After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

“Building the city wall requires large stones, glutinous rice, and other materials. These materials are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Works. It must have been Captain Ma who spoke with the Ministry of Works, but the Ministry refused to repair it and did not take the dog hole seriously.”

Lu Zhiyuan yawned and leaned against Liu Ying.

“Miss is right! Repairing the city wall requires the approval of the Ministry of Works. It’s not that we’re stupid or can’t find any other way, but this city wall is of great importance, and the slightest carelessness could bring us trouble. Uncle had no choice but to find craftsmen to block it with wooden planks. Just in case, Uncle also ordered a tea stall to be set up there and kept an eye on it day and night. Until half a year ago, when I went out of the city with Uncle and saw that the outside of that section of the city wall was full of weeds, we removed the tea stall.”

Ma Mingyuan scratched his head: "The only way for people in the city to get out, besides the city gate, is through that hole. I know where the hole is, and I can show you the way, Miss."

Lu Zhiyuan turned to Xie Chaoyun: "Mother?"

"I can bring people from the General's Mansion!" Xie Chaoyun grasped her hand: "I can't treat illnesses, but you can't capture people from Southern Chu."

“Madam, please ride my horse. My saddle is fine; it was given to me by my uncle.” Ma Mingyuan said, “I will first take Miss and the others to Lord Xie’s place, and then find Madam and show her the way.”

After Xie Chaoyun left, the carriage continued on its way and soon arrived at the place Ma Mingyuan had mentioned.

Before transmigrating into the book, Lu Zhiyuan, an assassin, had visited a slum in a certain country and seen what it was like, but she was not as shocked as she was now. The slum she had visited still had houses, but here there wasn't even a house, and the people were all crammed into shacks made of straw.

The old man had sunken eyes and was poorly clothed. The children had yellowish skin, were thin and bony, and were all malnourished. Looking around, there were hardly any young people.

Where are their children, husbands, or fathers?

“Some died in battle, some are working elsewhere, and because His Majesty ordered the city to be sealed off, they can’t return here for the time being.” Xie Yubai sighed. “If it weren’t for this epidemic, I, Xie Yubai, wouldn’t have known that such a place existed in this imperial city. What’s even more ridiculous is that among them, there are sons who died for their country, husbands who fought on the front lines to protect Beiliang, and fathers who died on the battlefield without even seeing their children’s faces. Their loved ones died for Beiliang, yet they are treated like this. Where is their conscience? Where is justice? Who is the culprit who caused all this?”

“It’s the village chief’s fault, it’s the village chief’s fault.” A woman holding a child raised her hands tremblingly: “My father-in-law, husband, and eldest son were all taken away by the village chief’s men. The village chief said that the imperial court is conscripting men, and all the men in the family must go, unless they have money and can ask the higher-ups to make an exception. My family is poor and can’t keep them. But, sir, my eldest son was not even fourteen years old when he was taken away.”

The woman cried out in anguish, “I can’t understand why children from wealthy families don’t have to go, but my son, who is only fourteen, has to go and die.”

Xie Yubai clenched his fist: "His Majesty has decreed that all those conscripted must abide by the conscription rules. The elderly, those under the age of sixteen, and those whose only son is unmarried are not to be conscripted. Your father-in-law and eldest son are not on the conscription list. Please leave your information, and I will investigate in detail once the epidemic is over."

The woman shook her head: "No need for adults to investigate, I know what happened. The lives of the poor are worthless, they die and that's it. They use the lives of the poor to save their own lives, and they think they've done nothing wrong."

“Woman, do you know who this gentleman standing before you is?” An official couldn’t help but speak up: “He is the newly appointed Minister of Revenue, the son of General Xie Yuandao. His elder brother and sister have all been on the battlefield and fought against the people of Southern Chu.”

"You are Lord Xie!" The woman was startled and knelt down on the ground with her child in her arms. "This humble woman is ignorant and does not recognize you, sir. But how many nobles in Beiliang are like the Xie family, or like you, sir?"

The woman looked at the official who had just spoken and asked, "May I ask if anyone in your family has been conscripted?"

The man was stumped by the question, lowered his head, and avoided the woman's gaze.

"I will investigate the matter of conscription, and I will also investigate the matter of you being driven out of the village. No matter if it is the village chief or any official in the court, as long as they commit a crime, I will deal with them according to the laws of Beiliang." Lu Zhiyuan put aside the spear and walked up to the woman: "My name is Lu Zhiyuan. Xie Yuandao is my maternal grandfather, and the newly appointed Minister of Revenue Xie Yubai is my second maternal uncle."

The woman looked at the richly dressed, beautiful young girl, and stepped back while holding the child: "Get out of here quickly, or you'll catch a strange disease from us."

"Is he your son?" Lu Zhiyuan looked at the child's exposed legs. "Is he sick? Can I take a look?"

The woman hugged her child tightly: "You'll catch it!"

“No!” Lu Zhiyuan extended her hand: “I’m a doctor, I won’t get infected! If you don’t believe me, you can ask them, especially that Imperial Physician Jiang. You should know him, he’s the best imperial physician in the capital, the Emperor’s younger brother, a true member of the royal family.”

The woman looked at Physician Jiang, who, disregarding the objections, followed Lu Zhiyuan's example and stepped in, pushing aside the spear.

"I am a physician personally appointed by the Emperor. You can entrust your child to me with peace of mind."

“He’s not my son, he’s an orphan I rescued,” the woman murmured. “My father-in-law, husband, and eldest son are all dead. My mother-in-law couldn’t bear the shock and died. My youngest son and I were driven out by the village chief. Our home and our land were seized by the village chief. He said I wasn’t a villager, but I clearly married into the village, and my youngest son is still here.”

The woman looked at the child in her arms: "After leaving the village, I learned that there are many pitiful people like me. We came to the capital together and settled in this place. My youngest son caught a cold, but we had no money to buy medicine. He survived for two days and then passed away. His mother also died, so I took him to my side and treated him as my youngest son. Miss Lu, Physician Jiang, please save him."

As soon as Lu Zhiyuan placed her hand on the child's wrist, the voice of the garbage system immediately appeared in her mind: "Congratulations, host, it is not an epidemic, but poisoning."

Lu Zhiyuan frowned and spoke to the system in her mind: "You can also treat illnesses?"

The system said dejectedly, "No, but I am a system, an omnipotent system."

This is the world in the book. Although the plot has changed, as a system, it has a built-in cheat function and naturally knows what happened in the book.

Lu Zhiyuan relaxed her brows: "Since it's poisoning, there should be an antidote. Do you know where the antidote is?"

The system, like a mischievous child, babbled for a long time before finally replying: "There is no antidote, only poison, which is hidden in the rice distributed by the people of Southern Chu. As long as the host finds the poison, he can concoct an antidote to save the common people."

Lu Zhiyuan cursed under her breath and asked the woman if there was any rice or grain left in the house. The woman, not understanding what she meant, blankly pointed to the rotten pot next to her.

There was some mixed rice in the pot, but no water had been added yet. I grabbed a handful and held it up to the light, and found that the rice contained some very fine, black, sand-like particles.