Chapter 266: Qinzhou Office

Chapter 266: Qinzhou Prefectural Office

Diagnoses were being conducted simultaneously both inside and outside the county town, though the situation outside the city was far more brutal.

Chu Ci seemed to have become the judge presiding over the Book of Life and Death, his words alone dictating the fate of these pitiful souls.

He crouched before the piled-up mass of bodies, mechanically feeling the pulse of one victim after another, when suddenly a glimmer of light sparked in his otherwise indifferent eyes. He gave a firm nod to Xue Sheng, who had been waiting by his side.

Xue Sheng understood immediately. "This one can still be saved. Give him a bowl of medicine first, then move him aside."

The bailiffs sprang into action, and the man being carried away, who had kept his eyes tightly shut, began to weep. Tears trickled from the corners of his eyes—but since his eyes were covered in pustules, the tears were a pale yellow.

After a full day's work, only about thirty of the victims could be saved. The vast majority of the rest had already died, and the bailiffs found a place to cremate them.

That day, plumes of thick smoke rose one after another outside the city, and everyone's eyes were numb with exhaustion.

The next day—on the empty ground outside the back gate of the county office, a thatched shelter had been erected sometime during the night. The residents of the city who had not fallen ill gathered there, waiting for their meals to be served.

Meng Wan, along with Fu Xiao's family members and the uninfected women and xiaoge, was busy working inside the gate. The courtyard had been cleared to make room for seven or eight stoves, as well as chopping boards and water vats, filling the already cramped space to the brim.

They had been busy since before dawn, carrying basket after basket of steamed buns out to the gate. Outside, two long tables and two large water vats had been set up. The buns sat on the tables, and the vats held thick, sticky porridge made from coarse rice.

The bailiffs and laborers who urgently needed to go outside the city to build shelters ate first. Each person could present their work number issued by the county office to receive two steamed buns and a bowl of porridge.

Several petty officials from the county office stood at the tables, distributing the buns. Behind them sat A Yan, who, like a little grown-up, raised his brush to record the distributions.

Though he was young, he had already begun his studies. Having trained from a young age, and being guided by such a connoisseur as Song Tingzhou, his calligraphy was even more elegant than that of students several years his senior. Now he was dutifully keeping accounts for everyone.

"Chen Chun, received."

"Zhang Er, received."

"Li San'gou... says he only wants one bun, and wants to save the other for his wife???"

As A Yan wrote, he began to feel something was off, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it. The petty official in front of him slapped the skinny man before him. "Save it? Save your head! Meng Fulang already said that he'll leave food for your mothers and wives later—maybe even better than what you're eating! You're all skin and bones; if you don't eat enough, how are you going to work? Xiao Feng, give him half a bowl more of porridge!"

Everyone around looked at Li San'gou with envy. But then they thought about how thick the porridge was—they could get full on two buns and a bowl themselves—so they turned their heads back and buried their faces in their bowls, slurping away.

A Yan finally understood what these adults meant. He giggled twice and went back to his ledger.

"Wang Xiaoya, received."

"Qian Dagui... Qian Dagui, you already received yours, didn't you?" A Yan said to the man in front of him in line.

The man was a short, stout fellow with sunken eyes and a slightly plump build. He sneered at A Yan. "What would a little brat like you know? There's someone else with the same name as me. He got his, but I haven't!"

A Yan swept his gaze over the man and said decisively, "I know there are two Qian Daguis. But you're the one who already got his. I remember you!"

Unwilling to take any nonsense, A Yan's little mouth moved quickly. "And you called me a little brat! That's an unprovoked insult. Tong'er! Hit him!"

Tong'er, who had been sitting idly by, finally had something to do. Amid the short, stout man's scornful gaze, Tong'er bounced up more than a meter high and landed a chubby little fist right on the man's eye.

The man's eye watered, and tears streamed down his face.

The two children moved so fast that neither the petty officials nor the crowd around had time to react before A Yan had already avenged himself.

Then, with one corner of his mouth curling up, he imitated Meng Wan's menacing tone in his childish, crisp voice. "Heh heh, Qian Dagui, is it? I'll remember you."

He was the one who had taken advantage, yet he wore a vengeful expression, not even giving the man a chance to argue.

"And who else have you remembered now? How many people outside still haven't eaten? If that's enough, we'll make food to send to the patients." Meng Wan came out from behind the door and spoke impatiently.

A Yan instantly became obedient. "A-die~ There are seven people left."

The petty official also retracted his nearly popping-out eyeballs. "Meng Fulang, the buns outside are enough, but we still need a few more bowls of porridge."

Meng Wan picked up a few empty baskets. "Wait, it's coming right up."

Everyone treated Meng Wan with respect. Common folk might not know, but others knew his status well. From Xia Yuan, the second-rank imperial commissioner, down to the lowest bailiff, no one had expected Meng Wan to personally get involved, let alone recruit these uninfected xiaoge and women to cook.

In truth, just cooking for the working men wouldn't have required so many people. But Meng Wan had called every single one of them over.

There was no pay, but they could eat their fill. And besides...

"They don't need any more buns out there. Shu Niang, take out another half-basin of porridge."

"As for the rest of you, go call your parents and children over. We're going to eat, too."

After Meng Wan gave the order, no one moved for a moment. Everyone stood dumbfounded.

Meng Wan knew what they were thinking. "What are you all standing there for? Since you're working for me, I can't very well leave your old folks and children at home hungry, can I? One more mouthful won't make a difference. Go call them all over."

In times of disaster, children and the elderly are always the first to be discarded. Many here had already lost their families.

After Meng Wan finished, everyone, whether they still had elderly or children at home or not, had red-rimmed eyes.

Huang Ye nudged one of the women who still had two children at home. "The Fulang has spoken. Go on."

The woman wiped her eyes and answered softly, "Mm-hmm."

Only a dozen or so people went back to call their families. The rest had already lost all their loved ones.

Seeing the low spirits, Meng Wan said to Huang Ye, "Ye Geer, go get two packages of the sugar we brought from home. We're going to make sugar-filled steamed buns!"

"Got it, Fulang. I'll go right away," Huang Ye answered crisply.

The thirty-some patients from outside the city had been moved to the county office, but they were still too weak. In the first few days, they could only drink porridge.

The bailiffs loaded the porridge Meng Wan and the others had made onto carts and transported it to the county school. In the courtyard, two pots of thick coarse-rice porridge remained, along with freshly steamed sugar buns. Though there were no side dishes or pickled vegetables, everyone ate with great relish.

"In all my life, this is the first time I've eaten a steamed bun, and it's even got sugar inside. It's so fragrant, but my A-die can never taste it," a xiaoge suddenly said, his voice choked with tears.

An older woman beside him patted him. "Don't be like that. Meng Fulang doesn't want to see us moping around."

Someone else chimed in, "That's right. Eat well. We've still got work to do later. They say we're getting paid in credits—one credit for a day's work. When we have ten credits, we can exchange them for an acre of land to plant during the spring plowing, or for fifty jin of coarse rice."

"My family's land was all flooded. I don't have a single acre. I'm counting on exchanging credits with the magistrate!"

As they talked, a glimmer of hope for the future began to shine in their eyes.

Meng Wan listened to them talk, chewing on the coarse-flour bun in his hand, savoring the tiny bit of sweetness hidden beneath its rough exterior.

"What a lively scene at Meng Fulang's place! I wonder if this official could shamelessly beg for two buns?" Xia Yuan, who had been busy with who knows what in his room for the past two days, came over to join the fun.

Meng Wan broke the half-eaten bun in his hand to show Xia Yuan. "Lord Xia has perfect timing. We're eating sugar buns, but they're made of coarse flour. I'm not sure if they'll suit your taste."

"You don't understand, Meng Fulang. I've served as a local official in the provinces before. I've eaten my share of coarse-flour cornbread." Xia Yuan chuckled, took a coarse-flour bun, and took a big bite. But he chewed for a long time and still couldn't swallow it.

Meng Wan saw his predicament. "Lord Xia, it's all right if you can't finish it. In the capital, this kind of coarse-flour bun must be rare. I haven't eaten one in years myself, and I find them a bit hard to swallow."

In the prosperous capital of Shengjing, they'd even dream of mixing dragon liver and phoenix marrow into their steamed buns. How could someone so important possibly eat such a coarse, bran-filled steamed bun?

"Sir?" Meng Wan was surprised to see Xia Yuan struggling but slowly eating the steamed bun; he had actually managed to eat half of it in no time.

Xia Yuan took the half-bowl of porridge handed to him by an attendant. "The sugar inside it is good. I heard that you, Meng Fulang, set up a sugar workshop in Heshan County. Is this sugar from that workshop?"

A genuine smile spread across Meng Wan's face. "If you like it, sir, I'll prepare a few boxes for you when you return to the capital. In Heshan, not just my workshop, but others also produce excellent sugar."

Xia Yuan finished the remaining half bun with the porridge. "When I return to the capital, I must visit Heshan County, renowned throughout Lingnan."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Xia Yuan left. Meng Wan continued eating his bun and muttered, "Not all capital officials are so annoying. This old man isn't bad."

Song Tingzhou acted decisively. In just three days, he had everything inside and outside Pubei County organized, but it wasn't enough.

The villages within Pubei County's jurisdiction were still unknown and needed to be investigated one by one. Moreover, the water source in all of Qin Prefecture was clearly contaminated, and the people could only temporarily use well water for drinking.

Yamen runners and bailiffs took turns searching nearby villages for infected and uninfected villagers. Chu Ci followed the entire process.

The good news was that apart from several large reservoirs whose dams had been breached, the nearby villages were flooded, suffering heavy losses and nearly being wiped out.

The other villages had relatively minor disasters. Villages affected by the epidemic were almost completely isolated, and people kept their distance.

The next step was to quarantine the infected villagers outside the county town and remind others not to drink river water.

"That river is full of dead bodies. We're not stupid; we won't drink that stinking water." As soon as the yamen runners left, the villagers started complaining.

Chu Ci, walking at the back, heard this and smirked. He turned around and gave the complaining villager a thumbs-up, a gesture taught by Meng Wan to mean 'well done' or 'awesome'.

They stayed in Pubei County for a total of seven days. Although not all the sick were cured, with Elder Miao's prescription, they took the medicine daily, and recovery was only a matter of time.

On the day of departure, except for the sick, everyone who could move came to the city gate to see off Song Tingzhou and his group, including County Magistrate Fu Xiao, who, despite his age, shed emotional tears.

Xia Yuan sighed, "As an official, to be revered by ten thousand people is a life without regrets. For Jingxing, what he means to all of Lingnan is more than just ten thousand people!"

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the crowd seeing them off began to shout: "Meng Fulang, when my husband recovers, we'll come to Xiwu Prefecture to visit you!"

"Meng Fulang, don't go, sobbing..."

"We've learned to make the fried dough and tofu that you taught us. Thank you, Meng Fulang!"

Song Tingzhou's gaze softened, more gratified than if he himself had been praised. "My husband is kind-hearted. I wouldn't say revered by ten thousand people, but in Lingnan, he certainly has more popular support than this humble official."

Xia Yuan chuckled. "I can see that, too."

Before leaving, Song Tingzhou gave Fu Xiao some final instructions. Fu Xiao suddenly asked, "I once sent a trusted subordinate to Xiwu Prefecture to deliver a letter asking Lord Song for help. Did you come to Pubei County because you saw my letter?"

Song Tingzhou frowned slightly. "I never received any letter from Pubei County."

Fu Xiao sighed, "There are many bandits and outlaws in Qin Prefecture. He may have met with misfortune on the way."

—

The area of Qin Prefecture was smaller than Xiwu Prefecture, with fewer villages and towns. Because of Fu Xiao's words, Song Tingzhou worried all the way that the local bandits would be rampant and cause chaos, but they arrived safely in Qin Prefecture City.

The situation from Pubei County repeated itself. And compared to the sparsely populated Pubei County, Qin Prefecture City, which had gathered an army of eighty thousand, was even more shocking.

Even before entering the city, rotting, stinking corpses appeared on both sides of the road. The closer they got to the city, the more corpses there were.

Song Tingzhou immediately halted the carriage. In this situation, even with Elder Miao, his grandson, and Xiao Ci beside them, they would surely contract impetigo.

"Wan'er," he said, looking at Meng Wan beside him.

"First, ask Doctor Miao if there's any effective preventive medicine. They've been researching for so long; there should be some progress." If that didn't work, Meng Wan wouldn't insist.

Doctor Miao said with a chuckle, "Don't worry, my lord. Even if your husband does contract the disease, two doses of the medicine in the early stage will be fine." The danger of impetigo lies in the skin ulceration once it breaks out, and its strong infectivity. If caught early, it's very treatable.

Song Tingzhou's expression remained tense. Any illness carries risks, and he didn't want Meng Wan to take any risks.

Meng Wan persuaded him, "If I go into the city with you, I'll at least have many people to take care of me. If I wait outside the city and encounter bandits, wouldn't that be worse?"

Song Tingzhou was easily swayed when it came to Meng Wan, and after a few words, he was already convinced by his husband.

Chu Ci got off the carriage and sprinkled medicinal powder on the carriage and everyone's bodies. The smell was pungent, but no one complained. At this moment, they didn't even dare to breathe deeply.

From a distance, the city gate of Qin Prefecture appeared closed, just like the gate in Pubei County. But when the carriage approached, they noticed the gate was half-open.

There was almost no difference between inside and outside the gate. Countless victims of impetigo were everywhere, the ground covered with large and small puddles. Bodies had been moved to the sides of the road, with a few lying directly on the street.

A superior officer entering the city should have been welcomed by his subordinates. But from the moment they entered, they didn't see a single person who was alive and well.

They headed straight for the prefect's office. White lanterns hung in front of the gate and in the courtyard. In Pubei County, at least there was a county magistrate managing affairs, but the prefect in the prefectural office had actually died, to their surprise?