221. Plague

As she spoke, the little dumpling quickly ran out of the bedroom.

As soon as I ran into the courtyard, I saw several guards packing up their things to leave.

The commander who had led the team greeted her and bowed, saying, "Princess, His Majesty sent us to escort you to find the medicine. Now that the prescription has been found and the eldest son has woken up, we must return to the palace immediately to report back and hand over the prescription to the Imperial Hospital for filing."

"Oh, okay, thank you for your hard work, guards. Thank you for taking Yue'er to find the prescription."

"It's our duty," the commander replied with a smile, and then left with his guards.

The little dumpling continued walking along the covered walkway and soon heard a familiar voice coming from a pavilion not far away.

She walked over quickly and saw Bai Qingzhong sitting on a stone bench, holding a cup of hot tea in his hands, while his second brother stood opposite him, his face flushed red, saying something with righteous indignation.

"...You have no idea how outrageous she is! She bullied my sister before! We finally managed to get rid of her, but she's back again!" The second brother's voice was urgent and angry, and he kept gesturing with his hands. "This time she's even worse. She got so arrogant after saving my older brother, and she talks to me terribly. I argued with her, but Mom and Dad still let her stay!"

Bai Qingzhong's brows furrowed tightly, and her cheeks puffed up like an angry steamed bun: "That's too much! How can you bully the county princess? The county princess is so kind!"

"That's exactly what I'm saying!" The second brother became even more agitated when he saw that his brother was standing on his side. "My parents are too soft-hearted. They even thanked her. If you ask me, they shouldn't have let her stay in the mansion. They should have kicked her out!"

"Second brother, Brother Bai!"

The second brother and Bai Qingzhong turned around at the same time, saw that it was the little dumpling, and immediately came to greet her.

Bai Qingzhong handed over the hot tea in his hand and said softly, "Princess, you're back. Your second brother just told me that that Tao sister used to bully you all the time. She's really wicked."

The little dumpling took the teacup, took a sip, and felt the warmth slide down her throat into her stomach: "It's okay, she saved Big Brother this time and did a good deed. And Daddy and Mommy said she won't bully me anymore."

"But what if she bullies you again?" The second brother immediately frowned, looking worried. "I'm telling you, you have to stay away from her. If she dares to treat you badly, I'll fight her to the death!"

Bai Qingzhong nodded in agreement, his little face full of seriousness: "I will help you too! Although... although I may not be able to help much."

Jiang Xiyue, accompanied by servants, came over carrying freshly made snacks. Seeing the three children chatting animatedly, she said, "Try these pastries, they're fresh out of the oven and still warm. Young Master Wang from Xixiang, stay here a little longer and have dinner at the manor."

"Thank you, Madam Hou." Bai Qingzhong shyly picked up a piece of sesame candy and handed another piece to the little dumpling.

The second brother also grabbed a piece and stuffed it into his mouth, saying indistinctly, "Mother, we're having braised pork for dinner to nourish my sister, she traveled such a long way."

"Okay, whatever you say." Jiang Xiyue agreed with a smile.

-

Inside the Imperial Study.

For Xie Wenling, now that the old prime minister is dead, the biggest obstacle is gone.

However, his rapid promotion aroused the jealousy of too many people, so much so that he has not yet been able to be promoted to the position of prime minister.

During this period, he was busy with official duties and urgently needed better political achievements and convincing accomplishments, while also dealing with constant open and covert attacks.

Despite being almost completely exhausted, his appearance remained unaffected; a bright red brocade robe accentuated his snow-white skin, and his features were so exquisite they were almost otherworldly.

At this moment, Wei Xiuming rested his forehead on one hand, his knuckles touching his brow. The urgent report spread out on the table was full of ominous news about the epidemic in the south, causing his brows to furrow into a knot.

"My dear minister, take a look at this."

Wei Xiuming pushed the urgent report over, saying wearily, "In Qiuhe City in the south, it was initially thought to be just ordinary typhoid fever. The local officials treated it according to the old methods for half a month, but the disease continued to spread. Even the doctors started to get sick, and dozens of people died. That's when they panicked and came to report that it might be... a plague."

Xie Wenling took the urgent report, examined it carefully, and said without hesitation: "Regardless of whether it is a plague or not, seal off the city immediately."

"A city lockdown?" Wei Xiuming looked up abruptly. "Qiuhe City has 30,000 people. If the city is locked down, firstly, the supply of food and medicine will not be able to keep up, and secondly, there will be panic. If it is not handled properly, it may incite a popular uprising. At that time, the number of people who will be sacrificed will not be just a few dozen, but may be the entire city of innocent people."

Locking down a city is never a simple matter.

If it really is a plague, then a city lockdown will only have two consequences.

First, the plague was cured at the cost of many people's sacrifice.

Second, the vast majority of people were sacrificed, leaving only the lucky few who possessed resistance and successfully survived the lockdown conditions.

This is the most common way to deal with it, but it's a very cruel method.

Moreover, what if it's not a plague?

Therefore, when cities are under lockdown, supplies are scarce, food is in short supply, and people are filled with anxiety, it is easy to cause unrest.

What's more, it's happening right before winter.

As a result, many healthy people will die from disease, hunger, cold, and fighting.

Xie Wenling raised his eyes and met Wei Xiuming's gaze directly, without yielding an inch: "Your Majesty, the urgent report clearly states that the epidemic has spread to the outskirts of the city."

"Your Majesty, I dare to ask you, is the life of one city more important, or the life of the entire nation?"

"Now that Qiuhe City has a dense network of trade routes connecting it to various prefectures, if we delay for another three days, the epidemic could spread to several surrounding cities."

"At that time, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people will die."

“But…” Wei Xiuming found it difficult to make a decision.

He didn't want to choose either of these options.

The ink on the paper may seem light and airy, but it represents real human lives lost in reality.

Those were his people, and he did not want to see them die unjustly, meaninglessly, because of his decisions.

None of them should have died; he wanted to save them.

"Your Majesty," Xie Wenling paused, looking at him, "Your Majesty loves the people like your own children, truly a benevolent ruler. But Your Majesty is not only a benevolent ruler, but also a wise ruler, a wise ruler who is decisive in killing and can distinguish right from wrong, isn't that right?"

He said, “Your Majesty will surely understand that sealing off the city is not abandoning it, but rather stopping the bleeding. First, send troops to besiege the city and strictly prohibit anyone from entering or leaving. Then, send doctors who are skilled in epidemics to bring medicines and conduct door-to-door screenings. Mild cases will be treated centrally, severe cases will be isolated, and the dead will be immediately cremated and buried deeply. Although there will be sacrifices, we can nip the disaster in the bud.”

A brief silence fell over the Imperial Study.

Wei Xiuming stared blankly at the documents, his gaze unfocused, the cost of the city lockdown and the risk of the epidemic spreading repeatedly tug at his heart.

Both choices involved countless lives, and neither was one he wanted to choose.

After a long silence, he slowly spoke: "Xie Wenling, the position of Prime Minister has been vacant for a long time."

Xie Wenling looked up but did not reply.

“If you can go to Qiuhe City and control the disease at the lowest possible cost—both to curb its spread and to save as many people as possible—the position of Prime Minister will be yours,” Wei Xiuming said, his gaze fixed on him with expectation and unwavering trust. “In the entire court, no one can match you in decisiveness and ruthlessness. In terms of planning and strategy, you are second to none. I believe you can handle this matter well.”

Xie Wenling stared at him intently, without asking what to do if they failed, or what to do if he died from this disease.

He simply said, "Your humble servant obeys."

---

A note from the author:

I did some research and then improved the local administrative system.

Although it may not be very important, I feel that not organizing and introducing it would affect the viewing experience...

This article adopts a hybrid model of enfeoffment and county system for local administrative system setting, with centralized power as the core framework.

It was specifically referenced from the early Western Han Dynasty, but it is not entirely the same.

Most of the country's territory is directly controlled by the central government, which appoints officials to manage local administration, taxation, and core military forces.

A small portion of the territory was granted to a prince as a fief.

The prince had nominal ownership of his fiefdom, but relatively free management rights and the right to recruit soldiers.

If a disaster occurs in a certain place, and it is within a fiefdom, the fiefdom lord shall be responsible, with the central government providing assistance.

If it is outside the fiefdom, the central government is fully responsible, but the central government can request local reinforcements.