Chapter 605 Inquiring about the Situation

As soon as the words fell, everyone knelt down with fear on their faces.

No one dared to look up.

Afraid of getting into trouble.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. Anger is harmful to your health. Your Majesty, please take care of your body—"

The officials said together.

"Tell me, which other provinces have been affected? Is the situation serious?" Ming Shenghuang asked again with a frown.

"Your Majesty, in the southwest, everyone is affected."

"How many casualties?" Although he already knew the answer, Ming Shenghuang still asked him with a glimmer of hope.

I just hope that fewer people will die from the plague.

"Your Majesty, some... the southwest is more serious. A county closest to the outbreak has lost more than 10,000 people. The rest of the country has lost less than 5,000 people. However, the severity of the situation is quite surprising to me."

The official paused while speaking, unsure whether to continue.

"Oh? What's the accident? Tell me." When he heard that nearly 20,000 people died, Ming Shenghuang's eyes turned slightly red. Due to his status, he blinked twice quickly and held back his tears.

He didn't move his head, but his eyes were slanted towards the official beside him.

"Logically, the five counties of Ruling Prefecture in Xishu are not far from Enxin, and the situation should be much more serious than in the southwest. However, Yingnan Prefecture, which is farther away from Enxin, lost 2,000 people, while Ruling Prefecture lost less than 1,000 people, only 647. On the way, I also learned a piece of news that as early as two months ago, no one in Xishu was infected with the plague."

Under normal circumstances, the sudden death of 647 people is indeed a lot.

But this was a plague. Once infected, it would kill an entire city. Yet in such a large city like Ruling, only over 600 people died.

It was unexpected.

Ming Sheng Huang also became interested.

"Do you know how the plague was controlled?" he said.

"I don't know." In fact, he knew that the secret guards he hired privately had already found out the cause of the matter, but how could he explain it so clearly?

If I tell it out loud, I'm afraid the emperor will become suspicious.

"Let's go and take a look." Emperor Mingsheng took a last look at Yaozhou County, then got on the carriage without looking back.

It seems that he is afraid that the scene will be too big, too conspicuous, and cause trouble.

He changed to an inconspicuous horse carriage halfway and came to Cihu County, the closest to Enxin Province, under the pretext of visiting relatives.

Once the plague was under control, the city gates were opened.

Cihu County had the highest number of deaths in Ruling Prefecture. As soon as you entered the city, no one smiled on the faces of the people. Among the people here, three out of ten had lost relatives in their families.

Those who are not dead have been frightened for so long that they can no longer laugh.

The city was shrouded in an indescribable sadness.

It doesn't feel like early spring, but more like a cloudy day in late autumn, which makes people depressed.

"Little brother, may I ask how the plague in your city is controlled? I heard that many people died in Enxin Province, but why are there not many deaths in your county? Do you know why?"

The carriage stopped by the roadside and a man in casual clothes got off. He took out a silver ingot and handed it to a merchant on the roadside, asking in a low voice.

"Hey, old man, you asked me, and you finally asked the right person. No one in the city knows as much information as I do. My cousin is an official in the county government. I have someone above me! Just listen to me and I will tell you slowly..."

"The situation in our county was very serious originally, and many people were infected with the plague. Our county magistrate was so worried that he said his hair turned white overnight. My cousin was also busy running around and didn't go home for half a month. Later, the city was sealed off, and stalls and shops were not allowed to be set up or opened. We all stayed at home and couldn't even go out, according to my cousin.

The magistrate of Qixi County sent a letter saying that there was a medicine that could cure the plague. Our magistrate went to Qixi County immediately. When he came back, all the doctors in the city were called to the county government, and the medicinal materials in the pharmacy were also sent over. These doctors made pills according to the prescription and gave them to the people infected with the plague. After only four or five days, they began to get better..."

Having taken so much money, the small merchant naturally told the whole story clearly from beginning to end, and his voice was quite loud, so Ming Shenghuang, who was sitting in the carriage, could just hear it.

A quarter of an hour later, the man returned to the carriage.

"There is actually a medicine that can cure the plague? How come I don't know about such an important matter? It's ridiculous! Who is hiding this from me? Investigate it thoroughly for me!"

The carriage drove away.

The next day, Ming Shenghuang, who was living in the prefect's house, summoned Meng Zhili.

It was learned that the prescription for curing the plague was developed by an eleven-year-old girl.

Emperor Mingsheng was so shocked that he couldn't wait to summon Jiang Fubao to see him.

He went to Lianshan Town with Meng Zhili.

It was actually a misunderstanding. Emperor Mingsheng was worried about the plague and came from the imperial city early. It just so happened that the inspector of the province of Wei had just sent the prescription and memorials to the imperial city a month ago. The two groups of people happened to take different routes and missed each other.

Emperor Mingsheng thought someone had deliberately concealed the prescription and was very angry.

When I arrived at Lianshan Town, unlike Cihu County, the pedestrians walking on the street all had smiling faces, and you couldn't tell at all that a plague had ever occurred here.

Emperor Mingsheng sat in the carriage with his back straight. If this were in the imperial city, the officials would not have the qualifications to ride in the same carriage with him.

As the person of the lowest rank, Meng Zhili sat in the corner, not daring to say a word.

Ming Shenghuang lifted a corner of the curtain with his index finger and kept peeking outside.

Of course, I could also hear people chatting on the street.

"Brother Liu, how are you? I haven't had time to visit you since we left the rehabilitation center. What have you been busy with recently?"

"It has been cured a long time ago, thanks to the pills that the little doctor gave us. Otherwise, you would be like those idiots, coughing all day long. You refused to take the pills before, but if I hadn't pulled you to take them, you wouldn't have recovered and could go out for a walk. You owe me a meal, and you have to treat me some other day when you have time."

"Okay, okay. Thanks to Brother Liu, I wouldn't be where I am today. Hey, have you heard that our county is already the best off? I heard that tens of thousands of people died in the southwest, and Enxin died the most. Tsk tsk, Enxin's patrol officer was captured and taken to the imperial city. I'm afraid he'll lose his head. It's all his fault. Otherwise, we wouldn't have to suffer this."

"Yes, let's not run around anymore. If we hadn't made an appointment to attend the banquet in Enxin, we wouldn't have been infected with the plague. Fortunately, we have the little miracle doctor. Without her pills, we would have grown grass over our graves."

"I used to look down on the young doctor. I thought she was just a girl and it was ridiculous for her to open a clinic. Who knew her medical skills were better than those of the old doctors who had lived for most of their lives, and she could even cure the plague."