After rebirth, the Queen and I are on the run.

Chapter 1135 The package was sent by a porter.

"Report! Commander Tang has confirmed that the packages in the temporary warehouse contained old clothes belonging to suspected patients, as well as live fleas. There is now an 80% chance that the packages contained contaminated items!"

Inside the barracks of the soldiers guarding the city outside the city wall, Qian Zongqi, who was responsible for returning to report, said...

Qian Zongqi and a group of his soldiers were locked in a large room, while Xiong Baihu, who was listening to his report, stood three meters away outside the door to isolate them from the plague.

"Currently, Commander Tang and the others are under quarantine due to the plague and cannot return to the city; we will only know the situation of the rat plague after the serious criminals at the barren mountain outpost fall ill..." Commander Qian explained in detail for a quarter of an hour.

Xiong Baihu's men were taking notes.

After recording the information, Xiong Baihu asked three more times to confirm that there were no mistakes before taking the records into the city and heading to the prefectural government office.

Inside the government office, Prefect Shao, Magistrate Luo, Assistant Magistrate Xie, and General Ou, the garrison commander of the prefectural city camp, were all present.

Although the garrison commander of the prefecture of the Great Wei had the title of general, his rank was several levels lower than that of General Liang. General Liang was a second-rank official, while General Ou was only a fourth-rank official, on par with the prefect, so as to avoid a situation where the garrison commander was superior to the prefect.

Besides the officials, there were also several warehouse managers, owners of carriage and horse shops, and shopkeepers. Tang Chang'an of Da'an Carriage and Horse Shop was among them.

Doctors from Wuze Pharmacy and Changji Pharmacy were also present.

For safety reasons, before Xiong Baihu entered the office courtyard, he was sprayed twice with medicinal juice by the doctors at the second gate of the government office and the doctors at the two pharmacies.

"General Ou, Prefect Shao, gentlemen, this is a package from Commander Tang!" Commander Xiong presented Commander Qian's confession to the gentlemen.

No one answered; they just put it on a sign and took turns looking at it.

After reading it, everyone looked extremely pale.

Upon seeing this, Yun's father, Yun's second brother, and Feng's brother-in-law inside the house silently knelt down again.

Judge Luo said, "No need to kneel. It has nothing to do with you. You have done a good job."

"General, Prefect, I have some ginseng slices from Wuze Pharmacy here. Could you give Manager Yun one to suck on? Manager Yun looks very unwell." Manager Wu cupped his hands and asked the two for permission.

General Ou and Prefect Shao both knew who owned Wuze Pharmacy, and after glancing at Yun's father's expression, they nodded: "Agreed."

"Thank you both, sirs." Manager Wu instructed Doctor Shi, "First, take our ginseng slices to the doctors at Changji Pharmacy and the Imperial Guards for examination, and then give them to Manager Yun to take orally."

Yun's father is now a key witness. If anything happens to him, then Wuze Pharmacy, which gave him the ginseng slices, will have to bear the responsibility.

Manager Wu then wanted to find someone to inspect the ginseng slices in his pharmacy.

Manager Zou of Changji Pharmacy in Dongming Prefecture didn't want to be a witness, but with General Ou and Prefect Shao present, he couldn't refuse, so he had to send a doctor to help.

The doctors at the second gate of the government office also examined the ginseng slices. After confirming that they were not poisonous, Doctor Shi took Yun's father's pulse and said, "Manager Yun's condition is suitable for taking ginseng slices. Here you go."

Doctor Shi gave Yun's father five ginseng slices the size of a thumb and told him, "Just take one slice a day."

"Ah, thank you, doctor, thank you all for thinking of this old man, but I am ashamed to face you all."

Not wanting to say anything discouraging, Yun's father took the ginseng slices and swallowed them.

Lin Dacangtou, Xue Dacangtou, Tang Chang'an, and others reported: "General, sir, we have traced the origin of the package, but it was sent by a porter in Dong'ai County... It's a parcel sent on behalf of someone else. Who is the real sender? Are they from Dong'ai County? We really can't find out." Tang Chang'an added: "Dong'ai County is a county bordering Tianmang Prefecture and Dongming Prefecture. It's very mountainous. We suspect that the mountain people asked a porter with a Dong'ai County household registration to send the package on their behalf, and after sending it, the porter returned to the mountains."

In fact, besides this package, there were five other packages that were being sent on behalf of relatives and friends of Scholar Mo in Dongming Prefecture, its suburbs, and its subordinate counties.

Thanks to the help of the students from the local martial arts academy, as well as the innkeepers, porters, and servants of wealthy merchants like the Xue family, otherwise just dealing with these packages would have consumed half of the government troops' forces.

"A porter with local household registration sent the mail? He went back to the mountains?!" General Ou and Prefect Shao gritted their teeth; this was exactly what they feared!

"Arrest Mo, his son, maternal grandparents, and their families. Use torture to force him to reveal the delivery points and routes for other infected packages," General Ou ordered. This was the only way now.

Prefect Shao, being a civil official, felt that the best approach was to "win hearts and minds... Let Yun take the children to persuade Mo the spy. We can also promise Mo that we will not reveal his spy identity, accept him as a true citizen of Wei, and even help him relocate to the south to start anew. As long as he reveals the routes for sending all the infected items and his testimony is true and valid, we in Great Wei can grant him all of the above promises."

General Ou, being a soldier, knew that the two sides were locked in a life-or-death struggle, and he did not quite agree with Prefect Shao's approach.

but……

“Spies can assimilate the people in the mountains, and they can also be assimilated by us. Spy Mo has the title of a scholar and is married and has children in the Great Wei. He has been a Wei citizen for many years. I agree with Prefect Shao’s proposal.” General Ou’s eyes sharpened: “If that doesn’t work, use torture!”

"Thank you, General Ou." Prefect Shao began to gather people and make arrangements, planning to start in the afternoon.

……

Qiming Street, No. 4 Courtyard, the Mo family.

The entire Qiming Street was surrounded by soldiers, and the Mo family mansion was completely surrounded by Xiao Tao and his men. Even birds that flew into the courtyard had to be grabbed by the neck and examined from head to toe.

Since his house was besieged, Mo Xiucai in his study has been like a dead man.

But he did not commit suicide. He continued to eat every day to keep himself alive while waiting for news of the infected package.

If this package works and infects the Wei people with the plague, then his son in the eastern part of Dongmo will inherit his merit and become a nobleman in the eastern part of Dongmo!
Nobles are dozens of times more noble than the sons of scholars from Liangwei!
So Scholar Mo didn't die, but waited.

As the hour of Shen (3-5 PM) passed, the aroma of salted meat and rice wafted from Mo Xiucai's house, a dish that was Mo Xiucai's favorite.

Whenever I return home from a long journey, have a happy occasion, or feel sad, I must eat a plate of salted pork and vegetable rice.

Mo Xiucai also told Yunshi that her salted pork and vegetable rice was the most delicious and to his liking.

After hearing what her father said, Yun used the best salted meat and the freshest vegetables to cook salted meat and vegetable rice for Scholar Mo.

Busy until dusk, Yun prepared the meal and even heated up some osmanthus wine... The wine was heated up, and the whole house was filled with the fragrance of osmanthus.

The dining table is set up in the small courtyard in front of the study.

Several lanterns hung in the courtyard, and lanterns from the Mid-Autumn Festival and Lantern Festival were also placed on the ground, illuminating the courtyard brightly.

The two brothers, Mo Chunmang and Mo Chundong, were attracted by the scenery of their home and ran out to play in the yard.

Since the house was besieged, Mo Xiucai has paid little attention to Mo Chunmang. However, Mo Chunmang has been tamed by Mo Xiucai and is now as timid as a servant. He doesn't dare to play freely and occasionally glances at the study, afraid that Mo Xiucai will suddenly call him!
Yun called out to them, "Alright, you two brothers, stop playing and stand properly by the table. I'll go and invite your father out for dinner... Don't just sit there either, recite the articles your father taught you, so he can see how much you've improved."