Chapter 660: Chapter 225: Goodbye_3
"I’ve been feeling much better recently," Ding Yong said with a smile, "Before, I always felt alternately hot and cold, with pain all over my body, but lately, the pain subsides much quicker. Cuicui too."
He extended his elbow, "The rash has faded, too. Doctor, are we getting better soon?"
Lu Tong looked down.
On that rough, frail arm, the rash maintained its initial appearance, not darkening any further.
She nodded, "Mhm," quietly.
"That’s amazing!" Cuicui cheered, hugging her father’s neck, "Once we are fully recovered and leave the Plague Hospital, I want to eat the pancakes you make for me!"
"Sure!" Ding Yong laughed as he replied, swallowing at the thought of wheat flour pancakes.
Lu Tong stood up, collected the empty bowls from which the patients had finished their medicinal soup, and left the room.
She returned to the residence nearest to the dilapidated temple.
The residence had been temporarily made available by Cai Fang for the Medical Officers to stay in, leaving a few to watch over the Plague Hospital while the patients rested, and the remaining Medical Officers to continue dealing with the epidemic, making medicinal sachets and such in the residence.
Lu Tong entered the room, and in the hall, Cui Min was discussing the next strategies to deal with the epidemic with a group of Medical Officers.
The epidemic in Su Nan was fierce; they had been in the area for many days, first isolating everyone in the city who had contracted the disease from those who had not. The Plague Hospital burned Atractylodes Macrocephala regularly, and they had also made plague-preventing medicinal sachets and incense for the rest of the city’s population.
Thanks to these measures, at least in recent days, the bodies that had been piling up behind the execution grounds were no longer emitting a foul stench—the number of people dying daily had decreased significantly.
But the epidemic had not yet ended; in the Plague Hospital, those who caught the disease could only be said to have slowed the pace of death, not a single case of complete recovery.
It was still difficult.
Chang Jin said, "The epidemic cannot be conquered overnight. The urgent matter is to reduce the number of new infections. However, there are still many people in Su Nan City who are infected but unwilling to go to the Plague Hospital."
Li Wenhu, standing at the back of the crowd, immediately spoke up when he heard this, "What’s so difficult about that? I can lead a team to knock on every household, and anyone who seems off can be taken straight to the Plague Hospital—I don’t care if they are willing or not."
Ji Xun shook his head, "But the early stages of the epidemic are not obvious, and even the County Commander isn’t sure about avoiding misjudgment."
Cai Fang showed a troubled expression, "After all, the Plague Hospital is a tough place. Some people in Su Nan City would rather die in their homes, if they have to die..."
Going to the Plague Hospital meant awaiting death, the same as staying home, but the squalor and congestion in the hospital were no match for the peace of one’s own home.
A common sentiment.
"We could infuse the medication into wells," Lu Tong suggested.
Everyone turned around, and Lu Tong walked up from behind the crowd, speaking to Chang Jin, "Ancient texts on dealing with epidemics had also mentioned infusing medicinal soup into wells. We could try that."
Even if those people were reluctant to go to the Plague Hospital, they still needed to drink water. Consuming water mixed with medicine for warding off diseases might have some effect.
Lin Danqing’s eyes brightened, "That’s also a method. Making plague-preventing incense and medicinal sachets takes time after all, but infusing wells could be done quickly."
Chang Jin frowned slightly, "But how many wells are there in Su Nan City, and with our limited medicinal supplies, into which wells would it be best to infuse them?"
Upon hearing this, Cai Fang and Li Wenhu bowed their heads in thought, and before they could speak, they heard Lu Tong say, "Qiaoxi Temple Entrance, East Gate Street Alley, upstream Tongqing Temple by the river, and in front of Jinbao Food Shop under the banyan tree in the center, these four locations all have wells. People fetch water from these wells, it would be best to start with these spots if we are going to administer the medicine."
Cai Fang paused, then thoughtfully said, "East, south, west, north—covering all four directions does maximize the medicine’s efficacy... But," he looked at Lu Tong somewhat surprised, "you seem to know Su Nan City very well, don’t you?"
He was the Deputy Magistrate of Su Nan City, yet he could not effortlessly recall the locations of the wells like she did with such accuracy.
"Doctor Lu is a native of Su Nan, of course she is familiar with it," Lin Danqing explained.
"I see." Cai Fang gave Lu Tong another look. He had learned from Chang Jin that the three young Medical Officers who had come to Su Nan were all outstanding practitioners from the Hanlin Medical Institute. This Doctor Lu wasn’t talkative, rarely mingling with the other Medical Officers. Most of the time, she buried herself in medical texts or changed dressings in the Plague Hospital, appearing somewhat aloof.
I didn’t expect that he would be someone from my hometown.
A wave of kinship suddenly surged in my heart; Chang Jin said, "In that case, please trouble Magistrate Cai to lead us to inspect these four wells first. If all is in order, we will start preparing the medicine today and from tomorrow on, dispense it into the wells." He then turned to the other medical officers, "Continue making the medicinal pouches and plague-preventing incense as well. Do not neglect any of the patients at the Plague Hospital; no one is to be abandoned."
The medical officers nodded in agreement and were speaking when suddenly someone ran into the courtyard, shouting from afar, "Disaster, disaster, the medicine and grain have been stolen!"
Everyone was shocked, and Li Wenhu jumped up, exclaiming, "What?"
The government official’s face was full of panic, almost in tears, "This morning the brothers went to fetch the medicinal herbs and porridge rice and noticed something was off. The two brothers who guarded the storehouse were nowhere to be seen today. Later, we found their corpses in the back courtyard... Everything from the storehouse that could be taken was taken, all under the cover of last night!"
Cai Fang stood, stunned by the report, then suddenly pushed the door open and strode out. The medical officers hurriedly followed; upon reaching the storehouse and moving to the back of the crowd, Lu Tong raised his eyes and sure enough saw two bodies covered with white cloth in the courtyard, the storehouse door lock broken beyond recognition, and inside, scattered bits of medicinal herbs - it had clearly been ransacked.
"It’s all over..."
Cai Fang murmured, lost in shock.
Ji Xun took a couple of steps forward, his gaze sweeping over the empty warehouse, his expression growing more grave, "Magistrate Cai, what exactly happened here?"
This was the County Office’s storehouse. With the great epidemic in Su Nan City, the common people dared not leave their homes, so how could there be thieves?
"It must have been those bastards," Li Wenhu cursed, "These scoundrels, even stealing medicine and grain, I will dig three feet into the ground if I have to find them!"
"Who is the country magistrate speaking of?" Chang Jin asked, puzzled.
"The local bullies of Su Nan."
Cai Fang took two steps back, his voice weak, "After the Magistrate left, Su Nan became chaotic. Officer Hu and I barely managed to keep the County Office people together, but with the people panicking, it was impossible to maintain order."
"The medicine shops raised prices, food was scarce, and soon famine broke out. Some people banded together the city’s riffraff to go door-to-door robbing food. The County Office was understaffed, those men were extremely vicious and irrational, and they killed many people."
"Our men fought with them and there were casualties on both sides. Later they quieted down for a while, but now that the County Office is even more understaffed, they must have seen the medicine and food you brought and been biding their time before they acted."
The guards escorting the medical officers were used to handling corpses at the execution ground; if not for this, the thieves would not have been able to move the grain and food last night without making any noise.
Li Wenhu stamped his foot, "I’ll go after them!"
"Go after them where?" Cai Fang grasped him, "There are hardly any of us left. And where to begin the search? By now the stolen grain and medicine has likely already been moved..."
"Are we just going to let it go?" Li Wenhu was not willing to give up, "Without the medicine and grain, what do we do next? What will we eat, what about the people of Su Nan City? Are we all going to just sit here and wait for death!"
A cold wind swept by, painfully biting at everyone’s cheeks, making the two bodies covered with white cloth in the courtyard appear even more desolate. The medical officers looked at each other and began to speak in hushed tones.
Chang Jin was also burning with anxiety.
Suddenly, an official ran in from outside the courtyard, announcing, "Magistrate, Commander, the medicine and grain have been found!"
"Found?" Cai Fang jolted, his emotions surging, "Where?"
"Please come and see—"
The official led a crowd running forward, and just a hundred steps outside the city gate, they suddenly heard the sound of a row of horses’ hooves.
Lu Tong looked in the direction of the sound, taken aback.
Under the city gate, a troop of soldiers was approaching from afar, about a hundred strong, all wearing black scale armor with embroidered gold, long swords hanging from their waists, emanating an imposing aura.
The handsome young leader was draped in a great cloak, sitting high atop a steed, staring indifferently at the assembly, and not far off, several tightly bound individuals were being dragged by the horses.
Cai Fang was startled, "Is this..."
The official who had just run over whispered, "This is the Commander from Shengjing, who was suppressing unrest in the neighboring county. Today, he happened to pass by Su Nan and effortlessly captured a few people."