Chapter 396 - Internal Conflicts

After knowing their purpose, Mo Junzhan cooperated with them perfectly.

On the same day, he told Yan Xu that Madam Ye had died of the epidemic.

Even though Yan Xu said that the epidemic in Jiangzhou City had been eliminated, Mo Junzhan insisted on this “fact” and arbitrarily demanded investigating the epidemic in the city.

His reason was sufficient. “You can’t even give us a final prescription. How can you have the face to say that the epidemic has been eliminated?”

Yan Xu was rendered speechless by the question.

When the epidemic here was the most serious, nearly one fourth of the people in Jiangzhou City died.

However, it seemed to prove the saying that things always reversed themselves after reaching an extreme. In a short time, the epidemic became weaker and was eliminated unexpectedly in the end before there was medicine.

Many people survived for no reason.

It was like pennies from heaven, and all people were overjoyed and forgot everything. Who would investigate the height from which the pennies had been?

However, Mo Junzhan had nothing to do but bother about this matter.

Yan Xu was anxious and had sweat all over his head again, so he hurriedly summoned his assistants to discuss the countermeasure.

Nevertheless, after talking for a long time, none of them could figure out a practical way. Yan Xu was so angry that he goggled.

Yan Xu’s direct subordinate, the county chief in Jiangzhou, Yin Liangzhi didn’t know why Yan Xu was anxious. He advised indifferently, “Lord Yan, the epidemic has been cured without medicine. Nobody can explain what happened. His Excellency insists on wasting his energy on this matter, and you have to let him investigate it. If he concentrates on the epidemic, won’t it satisfy us?”

Yan Xu frowned and goggled, rebuking crossly, “What do you know? The epidemic is finally forgotten, so we can relax a little, yet he mentioned it again. If they find that secret after investigation, you and I will be beheaded.”

“Lord Yan, the epidemic came weirdly and can’t be cured. All the doctors in the city could do nothing but watch the people infected die. This is what you, I and Lord Wu know. What do you need to worry about?” Yin Liangzhi said meaningfully.

Till now, Yin Liangzhi didn’t think that Mo Junzhan and the others could find something after investigation. They would just waste time and give them convenience.

Since Yin Liangzhi mentioned the inspector in Jiangzhou, Wu Xiong, Yan Xu got nervous yet soon calmed down. He said casually, “Lord Yin, you are right, but don’t forget that since the imperial envoy came to our city, Lord Wu hasn’t shown up.”

At the mention of this, Yan Xu was displeased.

The highest-ranking official in Jiangzhou City was the magistrate Yan Xu, Rank-5 and the next was the inspector Wu Xiong, sub Rank-5. Then the Rank-6 supervisor Ye Zhirong and the Rank-7 county chief Yin Liangzhi were inferior.

Logically, Yan Xu was the one in charge, but Wu Xiong was a military officer and controlled the military power in Jiangzhou, with much actual power.

Therefore, Yan Xu had to care about Wu Xiong’s thoughts most of the time and was cowardly as a magistrate.

Hearing Yan Xu complain about Wu Xiong, Yin Liangzhi instantly pretended as if he didn’t care about anything irrelevant. He smiled flatteringly after Yan Xu vented his feelings. “Lord Yan, relax. King Rui’s heir won’t make big trouble. Moreover, they don’t let you go, but don’t you have the evidence against them?”

Yan Xu paused for a while and looked up at Yin Liangzhi. “What do you mean?”

“My Lord, you know what I mean.” Yin Liangzhi showed a knowing smile yet didn’t expose it.

Yan Xu stared at Yin Liangzhi for quite a while, while the latter kept his composure, which made him unable to say more.

“Fine, I can’t rely on you in this thing. Go back first and do your own jobs.” He waved Yin Liangzhi away.

Yin Liangzhi stopped advising Yan Xu and bowed before saying goodbye.

He left the magistrate’s mansion and went into a carriage. The carriage crossed the lively streets and the peddlers cried their wares on the streets, with the voices drowning the moving sound of the carriage. Nobody would find that somebody else besides Yin Liangzhi was sitting in the carriage.

As soon as the curtain of the carriage was put down, Yin Liangzhi stopped acting lazily like he had done in the magistrate’s mansion. He looked serious and bowed to the person inside.

That man waved his hand and asked in a cold voice, “What’s up?”

“My Lord, just as you predicted, His Excellency and his people pay attention to the epidemic and Yan Xu can’t keep calm now. I am afraid that he will confront Mo Junyang in no time.”

Yin Liangzhi said calmly and asked hesitantly in the end, “I am puzzled about something. Please explain it to me, My Lord.”

“What’s the matter?”

“My Lord, you have known that the ‘King Rui’s heir’ staying in the magistrate’s mansion is somebody else who disguises as him, while the assistant is the right person. Why didn’t you tell Yan Xu about it?”

Once Yan Xu knew Mo Junyang’s real identity, he would surely be alert to that man instead of paying all his attention to Mo Junzhan like now, which gave Mo Junyang an opportunity that could be made use of.

That official raised his indifferent eyes and cast a sidelong glance at Yin Liangzhi. After a long while, he said unhurriedly, “A useless person doesn’t deserve my concern.

“Didn’t you covet his position all the time in the past? Why do you care about him today? Do you remember that he promoted you and want to advance and retreat with him?”

Hearing the sarcasm, Yin Liangzhi felt a shiver down his spine.

He was clear about his boss’s cruelty and knew that the advance and retreat he mentioned was only retreat.

If he nodded at this time, he would end up with the same as Yan Xu, a useless person.

Yin Liangzhi hurriedly knelt in front of him and expressed his loyalty. “I have only one boss, you. I am loyal to you and have never betrayed you. Please observe clearly, My Lord.”

After he said that while trembling, he raised his eyes and peeped at the man who sat straight. Seeing that the boss’s expression didn’t change, he was relieved a bit and continued, “I just think that Yan Xu is a suitable pawn. If you can make use of him thoroughly, it will be more helpful to your great cause.”

That man’s piercingly cold eyes fell on Yin Liangzhi. After a long time, he smiled faintly. “Of course, I believe that you are loyal to me. Don’t worry. As long as you work for me, you will gain profit after we make it.”

“Thanks for your kindness, My Lord.”

The conversation between the two submerged in the busy streets, and nobody knew it.

Yan Xu didn’t know that his fellows schemed against him behind his back but concentrated on figuring out how to cope with King Rui’s heir.

Before that, Yan Xu didn’t take this King Rui’s heir seriously. He had just taken him as a tourist in Jiangzhou and planned to deal with him randomly.

Till Mo Junzhan wanted to investigate the epidemic, Yan Xu got alert.

In the beginning, Yan Xu frowned and thought hard. Suddenly, an idea flashed in his brain, and he had a sly smile at once.

“Don’t you have so much time to bother about me? When you have internal conflicts, I will see if you have time.”

In the afternoon, Shi Qingxue rarely didn’t do anything. She quietly sat in the pavilion in the backyard alone and stared at the lotus blossom in the pond, in a daze.

“What’s on your mind?”

A familiar voice came from behind, and the warm breath surrounded her at the same time.

Before looking back, Shi Qingxue knew that the comer was Mo Junyang.

She let herself fall into Mo Junyang’s arms and leaned against him with a comfortable posture.

Then she said, “Nothing. I have just found that the lotuses are beautiful and bright, different from those I saw in the past, so I stopped and watched them.”

Mo Junyang followed Shi Qingxue’s eyes, to see that the lotuses in this pond were not the common white lotuses but gorgeous pink lotuses.

However, they were a bit different from the ordinary pink lotuses.

The color of the petals of the pink lotus in the other places was even, while the petals of the lotus here were red like blood, and the color became lighter gradually to the tip.

The color of the tip became light pink like the white lotus.

The gradual change in the color was rare.

So Shi Qingxue couldn’t look away from them after a glance.

Mo Junyang watched the lotuses in the pond with Shi Qingxue. Although King Rui’s heir wasn’t interested in such fragile little things, when the girl’s soft body was in his arms, he was satisfied.

They sat there quietly for a while, and then Shi Qingxue stopped concentrating on the beautiful lotuses.

She asked, “What have you found when you investigate the epidemic?”

Mo Junyang answered, “We just checked the records about the epidemic and the number of people who died of the epidemic.”

“How many people are there so far?”

“Nearly fifty thousand people are recorded, but…” Mo Junyang hesitated for a moment and then added, “In fact, it’s uncertain.”

Shi Qingxue turned to him and asked in confusion, “Why is it uncertain?”

Mo Junyang held Shi Qingxue more tightly and then explained in a soft voice, “The small towns and villages seldom contact the government because of the poor transportation, and they didn’t report the newborn babies to the government, so the number of people recorded by the government in some areas is the statistics more than ten years ago. They just did it in order to cope with the inspectors from the superior government, and it is not so accurate.

“Moreover, the epidemic spread rapidly. If one person is ill, it may spread to the whole village, and none of them will escape by sheer luck. Even though after the epidemic, the government gave the official notice that all the villages and towns should report how many people died or survived, if all people in a village died, they might be forgotten in the history and nobody would find it.”

Shi Qingxue felt sad even when she was listening. She couldn’t help but ask, “What do you plan to do?”

She knew nothing about the epidemic, and it was more proper to say that this epidemic disappeared than to say that it was eliminated.

Since it could disappear for no reason, would it incite trouble and create confusion for no reason again?