General Mu Man took a few steps back instantly, his lower back hitting the banister of the stairs so hard that he didn't feel any pain.
In his shock, he looked up at Ji Zizhao, as if disbelieving and even more enraged, "You, how dare you!"
Ji Zizhao calmly replied, "I heard that the young general of the Turks had unfortunately contracted the plague, so I naturally came to visit. Although the young general of the Turks was fortunate to not die when I arrived, the plague had been in his body for too long, and even our Yulin could not turn the tide."
Fortunate to not die...
Unable to turn the tide...
Every word was like a nail piercing General Mu Man's heart.
To kill a person's spirit, this would be it!
General Mu Man naturally did not believe it. "Ji Zizhao, you are too bold! How dare you harm my son's life!"
"General of the Turks, please speak with caution. Doctors are ordinary mortals, not deities. Life and death are fated. We Yulin can only offer our deepest sympathies."
Doctors are not deities, and life and death are always uncertain in the face of illness.
"You... you colluded with that military doctor to harm my son!"
"The military doctor of our Yulin is the head of the Imperial Academy of Medicine. Although unrelated to the court, he holds the rank of a second-grade official. In our Yulin, slandering a second-grade official can lead to immediate beheading."
Ji Zizhao remained calm in the face of General Mu Man's overwhelming hatred.
You were willing to let your own son contract the plague just to lure the tiger out of its den and control Zhang Shuzhong, weren't you? If that's the case, I'll fulfill this pretense and make it real.
Frankly, if you, as a father, were so ruthless as to sacrifice your own son, why should I show any pity?
As General Mu Man thought of his son's head turning into a corpse, he felt a surge of heat rise to his throat, and instantly the taste of blood filled his entire mouth.
He had offered his son, but not truly meant for him to die!
In General Mu Man's calculations, under the pressure of Princess Ashiya, Yulin would not only have to save his son's life but would also be forced to remain in the inn, watching as Luoyi City was once again overrun by the plague.
But he never expected Ji Zizhao to simply silence him!
Now that only Princess Ashiya was left in that room, what use would it be to insist that Ji Zizhao had killed his son?
Ji Zizhao could simply maintain her current story!
At that time, with both countries holding their ground, the Turks would have no choice but to let the matter rest.
"Ji Zizhao, do you really think you can leave this inn by burning your bridges? Since you dare to kill my son, you should be prepared to die!"
If Ji Zizhao dared to burn her bridges, he would fight to the death!
The general of the Turks' eyes were bloodshot as he pointed at Ji Zizhao and hoarsely ordered his soldiers behind him, "Guards! Chop her to death alive! One hundred taels a blow!"
The Turk general's words were military orders to the soldiers.
Not to mention the reward of one hundred taels per blow.
Hearing this, Chen Gang instinctively rushed in front of his boss.
His boss was not to be trifled with by these barbarian Turks.
Although not all the Turkish fighting force was present in the inn's hall, there were still over a hundred Turkish soldiers. If they were truly determined to attack, they could instantly hack the few people from Yulin into mincemeat.
The atmosphere in the hall was stretched taut like a string.
A massacre was imminent!
However, after General Mu Man's words had fallen silent for a long time, not a single Turk soldier drew their axes.
The soldiers, who should have obeyed General Mu Man's orders, stood motionless with blank faces.
General Mu Man turned around in disbelief, "Listen to my command! Kill everyone here! I will bear all the consequences!"
"..."
The response to the Turk general was still a deafening silence.
Faced with such a reversal, let alone the Turk general, even Chen Gang was stunned.
He understood that his boss had asked him to deliver the antidote to win over the Turkish soldiers.
But just as General Mu Man had thought, a mere antidote was not enough to completely sway the Turkish soldiers.
However, now, the impossible had become possible!
This...
Was he dreaming?
Facing General Mu Man's stupefaction, Ji Zizhao said softly, "I forgot to tell the Turk general that among the antidotes I sent just now, there was an ingredient called Qinglong Shen. This herb is warm in nature, sweet in taste, and has the effects of soothing the liver, nourishing yin, enriching blood, promoting blood circulation, and unblocking qi."
Therefore, the soldiers of the Turks had already heard everything Princess Ashiya had said upstairs.
Soldiers must obey military orders, but not to die for the selfishness of their masters.
This was not related to nationality, but to human hearts and nature.
Therefore, even though these Turk soldiers knew the price of disobeying military orders, and even though they were facing Yulin, whom they had always considered enemies, they were willing to remain silent.
After all, compared to the Turk royalty who treated them like guard dogs, Yulin, who sent antidotes, was much more benevolent.
General Mu Man thought Ji Zizhao sent the antidote to win over the soldiers' hearts, but in reality, she was disrupting their morale.
Seeing Ji Zizhao heading towards the door, accompanied by Chen Gang, General Mu Man was filled with grief and anger. In a fit of rage, he personally raised his axe and charged forward.
Chen Gang immediately turned back and shielded Ji Zizhao tightly behind him.
The sharp axe blade cut through the air, heading straight for Ji Zizhao and Chen Gang.
At the critical moment, Ji Zizhao lightly flicked her sleeves, and a cloud of powder scattered invisibly in the air.
Almost instantly, General Mu Man's body stiffened, and he then fell to the ground rigidly and fainted.
Chen Gang sniffed and quickly signaled the other doctors to cover their mouths and noses.
It was a sleeping drug...
Under the gaze of the Turk soldiers, Ji Zizhao openly boarded the carriage.
As the carriage slowly moved away, Chen Gang, sitting beside her, couldn't help but say, "I didn't expect the boss to use sleeping drugs too."
Sleeping drugs were simple to make and were the most common type of medicine.
However, doctors generally disdained the use of sleeping drugs.
After all, for a doctor, using such a low-tech item would be a sign of their incompetence.
Ji Zizhao leaned back on the soft couch and said softly, "To deal with despicable people, one must use despicable methods."
Chen Gang: "..."
To call the mighty Turkic hero a despicable person...
Fortunately, the Turk general didn't hear it, or he might have fainted again.
Out of sheer anger.
When Ji Zizhao returned to the street, Zhang Shuzhong had already been safely escorted back by Qingzhu.
Ji Zizhao personally went to visit him. Zhang Shuzhong was lying unconscious on the wooden bed.
After carefully taking Zhang Shuzhong's pulse, Ji Zizhao breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, his body was not seriously injured.
Ji Zizhao then found a doctor to look after Zhang Shuzhong before leaving the room.
Han Jingyu, who had been waiting outside, saw Ji Zizhao step out and quickly stepped forward. "The last wave of infected people has been completely controlled. Steward Chen has personally led his men to administer medicine to those infected. I believe their plague will soon be suppressed."
Han Jingyu said this without any sense of relief.
Unlike the infected soldiers and civilians, these infected people had been plagued for many years. Even after taking the antidote, it would only eliminate the plague in their bodies, but their minds, already ravaged by the disease, could never be restored.
In plain terms, they would still bite, but they would no longer spread the disease.
Ji Zizhao said, "Find some swift hands to give them less pain, and then find a good place to bury them."
Those infected people were innocent, but there was no longer any hope for them.
For Luoyi to completely emerge from the shadows, those infected people had to die.
Hesitation leads to more trouble.
Being human is different from treating a disease. It is extremely difficult to have it both ways. Only by making sacrifices can the overall situation be preserved.