Su Xiaoqi had been paying close attention to news from the market.
Every time she heard of someone dying due to the scarcity of medicine, her heart ached.
But at present, she could offer them no help.
What she thought about most was simply leaving the city to help them with their illnesses.
However, due to the severity of the epidemic, the eight city gates of the capital had been sealed.
No one could leave, and no one could enter.
No, there were still people who could come and go, only Lu Mingyang, the head of the Imperial Hospital appointed by Emperor Xingzhao to be in charge of the epidemic, and the imperial physicians he led, along with doctors recruited from the populace.
When Su Xiaoqi heard that the imperial court was recruiting civilian doctors, she wanted to sign up immediately.
She was also a doctor, and she could help.
But she was stopped by Shen Yun.
Su Xiaoqi, helpless, told Shen Yun that this epidemic would last a very, very long time if there was no strong human intervention.
They had to quickly develop a special medicine to cure the infected citizens and control the source of infection.
If they couldn't achieve this within half a month, the imperial court would no longer have the time to do so.
Because in mid-July, a severe locust plague would erupt in the Gan Jin area.
This would directly affect the planting and harvesting of autumn grain.
To prevent the people from facing a food shortage in winter, the imperial court would have to devote all its efforts to controlling the locusts.
As for the epidemic, it could only disappear naturally at a huge cost of lives.
It was a pity that Su Xiaoqi, at the time, felt it was too much with the drought, the epidemic, and the locust plague, so she hadn't paid close attention.
Therefore, she didn't know how the epidemic suddenly disappeared.
She initially thought it wasn't very serious, so although she had stockpiled some medicinal herbs, she didn't have many.
It was only after hearing from He Qiulei that people were hoarding medicinal herbs in the market that she followed suit and stockpiled some.
After careful investigation, it was discovered that Zhao Xiaohua, relying on her acquisition of a large number of medicinal herbs, was behind the price gouging.
Disregarding the lives and deaths of many people.
And because she had gone through it once, she knew which medicinal herbs were effective against this epidemic.
This time, it was true hoarding for profit, selling a pack of ordinary medicinal herbs at ten times the price.
Shen Yun hesitated at the door for a long time before finally going in to tell Su Xiaoqi.
He had volunteered to be sent to Tongzhou, where the epidemic was most severe.
"You, alone?" Su Xiaoqi raised her eyebrows at him.
"Me, along with Censor Wang and Chief Lu," Shen Yun said. Looking at Su Xiaoqi, who had been sitting in the pharmacy for a long time, he felt a bit hesitant.
"I'll go with you," Su Xiaoqi said.
Shen Yun lowered his head and pondered for a moment, neither refusing nor agreeing.
"You are not a doctor, you don't even understand basic pharmacology, so your going would be of no help. I can help you."
Su Xiaoqi tried her best to persuade him.
"And I won't be in danger." She knew that Shen Yun volunteered at this time, partly because he felt this was a rare opportunity to make a contribution.
Secondly, he was probably attracted to her medical skills.
It wasn't about exploitation, but about benefiting the people.
"Alright, we leave tomorrow," Shen Yun made up his mind.
This was what he had originally intended; any further hesitation would seem disingenuous.
However, he would still worry, fearing that she might get into trouble.
Sometimes, what one fears the most is precisely what happens.
Before they set off, Su Xiaoqi packed many of the medicinal herbs she had previously stockpiled into her spatial dimension.
To avoid causing any trouble, Su Xiaoqi and Zhang Yu disguised themselves as men and accompanied Shen Yun to Tongzhou as his attendants.
The capital and Tongzhou were not far apart.
But the situations in the two places were as different as heaven and earth.
Upon arriving in Tongzhou, Su Xiaoqi finally understood why it was the most severe area in Northern Zhili.
Here, the population density was high, but the officials basically ignored it, allowing the common people to lie in the streets and alleys.
Open-air shops, and even the bodies of people who had died from the epidemic were not collected, piled up in corners, breeding maggots and attracting countless flies, mosquitoes, and rats.
Su Xiaoqi was deeply shocked by what she saw.
If the previous drought was a natural disaster, then the epidemic in Tongzhou was entirely man-made.
The imperial officials were negligent, completely disregarding the lives and deaths of the common people.
Even though Shen Yun's heart was cold, his face turned ashen.
Qin Chazai (Imperial Commissioner) Wang Enze, who had voluntarily requested to accompany them, frowned, his beautiful face etched with a chilling coldness.
"How audacious," he gritted his teeth and cursed hatefully.
Su Xiaoqi glanced at him, a little surprised that Wang Enze would be so agitated.
Considering his later behavior, he was a completely cold-blooded and ruthless person, even more so than the cruel and merciless Shen Yun.
However, looking at his alluring, handsome, and young face now, Su Xiaoqi felt at ease.
Wang Enze was still young now, and he hadn't experienced many of the things he was supposed to.
Naturally, he was still a young official with a relatively normal worldview and values.
Furthermore, he was doing the job of a censor from the Censorate, exposing the darkness in officialdom.
So, his current temper and hatred for evil were normal.
Lu Mingyang also looked unbearable, but as an imperial physician, his duty compelled him to stay and observe carefully.
So, he told Wang Enze and Shen Yun that he would stay, and they should proceed to the prefectural yamen by themselves.
Seeing Lu Mingyang slowly walking towards the mountains of corpses, Su Xiaoqi frowned and went to Shen Yun, whispering, "Let's stay too."
"We can't..." Shen Yun looked around. The atmosphere here gave him a bad feeling, filled with death. He would worry if Su Xiaoqi stayed alone.
"Don't forget why I came with you," Su Xiaoqi reminded him in a low voice.
She was here to practice medicine, not to sightsee or flirt with him.
Shen Yun knew he couldn't stop her. Su Xiaoqi, despite her outwardly delicate appearance, was very opinionated and also very stubborn.
Moreover, Wang Enze, walking ahead, heard their movements and had already turned his head to fix his gaze on Su Xiaoqi.
Shen Yun disliked the way he looked at his wife, so he quietly warned her to be careful, leaving Zhang Lei and Zhang Yu with him.
"Zhang Yu comes with me, Zhang Lei stays with you." Su Xiaoqi knew that with the situation in Tongzhou city like this, their trip to the prefectural yamen would likely not be peaceful.
Shen Yun still disagreed, but Su Xiaoqi ignored him.
She turned and took out her homemade masks and sheep intestine gloves, putting them on with Zhang Yu.
Hearing her movements, Lu Mingyang turned to look at her attire, somewhat curious and somewhat surprised.
He really wanted to ask but couldn't open his mouth.
"Chief Lu, hello. We've met before. I heard this epidemic is contagious.
However, it's not yet known how it spreads.
So I've brought masks and gloves to isolate myself from the virus, believing I won't be easily infected."
Lu Mingyang found her words very reasonable and nodded continuously, agreeing with her.
So he took the opportunity to ask her for one.
Su Xiaoqi generously gave him two, and even the medicine boy following him with the medicine box received one.
Then, the few of them began to study the epidemic.
The group stayed there for two hours.
From examining the bodies of those infected with the epidemic to roaming the surrounding area and asking about other epidemic prevention measures in the locality.
They were busy until the hour of You (5-7 PM) in the afternoon before the group returned to the official post.
Passing by the prefectural yamen, Su Xiaoqi noticed that the prefect, the master of the yamen, was not there.
After asking Zhang Yu, she learned that he had been dismissed by her lord and Lord Wang working together that afternoon.