Ye Qingcheng watched the little girl leave, a touch of melancholy in her gaze. Bixi, finishing her task, looked at the girl's retreating figure and sighed, "I wonder which little brat ran to their doorstep and started scolding them."
Ye Qingcheng turned back to Bixi, "What did she say?"
Bixi couldn't help but sigh, "She said all sorts of unpleasant things, calling them harbingers of disaster, saying they brought the plague."
Ye Qingcheng glanced again at the little girl's receding back, "I hope they can endure. After all, one can control the heavens and the earth, but not other people's mouths. It's done!"
Alas~
In the following days, Ye Qingcheng took charge of a team. "Xiao Wangye has transferred all personnel from the Imperial Hospital, except for the院长 (yuànzhǎng - dean/director), here. The院长 must remain in the palace to ensure the safety of the noble person. Coupled with the doctors from the capital, we are about to fight another battle, a battle without smoke. This is a fight against Yama and his ghost messengers, so we must win."
The hearts of the assembled people were stirred, their morale soaring. Someone clenched their fist and shouted loudly, "We must win, we must win!"
Ye Qingcheng smiled and nodded.
From a high ground not far away, Xiao Wangye watched Ye Qingcheng below, her words inspiring, her brilliance shining in her domain.
Lin Xiao couldn't help but sigh, "In this regard, the Wangfei is truly like a general leading troops into battle."
Xiao Wangye did not refute, "She is indeed like a warrior."
At this moment, a soldier approached, "Wangye."
Xiao Wangye, still with his back to him, said coldly, "What is it?"
The soldier clasped his fist respectfully, "The院长 of the Imperial Hospital still insists on coming to the isolation zone. He says it is his battlefield, and he must be there."
Xiao Wangye waved his hand, signaling Lin Xiao to push him away, "He is old. Why should he go to such a place to join the fun? Since all the people from the Imperial Hospital are in the isolation zone, he can stay and take care of the Emperor!"
The soldier understood, "Yes."
Ye Qingcheng continued to arrange the personnel, "I need some people to research anti-plague medicine with me, and the rest will take care of the patients."
As soon as Ye Qingcheng finished speaking, a group of people raised their hands, and some began to recommend themselves.
"Wangfei, I have been in the Imperial Hospital for ten years, and I am quite familiar with some pharmacology."
"Wangfei, although I am not from the Imperial Hospital, I have been practicing medicine for twenty years and have even written a book."
"Wangfei..."
"Wangfei..."
Ye Qingcheng waved her hand, signaling them to be quiet.
"I understand that you are all very capable people, but we still need some people to care for these patients. I will now name some people to accompany me. The rest will stay. Imperial Physician Wang, Imperial Physician Zhou, Doctor Liu, Doctor Huang..."
Ye Qingcheng named several people, including imperial physicians and experienced doctors. Those who were not chosen, though not accompanying her, were still men of considerable merit.
"Also, Bixi, find someone to put windows in this house." She pointed to the house with no windows on any side. "Make sure to break out some windows for ventilation. If a group of people are in a poorly ventilated house, they will inevitably breed more sources of illness."
Bixi understood, "Yes."
Ye Qingcheng continued to instruct, "Tell them to continue cleaning and wiping with wine. If they run out, find people from outside. We must ensure that this place is clean and tidy."
Bixi nodded, "Good. But Wangfei, there are too many patients, and we don't have enough people here!"
"Then let Xiao Wangye go out and recruit people, recruit volunteers. Anyone willing to come, regardless of gender or status, will receive three taels of silver as compensation."
Bixi understood.
"Alright."
And so, for the next month, Ye Qingcheng and several doctors were confined to their rooms, not emerging. Lunch was placed at the door, and they ate when hungry, drank when thirsty.
However...
Bixi looked at the cooled, untouched meals and sighed helplessly. It had been almost a month, and the Wangfei and the doctors still hadn't eaten much. She wondered if they could hold on.
Inside the room, everyone had administered the prepared medicinal soup to the patients, but it was still ineffective. This was the 163rd failure.
Ye Qingcheng rubbed her temples wearily. She was too tired.
"The dosage has already been increased to the maximum. Why is it still..."
Ye Qingcheng clapped her hands, "Everyone, lift your spirits. We cannot be disheartened by failure. It's only been 63 failures. Failure is the mother of success. We will succeed."
Everyone's confidence reignited, "Yes, we will succeed."
Ye Qingcheng looked at the medicinal herbs on the table: "Jingjie 1 qian, Shiyao 5 qian, Xuanshen 1 liang, Tianhuafen 3 qian, Sheng Gancao 1 qian, Huangqin 2 qian, Chenpi 1 qian, Maiya 2 qian, Shenqu 3 qian, Fuling 5 qian. What if we change Jingjie to 3 qian?"
Everyone's eyes lit up. That's right! Previously, they had increased or decreased other dosages, but they hadn't touched the Jingjie.
This idea was met with everyone's agreement, "Then let's change Jingjie to 3 qian."
They decided to act immediately.
Meanwhile, in the capital's Li Mansion, Li Mo'er's nth escape attempt had failed, and she was caught by the army and sent back to the mansion, only to be confined to the ancestral shrine by her father and mother.
Li Xuan'er came to deliver food. Seeing her sister's resigned expression, she shook her head helplessly.
Li Mo'er, seeing her sister arrive, immediately pounced into her arms, "Sister, please let me go! I also want to contribute."
Li Xuan'er was unyielding, "You wish! Do you know who is in that isolation zone? Even if you went, the Wangfei would send you back."
But Li Mo'er was not convinced.
"Didn't the Regent say anyone regardless of gender or status?"
However, no matter what Li Mo'er said, Li Xuan'er refused to let her go. Regardless of what their family was involved in, they would only focus on living their own lives.
But Li Mo'er thought differently. She wanted to go out, to resist the plague with her beloved Pei Lang, but she couldn't even leave the house now.
In the isolation zone, Ye Qingcheng and the others had failed for the 163rd time. On the 164th attempt, they succeeded.
Seeing the red rash and ulcerated skin on the patients improve, everyone knew they had succeeded.
When Bixi came to collect the meals again, she heard the sudden shouts from the room, "We succeeded! Haha, we succeeded!"
Bixi paused, Success?
"Haha, we succeeded."
With a crash, bowls and chopsticks shattered. Bixi excitedly pounded on the door, which was quickly opened from the inside by a doctor.
Bixi murmured to him, "Did we succeed?"
The doctor was very excited, covering Bixi's shoulders and shaking her vigorously, "Haha, we succeeded, we succeeded!"
This was wonderful.
Sheng Yiran, despite her family's objections, volunteered without hesitation. She fed patients, gave them water, and had been doing so for over a month.
During this month, she saw people who had been smiling and chatting with her, talking about facing reality with a smile, and then, in the time it took to put down a bowl of food, returning to find that person gone.
After experiencing such situations many times, she still found it difficult to accept. Looking at the pyre of bodies being burned in the open field not far away, and hearing the heart-wrenching cries of the families, Sheng Yiran felt so overwhelmed she nearly collapsed. Fortunately, her maid supported her.
"Miss, don't be too sad. Everyone goes through this."
Sheng Yiran's eyes welled up with tears.
Even after spending so much time here, she still hadn't become indifferent to life and death.
Today's work was the same, but with a difference. The surrounding doctors had become excited. Sheng Yiran waited until a doctor was asked what had happened.
The doctor excitedly told her, "We've developed it! The anti-plague medicine has been developed."
Sheng Yiran excitedly covered her mouth, "That's wonderful, that's wonderful!"