Chapter 297 A Bold Attempt
Cheng Wanwan spread out a piece of paper and asked Cheng Zhao to write a letter on her behalf.
This letter was to be delivered by Shen Zheng to Magistrate Shen.
The main purpose was to inform people of the symptoms of the plague and to explain in detail the methods of isolation to prevent the spread of the disease.
As for the treatment method, she needs to research and experiment with it before daring to submit the prescription. After all, it is a matter of life and death, and she cannot make a decision based on experience.
After writing the letter, he solemnly handed it to Shen Zheng.
Shen Zheng said, "Auntie, I will stay in the city to help my father manage the affairs of the refugees. I will come back in a while."
Cheng Wanwan looked at him and said softly, "You must be careful and wear a mask at all times. Don't be careless, okay?"
She packed some specially made masks in a bundle and handed them over. These were for Magistrate Shen and his yamen runners. If the officials fell, Ping'an County would really be in chaos.
Shen Zheng agreed to her instructions and followed Zhao Ergou into the carriage, which then smoothly left Dahe Village.
Cheng Wanwan didn't have time to worry about the children's condition. At this moment, Wang Yongcheng hurriedly came over and reported, "Aunt Dashan, seven more people in the village have contracted fever, and there are more than twenty people who don't have fever but keep coughing. What should we do with these people?"
“Take patients with high fever to the ancestral hall for isolation. Except for Li Xiu’e, no one else is allowed to approach the ancestral hall.” Cheng Wanwan made a decisive decision. “Have Master Yu move to Xiao He’s residence. The school will be used to accommodate patients with mild symptoms.”
Wang Yongcheng nodded and immediately went to do it.
Cheng Wanwan went to the ancestral hall first.
The ancestral hall has only three rooms. The memorial tablet is placed in the middle, and the side rooms on the left and right are for seriously ill patients.
These people were all delirious from the fever, their bodies were bright red, and they were talking nonsense. Their parents were crying uncontrollably outside the ancestral hall, but there was nothing they could do.
Cheng Wanwan stepped into the ancestral hall. Only Li Xiue was there. It was easy for her to avoid Li Xiue when feeding medicine. There were nine people in total, and she fed them all the fever-reducing medicine.
After feeding them, she walked out of the ancestral hall, looked at the parents who had fallen to the ground, and said slowly, "Don't worry, everyone. The village head and I will not abandon anyone in the village. Starting today, you can bring food rations for your children from home, and I will be responsible for cooking porridge and delivering it to them."
She had taken Banlangen (a traditional Chinese medicine), so she had a strong resistance to the virus. Moreover, she wore a medical-grade mask and disinfected her hands frequently, so her chances of getting sick were lower than anyone else here. Furthermore, even if she did get sick, she could buy medicine from the mall to treat herself. She was the most suitable candidate.
These distraught parents had no choice but to follow Cheng Wanwan's instructions and drag their heavy steps home to get food.
"Grandma, there's a commotion over there." The village head rushed over, looking haggard. "Among the twenty-odd people coughing, there are several children who are two or three years old. Their parents refuse to leave them alone at the school. What should we do?"
Cheng Wanwan followed the village head toward the school. Before they got close, they heard a constant coughing sound.
Three or four women were holding children, weeping bitterly.
The child was indeed very young, only two years old, one was three years old, and there was another four or five years old, crying uncontrollably.
Cheng Wanwan said, "If the child is too young, the mother can stay at the school with him and take care of the other patients. But let me make it clear beforehand that living with patients can easily lead to you getting sick. If you are prepared for this, I personally will not have any objections."
Separating children from their parents is simply too cruel.
Moreover, the child is too young and definitely needs to be taken care of.
The mothers naturally nodded eagerly.
Cheng Wanwan continued, "Everyone living in the school will eat separately, pay their own food rations, and the village will temporarily cover the cost of medicine. I will be responsible for cooking the porridge and preparing the medicine."
She needed to determine the dosage and treatment effect of the medicine before she could deliver the prescription to Magistrate Shen and save more people.
“Grandma, there’s something wrong with what you’re saying,” Granny Zhang’s shrill voice rang out. “What if you withhold some of the grain we hand over? These days, grain is more precious than gold. I can’t trust you.”
She was holding her son, Zhang Daqiang, who looked to be nine years old, in her arms. He kept coughing.
Cheng Wanwan raised her eyes: "Then how about this, Mrs. Zhang take her son home, Wang Yongcheng, you arrange for people to guard the Zhang family's gate and not allow anyone from their family to enter or leave. The Zhang family will bear all the consequences themselves."
"You!" Granny Zhang's eyes widened. "You're too domineering! Just because you're Lady Sui doesn't mean you're so great!"
“Mrs. Sui is already remarkable.” The village head said coldly, “If the Zhang family doesn’t listen to the village’s arrangements, then they should stay at home obediently. If they dare to sneak out, I will kick your whole family out immediately.”
"You damn woman, why do you always cause so much trouble!" Zhang Wulai cursed, throwing Zhang Daqiang into the school. "You stay here by yourself, you're a grown man, still needing your mother to carry you, aren't you ashamed! Zhang Dagang, go back and get some rice and bring it over!"
Before Zhang's wife could say anything more, Zhang the Scoundrel forcibly took her away.
Even the most difficult Zhang family was driven away by the village head, so the others naturally obeyed the order. In the end, more than twenty people with mild symptoms were all admitted to the ancestral hall, along with three women.
Cheng Wanwan instructed people to build an earthen stove on the open ground and set up two large pots, one for cooking porridge and the other for decocting medicine.
Zhao Ergou and his group hadn't returned yet, so she planned to buy some medicinal herbs from her space to brew some. She was using the Shuanghuanglian formula, with forsythia, honeysuckle, and scutellaria as the main ingredients.
The Shuanghuanglian formula was widely promoted only after being verified by modern science, and it has a very good effect on treating influenza and viral infections.
She had read a report that ancient plagues, which sounded terrifying, were actually quite similar to modern flu, and could be cured quickly with the right treatment.
While she was preparing the medicine, Doctor Zheng suddenly came over: "Auntie Dashan, why are you locking up all the sick people in one place? They need immediate treatment, otherwise they'll be driven mad by the high fever!"
Cheng Wanwan raised her head and asked slowly, "Zhao Gun'er and Zhao Shagen have both consulted Doctor Zheng for prescriptions and taken several doses of medicine. Doctor Zheng, could you take a look and see if they have recovered?"
Doctor Zheng choked for a moment, then stammered, "Their high fever won't go down, and the prescription I wrote for them is absolutely correct. I don't know why they're not getting better... But even if they're not getting better, we can't give up on treatment. We'll use a method to clear the bowels and promote bowel movements so the pathogenic heat can be expelled from below. If one dose doesn't work, we'll give them a few more. It'll work eventually..."
“Excessive diarrhea can cause bluish-purple lips and face, shortness of breath, and even death if the body is too weak.” Cheng Wanwan threw the herbs into the pot and continued, “If we use a different prescription, such as the method of scalding the boiling water to stop it from boiling, it will damage the body fluids, making the already hot even hotter. Another method is to use cooling methods to treat the hot…”
She spoke fluently and confidently, and Dr. Zheng was suddenly taken aback.
He knew that Da Shan Niang was very capable, but this was the first time he had learned that she was also skilled in medicine.
"Doctor Zheng, do you understand? The key is not to reduce fever, but to dispel wind and release the exterior, clear heat and detoxify. Detoxification is of utmost importance." Cheng Wanwan looked at him. "I will use Scutellaria baicalensis, Forsythia suspensa, and Lonicera japonica as the main ingredients, and supplement them with other medicinal materials. Let's decoct some medicine and see how it goes."
Doctor Zheng was stunned again: "This...this prescription, isn't it for livestock?"
This prescription is a "cutting-off" medicine, meaning it treats the specific problem area. It's a potent medicine, and only livestock can withstand its strong effects.
He once prescribed this medicine when treating the livestock in the village.
Using it on humans is truly a bold attempt...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
