Jiang Yimian sighed. Nearly two months had passed since she first met the refugee couple on the mountain. The imperial court's arrangements should be in place soon.
I wonder when the magistrate of Qingshui County will find out about the bandits and whether he will send people to suppress them.
After thinking for a while and still not understanding, Jiang Yimian went straight with Wang Zhuzi to see Li Shi and Daqiang.
She has almost fully recovered her strength and is capable of dealing with the bandits down the mountain, but she is unwilling to risk her life to help the imperial court suppress bandits for nothing.
Moreover, given the current situation, news of the bandits must have already spread. If hundreds of bandits all died overnight, it would be too suspicious.
She cannot act rashly.
As soon as Jiang Yimian entered the thatched hut, she frowned.
Most of the elderly, women, and children were lying on the ground, covered only by a thin layer of withered leaves; she felt cold just looking at them.
The weather is much cooler now. Even a healthy person would get sick if they slept like this, let alone a patient with a fever.
Wang Zhuzi quickly explained, "This thatched hut was only recently built. Everyone is sick and we haven't had time to gather firewood, so this is the only way for now."
If it weren't for the fact that he had instructed everyone to build several more thatched huts these days, these people would probably be lying on the ground outside, exposed to the cold wind.
Jiang Yimian didn't say much, but squatted down next to Li, who was unconscious in the thatched shed.
The woman was so thin she was practically skin and bones, her cheeks were deeply sunken, and her eyes were tightly closed, making her look somewhat frightening.
Jiang Yimian reached out and checked the other person's pulse. It was better than she had expected. It was just that due to long-term malnutrition and physical weakness, coupled with a sudden cold, the fever could not be reduced, which caused the person to fall into a coma.
She glanced at the skinny child next to her and breathed a sigh of relief when she confirmed that it was just a common cold.
It's good that it's not a plague. A common cold is not a big problem for her, but in ancient times it could be a life-threatening illness.
She thought for a moment before saying to Wang Zhuzi, "Take a few people who are not sick or have mild symptoms to collect some firewood. If you see any mugwort, pick them and bring them into the woods to fumigate the area."
Although autumn mugwort leaves are not as tender as spring mugwort leaves, their medicinal effects are the same. Burning mugwort leaves and fumigating several thatched huts can not only repel mosquitoes and insects, but also disinfect.
With the flu being prevalent this season, fumigating with mugwort leaves can be beneficial.
Wang Zhuzi nodded repeatedly, and after thinking for a while, he asked worriedly, "Is there any hope for my wife and child?"
They had been running a fever for several days, and he repeatedly applied cold water to their foreheads, but the fever wouldn't go down.
He was so worried that he hadn't slept for days and was extremely agitated.
Jiang Yimian nodded reassuringly, "It's alright, we can save him."
Fortunately, Wang Zhuzi came to call her in time; if the burning had continued, Daqiang, a child, would have been mentally impaired.
Wang Zhuzi breathed a sigh of relief, and the worry on his face disappeared. He then called a few people with milder symptoms to go into the woods to collect firewood and mugwort leaves.
Jiang Yimian took out antipyretics from her spatial storage and fed them to several patients with severe symptoms.
As for those with milder symptoms, she asked a few people to dig up some old ginger in the woods.
The short man looked at the old ginger in his hand and said with some surprise, "Miss Jiang, this ginger is so old that you can't bite into it. Why did you dig it up? Besides, autumn is not the time to eat ginger."
It is said that you should eat radish in winter and ginger in summer. Ginger is spicy and stimulating, and eating it in the already dry autumn and winter seasons will make people more prone to getting internal heat.
That's what the elderly people in their village all say.
Jiang Yimian was somewhat surprised and asked while digging for ginger, "You know ginger?"
Nobody in the small depression recognized it. If she hadn't said it could be used for seasoning, the group would have just thought it was something useless.
The short man gave her a strange look before nodding and saying, "I'm from Yuejiang Prefecture. Many people in my village eat ginger. It's spicy and pungent, and I don't like it at all. Why are you digging up so much? You can't eat it."
It's just a matter of adjusting the flavor.
Jiang Yimian explained, "Ginger is also a medicinal herb. It can warm the lungs and stop coughing, induce sweating to relieve exterior symptoms, and dispel cold and dampness."
Many people on the mountain suffer from colds and coughs; drinking ginger water can help prevent colds and fever.
As the weather gets colder day by day, many of the refugees in the mountains are still wearing thin clothes. If they don't take good care of themselves to keep warm, they may not survive the winter.
Now, this old ginger is just right to help everyone ward off the cold.
Thinking it over, she added, "You should build more thatched huts and gather more firewood these days, otherwise you won't be able to stand the weather when winter comes."
Although the thatched hut is simple, it can still be used to keep out the cold. If you light a fire, close the door, and use the fire carefully, people can live inside and won't freeze to death.
Although these people were none of her business, she couldn't just stand by and watch dozens of them freeze to death on this mountain. She wanted to lend a hand, even if it was just a few words of advice.
The short man nodded repeatedly, feeling a surge of gratitude and admiration.
The girl in front of them could have easily ignored them, since they were complete strangers and their lives were none of her concern. But she not only came to save them, but also taught them how to keep warm. Such kindness was truly rare.
He wrote down everything Jiang Yimian said before whispering, "Miss, would you like to go see the Liu brothers? They've been coughing a lot lately, but they don't seem to have any major problems."
Jiang Yimian simply responded, not caring about the two brothers. As long as they weren't dead, that was all that mattered to her.
If she actually went to see him, the two brothers might blame her for not saving him sooner, and they might complain that she was the one who caused them to end up like this.
There's no point in paying attention to such a heartless person.
Jiang Yimian only asked some questions about the mountain stronghold.
The short man paused, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "We didn't dare to go down, so we just took a few glances from afar. The people in the mountain stronghold seem to be very happy these days. They even light fires and blow horns in the middle of the night."
They could hear the lively noises from below from afar, which frightened them so much that they couldn't sleep soundly at night, fearing that the bandits would rush up and kill a few people to add to the festivities.
Jiang Yimian understood.
Winter is just two months away, and those bandits must have been busy robbing people of food and valuables to survive the winter. They've been having a good time for the past few days, so they must have stolen quite a lot.
The villages nearby were probably looted by bandits a long time ago, so there's definitely nothing left to steal.
Although the bandit stronghold was not small, they couldn't possibly rob too many distant villages and towns. They had managed to steal quite a lot of things in the past few days, probably from passing caravans.
Caravans have been taking shortcuts through this area, so the situation in the several prefectural cities that were embroiled in war should be much better now.
It's estimated that the nearby villages and towns will gradually recover before long.
Upon receiving this information, Jiang Yimian felt much better. She gave Wang Zhuzi a few more instructions before leaving.
On her way back, she did find a tree.
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