Chapter 124

Chapter 124

After listening to the peasant woman’s account, the procession of prison carts finally passed.

Han Zhang and the others returned to the carriage.

Shen Qinglan and An Ge'er both held their chests, still shaken, with expressions of pity on their faces.

"Were those villagers truly cursed by evil spirits? They’re just ordinary folks—what heinous deeds could they have done to bring such a 'curse' upon the whole village?"

In truth, people like them from official families rarely believed in retribution.

After all, when it came to wrongdoing, who could compare to the corruption hidden behind the gilded doors of the powerful?

If Heaven truly had eyes, how could those with blood-stained hands still enjoy wealth and peace?

Such superstitions merely served to aid the ruling class.

Jiang Wencheng, of course, didn’t believe it either.

He looked at Han Zhang and said thoughtfully, "Confucius never spoke of strange forces or spirits. Brother Han, did you notice something?"

"A bit of insight," Han Zhang nodded slightly. "Talk of ghosts and gods is too vague for us to judge. But the villagers' strange appearances are definitely not due to sin or curses."

"As you know, Brother Jiang, I know medicine. In my view, those villagers are merely suffering from a rare condition that has deformed their bones and made them look alarming."

Jiang Wencheng was startled and skeptical: "What kind of illness could so drastically change a person’s appearance? And in Xiaohe Village, nearly everyone—young and old—is the same. Is it contagious?"

"If it's really contagious, what do we do?"

Shen Qinglan and An Ge'er went pale at that.

They had been in close contact just now—if they caught it, they'd be doomed.

Seeing everyone’s fear, Han Zhang quickly reassured them: "No, although the symptoms are terrifying, this is not an infectious disease. Based on my observation, the villagers' conditions are more likely due to the local soil, water, or diet, or perhaps by generations of inbreeding causing birth defects—not a plague or epidemic."

"I get the soil, water, and diet, but… inbreeding? Brother Han, what do you mean by that?"

Jiang Wencheng frowned and pressed for an answer.

"By inbreeding, I mean marriages between close blood relatives, like cousins marrying each other. Over time, while occasionally a talented child may be born, more often it leads to children with intellectual disabilities, deformities, or congenital weaknesses."

"From what the peasant woman said, Xiaohe Village is very closed-off, even refusing to let tax collectors in. This suggests they rarely intermarried with neighboring villages, making long-term inbreeding very likely."

"Additionally, the symptoms I saw look a lot like rickets, which my teacher once described—often linked to malnutrition and lack of sunlight."

Han Zhang briefly explained the dangers of inbreeding and his guesses about the illness.

After hearing his explanation.

The three went pale: "Cousins… can't marry?"

After all, the custom back then valued strengthening family ties through marriage, and cousin unions were common—there were examples in the Shen, An, and Jiang families.

"Yes, cousins cannot marry. This conclusion was reached by my teacher, who traveled widely and secretly investigated many families with cousin marriages, compiling statistics on their childbirth outcomes."

"Brother Jiang, if you have any doubts, you can verify it yourself: Do those who married their cousins often struggle to have children? Do they frequently suffer from weak infants who die young? Or… do the children just 'die in childbirth' right after being born?"

Han Zhang emphasized the words "die in childbirth," hinting at something more.

In this era, giving birth to a deformed child was a tremendous scandal; no family would publicize it, and the solution was simply to let the child die shortly after birth as a stillbirth or "difficult birth."

Han Zhang concluded, "If my guess is correct, the villagers of Xiaohe Village suffer from a combination of rickets and the effects of consanguineous marriage, which together have caused their condition."

The carriage fell into a momentary silence.

After a long while, Jiang Wencheng finally managed to suppress the surging shock within him and ventured cautiously, "Brother Han, you mean...?"

"Deformities caused by consanguinity are incurable. But rickets, I have a way to treat." Han Zhang's eyes blazed with intensity. "Brother Jiang, don't you think that if the Crown Prince saved the people of this village, he might earn a reputation for 'loving all living beings'?"

"The ruler is the boat, the people the water—water can carry the boat, but it can also overturn it. Winning the people's hearts wins the world... This is a golden chance for His Highness to win the people's hearts!"

Exposing the dangers of inbreeding would inevitably harm the interests of those aristocratic families and make enemies of them, since one way these families cemented their power was through intermarriage, a breeding ground for inbreeding.

But so what? Han Zhang wasn't afraid.

Because the moment he sided with the Crown Prince, his fate was sealed.

He was a pawn Emperor Taixuan and the Crown Prince planned to use against the aristocratic clans. Sooner or later, this kind of thankless job was bound to land on him.

Since he had been chosen, to avoid being cast aside, he had to prove he was indispensable.

And he had to do it fast—climb the ranks before Emperor Taixuan died!

Otherwise, if the Crown Prince couldn't control the courtiers when he took the throne and couldn't protect him, and if Han Zhang hadn't built up his own power yet, those wolves would tear him apart in a heartbeat.

It was the same for Jiang Wencheng.

Jiang Wencheng's father was the Crown Prince's Junior Tutor, and their fates were tied to his. Since the Crown Prince was at odds with the aristocratic families, the Jiangs had no problem offending them either.

After quickly weighing all the pros and cons in his head.

Jiang Wencheng's eyes lit up with realization, and he clapped his hands and laughed: "Brother Han, you've got guts! Let's go—straight to Xiaohe Village!"

If things really were as Han Zhang suspected, there was a lot they could do with this.

Of course, they couldn't just head to Xiaohe Village right then and there.

Though the capital was generally safe, going back from the outskirts could still be risky, and the two men wouldn't dream of letting their husbands go back alone, even with guards.

So Han Zhang and the others first accompanied Shen Qinglan and An Ge'er back to the residence.

Then they had a servant ask for the next day off from the Imperial Academy, and only then, before the gates shut, did they ride out of the city toward Xiaohe Village.

The two spent two full days scouting the terrain, rivers, soil... and the daily routines of the villagers.

In the end, they confirmed Han Zhang's guess was right...

It was the combination of generations of inbreeding and rickets from a lack of vitamin D in their environment—two compounding factors that had left the whole village severely deformed!

Once they were sure.

The two hurried back to the city, went straight to the Eastern Palace, and reported everything to the Crown Prince.

Hearing this, the Crown Prince's eyes lit up: "Is this true?"

"Absolutely. If Your Highness has doubts, you can send someone to double-check."

There were still a few days before the villagers were to be burned at the stake, and with the Crown Prince's power, a quick re-check was easy.

Han Zhang clasped his hands in salute and added, "But if Your Highness intends to act, I believe you should first build momentum, putting this case before the whole world to get ahead of public opinion. It must not be debated only within the court."

The Crown Prince leaned forward slightly. "What do you mean by that?"

"Because public opinion can burn, and repeated slander can ruin anyone. For the great clans, marriages between close kin are a strategy to solidify their foundations; even knowing it's wrong, they won't budge."

"At that point, to keep their marriages on track, they'll inevitably fight back at any cost, slinging mud, painting us as heretics, and defaming Your Highness's reputation. Thus, Your Highness must seize the initiative and get the common folk on your side."

The Crown Prince pondered for a moment. "What does Master Han suggest?"

Han Zhang did not answer immediately but asked, "Does Your Highness know who's backing the official handling the Xiaohé Village case?"

"My good fifth brother."

The Crown Prince shot back without hesitation, for the Fifth Prince had only yesterday reported the Xiaohé villagers' case to the court as a triumph.

Well, isn't that convenient.

"Excellent!" Han Zhang clapped his hands and laughed. "In that case, let's blow this thing up—the bigger, the better! On the day of execution, Your Highness may come to the execution ground in the name of righteousness and with a heart of benevolence, stopping the execution and begging for their lives—beating the Justice Drum on the people's behalf!"

He declared passionately, but the Crown Prince's expression stiffened instantly.

Jiang Wencheng also staggered on the spot, erupting into a violent fit of coughing as a warning.

And for good reason.

The Justice Drum was hung specifically at the Meridian Gate, so commoners with no other outlet could appeal directly to the emperor.

To prevent troublemakers from maliciously striking the drum, the *Great Zhao Legal Code* stipulated: whoever strikes the drum shall first receive twenty lashes with a cane.

Even if the one striking the drum were the Crown Prince himself, there was no exemption!

If successful, it would naturally be recorded in history, winning the people's hearts; if it failed... the fun would be huge.

The Crown Prince stared hard at Han Zhang for a long while before saying, "Can you truly cure those afflicted villagers?"

"Rest assured, Your Highness." Han Zhang's expression was solemn as he gave a respectful bow. "I've inherited the Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles from the Bian Que lineage; I will not fail your trust."

After all, it was not he who would be caned for striking the drum.

The Crown Prince: "And if it fails, what then?"

"I, Zhang, will offer my head to atone!"

Han Zhang spoke with unwavering resolve, his face full of sincerity, his words ringing with force.

Yet inwardly he thought: if an accident truly occurred, he would naturally flee overnight, carrying his entire clan on his back—who the hell would actually wait to die?

He was playing a game of risk and thrill.

Unable to hear his thoughts, but sensing he was no good man, the Crown Prince took a deep breath. "...Let me think it over."