How could he bear it?

After several days of trekking in the wind and snow, the carriage team finally arrived at the northern border. The biting cold wind wrapped in ice particles hit the carriage canopy, making a sound like breaking jade.

In stark contrast to the gentle spring scenery of Shangjing, here only black and white remain between heaven and earth. The white snow covers the dead trees, and the charred city walls lie on the ground like the skeletons of giant beasts.

When everyone got off the car wrapped in thick fox fur, the cold instantly penetrated their bones. The white mist exhaled by Ruan Yunsheng condensed into frost flowers on her eyelashes. She looked up and saw frozen corpses lying in the streets. Several ragged people were mechanically shoveling snow to bury the bodies. The sound of shovels scraping across the frozen soil was tooth-grinding.

The local county magistrate bowed and greeted him, his lips trembling with frostbite, "Your humble servant greets Prince Yong and the Prime Minister."

"What's the current situation?"

He was wrapped in his patched official robes, his breath turning to ice. "The epidemic has been going on for half a month, and over three thousand people have died in the city. The medicinal materials ran out ten days ago."

Wen Ciyuan frowned and interrupted: "Where is the hospital located?"

"Dongcheng, Dongcheng Tzu Chi Hospital." The county magistrate's teeth chattered, "But all the doctors fell ill yesterday. Now only Miss Gu and a few other doctors are left to hold on."

Qi Xiuming suddenly grabbed the county magistrate by the collar and asked, "Which Miss Gu? The one with big eyes and a cinnabar mole on her temple?"

The county magistrate was so frightened that he stammered, "Exactly, exactly, Miss Gu also had a fever this morning."

Qi Xiuming turned around and ran towards East City. The snow did not reach his knees, and his scarlet cloak was torn into a shocking tear in the vast snow.

Ruan Yunsheng was about to catch up, but suddenly stopped——

She saw countless translucent ghosts standing in the wind and snow, some with blank eyes, some struggling in pain as if in purgatory, and more looking towards the government office with resentment.

Wen Ciyuan noticed the coldness of her fingertips: "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Ruan Yunsheng suppressed his doubts, shook his hand firmly, and took a deep breath. "Go in first."

Not long after Wen Ciyuan and the county magistrate entered the mansion, they hurriedly left with the imperial physician, and the magistrate's residence suddenly became deserted.

Ruan Yunsheng stood in the corridor, looking calmly at the servants coming and going. Although they were all wearing coarse clothes, their steps were steady and their movements were neat. They did not look like ordinary people at all.

She slowly walked towards the backyard, but before she even got close to the moon-shaped gate, she was stopped by a maid in green clothes: "Madam Ruan, please stay."

The maid knelt and bowed, her voice soft but with undeniable force, "This is where the master and his wife are recuperating. The lady is ill and afraid of light, so disturbing her is a must."

Ruan Yunsheng smiled and nodded. "I see. I wonder what illness Madam is suffering from? I have some knowledge of medicine, so I might be able to help."

"Thank you for your concern, Madam." The maid replied with lowered eyes, "It's just a common cold. Madam has been weak since childhood, so she needs more careful care than ordinary people."

She moved sideways to block Ruan Yunsheng's view, and a scar on her wrist was faintly visible through her sleeve.

Ruan Yunsheng watched it all without noticing, and pretended to look into the depths of the courtyard with concern. He saw that the main door was locked tightly, and the window frames were nailed with crisscrossing wooden bars. It didn't look like a place for recuperation, but clearly a prison.

But she didn't say anything, still with a gentle smile on her face: "In that case, I won't bother you anymore."

At this time, the Dongcheng Tzu Chi Hospital was shrouded in a strong smell of medicine and decay. When Qi Xiuming stepped into the courtyard, he heard coughing sounds coming from several houses, mixed with the sour smell of vomit.

A few medical servants were walking around carrying medicine bowls, their cuffs stained with dark red blood.

He stopped an old doctor who was passing by hurriedly and asked, "Where is Gu Nanzhi?"

The old doctor raised his hand and pointed to the tile-roofed house in the innermost part: "She is also infected, don't go..."

Before he finished speaking, Qi Xiuming rushed towards the room with the tattered cotton curtains.

"Gu Nanzhi!" He lifted the curtain and rushed in, only to see a woman with a flushed face lying on the straw mat. The cinnabar mole on her temple was particularly eye-catching on her pale face.

Gu Nanzhi opened his eyes upon hearing the sound and stood up in shock: "What are you doing here? Get out!"

She coughed anxiously, "You're going to die!"

"What do you care about me?"

Qi Xiuming did not retreat but advanced, squatting in front of the straw mat and staring at her, "Why did you sneak to the Northern Frontier? Do you know that this plague can kill people?" His voice became hoarse, and red marks appeared at the corners of his eyes.

Gu Nanzhi stared at him blankly: "Qi Xiuming...are you crying?"

"How is that possible!"

He turned his face away suddenly, pulled out a fine cotton mask from his pocket, and hurriedly fastened it on her. "This is a plague mask made by Boss Ruan. It can protect you from disease."

The bitter aroma of herbs filled his mouth and nose, and Gu Nanzhi's eyes suddenly lit up: "Yes! Why didn't I think of using multiple layers of cotton cloth to block the foul air..."

As she was about to stand up, Qi Xiuming pushed her back onto the straw mat.

"Just lie down quietly!" He tucked the thin blanket around her shoulders. "Boss Ruan has already distributed the masks to the whole city."

Gu Nanzhi, who was pressed against the bed, suddenly became quiet. She looked up at the young man who was supporting herself. His chest, heaving due to his rapid breathing, almost touched her nose.

Qi Xiuming's ears turned red, and he hurriedly stood up and took two steps back.

Silence flowed in the room filled with the smell of medicine, with only the faint sound of coughing outside the window.

"Anyway," Gu Nanzhi turned her head to break the silence, "you should go back."

"Why?" Qi Xiuming's eyes widened. "If you can come, why can't I?"

Gu Nanzhi held her forehead and sighed. She remembered that when they were in Chuzhou, this playboy acted as if he had seen a ghost when he saw her. He would either come up to her to provoke her or would like to take a detour three meters away. But now, he was like a piece of taffy and she couldn't get rid of him.

"My family has been dealing in medicinal herbs for generations," she explained patiently. "I've been familiar with hundreds of herbs since I was young, so I can naturally help. What about you? What else can you do besides cause trouble?"

"Who said I'm useless!"

Qi Xiuming stiffened his neck and suddenly pulled out a yellowed booklet from his pocket. "Look! This is the book 'On Plague' that I copied overnight. I also asked the Imperial Medical Bureau for a prescription..."

His fingers were stained with ink as he turned the pages of the book, and his sleeves were stained with dried medicine.

Gu Nanzhi was stunned. That dandy boy who couldn't even recite the Thousand Character Classic was actually staying up late to copy medical books for this matter?

"Besides," he suddenly lowered his voice, his fingertips tugging at the corner of the page, "if you really get sick and die... someone has to collect your body."

Suddenly, the scolding of the yamen runners came from outside the window, and the sound of the cart wheels rolling over the bluestone slabs startled the crows. Inside the house, Qi Xiuming stood stubbornly in front of the bed, like a rooted tree.

Gu Nanzhi sighed and said, forget it, let it be.

As the night deepened, Wen Ciyuan and Shen Yunzhou dragged their tired bodies into the mansion.

Wen Ciyuan saw the familiar figure in the corridor and subconsciously opened his arms to greet her and throw himself into the arms of his sweet and soft wife.

"stop!"

Ruan Yunsheng stopped at the steps, holding a copper spray bottle, and said, "Disinfect first!"

After saying that, he pressed the handle of the pot, and a mist with a strong aroma of wine blew in their faces, and fine water droplets wet the robes of both of them.

Shen Yunzhou sneezed twice in a row because of the choking: "Sister-in-law, what are you doing?"

"You're a doctor, and you can't see that?"

Ruan Yunsheng sprayed the soles of their shoes a few more times, "This is purified strong liquor. You came back from the epidemic area, and your clothes, shoes and socks may be contaminated with the disease."

Wen Ciyuan lowered his head and sniffed the wine stain on his sleeve. "Using wine to dispel filth has been around since ancient times, but using it this way is new."

"Ordinary alcohol isn't strong enough."

Ruan Yunsheng put down the spray bottle and handed over two bowls of ginger soup. "It must be repeatedly distilled and purified to kill the subtle evil."

Seeing that Shen Yunzhou was still bewildered, she added, "It's like boiling water with a fierce fire, and taking the strongest steam and condensing it into a sharp blade."

Shen Yunzhou suddenly realized something and excitedly grabbed Ruan Yunsheng's sleeve. "Sister-in-law is truly a medical genius! Are you interested in inheriting my legacy?"

Before he could finish his words, Wen Ciyuan kicked him and made him stagger.

"Are you trying to take advantage of my wife?" Wen Ciyuan said coldly as he shielded Ruan Yunsheng behind him. "I thought I couldn't see through your little tricks."

Shen Yunzhou touched his nose guiltily and said awkwardly, "I just value talent..."

Ruan Yunsheng finished the disinfecting and handed the copper pot to Mo Yu: "All those who return to the mansion must be dealt with in the same way."

Then he led the two into the inner room and asked solemnly, "What's the situation in the city?"

Shen Yunzhou took a sip of tea, his brow furrowed. "The patient is vomiting black blood and has skin ulcers, but he doesn't have the typical fever symptoms of an epidemic. I can't see any clues at the moment. It's very difficult."

Ruan Yunsheng frowned. "Today, I secretly inspected the magistrate's inner courtyard and saw the servants walking with a steady and confident gait, unlike ordinary servants. The main house in the backyard has its red door locked tightly, and the window frames are nailed with wooden bars. They say the lady is recuperating, but it looks like a prison."

Wen Ciyuan tapped the table with his fingertips. "The magistrate didn't mention his family today. It's really strange. Let Mo Yu sneak in to investigate tonight."

"One more thing." Ruan Yunsheng told them what he had discovered in the city today. "Today, I found countless wandering spirits filling the streets. It looked like a ghost town. Every one of them had a fierce look in their eyes, and they were completely unconscious. The ghost messenger said that the death toll in the northern border has increased dramatically in the past month, and all the souls have turned into evil spirits."

Shen Yunzhou shuddered suddenly and looked around nervously: "So there is a ghost in this room... too?"

Wen Ciyuan didn't care about the ghost at all. His eyes were fixed on Ruan Yunsheng. His voice was so deep that it could drip water: "You went to the city alone today?"

Ruan Yunsheng looked at the beams with a vague look in his eyes: "I just went to the street corner for a walk..."

"Turned it around?" Wen Ciyuan took a step forward, tapping the table with his fingertips. "I'm sure you understand that, huh?"

Shen Yunzhou was still recklessly interrupting, "Sister-in-law, why don't you give me a few magical weapons to defend myself? Otherwise, I won't be able to sleep tonight."

Before he could finish his words, Wen Ciyuan grabbed him by the collar and threw him out of the door like a little chicken, then slammed the door shut.

Ruan Yunsheng retreated cautiously: "Let's talk it over..."

Wen Ciyuan unbuckled the button and slowly untied the jade belt around his waist: "What did my husband tell you yesterday? The epidemic area is dangerous. You are not allowed to leave the house even a step."

He approached step by step, and his shadow completely enveloped Ruan Yunsheng. "It seems that Madam has forgotten..."

Suddenly, Shen Yunzhou's aggrieved voice came from outside the window: "I haven't got my magic weapon yet!"

Then Mo Yu calmly dissuaded him: "Doctor Shen, the master and the mistress are...sparring in martial arts."

What kind of martial arts exchange! Ruan Yunsheng's ears felt hot when he heard this.

The candlelight flickered, Wen Ciyuan trapped Ruan Yunsheng in the brocade quilt, and his fingertips slowly stroked her loose belt.

As he leaned over, his black hair fell down, brushing against her red collarbone: "Madam, aren't you quite capable during the day? You broke into the ghost town alone and secretly met with the ghost messenger..."

The ending tone is long and has a bewitching meaning.

"Don't talk nonsense, there's no such thing as a secret meeting!"

Ruan Yunsheng breathed rapidly and tried to pull at his collar, but he dodged it easily. Wen Ciyuan chuckled softly, and his lips brushed her earlobe faintly: "Want it?"

He suddenly grabbed the thin strap around her neck with his teeth and gently pulled it, "Admit your mistake first."

"I...I was wrong..." Ruan Yunsheng raised her head impatiently, but he pressed his fingers against her lips.

"What's wrong?"

Wen Ciyuan's palm slid down her back, stirring up a shudder, and stopped at the waist. "Speak clearly."

Ruan Yunsheng's eyes were red, and he almost gritted his teeth: "I shouldn't have left the house without permission... Um..."

Before she could finish her words, her lips were sealed again. The kiss was lingering but short, like a dragonfly skimming the water.

"What else?" He rubbed the pulse on her wrist with his fingertips, as if stroking the strings of a guitar, "If you do it again next time..."

"You can do whatever you want!" Ruan Yunsheng finally broke down and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Hurry up..."

Wen Ciyuan suddenly pulled away and picked up his outer robe that had fallen to the ground: "Words are not enough."

He took out a piece of paper and pen and spread it beside the couch. "Write this down as a written agreement. If you do this again, you will be grounded for three months and required to copy the 'Epidemic Prevention and Control Manual' a hundred times a day."

Ruan Yunsheng widened his eyes in disbelief, unable to believe that he could stop at this moment. How could he hold back!

But she saw a cunning light in his eyes. She grabbed the pen and wrote down his name fiercely, then pounced on him and bit his Adam's apple: "Is it okay now?"

As the moonlight streamed in from the window, she vaguely heard Wen Ciyuan's whisper: "I want you to live a hundred years... Shengsheng."