The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 1158 - 1137: The Newcomer

Chapter 1158: Chapter 1137: The Newcomer

Manbao touched her face and smiled, "It’s nothing serious, a little medicine and it’ll be healed in a few days."

They briefly exchanged information, and when they saw the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Justice approaching, Xiang Chang and Daji smartly stood up and walked outside. But before leaving, Daji still stuffed a large bag of silver to Bai Shan and whispered in exhortation, "If the food isn’t good, or if you need hot water or other things that are not readily available, use this silver to buy whatever you need."

Bai Shan understood and quietly hid the given silver.

Manbao glanced at it and thought to herself that there was no need to be so cautious—she had plenty of money here.

After reporting back, Daji and the others returned; Manbao and Bai Shan then started to select medicinal herbs to prepare the medicine.

The guards couldn’t be bothered to pay too much attention to them; they brought two buckets of water for them and turned a blind eye, allowing them to hustle and bustle around in the cell. Of course, the meals sent from the Bai Family, including wooden basins and other items, were also brought in.

Bai Shan tidied up the cell. There were only three blankets, and he immediately laid one out for Xiang Chao, asking the jailers for help to lift the man onto the blanket. Then he carefully transferred the freshly cleaned and medicated Xiang Chao onto the blanket, covered the wounds and the powder with a layer of linen, and gently wrapped him with the blanket.

It was Xiang Chao’s first time seeing them. He had thought that both being so young and living comfortably, they would be delicate, but he didn’t expect them to be so capable.

Of all the household chores, Manbao was best at starting fires, and so she managed to get a fire going after only three tries.

She heaved a sigh of relief, gradually lighting the firewood that had been brought in, and suddenly remembered that she hadn’t yet put the herbs into the medicine pot. In haste, she took the still cold pot to stuff in the medicinal materials and pour water.

So as to facilitate conversation and observation, she specifically directed Xiang Chao, who was facing outwards lying prone, to watch, silently retracting her earlier comment.

Bai Shan disdainfully wiped the table in the middle of the cell, but no matter how much he wiped, it remained dirty. With no other choice, he cut a piece of linen to cover it.

Manbao couldn’t help but say, "What a waste!"

Bai Shan insisted, "This is for our appetite’s sake for the foreseeable future, and it’s for health as well."

Manbao grudgingly accepted his excuse, but the banter between the two was nonetheless endless.

Bai Shan didn’t like how she carelessly tossed used items everywhere, while Manbao felt he was too quick to tidy things up before she was done using them, making it very inconvenient for her.

In a cell clearly meant for three people, with one lying down immobile, the two of them somehow managed to create the atmosphere of an entire family.

The incident made the guards outside, who were taking a break for dinner, unable to restrain themselves from pacing over to peek inside. Upon returning, they marveled, "They’ve been thrown into the dungeon, yet they’re in good spirits."

"Without certainty of tomorrow after today, it’s better to be happy than to wail and weep, right?"

"Ah, they don’t look old, but they’re certainly not lacking in courage."

"It’s more than just courage, this is practically heaven-defying. They don’t even consider the day it is, even ordinary people wouldn’t accuse someone’s youngest son on his mother’s birthday celebration..."

"Cough." The Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Justice appeared behind them unexpectedly. Everyone was startled and stood up to salute. They only noticed the Book of Documents official standing behind the Deputy Minister when they straightened up and immediately lowered their heads and bent their waists again.

The Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Justice chastised, "Got nothing to do, have you? If I hear any of you gossiping again..."

The crowd quickly bowed their heads to indicate they wouldn’t dare to, and only then did the Deputy Minister step aside to let Minister Feng and others enter.

At this moment, everyone finally saw that many people were still standing at the dim entrance. As they stepped aside, more people kept coming in.

Soon, someone carried in a person on a wooden board; his flesh was a mangled mess, and Wei Zhi actually followed them inside.

The group went directly into the depths of the prison, locating Bai Shan and his company.

Wei Zhi glanced at the jar that was diffusing the scent of medicine, then looked at the young man and girl who had pushed the table to the side of the kang bed, sitting around it eating, occasionally taking the time to feed Xiang Chao, suddenly smiled, pointed at the person on the wooden board and said to Minister Feng, "I think this room is spacious enough. After all, the celestial prison has limited rooms. Why not lock them all together? It would make it easier for the Ministry of Justice to supervise."

Minister Feng: ... Having said that, how could he say no?

However, looking at the person on the wooden board, he shook his head slightly. Even if Zhou Man were here, this person would not live long.

The three who were eating were stunned, watching this group of people suddenly appear; though shocked, it was only for an instant. Bai Shan and Manbao were the first to react; they immediately stood up to check on the person lying on the wooden board, "Is this someone taken from the Bai Family mansion?"

Wei Zhi nodded, "Correct, out of three people, only he is still alive."

Xiang Chao’s complexion slightly changed, half propped himself up and asked, "Who is it, is it the Second Young Master?"

Wei Zhi looked towards Minister Feng, who had someone unlock the cell. The wooden board was carried in, the person on it was severely mutilated, not even fingers remained intact, but his face was relatively unscathed, and Xiang Chao recognized him at once.

Tears streaming down, he sobbed with restraint, "Second Young Master, Second Young Master, Doctor Zhou Junior, please save him, save him, he is the hope of our clan, the sole legitimate heir left. Originally, the Sixth Master disagreed with him going personally, we should have stopped him, we should have stopped him..."

Manbao squatted down to feel his pulse, and after a while, she looked up and said, "His heart meridian is not injured; it is possible to save him with some effort, but even if he is saved, his current injuries will leave him with lifelong disabilities."

Xiang Chao couldn’t feel the pain on his back anymore, almost sitting up as he wiped away his tears and nodded, "As long as he can survive, that’s enough."

Wei Zhi then said, "Doctor Zhou Junior, write a prescription and hand it to Minister Feng. Your family should have people waiting outside, right?"

Manbao nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes."

Her eyes glistening, she looked at Minister Feng, "Then we will have to trouble Minister Feng."

Wei Zhi also smiled at Minister Feng, "It’s but a small effort for you, shouldn’t be difficult, right?"

Minister Feng said with an expressionless face: "Doctor Zhou Junior, in my opinion, they only need one batch of herbs. The celestial prison is not like other places; this is not a medical clinic after all."

Allowing them to contact the outside once was already bending the rules for him, to do it again, and repeatedly, was something he was not foolish enough to agree to.

Wei Zhi coughed lightly and whispered to Minister Feng, "This is also the emperor’s intention."

Minister Feng then glanced at him and said, "Then bring the emperor’s handwritten edict, or let me hear the emperor’s verbal decree, otherwise, I will not agree."

He glanced at the current cell, hinting for Wei Zhi to look at the people and things inside, whispering: "By doing so, I’m already showing partiality. I know you sympathize with them, and I do too, but don’t go too far, when rules are broken too often, it’s no longer called bending the rules."

That’s called ulterior motives, called rebellion!

Wei Zhi then fell into thought and said, "I will request the emperor’s handwritten edict."

Only then did Minister Feng stop talking.