Transmigrated into a seven-year-old child, my fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens.

Aunt Qing'e patted her chest, still looking shaken: "You little girl, how come you walk so quietly? You scared me to death!"

Zhao Lian couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Auntie, you look as strong as an ox, but I didn't expect you to be as timid as a mouse."

Upon hearing this, Aunt Qing'e's face immediately turned ugly.

"Zhao Lian, you must not be rude."

Seeing that Aunt Qing'e's expression was not good, Yang Guihua quickly spoke up and scolded her.

Then, with a fawning smile, he said to Aunt Qing'e, "Sister, my granddaughter speaks very frankly, so please don't take offense. But she doesn't have any bad intentions."

"Hehe~"

Aunt Qing'e chuckled and said, "It's alright, it's alright, why would I hold a grudge against a little girl!"

Although Aunt Qing'e said that, she was seething with hatred in her heart and cursed Zhao Lian a thousand times.

Hong Qing'e is not someone to be trifled with. If it weren't for the money, she would have already started cursing.

"Auntie, what's in your cloth bag?" Zhao Lian asked, pointing to her cloth bag.

This reminded Hong Qing'e of the purpose of her trip.

Hong Qing'e's lips twitched: "I'm just bringing you food, aren't I? Who knew you'd have meat to eat and even cook rice? Looks like you probably don't even care about my dark face."

Besides the aroma of pork, there was also the fragrance of rice, which couldn't fool her nose.

"Auntie, your nose is amazing! You actually smelled it. But this meat and rice were given to me by the Prefect!"

"What?"

Hong Qing'e looked completely bewildered, her smile freezing on her face. She quickly asked, "When will the Prefect distribute the meat and rice? How come I didn't know?"

"Young lady, you don't know this, but the prefect is my granddaughter's godfather!"

Yan Guihua's words left Hong Qing'e completely bewildered.

Did she hear that right? The prefect was actually this little girl's godfather.

She was even boasting that her son was a yamen runner, but she never expected that the other man's godfather was actually the prefect. However, Hong Qing'e didn't believe it.

impossible!

If she were the prefect's goddaughter, why wouldn't she live in the prefectural government office?

However, even though she didn't know if it was true or not, Hong Qing'e still didn't dare to be careless. What if it was true? She couldn't afford to offend them.

"Hehe~"

Hong Qing'e said to Zhao Lian with a fawning expression, "Little girl, I don't have anything else. This black flour is the best food we have at home."

“We only have 20 jin of dark flour in our family right now. I’ve shared 5 jin with you. If you need anything, just let me know. I’m in that room.” Hong Qing’e pointed to the mud-brick house not far to the left.

After saying that, Hong Qing'e smiled ingratiatingly and said, "Young lady, my Da Hua has been a yamen runner for a few years now. Could you ask the prefect if he could help me find a better job with a higher monthly salary?"

Haha~

Zhao Lian's smile vanished: "Auntie, don't even think about it. I can't count on you. In my opinion, it's good enough if your son can keep his job. Don't even think about anything else."

Hong Qing'e gave an awkward smile: "Since you have so many good things, you probably won't even want my little bit of black face. Forget it, I'll just take it back myself!" With that, she turned to leave.

Jiang Si stopped her, saying, "Hey, Auntie, don't rush! You should put this down. We can't let your kindness go to waste."

They gave her 500 coins, and she felt a pang of heartache; she had to take something with her.

At the dinner table, everyone wolfed down their food, enjoying the long-missed rice and pork, and finished it all in no time.

After eating and drinking their fill, everyone was terrified as they listened to Zhao Lian recount the events in Suizhou City.

Fortunately, they didn't enter the city. If they had come earlier, they might have entered the city.

If we get stuck in the city, we don't know whether we'll live or die.

Liu Jinzhu said that when they went out to find food, they saw with their own eyes the officials dragging the corpses to the mass grave in the eastern suburbs and dumping them there, making several trips back and forth.

Many refugees took the opportunity to search the dead bodies for anything valuable. Some had nothing of value on them, but seeing that the clothes were still intact, they simply stripped them off.

Some were searching for their relatives, rummaging through piles of corpses one by one.

Recalling that situation, Liu Yinzhu still felt a chill of fear; those people hadn't taken any protective measures whatsoever.

If they get infected, it won't just be a plague in Suizhou City. The thought of these viruses spreading everywhere is terrifying.

"We need to get out of here quickly!" Liu Laogen couldn't sit still any longer.

This place is too close to Suizhou City. If everyone gets infected with the plague, it could be a catastrophe.

Zhao Lian remained calm and said indifferently, "Grandfather, we should remain unchanged in the face of all changes. We are going to leave, but now is not the best time to leave. If we encounter something on the way, the situation will be even worse."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Everyone turned their attention to Zhao Lian.

“In that case, I will have to go into the city again tomorrow morning to deal with this matter first. My godfather is in trouble right now, and given the current situation in Suizhou City, I am not at ease leaving.”

"The situation is unstable right now. If we encounter someone carrying the disease on the road, we could easily be at risk of infection."

Without hesitation, Zhao Lian revealed her plan in one breath.

"Alright, since you've made up your mind, we'll wait for you. But you have to be careful in everything you do." Liu Laogen nodded, pursing his lips.

"Aunt, the medicine I just brought back, please remember to brew a dose for everyone to drink every day, it can help prevent the virus."

When Zhao Lian came back just now, she made a special trip to the Kangjian Pharmacy and found that the doctor there, Dr. Liu, was quite skilled.

Zhao Lian also drank the antiviral medicine he distributed for free, and it tasted like forsythia and isatis root.

Zhao Lian bought several doses at once. This medicine can be used for both prevention and treatment. It's good to be prepared, to prevent illness before it occurs, and to treat illness if it does occur.

At night, apart from Liu Laogen and Yan Guihua sharing a shed, the other two sheds were for men and women to sleep in separately. There were two bed boards in each shed, just big enough for them to sleep on.

Although it was a thatched hut, everyone slept exceptionally soundly that night.

The next morning, fearing that Prefect Song would be anxious, Zhao Lian made all the necessary arrangements and went into the city early.

The city gate was heavily guarded, with many officials on duty, but this did not deter Zhao Lian. She threw a pebble aside, using a feint to her advantage.

Taking advantage of the officials' distraction, Zhao Lian darted inside and slipped in.

As soon as Zhaolian entered, she encountered a carriage transporting a corpse. The carriage arrived earlier than yesterday and stopped at the city gate. The officials had just finished checking the imperial edict and were preparing to open the gate.

"Wait!"

Zhao Lian strode forward and stopped her.

"Who are you? How dare you! You want to die, don't you!" The officer, his face contorted with murderous intent, drew his sword and held it to Zhao Lian's neck.

Zhao Lian smiled and subtly pushed the other party's knife away with one hand: "Who I am is not important. What is important is that you cannot take this corpse outside and throw it away. This will only allow the virus to spread and will not be conducive to the master's treatment of the plague."

The constable was shocked: he had expected the girl to wet herself in fear, but to his surprise, she remained unfazed and casually pushed his knife aside.