefect here?" Shuo Ling frowned and he thought. "The plague was contagious to everyone."

Mo Li snorted coldly and said angrily, "The prefect just sent someone to look around the village and did nothing to help these victims. He ignored these victims at all."

"You divide the people at the foot of the mountain into five groups. Each group will take 90 kilograms of grain to this place and that place. Porridge will be served to victims in these places. The remaining people will be together with me. We will be responsible for quarantining people who have been infected with the plague in order to avoid infecting others." Shuo Ling's eyes became gloomier and continued to order Mo Li.

After hearing that, Mo Li quickly responded, "Yes, Your Lordship."

"Moreover, send this letter back to Jing City." Shuo Ling said, and then took out an urgent letter from his sleeve and handed it to Mo Li.

Mo Li nodded and said, "Yes, Your Lordship!"

After saying that, Mo Li went out of the room.

After Mo Li left, Shuo Ling closed his eyes. He thought: "The flood disaster in Jiandu should not be underestimated this time. Facing to the internal and external troubles at present, we should control the spread of the plague first."

...

In the residence of the magistrate.

Lu Pei, the prefect, was leaning on a rocking chair in the garden of his backyard. A servant was fanning for him. He was humming a tune leisurely.

Zhu Wen, the sub-prefect of Jiandu was not as leisurely as the prefect Lu Pei.

Zhu Wen was in charge of water conservancy and other aspects. Now that such a serious incident had happened, of course he was very restless.

Lu Pei stood up and motioned to all the people behind him to retreat, and then said to Zhu Wen, "Zhu Wen, you can be relieved. Prime Minister Lan has huge power in the court. Since he said that there was a solution, of course he could solve it."

"Now that Marquis Shuo has arrived in Jiandu, Prime Minister Lan has not taken any action yet. I'm afraid..." Zhu Wen looked so sad and worried.

Lu Pei continued to comfort Zhu Wen and said, "Don't be afraid! Remember that we are in the same boat with Prime Minister Lan, and he will do nothing rash."

"Mr. Lu, do you think Prime Minister Lan will shift all the responsibility to us?" Zhu Wen asked Lu Pei again.

Lu Pei looked at Zhu Wen and chuckled, "Zhu Wen, you think too much. How could the Prime Minister Lan shoot himself in the foot? Besides, all the funds allocated for disaster relief shall be kept accounts. Of course, Prime Minister Lan dares not to act recklessly."

"Will Prime Minister Lan kill us?" After hearing what Lu Pei said, Zhu Wen told him what he was worried about.

As soon as Zhu Wen stopped speaking, they heard a voice coming from behind them, "What do you think about it?"

After hearing that voice, Lu Pei and Zhu Wen both turned around and found a man in black with a sword walking towards them.

"Ah, who are you? We are all officials. You... you..." Lu Pei couldn't help feeling nervous when he saw this man, and then he stammered.

The man in black sneered and said, "If you want to know the answer, just go to ask the king of hell, Mr. Lu."

The man in black was full of murderous spirits and walked to Lu Pei. Lu Pei was killed before he could dodge the man, and his blood splattered everywhere.

Zhu Wen, who was on the side, was trembling with fright and knelt down to beg for mercy. He said, "Spare me, sir! Spare me, please!"

"Spare your life? I will die if I spare your life." The man in black said, and then he walked straight to Zhu Wen. The black man waved his sword. Zhu Wen fell to the ground.

At the same time, Magistrate He came to find Lu Pei and he never expected to see the scene just now. He was so frightened that he forgot to run away.

He ran out with his heavy body when he came to his senses.

"Don't try to run away." The man in black looked at Magistrate He and said. Then he took a step to kill him. Soon Magistrate He was lying in the blood.

The man in black pulled these people to the stone table and let them lie on it. He took out a confession from his arms.

He made them mark on the confession one by one with the fingers of these men, and then pressed the confession with the kettle on the table.

He took out a few daggers, smeared them with blood, and let them hold the daggers in their hands.

After everything was ready, the man in black quickly wiped the blood from the rest of the place and jumped off the wall to leave.

A servant passed by there and he found something was wrong. So he walked to them slowly and whispered in a low voice, "My Lord, My Lord."

He saw that they had fallen on the stone table with daggers in their hands when he approached.

The servant fainted in shock on the spot.

...

After Mo Li got down the mountain, he sent these people to the designated place according to Shuo Ling's instructions and began to rescue the victims.

After doing that, Shuo Ling turned around to walk up the mountain.

"My Lord, everything is in order. Do you want to wait for Magistrate He to come back before you go there? After all, they are familiar with this place." Mo Li went into the room and said to Shuo Ling.

Shuo Ling nodded and said, "OK."

One hour later, Magistrate He had not come back. Therefore, Shuo Ling said to Mo Li, "Go and see what had happened."

"Yes, My Lord." Mo Li left the room after saying that.

Mo Li had already known where these officials lived when he first came to Jiandu. As for Magistrate He, someone said that he had gone to help the victims with Lu Pei. There was no doubt that Mo Li didn't believe it at all.

As soon as Mo Li had just come to the gate of the mansion, he heard some people crying inside. Mo Li hurried to go in and saw Lu Pei, Magistrate He, and Zhu Wen were all lying motionless on the table.

It should be his wife who was lying on Lu Pei's body crying and these women standing around him should be his concubines who were wiping their tears with handkerchiefs.

"My Lord, what should we do after you leave us? Why do you leave us? Wake up, My Lord." Lu Pei's wife cried sadly.

Mo Li walked forward and put his finger on these men's nose one by one to check if they were alive. However, it seemed that they had died.

Lu Pei's wife wiped her tears with her handkerchief when she saw Mo Li and asked him, "Who are you? Why are you here?"

"Madam, I'm the subordinate of Marquis Shuo. He asked me to come here and tell the prefect to go to meet him. Unexpectedly..." Mo Li paused.

He noticed that although these people were holding daggers in their hands, the direction of the dagger Magistrate He held in his hand was wrong.

Mo Li went forward and inspected their wounds. He found that their wounds were all in their necks. A layman would think they had committed suicide if he saw this scene.

However, he would find that the wounds on the necks of these people were of the same depth if he looked carefully. The wounds were obviously caused by external forces. These people's strength would not cause the same depth of the wounds and these shapes of wounds would be different if they really killed themselves.

They might have been killed by a master of martial arts.