The general nodded. "The medicine is already taking effect."

"Our goal will be achieved when all the villagers have contracted the disease and go to the military camp for help."

In the Northern Liang, some impoverished villages had no doctors or physicians, and when they fell ill, they could only seek help from military doctors in nearby military camps.

"Hmm, not bad."

"The disease itself is not contagious, but when patients come into contact with each other, new diseases will definitely develop."

"Especially the excrement that is sent out, with just a little use, can achieve the effect we want."

"If the military camp falls into chaos and the guards fall ill in large numbers, then the Beiliang army camp in the western suburbs will be finished."

"Good!" The Right Wise King clapped his hands happily, picked up the jade cup, and drank the wine in it in one gulp.

"Well done!"

"You've worked hard this time. When the great cause is accomplished, I will certainly not treat you unfairly!"

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

"My son of a bitch, has he been up to nothing about getting married lately?"

The Right Wise King's expression turned displeased when he thought of his good-for-nothing son who only knew how to sponge off his parents and even take advantage of them.

The general was taken aback. "Your Highness, are you referring to the Third Young Master?"

The Right Wise King blinked.

"Oh, ever since you said not to act rashly without your instructions, the Third Young Master has been reading in his room every day."

"Hmm, that's more like it."

The Right Wise King noticed the general standing beside him and hadn't left. He turned to look at him and asked, "What is it? Is there something else?"

"Well, the king sent a military doctor to treat the villagers," the general said hesitantly.

"Oh? Doctor, have you found anything?"

Not yet.

"Then why are you so cowardly?" The Right Wise King snorted disdainfully.

"He's just a doctor; he can't cause much trouble."

"Yes, I'll take my leave."

...

In Peach Blossom Village, Miao Nanyan and several others in plain clothes were resting under a shed in a villager's house.

After the villagers took montmorillonite powder, their diarrhea symptoms were relieved considerably, but once they stopped taking the medicine, the outhouses were once again crowded with people suffering from diarrhea.

"Medical officer, what should we do?"

The white-bearded village chief looked worried; his already wrinkled face was now even more creased.

"Village Chief Bai, don't worry, we're trying to find a solution," Miao Nanyan reassured her.

"This morning, we prescribed medicine for the villagers, and with the available medicinal herbs, we have stabilized most of them."

"We also visited the villagers' homes, but we didn't find anything strange."

"But today, there are many more new patients. What's the problem?" Miao Nanyan pondered.

"Medical Doctor Miao, have some water." A soldier handed over a porcelain bowl.

Miao Nanyan nodded to the soldier, picked up the bowl of water, and took a sip.

Having been busy for most of the day, Miao Nanyan hadn't had a chance to drink water, and now she was really thirsty.

After drinking a bowl of water, Miao Nanyan's stomach started rumbling, whether it was because the water was too cold or for some other reason.

"Village Chief Bai, excuse me, I need to go to the outhouse."

Miao Nanyan frowned, clutching her aching stomach, and walked anxiously toward the outhouse, her back bent.

The pain came suddenly; she felt a sharp, cramping pain. When she got to the outhouse, she also had diarrhea and squatted there for a while before coming out.

What's going on?

As a female doctor, she always paid close attention to her health. She had never had any stomach or intestinal problems, so the issues could only be related to what she ate.

However, apart from drinking that bowl of water, she didn't eat or drink anything else.

Could the problem lie with the water?

Miao Nanyan slowly walked back into the shed, feeling weak all over.

She forced herself to stand up and asked the soldier who had given her the bowl of water, "Where did you get that water from?"

“There is a well there, and I see that the villagers draw water from there to drink.”

"Come on, take me to see this quickly."

Upon hearing Miao Nanyan's words, Village Chief Bai was startled and suddenly realized that there was likely a problem with the water source.

The group walked to the well.

The soldier scooped up some water with a bucket and placed it on the ground.

Miao Nanyan squatted down, smelled it, then dipped her finger in the water and licked it.

She drank that big bowl of water too quickly, and with her mind preoccupied, she didn't notice that the water was poisoned.

"Someone has laced this water with a poison that can kill you." Miao Nanyan took out a bowl of medicine from her bosom and swallowed it.

This detoxifying pill can remove the toxins from her body.

"What?! Intestinal-piercing powder?!" Village Chief Bai's expression changed drastically.

"Chuanchangsan contains croton, lotus leaf, senna leaf, and barley leaf. It was originally a medicine used to treat constipation and clear heat, but it was regarded as a poison."

A mixture of several medicinal herbs, added in large quantities to well water, can cause diarrhea several times in a short period of time, which is extremely harmful to the body.

"How could there be a poison in this well?" Village Chief Bai looked at the villagers, some sitting and some lying on the ground.

He sighed, blaming himself inwardly for failing to protect his villagers as the village chief.

"Village Chief Bai, there's no need to blame yourself."

“This person is very careful and won’t be easily discovered by the village chief,” Miao Nanyan said, comforting the village chief, who looked ashamed.

"If everyone in the village gets severe diarrhea that doesn't heal, the disease will slowly turn into an infectious disease and spread to people outside the village."

It seems that the poisoner's target was not just this village, but the area surrounding it.

Could it be that they're heading for the military camp in the western suburbs?

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!