Chapter 191: Chaos in Xiaocheng (Thirty-One)
Zhai Le failed to grasp the underlying meaning in Shen Tang's words.
He thought Shen Tang was simply sympathizing with the tragically killed people, and then sighed, "With such a high level of force, let alone these ordinary people, even I wouldn't dare say I would have landed unharmed. I would most likely have suffered broken bones and been bedridden for three to five days..."
If even a high-ranking official like Zhai Le is in such a sorry state, what about the sickly common people? Now, all we can do is pray that they don't suffer too much before they die; the rest—
It was truly beyond our reach and we were powerless to help!
Thinking of this, Zhai Le wished he could smash the bunker to pieces with his fist, but he couldn't just rush out and stop them without saying a word. The enemy had plenty of horses and supplies, and their few hundred exhausted soldiers would only be offering themselves up for kills and military exploits if they went out to fight.
Shen Tang said, "That's not what I meant."
She wasn't naive enough to think that a living person thrown by a catapult could escape unharmed over the high city walls. It was just a sudden inspiration that triggered a terrible thought: "I'm worried that the corpses of the people will cause an epidemic."
Upon hearing the word "epidemic," Zhai Le felt a chill run down his spine.
He said, "Epidemic...epidemic???"
Zhai Le looked at the city gate of Xiaocheng with a mixture of surprise and fear.
Whether it was Shen Tang's words that gave him some kind of hint or it was just psychological, he felt that the Xiaocheng city wall under the night sky resembled a giant beast curled up on the ground, trembling and barely breathing.
They were powerless to resist the rebels' exposed claws.
Shen Tang said, "What's so surprising about that?"
Zhai Le asked, "Why did you suddenly think of this?"
Shen Tang: "A great disaster is always followed by a great epidemic."
She had just been wondering why all the people looked so sickly. It was normal for three or five out of ten to be sick; after all, in the current environment, the elderly and children faced hardship, and their weakened immune systems made them more susceptible to illness than the young and middle-aged. But—all the people thrown into Xiaocheng looked sickly, and that was very strange!
They didn't look like they were randomly captured by the rebels; rather, they seemed to have been carefully selected. Once this thought took hold, other speculations naturally followed. Why would the rebels randomly choose a group of sick civilians and dump them in Xiaocheng?
If it's just for intimidation, what ordinary person wouldn't be any different?
Why spend an extra effort on this?
Unless, they deliberately sent sick people to the area!
Then that phrase came to mind.
"While this statement is not absolute, a careful observation of the lives of people after each natural disaster or man-made calamity reveals some truth to it. Most epidemics are related to drinking unhealthy water and eating contaminated food. Coupled with the rampant presence of rats and mosquitoes, large-scale epidemics are very likely to break out."
Natural disasters such as floods, and man-made disasters such as war.
There are no natural disasters now, but man-made disasters are imminent.
Xiaocheng was besieged by rebel forces. The city's inhabitants not only faced the threat of the rebels but also crises related to water and food. The people of Xiaocheng weren't the only ones trapped; animals like snakes, insects, and rodents were also trapped. Driven mad by hunger, what wouldn't they eat?
Zhai Le was stunned for a long time.
He knew that natural disasters and man-made calamities often lead to rampant epidemics, but he never thought it was related to food and water. He had heard a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner from his tribe say that "epidemics are not caused by wind, cold, heat, or dampness, but by a strange kind of energy in the world."
In layman's terms, plagues are related to evil influences in the world. When these evil influences enter the body, they cause disease, and people with weak constitutions, such as the elderly and children, are most susceptible. What are these evil influences? They're probably similar to the energy of heaven and earth, or the energy of literature and martial arts.
The energy of heaven and earth can be transformed into literary energy and martial energy for people to use, which is beneficial energy, while evil energy will only cause epidemics.
The strength of evil influences varies in different seasons.
result--
My friend, however, said that the epidemic was related to drinking water.
Does he trust the doctor or his friends?
Zhai Le doesn't want to think about this for the time being.
He asked, "How could those corpses... cause a plague? Even if the people in the city are starving, they wouldn't eat them right now."
After all, we haven't run out of ammunition and food yet.
By then, the body will be almost completely rotten.
Shen Tang countered with a question: "If you were a citizen or a soldier in the city, and so many corpses fell from the sky, would you let them rot and stink, bury them anywhere, or simply throw them into the moat to save trouble? If you bury them, the hungry snakes, insects, and rats will dig them up. If you throw them into the moat... the water in the moat is connected to the water used by the people, how can it be clean?"
Currently, apart from a few well-off families who drink boiled water, the vast majority of people drink raw water. They believe that as long as the water is clear, it is safe to drink, unaware that it harbors a large number of microorganisms and even parasites.
Even the healthiest body can't withstand this kind of overexertion.
Zhai Le paused, "This..."
He was thinking, "Haven't we always done things this way?"
And there was no disease everywhere.
If even drinking water is this dangerous, are there any living people left in this world? But Shen Tang spoke with such conviction that he couldn't help but believe her.
"Whether the rebels did it intentionally or unintentionally..." Shen Tang paused, her expression slightly somber. Whatever the reason, what help could she offer? She couldn't turn the tide and repel the rebels, nor could she save the people of Xiaocheng from their suffering.
Suddenly, a strong sense of powerlessness made her sigh.
Watching a tragedy unfold helplessly, with no power to reverse it, is a bitter experience known only to oneself.
She had previously mocked Qi Shan for having great skills but being pessimistic by nature and unable to stand the world. Why didn't she actively participate in it, choose a wise ruler in her heart, and wholeheartedly assist him to quell the chaos? Regardless of success or failure, it was better than making sarcastic remarks.
Looking back now, the clown was actually herself.
She now seemed to understand Qi Shan's feelings when he said, "There has never been a time of 'stability' in the four directions." It wasn't that he was pessimistic by nature, but rather that she was young and passionate, yet had not been tempered by the harsh realities of life, and did not know how heavy the weight of the words "pacifying the chaotic world" truly was.
【The old landscape is now filled with new sorrows】.
Pacifying a chaotic world is no easy task.
In the end, all that remained was a sigh of regret.
I long to buy osmanthus blossoms and share wine, but it will never be like the carefree days of my youth.
Young man...
Before Shen Tang could finish her sigh, Qi Shan abruptly interrupted her with a slap on the back of the head. Clutching her aching head, she glared at Qi Shan and demanded, "Why did you ambush me?"
That's a lack of martial ethics!
Qi Shan frowned: "What's with that expression?"
He looked so dejected, like someone was holding a funeral; it was an unlucky sight.
Shen Tang rubbed the back of her head: "I suddenly understand how you felt back then, didn't I? Sigh—but you hit me, so we're even. I won't apologize to you. Be gentler next time."
If she hadn't meant no harm, she might have broken his hand.
Qi Shan: "..."
It took a long time for me to understand what Shen Tang was referring to.
He was both amused and exasperated: "Why are you, a twelve-year-old boy, making such a fuss? It's not like you're too old to walk."
That pretentious, old-fashioned attitude is really asking for a beating.
Shen Tang: "..."
Qi Shan raised an eyebrow and teased her, "You Li is only twelve, and I'm only twenty-four. At this age, you're already lamenting 'Things are not what they used to be,' what makes Chu Wu Hui feel that way?"
They are all still young.
Being young means having energy.
How could I not bear the weight of the words "pacify the world"?
This Xiaocheng before them is merely the tip of the iceberg, a microcosm of the entire chaotic world. They are helpless now, but that doesn't mean they can't in the future. Neither he nor Young Master Shen should be discouraged by the current difficulties and lose their fighting spirit!
Shen Tang: "..."
For a moment, I didn't know whether to complain that Qi Bushan never forgets to criticize Wu Hui, or that he's taken the wrong medicine and is just hot-blooded.
Thanks to Qi Shan's interruption, she was able to extricate herself from that feeling of helplessness and dejection, and subconsciously began to think of a solution.
Our forces are outnumbered and have almost no supplies.
There is no hope of fighting the rebels head-on.
So, is it possible to take a roundabout approach?
For example--
Should we use their own methods against them? Or intercept their supply convoy and harass them as much as possible? Or perhaps infiltrate the city and contact the commander currently stationed in Xiaocheng to warn them of the potential disaster?
Shen Tang hesitated.
In the end, we still need to discuss it with Qi Shan and the others.
The outcome of the discussion was still unknown, but Commander Yang, a grown man, had tears welling up in his eyes and almost shed them in public. He hadn't expected that in such a desperate situation, there would still be benevolent and righteous people willing to work tirelessly for Xiaocheng.
Shen Tang: "..."
Hey, if Commander Yang knew who intercepted the tax silver he was guarding, he'd probably fly into a rage and beat her to a pulp.
_(:з)∠)_
Qi Shan was interested in the first proposal.
Zhai Huan prefers the second one.
Commandant Yang rejected the third one.
The scholars and warriors could infiltrate Xiaocheng without alerting the enemy, but the soldiers accompanying them could not. Without their command and coordination, they would be doomed if they encountered the rebels. As for the first and second options, he was wavering.
Zhai Huan: "..."
Feeling overwhelmed by indecisiveness again?
Shen Tang muttered, "If only we could relieve the siege of Wei by attacking Zhao."
Force the rebels to withdraw their troops!
Unfortunately, they didn't know where the rebels' weaknesses lay. Their first and second plans were primarily harassment-based, unlikely to inflict devastating damage. If only they could use their opponent's strength against them…
Leveraging resources...
Hit hard?
Something suddenly flashed through Shen Tang's mind.
She said, "Wait—I suddenly thought of a way. Perhaps we can use their strength against them. Let them use their own strength against us... Let Zheng Qiao's family fight like dogs! We have fewer troops, but we definitely have more troops in some areas. Isn't Zheng Qiao one of them?"
Zhai Ledao: "Zheng Qiao sent troops to aid Xiaocheng?"
Zhai Huan also said, "The possibility is unlikely."
The rebel army led by the Prince of Zhi suddenly turned against them and launched a surprise attack. Zheng Qiao's side didn't know when they would receive the news. Furthermore, although Xiaocheng was the capital of Sibao County and Sibao County had a good geographical location, it was not important enough for Zheng Qiao to take the time to give it special attention.
In comparison, other lost territories are more important.
Shen Tang continued, "What if... the Imperial Seal is in Xiaocheng? Zheng Qiao has the Imperial Seal of Geng Kingdom, so the rebels are nothing to fear in his eyes. But if the Imperial Seal in Xiaocheng falls into the hands of the rebels like the King of Zhi, the situation will be very different! If Zheng Qiao finds out, he will definitely send troops to stop them immediately! As long as Xiaocheng can hold out until then, there might be a glimmer of hope!"
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
