Seeing how this pair of master and apprentice did not heed to his words and blatantly ignored him, Xu Ji was displeased. He was about to open his mouth in protest when he recalled his sister’s request, he swallowed back his words.
After receiving his sister’s letter, he had planned to return to the capital to help her. As an important commander of the Huainan Governor-general (a military office), he had a promising future, and it was not wise to leave Huainan at this time. He did not like to study since he was a child so was thrown into the military camp by his father. He rose through the ranks, from a small soldier to the commander of the three battalions (500 soldiers in a battalion), and had earned the deep trust of Governor-general Zhang. He may soon be able to become a general (only subordinate to the governor). But now, he need not think about those matters anymore.
He hadn’t expected to meet Lu Yaoyao in Huaijiang, nor the floods at this time, so when Zheng Yulong’s urgent report arrived, he offered to send the medical supplies.
As she whispered to Huangfu Chen and turned around to stroll down the city wall, Ye Zhen didn’t even notice Xu Ji’s peculiar glance.
Xu Ji glanced at Huangfu Chen. He wanted to get rid of Lu Yaoyao but didn’t want to offend this man, so he had to be discreet about it. “Mr. Huangfu, it’s very irrational of you to do this.”
Huangfu Chen smiled faintly. “Brigade Commander Xu tell me, how can I treat patients rationally?”
How would I know? I am not a doctor! Xu Ji smiled. “I came here this time to lend a hand to Lord Zheng in surviving the flood. I believe that aid from the capital will arrive soon. The embankment collapsed leading to floods…. When the time comes… Who knows how many will be implicated.”
“If my memory serves me well, Prime Minister Xu was in charge of the construction of the dam. There has never been such heavy rains in the Huaijiang River before, and the matter of dyke collapsing had nothing to do with man-made factors. You might want to look into it,” Huangfu Chen said lightly.
Having been enlightened about the situation, Xu Ji didn’t dare to say another word. “What exactly do you mean, Mr. Huangfu?”
Huangfu Chen smiled and shook his head. “It’s not interesting.”
Xu Ji frowned and glanced at him. With Huangfu Chen here, it seems it would not be easy for him to deal with Lu Yaoyao.
Once Ye Zhen returned to the medical bureau, she directly went to look for Qi Jin and told her that she wanted to go into the villages to treat the villagers.
Qi Jin frowned and took a moment before saying, “I’ll go in with Ah Chen. I’ve recovered from typhoid fever and won’t be infected with this disease again. You can brew the medicine at the entrance of the village instead of entering the village.”
“Imperial Physician Qi, you and Master are really the same. He told me not to enter the village too.” Ye Zhen laughed.
“That’s for your own good,” Qi Jin said. If something were to happen to this little girl, how would one face the wrath of the empress dowager and the emperor!
Ye Zhen felt that the best way she could help was through brewing the medicine, and it didn’t need her to enter the village. “Then I’ll go get the herbs and prepare them first. It can save me some time tomorrow.”
The herbs sent by Xu Ji had been temporarily transferred from across Huainan, and several carts were now parked in the medicine warehouse. She had been so busy earlier that she hadn’t had time to take stock of medicinal supplies since it was her first time seeing them.
“These medicines are much better than the ones we had before.” Ye Zhen smiled and asked Xue Lin to open the sack.
Xia Yaohua picked up the prescription and said, “Of course, Governor-general Zhang personally ordered these things. Who would dare to substitute them with shoddy goods?”
Ye Zhen frowned as she looked at these herbs. She was blessed with a photographic memory and a very sensitive intuition towards herbs. For some reason, she felt that these herbs… It was very similar to what was produced in the medicine field of the Imperial Physicians’ Courtyard. Unlike other places, the herbs in the medicine field were all produced by the best farmers. Other than Langshan*, there was probably no other place that could produce such good herbs.
[*Wolf Mountain]
However, this was based on her intuition and she wasn’t certain. Perhaps it was because her heart was filled with some doubts that she was thinking too much.
“Your Highness, look.” Xue Lin pointed at one of the sacks and gestured for Ye Zhen to take a look.
There was a red seal at the bottom of the sack. This seal was exclusive to medicine field of the Imperial Physicians’ Courtyard. Because the sack had worn away, the red seal didn’t look obvious. If one didn’t look carefully, one would think that it was just something that was smeared on it.
Ye Zhen was able to see it at a glance because she had personally seen the seal when she was in the medicine field.
“Go and investigate!” Ye Zhen said to Xue Lin in a low voice. She believed that this sack had not appeared by chance. Someone must have deliberately mixed these medicinal herbs to attract attention. Those who coveted the medicinal herbs would not be so stupid as to bring the medicine in the sack from the Imperial Physicians’ Courtyard.
“Yes!” Xue Lin replied in a low voice.
“Yaoyao, is this enough?” Xia Yaohua walked over and asked.
Ye Zhen winked at Xue Lin who then quietly left.
“That’s not enough. There are at least 200 people in the village. We don’t know how many of them are infected with typhoid fever,” Ye Zhen said.
“Then I’ll call a few more people to help,” Xia Yaohua said.
Ye Zhen looked at the medicinal herbs in the sack and suppressed her anger. If it weren’t for someone embezzling the medicinal herbs, would the Huaijiang epidemic be this dire? Truly heartless! However, when she realized that it was her eldest uncle that had brought this about, her rage turned to gloom. Unsurprisingly, the entire country believed that Ye Yisong deserved to die. Even she, his niece… felt that Eldest Uncle was truly evil to the bone and it was worthless defending him.
She didn’t know how to justify this.
The next day, Ye Zhen and Huangfu Chen left the city together. Many people from the medical bureau were unwilling to follow them into the village. It was Zheng Yulong who had ordered, so they reluctantly went in wearing masks.
Ye Zhen had everyone entering the village drink a bowl of medicine to prevent typhoid fever.
“Are you sure we won’t be infected if we take the medicine?” someone whispered.
“If that’s the case, then why didn’t Mr. Huangfu’s apprentice go in and instead insist that the rest of us go in and die?” someone shouted unwillingly.
Qi Jin coldly said, “She’s a doctor. Moreover, it was thanks to her meticulous care, that many people have been able to recover. Which one of you has the ability like her? Who knows how to cure typhoid fever?”
“Since she is so capable, send her in alone. Perhaps, they’ll all be instantly cured.”
“Exactly!”
Ye Zhen looked coldly at all the women and men (doctors) of the medical bureau. When faced with a life-or-death decision, people are indeed selfish.
Huangfu Chen said indifferently, “You don’t have to go in if you don’t want to. But take care not to fall ill, for how you treat your patients today will be how the other doctors will treat you tomorrow.”
“Get lost!” Zheng Yulong yelled at them angrily.
Nobody wanted to offend Huangfu Chen or lose their position in the medical bureau. They had no choice but to enter the village against their will.
♚♚♚
