My reborn husband and son are thinking about how to kill me every day.

Gao Lan's fist hardened, and she almost couldn't resist rushing forward to tear open the round-faced woman's mouth.

However, given her previous experiences, she held her breath and endured it.

She wanted to see what these dogs would spew out.

The woman sitting opposite the round-faced woman stared wide-eyed, still looking incredulous. "Impossible, right? I saw him when he was distributing porridge in Ningcheng before. Lord Ji doesn't seem like that kind of person."

The round-faced woman said, "As the saying goes, you can know a person's face but not their heart. You can tell she's a good person just by looking at her face."

Besides, those officials are masters of disguise. And what's more, she's a woman; if she didn't have some tricks up her sleeve, how could she have gotten to such a high position? Who knows what methods she used to get there!

She spoke quite loudly, and many people in the teahouse, besides Gao Lan, heard her conversation.

Upon hearing this, someone unconsciously revealed a look of agreement, echoing, "In all my years, I've never heard of a woman becoming an official. She must have had quite a few tricks up her sleeve!"

Gao Lan couldn't hold back any longer. She slammed her hand on the table and stood up, saying, "There are many things you haven't seen! Just because you're ignorant, you're trying to smear Lord Ji? How can you, a grown man, have the nerve to do that!"

"Who are you?" the burly man beside him said angrily. "Who's ignorant? I think you... you're the one with long hair and short brains!"

Gao Lan, hands on her hips, was furious. "What's wrong with a woman? A woman is still better than a fool like you!"

"Where did I go wrong?"

Gao Lan raised her hand and pointed at the round-faced lady, saying, "If you're not stupid, how could you not understand such a simple lie?"

As she spoke, she raised her chin and asked the round-faced woman, "What is the name of the doctor from Divine Doctor Valley?"

"You'd better be clear about what it's called. Don't just make up some random name like 'Divine Healer Valley' to smear Lord Ji."

The round-faced woman, her face dark, looked Gao Lan up and down and said, "Where did this country bumpkin come from? Is this your first time going out today?"

Didn't you hear me say I'm a doctor from the Valley of Divine Healers? Doctors from the Valley of Divine Healers are always mysterious; why would they casually reveal their names to outsiders?

"Since the doctor from Divine Healer Valley is so mysterious, not even revealing his name easily, how did you manage to meet him and tell you all this?"

Gao Lan scoffed and cursed, "I think you're just deliberately spreading rumors to ruin Lord Ji's reputation."

Damaging the reputation of an official of the imperial court is a crime, you know? You don't think you can do whatever you want just because there's a plague, do you? Do you know what happened to those who spread rumors and ruined Lord Ji's reputation before?

A look of panic flashed across the round-faced woman's face. "I...I only heard it from others...I was just saying a few words, what law did I break?"

Gao Lan said, "Does your master think that spreading such rumors can ruin Lord Ji's reputation? He's being incredibly stupid."

You've fabricated these rumors without even visiting the plague-stricken villages yourselves! Do you even know what the situation is like inside those villages right now? Go back and tell your master not to waste his time!

The round-faced woman trembled and stammered, "Wh...what master? You...you're talking nonsense. There's no master."

The way she looked clearly showed that she was guilty and had been intimidated.

Those who had believed her earlier felt extremely ashamed and started clamoring, saying they wanted to arrest her and take her to the authorities.

Some people even rushed forward in agitation, trying to pull her away.

The round-faced woman was utterly terrified and repeatedly explained, "There really is no master; I just heard it from someone else."

As she spoke, she quickly pulled the woman at the same table to testify for her.

“Lijuan, you should tell them quickly. We grew up together. You know best where I'm from and what kind of person I am, right?”

I'm not a bad person, I just can't control my mouth and like to gossip. I really didn't intentionally help anyone ruin the reputation of an official of the imperial court.

Looking at the menacing crowd in the teahouse, and then at Hu Mingzhu holding her hand, Fang Lijuan felt only bad luck.

Today, Hu Mingzhu invited her to a teahouse for tea, and she thought it was because Hu Mingzhu was finally being generous.

Unexpectedly, he wanted to involve her in spreading rumors and ruining Lord Ji's reputation.

She hadn't thought about it in detail before, but now that she thinks about it carefully, Hu Mingzhu has indeed been acting very strangely lately.

Hu Mingzhu married a man who was not only idle but also a gambler. Her husband squandered all of Hu Mingzhu's dowry.

She lived a very frugal life in her husband's family.

But recently, things have suddenly gotten better.

She had previously thought her husband had truly reformed and made money in business. Now it seemed he had clearly been bribed.

She abruptly shook her off and said, "Let's not see each other anymore."

After saying that, without waiting for Hu Mingzhu's reaction, he pushed through the crowd and left the teahouse.

Seeing Fang Lijuan leave her like that, Hu Mingzhu was both angry and anxious.

"Confess now!" Gao Lan said, "If you don't confess, we'll send you to the yamen."

You've misunderstood the idea of ​​using the plague to smear Lord Ji.

Do you know who was fighting the plague in Guangping County? Do you know where the medicinal herbs used to treat the plague came from?

The onlookers, sensing she knew something, quickly asked who the doctor treating the plague in Guangping County was and where the medicinal herbs came from.

Gao Lan has been frequently delivering medicinal herbs to Guangping County these days, so she knows a lot about the situation there.

She said, "The doctor who treats the people with the plague in Guangping County is surnamed Rui. He was originally the physician of the Prince Duan's mansion. He was lucky when he was young and received guidance from the divine physician Doctor Gu. His medical skills are famous."

As she spoke, she sneered and looked at Hu Mingzhu, saying, "Tell me the name of that doctor from the Divine Doctor Valley, and let Doctor Rui help me verify whether he is an imposter."

Sweat beaded on Hu Mingzhu's forehead. She hadn't expected this dark-skinned woman, who looked like a country bumpkin, to be so difficult to deal with.

Before Gao Lan could finish speaking, she sternly rebuked, "Those medicinal herbs were all obtained by Lord Ji at his own expense. Do you know how difficult it is to buy medicine in the current situation?"

"Do you think Lady Ji did all this just for some empty fame? No! She did it for all of us. If the plague isn't brought under control, we'll all die!"

"Lord Ji is fighting bravely for us all, and you're here slandering her. You even use her status as a woman to attack her. Aren't you a woman yourself?"

Under Gao Lan's stern reprimand, Hu Mingzhu could no longer hold back and collapsed to the ground.

"I was wrong. I was bewitched and accepted bribes to spread rumors and slander Lord Ji. I was wrong, and I will never do it again. Please, please forgive me this time!"