Why My Domineering Prince Regretted Filing for Divorce?-Chapter 677 - 535: Still No Money

Shang Ruyi took a deep breath.

But the next moment, she felt her breathing obstructed, and only then remembered that since stepping out of the Duke Mansion, she had donned a veil. Normally, it did not impede her breathing or movement, but during deep breaths, she could slightly feel some discomfort.

She reached out and tugged at the strings by her ears, then slowly got off the carriage.

As soon as she alighted, a strong medicinal scent choked her, making her cough, and those around her also covered their mouths and coughed softly. Once they caught their breath, they looked up at what lay ahead.

In front of them was Changle Square.

The entire market was shrouded in smoke, and though they had not officially entered yet, they could see several people fully covered and veiled, wielding paper rolls wrapped in mugwort and Jiangzhen Fragrance and burning them while swinging them along the street, once again dispersing the strong medicinal scent. A wooden fence surrounded the market from the base of the city wall, circling around it with a single path left open at the entrance. The sharp spikes of the wooden fence protruded from the smoke, giving off an extreme sense of danger, as if entering the very lair of danger.

On both sides of the entrance, soldiers armed with swords guarded sternly.

Seeing Shang Ruyi arrive, they saluted her with cupped hands, saying little, and Shang Ruyi merely nodded slightly before slowly walking in with Tushere and Wo Xue.

The smoke inside the market was thicker and more suffocating than outside.

The three of them seemed to have stepped into a legendary foggy Immortal Realm—however, what sort of Immortal Realm was this? Taking a few more steps in and seeing the scene before them clearly, all three gasped.

The long street was already crowded with patients!

This Changle Square was the market closest to the South City Gate; unlike other markets within the inner city, it primarily served penniless travelers who had just entered the city as a resting place. The market was incredibly crude, with just a few inns and a handful of residential houses up front. The area near the city wall was a horse market for renting and trading horses and carts, so clearing the market was easy, but housing the patients was quite problematic.

The few inns available were packed to capacity, and the rest could only stay on the streets.

Therefore, they had temporarily erected long sheds on both sides of the street where straw mats were laid. Most patients received treatment here. Although the weather was not too cold, sitting on straw mats was not too uncomfortable, yet it had rained just a couple of days ago, leaving the mud in the streets not yet dry. The moisture soaked the mats, and the patients sitting on them, all wearing ragged clothes, with disheveled hair, were now covered in mud, looking even more miserable and wretched.

Even like this, no one complained, for none had the strength to do so anymore. They coughed incessantly, and some had begun to vomit. Nearby, people hurriedly covered the filth with charcoal ashes, and just as one spot was cleaned, another person would vomit.

All at once, the entire Changle Square was filled with a sickening stench and the helpless sighs of despair.

The doctors were bustling about, hardly able to touch the ground with their feet.

As Shang Ruyi stepped closer, three men rushed over to greet her hurriedly.

"Greetings, Young Madam."

These three men were middle-aged, around thirty or forty years old. The leader, the eldest, was slightly plump. Through brief conversation, she learned his name was Wu Huanzhi, a Medical Supervisor dispatched by the Imperial Medical Bureau to Changle Square. The two men behind him were Medical Directors from the same bureau.

However, yesterday Yu Wenye mentioned that there were supposed to be three Medical Officers within Changle Square.

But Shang Ruyi didn’t ask further. She merely exchanged a few pleasantries with them, and Wu Huanzhi courteously said, "We just learned of the Young Madam’s visit to Changle Square today and failed to meet you earlier."

Shang Ruyi shook her head, "You’re too kind."

Then she looked around and asked, "Mr. Wu, how is the situation today?"

Wu Huanzhi replied, "I’ve heard that several markets in the West City have found patients, and the Great General has already dispatched people to apprehend them. This morning, twenty-one more patients were sent in from outside the city."

"And what of the situation in the market?"

"Alas, last night another seventeen patients succumbed to their illnesses."

"...Oh."

Shang Ruyi’s brow furrowed slightly.

In truth, whenever a plague spreads, death is a common occurrence, yet hearing of seventeen more deaths made her heart sink with bitterness.

This was only the second day.

As they walked through several more streets, the situation remained similarly dire: each street had doctors recruited from the city’s major medical facilities, some helping with consultations, others holding paper tubes wrapped in mugwort and other medicinal herbs, igniting them and wafting the smoke around. Meanwhile, the patients lay sprawled on the ground, crying and groaning, infusing the whole market with a sense of utter decay and despair.