"Jiao..." Gu Heng was the first to react, and was so anxious that he almost called out her given name in public.
He never expected that despite her repeated demands for a divorce, she still couldn't let go of him, to the point that she risked her life to give Lu Ziqian the last mask.
It's inevitable that the three masks will be given to the Crown Prince.
The remaining two are for him as a token of friendship.
Finally, she chose the person she loved most.
Lu Ziqian was somewhat confused, his gaze softening with emotion: "Why give it to me?"
"Because...your life is more important than mine."
These words struck Lu Ziqian's heart hard, causing his heart to pound uncontrollably.
As soon as Su Yujiao finished speaking, she realized that her words were easy to misunderstand, so she immediately explained.
"General Su, please don't misunderstand. What I mean is, you are a general, and we will need you to take charge of the overall situation after we enter the city."
"Furthermore, the Lu family army is the backbone of the people's hearts. The people have already suffered enough from natural disasters and man-made calamities..."
"So...you can't be hurt!!"
Lu Ziqian was deeply moved by Su Yujiao's righteous words. He had never imagined that he was so important to the 'little eunuch'.
For the greater good, he is willing to disregard his own life and make choices that are detrimental to himself.
Such people are truly worthy of respect!
Lu Ziqian dismounted and bowed to Su Yujiao with clasped hands, saying, "Brother Su's righteousness is admirable."
"Lu is deeply sorry for his previous disrespectful words."
As Lu Ziqian spoke, he actually bowed to Su Yujiao.
“You…you don’t have to do this.” Su Yujiao turned aside to avoid her.
He asked, "If you give it to me, what will you do with it?"
"I have other means of defense."
At this moment, Gu Heng walked over and said, "General Lu, please don't refuse. We should respect Brother Su's choice."
"You bear the heavy responsibility of protecting the Crown Prince, so you really cannot be harmed."
"I'll give my mask to Brother Su." Gu Heng took off his mask and handed it to Su Yujiao.
Su Yujiao's attitude was firm: "Brother Gu, you just said you would respect my choice."
"You are just as important to me."
"That's the decision. Let's not waste any more time on this; it would seem pretentious."
After finishing her sentence, Su Yujiao left immediately and swiftly boarded the Crown Prince's carriage.
The Crown Prince couldn't help but sigh, "Physician Su, I truly didn't expect you to make this choice."
"Your selfless act deserves everyone's respect!"
"Your Highness is too kind."
Lu Ziqian led his troops into the city, and everyone was on high alert.
Upon entering the city, the group discovered that the situation was far more serious than they had imagined.
The once bustling town is now shrouded in cries and despair.
The air was filled with a pungent smell of medicine and a lingering stench of decay.
There were few pedestrians on the street, and occasionally a few people would hurry by, covering their mouths and noses, their eyes filled with fear and helplessness.
Every house had its doors tightly shut, except for one house whose door was wide open, from which came heart-wrenching cries.
A few steps further on, a woman knelt numbly by the roadside, holding a lifeless child.
Flames soared into the sky not far away, and the cries were deafening. Su Yujiao and the others approached and discovered that corpses were being burned.
The newly added graves on the mass graves, layer upon layer, silently attest to the cruelty and ferocity of this plague.
Some elderly imperial physicians and young soldiers, seeing such a tragic scene, couldn't help but cry out in fear and regret.
"This humble official pays his respects to the Crown Prince."
"No need for formalities, business is important."
"Let me first tell you about the situation in the city."
Su Yujiao spoke up: "Your Highness, let's find a place to stay first. This is not the place to talk."
Along the way, the Crown Prince had long been accustomed to following Su Yujiao's arrangements.
After all, no one has more experience than her in epidemic prevention.
Magistrate Zhang realized what was happening and immediately took the Crown Prince to settle him in.
Before the Crown Prince moved in, Su Yujiao led people to thoroughly disinfect the area and set up a sealed shed at the main entrance.
A bowl was placed on the shed floor, filled with Atractylodes lancea and Angelica dahurica, with a small amount of alcohol poured in, and then lit.
Everyone entering the villa must pass through a shed and undergo fumigation disinfection before being allowed to enter.
After the important officials of Qicheng entered the villa, Su Yujiao asked, "Lord Zhang, are there any sick cattle in the city?"
"this?"
Magistrate Zhang was somewhat bewildered. Who was this person? Why was he not concerned about people but instead asking about oxen?
Magistrate Zhang glanced at the Crown Prince, and seeing that the Crown Prince did not react, he answered truthfully: "This is something I have not done."
"Does anyone own a cow? Does the government have a record of it?"
Although Magistrate Zhang didn't know why this man cared about cattle, he was perceptive enough to immediately order his clerk to fetch the register.
"All the oxen in the city are recorded."
"Lord Zhang, I would like to trouble you to issue an order that all families in the city who own cattle bring their cattle to the yamen."
"this……"
Magistrate Zhang was a little confused. Shouldn't the priority be on people at this critical juncture? Why was this young doctor getting into a fight with the ox?
The Crown Prince also looked at Su Yujiao with a bewildered expression, but he was wearing a mask, so his expression was not visible.
After hesitating for a few seconds, the Crown Prince chose to believe Su Yujiao, thinking that her search for the ox must be of great use.
"Lord Zhang, do as I say."
"yes."
"Lord Zhang, please hurry. These cattle are very important and are key to this epidemic prevention effort."
"yes."
"Your Highness, I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when the ox arrives."
"Also, prepare some good food and drinks for me. I need to conserve my energy; the next few days will be very important."
Next, she needs to make smallpox vaccines. Her immunity must not drop, otherwise she will get infected first.
Therefore, she needs to eat well, sleep well, and be in excellent health.
Although the Crown Prince did not know why the next few days were important, he still trusted her.
He had a feeling that this dark-skinned, thin doctor Su would bring him some surprises.
Su Yujiao slept until she naturally woke up, just as the hundreds of cattle in the city were brought to the yamen gate.
After Su Yujiao had eaten and drunk her fill, she went to the yamen to inspect each of the cattle, and found that none of them were infected.
She frowned; the result wasn't as good as she'd hoped, and it would waste several more days.
"Keep these two cows, and send the rest back."
She chose two plump and healthy cows, otherwise she was afraid that the cows would die before the smallpox vaccine was ready.
"Give me a yard, and tie the cow up there first."
"yes."
"Take me to see where the patients are being held."
“This…” Lord Zhang hesitated for a moment: “The patients are all being held in Yushugou Village.”
"Those people can only wait to die; it's extremely dangerous."
"It's best if Physician Su doesn't go there."
Su Yujiao's eyes were resolute: "I must go."
She needs to extract the virus from patients, and also from the dead, but the infectivity of the strain has been reduced.
The success rate is higher if the sample is taken from a patient in the infectious period and then implanted into the cow's wound.
Time is of the essence, and she must race against time to develop the smallpox vaccine as soon as possible, so that one less person will be infected with the plague.
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