I'm not a fortune teller.

Chapter 21 Spread of Smiles
"gentlemen!!"

All the guards were panicking. They had seen with their own eyes how tragically those who were infected with the disease died in Beihai City. They had been with Mr. Chen for these days. If Mr. Chen was infected, then they themselves might be infected.
"He's not dead yet, why are you panicking?" Chen Xiao was calm. He wiped the blood with a handkerchief, but still smiled and looked at Zhang Rui: "I'm sorry to make you laugh."

"Sir, please take care of yourself. I don't know the situation over there. If you are not here, I'm afraid I won't be able to help you."

"Don't worry, Master Zhang. I can still hold on for a while. I'm sorry for causing trouble for you." Chen Xiao sighed, "We traveled all the way from Beihai to Heishui County. We don't know if we spread the disease along the way. If we did, we would be damned."

He saw this epidemic clearly in Beihai City. From ancient times to the present, he had never seen such a terrible epidemic even in books. The tragic situation in Beihai during those days seemed like Asura Hell to him. If this thing was accidentally spread outside, it would be a sinner for all eternity!
"Probably not." Zhang Rui said lightly.

"Oh?" Chen Xiao's eyes lit up: "Why is that?"

When asking this question, Chen Xiao's heart was full of anticipation.

They originally hoped that the mission this time would be placed on Master Tian. The forbidden technique of the North Sea accidentally left behind some mysterious strong men, and Master Tian's mediumship had great hope of finding clues, so the Yuchi family made a prompt decision to blockade the North Sea. One was to prevent the plague from spreading, and the other was to lock up the culprit who might still be lurking in the city!

Now that Master Tian is dead, their original mission has actually been considered a failure. Placing hope on this mysterious county magistrate is like seeking medical help beyond reason. Although this guy has been very reliable so far, he has no idea whether he can help the situation in Beihai.

Now that he had mentioned the epidemic, the other party actually responded, which immediately filled him with anticipation.

Zhang Rui felt a little uneasy at the other party's fiery gaze. He coughed lightly and said, "The disease in you is spread by smiles."

"Smile?" Everyone was stunned. Murong Yunji also looked over curiously. It was the first time she heard that the plague was transmitted through smiles.

"I guess you tried all kinds of isolation methods when you were in Beihai." Zhang Rui sighed, "In terms of food, water, and maybe even using a wet scarf to cover your mouth and nose to isolate the air, but in the end you still couldn't stop the spread of the disease, right?"

"Yes!" The guards next to him nodded repeatedly. The army of the Yuchi family had a very high control efficiency. They had strictly controlled the situation before the plague broke out completely. All the infected people were isolated. But no matter what they did, it seemed impossible to stop the spread of the disease, especially regarding the prince. The prince was so perfectly protected, but he was still infected. It was really puzzling to them.

"Because you don't know the source of transmission." Zhang Rui whispered, "This disease is extremely special. People infected with the disease will show a strange smile. I'm sure you have seen that smile. What were you thinking at that time?"

Everyone looked at each other in surprise and finally said, "How should I put it? The first time I saw it, I had a very deep impression. I couldn't forget that smile even when I went to bed. I even couldn't fall asleep for several nights. As soon as I closed my eyes, I saw that smile."

At this point everyone's heart skipped a beat and they looked at each other. Could it be that
"You are right. That smile that you can't forget is the channel of transmission."

"Can it be spread just by smiling?" Chen Xiao was stunned.

"It sounds weird, doesn't it?" Zhang Rui said with a wry smile, "But that's the truth. Once people see that smile, they will never forget it. Once the memory is formed, the disease cannot be avoided."

Everyone took a deep breath. How could such a weird method exist in this world?

"Is this man-made?" Chen Xiao stared at Zhang Rui. He was frightened by the terrible epidemic, but also a little surprised, because the mysterious county magistrate in front of him did not disappoint him. He actually knew the information!
"It should be considered man-made." Zhang Rui lowered his voice and said, "To be precise, it should be evil spirits!"

"Evil spirit?" Chen Xiao was immediately delighted: "Master Zhang knows about that thing?"

"It was by chance that I knew something." Zhang Rui brought out Wan Ling's explanation.

"Your Excellency is indeed knowledgeable!" Chen Xiao's face was full of joy at this time. Although he failed to bring back Master Tian this time, meeting this county magistrate was a blessing in disguise. Now he felt that the role of this county magistrate might be better than that of Master Tian.

"Sir, please don't get too excited. Let's talk about the specific situation in the North Sea first. Although I know some information about that thing, I am not sure whether I can catch it."

"As long as you have the information, the Yuchi family has countless elite experts who will assist you when the time comes!"

Zhang Rui nodded but didn't say much, because he knew in his heart that it would not be helpful to have a lot of people to catch that thing.

The thing in Beihai City is also one of the evil spirits in the scrapped draft, but unlike the painting market, there was some lack of consideration when designing that thing, which led to many bugs. In theory, that thing...cannot be caught! ——
"You damned thief daughter-in-law, are you planning a rebellion?"

At this time, there was chaos in the Zhang Mansion. After closing the gate, Luo ordered the servants to guard the gate strictly. She also asked her trusted maid to guard the door to the backyard personally. When giving all this instructions, she tried her best to avoid her mother-in-law's people. However, the county government office was too small, and soon the personal servant hired by her mother-in-law secretly reported the matter, and soon began to question on the spot why the gate was blocked and no one was allowed to go out.

How could Luo dare to explain? If her mother-in-law knew that she had locked her son in the painting market regardless of his life or death, she would probably go crazy! But the old mother's intuition was not ordinary. After realizing that something was wrong, she called her youngest son and daughter together and started to make a fuss, saying that they must go out no matter what. She also secretly asked her youngest son to go to the back. If she hadn't anticipated it, I'm afraid the whole family would be gone now.

"Mother!" Luo asked her men to surround all the Zhang family members and explained patiently, "You really can't go outside!"

"Can't go? Why can't I go?" The old woman would never let her get away with it, and said sternly: "If you don't explain clearly today, I will get out even if I die here. I want to see if you want to force your mother-in-law to death. If anyone dares to listen to this evil woman and stop me today, I will make my son skin you alive when he comes back!!!"

The servants around were immediately frightened by the old woman's aura, and they all looked at Luo, the mistress of the house, at a loss.

The reason why Luo was able to control the situation and make all the servants listen to her was because everyone knew who was paying the money in this family. Even though the Zhang family looked down on her on weekdays, the key point was that these servants were supported by Luo's real money, so when it came to taking sides, the servants still knew who to listen to.

But it would be a different story if he really went too far. The master is an official after all. If he forced the old mistress to death, it would be justified for the master to kill them all!

"Hey, old woman, what are you doing?" At this time, a skinny old man next to the old woman was spinning anxiously: "If you don't want to go out, then don't go out. Why make such a big fuss?"

"You know nothing!" The old woman glared at her useless old man and said viciously, "Something must have happened to my son. This evil woman just said she was going to look for my son, but she ended up locking him out. My son kept knocking on the door, but she totally ignored him. What is she trying to do? She wants to kill my son!"

"Not at all, not at all," the old man said quickly, "How is that possible? You are such a suspicious old woman. What good would it do for your daughter-in-law to kill Rui'er?"

"You two, why are you still standing there just watching? Why don't you hurry up and pull your mother over?"

The two men and women who looked somewhat like Zhang Rui finally reacted and tried to pull her away, but were pushed away by the old woman fiercely: "Get out of my way!"

"Mother!" Seeing that no one could stop the old woman, Luo immediately shouted, "Don't you want to kill your whole family?"

The old woman's body suddenly stiffened, and she turned back fiercely: "What nonsense are you talking about?"

Mrs. Luo sighed. The other members of the Zhang family were easy to deal with. Zhang Rui's younger brother was dull and honest. Although his sister was a little vain and boastful and made things difficult for her on weekdays, she was also timid and had no opinions of her own when faced with major issues. Her father-in-law was a soft-tempered person and was easy to fool on weekdays. Only her mother-in-law was the most shrewd and difficult to deal with. It was probably impossible to fool her this time.

"Mother must have guessed what was going on outside. If so, why did she make such a fuss?" Luo sighed, "Mother is also from Jiangnan. Even if she lived in the countryside, she should have heard about that incident, right?"

The old woman turned pale when she heard this. She actually guessed something. The incident in Jiangnan was well known to everyone. How could she not have heard of it? But she always held a glimmer of hope in her heart. If this was true, wouldn't her eldest son who had already left home be...
"Just now, there were voices from my husband at the front and back doors. Do you think they are my husband? And the voice just now claiming to be the prince, can't you tell what's going on? Don't you know what will happen if you open the door at this time?"

She pointed at Zhang Rui's brothers and sisters and said, "Aren't they our mother's children? Will mother be content to have the whole family buried with her?"

The old woman collapsed to the ground when she heard this. The old man next to her seemed to understand as well and staggered to the ground: "How could this happen? How could it happen?"

After years of supporting and enduring hardships, we finally managed to raise a child who could study and become a county magistrate. But before even two years had passed since these good days began, how could something like this happen?

"Luo." The old woman sat on the ground helplessly, looking up at the other person with cold eyes: "I remember that you caught up with my son not long after he left. The door was just that short away. Even if you didn't have time to stop my son, he should have just left the house, right? You chose to close the door at the first moment?"

Luo's eyes dimmed slightly. She knew that her mother-in-law was smart enough to realize this.

"Yes, I don't have the courage to chase my husband back. I am guilty. Mother, you can say that I am afraid of death or that I did it on purpose. I'm sure you won't forgive me for what happened today. After this, if mother wants to divorce me on behalf of her husband, I will accept it."

"You" the old woman pointed at the other person, trembling with anger, but finally put her hand down weakly.

If something happens to the eldest son, what's the point of divorcing her?
After years of hardship, I finally made it through and raised my eldest son. I wanted to ensure a good future for my youngest son and a good marriage for my daughter, but now...
Oh my God, why do you do this to us?
"Is anyone here?"

Everyone was stunned and immediately attracted by the noise outside. The servants who had been guarding all night immediately covered their ears and heard the lady say that there were evil ghosts eating people outside and that they could not believe anything she said!
At first, the servants didn't believe it, until they heard the voice of their master Zhang Rui coming from the front and back doors at the same time, and they were almost scared to death.

Mrs. Luo looked over in surprise. She remembered that before, no matter how loud the knocking was, she couldn't knock on the door. But this time was different. The knocking was very loud and it sounded like someone was trying to break in.

"The court has been ordered to investigate the case. Fuchun County Magistrate, open the door immediately!!"

(End of this chapter)