novelraw Chapter 226
Chapter 226
Chapter 226
After Ding Facai rode back on horseback, the first thing he asked was, “Where is Doctor Yu?”
Upon learning that the doctor was testing medicine in the village, Ding Facai, cherishing his life dearly, chose not to enter.
In this group of two hundred people, he was currently the only one completely loyal to His Highness. If he accidentally caught the disease, the entire group behind would truly be useless.
“Lord Ding, this is the freshly fumigated cloth, please change to this one.”
A piece of black cloth, heavily scented with medicine, appeared in front of Ding Facai.
This cloth was wrapped around the face to prevent infection;
the fumigation recipe was all provided by Yu Pufan.
Ding Facai took the cloth and changed the cloth wrapped around his face.
He had been waiting outside for half an hour before some movement was heard at the village entrance.
The barricade blocking the village gate was pushed open, and a hunched old man, with a white cloth wrapped around his face and carrying a bamboo basket, came out through the gap. Seeing this, Ding Facai hurried over.
“Doctor Yu, how is the situation inside? Did anyone died today?”
The old man, though had bloodshoot eyes, shook his head. Although he looked tired, his eyes were very determined.
“Not bad. The most severely ill few can still hold on for a few days. I gave them the medicine again today. Whether it will work or not, we need to wait a bit longer."
When testing medicine, you can’t expect it to be effective and accurate in just one or two tries.
Ding Facai had been here for four days and this was the second time he heard Doctor Yu testing new medicine.
He nodded, “Thank you, Doctor Yu. If you need anything, just say it.”
Although he did not understand medicine, Ding Facai was competent in logistics.
Yu Pufan politely nodded, “I will be troubling you, Lord Ding. I happen to be missing several medicinal ingredients here, so I might need you to send someone to buy some from the nearby city.”
“Very well, just say what you need.”
Yu Pufan didn’t say it directly but wrote all the needed medicinal materials on a piece of paper and then gave it to Ding Facai.
To not waste time, Ding Facai immediately sent someone to buy medicine in the nearby city.
As for Yu Pufan, he went to wash his hands and change clothes. His clothes and cloths were all fumigated with medicinal herbs. To prevent infection, he did this every time he came out of the village. This was knowledge gained from years of traveling and practicing medicine.
Yu Pufan was a wandering doctor nearing fifty years old. His medical skills might not be as profound as Doctor Shi and Tan Lin, but he was used to dealing with difficult and unusual diseases.
What was the difference between orthodox doctors and wandering doctors?
In terms of medical skills, they were roughly the same, but their experience with diseases differed. Wandering doctors knew more useful alternative methods and were more enterprising and daring than orthodox doctors.
Take Yu Pufan as an example. This was his second time encountering an epidemic. Although the two epidemics were different, he was still more knowledgeable on how to deal with epidemics, reduce transmission risks, than most doctors.
After changing clothes, Yu Pufan went to rest.
He needed to take advantage of downtime to rest well so he could better respond when villagers fell ill.
–
Ding Facai had encountered an epidemic on his side. Although there was no epidemic on Yi Shisan’s side, things were no better for him.
Because of the problem of settling the people.
More than three hundred people could be placed anywhere, but people need food and drink. Faced with the high price of grain in the capital of Qian City Commandery, Yi Shisan almost despaired to the point of wanting to make his men into thieves!
On some street in the city, a crowd surged, shouting loudly. Almost everyone was shouting at the same store.
What were they shouting?
Demanding the store to lower prices.
“Just the other day it was twenty-nine wen per jin, why has the price risen today?”
“God heavens—With this price increase, how can my family survive?”
“Lower the price! You must bring the price down!”
“…”
In an unnoticed corner, two people were crouching together, watching the crowd.
Jia Liuyi said, “So many people.”
Yi Shisan: “All poor wretches, hard to snatch.”
Jia Liuyi: “All grain shops in the city are raising prices similarly, someone must be controlling it behind the scenes. Do you think it’s related to the Prefect?”
Yi Shisan: “Almost out of money, thinking about robbing the rich to help the poor.”
Jia Liuyi: “I went to the Prefect’s office last night. The office is pretty poor. There were several jars of pickled vegetables in the kitchen, not even a piece of meat. Do you think this is a facade or the truth?”
Yi Shisan: “Who should we rob then?”
Jia Liuyi suddenly took a small piece of cake out of his chest pocket. Just as he was about to break some off and put it into his mouth, Yi Shisan, without looking back, stretched out a hand to him.
Jia Liuyi broke off a bit and gave it to him.
Yi Shisan silently stuffed it into his mouth.
The two ate the cake in silence.
After a while, having finished the cake, both sighed in unison.
Yi Shisan: “I miss His Highness.”
Jia Liuyi: “If only His Highness were here.”
If His Highness were here, they wouldn’t have to deal with these troublesome matters.
So when exactly would His Highness arrive?
The Highness whom the two missed was on the way to Qian City Commandery.
Wei Yu could ride horseback at full speed, but Doctor Shi and others could not.
A group of physically weak doctors who had never ridden horses before could only travel long distances by carriage. To accommodate them, Wei Yu also had to take the carriage.
During the bumpy carriage ride, he had witnessed the growth of Lord Tan’s budding romance.
Wei Yu really didn’t expect that the previously insecure Lord Tan could have such a good temper when it came to love!
When Doctor Shi was cold and aloof, he was gentle and accommodating;
when Doctor Shi was immersed in medicine, he stood quietly by to keep her company;
when Doctor Shi lectured her disciples on medical theory, he chimed in a few words like a master…
Such a worthless dog.
Wei Yu really couldn’t bear to look at this Lord Tan, but he understood.
At such an age, yet still unmarried, and now, finally meeting someone with similar interests who was also unmarried, he had to try hard to win her as a wife, right?
It was just that he suffered from eating “dog food”.
Ignoring their love progress, once entering Qian City Commandery, Wei Yu began asking Fang Sheng about the whereabouts of the others.
The Gray Guards had their own communication method.
From Fang Sheng, Wei Yu learned that Yi Shisan and Jia Liuyi had already gathered in the city, but Ding Facai disappeared on the road from Gaowen County to Ji County.
Their men still saw Ding Facai’s marks left in Gaowen County, but saw nothing in Ji County, so it was easy to infer that something had happened to Ding Facai’s group on the road.
Hearing this, Wei Yu immediately changed his plan, originally going to the city, now switching to Ji County.
Two hundred people, how could they just lose contact without reason?
Moreover, Wei Yu still trusted Ding Facai’s ability. If he was delayed, Wei Yu only thought the other party must have encountered something that forced them to stop.
He didn’t know what it was, but he also knew surely someone needed help.
Perhaps his precious guardsman was eagerly waiting for him to come.