At the end of the road outside the city, a large number of people and carriages could be vaguely seen, and everyone looked in that direction with heightened vigilance.
"Are there any other people who haven't arrived yet?" Su Yi asked Qi Mu.
Qi Mu answered affirmatively, "No, we all came together, afraid of missing a moment's rest."
"Then who would come in this direction?"
The group waited uncertainly for the caravan to approach. The leader, riding a horse, asked, "May I go in now, sir?"
Changbai countered, "What are you all going in for?"
"We are here on the orders of our master to deliver grain to Lord Su's household. Our master's surname is Song."
The man on horseback beside him also said, "I am here on the orders of the Grand Princess and the young prince to deliver food and medicine to Lord Su."
Upon hearing this, Su Yi immediately realized that it must have been Anzhi's friends in Wushan who knew that Nanchang County was in trouble and specially asked their parents to come and help.
He stepped forward, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "My name is Su Yi. I thank the Grand Princess and Master Song for their timely help."
Upon hearing that the person before them was Lord Su, the two quickly dismounted and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Lord Su. This is a letter from my young master/young lady to Young Master Su. Please pass it on to him."
Su Yi accepted the gift and clasped his hands in greeting to the two men. “Distinguished guests have come from afar and we should have prepared a warm welcome. However, due to the sudden incident in the city, it is not a suitable place to entertain guests. I will immediately order people to set up a camp outside the city for you to rest.”
The two waved their hands understandingly, saying, "Lord Su, you are too kind. We are well aware of the predicament in the city and do not intend to stay. Please help us unload our belongings, and we will return home immediately."
For safety reasons, they unloaded the grain themselves and poured wine from the wagons themselves.
Su Yi and his men from the yamen also held wine bowls, and the two sides drank from a distance at the same time.
"After we overcome this difficulty, I, Su, will apologize to your esteemed institution."
The convoy turned and left. Changbai led his soldiers to carry the goods into the city, leaving some outside.
Upon seeing this, Qi Mu praised, "I didn't expect your son to have such loyal friends at such a young age."
Looking at the childish words "To Liu Anzhi" in his hand, Su Yi couldn't help but feel proud of his son.
"He looks a lot like his mother." Su Yi didn't say how he looked like his mother, but Qi Mu could tell that this guy couldn't stop talking about his wife.
When Su Yi took the letter back to An Zhi, everyone in the Su family was shocked.
They never expected that Anzhi had such loyal friends outside.
I wanted to see what was written in the letter, but Anzhi took it directly into the room and wouldn't even let his usually indulgent younger sister see it.
"You can't look at what your brother's friend gave you; you have to respect people's privacy, you know?"
An Ran was heartbroken. "Is my brother going to be taken away from me?"
Liu Huan patiently explained the relationship to her, "How could your brother be taken away? Your brother is your brother, your mother is your mother, and your father is your father. We are family, and no one can take us away from each other."
"You'll have friends in the future. Will you abandon your older brother, father, and mother just because you have friends?"
An Ran thought for a moment and said very seriously, "No, I will never leave my mother or my brother. Even if I have friends, my favorite people will still be my brother and my mother."
"Now my brother is the same. He just has friends now, he's not going to become someone else's brother. So my brother won't be taken away by anyone."
With Liu Huan's explanation, An Ran stopped worrying and went out to practice martial arts with the whip in her hand.
She started with a small sword, but after trying a whip once, she fell in love with it and felt that the whip suited her better. It was not heavy and was easy to hold. Now she is quite skilled at wielding the whip.
Liu Huan respected her daughter's ever-changing ideas and let her do whatever she wanted, since it was just a matter of spending a few coins.
When Anzhi came out again, he wasn't carrying anything. Anran was very curious but didn't ask why he handled it this way.
The family waited for Su Yi to finish his last business so they could have dinner together. Su's mother then asked about Qi Mu, wondering why he hadn't brought him along for dinner.
Su Yi explained, "I was just about to bring this up, but he said he would formally visit my parents after everything has settled down."
The elders' goodwill towards the Qi family increased even more, feeling that such a sensible child must be just as good as their younger sister.
With ample medicinal herbs, everyone in the city drinks preventative Chinese medicine daily, and patients in tents outside the city are gradually improving.
The biggest change is that even severely ill patients can get up and walk around.
I still can't go home until I'm fully recovered.
People in the city were still not allowed to go out for a stroll. Apart from buying food, which was sold at half price and given away, the people were not under any pressure.
After half a month, this flu-like epidemic was finally cured thanks to the efforts of everyone and the staff of the Imperial Medical Academy.
When the people in the tents were told they could go home, their first thought wasn't to go home, but to go to the prefect's gate to see Liu Huan.
"See me?"
Liu Huan was also surprised; why did he suddenly want to see her?
Su's mother pushed her out, and the people who had lined up shouted their thanks to the county magistrate's wife for saving their lives.
Liu Huan smiled and congratulated everyone on their rebirth. "Remember to boil water and scald the things you use at home. Don't eat anything that has gone bad. The government will also sell grain to you at a low price." After saying a few more words of blessing, everyone dispersed.
Liu Huan knew that it wasn't because she had done anything particularly great; it was just that they happened to have contracted a relatively mild epidemic.
It's likely that the pneumonia wasn't just a common cold, otherwise even if everyone followed her instructions perfectly, the tragedy wouldn't have been avoided.
In ancient times, there were no instruments or blood tests, so no one could say for sure what the disease was. They just used similar symptoms to diagnose it.
The officials from the capital went home early to rest, having agreed to have dinner at the prefect's residence the next day.
Because of the epidemic, there were no fresh vegetables and meat left in the city. People ate rice and flour-based foods every day, and many people developed mouth ulcers.
Fortunately, the area in the yard that Liu Huan had marked out for planting vegetables was still there. The seeds she had sown long ago have now grown into seedlings, and she even used beans to grow bean sprouts to make some tofu products.
The meat is cured pork from home, and the chicks we left over from when we moved have grown up now.
With limited ingredients, Liu Huan prepared a variety of dishes. When Su Yi arrived with his entourage, Su's parents quickly welcomed them.
As everyone knows, the situation in Nanchang County is quite different now. After sitting down, they weren't picky at all and had no expectations for the taste of the food.
I swallowed it whole and my eyes lit up. My taste buds were instantly awakened, and I ate with great relish, too busy to talk.
The food on the table was completely devoured, yet they still seemed unsatisfied.
Judge Yan sipped his tea and praised, "Your chef cooks really well."
The others nodded in agreement, "Yes, even such ordinary food is made to taste so delicious."
"They're just as good as the chefs in the capital."
Su Yi poured tea for everyone and explained, "These dishes were all prepared by my wife to entertain you all."
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