Dingbei Hou's doctor brother

Chu Yi said, "Meizhou was hit by five consecutive days of heavy rain half a month ago, causing the water levels of many rivers to rise, flooding two counties under its jurisdiction. Nearly 20,000 people died overnight, and some even starved to death."

At such times, the imperial court would provide money and food for disaster relief, but there would still be deaths of disaster victims. There is only one possibility.

Lu Ziqing asked bluntly, "Did the provincial government officials embezzle the disaster relief funds?"

"What Mr. Lu said is true." Chu Yi said.

"The provincial government, along with officials from various regions, embezzled disaster relief funds through corruption at every level. Tens of thousands of disaster victims were left without shelter, and the death toll mounted, sparking riots among the victims. Officials sent in soldiers to round up the victims and drown them in the river, creating the illusion of natural disaster deaths."

"The head of the family wrote a memorial of denunciation on behalf of the people. I went through great pains to steal their account books and then rushed to the capital without stopping. I wanted to beat the drum to report the incident, but I didn't expect their men to be hot on my heels. I had no chance and had no choice but to hide in a narrow alley."

He clutched the black cloth bag beside the table, his expression solemn.

"If I die, Meizhou will be finished. Mr. Lu's action has saved the hope of the people of Meizhou."

In fact, when it comes to officials embezzling disaster relief funds and killing civilians, Lu Ziqing is not surprised at all. Instead, he is used to it.

Because, they were once just three or two of the thousands of disaster victims in this world.

Floods, plagues, droughts, robberies...

Their family has experienced countless disasters.

The officials were just like those in Meizhou today, corrupt and murderous. Those who barely survived had no food and were forced to eat human corpses to survive.

Although eating corpses can save lives, it will also bring diseases and plagues that spread everywhere.

The nightmare continued in a vicious cycle, with dead bodies everywhere on the ground, so many that Lu Ziqing became numb.

Their family, including Su Chengfeng, could not eat the human corpse. Fortunately, they knew about herbs, so they dug wild vegetables in the mountains to eat and made a lot of medicine to treat the victims.

It is precisely because they understand pharmacology that they did not end up without anyone to treat them and die, while the victims could only wait to die.

Things like this could happen wherever they go.

But despite this, Lu Ziqing was still furious when he heard about such a terrible act again, and it aroused the empathy that was ingrained in his bones and blood.

"A decadent and chaotic world is a disaster for the lower classes."

Lu Ziqing sighed, looked at Chu Yi and asked, "Mr. Chu, to whom should this accusation be submitted? I'll see if I can help."

Chu Yi happily bowed, "It would be great if Master Lu could help me."

"The master of the family once served as an official in the imperial court, assisting the Crown Prince. Unfortunately, he was framed by a traitor and dismissed from office, becoming a commoner. It would be best if he could be handed over to the Crown Prince. Other government offices, even those in the capital, cannot be trusted."

"Okay, I'll think of a way. Also..." Lu Ziqing lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, "Does Mr. Chu have anything that can prove his identity? That would be more convincing."

Chu Yi took out a strip of slightly bluish jade from his arms and handed it to him.

"This is the family head's private seal, which is enough to prove it."

Day two.

The sky was getting brighter, and it was not yet time for the morning rehearsal, but Lu Ziqing arrived at the street outside the palace gate early.

As I walked into Yamen Street, I heard a familiar shout from a distance.

"Lu Ziqing."

He turned his head and saw Su Chengfeng and Wu Ji walking towards him quickly. Su Chengfeng, in particular, had an expression that seemed to be asking for punishment, which made him feel a little guilty.

"Why did we meet at this time?"

Not only did he stay out all night, he also went to...that kind of place.

Lu Ziqing adjusted his expression, took a few steps forward and was about to speak when Su Chengfeng interrupted him and started to question him.

"Where were you last night?"

"Yeah, Brother Lu, why didn't you go back to the Marquis' Mansion last night?"

Wu Ji yawned sleepily, tears welling up in his eyes, and asked the same question.

"I... last night..."

"Don't mention you were on duty last night." Su Chengfeng interrupted.

Lu Ziqing knew that his lie could not be covered up, so every day when he went to work, Su Chengfeng and Wu Ji would come to wait for him outside the Imperial Hospital.

He would also stand on the street outside the palace gate waiting for the two people to come out. If he didn't see them after two quarters of an hour, he would leave first.

These two people must have gone to the Imperial Hospital to ask when they came back last night.

Lu Ziqing saw that Su Chengfeng had dark circles under his eyes, so he changed the subject and asked him.

"What's wrong with your eyes? You look so ugly."

"Brother Chengfeng didn't sleep all night, wondering where you'd been." Wu Ji said bluntly, "He also asked if you'd gone... um."

"you shut up."

Su Chengfeng covered Wu Ji's mouth with his hand and threatened him with words, then looked at Lu Ziqing.

"Don't change the subject, just talk!"

Say? What did you say?

Do you want him to say that he stayed in a brothel last night?

Lu Ziqing was immersed in the conversation of passers-by, hesitating, "I, I..."

He kept saying "I" for a long time but couldn't make any clear words. He felt a movement in his arms and saw Wu Ji holding a red wooden box and pondering it.

"Brother Lu, what is this?"

Lu Ziqing's eyelids twitched as he looked at the thing, thinking, "Damn! This was given to me by the brothel owner last night."

His mind raced, and he immediately remembered that this was just a simple ointment for external injuries and there was nothing wrong with it.

Lu Ziqing rubbed his fingers gently under his nose. "This is just medicine to stop bleeding and heal wounds. I saved someone last night, and it happened to be curfew, so I didn't come back."

Su Chengfeng still looked at him with an expression of "disbelief", leaned slightly closer, and a fragrance rushed into his nostrils.

He stared at Lu Ziqing with an inquiring look, "What smells so good on you?"

Lu Ziqing quickly sniffed her sleeve and was startled by the scent of powder.

While he was still rapidly searching for excuses in his mind, he heard Wu Ji suddenly reading out word for word.

"Smooth, smooth, two combined into one, fragrant, fragrant, orchid..."

"hospital!"

Lu Ziqing's heart skipped a beat and his eyes widened in shock. When he snatched the mahogany box, the word "Yuan" had already fallen to the ground.

His face was as pale as a monkey's butt at this moment. He was too embarrassed to look at Su Chengfeng's shocked and speechless expression.

Even so, the stickman next to them was still looking at them with a confused look on his face and continued to finish off the enemy.

"Hey, what's a two-in-one lubricant? It doesn't sound like medicine. Also, where is Xianglanyuan? Is it a high-end restaurant?"

Lu Ziqing: “…”

Su Chengfeng: "..."

Now that's good, there's nothing more to say.

Lu Ziqing coughed lightly and looked at Su Chengfeng, "Um, last night I was...

"Don't you hate places like this?" Su Chengfeng calmed down and asked in a questioning tone, "Have you forgotten..."

He didn't finish his words, just sighed and hit the top of the hammer next to him.

"gone."

As they passed by, Lu Ziqing felt Su Chengfeng's muffled worry and looked at his back in thought.

When the person was already ten feet away, he suddenly stopped: "Wait."

Su Chengfeng turned around, his face waiting for an explanation. Lu Ziqing walked over and asked him with a slightly vague look.

"Do you have five taels of silver?"

Su Chengfeng immediately looked at him with a look of astonishment, as if to say, "You've finished playing and still don't have money to pay the bill."

I thought this person wanted to explain something, but it turned out to be...

He was speechless and said: "No."

As the figure receded into the distance, Lu Ziqing withdrew his gaze and turned around. His expression was even uglier than before, and his heart skipped a beat with the jingle of the bells of the carriage passing by.

Xiao Yan and Yang Zhounan were standing in the crowd not far away, staring at him blankly and walking towards him.

Xiao Yan said nothing, just looked at him, smiled, and walked away.

Only Yang Zhounan walked out, then stepped back in front of him, took out ten taels of silver and handed it to him, reminding him in a low voice.

"The imperial court has issued a clear decree prohibiting officials from visiting prostitutes. Be careful not to be seen and reported."

Lu Ziqing: “…”