Chapter 179: Strange Disease

These two people were none other than the two who sneaked into the post station last night and tried to steal back the bag.

They took the bundle away late last night. Could it be that the salt had already been sold? Otherwise, how could they have smuggled it into Qingzhou City with such difficulty and now leave the city again?

The two men had obviously noticed the exile team as well. They saluted Chen Fenghe from a distance, then turned around and walked towards the north on foot.

Although Chen Fenghe was confused, she didn't take it too seriously.

Although she said last night that she would just treat it as a favor for them and ask them to repay her in the future, it was just an excuse. She didn't really intend to return the favor for just a few taels of silver.

The group marched north with difficulty.

It hasn't snowed in the past few days, but the remnant snow from the previous few days is still there. It has frozen hard and slippery, and the road is more difficult to walk on than when it snows.

Chen Fenghe still let Zhang Yuan's mother and pregnant wife sit together in the mule cart. It was not until noon that they finally arrived at the door of a small shop on the official road.

Chen Wu asked everyone to stop and rest, and asked, "Waiter, do you have anything to eat?"

The waiter looked up and saw quite a number of people, the leader of whom was another official. He hurriedly and cordially came over and said, "Sir, are you escorting a prisoner to the place of exile? Our inn only has noodles with mixed grains, wild vegetable pancakes, and hot mutton soup."

After hearing this, Chen Wu said, "Give each of us a bowl of mixed grain noodles and a vegetable pancake. And give each of us officers, the two women, and the three children sitting in the mule cart over there a bowl of mutton soup."

The waiter was a little surprised to see the officer buy mutton soup for the prisoner, but he didn't dare to ask any more questions. He quickly agreed and asked, "Sir, would you like a light or salty stew?"

Chen Wu was stunned when he heard this: "This is the first time I've heard of light brine and salty brine. What does this mean?"

The waiter laughed and said, "Your Excellency, you may not know this, but in the past two years, the price of salt in Hejian Prefecture has increased significantly, and it's often out of stock. This is why there are light brine and salty brine. Light brine means no salt is added, and a bowl of noodles costs ten cents. Salty brine, of course, does contain salt, and a bowl of noodles costs thirty cents."

Chen Wu couldn't help but widen his eyes. "Can you eat this thing without salt? But this brine is too expensive, isn't it? It's three times more expensive?"

The waiter smiled and said, "Sir, there's really nothing we can do about this. Even if a bowl costs thirty coins, our store has limited salt. We can only sell about ten bowls, no more."

After hearing this, Chen Fenghe couldn't help but frown slightly.

Along the way, I heard about the salt shortage in the towns on the border of Hedong Prefecture and Hejian Prefecture, but I didn't expect that the shortage was so severe that there was no salt to be added even to daily food.

Chen Wu was also surprised: "Why is it so serious? I have heard that there is a salt shortage in this area in previous years, but it has never been like this. Even in Qingzhou City yesterday, I didn't feel this way..."

The waiter said, "Sir, how can our rural area compare to Qingzhou City? Moreover, even if there is salt for sale, the price is not affordable for ordinary people."

Chen Wu couldn't help but sigh inwardly after hearing this, but as a lowly official, he had no other options, so he said, "Let's use a lighter brine. We still have some salt on us, so adding a little will do."

After hearing this, the waiter agreed and went to the kitchen to work.

After a while, the multi-grain noodles, vegetable pancakes and mutton soup were ready and were brought up by the waiter one by one.

Chen Fenghe took a bite and found that it was indeed not salty at all.

Shen Yichuan took a bite and looked up and said, “Sister, this doesn’t have any salt!”

At this time, Yuan Xun came over with a bag of salt and said with a smile, "You have a very clever tongue, little devil."

As he spoke, he handed the bag in his hand to Shen Fenghe and said with a smile: “Miss Shen, Miss Qin, you can put some in as much as you want to eat.”

Chen Fenghe was not polite and scooped some fine salt into the bowl with a spoon, and also put some in the bowl for Qin Mengyue and the little ones.

As for the others, they did not receive such treatment. They had to accept whatever the officials gave them, and at most they could only eat something salty.

Even so, everyone was really tired after walking for half a day and wolfed down the noodles.

Xiao Yunshuo and Yuan Xu both had some silver on them, but they had tasted the salt from Hejian Prefecture, which was somewhat bitter, so they ordered a light brine and added the salt they had on them.

After everyone had eaten, they continued on their journey and arrived at a village at dusk.

Chen Wu found the village headman and finally agreed to let them stay in the village ancestral hall.

There were very few outsiders staying in the village, so many villagers came over to watch.

Chen Fenghe saw from a distance that many villagers had large ball-like lumps on the sides of their necks, and she couldn't help but frown.

This is hyperthyroidism, commonly known as big neck disease, also called goiter, and the main cause is iodine deficiency.

In ancient times, the main way to obtain iodine was salt.

It seems that the salt shortage here is even more serious than hers.

The three little guys obviously saw the symptoms of those people and were so scared that they hid behind Chen Fenghe.

"Sister, what is that! Why do they have a big lump of flesh on their necks?"

Before Shen Fenghe could explain, the other prisoners also saw it.

Most people were seeing it for the first time and were so scared that they stepped back.

One of the prisoners went over to Chen Wu and asked, "Master Chen, are the people in this village suffering from some strange disease? Look at the big swellings on their necks, and it's not just one or two people who have it. Is it some kind of infectious disease?"

After hearing this, many prisoners became even more nervous and said, "Isn't it really an infectious disease? If so, wouldn't it be the same as the typhoid fever before..."

"Master Chen, I would rather live in the wilderness than in this village. Perhaps there's something wrong with the water source here. What if I get infected?"

Chen Wu was somewhat nervous.

He had stayed in this village before, but he had never seen anyone with such a strange disease. Could it really be some infectious disease?

Chen Wu was about to ask Shen Fenghe for confirmation when suddenly an old and angry voice sounded:

"Those who don't want to live in our village, get out of here immediately! Humph! You're being so kind! If it weren't for Master Chen's face, I wouldn't let you exiled prisoners set foot in our village! You're being picky! Master Chen, I'm not offending you today, but someone is afraid of being infected with a strange disease. Please leave our village now and find another place to stay!"

After hearing this, Chen Wu quickly smiled and said, "Village head, it's the prisoner who's being lazy. I'll whip him and make him behave himself! It's winter, and there's only one village within a radius of dozens of miles. If we really stay in the wilderness for one night, won't we freeze to death? Village head, calm down..."

The village head snorted but still refused to give in.

The other villagers also felt offended and shouted angrily: "Get out of our village! Do you think we are an infectious disease? We think you are exiled criminals!"

“Get out!”

Seeing the villagers' excitement, Yuan Xun hurried to Shen Fenghe and asked in a low voice, "Ms. Shen, you know medicine, but have you ever seen this strange disease? Is it an infectious disease? Can it be cured?"

Chen Fenghe said, "It's not an infectious disease, but whether it can be cured or not is not something that can be done overnight."

When Yuan Xun heard this, his eyes flashed with admiration. He knew that Madam Shen was knowledgeable and there must be a way.

“So, Madam Shen knows how to treat it?”

Shen Fenghe nodded and said, "It's not difficult to cure this disease..."

The village head was close by and had heard what Chen Fenghe said. He turned his head suddenly and looked Chen Fenghe up and down with suspicion.

"Young lady, do you really have a way to cure the disease that people in our village have? Isn't that just boasting?"

Since the first case of this disease occurred in the village at the beginning of winter, and several people were subsequently infected, the villagers have searched for doctors within a hundred miles. The village even collected some money to set up a Xi Jing (the medical fee in ancient times was called "Xi Jing") and asked the headman to take the patient to Qingzhou City and invite a doctor from Renxin Hall to treat him, but in the end they could not diagnose the cause.

Fortunately, everyone's symptoms were just lumps of flesh on their necks and general fatigue. Apart from these, there were no other more serious symptoms. Up to now, no patient had died, so the villagers just let nature take its course.

Now, seeing this young lady in her teens actually saying that this disease is not difficult to cure, the head of the village said that he had no doubts, but that was a lie.

Without waiting for Shen Fenghe to speak, Chen Wu immediately said, "Don't worry, Li Zheng. I've observed Miss Shen's medical skills along the way, and I'm afraid they're better than those of the doctors working in the pharmacies in the capital! If she says it's not difficult, then it definitely isn't difficult! I can guarantee it!"

When Chen Fenghe heard Chen Wu praising her, she couldn't help but twitch her lips.

It seems that I have to say hello to Chen Wu privately and ask him to stop promoting me so vigorously...

Seeing that even the constables trusted an exiled prisoner so much, the village head couldn't help but believe it in his heart.

He clasped his fists and bowed to Shen Fenghe, saying, "Young lady, if you truly have a way to cure this strange disease in our village, we will certainly offer you a feast!"

Chen Fenghe quickly waved his hands and said, "Uncle Village Head, we absolutely cannot use someone like Xi Jing. I've seen this kind of disease in ancient books. As for treating it, it's neither difficult nor hard, but also difficult..."

Upon hearing this, the village head couldn't help but feel a little disappointed and asked, "What...what do you mean? Do you need some precious medicinal herbs?"

If they really needed precious medicinal herbs, they would probably be able to eradicate the disease, as most of the families in their village did not have the money to treat it.

Chen Fenghe shook her head and said, "This kind of illness doesn't require medication."

The village head couldn't help but feel a little confused: "No need to take medicine? How can it be cured without medicine? Can this disease heal itself without treatment?"

The village head looked at Chen Fenghe and couldn't help but feel suspicious again.