Chapter 99 The Plague in Canglin, First Meeting with Xinbo
As Jiang Nuanzhi was speaking, she took out two packets of silver that she had prepared beforehand and stuffed them into the hands of the two guards.
"Please trouble you to inform Shen Wenshu that I have a few words to say at home and would like to meet him."
The two men were momentarily stunned when they saw that they only had two taels of silver in their hands.
These days, not many people can afford to spend that much money.
Looking again at this unassuming young woman, his eyes were filled with surprise.
After a while, one of the guards said, "In that case, I'll run the errand for you. Just wait here."
Jiang Nuanzhi readily agreed.
After a while, the man came out of the tent.
"My lady, please get ready and come inside with me."
Jiang Nuanzhi responded and immediately picked up her things and followed him inside.
“I will take you to Shen Wenshu’s camp.”
Jiang Nuanzhi nodded in agreement.
With the guard leading the way, they arrived at Shen Wenshu's tent without any hindrance.
"Wait here for a moment. Shen Wenshu will be back in a little while. Remember not to wander around or say anything. Just stay here and wait. Otherwise, you will bear the consequences."
Jiang Nuanzhi nodded vigorously, but as soon as he left, she lifted the tent flap and looked around.
This tent is close to the fire station.
In the distance, you can see several large pots steaming. They're already preparing lunch.
Careful observation reveals that almost all the people preparing lunch were quite old and wore anklets.
Most of these people had wounds on their bodies or backs, or had a large "slave" branded on their foreheads or cheeks, clearly indicating that they had come to serve as slaves. However, they were all listless and had a strong medicinal smell.
Jiang Nuanzhi sniffed carefully, trying to figure out what kind of medicine it contained.
From afar, they saw a young man with a cold and hard face walking towards them.
"Who are you?" The young man hurried back, looked Jiang Nuanzhi up and down, and then frowned.
Jiang Nuanzhi raised an eyebrow: "Ask Shen Wenshu a question."
The boy opposite nodded: "Who asked you to bring me this?"
Upon entering the tent, he looked at the pile of things on the ground and couldn't help but look at Jiang Nuanzhi again, confirming that he really didn't recognize her, and a look of confusion appeared on his face.
"I apologize for disturbing you," Jiang Nuanzhi said apologetically. "To be honest, I'm an old acquaintance of Magistrate Feng. I brought these things here today specifically to thank Shen Wenshu for the letter he sent earlier, which cleared up our doubts."
Upon hearing Jiang Nuanzhi's words, Shen Wenshu's confusion vanished. He glanced at the things on the ground, then put on a faint smile and said aloofly, "Oh, so you're the female doctor the teacher mentioned."
Then he picked up the teacup in his hand: "My teacher didn't mention to me that the doctor was coming. The doctor's visit is probably not just to bring me something, is it? I like straightforward people. Doctor, please speak your mind."
Jiang Nuanzhi noticed his displeasure and sighed, "I'm ashamed. If it weren't for the mention of the physician, I probably wouldn't even be able to get close to here. I could only get into the military camp by using the excuse of delivering something to the clerk. I'm truly ashamed."
All I ask for is to see an old friend. As you know, the things the old man brought back before seemed to indicate that he was entrusting his children to someone. My heart is truly uneasy about this, which is why I have taken the liberty of coming here to bother you.
I will definitely visit the document in person to apologize later. Please forgive me.
Shen Wenshu stared at Jiang Nuanzhi for a long while, then finally sighed, tossed the cup aside, and said, "Fine, since you are so sincere, willing to go to such lengths for a slave, you must be a person of character. It's nothing serious, I won't take it to heart."
However, the situation is slightly different now. To be honest, there's no need to redeem that old man anymore.
Jiang Nuanzhi frowned slightly: "Why is that?"
"Our military camp had a clear rule that anyone who could afford a hundred taels of silver could buy a slave to serve their sentence. I think my teacher also told you about this."
Now, one hundred taels of silver is probably not enough. Half a month ago, the original general was summoned back to the capital, and a new general took over here and changed the military orders. Now the ransom is at least one hundred and fifty taels per person.
As he spoke, he added, "If this person were healthy, it would be fine; he could go back and enjoy a few years of retirement. But he..."
As he spoke, he let out a heavy sigh.
"Clerk, just tell me! What's wrong with him? I'm so worried!"
Shen Wenshu waved his hand and said, "Alright, we're free anyway, I'll take you to take a look."
After saying that, he took a clean handkerchief from his drawer and handed it to Jiang Nuanzhi.
Jiang Nuanzhi took it without understanding why.
The next second, Shen Wenshu tied a white handkerchief to his face: "Let's go."
As Shen Wenshu went out, Jiang Nuanzhi carefully checked and, sure enough, the coughing of the people coming and going around them was constant.
The elderly, in particular, were all sallow-faced and emaciated, and seemed listless and weak when they did their work.
Every now and then, corpses would be wrapped in straw mats and thrown out of the camp, creating a scene of utter desolation.
Jiang Nuanzhi frowned: "Is there an epidemic in the army?"
Shen Wenshu nodded solemnly and said, "That's right."
"Doctor Jiang is also a doctor, so he should know how difficult it is to control this epidemic. That old man has been living in the same tent as those sick slaves for some time. If I hadn't taken care of him before, he probably would have been rolled up in a straw mat and thrown out too."
As they were talking, the two stopped in front of a camp tent.
Jiang Nuanzhi thanked Shen Wenshu again, then lifted the curtain and went into the tent.
The small tent was crammed with tattered, dirty bedding, and an indescribable smell emanated from it.
There was only one person squatting in the corner inside the tent.
"That's Xin Bo you're looking for. Everyone else has gone to work. I made some arrangements for him a while ago, and it seems the people below are quite diligent, so I kept him here."
Jiang Nuanzhi frowned and moved slightly closer.
The person in the corner seemed to wake up suddenly, turning around instantly, their sharp eyes shooting towards Jiang Nuanzhi as if they were real.
Even Jiang Nuanzhi, who is fearless, was momentarily stunned by his gaze.
The next second, he picked up a small twig from somewhere and held it in his hand: "Thieves are here! Young master, hurry and go, this old servant will escort you!"
As he spoke, he also gave the pillow behind him a hard shove.
He pushed the pillow over, immediately tossed the branch aside, and then hugged the crazy pillow back to his arms.
"Young Master, what's wrong? Young Master! Say something!"
Jiang Nuanzhi: "."
"What's wrong with him?"
Shen Wenshu: "As you can see, he's gone mad."
Jiang Nuanzhi frowned and stepped forward, taking his wrist in one hand.
The old man almost instinctively threw a punch, which Jiang Nuanzhi couldn't quite block. After barely managing to retreat, she suddenly shouted in a clear voice, "Grandpa Xin, why did you hit me? I'm Ping'er!"
Xin Bo's cold eyes held a hint of confusion as he stared at Jiang Nuanzhi for a long while, then murmured, "Ping'er."
"Yes, it's me."
I overheard Zhao Xiyue mention that Xinbo seemed to have taken a knife for Ping'er. Ping'er must be quite important to him, right? I'll give it a try; just keeping him quiet for a moment will do.
I took his wrist again and listened carefully to his pulse.
The next second, Xin Bo stared at her face and sighed with a worried expression, "Ping'er, why have you gotten so fat?"
(End of this chapter)
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