Chapter 475: You Have No Say
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
The bafflement in Xiao Jin’s eyes intensified. “Dead? Who’s dead?”
Su Ying reached out and pointed in the direction of the carriage door. Xiao Jin instantly understood and lowered his voice. “Zhou Xiangrong?”
To be honest, Su Ying wasn’t completely sure.
She remembered that when she brought the blueprints out of the capital, she encountered a woman who suddenly jumped out from the roadside. At that point, she was attacked and fell to the ground. When Su Ying went up to check what happened, the woman who fell to the ground was already dead.
However, Su Ying had left in a hurry at that time. She had only seen the woman’s face for a moment, and she was not sure if that woman was Zhou Xiangrong who was sitting outside the carriage.
Now that she thought about it, she felt that the face was indeed similar. However, Su Ying had checked her pulse and confirmed that her pulse had stopped beating. That woman was dead.
Did I make a mistake because I was in a hurry to leave?” Su Ying felt that she could ask the secret guards who had been following her secretly about this They were traveling behind her, so if that woman really died on the road, they would definitely have found her body.
Xiao Jin also felt that the matter was a little strange after listening to her, but he trusted Su Ying’s judgment. No matter how anxious Su Ying was, she wouldn’t be mistaken about whether a person was dead or alive.
“After we return, I will get the secret guards to send a message back to investigate.”
“Mm-hmm.”
The streets of Luo City were still deserted and the horse carriage passed through unimpeded. Soon, they arrived outside the dilapidated temple where the patients were temporarily housed.
The horse carriage came to a stop. Xiao Jin and Su Ying then alighted.
When the official on horseback saw that Wei Zhongming had arrived, he hurriedly went forward to pay his respects.
“My Lord.”
“How’s the situation inside now?” asked Wei Zhongming.”
The official replied, “My Lord, the people inside are clamoring to go home. They claim they have recovered.”
“Open the door. I will go in and take a look.” As a safety precaution, Su Ying and Xiao Jin took the cloth from the official’s hands and covered their mouths and noses.
Under the suppression of the soldiers, those troublemakers had been locked up in the back courtyard. Most of the other patients were still in the hall of the dilapidated temple.
As Su Ying and her group approached, the group of people excitedly rushed to the window and leaned against it. “My Lord, my Lord, we’ve completely recovered. My Lord, please release us and let us go back.”
“Yes, my Lord. We’ve recovered now.”
“Open the door and bring two people out.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Wei Zhongming instructed the official to bring two people out.
Su Ying told these two people to follow her to a stone bench by the side to sit down. The two of them looked at Su Ying nervously, not knowing what she was going to do to them.
“Don’t be nervous. I just want to check the status of your body’s recovery. Sit down.”
The two sat down dutifully.
Su Ying first checked their pulses and then asked a series of questions about their current physical conditions.
Whether based on the signs of their pulses or from their description of their body’s conditions, everything indicated that they were normal and healthy people.
“You two can go back first.”
The two patients stood up and looked at each other before kneeling down in front of Su Ying. “Are you the Empress?”
“I am.”
Your Imperial Highness, our bodies are genuinely fine. We beg you to let us leave this place.”
“Don’t be anxious. After I have ascertained that there is truly no problem I will let all of you return home. Before that, you will stay in the dilapidated temple and will be provided with food. You will not suffer any harm. You can rest assured on that point.”
“Will… will they drag us out and kill us?”
Wei Zhongming’s heart skipped a beat, and he was so scared that his back went cold.
“No,” Su Ying said with a determined expression.
“Go back and tell everyone inside that Her Imperial Highness will never allow anything that harms the people to happen again. They can rest assured on that point,” Xiao Jin added.
“Yes, yes. Thank you, Your Imperial Highness. We believe in you, Your Imperial Highness.”
Su Ying asked as she turned to Wei Zhongming, “Where was the plague discovered back then?”
Your Imperial Highness, it broke out outside the city in the disaster relief camps. Hundreds of people contracted the disease that night. They vomited and had diarrhea. When they progressed to foaming at the mouth, they were almost on the brink of death. In the beginning, Miss Zhou was not able to cure the infected people immediately, so I told her not to worry and to be bold and try out the treatment. No matter the result, I will bear all the consequences Fortunately, Miss Zhou did not disappoint.”
This fellow Wei Zhongming knew how to be a government official. He could twist and turn words to direct all the credit to himself.
“Who was the first person to discover a patient with such symptoms? Is there a record of this patient?”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Xiangrong raised her eyes quickly to look at Su Ying. Wei Zhongming forced a smile and said, “If Your Imperial Highness wants to know, I will send someone to investigate.”
“Mm-hmm. Investigate the situation.” Su Ying still wanted to trace the source of the disease. If she could not find the source, the disease might break out again.
“Yes, Your Imperial Highness.”
Su Ying then selected ten more people from the dilapidated temple for a checkup. She even took the blood samples from their backs before leaving. It was already past midnight when they returned to the government office.
It s already late. Miss Zhou, you can rest here for the night.”
Su Ying requested the caretaker to arrange a guest room for Zhou Xiangrong.
“Yes, Your Imperial Highness. I’ll get someone to arrange it now.
“Your Imperial Highness, are you hungry? Do you want me to prepare some food for you?”
Of course, Su Ying was hungry. She hadn’t eaten a single grain of rice since she returned to the government office. She was already so hungry that her tummy was almost caving in.
“Go and cook two bowls of egg noodles,” Xiao Jin said to the caretaker.
“Yes, my Lord. I’ll do it right away.”
After the caretaker left, Xiao Jin did not blatantly follow Su Ying into the house. Instead, he waited in the side room.
Zhou Qing heard the commotion and walked out from the house next door.
When she saw Su Ying enter the house, she followed her.
Zhou Qing had woken up at night and was incredulous to find that she had returned to the government office.
“Your Imperial Highness, your servant is useless. Not only did I fail to protect Your Imperial Highness, I even dragged Your Imperial Highness down time and time again. Please forgive me, Your Imperial Highness.”
Su Ying felt a little guilty toward Zhou Qing, so she gestured for her to get up. “You don’t know how to swim, so it’s normal for you to fall ill after falling into the water. You should recuperate first for the next few days. Once you’re well, you can come to the palace with me and work there if you’re willing.”
Zhou Qing had come to apologize, but to her surprise, she received an offer to be a full-time employee. She couldn’t quite believe her luck. The Empress treated her too well!
“Your Imperial Highness, your servant… your servant will definitely be loyal to you and will definitely not let you down.”
Su Ying chuckled softly. “Then you better keep your word, or I’ll get angry.” Although Zhou Qing had never seen Su Ying truly blow her top, she could guess that the consequences of incurring the Empress’s wrath would be very severe based on how powerful she was!
“Yes, Your Imperial Highness. Your servant will definitely not disappoint you.” Zhou Qmg almost bumped into a person when she pushed the door to go out of the guest room. She got a shock and subconsciously took two steps back. When she saw the person clearly, there was a trace of wariness in her eyes. “Who are you? Why are you outside the Empress’s room?”
Xiao Jin had heard the two women’s earlier conversation clearly. “I’m from the capital city. My duty is to protect the Empress. You don’t have to serve here. You can leave now.”
How could Zhou Qing allow a grown man to stand guard outside the Empress’s room? She refused to leave.
“I am the servant who serves the Empress. Whether I leave or not, you have no say..”
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