GTB Chapter 154

Chapter 156: Can I ask Your Highness to protect me?

A white-clothed woman ran frantically from afar. When she saw the soldiers following behind Shí Yan, her eyes lit up with joy, as if she had seen a savior.

She hurriedly cried for help and ran to Shí Yan’s feet, “Help, Your Honor, save me!”

Shí Yan took a step back and glanced at the several farmers chasing behind her, signaling to Mu Feng.

Mu Feng stepped forward, looking at the panting men, and asked coldly, “What is this… forcibly abducting a woman in the street?”

Seeing that Shí Yan had an extraordinary aura and was followed by soldiers, the men exchanged glances and quickly knelt down to explain:

“Your Honor, please be aware, this woman is my elder brother’s wife. She accepted the betrothal gifts, but now she wants to run away from the marriage, intending to defraud us of our money, making my old mother at home so angry that she fell ill. Please, Your Honor, see clearly and allow us to take her back.”

Hearing this, Lin Yue immediately looked up at Shí Yan without waiting for Mu Feng to ask, “Your Honor, they are talking nonsense. I have some medical knowledge and saw that their mother seemed to be infected with the plague, so I gave them a prescription to try. I didn’t expect that after I gave them the prescription, they learned that I was traveling alone through this place, and they became malicious, wanting to forcibly take me as their own.”

As Lin Yue spoke, tears fell uncontrollably, making her look extremely pitiful.

“If Your Honor doesn’t believe it, they still have the prescription I gave them at home.”

Shí Yan looked at the men and ordered the soldiers behind him, “Take them all to the yamen. The truth will be known after a trial.”

After giving the order, he continued forward with Mu Feng and the others, completely ignoring the pleas and cries of injustice from the strong men behind him.

Lin Yue looked back at Shí Yan’s back, a hint of interest in her eyes. Sorry, Senior Brother, but she has taken a liking to this Seventh Prince. Whether he has a solution or not, she will help him resolve this plague in advance to gain his trust and enter his residence.

After inspecting the area, Shí Yan realized it was indeed a plague. He quickly asked Mu Feng, “How is the County Magistrate dealing with it? Has he sent someone to invite doctors to resolve the plague?”

“Reporting, Master, the County Magistrate has already sent people to gather all the doctors in the city.”

“Mm.” Shí Yan nodded and turned back to return to the government office.

However, two days later, all the doctors in Dan City had written countless prescriptions, but none were effective. The number of infected people in the city had multiplied several times in just two days, and the symptoms became increasingly severe.

Just as Shí Yan was preparing to write a letter to transfer the pharmacists from the Lanji Pavilion, Lin Yue came to his door.

In the east courtyard of the County Magistrate’s office, Shí Yan stood on the veranda of his study, looking at Lin Yue below, “You can resolve this plague?”

Lin Yue seemed afraid to speak with certainty, “I… I have an 80% chance of success. As long as I try the prescription twice, observe the reactions of the infected people, and improve it, I can definitely resolve this plague.”

“Then why didn’t you try directly these past two days and instead came to find this Prince? Speak! What do you want to exchange for this?”

Hearing this, Lin Yue showed a momentary look of astonishment, then quickly waved her hand, “Your Highness misunderstands. I don’t want to exchange for anything. I just… I just don’t have any money to afford the medicine in the prescription. Moreover, there are government-appointed doctors, so the people are probably afraid to drink my medicine without permission.”

“That’s true. Then why didn’t you go to the County Magistrate?” Shí Yan looked at Lin Yue with a probing gaze.

Upon hearing this, a look of grievance appeared on Lin Yue’s face, and she stammered:

“The County Magistrate… he… he seems to be interested in me.”

She looked up at Shí Yan, as if afraid to say it, “I think you are a good person, you won’t have any improper thoughts about me, that’s why I came to find you.”

She had already thought of this and had gone to the County Magistrate, deliberately putting on a delicate, pretentious, and affectionate appearance, causing the County Magistrate to become handsy with her. She wasn’t afraid of the Seventh Prince investigating.

She thought to herself triumphantly that a woman who is good-looking is like a sharp sword. With just a little trickery, a man can be hooked.

But the man in front of her seemed to have no ripples in his eyes when he looked at her. She thought to herself, as expected of a prince, he doesn’t let his emotions show.

Seeing that his master seemed to want to question her further, Mu Feng tactfully brought a chair.

Shí Yan sat down and lightly waved his folding fan, looking at Lin Yue standing outside the veranda, “Name, where is your home? Why did you appear here?”

Before Lin Yue could speak, tears fell first, “My name is Lin Yue, I am an orphan. I was adopted by a wandering doctor when I was young.”

“Seven days ago, my father and I were passing through this place. Because we failed to save a patient, they thought my father was a quack doctor and beat him to death.”

“I wanted to report it to the authorities, but the government was busy with the disaster relief and felt that this medical dispute could not be judged, and since we were outsiders, they refused to accept it.”

“Therefore, I was left alone wandering here. Not knowing where to go, I originally wanted to settle down here, but I found that it was very inconvenient for a single orphan girl to settle down here.”

Speaking of this, her eyes lit up, as if she suddenly remembered something, and she looked at Shí Yan with some embarrassment, “I know that you should be the Seventh Prince who came down for disaster relief. You just asked me what I wanted to exchange for, can… can I still make a request now?”

Listening to Lin Yue’s words, Shí Yan said in a calm voice, “Tell me.”

Hearing this, Lin Yue quickly knelt down and said, “If I can help these people resolve the plague, can I ask Your Highness to protect me? I don’t need anything else, just to be able to enter the mansion as a servant girl, or a mansion physician is also fine. After these few days of experiences, I am really afraid.”

“Protecting you is possible, but how to protect you specifically will be discussed after you resolve this plague.”

As he spoke, he ordered to his side, “Mu Huo, take her over there.”

“Yes.” Mu Huo walked up to Lin Yue, “Time waits for no one, the epidemic cannot be delayed, Miss Lin, please follow me to the quarantine area first!”

“Okay.” Lin Yue got up decisively and quickly followed Mu Huo out of the courtyard.

This Seventh Prince is really vigilant. However, she is not afraid of him investigating. She came to Dan City long ago and has arranged everything perfectly.

Her so-called wandering doctor father was an old man she brought from another place who was on the verge of death. She gave him a large sum of money to settle his family and brought him here to stage a real medical incident.

Mu Feng looked at Lin Yue leaving the courtyard and said to Shí Yan, who got up and entered the study, “Master, should I send someone to investigate what she said?”

Shí Yan walked to the desk and sat down, “No need, since she said so, whether it’s true or false, this matter must exist.”

“Then should I still send a letter to the Lanji Pavilion and ask a pharmacist to come over?” Mu Feng didn’t doubt Lin Yue, but he felt that if she really wanted to enter the Seventh Prince’s residence as a servant girl and mansion physician, then her identity must be thoroughly investigated before they could feel at ease.

“Not for the time being. Even if the pharmacist rushes over from Kyoto, it will take at least seven days. Didn’t she say that she can create an antidote after two trials? Then give her a day to see if she can create an antidote.”

Shí Yan leaned back in his chair, lightly tapping the armrest with his fingers, his eyes gradually deepening.

After a moment, he looked at Mu Feng, “Send a letter to the Lanji Pavilion and find someone who is best at hiding. When she enters Kyoto, monitor her throughout the entire process.”

“Yes,” Mu Feng responded, then looked at his master and asked, “Does Master think she can really resolve this plague?”

A cold smile appeared on the corner of Shí Yan’s lips, “She should be able to resolve it. Didn’t you see the vow in her eyes? Since she dares to negotiate terms with this Prince, she must be 100% certain.”

He picked up the book on the side, opened it, and ordered, “By the way, after she resolves the plague, arrange for her to live in this courtyard, pay attention to her every move, and especially pay attention to whether she has any correspondence.”