The situation in the village was worse than Huangfu Chen and Co had imagined. There were a few hundred people in the two villages, to begin with. Other than those taking refuge in the city, there were about a couple of hundred left, and at least 80% of them were infected with typhoid fever.
Huangfu Chen began by selecting the healthy ones, then he asked them to take the medicine to prevent typhoid fever. Originally, he wanted these people to leave, but Xu Ji felt otherwise. He argued that since these people had lived with the infected patients for a few days, they could not leave the village so as to prevent them from getting sick and infecting others.
Ye Zhen had no opinion about Xu Ji’s reasoning. She continued to brew medicine in the pavilion at the entrance of the village. She had filled enough lingquan in the porcelain bottle to last for the day.
“What is this?” Xu Ji who has been observing Ye Zhen, upon seeing that she deliberately added water from the porcelain bottle when she was brewing the medicine, asked doubtfully.
“Refined medicinal soup,” Ye Zhen replied indifferently.
Xu Ji looked at her two pots of medicine soup, and his eyes flashed with a touch of disdain. “Do you think you can save those people inside with these?”
Ye Zhen did not even raise her head to ask, “If not, does Commander Xu have other methods?”
“When you come to your wit’s end, you will use my method naturally,” Xu Ji said cocksure.
Is there any better way to cure those patients? Ye Zhen smiled faintly and ignored him.
On the first day, Huangfu Chen and Qi Jin brought their people in to give the medicine to the villagers. Those who were not sick were told to find another place of shelter to avoid being infected. At night, Huangfu Chen and the others didn’t leave the village. They had already come into contact with typhoid fever patients. If they were to head back to the city, they could infect others. Therefore, they decided to rest in the village.
“Miss, you should go back and rest,” Dai Mei advised Ye Zhen who still refused to leave.
Ye Zhen nodded lightly. For some reason, she suddenly felt a little uneasy. “I wonder how Master is doing. He’s been running around non-stop these last few days, he must be very tired.”
“Mr. Huangfu is a divine doctor. He will take care of himself,” Dai Mei said.
She had brewed tea with lingquan and packed it in a water bag for him to carry. She was worried if Master would remember to drink it.
“Let’s come back tomorrow!” Ye Zhen said. Now that Huangfu Chen and Qi Jin were both in the village, it was useless for them to linger here.
When she returned to the city, Ye Zhen looked at the quiet road. The moonlight gently sprinkled on the ground. The roads were still covered by the silt the flood left behind. The rain had stopped, and the people of Huaijiang City had already begun to clean their houses though some had yet to react. Although there had always been flooding at this time in the past, it had never been on the scale as this year. Not only had the city been closed for a few days, but people also panicked because of the typhoid epidemic.
“Has the construction on the begun?” Ye Zhen asked in a low voice
Dai Mei said, “This servant heard today that the dam is already being built, and Lord Zheng personally brought someone to build it.”
Ye Zhen didn’t quite understand how the imperial court would punish those officials responsible for this disaster. Now, all she wanted was to find out who had embezzled the medicinal supplies, and where they went. If it was Eldest Uncle scheming behind the scenes, who else would dare to do so now that he was gone?
“Miss, we are here.” The carriage had stopped at some point, and the steward stood outside the door to greet her.
The servants here had been all arranged by Mo Rongzhan, and they took good care of Ye Zhen. If it wasn’t for her insistence, these people would not let her go to the medical bureau.
“Your Highness, someone sent you a letter today.” the steward said while holding the letter.
Ye Zhen was surprised. “What letter?”
The steward handed over the letter in his hands. “Your Highness, here it is.”
I didn’t tell the Lu family I am in Huaijiang City, could it be Mo Rongzhan? Impossible, there was no need for him to send a letter through the steward. Ye Zhen opened the envelope in confusion. There was only one sentence in the letter —
This is an old friend, see you tomorrow morning at the Jianglou*.
[*a house by the river.]
What does this mean? Who else knows about my presence here in Huaijiang City?
“Where is the Jianglou?” Ye Zhen asked the steward curiously.
“It’s near the gate. The river tower is two floors higher than the city wall. You can look at the river. It’s actually called Wangjiang*,” he replied.
[*the river tower]
Ye Zhen nodded gently. “Who was the messenger that delivered the letter?”
“It’s a maid of about fifteen or sixteen years old,” the steward replied.
She had no idea who it would be. The more Ye Zhen listened, the more confused she became. Since it was supposedly an old friend and knew that she was in Huaijiang, she should go to see the person.
Ye Zhen got up early the next morning. She didn’t know what time the so-called old friend wanted to meet her, but she had to go out of the city to brew the medicine. She didn’t have even have time for breakfast. The sun had yet to appear when she arrived at Wangjiang.
Wangjiang had three rooms on each floor and was five floors high. There were no guests in the lobby. Probably because of the flood, the tables and chairs in the lobby seemed to have been cleaned recently, some water stains had yet to dry.
Where is am I going to find the old friend?
“Are you Miss Lu?” The innkeeper came out and looked at Ye Zhen with a smile.
“How do you know my last name is Lu?” Ye Zhen asked, eyebrows raised.
The innkeeper smiled and said, “According to the guest upstairs, if a beautiful lady were to come this morning, it would definitely be Miss Lu.”
Ye Zhen frowned. “Innkeeper, take me to that guest first.”
“Miss Lu will be able to see him once she goes to the top floor.” He bowed and invited Ye Zhen to go upstairs.
It seemed that the other party knew that she would come at this time. Puzzled, she walked towards the top floor. The top floor was different from the other floors. It was just for the purpose of looking at the river. The scenery was beautiful, and ordinary people could not go up easily.
Ye Zhen walked out of the stairs and saw a figure sitting outside the corridor, she immediately recognized him.
“Zhao Tianji? How could it be you!” She had been with Zhao Tianji for half a month, so naturally, she could recognize him.
“Why can’t it be me?” Zhao Tianji turned around and smiled at her. “Do you think that I would run away like a stray dog without an iron mine?” He snorted unhappily. He was very unhappy that Ye Zhen had underestimated him.
Ye Zhen said, “That’s not what I meant, but your iron mine is gone, as is your villa. Aren’t you afraid that the imperial court will capture you?”
“There’s no notice on the street to arrest me, not even an image, what am I afraid of?” Zhao Tianji asked. “If I hadn’t heard that you were here to save people, I wouldn’t have come to this damned place.”
“Then what are you doing here?” Ye Zhen asked helplessly, “It can’t be that you want to catch up with us, right? We don’t have the time.”
Zhao Tianji curled his lips. “I just happened to be passing by and felt I could see you.”
“I have other things to do. Let’s talk after I’m done.” Knowing that the so-called old friend was Zhao Tianji, Ye Zhen left the city at ease.
♚♚♚
Thank you for supporting HDD till this day. ? -Lunarise
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