"Aye, what do the elders say?"
In the early morning, in the Wang family's mansion in the north of Taiyuan Prefecture, Wang Anlian, who had announced the bounty to Li Ang, hugged her husband Chu Haoman's arm and asked her father Wang Bojian with a worried look on his face.
Wang Bojian did not answer immediately, but poured himself a cup of herbal tea, drank it in one gulp, and then frowned and said: "They still decided to fight with the imperial court."
"But,"
Wang Anlian's face tightened, "Now not only in Taiyuan Prefecture, but also in all the capitals of Hedong Province, the plague has appeared, causing heavy casualties, which can be compared with the plague in the late Han Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty.
The outside of Taiyuan City has been surrounded by the army, and all city gates have been closed. Only vehicles transporting supplies can enter and exit.
The Chang'an court is extremely afraid of the spread of the plague, and it would be tantamount to treason to betray the country."
"I know."
Wang Bojian nodded heavily, "The Zhou Kingdom has changed its emperor, and has turned to Mount Taihao. More troops are being sent to the border every day. The situation is not optimistic for the Yu Kingdom.
At this time, if the plague spreads in Hedong Road, the Yu State will really be in danger of subjugation.
Therefore, during this period of time, no matter how much influence I, the Wang family, exerted in Chang'an, I asked courtiers, scholars, and famous scholars to help me speak.
Both the emperor and the prime minister sat firmly on the mountain and were completely unwavering - they were determined to trust Li Ang."
Wang Bo simply paused for a moment and said quietly: "Not only did Li Ang not let our Wang family leave the city, he also forced us to contribute money, people, and efforts.
Send people to various cities.
Or publicity to contain the plague,
Or check for infected patients,
Or carry the corpse and burn it,
Or transport supplies.
The plague is rampant in the city, and even if you take precautions, you are still at risk of contracting the disease.
Several of your cousins were unfortunately infected with the disease and were sent to quarantine. Their lives and deaths are still uncertain. Every night the sound of their mothers crying can be heard in the yard."
"..."
Wang Anlian thought of the sad cries that had never ceased in the palace recently, her eyes darkened, and she said softly: "Why is it like this?"
"Yes, why is this so?"
Wang Bojian sighed: "My Wang family has passed down moral poetry and calligraphy to the family. Every one of the children in the family has read the Four Books and Five Classics and is full of knowledge. Even the least accomplished one can be a county magistrate or county magistrate.
But now, like government servants and petty officials, they have to walk through the city and do the lowest-level work of carrying corpses and burning corpses.
You run the risk of contracting the disease yourself, or even infecting your relatives and friends at home."
"...Sir, is there still room for maneuver?"
Chu Haoman frowned, thought for a moment and said: "Judging from the past behavior of Mr. Li Xiaolang, he is not a cruel person by nature, otherwise he would not be able to deceive the world.
This time it is not so much that I am deliberately targeting the Wang family.
Rather..."
"Rather, it is a reckoning with the Wang family for allowing the plague to spread in Taiyuan City.
From his perspective,
The furs brought into the city by Wang's firm previously caused the plague.
So now, the young people of the Wang family should take the lead."
Wang Anlian guessed what her husband was thinking and took over the words to avoid the embarrassment of her husband as a son-in-law, "And in the future, if we don't make further resistance, then he may not take action.
The two sides can maintain a tacit understanding until the plague is over."
"Many people in the meeting just now had the same idea as you. From the beginning, it was indeed my Wang family's fault.
We should not transport furs with fleas, and we should not send people to beat the doctor who claimed that the royal vegetable farmers died of the plague."
Wang Bojian smiled bitterly and recalled the fierce quarrel between the representatives of the Wang family in the ancestral hall just now, "But, things have happened, and I, the Wang family, have paid the corresponding price.
Everyone understands the truth, and no one can watch their own children and nephews continue to be killed and injured without being indifferent.
We really just want to protect ourselves."
In order to protect themselves, the Wang family has set up an isolation ward within the family just like other cities in Taiyuan Prefecture. However, there is still no way to completely block the introduction and spread of the plague - after all, contact with the outside world is unavoidable.
Wang Anlian and her husband Chu Haoman looked at each other and sighed silently.
"Don't think too much, no matter how bad the situation is, it won't be that bad."
Seeing this, Wang Bojian forced a smile and comforted her: "Stay in the house well and don't go out. Meals will be delivered to your door every day. We are responsible for the things outside.
I'm leaving first."
"Yeah."
Wang Anlian nodded and suddenly said seriously: "Aye, no matter what, you should not be deeply involved in the struggle between the Wang family and the court.
Even if you are pretending to be sick, even if you are accused by Wang Bofan and others, don't get involved.
Don’t put yourself at risk and openly confront.
I have a hunch that Li Ang will never back down immediately when encountering a little resistance. He will also increase his intensity until one of the two parties can no longer support it."
————
"Observer Li...eh?"
In the prefect's mansion, the anxious-looking government servant Sun Er stopped suddenly as soon as he walked outside the hall door.
There was no figure of Li Ang in the hall, but He Fanshuang was sitting in his seat, flipping through all the information compiled and reported by various departments.
Sun Er didn't know He Fanshuang's identity, but he saw the girl wearing regular clothes, flipping through the documents on Li Ang's desk as if no one else was watching, and blindly guessed that she had a close relationship with Li Ang.
Subconsciously he lowered his tone and said respectfully, "This girl, Sun Er, the Taiyuan government official, has something to report to Li Kuan."
"Are you Sun Er?"
He Fanshuang heard Sun Er's name from Li Ang, nodded, took out the seal and fish bag that Li Ang gave her, and said: "I am He Fanshuang, a classmate of Risheng. He is busy with something, and the authority of the Hedong Road Observer is temporarily transferred to him.
I'll take care of it. If you have anything to do, just ask."
Sun Er carefully glanced at the fish bag symbolizing the official position of the observer from a distance, and then glanced at Yan Yundang, who was standing silently on guard in the corner of the hall.
Then he took out a stack of paper and said: "This is the leaflet I found this morning with my colleagues in the alleys of Chengnanfang City. It is suspected that someone is making lies to deceive the people and deceive the people..."
"Flyers?"
He Fanshuang frowned slightly, and with a wave of her hand, the stack of flyers flew to her desk.
I saw that the handwriting on the flyer was neat and neat, without the author's signature, and the title was "A rural grassroots asked the Taiyuan government ten times"
She pushed up her glasses on the bridge of her nose and read the contents of the flyer carefully.
The author of the leaflet claimed that he was a civilian from a certain city in Taiyuan Prefecture. From the first day of the lockdown, he responded to the call of the Taiyuan government and voluntarily participated in the work of containing the plague.
But recently, he has seen so many strange phenomena that his conscience has been tortured, and he feels the need to explain the true situation of the plague to the people of Taiyuan Prefecture.
[The plague in Taiyuan Prefecture is not only a natural disaster, but also a man-made disaster.]
"Heh."
Just by seeing this sentence, He Fanshuang had already guessed the origin of the flyer.
After waiting for so long, Wang’s counterattack finally came.
This chapter has been completed!