Chapter 22 I'm different from you guys, I'm here to watch the show.
After several days of torrential rain, the Wei River swelled and flooded the fields and houses. The victims were left homeless.
Before they could catch their breath, the scorching summer sun hung high in the sky again, baking the earth for three consecutive days.
The air was thick with moisture, making it feel like an oven.
Inside the military camp, the refugees who were originally just suffering from minor scrapes and sprains were now suffering from swollen, festering wounds, and oozing pus and blood due to the harsh environment and the sweat.
If inflammation is not treated in time, it can lead to high fever!
"Your Highness! Dozens more refugees in the quarantine camp are suffering from persistent high fevers today! Four more have died! The army's stock of wound medicine and antipyretic herbs is almost exhausted!"
Crown Prince Qin Zhao put down the documents he was reviewing, looked out at the blinding sunlight outside the tent, and a heavy gloom settled between his brows.
"This epidemic has finally arrived..."
After a flood, disease often becomes more severe than the flood itself.
That was the real struggle against death...
"Zhao Jingxing, Commandant of the Vanguard!"
"Your subordinate is here!"
Qin Zhao's voice was resolute, "Immediately draft a proclamation and order the neighboring prefectures and counties! Instruct them to immediately gather all available wound medicines and heat-clearing and detoxifying drugs, no matter how much, and collect them with all their might! Before dawn the day after tomorrow, they must be escorted to the main camp by fast horses! Those who delay will be punished according to military law!"
"Your subordinate obeys!" Zhao Jingxing clasped his hands in a fist salute, turned around, and strode out of the tent to arrange for the messenger.
The tent was unbearably hot and stuffy.
Crown Prince Qin Zhao sat in the center, his gaze falling on a bottle on the table, only the height of a palm, with a snow-white body and strange characters printed on it, which was Yunnan Baiyao aerosol.
If we had this, along with a miraculous medicine that could quickly reduce fever, how could we not stop this epidemic!
"Jiang Yi!"
"Your subordinate is here!" Jiang Yi bowed and entered from outside the tent.
"Have the men you sent to keep watch not seen the shop open yet?"
Jiang Yi, forcing himself to speak, said, "I will definitely send more men!"
The crown prince sighed, "What's the use of sending more people? Will more people open the gate?"
The two villages of Xianshui and Baiyang have a total of more than 5,000 disaster victims.
Including those injured in the previous floods, there are now more than 500 people suffering from coughs and persistent high fevers.
And this number continues to grow daily!
Zhao Jingxing, together with the magistrate of Ping'an County, fenced off a piece of land a few kilometers away and quickly built a simple but well-organized isolation camp.
All patients with high fever, regardless of whether they are military personnel or civilians, were moved into the facility for isolation and treatment.
Inside the quarantine camp, several large iron pots boiled water day and night, and the air was filled with a strong aroma of herbs mixed with the sour smell of boiling vinegar.
The patients' clothes, bowls, chopsticks, cups, and anything that could be boiled had to be boiled in boiling water; lime was sprinkled all over the ground.
Qin Zhao stood on a makeshift watchtower at the edge of the quarantine camp, looking at the figures struggling between life and death in the camp, his face ashen.
Hot winds swept through the camp, carrying sand and gravel, and puffs of gray smoke.
He looked up at the scorching sun that relentlessly baked the earth, and cried out in his heart:
Heaven above! If there truly are gods, if there truly are elixirs of immortality, could you... grant me one more favor?
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Outside the grocery store
Several carriages arrived from all directions and stopped in front of the Jixiang General Store without prior arrangement.
It was a coincidence, almost like it was pre-arranged.
As soon as she got off the carriage, Madam Zhou looked at the dilapidated shop in front of her with disgust.
She was pampered from a young age, and everything she ate and used was top-notch.
Rouge, face powder, and other daily necessities were all specially commissioned from Xiangbaoge in the city.
She's the only one!
If it weren't for the irresistible scent emanating from Chen Wangshi, given her status, she would never have ever set foot in such a deserted village shop in her entire life.
The surrounding area was overgrown with weeds, and this one shop was the only one there, as if it had been abandoned.
The tightly closed wooden door exuded a chilling aura, eerily cold even in the sweltering heat.
Looking at the dilapidated house and the shabby sign, she couldn't help but wonder...
"Are the things sold here really usable? Will there be any problems?"
"Oh, is this Mrs. Zhou? What brings you here?"
Madam Song, who had been hiding in a corner, came out.
The sudden sound startled Madam Zhou, who nearly dropped her handkerchief.
Upon seeing that the visitor was Madam Song, his fear turned into shock and anger!
Madam Song arrived at the shop entrance early, but no one answered the door after knocking several times. Just as she was about to leave, she saw the Zhou family's carriage approaching.
She then instructed the coachman to pull the carriage under the tree, and she hid in a corner to wait quietly.
Madam Song usually disliked Madam Zhou's behavior the most. She was just relying on her good marriage and the fact that she had given birth to two sons, which secured her position in her husband's family. She always put on an arrogant attitude.
She clearly wanted it, but pretended to be aloof.
Madam Song only gave birth to one daughter, so she had to find ways to please her husband and try to have a son to secure her position.
Mrs. Zhou often made fun of her about this.
They mocked her for being the legal wife, yet always resorting to underhanded tactics typical of a concubine.
"Madam Song is so elusive, anyone who didn't know better would think you were up to something bad here!" Madam Zhou retorted, regaining her composure.
"Oh dear, what are you saying? I just came to this general store to buy some things. People like us, from humble backgrounds, can only buy things from these rural grocery stores. Unlike Madam Zhou, who always uses Xiangbaoge's exclusive custom-made products. But Xiangbaoge is clearly in the east, so why is Madam Zhou here? Did she get lost?"
Madam Song approached with a smile, waving an old round fan.
"I... I naturally use things from the city. I just happened to be passing by and saw this shop, so I stopped to take a look."
"Get down for a walk? In this blazing sun, on this sweltering day, the shops aren't even open yet. What's the point of getting down for a walk? Besides, didn't I hear you say last night that what good stuff could a country grocery store possibly have? What if you catch some kind of dirty disease from using it? Hey, didn't you just say that, Mrs. Zhou?"
"When did I ever say that?!"
Just as Madam Zhou finished speaking, two more carriages drove up.
It was Mrs. Kong and Mrs. Deng.
Madam Kong smiled and said, "What a coincidence to meet you two sisters here. My sister Lian and I met on the way and came together."
Madam Deng said, "Madam Zhou is here too. Did Madam Zhou also hear that this general store sells those fragrant soaps, and that's why she came all the way here?"
Mrs. Deng is still young, so she speaks her mind.
Madam Zhou straightened her clothes. "As the legitimate wife, why would I need to use such things that attract bees and butterflies! The fragrance is so strong and vulgar, it's obviously not something a respectable family would use! Only a concubine like Wang would use it. I was just curious."
Her words offended Madam Kong and Madam Deng, as both of them were also concubines.
Madam Song laughed and said, "That's right. Madam Zhou is different from us. She didn't come to buy scented soap. She came to watch the excitement! But the Zhou residence is so far away in the east of the city. How early must Madam Zhou have gotten up to watch the excitement, to be able to arrive at the same time as us?"
Mrs. Kong and Mrs. Deng couldn't help but chuckle.
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