My domineering ex-husband is living off his wife in ancient times.

Chapter 58 doesn't seem to be the same disease.

plague!

Upon hearing those two words, everyone in the dilapidated temple was stunned.

Cheng Ruoan and Si Shaoheng exchanged a glance, both seeing the exact same astonishment in each other's eyes—

Only a few days have passed, and this plague is spreading at an abnormally rapid pace!

The two men had deep gazes and said nothing more.

Mother Cheng, however, discerned something from the subtle tension between the two, so she took out some loose silver and gave it to Boss Qian to buy some pastries.

"Mr. Qian, tell us first, what's the situation on the main road outside?"

Mr. Qian sat on a bench in the courtyard and sighed, "Those refugees arrived in Huilan City around 3:00 AM today. Unlike the famine refugees from before, they weren't emaciated, but rather looked disheveled, as if they were fleeing."

Some people were ashen-faced and terrified, while others had flushed faces and were coughing incessantly, and still others... had boils all over their bodies, which they scratched raw—”

As he spoke, he seemed to feel nauseous, his voice abruptly stopped, and then he began to masturbate.

Sijiro and Sijiro listened attentively, "And then?"

Si Erlang even poured a cup of tea for Boss Qian, a cup that Boss Qian and his wife had lent them.

"Mr. Qian, clear your throat and continue."

Mr. Qian took a sip of water and continued.

He described in detail the different states of the refugees he saw.

Finally, he sighed, "Alas, I heard that it was an earthquake somewhere that killed many people and caused a plague. Some people also say that enemy spies infiltrated Yunqi City on the southwestern border and poisoned the area to create the plague."

"Well, they certainly don't look like the same disease, but it's hard to say where in Bachuan Prefecture it first broke out."

Li exclaimed, "Where else could the plague have come from? It must be an earthquake in Qingshan County! Good heavens, thank goodness we listened to our child's third uncle and left as soon as possible!"

Sijiro:! ! !

He didn't even have time to cover Li's mouth before Boss Qian had already heard it.

Mr. Qian narrowed his eyes and looked at Mr. and Mrs. Cheng: "Mrs. Cheng, did you know in advance that a plague would break out, which is why you rushed to move north?"

"Was there really an earthquake? Even if the earthquake destroyed the fields and forced people to leave their homes, that's normal. But how did you know about the plague in advance?"

Cheng Ruoan: ...

"Mr. Qian, are you looking at us like that because you suspect we're spies from an enemy country?"

Mr. Qian remained silent, his eyes growing even more unreadable.

The employer who did the work in the mountains had mentioned that the bounty for enemy spies issued in the capital was five hundred taels of silver!

Si Shaoheng stepped forward to block Cheng Ruoan and bowed to Boss Qian, saying, "I am but a scholar. I learned from books that a great disaster is always followed by a great plague, which is why I took my whole family to seek refuge with my relatives. Please do not take offense, Boss Qian."

“Yes, Mr. Qian, we didn’t mean to hide it. You didn’t ask before, did you?” Cheng Ruoan chimed in.

It's not that they're crazy to explain so much to the owner of a rural tea stall.

It was because the two of them had talked about Mr. Qian's village and Mr. Qian himself last night.

Cheng Ruoan and Si Shaoheng both believed that their village was not simple, and that Boss Qian and his wife seemed to know much more than ordinary people.

For example, Dr. Zhu in Huilan City believed that their county magistrate was a very good official.

But Boss Qian had already warned them—the magistrate of Huilan County was not a good person.

This was his judgment even though he didn't know that Panlongzhai and the magistrate of Huilancheng County were colluding. How did he come to that judgment?

Therefore, they would rather back down than risk being remembered by a mysterious and unpredictable person.

Boss Qian remained silent, leaving Cheng Ruoan speechless. He decided to take a gamble.

"Let me put it this way, Mr. Qian, that magistrate of Qingshan County is no good either. We were able to get the travel permit ahead of time and set off because we paid money."

Of course, he also hinted to my husband that he should keep his mouth shut while traveling and not talk about the situation in Qingshan County.

Naturally, we wouldn't dare to mention it casually if someone asked.

We're just ordinary villagers. Our lives are only slightly better thanks to our skills in gathering and preparing medicinal herbs. Please don't overthink our background.

Mr. Qian then put the matter of the "reward order" to rest in his mind, nodded, and agreed: "That should indeed not be said casually. The people cannot fight against the officials."

However, you can also go and take a look at the road leading to the official road at the entrance of the village.

To prevent refugees from crowding into our village, the patrol team has already set up barricades at the crossroads. If you insist on going, I can put in a good word for you and get the patrol team to let you out.

A chevaux-de-frise is a wooden structure bound together in a crisscross pattern, with one end sharpened into a point, used to block the advance of troops and horses.

This was a relatively common type of roadblock in the Xia Dynasty.

The fact that Boss Qian's village is on high alert suggests that the situation of the refugees fleeing along the official road is not to be underestimated.

Seeing that his third brother and sister-in-law remained silent, Si Silang said anxiously, "Third brother, shall I go and take a look first?"

“Okay.” Si Shaoheng told him to go, “Don’t get too close to the refugees, as any disease is highly contagious.”

"Know!"

Cheng Ruoan gleaned a lot of information from Boss Qian's words, and her surprises came one after another.

But she remained calm on the surface, smiled and thanked Boss Qian, then took out two taels of silver and gave it to him.

"Thank you, Boss Qian, for finding us strong young guards yesterday. Whether we set off today or not, I will settle this money with you first."

Even if they don't leave, they won't need to pay for guards out of their own pockets anymore.

Haven't you heard what people say?

Their village has a patrol team that guards the village entrances and exits.

Mr. Qian accepted the money with a smile, his previous suspicions about their identities completely gone: "Madam Cheng, if you want to stay in this dilapidated temple for a few more days, just let me know in advance. I'll talk to the village chief and make sure you won't be cheated out of your lodging fees."

Cheng Ruoan smiled and nodded.

I was cursing a bit in my mind.

No wonder their village is so much stronger than the others; they're all obsessed with money!

When Si Shilang returned, everyone saw that his face was deathly pale.

Lin rushed over, crying, "Husband, are you alright...?"

Si Shilang sat down to drink water, wiped his sweat, and after a while, said, "It's okay, I'm fine, but outside... those refugees, it's too scary, too scary."

Cheng Ruoan couldn't hold back and smacked him on the back of the head.

As a sister-in-law, she really shouldn't do these things to her brother-in-law.

But she really couldn't resist.

"So you turned pale from fright! Next time, tell us the important information first, don't make everyone else turn pale with fright too!"

pissed off.

They thought that Shiro had just gone out for a quick look and had contracted the plague!

Si Shaoheng tapped the table. "Alright, stop fooling around. Fourth brother, tell me what's going on."

What Si Shilang saw was roughly the same as what Boss Qian said; the number of refugees he saw had exceeded a thousand.

Those who caught up later, and those who tried to enter Lancheng but were stopped and turned back, all piled up on the official road.

The area outside the village entrance has a flat, large dam, which is a popular spot for refugees to stay.

"Those with pale faces all had diarrhea, they were even coughing up blood while standing. Those with flushed faces weren't coughing up blood, but many of them were coughing up blood!"

The most terrifying were those with pustules all over their bodies, their skin had turned green, many people had scratched their faces raw, and the pustules on their bodies were oozing blood and pus..."