Chapter 263: Impetigo

Chapter 263: Impetigo

"How could this happen?" Meng Wan stared in shock at the scene before him.

Along the route from Maolin Town, there were indeed two or three stubborn households that insisted on staying. Two of them were elderly couples with no children, and the remaining one was Jian'er's family. But where did these countless floating corpses come from?

Song Tingzhou said grimly, "Qinzhou."

"Impossible! Deqing County is so close to Qinzhou, and I have never heard of any flood in Qinzhou!" Fei Jing was also stunned.

Song Tingzhou never looked happy when dealing with him. "You also know that Deqing County is very close to Qinzhou, even sharing the same waterways. As the county magistrate, why didn't you inspect the Maolin Town dam in time before and after the rainstorm? We don't know when the floodwaters will recede; how will the large number of displaced people be resettled?"

Fei Jing shrank his neck. Although he was a man more than twenty years older than Song Tingzhou, he was being scolded like a child of the Song family.

"My lord, what should we do now? Should we continue to breach the river channel?" Assistant Prefect Du and his men had already inspected most of the levees in Xiwu Prefecture. Despite the successive rainstorms, the other levees in Xiwu Prefecture were intact.

Seeing the corpses filling the river, Song Tingzhou pondered for a moment. "No more breaching. Take some men to dig a few reservoirs downstream—the larger, the better."

He then ordered Tao Ba, "Tao Ba, organize people to retrieve the corpses. The corpses in the river are very likely all drifting down from Qinzhou. Burn them on the spot after retrieval."

Meng Wan reminded from the side, "We should ask Xiao Ci or A Xun whether these corpses might bring any epidemic, and whether we should burn them together with some medicinal herbs."

After a flood recedes, epidemics are most likely, especially since these corpses drifting from upstream have been soaked for who knows how long.

Meng Wan earnestly added, "Make sure no one drinks the river water."

Song Tingzhou kicked Fei Jing. "Did you hear that? Now go door to door and notify the people of Deqing County not to drink the river water. Say that the water has been poisoned."

Fei Jing dared not say more. In the current gathering, besides Lord Song's husband, he had the lowest official rank. He took the order and scurried off to the county office, at least to share some of Song Tingzhou's burden and avoid being scolded in front of his superior.

In Deqing County, many small reservoirs near the Maolin Town dam had also collapsed. Although they did not endanger people's lives, they still required urgent repair.

Song Tingzhou delegated the repair of small reservoirs to Magistrate Zhang, as he trusted and felt more comfortable with officials from the prefectural city.

Ever since he went to the capital for an audience, Song Tingzhou had been busy nonstop for too long. Even an iron man couldn't keep going, so he naturally fell ill.

Illness strikes like a bolt from the blue. Due to days of exhaustion and illness, Song Tingzhou became so thin that his eyes were somewhat sunken. Meng Wan was almost heartbroken, and then he himself also fell ill.

A Yan was probably seeing both of his fathers so weak for the first time. His usually optimistic and cheerful personality even led him to secretly wipe away tears. When Chu Ci discovered him, he hugged his elder brother and cried, fearing that Song Tingzhou and Meng Wan might die.

Chu Ci was also overcome with emotion for a moment, but with his medical expertise, he quickly composed himself and advised A Yan not to be sad. The two fathers were just slightly ill and would recover soon.

Song Tingzhou and Meng Wan lay in bed for several days like brothers in misfortune. Fortunately, they had Chu Ci and A Xun by their side. After a few days of drinking bitter medicinal decoctions, Song Tingzhou, with his stronger constitution, recovered first.

He changed into his official robe and prepared to leave. Before departing, he walked to the bedside and earnestly instructed Meng Wan, "Get some good rest. If you don't like it in Deqing County, go back to the prefectural city once you're better."

Meng Wan squeezed his hand. "Wherever I am, there are many people taking care of me. As for you, eat and rest well. Don't wear yourself out like this again."

Song Tingzhou held his hand back. "Thanks to our preemptive measures, the casualties from this disaster in Xiwu Prefecture are not severe. There are only some follow-up administrative matters. I have already submitted a memorial to the court. Given the urgency of this disaster, the court may send someone to investigate in Qinzhou."

Although only three households in Xiwu Prefecture suffered losses in this flood, the villagers whose fields were flooded also needed proper resettlement. Although winters in Lingnan were not as deadly cold as in the north, resettling so many villagers was no simple task, and Song Tingzhou would be busy again for a while.

Meng Wan lay in bed for a while longer. Having slept a lot during his convalescence, his whole body felt numb from lying down. So he wrapped himself in a fur coat and sat up.

"Master, are you up?" Huang Ye heard the commotion in the courtyard.

The academy was not like home; everyone lived in the same courtyard. A Yan had been cooped up for days. If not for Chu Ci and Tong'er keeping him company, he would have already caused a fuss to go out. These past two days, Chu Ci was also busy outside, so A Yan could only play with Tong'er and the newly arrived child, Jian'er.

However, Tong'er and Jian'er were not very lively personalities. A Yan had long been bored. Hearing Huang Ye's voice, he immediately sprang into action and rushed into the room, shouting, "Father!"

Huang Ye was carrying food in and almost got knocked over by A Yan. "Little master, please slow down."

"Sorry, Brother Huang Ye." A Yan admitted his fault readily but didn't look back as he threw himself at Meng Wan. "Father, I'm so bored~"

Meng Wan patted his son's head. "Father is bored too. Once I recover, I'll take you all out to play, okay?"

A Yan nodded eagerly. "Okay, okay. Father, get better soon."

Huang Ye laid out the dishes on the table one by one. The portions were small but exquisite, with a variety of items: six small side dishes and three kinds of staple food.

Meng Wan refused Huang Ye's help. He felt much better today and walked leisurely over to eat.

He first picked up the porridge bowl and drank half a bowl of fine rice porridge. With the side dishes, he then ate two small buns. Seeing A Yan's longing gaze, he also gave one to A Yan.

A Yan was simply a glutton, but his stomach couldn't hold much. Since he had just finished breakfast not long ago, he could only eat half a bun before he couldn't eat anymore.

Meng Wan leisurely finished his meal and strolled around the courtyard a couple of times. He saw Jian'er, who was fidgeting nervously, wanting to help Huang Ye with work but not knowing where to start, and called him over.

Jian'er stood silently in front of Meng Wan, not speaking, with his hands pressed against his belly, picking at his fingers.

He was about the same age as A Yan. When Xue Sheng first brought him back, he was barely clothed. However, Huang Ye didn't take A Yan's clothes for him; instead, he altered his own clothes for Jian'er. The collar was a bit big, and the belt was wrapped around his waist several times.

The shoes appeared to be new ones that Huang Ye had bought with his own money in the county town, and they were kept very clean.

He must have been scrubbed thoroughly by Huang Ye. Although still thin, he was extremely clean all over. Even his hair was cut very short, revealing the skin on his forehead that had always been hidden. A patch of dark blue-black birthmark, shaped like a sweet potato, covered his face from chin to forehead.

Seeing Meng Wan scrutinizing him for a long time, Jian'er lowered his head even more.

Young boys were identified by a pregnancy mole to tell whether they were a ge'er or a male. Meng Wan noticed a tiny pregnancy mole hidden at the edge of his birthmark.

"Jian'er, your home has been flooded, and your family may also be gone," Meng Wan said to him bluntly.

These days, the talk in the city was all about the dam collapse. Even though Huang Ye and the others hadn't gone out, the neighbors delivering supplies had brought the gossip inside.

Jian'er probably already knew. He kept his head down, hiding his expression, but Meng Wan felt that there was little sadness in his demeanor.

Meng Wan was far more patient with children now than before. He waited a long while before Jian'er replied in a weak voice, "Mhm."

"Do you want to go back to the village in the future? Later, the authorities may help the villagers rebuild houses, and your village will be included. You can have your own house and live however you want." Meng Wan wasn't planning to adopt the child, nor did he plan to bring him back to the Song family, but he didn't mind giving him a hand.

Jian'er was clearly tempted, but only for a moment. The next instant, he shook his head decisively. "No."

This actually surprised Meng Wan. Jian'er was hardly good-looking; his own parents didn't care for him, and the other villagers probably weren't very kind either.

Meng Wan decided. "In that case, I'll use the money meant for a house as tuition fees and open a separate household registration for you. Then you can live in Songyun College and go to school."

Jian'er didn't know what "school" meant or where this place was. He thought he would live here with Meng Wan and the others from now on.

"Jian'er is a terrible name. How about I give you a new name? What's your father's surname?" Meng Wan had long disliked the name "Jian'er." Although in the countryside there was a saying that a lowly name made a child easier to raise, it was usually names like Daniu (Big Bull) or Erzhu (Second Pillar). He had never seen anyone name their child "Jian" (meaning lowly), a name that was insulting.

Jian'er hung his head low again, saying in a weak voice, "Xue."

Meng Wan was taken aback.

In that case, besides Xue Sheng, who came from an actor background, who else had the surname Xue? Besides, Xue Sheng's "Xue" isn't even his real surname.

He pretended not to notice Jian'er's reddening neck. "How about calling him Xie Xue? Xie Hua Ying Xue (falling flowers greet the snow), winter goes and spring comes." After withering comes the promise of new life.

Jian'er didn't grasp what Meng Wan meant, but he could tell it was a beautiful meaning.

Falling flowers greet the snow, winter fades and spring arrives.

From this day on, he is no longer Jian'er, but Xie Xue.

—

After that, things went relatively smoothly. Song Tingzhou ordered people to collect timber and make grey bricks. For all the disaster-stricken villages, the government would help rebuild new houses after the floodwaters receded.

This also brought a measure of comfort to the villagers still living in makeshift sheds.

In Xiwu Prefecture, there were only seven casualties—a reassuringly low number. Yet there was bad news: the bodies that drifted down from Qinzhou upstream did carry an epidemic.

Chu Ci was more skilled in making poisons, while A Xun, due to some deviation during his time at Heshan, had in recent years become best at treating infertility. Truth be told, neither of them was as proficient in medicine as Qing Xing, nor as widely experienced as Elder Miao.

In the end, it took the two of them rushing over from the prefectural capital to determine exactly what kind of epidemic it was.

By then, one of the corpse retrievers had fallen ill, but timely treatment prevented a fatality.

Elder Miao was in good spirits. He handed his medical case to his granddaughter to pack, and said with a worried frown, "This is troublesome. It's impetigo."

Song Tingzhou's heart skipped a beat. "Impetigo? Is it hard to cure?"

Qing Xing arranged the medicine case neatly. "Lord Song, no. My grandfather has treated this before. It's not incurable, but it's highly contagious and could easily infect the entire city."

Impetigo occurs when a skin wound becomes infected and quickly turns into pustules, spreading rapidly due to the yellow pus that oozes from the sores. If someone with a skin wound comes into contact with that pus, they too become infected quickly. Even the frail, without an open wound, can be infected through frequent contact with impetigo patients. Thus, the disease is extremely contagious and risky.

After learning from Qing Xing and Elder Miao how infectious impetigo was, Song Tingzhou quickly blocked off the river and dispatched patrols day and night.

The four physicians worked on creating medicinal powder to dilute the epidemic miasma in the river water. Until they succeeded, no one could go into the water to retrieve corpses.

Tao Shi and his men bought large fishing nets from fishermen and used them to haul corpses ashore. Among them were not only human bodies but also animal carcasses, mixed with large amounts of firewood, which made the work much harder.

The collected human and animal corpses were piled into several pre-dug pits. Some unknown powder provided by Chu Ci was sprinkled over them before burning. The resulting odor was peculiar, but at least it covered up the smell of corpse fat and ensured no one would fall ill.

After non-stop, round-the-clock shifts to clear the river, they finally finished before the New Year.

By that time, the water flow upstream of Maolin Town had dwindled. Song Tingzhou first had to cut off the upper river and then rebuild the dam. This was a slow project that would take at least a year to complete, and he needed to report to the imperial court for the Ministry of Revenue to allocate funds.

The memorial he had submitted earlier had yet to receive a response, likely because it took at least a month for the imperial court's documents to reach Xiwu Prefecture via the relay stations. The reply should arrive soon.

Meng Wan had recovered from his illness. At year's end, he took A Yan and the others back to the prefectural capital to spend the New Year with Chang Jinhua. Chu Ci stayed behind to accompany Song Tingzhou. Surprisingly, Qing Xing also returned with Meng Wan.

Meng Wan didn't ask, but Qing Xing volunteered somewhat transparently, "Lao Wu is still young. I'm going back to see her."

"You're over twenty now, aren't you?" Meng Wan said thoughtfully. In ancient times, Qing Xing would already be considered past the typical marriageable age.

Qing Xing smiled warmly. "Yes, I'm twenty-three. I really like Lingnan. I want to spend the rest of my life in Xiwu Prefecture. Perhaps I'll follow in my grandfather's footsteps and travel around to provide free medical treatment."

In truth, she had greatly enjoyed the past six years in Lingnan, going from an unknown female physician in a small town near the capital to a respected healer—something she had never dared to imagine before.

Meng Wan could hear the sincerity in her words. He didn't admire many people, but Qing Xing was one of them. "You're a fine woman. I hope you can live life on your own terms, but also take care of yourself."

He had originally wanted to tell her to look after herself before caring for others, but knowing her personality, he felt it would be pointless.

The Song family's carriage brought Qing Xing directly to her doorstep. Someone was waiting there and greeted her as she alighted.

"Miss Qing Xing!"

Qing Xing said in surprise, "Mr. Xu? Didn't you say you'd come to Xiwu Prefecture after the New Year?"

"I resolved matters at home, so I came early." Xu Wenjun followed behind Qing Xing, helping her carry her medical case, and entered the Miao residence with the familiarity of a regular visitor.

He knew the Miao children well and brought specialty pastries from Huizhou Prefecture to share with them.

Qing Xing invited him to sit down and took his pulse. "Your poison will be fully cleared after three more treatments. You can come find me tomorrow morning for acupuncture."

Xu Wenjun maintained his delicate, gentlemanly demeanor. He smiled warmly and said, "Then many thanks to you, miss. I'll return to the inn now and not disturb your rest."

His servant hesitated and said, "Master, all the inns are full at year's end. Perhaps we could look for a courtyard to rent instead."

After all, it was two days before New Year's Eve—who would be renting out their courtyard at such a time?

Qing Xing hesitated, then called him back, "Mr. Xu, if you have nowhere to stay, you are welcome to stay in my front courtyard, if you don't mind."

Xu Wenjun, his back to Qing Xing, broke into a delighted smile. "Would that not be an imposition on your family?"