After their identities were confirmed, the magistrate of Taizhou personally came to the city gate to welcome the Chen family inside.
The prefect's name was Zhou Kangyou, and he was in his forties.
Upon receiving Old Master Chen and his group, the first thing they said was to explain why their Prefect Xia was not in Taizhou.
Zhou Kangyou: "After learning of the plague outbreak in Qiyuan County, the Prefect went there ten days ago."
Upon hearing this, Old Master Chen nodded and remarked with admiration, "Prefect Xia is truly righteous."
748 also sighed in his floating sea of consciousness:
[This Prefect Xia is a good official. After learning of the plague outbreak in Qiyuan County, he immediately went there to guide the epidemic control efforts. It was thanks to him that the plague was kept confined to Qiyuan County and did not spread to other places.]
However, his fate was far from good; he eventually contracted the plague and died in Qiyuan County. It could be said that he shared the fate of the people of Qiyuan County.
While listening to the conversation between Grandpa Chen and Zhou Kangyou, Fu Bai also talked to 748.
"So what exactly happened in Qiyuan County in the original story that led to the death of the entire county?"
748 then carefully reviewed the original plot.
Then he collapsed, belly up, looking utterly dejected.
[The original story only stated that the grandfather used the wrong medicine and failed to control the plague. He then arbitrarily sealed off the city, causing healthy people in Qiyuan County to be unable to leave and become infected with the plague, eventually leading to their deaths.]
If we look at the original plot, the plague will eventually spread and kill everyone in Qiyuan County, and the blame will fall on Old Master Chen.
Fu Bai smiled dismissively: "What do you think?"
Having learned from the lessons of the two small worlds above, 748 knew that the original plot was beautified, erasing the role of the so-called protagonist and portraying the protagonist as an incomparably pure white lotus.
Moreover, 748 had also witnessed Old Master Chen's medical skills.
Faced with an epidemic and the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives, it was absolutely impossible for Grandpa Chen to prescribe the wrong medicine due to carelessness.
748 said angrily, "[It's definitely a conspiracy! It's a conspiracy by the Third Prince Li Jun, just to kill the Chen family!]"
Fu Bai exclaimed "Wow!" and praised, "You've become much smarter!"
748hehehe: [It's because of Fu Baibai's excellent teaching.]
Fu Bai chatted with 748 for a few minutes, and then Grandpa Chen finished talking with Zhou Kang.
Having learned from Zhou Kangyou that the plague in Qiyuan County was severe, Old Master Chen did not intend to rest in the prefectural city. He declined Zhou Kangyou's invitation to a banquet and hurriedly headed towards Qiyuan County.
Before heading to Qiyuan County, Grandpa Chen repeatedly instructed everyone to wear face masks.
It was already evening when the group arrived in Qiyuan County.
Like Taizhou Prefecture, the city gates of Qiyuan County were tightly closed, and the place looked desolate at first glance.
When the soldiers guarding the city learned that the visitors were imperial envoys from the capital who had come to treat the plague, they quickly opened the city gates and let them in.
Night had fallen, and the entire Qiyuan County was shrouded in a deathly silence.
The soldiers led the Chen family to the county government office in Qiyuan County, where Prefect Xia immediately came out to greet them upon receiving the news.
He was still awake and was handling official business when he received the message. Upon learning that the imperial envoy to treat the epidemic had arrived, he rushed to the county government office without even putting down his writing brush.
"Imperial Physician Chen, I've finally been waiting for you." Prefect Xia's voice was filled with anxiety and choked with emotion. When he reached out, he realized that he was still holding a calligraphy brush in his hand, and an embarrassed look flashed across his thin face.
As if oblivious to Magistrate Xia's predicament, the old man took the initiative to say, "Lord Xia, this is a matter of life and death. Tell me about the current situation in Qiyuan County."
As Magistrate Xia led Fu Bai and his party into the county government office, he introduced the situation of Qiyuan County.
Fu Bai did not follow them inside, but instead went to the carriage carrying the herbs, gazing intently at the herbs on the carriage.
Li Jingxing stood beside Fu Bai, his tall figure completely enveloping Fu Bai in his protective range, preventing anyone from harming him.
"You suspect there's something wrong with the medicine?"
Seeing that Fu Bai was staring at the herbs, Li Jingxing asked knowingly.
Fu Bai nodded: "Mm."
The old man's prescription is definitely not the problem; then the problem must lie with the medicine itself.
These medicines were prepared by the imperial court. In the original story, the old man certainly couldn't have guessed that the emperor would use the entire population of Qiyuan County as an excuse to get rid of him, so he didn't expect that there was a problem with the herbs.
Fu Bai narrowed his eyes: "I need to check what the specific problem is first."
Li Jingxing reached out and grasped Fu Bai's hand: "I've already had Zhang Haixin follow up and buy herbs. See if there's anything else we need, and I'll have him buy more."
Fu Bai squeezed Li Jingxing's hand and smiled softly.
He and Li Jingxing were kind of on the same wavelength.
After the attendants unloaded the herbs, Fu Bai began to examine them.
748 isn't too useless now; when Fu Bai was checking, it scanned these herbs as well.
With 748's help, Fu Bai became even more adept at it.
In just fifteen minutes, Fu Bai completed all the inspection work.
As he expected, the imperial court had indeed tampered with this batch of herbs.
Not only were inferior products passed off as superior ones, but many incompatible medicines were also mixed in. If the people in charge of dispensing and decocting the medicine were not careful, they might give these medicines to the people suffering from the plague. It would be strange if the people's illnesses could not be cured.
Fu Bai looked at Li Jingxing: "When will Zhang Haixin arrive?"
All of these medicines are unusable. It is estimated that the medicinal herbs in Qiyuan County have been almost completely consumed. Qiyuan County urgently needs a new batch of medicines.
Li Jingxing: "It will arrive tomorrow."
With the herbal medicine issue resolved, Fu Bai seemed less anxious, but before going to bed, he still asked Li Jingxing's men to do something.
Li Jingxing was not surprised at all by the guess he heard from Fu Bai; in fact, he felt as if he had known it all along.
That person is inhuman; what do these methods matter as long as they can achieve their goal?
Li Jingxing pulled Fu Bai into his arms, gently rubbing Fu Bai's head with just the right amount of pressure, and said in a tender tone, "Sleep well, there's a tough battle to fight tomorrow."
Fu Bai: "Mm."
He responded, gently nuzzled Li Jingxing's neck, and soon drifted off into a sweet dream.
0-0
The next morning, Fu Bai and Old Master Chen went to the residence specially set up by Prefect Xia to treat the people who had contracted the plague.
Prefect Xia isolated all the patients, with a fixed number of people coming and going each day.
This method effectively suppressed the spread of the plague.
Because the government was willing to take action and the people were not ignored, these sick people did not feel any despair, even though they were brought together for management.
There was no sign of despondency in the entire patient residence. Even those who were on their deathbeds would hold on to express their gratitude to the doctors who risked contracting the disease to treat them.
With this spirit and energy, the plague will surely be defeated.
Ironically, the plague did not defeat them; what prevented them from ever recovering was the emperor they regarded as heaven.
Just thinking about it makes me feel incredibly ironic.
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