Chapter 190 Smallpox

"Dismiss the court!" The Emperor waved his hand, as if he would lose all shame if she continued to fabricate stories.

They've lost all face.

Just as Ji Yingying was about to leave, the Emperor called out again, "Ji Yingying, have lunch with me, and then go directly to the Ministry of Works."

"Ah? Your Majesty, what shall we eat today?" Upon hearing that there was food, Ji Yingying quickly went over and obediently followed him to the inner palace to prepare for the meal.

"There are green vegetables."

This winter, people in Beijing can enjoy fresh vegetables, and it won't be long before other places can too.

What's the use of vegetables? I want to eat meat! It's lunchtime, and I'd be doing myself a disservice if I didn't eat meat.

"Oh...there's meat too!"

"Okay, okay, as long as there's meat." Ji Yingying sat down at the table and waited for the meal to be served.

Before long, the dishes were served. Ji Yingying picked up her chopsticks, but seeing that the Emperor hadn't, she immediately handed him chopsticks and urged, "Your Majesty, please eat quickly."

"Okay, eat up."

[Host, there's some juicy gossip. You haven't been here in a while. The palace maid here has changed; there's a new one with some big gossip.]

Ji Yingying tore off a chicken leg and looked around. Those palace maids were all young girls. We're about to get some big news.

[Tell me quickly, do you want to climb into the emperor's bed or assassinate him?] Ji Yingying looked very calm. The guards at the door were already itching to act. As long as it was an assassin, they would rush in and capture him immediately.

The emperor looked around, unsure which melon it was.

[The palace maid in the green dress.]

[What green-clad palace maids? Open your eyes and look around! All the palace maids in this room are dressed in green.]

Xiangxiang, who had been scolded, gave an awkward laugh and said, "The hairpin is the green one!"

[It's just a hairpin, why are you talking about clothes? You're just stalling for time.]

Hehe, she got sick, it's a contagious disease, smallpox, which spreads very quickly.

【So what? So what?】 Ji Yingying secretly vaccinated herself with the cowpox vaccine when she was four years old, and she still has a scar on her arm.

[What else? What else? You might not get infected, but everyone in this room, even the Emperor, could get infected. And he's had smallpox for several days now. I guess the palace... isn't safe anymore.]

【Oh…】 Ji Yingying was still eating, but the palace maids were already trembling with fear, and even the emperor was shocked.

[Oh, and if it's not controlled, the entire capital will be infected in no time. That's extremely dangerous.]

[Even in the freezing winter, this bacteria still can't be killed.]

"Well... I don't know either. Do you want to go see her? Her whole body is covered in sores."

"Really, wait a minute, I'm almost full. I'll go check on it in a bit."

Your Majesty: ...Can't you be a little more anxious? Don't be so calm about everything!

The Emperor couldn't wait any longer and immediately ordered Eunuch Cao to examine the palace maid, who indeed had red spots on her skin.

"This...Your Majesty..." The palace maid was frightened and quickly knelt down: "Your Majesty, this servant does not know, this servant thought it was a rash."

Why not get the medicine?

"This servant has no money."

What?

She's right. Her family is very poor. Her father has a leg injury and can't walk, and her mother is chronically ill. She's the eldest daughter, with two younger brothers and five younger sisters.

[Haha, it seems the poorer people are, the more children they have. In a world where people can't get enough to eat or wear, and education is poor, they still dare to have so many children.]

One a year, so the mother is exhausted.

【I... never mind, I'm not going to say it anymore, this is killing me.】

"Ji Yingying, is there a way to treat this?" The Emperor hadn't forgotten that Xiangxiang had said Ji Yingying wouldn't contract smallpox.

Then she must have a way.

"Yes, here is the solution and prescription for smallpox. I'll go find Dr. Liu later and get the cowpox vaccine out by nightfall at the latest."

"Hurry up and go."

"Your Majesty, I'm tired. I didn't sleep much yesterday." Ji Yingying hadn't slept much and was sleepy.

[This is terrible! I couldn't go to the Ministry of Works, so I went to the Imperial Hospital instead.]

"Ji Yingying, with disaster looming, don't be confused."

"Yes, I understand. I will go to the Imperial Hospital immediately." As soon as Ji Yingying left, the Emperor immediately summoned his ministers and arranged for a thorough investigation of all the palace staff.

Originally, the plan was to deal with those who were seriously ill, but news came from the Imperial Hospital that Ji Yingying had instructed the Crown Prince to concentrate the seriously ill in one place and the less seriously ill in another, and that those who were not infected should not move around.

Judge Liu had already received the news and was just waiting for her to arrive so he could take immediate action.

Upon seeing the person, Imperial Physician Liu hurriedly asked, "Your Highness, what should I do?"

Ji Yingying rattled off a bunch of things, then immediately arranged for people to do things. First, she made disinfectant and had people spray it all over the palace, and also spray it outside the palace. She herself was also busy.

The antidote was indeed produced before nightfall.

"Now I'll teach you how to insert needles, this needle..." Fortunately, everyone learns quickly and mastered it soon.

"Everyone assemble, I'll assign tasks."

The Imperial Medical Academy had a total of thirty people, including older and younger people, as well as apprentices.

"Judge Liu, you take this group outside the palace to give them acupuncture. You must give each person a needle on every street, without missing anyone."

Judge Liu responded with a single sentence, then asked, "What happens if something is missed?"

"Then let's just wait to die." Ji Yingying didn't care; so be it if she was going to die.

[Host, collect the money.]

Yes, I'd completely forgotten about it.

“You who are getting injections outside the palace will be charged one copper coin for every commoner. Deal with the people in the capital first. As for those outside the capital, Physician Liang, Physician Lu, and Physician Li, you take this group to bed. Tomorrow, head to these counties. Go as many as you can. If you can't finish, then the day after tomorrow.”

"yes"

"Remember, it must be one copper coin, whether you're a commoner or a rich person, it has to be one copper coin."

"yes"

Judge Liu quickly asked, "What about the palace?"

"I'm here, I can take care of the arrangements."

"yes"

After arranging everything, I checked the number of needles. We needed to replace a lot of used needles.

"Judge Liu, wait a moment. Go to the Ministry of Revenue to apply for 50,000 taels of silver. I need to buy needles, otherwise it won't be enough."

Judge Liu rushed to the Ministry of Revenue and approved 50,000 taels overnight. Ji Yingying brought out a lot of needles from the pharmacy, but no one arranged how many doses to use.

Once everything is accounted for, we'll set off immediately.

In the palace, Ji Yingying first went to give injections to those with severe cases, and then went to give injections to those with milder cases.

At the same time, people were asked to broadcast what the follow-up effects of the injection would be.

Finally, it comes to the emperor, empress, concubines, palace maids, eunuchs, and so on.

Anyway, I was busy until dawn, and finally I finished.

"Your Majesty, I'm sleepy, I want to go to sleep." After finishing the fight, Ji Yingying couldn't take it anymore; she was too tired. She had spent the whole night dealing with unexpected situations.

I'm so hungry I don't even have time to eat.

The Empress quickly said, "Come to my palace and get some sleep. There's court this morning..."

"Postpone it to the afternoon. Go and get some rest. If anything comes up, just tell the Empress."