245. Victim
The little dumpling has come home from school.
As soon as I stepped into the gate of the Marquis of Beiding’s mansion, I heard crying coming from the courtyard.
The little dumpling looked up and saw Tao Wanbi kneeling on the cold ground, her hair disheveled and her face covered in tears, crying out in Jiang Xiyue's direction: "Madam, I am truly innocent! It was Uncle Li who told me that my sister had instigated the young master to punish me. I was confused and believed him. I was kept in the dark!"
Jiang Xiyue stood under the eaves, her face indifferent, and did not respond.
As soon as Tao Wanbi turned her head and saw the little dumpling, she immediately crawled forward two steps, grabbed the little dumpling's clothes, and cried, "Little sister, I'm sorry, I was wrong. I shouldn't have believed Uncle Li's rumors and shouldn't have said bad things about you. Please forgive me, okay? I really know I was wrong!"
The second brother yanked Tao Wanbi's hand away, his face flushed with anger: "Stop pretending to be pitiful! Just a few days ago you were saying your sister bullied you, and now you're apologizing? Who believes you!"
As he spoke, he bent down, picked up the little dumpling, and half-dragged, half-carried her toward the main room: "Mom, look at her! Even at a time like this, she's still trying to lie to people. Let's ignore her!"
Seeing Tao Wanbi crying so sadly, the little boy asked softly, "Second brother, does she really know she was wrong?"
The second brother said as they walked, "Don't believe her! She's just pretending to cry because she's afraid we'll ignore her!"
He angrily added to Jiang Xiyue, "Mom, she's definitely trying to trick us into forgiving her!"
Jiang Xiyue patted the little dumpling's head, then looked at her second brother and said, "I know."
She instructed the servants: "Please take Miss Tao back to her room. Have someone watch over her. She is not allowed to leave the courtyard or have any contact with Yue'er until this matter is over."
The servant responded and left.
Jiang Xiyue took the little dumpling from her second brother and hugged her tightly: "Yue'er, don't worry, Mother will handle it. I won't let her bother you again."
The little dumpling nodded and nestled in Jiang Xiyue's arms.
She didn't know if Tao Wanbi was telling the truth or not, but her second brother and mother wouldn't let her get close, so she listened to them.
Tao Wanbi, who was "invited" into the room by the servants, looked at the tightly closed door, and the grievance on her face instantly disappeared, replaced by resentment: "I have done as you said, but the Marquis of Beiding's mansion still does not believe me, what should I do?"
She spoke to the system, and the system responded quickly.
Don't panic. As long as you maintain your victimhood, they can't do anything to you. What you need to do now is stay quietly in the room and avoid making any more mistakes.
Tao Wanbi could only nod.
She has no choice but to listen to the system now.
-
Qiuhe City.
Xie Wenling stood in front of the sand table, looking at the wooden plaques representing different areas one by one, his expression solemn.
"Add two more checkpoints in the East District, allowing entry but not exit. All residents must have their pulse checked daily, and anyone with a fever must be immediately sent to an isolation tent," he ordered his entourage, his voice hoarse from days of rest. "The West District must be given priority in the supply of food and medicine, and ten more medical workers will be sent there."
The attendant had just left after receiving his orders when the clerk in charge of recording the epidemic rushed over with one piece of bad news after another: "Lord Xie, there are more than thirty new patients with fever today. The isolation tents are almost not enough, and there are also a few elderly and weak patients... who did not make it."
Xie Wenling clenched his fist and didn't say anything more.
He stepped outside the tent, and the cold wind carrying the smell of medicine rushed towards him. In the distance, outside the isolation tent, many people were anxiously peering through the fence, and the sound of soft sobbing could be heard intermittently.
The imperial physician hurriedly came out of the medicine tent, his eyes red-rimmed: "Lord Xie, we have tried several prescriptions, but they can only relieve the symptoms and cannot cure the disease. If we cannot find a suitable prescription, the situation will get worse."
Xie Wenling took a deep breath and patted the imperial physician on the shoulder: "Thank you for your hard work. Think of another way. If you need any medicinal herbs, just let me know. I have already sent people to procure them from the surrounding prefectures. They should arrive soon."
Despite saying that, he knew in his heart that the spread of the epidemic was much faster than the transportation of medicinal materials.
He thought for a moment, then lifted the curtain and stepped into the medical tent.
Inside the medical tent, the smell of medicine was so strong it was pungent.
Shenyang Nongshou sat at his desk, dozens of medical books spread out in front of him, his paper covered with herbal illustrations, his eyes bloodshot.
He came with the imperial edict from the capital; he had volunteered to come and help.
“Lord Xie,” Shenyang Nong turned to look at Xie Wenling who had walked in, his voice weary, “I just tried a modified version of the Qingwen formula, with three times the amount of Scutellaria baicalensis. It can temporarily suppress the high fever, but the effect only lasts for two hours, and it is almost useless for elderly and weak patients.”
He pointed to the dregs of medicine on the table: "What we lack now is snow ginseng. This medicine can strengthen the body and nourish the vital energy, but the stock in the surrounding prefectures has long been depleted. Even if we send a fast horse to the capital to get it, it will take at least ten days."
Xie Wenling looked at the stack of prescriptions on the table, then at the people queuing outside the tent to receive their medicine, and frowned: "I'll send someone to urge them again. You should rest for a while too. If you collapse, who will save these people?"
Shenyang Nong shook his head, picked up the medical book and started flipping through it again: "I can hold on. Every time I try, there's a better chance. It's you, Lord Xie, who should take a break."
Xie Wenling has been the one who has worked the hardest during this period.
“No need,” Xie Wenling shook his head as well, “It’s not time to rest yet.”
-
The King of Zhennan's main camp was located in Huaqu City, surrounded by guards, and no one was allowed to approach it.
He absolutely refused to go into the city.
He always felt that the city was ravaged by plague, and that no amount of power would be of any use if he were to contract the disease and die.
Therefore, he only agreed to stay in the safe city of Huaqu, providing resources for Xie Wenling, and resolutely refused to take a single step near Qiuhe City.
At this moment, the Prince of Zhennan sat at his desk, holding the replies from various princes in his hands, which were trembling.
Some of the letters were polite refusals, some were doubts... but it was all fine.
What he feared most were those letters that had agreed and said they were ready to send troops.
"Damn it!" The Prince of Zhennan slammed the letter on the table, his face ashen.
Things are different now. If those people really send troops, he'll probably really be dead.
"Quickly, pen and ink!" The Prince of Zhennan called out urgently to his confidant, spread out the letter paper, and his hands trembled so much that he could not even hold the pen steadily.
As he wrote, he muttered to himself, "I drank too much the other day and spoke incoherently. The contents of this letter are all jests, my dear brother. Please don't take them seriously. Once the plague is over, I will apologize to you..."
He quickly sealed it up and sent it by fast horse. He then slumped into a chair, his back covered in cold sweat.
-
Xie Wenling wrapped himself tightly in a long, coarse cloth coat soaked in mugwort juice, and covered his mouth and nose with two layers of thick cotton cloth—this was a protective method specifically instructed by Shenyang farmers.
He walked along the dirt road covered with a thin layer of ice, heading first towards the outermost intensive care isolation area. Conspicuous red ribbons hung on the wooden fence outside the area, fluttering in the cold wind, silently reminding people of the urgency of the situation.
A strong medicinal smell mixed with a stuffy atmosphere wafted over.
"Thank you, Your Excellency!" The guard on duty immediately stepped forward when he saw him arrive, his voice very low. "Two more patients inside have just started coughing badly, and the imperial physician is busy administering acupuncture. The ephedra and apricot kernels in the medicine storeroom are almost gone."
Xie Wenling nodded and walked inside.
Inside, there were separate and managed small tents, one after another.
Originally, most patients recuperated at home, or were arranged by the former county government to live in a house.
After he arrived, he changed it to this.
Firstly, it can prevent repeated infections from constantly worsening the condition and ultimately leading to the death of everyone.
Secondly... he doesn't like to gamble on human nature.
He worried that some patients, knowing their time was running out, would deliberately go out and spread the plague.
In this way, they can be controlled.
He lifted the curtains one by one to check on the patients. Many of them were covered with thick blankets, but they were still coughing incessantly. Some even curled up from coughing, their foreheads covered in cold sweat.
Inside one of the tents, a fully armed imperial physician was kneeling beside an old woman's bed, rapidly inserting silver needles into acupoints. Beads of sweat streamed down his forehead, but he didn't bother to wipe them away.
"How is it?" Xie Wenling walked over and asked softly.
The imperial physician straightened up, his mouth and nose covered by layers of cotton cloth, his voice muffled: "The situation is temporarily stable, but the high fever won't go down. Without the right medicine, he won't last much longer."
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