On the wedding day, my wife was abnormal

The inner hall of the county government office.

Xiao Hanzhou just presented the compiled project progress briefing.

Lin Zhen was lazily leaning on a large couch covered with white tiger skin, playing with a crystal clear white jade chess piece in his fingertips, as if he was playing chess with himself.

It really is worthy of being called a small official with huge corruption. This group of people who have direct contact with the people are the most corrupt.

Take the white tiger skin behind you for example.

In a wealthy place like the capital, this skin is worth at least several thousand taels of silver, but the netizen has two at home.

Damn it, I’m the prince of a country, but I’m not even as good as a county magistrate.

The flickering candlelight cast a shadow of varying light and dark on Lin Zhen's handsome and cold profile.

"Your Highness!" A guard hurried in and knelt on one knee. "The guards at the Wang family residence are reporting an urgent report: Wang Youde's wife, Wang, has suddenly fallen ill. Her symptoms are severe, she is foaming at the mouth, and her life is in danger. The women in the mansion are crying and crying. We beg the palace to send a good doctor to save her! The guards dare not take any action on their own. Your Highness, please make the decision!"

Xiao Hanzhou frowned slightly and looked at Lin Zhen subconsciously.

The Wang family again? The women again?

He instinctively smelled a hint of something unusual.

Lin Zhen's fingertips twisting the chess piece paused slightly.

Beneath the thick, long eyelashes, a pair of eyes as deep as a cold pond flashed with an almost elusive interest, as if a falcon had spotted its struggling prey making a slightly interesting movement.

At the corner of his mouth, a faint, playful smile with absolute control quietly spread, icy yet breathtaking.

He casually pressed the white jade chess piece lightly on the chessboard, making a crisp "click" sound.

"The palace's physician?" He spoke slowly, his voice tinged with sleepiness, yet each word was clear.

"Oh, well, send him over. Saving lives is a doctor's duty and a virtue. This prince has just arrived in Hu County, so I should be sympathetic to the people, even if it's Wang."

He waved his hand casually, as if he was giving an order for something insignificant.

The guards took the order and left.

Xiao Hanzhou's doubts grew even stronger.

Based on his understanding of his master, this "compassion" and "due virtue" was filled with cold sarcasm. He couldn't help but whisper, "Master, the Wang family is making a fuss right now. I'm afraid..."

"That's fine," Lin Zhen interrupted, the smile on his lips deepening, the amusement almost overflowing. "They're just a bunch of anxious rats trapped in a cage, trying to find a way out. It'll be fun to see what tricks they can come up with."

He picked up the teacup beside him and took a sip gracefully.

This night is still long.

......

It was impossible for Doctor Sun to come to Hu County, so he assigned his most outstanding disciple, Huo Zhu.

Huozhu is less than forty years old this year. He looks very mature and serious.

Accompanied and monitored by two Jinwu Guards, he hurried to the gate of the Wang family residence.

Wang Fu and a group of crying managers were already waiting at the door, bowing and nodding to welcome him in.

Walk all the way to the inner house.

The atmosphere in the inner house was extremely weird.

Wang was lying on the bed in her bedroom, her makeup gone, her face pale (deliberately painted with lead powder), her eyes closed, her hair disheveled, and there seemed to be a little suspicious white foam at the corners of her mouth (actually rice milk mixed with flour).

Surrounding her were a group of concubines and maids, who were dressed simply but looked very beautiful, and whose eyes were red and swollen from crying.

The air was filled with a strong smell of medicine and incense powder.

Huo Zhu was very experienced and could tell at a glance that Wang was pretending to be unconscious. Her breathing was steady and her pulse was a little rapid (because of fear), but she was not seriously ill at all.

But he knew very well that the palace sent him here just as a formality to show the prince's "kindness".

He didn't expose her, but pretended to sit down and take her pulse, and then he flipped Wang's eyelids.

Just as he pretended to frown and think about the prescription, picked up the pen and dipped it in ink to write a "calming the nerves and calming the nerves" prescription to fool people, the Sixth Aunt (the beautiful one), who had been standing beside him and crying so hard that she could hardly stand, knelt down in front of him with a "thump"!

"Divine doctor! Divine doctor, help me!" Sixth Aunt's voice was mournful and filled with helplessness and fear. "Please have mercy on me, Divine doctor! My wife and all the poor people in our mansion... have all been terribly harmed by Master... no, by that evil villain Wang Youde!"

As she cried, she unnoticedly handed her handkerchief, which had already been soaked with tears, to the pillar of fire.

"We are all unfortunate people. We were forcibly taken into the mansion back then, and it was not our will. The sins committed by Wang Youde have nothing to do with us or our children! Wuwuwu..."

She cried bitterly, as if she had exhausted all her strength. Her body softened and she almost fell down.

Huozhu subconsciously reached out to support her arm.

At the moment of physical contact, when Huozhu's hand touched the sweat towel, Sixth Aunt raised her wrist extremely secretly but resolutely!

Under the sweat towel, a small piece of paper rolled into a thin roll, soaked with sweat and tears and almost transparent, was stuffed tightly and firmly into the palm of Huozhu's hand!

Her nails even dug into the back of her hand from the fire pillar because of the force.

The pillar of fire suddenly stiffened!

Cold sweat instantly soaked my back!

The presence and weight of the paper scroll were like a red-hot iron!

He subconsciously wanted to pull his hand away and throw it away!

"Miracle doctor!" Sixth Aunt raised her head, and her beautiful eyes, which were red and swollen from crying, stared at him intently. There was no more sorrow in her eyes, only a desperate, heart-pounding madness and pleading!

That look seemed to say: If you don't take us, we will die! If you help us this time, it will be a great merit! You will save several, even dozens of innocent lives!

The other concubines also knelt down at the same time, talking in unison, their cries shaking the sky:

"Please, doctor, have mercy!"

"Save us! Save the children!"

Huozhu looked at the beautiful and desperate women in the room, thought of the strict guards outside the mansion, and then looked at the "hot potato" in his palm that was almost stuck in his sweat, and his scalp went numb.

He knew very well that if he took this thing out and it was discovered, he might be killed!

But if he didn't bring it... facing those looks and cries that almost wanted to eat him alive, he had no doubt that he might not be able to leave this yard!

He let out a long, almost inaudible sigh, his old face filled with pain and helplessness.

He looked at Sixth Auntie deeply, clenched the small paper roll into the deepest part of his palm, and then quickly wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve (hiding the note completely at the same time), looking flustered and confused because of crying.

"Forget it! Everyone, get up! This is disgraceful!" Huozhu put on a helpless expression as if a doctor's kindness had touched him, and raised his voice.

"Madam, this is a convulsion, it's nothing serious! I'll go back and prescribe some medicine, you just take good care of her!"

He hurriedly uttered a few words and almost fled, quickly leaving the suffocating inner house with two soldiers who had been vigilantly observing but whose view was blocked by his body.

Huozhu almost ran all the way back to the county government office, with his clothes on his back soaked.

He handed the note to the steward in charge of internal affairs and briefly explained the situation (only emphasizing that the female relatives were crying for justice), and then he was sent away by the steward to rest as if he had lost his soul.

The person in charge knew that the matter was of great importance and did not dare to delay for a moment. He immediately took the wet note, which was scented with powder and traces of tears, and handed it to Lin Zhen.

By this time the night was deep.

The study in the back hall of the county government office was brightly lit with candles.

Lin Zhengang had just finished discussing with Xiao Hanzhou, Mao Mengji and others about going to Chongming Island tomorrow.

The steward came in quietly and respectfully placed a neatly folded piece of paper on Lin Zhen's large rosewood desk.

"Sir, this is what Huo Zhu brought from the Wang family... They say it was a petition filed by a concubine in the inner house at the risk of her life..."

The steward's voice was very low, with a hint of indescribable meaning.

Mao Mengji's eyes became fierce, and he almost reached out to take the note to check it.

Xiao Hanzhou's heart instantly rose to his throat.

Lin Zhen raised his hand and gently signaled them to be quiet.

He stretched out his slender jade-like fingers, but did not open the paper immediately. Instead, he used his fingertips to feel the remaining moisture and slightly sticky touch on the paper, as if he was caressing a dewy, withered flower that was about to be destroyed.

Under the candlelight, the smile on his face gradually settled and solidified from the initial carelessness.

In the end, it was frozen into a cold and evil smile that was extremely penetrating and controlling.

That smile was a mixture of all-knowing sarcasm, a condescending look, and a kind of cruel amusement as if one were looking at a new toy.

He slowly unfolded the slip of paper, which was wrinkled with sweat and tears, and the handwriting was a little blurred. On it, in a delicate but trembling handwriting due to emotion, it read (in the name of the Fifth Aunt and everyone else):

The guilty concubine Wu Niang leads all the sisters in the mansion to kneel down and weep blood to tell His Royal Highness:

Wang Youde is a beast in human form, devoid of all conscience, corrupting official ethics and bringing disaster to the people! His heinous crimes are so detestable to us weak women that we wish we could eat his flesh and sleep on his skin! In the past, we were coerced and subjected to the wolves, trembling day and night, living a life worse than death! Now that we have seen the light of day, if Your Highness grants us grace, I, your concubine, and all the people in the mansion (all signatures and handprints attached)... are willing to lead all the people in the mansion and serve Your Highness at his beck and call, fearless of swords and arrows, fearless of curses, and willing to obey Your Highness's orders (emphasized handwriting), even if it means sacrificing our lives without complaint! I only ask that the prince have pity on my sisters' innocence, and consider that our children are still in their infancy and do not know the hardships of life, and spare our lives, giving us a new life! If you give me a command, I will never refuse! If there is a glimmer of hope, I will be forever grateful for Your Highness's great grace!

Lin Zhen's gaze lingered for a moment on the words "at your disposal, Your Highness," especially those words that were written with extraordinary neatness and force, as if dipped in blood.

He tapped the paper lightly with his fingertips.

The entire study fell into deathly silence.

Mao Mengji's face showed undisguised contempt and cold murderous intent.

Xiao Hanzhou's expression was complicated. He felt great sorrow for the struggle and despair of women in this world, and at the same time he was shocked by the naked sacrifice.

Finally, in the suffocating silence, Lin Zhen let out a very light but bone-chilling laugh.

He raised his eyes and looked at Mao Mengji and Xiao Hanzhou. His eyes were like a faint light after being quenched by ice, with a hint of unquestionable interest:

"Dream level."

"I'm here!" Mao Mengji immediately bowed.

"Prepare the sedan chair."

Lin Zhen stood up leisurely and brushed off the non-existent dust on his brocade robe. His posture was elegant and leisurely, as if he was not going to examine a group of prey in a cage waiting to be slaughtered, but to attend a dinner that had been arranged long ago for his entertainment.

"I'm free anyway. This prince wants to go see how powerful Wang Youde's wives and concubines are to deserve them to say 'I'll do whatever I want' so decisively."

The smile on his lips was cold and playful in the candlelight, carrying with it the temptation of an abyss and deadly danger.