It was too dark in the room, so Xue Yao couldn't see what kind of expression the man had on his face at the moment, and only vaguely saw a hint of hesitation in the pupils of his slightly bright eyes, which flew away in an instant.
"Dog officer!" The strong man's mind turned, the scythe in his hand instantly pressed against Xue Yao's neck, and he shouted in an emotionally out-of-control voice: "You want to cheat me? If I let you go, I'll be arrested by the officials immediately!"
"I can make a note." The iron blade pressing tighter and tighter around his neck made Xue Yao feel that things were already out of control, and he could only prepare to fight to the death.
However, this man's physique was built from day-to-day labor, so even if he could block the scythe, it was impossible for him to counterattack and suppress him, so Xue Yao could only lure him: "I can also give you priority to participate in this sacrifice, and make sure that you'll be included in the quota of five people."
Xue Yao already regretted stopping this death ritual, and even if the man now demanded that all the people of the county participate in the sacrifice, he would not stop him.
But it was too late for regrets.
The man lifted the scythe and slashed down at his neck so fast that he didn't have time to get his hand out from under the covers to stop-
"With a muffled thud, the man let out a cry of surprise as his wrist was pierced by a concealed weapon that flew through the window, and the scythe fell onto Xue Yao's quilt.
Xue Yao instantly sat up and grabbed the scythe as soon as he could.
The slow-witted strong man looked back and tried to grab the knife, but was yanked away and kicked in the face by a dark figure that darted into the room.
The burly man knocked over the wooden table in the center of the room and rolled all over the floor covering his kicked chest.
Xue Yao sat on the bed as if waking up from a dream, still clutching the scythe in his hand and trembling uncontrollably.
"It's not hurt, is it?"
Zhang Si's voice was like a tranquilizer, causing Xue Yao to exhale the breath he was carrying.
Blowing up the fire discount, Zhang Si lit the lamps in the room, and Xue Yao realized that he hadn't even put on his outer clothes.
Zhang Si walked up to the burly man, "Who sent you."
The burly man tilted his head in dismay and glanced at Zhang Si, immediately stomping his feet to dodge towards the corner.
"He's a commoner who wants to participate in the ritual." Xue Yao slowed down and braced himself for walking out of bed.
"Want to participate in the sacrifice ...... hehe." Zhang Si stomped on the man's chest, "The government won't let you sacrifice, you don't dare to go to the officials to make trouble, but you're quite good at picking on honest people to bully!"
Zhang Si's foot exerted a slight force, and the strong man's chest thumped, violently vomiting a mouthful of blood.
"Don't!" Xue Yao hurriedly told Zhang Si to stop.
Zhang Si looked sideways at Xue Yao, "Mr. Xue, you can't be benevolent in dealing with this kind of person, if you let him go, more people will think that they can't die, and they'll all think bad thoughts about you."
"You stay away from him for a while! Just kick him unconscious." Xue Yao was wary, "His father has already contracted the plague and died of the disease, and it's possible that he's in the incubation period of the plague as well, so don't get contaminated by his blood froth."
Zhang Si followed Xue Yao's orders, kicked the man unconscious, called the small inner eunuch accompanying him to drag him away, then treated the blood in the room with the disinfectant water Xue Yao had prepared, and washed his hands with Xue Yao with soap.
The two men sat on the stone stairs outside the door, the moonlight illuminating the empty silence of the courtyard.
Seeing that Xue Yao was still pale, Zhang Si whispered, "It's my dereliction of duty, from now on, I'll guard your house at night"
Xue Yao returned to his senses and turned his head to smile bitterly, "You are not made of iron, you always have to sleep in the middle of the night. I really didn t expect that I also had a day of being assassinated, and even more so, I didn t expect that ...... the person who wanted to kill me would be the person I wanted to save."
"You are just too soft-hearted." Zhang Si frowned, "When I stole your silver, you returned the favor by saying that you saved me because you saw this skill in me, but what about these obstinate villagers? Why did you risk so much to stay here to save these people who wanted to kill you? Now they're returning the favor, is that the result you want?"
Xue Yao snorted, "You think too much of me."
Zhang Si didn't understand.
Xue Yao saved Zhang Si because he wanted him to teach the Fifth Prince kung fu and tell the Seventh Prince about the Sword Saint's whereabouts residence.
Saving the people is for the Prince.
Everything starts from a point of view that is not for the sake of the person being saved.
But Zhang Si was right, he was a person who was easily soft-hearted, and at first, in order to protect himself, he coaxed the Seventh Prince to be happy, and as a result, he became an old father himself.
Later, for the sake of the Seventh Prince, he protects the Crown Prince and ends up becoming the Crown Prince's little fanboy himself.
Afterwards, he saved Zhang Si for the sake of the imperial princes, and gradually regarded Zhang Si as a true friend in his heart.
Now, in order to change the law without chaos, Xue Yao came to Ping Rong County to control the plague, and couldn't stand by and watch the people of the three counties go through hell on earth, when he really wanted to save people.
It's really the Secretary General of the United Nations on the salary of a young chaperone.
"Snort ......" Xue Yao laughed out loud to himself.
"You're still in the mood to laugh?" Zhang Si frowned, "Luckily I got up to pee, otherwise I would have fallen asleep and really not heard the commotion in your house, do you know how dangerous it was just now?"
Xue Yao squinted at him and huffed, "Just don't remind me, it's so hard for me to forget, and mentioning it again scares me out of sleep."
Zhang Si was amused by him and looked back to the empty courtyard, collected his smile and spoke seriously, "You are a true gentleman, no wonder the three young emperors trust you so much, flattering and skulking villains will always be defeated one day, a person like you deserves the trust of all."
*
The next day when he went to the Yamen, Xue Yao got a reply from the Crown Prince, but the military talisman didn't arrive.
In the letter, the Prince said that he had already reported the matter to the Emperor, who attached more importance to it, and that additional physicians would soon arrive.
The Emperor also decreed that the local governor should cooperate with the Imperial Doctor in controlling the plague, but did not agree to deploy troops to assist in preventing and controlling the epidemic.
It's not the first time that Daqi has had a plague, but once upon a time, it was at most a diphtheria level plague.
The Emperor had no idea how horrific the bubonic plague was in terms of its spread and lethality.
Xue Yao put away the letter, and it was as if the blood in his body had gone cold.
"Well?" Zhang Si looked at him with a bad face and asked in a depressed manner, "His Highness the Crown Prince won't give military power?"
"It's the Emperor who won't give it." Xue Yao's voice was low: "The crown prince said that he would try to convince the emperor within half a month, and that the crown prince was going to personally lead the escort army to support us ......"
Xue Yao slowly closed his eyes, "It's not easy to control half a month."
It so happened that at that moment, outside the courthouse, there came the clamor of the people.
Xue Yao and Zhang Si went out to take a look, but it turned out to be the villagers who had come to the entrance of the Yamen to cause trouble and demand that a festival be held.
After the demolition of the altar, the number of villagers haunted by "epidemic ghosts" increased significantly, and the people thought that the demolition of the altar had offended the God of the Plague, and now they are so afraid that they are not afraid of the government.
The people who were haunted by the epidemic ghost, many of the whole family died out, against the government, it is not possible to save the family's children and grandchildren, there are a lot of angry villagers are ready to fight with the government.
"What can we do about this!" The magistrate was in a frenzy of anxiety in the courtyard, and cried out to Xue Yao, "Driving away the epidemic ghosts and sending the plague god is a centuries-old custom in Ping Rong County! I really don't understand why it should be banned and how it can convince the public!"
Xue Yao calmly told him, "Please find me a set of Taoist clothes, I want to explain to the people in person."
The magistrate simply had two black eyes, not knowing what else this teenager was going to fool around with at a time like this.
But the emperor decree to let him cooperate, he shall not have complaints, can only tolerate the county minister, go to find a set of Taoist clothes to.
Three moments later, Xue Yao changed into a Taoist uniform, borrowed the magistrate's collection of swords, and stepped out of the courthouse to face the outraged people--
"All of you, be at ease, the matter of the sacrifice, the governor has decided to think long and hard about it."
The villagers gradually quieted down, full of resentment and unable to hold back their anticipation as they looked at the handsome young man dressed as a Taoist priest.
"Fellow townsfolk, I, Xuan Yi Zhen Zhen, was sent by the Emperor of Da Qi to expel the God of Plague for the people of Ping Rong." Xue Yao paused slightly, and when he saw that no one from the common people spoke up, he continued, "It was the poor Taoist's idea to not allow you to send the God of Plague."
The governor who had been carrying the black pot for a few days suddenly let out a long sigh of relief, not realizing that this kid is still a bit of a bearer.
When the people heard this, they obviously showed their anger, but probably because they were concerned about Xue Yao's status as "Xuan Yi Zhen Zhen", no one dared to vent their grievances for a while, and a pair of resentful eyes stared coldly at Xue Yao.
Xue Yao continued, "This time, the Plague God is not like the past, and instead of inviting him away, traditional sacrifices will strengthen his magical powers and drive away more epidemic ghosts, so by then, even if the time comes to exorcise the evil spirits, I won't be able to do anything to drive away the Plague God for all of you."
"Sending the God of Pestilence has been done this way since ancient times!" A young man couldn't stand it any longer and refuted, "You have your own rules in the capital, and the God of Pestilence here is different from yours!"
Xue Yao raised his hand for him to hold his horses for a moment and patiently continued, "Knowing that you all won't believe my words flat out, in order to prove it to you, I've decided that I won't be in the way of you performing the ritual, but it must be split into two."
"What twice?" One of the people inquired impatiently.
Xue Yao said, "According to the village custom, but anyone who participates in the ritual and eventually drinks the divine water will be spared from the possession of the epidemic demon, this time the plague god is coming in fiercely, everyone must want to participate in the ritual. My request is to split the sacrifice into two, the first one must be a small scale sacrifice, and the number of people participating in the sacrifice is limited to ten people ......"
"How are ten people enough!" Immediately someone began to protest.
"Hear me out." Xue Yao waited for the crowd to quiet down before continuing, "According to the rules, on the day of the sacrifice, unrelated people are not allowed to stay in the bazaar, and when the sacrifice is over it is immediately dispersed, with everyone going back to their homes.
Within six days, I guarantee that more than five people will be killed by the newly recruited epidemic ghosts that claim their lives!
You can see if my divination can be fulfilled. After eight days, you can hold the second sacrifice, and the number of participants will no longer be subject to any limitation.
Those who wish to invoke the possession of the Epidemic Demon, go ahead and die, I will not stop them."
As soon as the words fell, a group of people's faces turned a little white, and after a few moments they were talking to each other.
Not long after, the villagers' representative stood out and arched his hand, "Just do as the Taoist Master said!"
Xue Yao breathed a sigh of relief, in that case, it would take at least three days to build the altar and prepare for the sacrifice, adding up to be able to drag on for another eleven days, and after the first sacrifice, the Crown Prince's people would probably be arriving.
If this still didn't stop the large-scale rituals, Xue Yao would completely leave it alone.
If he continues to fight hard, I'm afraid that even Zhang Si won't be able to protect him, and the villagers will still fight with the officials, still causing mass infections.
Four days later, the first mini-sacrifice ceremony ended.
The villagers joyfully began preparations for the second large-scale festival.
Two days later, four of the ten people who participated in the first ritual developed symptoms of pneumonic plague.
Four days later, one man fell ill and died.
Five days later, both men fell ill and died.
Seven days later, all four of those who had contracted the disease, fell ill and died.
The villagers, who were preparing for the second sacrifice, stopped.
The villagers began to talk about Xue Yao's original divination prophecy.
The rumor that the capital had sent a living god spread quickly through the village.
Two days later, some villagers came to the Yamen and begged the Taoist priest to perform a spell to drive away the evil spirits.
Three days later, a large number of villagers gave up attending the second festival.
Some old villagers, who strongly believe in the tradition of sacrifice, tapped their canes and scolded Xue Yao for blindly hitting a dead rat, saying that he predicted that more than five people would die, but it turned out to be four.
Two more days later, three more members of the families of the four deceased who participated in the ritual succumbed to the disease one after another.
At this point, the second sacrifice was never mentioned again, and no one dared to touch the new altar that was half built.
Many villagers knelt in front of the government office day after day, asking the Living God to exorcise the evil spirits.
Xue Yao felt that the second step of the plan, which had been brewing for several days, could be announced-exterminating rats and fleas, isolating the sick, and forbidding relatives from offering condolences for the dead.
In fact, he also wanted to demand that the bodies of the sick and dead be burned, but this might have created a blood feud with the families of the dead in ancient times, and it would be better to wait for the Crown Prince to arrive before enforcing the law.
The author has something to say:
I often see readers say they can't imagine how Seven Pups will fall in love with Yao Yao when they grow up, hahahaha, here's a little hint for you-
Prohibition of indulgence. Ranting and raving. Protecting the baby. Little Sunflower's parenting class. "Fatherhood
Attempted Indulgence. Long Ao Tian's idolatry. Pride and Jealousy. Playing the pig and eating the tiger. The skin flips. The baby attacker.