With her deceased husband as her dowry, would Your Highness dare to marry her?

"Who's making a fuss over there?" Pei Jinxuan frowned slightly and craned his neck to look around for a while.

The shopkeeper stepped forward and said, "He's a stranger. He cries here every day, saying that his family of five was burned to death in a fire, and no one is standing up for him."

Pei Jinxuan paused slightly, lowered his voice, and said, "Arrange for him to go somewhere else first. There are too many people here; if trouble breaks out, your Cheng'an Hall will also suffer."

"Oh dear, what a mess I am! I didn't even think of that! Thank you so much, Your Highness, you've really saved me." The shopkeeper said, and hurriedly led two assistants away.

"Doctor... Doctor, please take a look at my illness..." the patient urged repeatedly.

Lin Ci finally came to her senses, her face already pale. She forced a smile, quickly wrote out a prescription, handed it to the pharmacy clerk, and said nothing.

"Why are you driving me away! I have nowhere to seek justice!"

"I'm not kicking you out, I'm just finding you a place to sit. Later, I'll take you to report to the authorities."

"I won't sit! You're just trying to get rid of me. I'm innocent! I'm innocent!"

……

There was another disturbance over there.

Zhao Fugui, dressed in mourning clothes, lay down on the ground and refused to get up no matter how the shopkeeper tried to persuade him.

Pei Jinxuan was getting a headache from the noise and was about to get up when someone suddenly grabbed his sleeve.

Don't go.

Lin Ci didn't look at him; her voice was soft and low.

Don't go.

She repeated it again.

Pei Jinxuan glanced at her, asked nothing, and sat back down to continue listening to her dictate the prescription while writing on his pen.

Just then, three officials rode up. All three were dressed in crimson and purple official robes with gold belts around their waists, and they were passing by as they finished their duties.

The three horses gradually slowed down in front of Cheng'an Hall.

As if grasping at a straw, Zhao Fugui scrambled to his feet, rushed over to block the horse, and knelt down with a thud.

"My lord! My lord! You must do justice for us common people!"

The horse was startled, reared up, and let out a long neigh.

The man in the lead abruptly pulled on the reins, and the officials following behind shouted sternly, "Who dares to block the road? This is the carriage of the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review! Get out of the way at once!"

With tears streaming down his face, Zhao Fugui kowtowed three times, then held up his petition and cried out, "Your Honor! My entire family of five was slaughtered overnight! Please, Your Honor, grant us justice!"

These words caused an uproar throughout the street.

Those waiting in front of Cheng'an Hall, forgetting even their illnesses, began whispering among themselves: "Five people? Who could be so ruthless?"

"Exactly, they're utterly unworthy of being called human."

"Heaven has eyes, he should be struck down..."

……

The buzzing of conversation spread, and the crowd grew denser and denser.

Lin Ci bit her lower lip as she listened. She suddenly stood up, said softly, "My stomach is upset," and turned to walk quickly towards the back room.

The hall was still bustling with activity.

Even if you hide in the farthest woodshed, those sounds can still seep in through the crack in the door.

Lin Ci squatted in the corner, her whole body ice-cold. A chill, like a spider, crawled up her spine, down her skin, and into her limbs and bones.

She killed someone.

That night, when she threw the torch into the thatched hut, she only wanted to vent her anger and make the old man's sons taste what it was like to be bullied.

She didn't know there were so many people inside.

She really didn't know!

She thought this matter would fade away with time, but she never expected it to catch up with her, who was thousands of miles away.

What should we do next?

Will that person recognize her?

If they recognize her and arrest her, she will surely be executed.

No... I can't die!

The resurrection technique has not yet succeeded, and Song Xuan has not yet been resurrected.

She can't die, she absolutely can't die!

knock knock knock.

Suddenly someone knocked on the door.

Lin Ci felt as if someone had pulled her muscles, and she suddenly shuddered. Looking up, she saw a figure swaying lightly by the window, seemingly searching for her.

Knock, knock, knock, the knocking sounded again.

Lin Ci took a deep breath, forced himself to stay awake, and opened the door.

Pei Jinxuan stood outside the door and handed her a steaming towel as soon as he saw her. The towel also had a jasmine scent.

"You must be tired," he said. "Wash your face first."

Lin Ci took the towel and nodded slightly. She covered her face with the hot towel, but after removing it, her face was still pale, as if she had just recovered from a serious illness, and even her breathing was weak.

"Dr. Xu has finished his shift. I just told him to go and see the patients himself. As for the medicine, he will bring it over personally later."

As Pei Jinxuan spoke, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and a hint of resentment flashed across his face.

"What a ridiculous situation! Who goes to pick up medicine and gets dragged into doing free labor? We're heading back now."

Upon hearing this, Lin Ci finally breathed a sigh of relief, and a slight smile appeared on her face.

Pei Jinxuan led her out through the back door. They rode together on one horse back to the Jing'an Prince's Mansion.

Lin Ci didn't say a word the whole way, and Pei Jinxuan assumed she was just tired and didn't say anything either.

At dinner, Lin Ci's appetite was even smaller than in the previous days; the food served was exactly the same as what was served to her.

When no one was in the garden, she went to the cellar and placed a jar of wine and a few plates of snacks in front of the coffin.

Lin Ci sat in front of the coffin and let out a long sigh. She leaned against the coffin, as if she were touching Song's shoulder, and said softly and gently, "That person came today... That night you asked me what I was doing, and I didn't say... Now the retribution has come."

As soon as she finished speaking, a gust of wind suddenly rose in the gloomy, cold cellar. The eternal lamps in the four corners swayed violently, casting her shadow on the wall, sometimes long, sometimes short.

Lin Ciru looked back like a frightened bird. In the dimly lit cellar, there was only her and a lonely shadow on the ground.

She let out a long sigh, turned around, and said, "Ah Xuan, if you were here, you would definitely scold me, but what should I do now? If they really find out about me, will Pei Jinxuan protect me?"

The cold cellar remained unanswered, save for the flickering lamplight.

She pondered carefully for a moment, then murmured, "As long as the resurrection technique fails, he must protect me. I can cure the Emperor of Yan's incurable illness; he cannot do without me."

As he spoke, another gust of cold wind rose, like the sigh of a ghost.

Lin Ci made up her mind, and her panicked eyes calmed down.

She got up and left the cellar with a calm expression. When she arrived at Liufang Garden, Granny Qian was already waiting at the gate.

Granny Qian greeted her with a smile, saying, "Madam, His Highness requests your presence in the front hall. Physician Xu and the others have arrived with the medicine."

Lin Ci nodded and smiled gently. When she arrived at the front hall, Judge Xu was kneeling on the ground with his head bowed, his old bones trembling like a leaf.

"Your Highness, this is truly a misunderstanding! I explained to this fellow that I invited Your Highness and Lady Lin to the hall for a chat, not that I asked him to drag Lady Lin along to provide free medical treatment to the people!"

The shopkeeper knelt behind Judge Xu, slapping himself repeatedly across the face, cursing, "I deserve to die! I deserve to die!"

Pei Jinxuan, tired of watching, waved his hand and said in a tone that was neither kind nor irritating, "Alright, get up, everyone."

Judge Xu felt as if he had been granted a pardon and shakily got up.

The shopkeeper was more agile than him, and after quickly getting up, he stepped forward to help him up.

Still furious, Judge Xu shoved him away and pointed at him with his finger, saying, "You...you..." before flicking his sleeve and snorting.

Lin Ci stepped out from behind the screen.

Upon seeing her, Judge Xu immediately straightened his clothes and, together with the shopkeeper, offered a grand salute.

"Greetings, Madam Lin! I am truly ashamed of what happened today, and I have come to apologize to you."

"President Xu, there's no need for that," Lin Ci said gently, with a faint smile. "Saving lives and healing the wounded is a doctor's duty. I just didn't expect there to be so many people in the capital who can't afford medical care or food."

"This..." Judge Xu lowered his head, stealing glances at Pei Jinxuan.

Pei Jinxuan covered his mouth with his fist and coughed a few times: "Ahem, this..."

He got stuck too.

The two people, one standing and one sitting; one stealing glances and the other gazing at the sky, neither could find a way to speak.

Lin Ci smiled, not pressing for details, and simply asked, "Did Judge Xu bring what I asked for?"

"Of course." As he spoke, several servants carried in five baskets of herbs and placed them down one by one.

Xu, the Imperial Physician, said, "I have found all the medicinal herbs that Your Highness and Lady Lin requested, except for the Golden Kingfisher, which is extremely rare; I could only find three of them."