A long while later, Mo Lixia walked out with the couple. The blush on Yan Xiuye's face was still visible.
"Take the prescription I wrote for you on time," Mo Lixia instructed. "Madam, you can stop taking your current medicine. Eat more light, nourishing food. And Sir, follow my prescription for four or five days, and the itching will be gone."
"Thank you so much, Doctor Mo." Ling'er held Mo Lixia's hand as they walked out, slipping a banknote into her palm.
Mo Lixia glanced at it but said nothing, simply nodding to the couple.
At the gate, Yan Xiuye offered the carriage again, but Mo Lixia politely declined. Before parting, Yan Xiuye handed her a black jade token.
"Doctor Mo, if you ever need help within Fucheng's jurisdiction, bring this token to the Yan Residence. I will do everything in my power to assist you!"
Mo Lixia accepted it. In this unfamiliar place, without her master, she was essentially an orphan. Although she desired a simple life, having a safety net in this power-driven society was wise.
Bidding farewell to the Yan couple, Mo Lixia looked at the one-hundred-tael banknote in her hand, feeling quite pleased. She decided to head to the busy street to buy some supplies and order a new cloak.
Usually, the streets were quiet in winter, but today, Mo Lixia noticed a crowd moving in one direction.
"Hey, Old Li! Stop watching the stall, there are no customers anyway. Let's go watch the show!" a shop assistant shouted to a street food vendor.
"What show?"
"Didn't the Liu family announce it days ago? Today is the day they drown the First Madam and that bastard son in the pond!"
The vendor threw down his towel. "Let's go!"
Mo Lixia frowned, listening to the gossip around her.
"I heard the First Master isn't even home. Isn't the Old Madam afraid her son will blame her for drowning his wife and child?"
"Tch, you don't know the inside story. The First Master isn't the Old Madam's biological son. Her favorites are the Second and Third Masters. She doesn't care if she offends him; she probably wants to secure the inheritance for her own sons. I heard she caught them in bed herself!"
"I bet it's a setup. The First Master has so many concubines; who knows who plotted this? Being a wife in a big household isn't easy."
"Shh! Keep your voice down."
"Why? Evil people will get their karma eventually."
"Look! They're almost at the moat. See the mother and son in the cage? How pitiful."
"Pitiful? She couldn't handle the loneliness and cheated with a wild man! She deserves it! That kid is probably a bastard too."
Mo Lixia followed the crowd to the moat.
From a distance, she saw a bamboo pig cage suspended over the freezing water. Inside were a woman and a young boy.
It's them!
Mo Lixia recognized them immediately. It was the malnourished mother and son she had saved in the alleyway weeks ago.
A malnourished First Madam of a wealthy family... The conspiracy was obvious.
Mo Lixia squeezed through the crowd to get a closer look.
The mother looked haggard, her hair messy, her hands and feet bound, and a cloth stuffed in her mouth. The five-year-old boy wasn't tied up, but he clung to his mother tightly. He seemed to understand what was about to happen. His eyes were full of tears, but he stubbornly refused to cry, staring hatefully at the people around him.
The mother's eyes were dead. When hope is gone, only despair remains.
Two vicious old women stood nearby, throwing rotten eggs and vegetable leaves at the cage, cursing, "Slut! Fox spirit! Shameless woman!"
The mother couldn't speak or move, so she used her body to shield her son from the filth.
Behind the cage stood a man with a rat-like face—likely the steward—surrounded by thugs.
The crowd cheered or jeered. Some threw vegetables, while others watched indifferently.
Mo Lixia had never seen such a scene, but she knew what "drowning in a pig cage" meant. It was a death sentence.
She felt a surge of anxiety. She knew they were being framed. But in this era, even the government wouldn't interfere in "family matters," let alone a commoner like her.
As she panicked, the woman in the cage looked up and locked eyes with Mo Lixia in the crowd.
But after just one glance, the woman turned her head away, looking down as if she didn't know her.
Mo Lixia touched the jade token in her pocket. The Yan couple could definitely help, but their residence was too far away. There wasn't enough time.
"Lower it! Drown the adulteress!" the rat-faced steward shouted.
Fortunately, the executioners wanted to torture them. Instead of dropping the cage instantly, they lowered it slowly, inch by inch, relishing the fear in their victims' eyes.
Mo Lixia backed out of the crowd. She scanned her surroundings quickly.
The moat was wide and deep, but the current was steady. Not far away, there was a stone bridge.
An idea formed in her mind.