Chapter 1472
The Final Battle, the Old Man Enters the Ward
Chapter 1472 The Final Battle, the Old Man Enters the Ward
The question caused another moment of silence in the room, with many people overcome with grief.
Jingle Bell!
Old Xun rang the medicine bell, attracting everyone's attention, and then grinned at them, saying, "What's the rush? It's only the second day since the illness started. As long as we surround the north city, it's not too late to burn it three or five days later."
Chief Steward Zhao was terrified: "We have to wait another three to five days? Can we afford to wait? I'm afraid that in five days, this rat plague will have spread throughout the entire city!"
"Master Physician Xun, I deeply admire your superb medical skills, but the medicine you, Master Qin, and other renowned doctors and military physicians have prepared is clearly ineffective against this rat plague. If we don't quickly burn the infected, we risk endangering the lives of everyone in the city!"
"The people of this city, plus the Wei civilians who fled here, number nearly a million! Can you bear such a huge debt of lives? Can the Qin family bear it? Can the Prince of Ye bear it?!"
boom!
Commander Gan angrily retorted, "You surnamed Zhao, don't try to frame the Prince of Ye, the Qin family, and Elder Xun by using the pretext of righteousness and His Majesty's decree. If it weren't for the Prince of Ye's presence and the Qin family's powerful weapons, the capital city would have been in chaos long ago, and you would have all been slaughtered by the enemy army long ago when you left the city to find a way to survive. How could you have survived for more than a month?!"
Qi Tianshi shook his head upon hearing this, and Chief Steward Zhao thought that Qi Tianshi agreed with him, after all, he supported His Majesty's decree.
But he didn't understand Qi Tianshi's scheming mind.
"No noise, take him out." Qi Tianshi ordered, then told Xiang Er, the head steward, "After the meeting, Changji Pharmacy will deliver the supplies to ransom him."
what? !
Chief Eunuch Zhao was stunned, cursing inwardly: "You eunuch, you can't tell right from wrong! We've always been helping you and Emperor Wuxing, and we've never broken ties with you!"
Look at what you're saying, you don't even dare to acknowledge your master.
Qi Tianshi's servant quickly escorted Chief Steward Zhao out of the house.
Silence fell again in the room.
General Wen said, "Why don't we have General Chu consult with the King of Ye and Lord Yan before deciding whether to burn it or when?"
"Ha!" Qi Tianshi let out a heavy, cold laugh, pointing at the imperial edict in General Chu's hand, "This is His Majesty's will, and even the Prince of Ye cannot disobey it!"
What, seeing that the King of Ye is benevolent, do you want to pass this hot potato to him to decide?
impossible.
"I am His Majesty's angel. Whatever His Majesty desires, whether to kill or punish someone, I, the angel, shall carry it out!"
That's right, he was the knife in Emperor Wuxing's hand, and he was the one who did the controversial work.
The Prince of Ye must be protected. He must not be allowed to have any major stain on his reputation. Otherwise, if the capital city is defended and the Prince of Ye survives, but has a major stain on his reputation, who will His Majesty turn to?
Are you going to have another child with your powerful and influential concubine, and then let you use the young emperor to wreak havoc on the country?!
"Gentlemen, don't rush. To accomplish the task of burning to eradicate the plague, we need time to prepare... Why don't you all prepare for a day or two first, so that the military doctors can obtain more plague observation results? Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?"
Old man, aren't you afraid of getting beaten to death by the city's crowd for using the phrase "the best of both worlds"?
"Report, new developments in the plague!" The captain of the personal guards came in again and handed General Chu a letter that he had personally copied.
After reading it, General Chu's gaze fell on Emperor Wuxing's imperial edict: "...Your Majesty is wise."
"What's going on? Tell me quickly!" Old Xun urged, knowing the situation must be terrible, but he didn't expect that a group of infected people had also appeared in the South District.
“When I woke up in the morning, I found something was wrong. My family tried to keep it from me, but the elderly volunteers noticed something was wrong and quickly reported it. Now, the streets and alleys where people are sick are blocked by the elderly volunteers, and they are not allowed to enter or leave.”
Everyone present was shocked and completely baffled: "How could the epidemic have broken out in the south and north of the city? The enemy clearly poisoned the city from the east gate!"
"Is there any outbreak of the epidemic in the west city? Go and ask quickly!" General Chu shouted. Soon, scouts responsible for contacting the west city reported the situation from one post to another.
"No, there are currently no outbreaks in the West City, Central City, and East City."
Bang! General Chu slammed his fist on the table in anger: "Investigate! Thoroughly investigate the North and South cities! There must be spies or some households that didn't follow the requirements for pest control and disease prevention, otherwise this situation wouldn't have occurred!"
There were no cases of the plague in the eastern part of the city, which was close to the enemy's poisoning position, but the northern and southern parts of the city were affected by the plague. There was obviously something wrong!
"Yes!" Commander Gan left, instructing Commander Fan to inform Deputy General Lang in the city to send troops to investigate thoroughly and see if there were any spies uncovered in the north and south districts.
On the third day of the tenth month, there were several minor disturbances in the capital city, but fortunately the Wei army managed to quell them.
On this day, the officials, doctors, and even old man Xun were all extremely busy.
When Si Pei learned about the imperial edict and the spread of the epidemic, with the number of infected people increasing by dozens every hour, she cried until her eyes were swollen again.
Old Xun was exhausted, but he patiently comforted him: "Peiwa, don't be too sad. Life and death are just common things. You have to take it easy."
“My grand-disciple can’t accept it. Among those infected are teenagers and children as young as a few years old. They could have lived for decades more, but they were harmed by the plague and are going to be burned.” Si Pei couldn’t help but cry when he thought about the fate of these infected people.
He then pleaded with Master Xun: "Grandmaster, please teach your grandson the art of medicine. Your grandson wants to practice medicine and kill this plague!"
The old man refused: "I won't teach you. You're not suited to be a doctor. You have bigger responsibilities to fulfill."
"What mission?" Si Pei's curiosity was piqued, but the old man didn't say. Instead, he took the opportunity to build a relationship with him and tell him some mysterious things.
Therefore, on the nights of the third, fourth, and fifth days of the Lunar New Year, they slept on the same kang (heated brick bed).
But on the night of the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, the old man instructed Si Pei to use the Si family's manpower and influence to send him to the ward.
Si Pei was shocked: "Grandmaster, you want to go into the ward? Which ward? Southeast, Northwest, or Southwest?"
The eastern city was closest to the enemy's poisoning position, so it was only a matter of time before an epidemic broke out. On the night of the fourth day, news of Wei soldiers falling ill arrived.
Old Man Xun: "East Ward... The patients in the east are mainly Wei Jun, they are all good, and they will definitely be willing to go through all this trouble with their grandmaster."
"Waaah, Grandmaster, can't we not go? Let's go back to Wu Garden, it's still very safe there," Si Pei pleaded.
Old Master Xun was very determined and told him, "Peiwa, your grandmaster is already in his eighties and won't be able to hold on. He will get sick sooner or later. You might as well take advantage of your remaining strength to go into the ward and deal with this rat plague."
He further instructed: "After Master enters the ward, you should tell my master and the poor boy the news. Don't let them stop me."
After giving his instructions and persuading Si Pei, the old man looked at the child and smiled, "Peiwa, remember, the cycle of Yin and Yang is the way of nature... Therefore, powerful families, the imperial court, and any other strong party should not be too greedy. You must know that if you plunder the opportunities of heaven and earth for your own use, causing the other party's life force to be severely damaged, it is a violation of the Dao, and the result will surely be chaos in the world."
"Kid, be a good protector. You can do it. After all, your family is powerful and wealthy, and you are more spiritual than Ying Zilin. You may be called a fence-sitter, but remember, you are right. Those who criticize you are just trying to protect you from disaster!"
Si Pei cried bitterly: "At this point, Grandmaster, can you say something serious before you die? Your last words sound like something supernatural and bizarre."
Wiping away another tear, she asked curiously, "Grandmaster, are there really immortals? Am I really better than that scoundrel Ying Zilin?"
Whether there are immortals or not, Old Man Xun doesn't know, but he said, "That's right, you are stronger than Ying Zilin, which is why our master chose you and not him!"