Chapter 121 Ashes Only if she dies today can Zhu Ying live. ...
As afternoon approached, a man rode a fast horse along the winding mountain road leading from Waguan Village to the valley outside. The garrison commander and the head of the officials surrounding the village rushed to greet him.
Zhu Ying also glanced at the winding mountain road.
The person who came was wrapped up so tightly that no one could tell who he was.
The soldiers and officers all treated him with utmost respect, suggesting he was an official from the Spruce County government or military camp. After whispering a few words in his ear, the man rode away again via the route he had come from.
Zhu Ying peered into the thorny wall. Ye Weiwan was still locked in the thatched hut with the plague victims. The officials had given them a deadline of tonight. If the condition of these thousand people did not improve by tonight, their fate would be no better than that of the patients who had died.
The pharmacies in Xiling were all taken over by the prefectural and county governments. The entry and exit of medicinal materials had to be recorded in two registers. The number of people suffering from the epidemic in each prefecture and county had to be reported to the palace in a memorial every month. Yunshan County reported only more than 300 people suffering from the epidemic. The government was bound to try to cover up the extra thousand people. In order to avoid the number of medicinal materials being too different from the number of people suffering from the epidemic, no matter how much they pleaded, the government refused to provide medicine and relief.
Hearing that a censor known for his iron face had come to Xiling from the northern border, disguised in plain clothes, and having infiltrated some unknown prefecture or county, the prefect of Yunshan County, fearing that this censor would have a hold over him, dared not act rashly. Therefore, he ordered his men to take the group of patients to a more secluded valley and detain them.
When Zhu Ying learned that Ye Weiwan had imprisoned her in the cave, an oxcart would come every few days to deliver medicine up the mountain. She overheard people talking outside, and it seemed that the oxcart driver came from Yongdu.
After the soldiers found the Tibetan cave, the oxcart never appeared again.
The remaining medicinal herbs were quickly exhausted, and the dregs from the decoction were filtered again and again. The crucial herb, Physalis alkekengi, was only readily available in summer and autumn, and now, with the year drawing to a close, even with many people sent out to search for the herb in the mountains, the Physalis alkekengi fruit was extremely scarce. Just in case, Zhu Ying drew a portrait of the Physalis alkekengi and gave it to those searching for the herb; once found, the plant and its stalks were to be uprooted and brought back.
Even so, the quantity of Physalis alkekengi fruit was far from enough to make the antidote pill according to Ye Weiwan's prescription. The only option was to boil the fruit, roots and leaves together, into a decoction and distribute it to the patient.
Contrary to expectations, the patients' conditions continued to worsen.
Inside the thatched hut, the stench and sour smell of excrement fermented rapidly, and the air began to fill with the odor of rotting corpses.
After inspecting the several rooms that were used to isolate the infected, the officers rushed to report to their leader, "Sir, someone has died. Someone in the room has died of illness."
"How many died?"
"two."
The head constable looked toward the thatched hut he was pointing to. Inside, people were struggling and crying out in fear of death, and someone kept banging on the door and nailed- shut doors and windows.
While the head constable was exchanging words with the village chief, the garrison troops guarding the outskirts of Waguan Village received orders to begin their withdrawal.
The official opened the door of another thatched hut, and Ye Weiwan came out. Hearing the cries and crashes not far away, she knew in her heart that her efforts had failed once again.
She used the plague poison to nourish the blood-eating gu, carefully feeding and distributing it to induce the most potent plague to grow in war-torn areas, hoping to extract a cure from it. However, after the prescription was revised many times, it only aroused more violent ulceration and spasms on those dying bodies.
Once someone dies of illness, the situation will spiral out of control. The officials have already begun preparing to set the place on fire.
Ye Weiwan stood under a gnarled, withered tree, her gaze drifting towards a doctor in a blue robe outside the medical tent. Her eyes held no hatred, no resentment, only a serene composure tinged with a weariness she herself was unaware of.
When the soldiers found the cave, she had already destroyed the Blood Gu Pool. Countless black Gu worms burrowed into the frozen soil through the cracks in the rocks. As long as the Blood Gu larvae are still there, the Peach Blossom Plague will not disappear from the world.
She didn't have a second chance, but Zhu Ying did.
Zhu Ying had no choice but to continue searching for a cure for the Peach Blossom Plague, even if it was only to atone for the Ye family's sins.
Ye Weiwan was almost arrogantly convinced that Zhu Ying would find a cure for the epidemic, which was the final path to fame she would give Zhu Ying.
The head constable blew on the tinderbox, stared at the flame for a moment, as if trying his best to convince himself.
"It's good to be dead, death is a relief."
Zhu Ying was still trying to stop the head constable, her simple blue dress standing out brightly against the gray robes of the constable. She couldn't speak, and the constable didn't understand her gestures, so he used his stick to drive her back to the medical tent.
"Let her go."
Ye Weiwan's voice was burned by the charcoal, making it extremely hoarse. It sounded just like Zhu Ying's voice, which was damaged by the thick smoke, but with an added sense of oppressive power.
The officers were stunned and instinctively looked at their leader. The head officer was also taken aback. In all his years of service, he had never seen such a strange person before, and he had a vague feeling that this female doctor in black was very dangerous.
Ye Weiwan said, "If you set fire to a fire in broad daylight, the smoke can be seen from thirty miles away. Aren't you afraid of being caught? If you want to get things done, it's safer to do it at night."
The head constable thought about it carefully and realized that she was right. He waved his hand, and the constable holding the stick hesitated before releasing Zhu Ying.
Ye Weiwan glanced at her, then lifted the curtain and went into the medical tent.
Zhu Ying had no choice but to follow.
She tried to speak, but only a faint breath escaped her throat. The medicine Ye Weiwan had given her this time was more potent than the previous times. If it weren't for the fact that it wasn't poisonous, one would have thought that Ye Weiwan really wanted to poison her to the point of muteness.
"No need."
Ye Weiwan said, “I know you want to thank me for delaying the time, but there’s no need for that. This is Yunshan County, and the Marquis of Chengyang’s camp is at Tongmen Pass. It’s not far away, but the mountain roads are mostly difficult to travel. The soldiers who went to the forest to gather herbs don’t have horses. Even if they return to the camp at the fastest pace to ask for help, they won’t be able to arrive until after dusk.”
Zhu Ying remained silent, and it was truly ironic that she thanked Ye Weiwan. The disaster was caused by her, yet she so calmly played the role of a savior in the tribulations she herself had created.
Ye Weiwan quickly took out a roll of paper from her inner pocket. The paper was stained with some dark red bloodstains. She flattened it, picked up a pen, and wrote swiftly, filling in the symptoms of the patients half an hour and an hour after taking the medicine.
Then, it was stacked together with the earlier prescription and stuffed into Zhu Ying's hand without any explanation. "If we don't make it this time, don't blame yourself too much. You still have time to save more people. Xiling, Yongdu, and perhaps other places."
The setting sun quickly sank behind the peaks on the west side of the valley.
As the last glimmer of light disappeared into the valley, the entire valley suddenly became so quiet that one could hear the soft rustling of withered branches and leaves falling to the ground.
No more hoofbeats came from the winding mountain road in the northwest corner; that was the only direction from which the soldiers under the Marquis of Chengyang could arrive.
The head constable looked around again and again, as if waiting for something. The sky was growing darker, and the fog in the valley was thickening.
"Boss, what do we do now?"
"Wait a little longer."
At midnight, the fog condensed into frost, covering the thatched roof with a slippery layer.
The head constable hunched over and sighed, "Let's get to work. It's all fate."
"Boss, should we wait a little longer?"
"Didn't I wait? This afternoon, the magistrate ordered me to deal with this mess as soon as possible. I've been dragging this out until now, haven't I waited? Maybe the Marquis of Chengyang never intended to come and rescue people. He said he would never agree, but wasn't he just afraid of getting into trouble? I have a bunch of upright officials above me, what can I do!"
The head constable seemed to have snapped at the last thread of his being, and he launched into a tirade of complaints against his men.
"ignition!"
A man in a blue robe appeared before the head constable, who was startled but no longer tried to hide in fear.
He crouched down under the locust tree, holding his head in his hands.
“Imperial Physician Ye, I didn’t stop the messengers from reporting you, and I also covered it up for you with the Commandant. Nobody wants to get involved in such dirty work that involves taking lives, but I had no choice. I’m just a nobody.” He turned around and pointed to the group of men behind him. “If the task assigned by the Commandant isn’t done well, I and these men will all lose our lives. If you continue to obstruct me, I will have no choice but to be rude.”
"Burn it, burn it completely before you feel at ease!"
A constable shouted in a rough, callous voice, his tone numb and ruthless. He waved his torch, and flames leaped up one after another.
In a moment of intense anger, Zhu Ying coughed up blood, and the words that had been stuck in her throat rolled out completely.
“I know where the plague started,” Zhu Ying grabbed Ye Weiwan’s arm and said to the head constable, “Hand us over to the governor of Yunshan County and tell him that you have identified the person who spread the peach blossom plague…”
Ye Weiwan grabbed her wrist and twisted it backward. "Are you out of your mind? Are you willing to risk the lives of dozens of people in your Ye family just to frame me?" Her eyebrows were lowered, and her eyes were filled with confusion.
Zhu Ying, no longer swayed by her threats, shook her off and continued speaking to the head constable: "...This is a great achievement, enough to offset the mistake of concealing the number of infected people. If you report it now, the prefect will not blame you!"
She was concerned about the dozens of people in Jiuhua Manor, so she had been led by the nose by Ye Weiwan these days. She was well aware that saying such things would cause trouble for Jiuhua Manor, but she could only look after the immediate situation.
There's no other way anyway, so we'll just take it one step at a time and maybe things will turn around.
The head constable hesitated for a moment, "This..."
"Nearly a thousand lives have been lost. If you, sir, show mercy, they might still be able to live and be saved."
The dry grass stalks under the eaves ignited and shot straight up to the roof beams.
"grown ups!"
As soon as the sulfur was sprinkled on the thorny branches and sparks touched them, smoke hissed out and thin flames leaped up.
Yue Zhengyang was unfamiliar with the mountain roads of Yunshan County. To get from Tongmen Pass to Waguan Village, the official road was a long and winding route. In order to take a shortcut, he took the dangerous section of the road near the cliff. At the narrowest point, the road was only wide enough for one horse to pass, with half of the horse's body hanging off the cliff.
After descending the treacherous path, the group got lost.
Pei Danxing asked, "Young Master Yue, how much further?" His voice trembled.
Yue Zhengyang pulled on the reins, straightening the bow and arrows on his back. His bones, still aching from the blows, were sore. "We're not far now. This area is mountainous, and it's hard to find your way at night."
"Young master, look over there, there's a fire." A soldier pointed to the southeast.
Yue Zhengyang pulled on the reins, "Quickly, get there as soon as possible! Giddy up!"
Thirty warhorses behind him panted and snorted as they galloped down the winding mountain road.
After walking to the end of the winding mountain road, you can see the village with firelight burning in the valley below.
Ye Weiwan laughed at Zhu Ying's naiveté. She seemed so innocent that she never believed in evil and knew nothing of the treacherous nature of officialdom. Once this matter was exposed and the case traced back to any one of them, even if the Princess herself intervened, it would be difficult to protect Jiuhua Manor.
Only if she dies today can Zhu Ying live.
The rising wall of fire and the smoke stung Ye Weiwan's eyes, but she refused to blink. "The mistake has been made. I don't want to live like a ghost anymore. I don't want to!"
This world, riddled with problems, is not worth enduring.
Let's stop here.
The sound of horses' hooves finally rang out on this cool night along the winding mountain road, numbering at least twenty or thirty riders.
Without further hesitation, she turned sharply and walked toward the thatched hut, which was filled with screams amidst the flames.
A sharp, piercing sound cut through the air as the arrow, passing over the flames, struck precisely the scorching hot iron lock. With a clang, the chain locking the door snapped.
The patients fled in panic, but most were on the verge of death.
Outside, there was an even larger and more intense ring of fire.
"Ah Zhu!"
In the shadowy night, with a few moments, Pei Danxing locked onto the figure he knew best.
Ye Weiwan's dark robes fluttered in the hot wind, and like a moth drawn to a flame, she calmly and resolutely stepped into the heatwave.
The hem of her dress began to curl and burn.
"A-Zhu, stop! Come back!"
Pei Danxing's voice was so shrill it was almost inhuman.
"Doctor Pei, it's dangerous, you can't go over there." The cavalrymen who came with Yue Zhengyang dragged him along.
"Let me go! Let me go!"
In the struggle, Pei Danxing's outer garment was torn. "I'll agree to anything you want, I'll agree to anything you want, Azhu, come out! I'll take you home, let's go home!"
"Save them!" Yue Zhengyang ordered.
Yue's elite personal guards rushed forward to put out the fire.
The head constable was already kneeling before him, "Young general, it's full of plague inside..."
"I am ordered to deal with the epidemic in Xiling. Any further delay will be considered disobedience and will be executed without mercy!" Yue Zhengyang pointed his whip. "Extinguish the fire! Anyone who disobeys will be executed!"
Flames engulfed half of Ye Weiwan's body. Amidst the excruciating pain of thick smoke choking her lungs, she still heard Pei Danxing's voice pause slightly.
She forced her head to turn away from the pain, her gaze piercing through the distorted air in the heat, landing one last time so clearly and undisguised on the man who was screaming and acting like a mad beggar.
Her gaze towards him was now only one of desolate calm.
It seemed to be both mockery and self-mockery.
Look, Master, the benevolence you teach cannot save the world, and the human ethics you uphold cannot confine me.
The officials also surrounded the area, using sand to extinguish the flames on the outside, while the cavalrymen struggled to clear a gap in the wall of fire and thorns.
Pei Danxing rushed over, trying to grab the black-clad figure at the center of the flames.
A more intense burst of flames and thick smoke erupted from the doorway, and the house collapsed before his eyes. Amidst the soaring flames, a black humanoid silhouette could be vaguely seen curling and shrunken in the blazing fire, finally collapsing like a burnt-out paper doll, turning into a shower of scorching sparks and charred earth.
Pei Danxing reached out his hand in vain, trying to grasp at the ashes falling from the sky.
Author's note: Thank you for reading this far!
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