Ruan Jiu turned around.
She saw Liang Jingzhuo still looking at her with a kind and amiable expression.
And standing beside him was actually Li Wu, the military officer in charge from the daytime.
But wasn't Li Wu already thrown into prison?
This instant filled Ruan Jiu with a sense of unease.
She unconsciously tightened her fingers and pretended to be calm. "Lord Liang, I lost a pair of earrings here during the day, so I came to look for them."
"Such a trivial matter. Miss Shen could just have ordered your servants to do it. Why bother coming here in person?"
Then Liang Jingzhuo turned to his subordinates behind him and ordered, "Hurry up and help Miss Shen look for them."
Ruan Jiu gave a faint smile and waved her hand. "There's no need to trouble your lordship. Maybe I won't be able to find them."
Liang Jingzhuo smiled. "How can that be? Since it's something Miss Shen wants to find, we should surely give Miss Shen an answer."
There seemed to be an underlying meaning in his words.
After saying that, Liang Jingzhuo looked up again. "The weather in Shuozhou is cold. Why not let them stay and help Miss Shen look while Miss Shen comes back to the governor's mansion with me to rest."
"No need." Ruan Jiu immediately refused.
However, Liang Jingzhuo clearly didn't plan to let Ruan Jiu leave.
He coldly ordered, "Take her away."
It seemed she couldn't leave tonight.
So she hid her hand in her sleeve and secretly broke the pearl bracelet on her hand, carefully grasping the pearls in her palm.
Along the way, she dropped the pearls on the ground one by one.
She secretly hoped that when Xie Jingchu found out she was missing, he could follow these to find her trail.
Ruan Jiu originally thought that Liang Jingzhuo would at least be afraid of the Shen family, but unexpectedly, he directly took her to the dungeon.
Through the railing, Ruan Jiu looked at Liang Jingzhuo with a cold and fierce look in her eyes and said coldly, "What does this mean, Lord Liang?"
"Miss Shen, we both know it well. Why ask this question hypocritically?"
After a pause, he continued, "I'm a person who hates others going against my will the most. Why did you waste so much effort?
Those commoners, whether they live or die, what does it matter to you?"
After hearing this, Ruan Jiu nervously swallowed.
"Lord Liang, I'm at least the legitimate daughter of the Shen family and was sent here to deliver medicine to Shuozhou by the imperial order. If something happens to me in Shuozhou, I wonder how your lordship will explain it to the emperor and the Shen family!"
"Hahaha!" Liang Jingzhuo laughed out loud. "Does Miss Shen think I'm going to kill you to cover up my tracks?"
Ruan Jiu didn't say a word, but her heart was in her throat.
Liang Jingzhuo put away the smile on his face and said coldly, "Don't worry. After I deal with those commoners, I'll surely let Miss Shen go."
He wasn't stupid enough to offend the Shen family because of a group of commoners.
However, to prevent this Miss Shen from disrupting his plan, he had to detain her first.
"What are you going to do to them?" Ruan Jiu squinted her eyes slightly.
Suddenly, Liang Jingzhuo's eyes became fierce, and the kind - looking appearance before disappeared completely.
He grabbed the railing in front of Ruan Jiu like a madman.
He said viciously, "All those who defy me shall die!"
His face was contorted, and his eyes were blood - red.
Ruan Jiu was so frightened that she took several steps back in a row.
Why was Liang Jingzhuo like this?
"Lord Liang, as the parent - official of Shuozhou, how can you treat the common people so harshly and ignore human lives?"
"Humph!" Liang Jingzhuo sneered. "In Shuozhou, I'm the sky! Since they don't listen to me, I have to send them to their deaths."
Hearing this, Ruan Jiu was shocked. "Those common people locked up in the west of the city, weren't they really infected with the epidemic?"
Then she shook her head. "But the imperial physicians have clearly diagnosed them."
Even though Liang Jingzhuo had great power in Shuozhou, those imperial physicians were brought here from the capital by Xiao Wang.
They couldn't collude with Liang Jingzhuo to deceive the crown prince.
"Do you want to know?"
Seeing Ruan Jiu's confused look, Liang Jingzhuo looked very proud.
He seemed to have a great sense of achievement.
Ruan Jiu bit her lip.
In this situation, she didn't know if she should know these things.
After all, the more she knew, the easier it was for her to be killed.
But Liang Jingzhuo didn't care at all. "I'm not afraid to tell you. Those locked up in the west of the city are all those who defy me. This epidemic is just an excuse to get rid of them.
And those patients you saw today were all my doing."
The more Ruan Jiu listened, the more confused she became.
Liang Jingzhuo continued, "Those who obey me 'accidentally' got infected with the epidemic, and I'm the only one who can cure them. From now on, they will only be more loyal to me and worship me as a god."
Ruan Jiu finally understood.
Liang Jingzhuo deliberately created an epidemic to consolidate his position in Shuozhou.
But what did those common people locked up in the west of the city do wrong? Why did he have to kill them?
"Aren't you afraid that the emperor will find out?" Ruan Jiu exclaimed.
Liang Jingzhuo snorted. "Since I dare to tell you, I'm not afraid of others knowing. After I deal with those commoners, do you think anyone will believe what you say?"
Yes, now the whole city of Shuozhou was full of Liang Jingzhuo's people.
What about Uncle Fu?
No wonder Liang Jingzhuo appeared in the west of the city tonight. Presumably, it was Uncle Fu who revealed her whereabouts.
Maybe it was also Uncle Fu who tipped off during the day, so that Liang Jingzhuo could arrange the patients in advance to deal with the diagnosis of the imperial physicians.
This man was really terrifying!
"Miss Shen, please stay here for the time being."
After saying that, Liang Jingzhuo left with a strange smile and then flicked his sleeve.
She didn't know if Xie Jingchu could find out she was locked up here before Liang Jingzhuo took action.
If not, the lives of those common people would be in danger.
Suddenly, a man's coughing sound came from the quiet dungeon.
"Who?" Ruan Jiu looked alert.
A hoarse voice sounded. "Just a man struggling to survive."
Ruan Jiu looked in the direction of the voice.
Not far away, a disheveled man was locked in an iron cage, with his hands and feet chained.
The iron cage was rusty, which seemed to indicate that this man had been detained for a long time.
However, with Liang Jingzhuo's fierce nature, instead of killing him, he had been detained here all the time.
This made Ruan Jiu suspicious of the man's identity.
So she tried to lean forward, but still couldn't see the man's face clearly.
"Who are you? And why are you locked up here?" Ruan Jiu asked.
The hoarse voice sounded again. "Who am I? And why am I locked up here?"
After a pause, he continued, "It's been too long. I can't remember."
Although Ruan Jiu didn't hear any useful information from the man's mouth, judging from the voice, he should be quite old.
So Ruan Jiu continued to ask, "Judging from your accent, sir, you should not be from Shuozhou, right?"
The man remained silent.
"Sir, since you're not from Shuozhou, why are you detained here?"
All Ruan Jiu got in return was another period of silence.
This instead made her more curious about the man's identity.
However, for now, she should worry more about herself.
Just then, the door of the dungeon suddenly opened.
Liang Jingzhuo slowly walked in.
He squinted his eyes slightly, and his eyes were full of cruelty.
"Miss Shen seems to love losing things."
After saying that, Liang Jingzhuo raised his hand and spread out his palm.
The pearls in his hand fell to the ground.