Chapter 144

"As for you..." Qin Su glanced at the servant's flustered appearance and said slowly, "The prefect sent you to accompany me, so you must be someone who has some influence over him. You must be someone he knows well and trusts, right?"

Although it was meant as praise, the servant's forehead was covered in a layer of sweat: "This servant...this servant wouldn't dare..."

"I don't see anything you wouldn't dare to do," Qin Su said. "Let me guess, someone as trusted by the Lord as you probably has your whole family working in the mansion."

The servant's face turned deathly pale in an instant, but he still gritted his teeth and refused to tell the truth.

Qin Su scrutinized him, narrowing her eyes: "I originally thought it was nothing serious, just some filth in your household, but judging from your reaction, you wouldn't say anything even if it cost your relatives and friends their lives."

That means this matter is extremely important, so important that this person feels that their own life or death is insignificant compared to it.

Even now that the matter has been exposed, he dares not let it come out of his mouth.

As Qin Su's mind raced with various speculations, her earlier desire to enter the side courtyard to investigate vanished.

She thought for a moment and said to the servant, "Go in and call out everyone from the side courtyard."

This was originally a very ordinary order. Qin Su only asked him to do this to facilitate the search and interrogation later. Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the servant immediately trembled like a leaf, knelt down and begged for mercy: "Your Highness, spare my life! Your Highness, spare my life!"

Qin Su was taken aback. She and Ye Yan exchanged a glance, not understanding why the servant was reacting so strongly to those words.

But both of them were intelligent and immediately realized something. Qin Su said to the palace servants, "Throw him in."

"No!" The servant grabbed the palace maid who was trying to drag him away and struggled desperately.

He could no longer hide it, and burst into tears, "Your Highness, I'll talk, I'll talk..."

Qin Su waved his hand, and the palace servants released him, letting him collapse to the ground.

The servant didn't get up, but instead kowtowed heavily to the ground, crying, "Your Highness, there's...there's...plague inside..."

plague!

These two ambiguous words struck like a thunderbolt, and for a moment everyone held their breath.

The palace servants surrounding the servant instinctively took two steps back. Qingmei's expression changed drastically, and she shouted, "What did you say?!"

The servant, utterly despondent, buried his face in the ground and choked out, "This servant dares not deceive Your Highness any longer. Plague patients appeared in Xuanling City half a month ago. Because the source of the disease was not destroyed in time, the plague spread, and even people in the mansion have fallen ill. Just now, just now..."

The people Qin Su had just glimpsed carrying things out were actually carrying out a sick person for treatment.

The servant knew perfectly well what was going on, so he wanted to take Qin Su away from here.

Qin Su's breathing quickened; half a month...

Given the speed at which the plague spreads, after half a month, the situation in Xuanling City is probably not optimistic.

Why did the prefect of Xuanling conceal the plague and fail to report it despite knowing about it?

"Master is due for his promotion next year, and he's worried that things will escalate and have a bad impact," the servant mumbled. "We originally thought His Majesty would only stay for two nights and leave quickly, so he wouldn't find out..."

Local officials' performance is evaluated by the Ministry of Personnel every five years, and the evaluation results determine their subsequent job transfers. The prefect of Xuanling was about to finish his term and was worried that the plague would ruin his career. He wanted to get rid of the plague secretly, so he took a risky step and risked losing his head to cover it up.

No wonder everyone seemed so terrified and fearful before we entered the mansion. They must be carrying a huge burden on their minds; how could they not be afraid?

Qin Su then inquired in detail about the plague situation in the city; the servants knew some things but not others.

However, according to him, more than a dozen servants in the Xuanling government office have recently fallen ill.

Every word he uttered was like a heavy hammer, striking everyone's hearts.

The palace servants following behind Qin Su were in a panic and looked to Qin Su for advice.

Ye Yan's expression was grim. He knew that many diseases were transmitted through the air, and Qin Su was already in great danger just by standing there.

He wanted to take Qin Su away, but he also understood that Qin Su was the key person to rely on in the current situation.

Qin Su seemed to sense his anxiety, turned her head to look at him, gently squeezed his fingers, and whispered, "I'm fine."

She then asked the servant, "Have you ever seen what a sick person looks like? What are the characteristics of their illness?"

The servant was a little scared: "I've seen it before. Many red bumps would appear on their faces, hands and arms, forming patches. They would also have a fever. Some people wouldn't last more than two or three days. I heard from the master that it's like smallpox."

Smallpox was a common plague in ancient times, highly contagious and with a high mortality rate.

Qin Su heard the people around her gasp in shock.

She was both anxious and angry, but the more intense her emotions were, the calmer she appeared. She stared at the servant and asked, "Why didn't you say it in the first place?"

"This servant...this servant knows he cannot escape death, and this servant is prepared to die, but...this servant does not want to die of the plague." The servant's face was pale, and he looked truly frightened. "The old folks say that those who die of the plague are just wandering ghosts, and have no afterlife!"

How ridiculous! This person isn't afraid of death, but he's afraid of things that have no basis after his death.

But no one laughed at that moment.

The palace servants present were quite shocked, and some of them were probably hearing this for the first time, and they were equally worried.

Qin Su glanced at them and suddenly remembered that Emperor Jingxi had taught her that one should not allow a sect to prevail in the world, but one should not allow the people to be without sects either. One should instill a sense of awe in the people, whether it be towards the laws of the court or towards religious beliefs.

Without stable property, people lack perseverance; without reverence, they cannot be disciplined.

Ye Yan also said that the groundwork laid in the ideological field is far more important than many people imagine.

She had been confused and unable to fully understand before, but now that she has seen it with her own eyes, she has suddenly realized its profound meaning and even made more connections to the idea of ​​the divine right of kings and the unity of heaven and man.

But now was not the time to think. Qin Su quickly ran through her thoughts and decided to deal with the immediate problem first.

"Qingmei, go and have someone find some silk among our own supplies and cut it into cloth." She gestured with a triangle shape. "Have all the Imperial Guards cover their mouths and noses and search the entire mansion. Move all the sick people to empty rooms by themselves."

"Take this servant to see the Emperor and report everything to him. Also, have the guards detain the families of the officials in the mansion." Qin Su paused for a moment, then emphasized, "The families of the garrison soldiers in Xuanling City do not need to be detained; just take good care of them."

"Prepare provisions for the fast horsemen. After Father Emperor finishes inquiring about the situation, he will surely send a message to the Imperial Hospital in the capital. Go quickly and return promptly, without any delays on the way."

"Summon all doctors from this city and surrounding cities and bring them to Xuanling. No one may disobey unless they have emergency medical expertise."

"Order all pharmacies to stop selling herbs to merchants and officials on a large scale. If they consume all the herbs, how will the others survive?"

...

Qin Su had never encountered anything like this before, but she seemed to know exactly what to do.

Orders were passed down in an orderly manner, and everyone had something to do. With these arrangements in place, the palace servants felt at ease.

Ye Yan, who was standing nearby, was also busy. He pondered repeatedly and remembered how to treat smallpox.

That is vaccination with cowpox.

This means finding a cow with smallpox, extracting the smallpox fluid from it, making a small incision on the skin, applying the fluid, causing a small bump to appear on the skin, which will heal over time and leave a small scar.

This method is, of course, also dangerous, as smallpox is a virus that can be harmful to the human body.

However, its success rate is also very high.

Before smallpox was eradicated through vaccination in modern times, the main methods of treating smallpox in both the East and the West were vaccination with cowpox or human variolation.

After listening to Ye Yan's explanation, Qin Su quickly decided, "First, find sick oxen. If we don't have enough, then we'll use smallpox. As for the syringes you mentioned..."

Based on Ye Yan's description, she pondered and said, "I have seen the acupuncture of the imperial physicians. One of the needles is an empty needle, which can be made into the syringe you mentioned by using sheep intestines."

Ye Yan was stunned.

His mind was filled with thoughts of how to find the components that make up a syringe when there was no plastic, no rubber, and no sophisticated manufacturing process. He never imagined there was such a method, and after thinking about it carefully, it actually worked.

"Then let's do it this way. I'll have someone go find the things." Qin Su beckoned someone over and gave them careful instructions.

With the basic arrangements in place, she and Ye Yan went to see Emperor Jingxi.

Emperor Jingxi was furious upon receiving the news. He immediately drew his sword and beheaded the prefect of Xuanling. He then coldly addressed the Xuanling officials who knelt down and begged for mercy: "You have deceived your superiors and disregarded the lives of the people. Even if each of you had eight lives, it wouldn't be enough for me to execute you. Considering the urgency of the situation, I will only execute the ringleaders and spare your lives to atone for your crimes. After this matter is settled, I will settle accounts with you one by one."

The officials were so terrified by Emperor Jingxi's ruthless and unwavering decision to kill that they nearly wet themselves. Hearing that there was still a chance to live, how could they refuse? They immediately knelt down in gratitude.

Emperor Jingxi ordered the head of the prefect of Xuanling to be hung on the outer gate of the prefecture to appease the people and reassure the army.

When Qin Su and Ye Yan returned, the blood on the ground had not yet been cleaned up, the once lively and joyous banquet was now a mess, and a group of people were kneeling inside and outside the hall.

Emperor Jingxi looked up and saw his daughter. He was about to tell Qin Su not to come in when Qin Su pursed her lips, lifted the hem of her skirt, and walked over from the pool of blood.

Ye Yan followed behind her, his eyes half-lowered as he protected her, his expression unchanged.

Emperor Jingxi's brows relaxed slightly, and his stormy expression improved considerably.

Qin Su bowed solemnly to Emperor Jingxi and said, "Father, you did a good job killing him! Such a treacherous official betrayed the Emperor's grace and shamed the people. Everyone has the right to kill him, and history will surely record his infamy for ten thousand years!"

The little princess was still small, but her voice was clear and could be heard both inside and outside the hall.

Someone immediately responded, kowtowing and saying, "Your Highness is absolutely right, and His Majesty is wise!"

The people who had been holding their breath just moments before finally had a chance to speak, and they quickly opened their mouths.

Although Emperor Jingxi didn't care what others thought of him, he still felt heartened to see his daughter so intelligent, sensible, and caring.

He pulled Qin Su into his arms, gently patted her back, and asked softly, "Were you scared?"

Qin Su shook her head.

She told Emperor Jingxi everything she had instructed him to do, and also explained in detail the treatment for smallpox, including details such as boiling water to sterilize it and wearing a face towel when in contact with patients.

Emperor Jingxi did not ask her how she knew this, but only ordered everyone to write it down, and that doctors and imperial physicians would need to verify it later.

After Qin Su finished speaking, Emperor Jingxi stroked his daughter's hair with his large hand and said with heartache, "You are so young, why do you need to work so hard? I will take care of everything, no matter how big the matter is."

"It's not hard work." Qin Su rubbed her head against his palm, like a soft-furred little animal.

She complained softly with a troubled expression, "I have to strain to speak clearly, otherwise I'll spit out air. I'm so worried that if I can't pronounce a word clearly, people will find out that I don't have a front tooth. That would be so embarrassing."

Emperor Jingxi was taken aback. He realized that his daughter had indeed spoken clearly earlier, which was the result of her hard work. Then, seeing Qin Su's genuine distress, he couldn't help but laugh.