"I will thoroughly investigate," Long Xuanmo’s spirit was jolted, his deep eyes harboring a bone-chillingly stern coldness.
At the break of the next day, Yang Mengchen lead Hai Tang, five others, Xiao Guai, three servants including Yang Cheng’an and Long Ruoshui, along with ten medical personnel. They rendezvoused with five thousand soldiers waiting outside the city and set off to Danyang County, carrying medicines and daily necessities, traveling day and night.
Yang Mengchen thought that arriving even a minute earlier could minimize the losses. Since Birdy had not clarified the specifics of the disaster, and Wende had mentioned that the report didn’t detail it either, she had no idea what to expect.
What would normally have been a five-day journey, the group completed in only three days.
About fifty miles from Danyang County, Yang Mengchen ordered her people to halt three men and a woman, along with two small boys, who were clearly infected with smallpox and trying to escape.
Yang Mengchen, Yang Cheng’an, and a few of the medical staff (who had already been vaccinated) first examined the six individuals. Fortunately, all six were in the early stages of infection. Yang Mengchen had her team promptly boil up medicinal decoctions on the spot for them to take.
"Where were you planning to go? Have you considered the severe consequences your arrival there might cause?" Yang Mengchen asked the four adults in a solemn voice.
Knowing that they were before Princess Chen, and that the famous Divine Doctor was alongside, who had specifically come to save the people of Tieling Village, and considering that their symptoms were relatively mild and manageable with medicinal soup, as long as they cooperated with the treatment they wouldn’t die, the four adults, grasping their children, knelt before Yang Mengchen, tears streaming down their grateful faces.
"We had no other choice..." Ma Kui, the eldest, spoke with a face full of pain and outrage. "When Li Er from our village first got infected with smallpox, the village chief isolated him immediately and reported it to Magistrate Hu in time;
instead, Magistrate Hu had the nerve to surround our entire village, forbidding anyone to leave and leaving us to fend for ourselves, causing more and more people to die from smallpox. Eventually, Magistrate Hu even said he would burn all the people in the village. If the villagers hadn’t resisted, Magistrate Hu would have set the fire five days ago;
We don’t mind our own deaths, but the two children are too young; we couldn’t just watch them be burnt alive, so we took advantage of the night to avoid the guards and secretly took the children to escape;
We only wanted to find a good doctor to treat the children, we never intended to harm others, please spare our lives, Princess!"
The four adults kept kowtowing for mercy, and the two children followed suit, their faces yellow and gaunt, their clothes ragged, looking extremely pitiful.
Gesturing to Lv Luo to bring some pastries and water for the six, Yang Mengchen watched them devour the food ravenously, her heart feeling exceptionally heavy and outraged.
"Tell me, what is the current situation in Tieling Village?"
"Our village originally had close to one thousand five hundred people. By the time we escaped last night, more than three hundred had died, and most of the rest had contracted smallpox, with only a very few unaffected. But Magistrate Hu has been surrounding the village for more than ten days now, and if this continues, even those not infected with smallpox will die of starvation."
Unable to contain her anger, Mo Mei exclaimed, "Not only did he conceal the epidemic without reporting it, but he also massacred the innocent. Hu Sheng deserves to die!"
Hai Tang and the others, as well as all the soldiers, were similarly filled with righteous indignation.
Yang Mengchen continued to question Ma Kui: "Where did the soldiers surrounding the village come from?"
"They’re from the garrison not far from the county town," Ma Kui answered truthfully. "The general’s name is Lu Tianhe, and he is Magistrate Hu’s brother-in-law."
"Has anyone left the village before you?"
Ma Kui nodded. "Seven people left, but I don’t know where they went or whether they’re dead or alive now."
"Were they infected with smallpox when they left?"
"Yes."
"Do you know what they look like?"
"I do."
"Then describe those seven people carefully. Shan Cha, immediately sketch their portraits (Shan Cha has a remarkable talent for drawing; sometimes Yang Mengchen dictates jewelry designs for Shan Cha to draw), and include their family relations." Yang Mengchen’s expression was cold, her brows furrowed. "Mo Mei, send the portraits to Prince as soon as possible, we must find these seven people, then take a hundred soldiers to detain Lu Tianhe and Hu Sheng and keep them under close watch;
Hong Ling, you and Deputy General Qiu take five hundred soldiers, along with Xiao Bai, and search tirelessly within Danyang County for the seven people. Once you find them, bring them back to Tieling Village immediately. Remember, aside from Hong Ling, Deputy General Qiu and the soldiers must not come into contact with the seven people."
The chances were slim, as the seven knew all too well that staying in Danyang County would eventually lead to their capture by Magistrate Hu and being burnt in Tieling Village, so they would certainly flee far from Danyang County. But Yang Mengchen couldn’t afford to take any chances, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable. She took out the Token bestowed by the Emperor and handed it to Mo Mei.
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