Miss Fortune: Is the regent ready for today?

In the Sijiang area, the 24-mile-long embankment along the river was severely damaged.

Everything in front of me could only be described as horrific. The bricks and tiles of the collapsed houses were destroyed, the collapsed farmland was littered with human corpses, broken wood was piled up in several places, and the ground was filled with wailing people.

Some of them cried while holding the bodies of their relatives who were horribly swollen by water; some had blood-red blisters all over their bodies and kept scratching; and some were so hungry that they even grabbed grass roots and ate them raw. It was like purgatory on earth.

Yu Ruyi, riding on horseback, gripped the reins tightly. Yan Jia, standing behind him, had a strange look on his face, staring thoughtfully at the people infected with the rash. Zhang Touer instructed the Antaisi guards who were accompanying him to record these scenes in a book so that they could report to Mei Chengting when they returned to Beijing.

"Sixth Young Master, have you ever heard that there will be a great epidemic after a great disaster?" Yan Jia spoke suddenly, attracting everyone's attention.

Yu Ruyi tilted her head to look at her, "What do you mean?" The young man, who felt sympathy for the suffering people, reacted a little slowly.

Yan Jia whispered to him, "I have seen that the symptoms of the people with rashes are similar, I am afraid it is not..."

Upon hearing this, Yu Ruyi followed her line of sight and, as expected, those people who were scratching their skin frantically all had the same blood-red rash, as if they had dense, water-filled tumors on their bodies, which was disgusting and weird.

The young man's brows suddenly became serious. He looked into the distance and saw that most of the homeless people huddled on both sides of the road had already been infected with the disease!
Yu Ruyi yelled in his heart that something was wrong. After exchanging a glance with Yan Jia, he instructed the three people behind him, "You three, gather the people who haven't been infected with the rash together and let them keep their distance from those who have been infected with the rash! If they ask why, don't answer them, so as not to cause panic among the people who have been infected with the disease!"

Hearing the sound, the three men dismounted and did as they were told.

Zhang Tou'er also came over and pulled Yu Ruyi's sleeve, "Holy Lord, what are you doing?"

"Deputy Envoy of Antaisi," Yu Ruyi looked at him, "Look at the rashes on the people's bodies. Have you seen them?"

Zhang Touer glanced around, shook his head and frowned, "This... looks familiar, but I have never seen it before."

"What's familiar?" Yu Ruyi rolled her eyes at him and started talking to Yan Jia, "If this is really the epidemic that was transmitted after the disaster you mentioned, the lives of these people..."

"Ahhh! It's itchy! It hurts! Ah——" A person's roar was heard from the side of the road, startling Yu Ruyi.

Everyone looked at him from the side, and saw that the screaming man was half-bent over, scratching his face vigorously. As he screamed, five or six scratches appeared on his face, and blood flowed out...

This guy actually scratched his face!
Not only his face, but also his limbs and exposed waist and abdomen were covered with long scratches that penetrated deep into the skin. Those who didn’t know would think that he had been tortured. After he had his skin and flesh removed, he continued to twist. In a moment, he seemed to have caught sight of a half-stone brick on the road, and quickly grabbed it and smashed it on his head before anyone could react...

"No!" Yu Ruyi subconsciously reached out to him, but her five fingers clenched into a fist in mid-air.

Dark red blood flowed from the man's forehead, and the next second his eyes rolled back and he fell unconscious.

The people around were all agitated, looking at the unconscious man and shouting, fearing that they would become like him.

They all scratched the rashes on their bodies frantically, and then, one by one, they gathered their strength and stood up.

Yu Ruyi had a bad feeling in her heart, and the way the people looked at them changed.

"You're riding on your tall horses and parading through the streets, are you making fun of us?!"

"Damned court lackeys! You wear silk and satin and live in a big house. Has this flood affected you?"

"Brothers, why don't we surround them? Take their horses and strip them of their clothes to exchange for money, so that we can get food for our families and find a doctor to treat this strange lump of ours!"

"Speak up! Are you here to laugh at our miserable appearance?" "Look, the white-clothed leader is embroidered with silver thread! That piece of clothing could buy our entire village!"

"Let's go! Rob him! If we get this disease, we may not live long! The collapsed dam, the harvestless farmland, and our ruined home, which one is not caused by the court? Now that we are going to die, we don't care about the laws anymore!"

"Compensate us for our farmland and crops!"

"Compensate us for our house and village!"

"You rich people, are you going to be buried with us?!"

Crazy people swarmed over. In a flash, Yan Jia whipped Yu Ruyi's horse. The white horse was startled and ran forward. She kicked her legs and followed Yu Ruyi's horse, not forgetting to turn around and shout, "Run! Follow me!"

Yu Ruyi grasped the reins of the horse absentmindedly. The words of the people just now were like knives cutting his heart.

Yan Jia and Deputy Envoy Zhang quickly caught up with him, and the three of them moved forward hand in hand. The guards behind them also sped up, leaving those crazy people far behind.

Deputy Envoy Zhang's complaints blew into the ears of the two men: "Why did they suddenly go crazy? Didn't we come here to understand so that we can help them solve their difficulties? Why are these unruly people shouting for us to be buried with them?"

The other Antaisi guards immediately agreed: "Yes, Zhang! Look at those things on their bodies, what are they? How can anyone tear their flesh apart alive? It's really horrible!"

"What a bunch of unruly people! Why do you blame the imperial court? Wasn't it good intentions for the imperial court to build this dam?"

The guards of Antaisi kept complaining about the people, which made Yu Ruyi particularly upset.

"Shut your mouths! If you don't speak, no one will think you are dumb!" The young man in white turned around and cursed, "I haven't said anything yet! You are mumbling and cursing, are you going to rebel? What's wrong with saying a few words to you? Aren't you running dogs of the court? You keep talking about the people being troublesome. If your house was washed away by a flood, would you not be troublesome? Come out with me, and keep your mouths shut. This includes you, Zhang Yuan. If you don't want to accompany me, then quickly get back to your Shangjing Antaisi!"

The guards of Antaisi dared not say a word after hearing that. They secretly looked at Zhang Touer who was scolded by Yu Ruyi. They couldn't imagine that the Deputy Envoy who was so majestic and prestigious in the past was now lowering his head with a slight twitch of the corners of his mouth. His expression as if he had eaten shit contained a hint of timidity?
Zhang Yuan was silent for a while, then respectfully admitted his mistake: "Little Saint Yu taught me a lesson, I will give them a beating when we get back!"

"What's the point of asking them to eat whips?" Yu Ruyi didn't even look at Zhang Yuan. "How can asking them to eat whips help these people? You might as well ask them to open their pockets and donate some money for disaster relief! Don't think that I don't know why Emperor Chongwen asked you to come to me! I'll tell you the truth, I will never go to the capital to see him! You'd better give up the idea of ​​taking me back to the capital!"

As the young man finished speaking, the cry of a giant bird suddenly pierced the sky.

Zhang Yuan had no time to answer Yu Ruyi's words. He stared at the eagle circling in the sky with a frown on his face, his expression almost stiff.

"It's a war eagle!" an Antaeus guard exclaimed.

"War eagle? The eagle used by the Daliang military to report the battle situation? Why is it here? Is there a war going on somewhere in Daliang?"

"I don't know! I haven't heard any news!"

The Antaisi guards were all a little panicked. They all asked Zhang Yuan, "Boss!"

Zhang Yuan held his breath and bowed to Yu Ruyi to say goodbye.

"Let's go! Follow me to the nearest military sentry post and pick up the eagle message!" (End of this chapter)