Chapter 41 Dream Remedy
The dilapidated temple in the south of the city is now a living hell.
This place was temporarily requisitioned as an intensive care isolation ward. The drafty walls could not block out the chill of late autumn, nor could they block out the despairing stench of decay. Hundreds of sick people huddled on the ground covered with dry grass; some were convulsing, some were screaming, and some... had already fallen silent.
The head of the Imperial Medical Academy, along with more than a dozen imperial physicians, all wearing simple face towels invented by Jiang Mianmian, gathered around a large pot, their faces full of worry, to brew medicine.
"No way! This is already the third prescription!"
The court physician, watching the patient who had just been given medicine but still vomited blood and died, smashed the medicine bowl in despair. "This disease is too potent! Clearing heat and detoxifying is useless, and using poison to fight poison is also useless! If this continues, everyone here will die!"
"Your Honor, how about... we try a fire attack?"
A young imperial physician, trembling, suggested, "Ancient texts say that in the event of a major epidemic, one should burn [the remains]..."
"Burn your head, my foot!"
A sharp, angry shout interrupted the group of imperial physicians' dejected words.
Jiang Mianmian, dressed in a neat short-sleeved outfit and wearing a thick face mask, strode in. Behind her followed Shen Jin, whose face was grim.
"Anyone who dares mention burning people, I'll throw them into the fire and roast them first!"
Jiang Mianmian pointed at the young imperial physician, her eyes sharp, "That's a living person! Not firewood!"
Upon seeing the Regent and the Princess in person, the imperial physicians were so frightened that they immediately knelt down: "Greetings, Your Highness! Greetings, Your Highness! But... but we have truly done our best! This illness... is truly bizarre, and we are at our wits' end!"
Shen Jin coldly surveyed the entire room, finally turning to Jiang Mianmian: "You just said you had a way?"
Jiang Mianmian took a deep breath.
[A solution? Of course there is!]
The core of this problem is a nervous system breakdown caused by a viral infection. In ancient times, there were no antiviral drugs or ventilators. But… I have the spiritual spring water!
Although the spiritual spring in my personal space is almost dry, a few drops every day, mixed into the medicine, can at least keep me alive and suppress the virus's activity.
But how do you explain this? You can't exactly say I have a personal storage space, can you?
Jiang Mianmian's eyes darted around, and she suddenly covered her forehead, swaying slightly, putting on a "weak but strong" look.
"Your Highness..."
She leaned weakly against Shen Jin, her voice faint, "Actually... I had a dream last night."
The entire room fell silent.
The imperial physicians exchanged bewildered glances: A dream? What use would a dream be at a time like this?
“In my dream,” Jiang Mianmian began to ramble on in a serious manner, “there was an old man with a white beard who descended from the sky riding a crane. He said that there was great trouble ahead and specially bestowed upon me a ‘divine prescription’ that could save all people from suffering.”
"The old man also said that the prescription is called 'Banlangen... oh no, it's the Qingwen Baidu Yin enhanced version'."
[Keep making things up! People in ancient times believed this anyway! Old sages were always the perfect scapegoats!]
As Shen Jin supported her, listening to her mutter "Isatis root" in her mind, the corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
Old man with a white beard?
That's such a flimsy excuse that even a three-year-old wouldn't believe it.
But when he looked into Jiang Mianmian's eyes, which were filled with urgency to save lives despite her lying, he didn't hesitate at all.
"Where is the prescription?" Shen Jin asked cooperatively.
"It's all in my mind."
Jiang Mianmian pointed to her head, "I will write it down now. However... there is one ingredient in this prescription that is extremely rare."
"What kind of medicinal ingredient?" the judge asked urgently.
"It is... holy water bestowed by the gods."
Jiang Mianmian took out a small porcelain bottle that she had prepared beforehand from her bosom. "This is what the old man gave me. There's only one bottle. It must be dripped into the brewed medicine to be effective."
The imperial physicians looked at the ordinary little porcelain bottle with suspicion in their eyes.
Isn't this just a bottle for holding toilet water?
"Your Highness..." the court physician couldn't help but speak up, "This...this is too frivolous! How can you take words spoken in a dream seriously? What if it makes someone sick..."
"If you get sick from eating it, it's my responsibility."
Shen Jin coldly interrupted him, snatching the porcelain bottle. "Do as the Princess says. Now, immediately, write down the prescription and brew the medicine!"
"Your Highness!"
"What? My words no longer carry weight?" Shen Jin placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. "Or do you think your useless remedies are more effective than the Princess's 'dream'?"
The judge trembled with fear: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty dares not! Your Majesty will go immediately!"
Soon, relying on her memory, Jiang Mianmian wrote down a prescription that seemed strange in this era, but was actually full of potent medicines for clearing heat and detoxifying.
A large pot was set up, and the aroma of herbs filled the air.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, Jiang Mianmian pretended to perform a ritual and poured the water from the porcelain bottle into the boiling medicinal soup.
[It absolutely has to work! My magical spring water! This is my beauty and skin-nourishing water! I've gone to great lengths to save you lot!]
If this can't be cured, I really will have no choice but to run away with Chen Jin!
Bowls of dark, murky medicinal soup were served to the critically ill patients.
The first person to take the medicine was the madwoman who had the first episode. She was tied to a pillar and was still screaming incessantly.
The medicine was administered half an hour later.
Everyone was waiting anxiously.
Suddenly, the woman's screams stopped.
Her previously bloodshot eyes slowly regained their clarity, and her convulsions stopped. She looked around blankly and weakly cried out, "Water...I want water..."
"She's awake! She's awake!"
The imperial physician in charge of guarding the area exclaimed excitedly, "It's miraculous! It's truly miraculous! The high fever has subsided! The rashes have faded!"
"The princess is truly a divine being who appeared to me in a dream!"
The imperial physicians, who had initially been skeptical, now looked at Jiang Mianmian as if she were a living Bodhisattva.
Jiang Mianmian breathed a sigh of relief, her legs went weak, and she almost sat down on the ground.
[Phew... thank goodness. The spiritual spring water is awesome!]
It seems this "dream remedy" has worked. As long as I continue my "rituals" day and night, this wave of plague should be able to be suppressed.
Shen Jin quickly caught her and helped her lean against him.
"Are you tired?" he asked in a low voice.
"I'm so tired," Jiang Mianmian muttered under her breath. "I've lost half my brain cells trying to keep this lie."
Shen Jin felt a pang of pain in his heart as he looked at her pale face.
Although he didn't know what the so-called "holy water" was, he knew it was something extremely precious that she had brought out.
"princess."
Suddenly, in front of everyone, Shen Jin picked her up and carried her horizontally. "Since the old immortal is tired from appearing in your dream, then go and rest. Leave the rest to them."
He surveyed the entire room, his voice authoritative:
"Have you all seen it clearly? This is the Princess's 'Dream Remedy.' From now on, if anyone dares to question the Princess again, I'll make them drink their fill of this medicine."
The imperial physicians knelt and shouted, "Your Highness is wise! Long live the Princess!"
Jiang Mianmian nestled in his arms, listening to these calls, feeling a warm glow inside.
[Hehe, a thousand years old? Then wouldn't I be an old monster?]
However… Shen Jin's embrace is really… quite suitable for sleeping.
In this dilapidated temple filled with the aura of death, Shen Jin held his "miracle doctor" as if he were holding the only hope in the world, and walked step by step toward dawn.
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