Chapter 182 Chapter 182 Update.
Tiandou gave the fresh pork to Jindou and said:
"I went there early, and the butcher was busy. I bought a nice piece of meat with both fat and lean meat."
Jindou went to the kitchen to cook, and Tiandou took off the face towel. According to the young lady, this face towel with a rope can protect you from spitting, which is better than nothing.
Although she didn't understand those things, this was made of five layers of square-mesh gauze, which was such good material. Half of it was originally left to make summer clothes, and Ji Xu made such a face towel for each of the maids who were going out.
Tian Dou loved this material and treasured it very much. After wearing it, she followed Ji Xu's instructions and washed it first, then steamed it thoroughly over high heat in a special steamer, and finally hung it in the yard to dry and put it away to wear next time.
She came back to light the fire and told what she had seen outside:
"Hua'er from the Yangcheng family was also taken to the internment camp. Are they really going to burn people alive there? I'll never see Hua'er again."
As he looked at the fire in the stove, Candou shed tears.
"Don't talk nonsense. Didn't you hear the young lady say that there's a notice outside saying that the asylum is a place to treat people suffering from the plague?"
Ji Xu herself also went out early in the morning when the streets were deserted. Because her family member Sidou was illiterate, she went to a certain pavilion to read the notices and find out what was happening outside.
The notice said the shelter was in the eastern suburbs, where people infected with the plague could seek medical treatment. Jindou whispered:
"The General of the Imperial Guards was our benefactor. How could such a kind-hearted man burn people alive? Those people weren't the Xiongnu who fell under his sword."
When Ji Xu heard about this, he reduced the number of times his family went out from once in the morning and once in the evening to once every morning, mainly to dispose of ashes or buy meat from the butcher.
After all, there are only seven chickens at home. Even if they lay seven eggs every day, it is not enough for ten people to share. There is no shortage of vegetables, but we cannot rely solely on vegetables.
In addition to avoiding contact with others as much as possible, you also have to strengthen your family's resistance. As the saying goes, eat enough, sleep early, and cover yourself with a quilt at night, and you will not get sick.
But I don’t go out to buy meat every day. I buy a big piece every five or six days, eat it fresh on the same day, and then eat the meat sauce sealed in a can.
Sometimes eating scrambled eggs, egg custard, and egg pancakes can also be considered a meat dish.
Although there are ten people in the family, the garbage produced is just dust and large bones.
Cook three meals a day in appropriate amounts. Even if there is some leftover, you can feed it to the chickens. Vegetable stems, roots, and even eggshells can be crushed and fed to the chickens.
At that time, the dishes of ordinary people were not very oily. At home, only Ji Xu would add more oil when frying, stir-frying, and stir-frying. Tian was not used to it and was reluctant to add more oil. Even if there was a little bit of oil, she would mix it with the rice and eat it all.
Therefore, the bowls and plates were not greasy, and there was no泔水. After washing with soapberry water, the water was poured into the ditch, flowed outside, and discharged into the moat outside the city. The second water could even be used to water the vegetable fields.
Therefore, there is not much garbage at home, so it is okay to throw it away once in the morning.
If nothing unexpected happens, her family should be able to avoid the plague outside and live their lives peacefully at home.
But it is already August, and no one knows how long the plague will last. The tax money for September, more than 200 taels, has not been settled yet. Ji Xu couldn't help but think about making money.
A while ago, she went out to read a notice that said the shelter was looking to hire a cook who was good at cooking. It might be risky and the monthly salary would be considerable, but the shelter was a place for people with plague, which sounded scary. Ji Xu didn't know the situation inside and didn't dare to go. If she got infected with the plague, it would be a big deal. However, the annual tax would not be exempted because of the plague.
Ji Xu thought about it and decided that if it really didn't work out, he would have to sell his son and pawn his belongings to get out of the emergency. The restaurant was now reopened, and the gifts received from the ladies of various families when it opened were placed in it, so they were still worth some money.
Recently, there have been more and more plagues outside, and Wu Dou finally stopped going to the West Market to fight cocks because someone there was infected with the plague, and even the cockfighting venue was dispersed by the Yulin Guards.
Even the Imperial College has dismissed its students and sent them home. All the major restaurants in Gao City have closed down, including Manxianglou.
It was much quieter here, but Shopkeeper Hu was smashing things upstairs because she was also starting to break out in rashes.
A few days ago, a clerk in Manxianglou got a folk prescription from somewhere. It was to use six parts of mulberry bark and six parts of gardenia, boil them in eight parts of water, and take it.
She had been taking the medicine until now, but it had no effect at all. The rash had spread to her face, covered with bumps. She looked in the mirror, smashed it to pieces, and cursed Yang Liu's ancestors for eighteen generations.
"Yang Liu!"
She had contracted all these blemishes after accompanying Yang Liu for a drink. Not only her, but also two shop assistants who had helped him in the store had contracted the plague. Now she had thrown them into a shelter in the eastern suburbs to fend for themselves.
In her opinion, the quack doctors there could not cure patients, and even if they developed some prescriptions, she had a way to get them, so she avoided going out and refused to go to the asylum.
"Oh no, oh no," the accountant rushed over and said, "Yang Liu from the shelter has died..."
Shopkeeper Hu, who had just cursed Yang Liu, had a gloomy face. The self in the broken mirror seemed to have turned into Yang Liu, coming to take her life. Shopkeeper Hu's voice became shrill.
"Go again, go find the doctor again. I have plenty of gold, silver and jewelry. Go quickly!"
On this day, all officials were meeting in the Xuanshi Hall of Weiyang Palace. Because of the plague in the Five Tombs, Li Dan was reprimanded by the general.
Although he did two things at the beginning, Zhuang Gaiyi concealed one thing when reporting on his work, and secretly became the late Junshu Ling, Li Dan was unaware of it.
But now silk and cloth are scattered everywhere and plague is raging. The general, who is over fifty years old, doesn't care about his old face and reprimands him for failing to govern his subordinates. Only the old prime minister has pity on him.
On the other hand, Zhuang Gaiyi, who was of lower rank than him, was recognized by the general for his meritorious service in detecting the plague, and the task of sealing Hangu Pass was also entrusted to him.
Li Dan felt bad, so he quietly suggested to the old prime minister:
"I heard that people were terrified of the internment camp, saying it was a place where people were burned alive. This rumor was spread because Yu Lin Lang was too tyrannical and domineering.
I have a humble opinion. There is a beautiful girl that is favored by many people. She is sought after by many customers. It would be better to send her to a shelter to cook for the plague patients.
I think the shelter will have a good reputation, and those who are infected with the plague will no longer hide in the Yulinlang. "
The old Prime Minister twirled his beard and nodded. Li Dan continued:
"The Yulin Lang have the duty of guarding the palace. If one of them were to accidentally contract the plague and bring it into the palace walls, wouldn't that be dangerous?
I am willing to make amends for my mistakes by loaning 200 of my soldiers to the shelter to help protect the Yulin Lang."
That day, Ji Xu was picking melons in the vegetable garden. These were the first batch of melons, with tender green skins, dried in the sun and cooled in well water. After they had dinner, they cut them and ate them with the maids.
The flesh is as white as fat and very sweet when you bite it. Even the seeds are sweet and can be eaten together. It is very refreshing.
Suddenly, the courtyard door shook loudly, and someone shouted to open the door. Tian asked through the door:
"Who's that outside?"
"Li family soldiers, come and take the girl to the shelter."
When Tian heard about the shelter, he scolded:
"My daughter has been at home recently and hasn't been anywhere. She doesn't have the plague. Why should she go to the shelter with you?"
"It's always been Yulinlang who's been running around for the shelter. Why are you the one doing it now?"
Ji Xu said, the one outside is the steward of the Li family, he said:
"The Yulin Lang are short-staffed, so we're seconded to the shelter to help out. We're here on the Prime Minister's orders to hire a young lady named Jin to work in the shelter's kitchen. If you continue to dawdle and disobey orders, don't blame us for breaking down the door and forcing you into captivity."
As he said that, he ordered the door to be broken.
"How dare you, old man!"
There was a rough shout, and then Yulu and his men came to stop him, pointing knives at him on horseback.
"Master You, this is a great disaster for the people. If a girl is ready, I will give her a large sum of money. If you stop me, you will abandon the people's livelihood. An official is for a woman, not for the people. Even your brother can't protect you."
"Bah! Stop using your power as a banner. If that old thief Li dares to play dirty tricks while my brother's away, don't blame me for killing all his men!"
As he was about to raise his sword to fight, he saw the door open and Ji Xu appeared.
She also understood clearly inside that if there were casualties in front of her door, Li Dan might get hold of Yulu, and his brother would also be implicated.
She thought that her family had received favors from Zhuang Gaiyi, which meant that she and he were in the same boat. If someone wanted to punish him, they might want to start with her, so she opened the door, causing Wufu to shout "Stop."
She was afraid that her voice was not strong enough and Youlu's knife would have chopped her off. Fortunately, he stopped and Youlu looked over immediately. She said:
"I'll go to the shelter with you. However, since you're asking for my help, how much will it be?"
"We all know the origin of the One Gold Lady's nickname. Naturally, the reward for a day's work is one gold coin. However, the plague is so vicious that even strong men cannot escape it. The lady is weak, and it's a matter of whether she will survive in the end."
The steward spoke arrogantly, and Youluo was enraged. He jumped off his horse, passed dozens of palace soldiers, grabbed the steward Li, and put the big knife on his neck.
"Brother You! Don't be impulsive. He said that on purpose for you to hear. I don't necessarily think I'll be infected with the plague."
Ji Xu held up his big knife and, while trying to persuade him, pushed it away from his bleeding neck little by little. Finally, You Lu angrily cut the flag of the Li family to vent his anger.
After talking for a while, Ji Xu went back to the house to pack her things. She found a piece of cloth and took some daily necessities such as clothes, soapberry, toothbrush, and bamboo salt with her.
She also packed some Atractylodes macrocephala, realgar wine, sachets for warding off epidemics, and three face coverings she had sewn, which were packed into two separate bundles.
"Daughter, you can't go there. The plague is transmitted through the breath of the mouth and nose. Everywhere is infected with the plague. If you go there, how can you escape?"
Tian tried to stop her with tears and snot, and her two younger sisters followed her, with tears in their eyes, and refused to let her go.
"Mother finally remembered what I said. You should do it in the future and stop arguing with others. Now the knife is on your neck. You have to go even if you don't want to.
We can't let Brother You really start a fight with others, that would be a big deal. Just think of me going there to earn tax money. Don't be sad, mother. I will do my best to protect myself and come back alive to see you."
"Daughter, you can't go anywhere. I can only cook two dishes for those people suffering from the plague. I can do that, damn it! Take me away!"
Tian started to make a scene, and Ji Xu asked Wufu and Liugu to stop them. All four of them, except Yindou, were weeping. She and the calm Yindou said,
"You should persuade the lady to stop causing trouble and keep an eye on her at all times. Don't let her get out of the house out of boredom. I will find a way to pass on a message to you."
As he said this, he got on the carriage and asked Youlu to follow him to the shelter.
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