My stepsister tried to steal the prince's hand in marriage, but little did she know I had been

In no time, the Wei family members were all twisted by the shoulders and pressed down onto the open ground of the mansion.

Wei Xiaoxiao stared in disbelief at everything happening before her eyes, as if she were in a dream.

How could this be?

Just a moment ago, they had opened the entrance to the secret passage with great anticipation.

But the next moment, Si Qing led the Imperial Guards in.

She and her family didn't even have time to react before they were all taken here.

"Why should we?" Wei Xiaoxiao was still unconvinced. "We just want to leave Yongcheng. What law have we broken?"

“Yongcheng is plagued. Who knows if you’ve contracted it? If you leave the city now, you’ll be deliberately spreading the plague.” Si Qing sneered. “Miss Wei, why play dumb? Aren’t you just trying to avoid disaster?”

"The prefect of Yongcheng has already ordered that no one is allowed to leave the city. Don't you know that?" Si Qing retorted. "Your Wei family has connections everywhere. You can even dig a secret passage to connect to the outside of the city. Don't you know that this is common knowledge?"

"Don't try to argue with me." Si Qing quickly said a few words, forcing Wei Xiaoxiao to swallow back all the words she was about to say.

Si Qing stared at her coldly, and that look made her increasingly uneasy.

"you……"

Wei Xiaoxiao felt that this look was familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before.

She had barely opened her mouth when a thought flashed through her mind—this was the look of someone looking at a dead person!

When she and her father dealt with those servants, her father's eyes at that time were as indifferent as Si Qing's.

Could it be...? An unbelievable thought arose in Wei Xiaoxiao's mind.

This is impossible!

Wei Xiaoxiao suddenly shook her head frantically, her eyes filled with hatred as she stared intently at Si Qing in front of her: "What exactly do you want to do?"

"Our Wei family isn't without backers in the capital, you know that..."

Before Wei Xiaoxiao could finish speaking, she was startled by the long sword that Si Qing suddenly drew. She screamed and tried to back away, but because she forgot that her feet were bound, she fell heavily to the side.

"What is the Wei family?" Si Qing said with disdain. "You violated the rules by leaving the city, you deserve to be killed!"

“If Yongcheng were full of selfish people like you, the plague would have already spread throughout Dali.”

Si Qing stared coldly at Wei Xiaoxiao, and the coldness in his voice grew more pronounced as the words reached his lips.

Wei Xiaoxiao had a premonition in her heart, and wished she could just faint and die.

Wei Wei stood there dumbfounded, recalling Si Qing's words, and the unbelievable thought surfaced in his mind.

Si Qing sneered a few times and confirmed their guess: "The Wei family has committed heinous crimes. By order of the Prince, the entire Wei family will be sent to prison to await their fate."

As soon as he spoke, all the Imperial Guards began to move.

Upon seeing this, Wei Xiaoxiao screamed and fainted completely.

Wei Wei was also pale. His lips trembled as he tried to say something, but the words stuck in his throat.

He knew from the look in Si Qing's eyes that this time he was bound to meet a bad end. Since that was the case, he might as well be obedient and maybe he could get a lighter punishment.

He had never heard of King Jing being a murderer, and besides, with so many people in their Wei family, it was impossible for King Jing to slaughter their entire clan on just this one charge.

Si Qing knew what Wei Wei was thinking as soon as he saw the change in his eyes.

However, the effect of making an example of them has been achieved, and the Wei family will not suffer much loss—it will only go from a second-rate family to a third-rate family.

Without the Vice Minister of Revenue in the capital, the Wei family has been barred from holding official positions in Beijing for three generations.

……

It was already dark when we returned to the post station.

Si Qing observed the atmosphere inside the post station, which was different from before, and had a vague guess in his mind.

"Did the imperial physicians develop a prescription to treat the plague?"

Seeing the rosy cheeks of the imperial physicians and the beaming smiles of the imperial guards in the post station, Si Qing couldn't help but guess in that direction.

He nudged the magpie's arm and asked in a low voice.

Magpie nodded, her eyes sparkling: "That's right! This time when they came to Yongcheng, the imperial physicians brought their best prescriptions. Today, they went to the markets in the west where the plague was most severe and found some patients. They tried various prescriptions and found that the prescription personally modified by Chief Physician Zhou was the most effective. In just half a day, the patients' fevers subsided."

"The imperial physicians all said that as long as the fever can be brought down, this person's life can basically be saved."

Magpie had been serving Wen Shuyao the whole time. Wen Shuyao personally took charge of the matter of the imperial physicians modifying the prescriptions, asking questions about everything to ensure the safety of the imperial physicians.

As Wen Shuyao's personal maid, Xique naturally heard everything clearly.

Si Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

"That's good..." Si Qing patted his chest and said, "I was worried... that we would all die here."

Upon hearing this, Magpie immediately glared at him: "If Granny hears this, you'll be in for a beating."

Upon hearing this, Si Qing felt a chill run down his spine and quickly looked around. Fortunately, Granny Qi was always by Wen Shuyao's side and couldn't spare any attention. He breathed a sigh of relief and patted his mouth, saying, "I was just talking nonsense. Please don't take it to heart, Miss Xique."

The magpie snorted coldly and said nothing more.

……

The new prescription for treating the plague developed by Dr. Zhou was very effective, and the plague in Yongcheng was brought under control in a short period of time.

Some people who could not be treated in time could not be buried, so they were all piled on haystacks and burned.

On this day, Yongcheng was ablaze with flames.

But this time, Yongcheng is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Zhou Yan looked at the scene before her, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Thank you, Your Highness." He knelt down before Xie Jinghan while crying.

"If it weren't for the prince's intervention, there probably wouldn't be a single person left alive in the entire Yongcheng."

The rampant spread of the plague left him with no choice but to seal off the city. He also learned about the Wei family's secret tunnel digging from the Imperial Guards.

If all the powerful families dug secret passages like the Wei family, I'm afraid that before the city's food supplies ran out, everyone in the city would have already left. At that time, the plague would spread to all directions, to the capital, and even to the entire Dali.

Even if he dies, he cannot atone for this sin.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yan burst into tears again.

Looking at his disheveled appearance, Xie Jinghan remained silent for a moment before saying, "Don't worry, as Dr. Zhou himself said, the plague will disappear from Yongcheng in a month."

“If it weren’t for your proper control, the number of civilians killed or injured in Yongcheng would have been far greater than this.” Xie Jinghan helped him up and solemnly promised, “I will petition His Majesty for your merit. What Dali needs is an official like you.”