Marry my elder sister? Fine! I'll give you the letter of annulment and marry someone else.

Two days later, a large number of refugees suddenly arrived outside the city.

They claimed to be from the south of the Yangtze River. Because all their fields were destroyed by floods and they had no harvest, and even their homes were gone, they fled all the way north to seek a way to survive.

There were hundreds of them in their group. The soldiers guarding the city did not dare to let them in directly because there were too many of them, so they quickly ran to ask their superiors for instructions.

After one request and two requests, the matter was finally brought before the emperor.

In the imperial study, Wang Lanzhi said seriously, "Your Majesty, we must not allow those refugees to enter the city. You know, epidemics are most likely to break out after a flood. If there are infected people among them, the consequences will be disastrous if they enter the city."

As soon as these words were spoken, the emperor, who was holding the memorial, slammed his hand hard.

He slowly raised his head, his dignified eyes showing an inquiring look, as if he wanted to see directly into the depths of Wang Lanzhi's heart.

"Prime Minister Wang, you want me to turn those refugees away?"

Wang Lanzhi was sweating profusely when he was looked at. He didn't dare to look directly into the emperor's eyes and simply lowered his head.

"Your Majesty, I am also considering the overall situation. The entire capital has a population of millions, and we dare not gamble."

The emperor looked solemnly at the minister in front of him whom he had always trusted, and seemed a little unconvinced.

"Are you sure you want me to do this?"

Wang Lanzhi felt a little guilty, but since things had come to this point, he couldn't change his words. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "Your Majesty, this humble official is only making a suggestion. The specific handling is entirely up to Your Majesty."

The emperor didn't look away, and suddenly changed the subject, "Prime Minister Wang has been with me for many years, right?"

Wang Lanzhi didn't know why the emperor suddenly asked this, but he answered truthfully: "Yes, almost ten years."

The emperor put down the memorial in his hand and stood up with his hands behind his back.

"At the beginning, I trusted you, so I asked you to assist Han'er as a guest of the Eastern Palace. When Han'er recommended you for the position of Prime Minister, I also took advantage of the opportunity and gave you your current position."

"Later, Han'er brought about his own destruction, and I didn't take my anger out on you at all."

Wang Lanzhi's right eyelid was twitching wildly. Did the emperor mention this because he had discovered something?

Could it be that Song Zhi informed on the matter?

No, that's not right. That woman still wants to use him as a leverage to get things done for her. She won't tell on him.

His heart was in his throat and he was about to collapse under the pressure.

The emperor suddenly walked up to him and patted his shoulder earnestly, "So I made the right decision to keep you by my side to give me advice."

"Let's do as you say. Just keep all those refugees out. Even if a few hundred people die, it's better than risking the lives of an entire city of innocent people."

Hearing this, Wang Lanzhi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead as if he had just survived the ordeal. For a moment just now, he really felt that the emperor seemed to have noticed something.

Fortunately, the emperor did not become suspicious in the end.

He and the wise king had successfully completed their plan, and he believed that things should also be going smoothly at the city gate.

He knelt on the ground and glanced at the emperor with a sinister look.

Trusting him, what's the use of empty trust? He has no real power and no one in the court believes in him.

Everyone was polite to him on the surface, but secretly they didn't take him seriously.

It's really cowardly for the Prime Minister to have done what he has done.

But it doesn’t matter, everything will be different soon.

The wise king promised him that if he could accomplish his goal, he would make him second only to the king.

By then, no one will look down on him anymore.

Wang Lanzhi seemed to see himself in his glory.

You see, as long as he doesn't deal with that woman Song Zhi, everything will go well for him.

Wang Lanzhi, immersed in joy, did not notice that the emperor's eyes were full of murderous intent when he looked at him.

At this time, the city gate was crowded with people and very noisy.

The refugees outside the gate kept banging on it. Their ragged clothes and unkempt faces made it difficult to see their faces. They kept saying, "Give us some food, give us some food."

At this time, the soldier who went to ask for instructions finally ran back. He put his hand in the general's ear and said something. After he finished speaking, the general stood up and began to drive away these refugees.

"The Emperor has ordered that you may be infected with an epidemic and should not enter the city. Get out of here immediately and don't show up here again."

A group of soldiers covered their mouths and noses with their hands in a serious manner, raised their spears, and gradually forced back the people who kept banging on the city gate.

This group of people immediately showed an expression of "the sky has fallen". They stumbled back and shook their heads in disbelief.

"No, we are the emperor's subjects. The emperor can't treat us like this. We are not infected with the epidemic. We are healthy. Please let us into the city to eat something."

"We are really starving to death. It's okay if we don't go into the city. Please, sir, give us some food."

The sound of people's sorrow was endless, and even ordinary people couldn't help but feel sympathy when they heard it.

But these soldiers were extremely cruel and kicked the person who shouted the loudest.

"Eat, eat, eat shit! I don't even have anything to eat, so how can I give you food? Bah, what bad luck!"

The weak man was kicked to the ground. Apart from his painful groans, no one in the audience dared to say a word.

The soldiers were very satisfied with this deterrent effect and said with their chins raised: "We are only following the orders of the emperor. If you want to blame someone, just blame the emperor for not caring about your life or death."

In an inconspicuous place on the city wall, Song Zhizheng, dressed in a smoky green dress, stood there with Xiaotao, quietly watching the show.

Xiao Tao sighed, "These people acted out the role of refugees quite convincingly."

Song Zhi nodded, "Yes, you need to add more silver."

Xiao Tao chuckled, "Miss, didn't you say that the virtuous king would definitely show up to improve his impression? Why hasn't he appeared yet? Is he not coming?"

Song Zhi smiled and said, "We have carefully planned such a great show, how could he not come? Just wait, he will definitely come."

She searched among the refugees and soon fixed her sight on a woman with a big belly and a headscarf.

The woman was obese and her face was so dirty that her appearance was unrecognizable.

Song Zhi was at a loss for words. Ruoyu really didn't care about her image at all.

Just as he was about to exchange glances with Liu Ruoyu, a righteous voice suddenly came from the city gate.

"Stop! They are just a bunch of helpless refugees who are starving and just want to eat something. How can you treat them like this?"

The wise king came over in a hurry, with a look of compassion on his face.

The soldiers stopped and saluted, explaining, "Your Highness, we are following orders. The Emperor has ordered us to do this."

They raised their voices, deliberately letting them hear the name of the virtuous king, and once again emphasized that it was the emperor's decision to keep them out of the city and humiliate them.