Chapter Thirty-Eight: Doubts

  Zhen Shining lowered her head again, steadily divided the medicine in her hand, and skillfully wrapped it up to deliver it to a pale-faced young man named Fu Bao, "Take these four packets away for decoction, and grind the other two packets into powder and bring them over."

  Zhen Shining's calmness made Fu Bao feel much more at ease. He took the medicine and ran to the backyard.

  "What is meant by plague, is an acute infectious disease...". Zhen Shi Niang finally looked up at the man, "Because of its strong infectivity and rapid transmission, without a specific treatment, people will naturally die, forming a plague..." As she spoke, Zhen Shi Niang asked for brush and ink, and began to write.

  So it seems that Liu Ergou's illness is still a plague!

  She's playing with words!

  The man still remembered what Zhen Shining had just said at the door, that Liu Ergui's illness was contagious, and if everyone dispersed, he looked at Zhen Shining with a purplish-red face, applauding for the cleverness of this little girl, and even more so for her boldness, his heart skipped a beat.

  Afraid of causing panic and chaos, this matter would be handled in the same way even if it were handed over to the authorities.

  However, the government would secretly take away and isolate or execute Liu Ergui's family after the incident. This little girl was so confident that she could cure Liu Ergui's illness and control it from spreading widely!

  Can she bear the responsibility for the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers in Fengguo's Great Camp?!

  "Jian Niang..." also understood the meaning of Zhen Shi Niang's words and called out uncomfortably.

  "Don't worry..." Zhen Shining wrote with her head down, "This disease is caused by the invasion of wind-heat evil poison, which mostly occurs in winter and spring. In the spring, it's warm and windy, and in the winter, it's easy to form wind-heat evil poison due to the cold and warmth. Now it's deep autumn, just after the frost has fallen, as long as we respond well, a large-scale plague won't break out..." She put down her pen and looked up at the middle-aged man, "But you, you didn't understand and yet shouted loudly in public. Once panic and chaos erupt, it will be even more terrifying than this plague..." Her tone was calm and composed, with a hint of a senior's teaching tone.

  It was indeed the outbreak of the plague in Wuxi Town that occurred during the spring season when the green and yellow were not yet ripe. The man's face suddenly turned red, "...what Dr. Jian said is true." His tone unconsciously carried a hint of respect.

  As soon as he spoke, he suddenly paused.

  How can she, such a young girl, use such an old-fashioned and condescending tone to lecture him?

  He is...

  Unexpectedly, he actually admitted his mistake.

  An idea flashed by, and a face unconsciously turned from red to purple.

  The face turned red and purple, and Zhen Shi Niang handed the written prescription to Li Qi, who had just rushed in. "Let your partner prepare the medicine according to this prescription. Someone will come to buy it soon." Turning around to look at the rows of small drawers filled with medicinal materials on the counter, she teased half-jokingly and half-seriously, "The people in town are all afraid of an epidemic outbreak. It seems that Brother Li should seize the opportunity to stock up on more medicinal materials..." In her previous life, medical technology and hygiene conditions were advanced, and newborn babies had been vaccinated from a young age. Diseases like the plague and smallpox, which often broke out in ancient times, had long been eradicated. The only thing she remembered was the large-scale SARS outbreak in 2003, when it was said that Banlangen could prevent SARS. Even in places without an epidemic, Banlangen, masks, and disinfectant water were all sold out.

  At that time, she was a junior in college. The school's radio broadcast the epidemic situation every day, saying how many people died today and how many suspected cases were found tomorrow. I remember one day hearing that a student from a nearby school had died, and the next day her own school stopped classes, making her suddenly feel that death was very close to herself. Her roommates all hugged each other and cried bitterly, worried that they would be infected or finished off...

  At that time, she had a kind of apocalyptic anxiety.

  She believed that they were all ignorant commoners, and once it was confirmed that someone had contracted the plague, the panic in Wutong Town would be no less than hers at the beginning.

  The man's stern face flickered with a hint of surprise, "This medicine... really works?"

  Zhen Shiniang was speechless.

  She is naturally calm and collected, she never makes promises about this kind of thing.

  "Bring me five pairs!" The man's tone seemed somewhat arrogant, and he casually pulled out a few pieces of silver and tossed them onto the counter.

  Li Qi's eyes lit up brightly.

  When he suddenly heard that Liu Ergui had contracted the plague, his heart was filled with fear and terror, but he never thought that this would also bring such a huge business opportunity!

  It took him a good half day to come back to his senses, as if he had obtained an invaluable treasure. He tightly grasped the prescription in his hand and repeatedly called out to his partner standing at the door, "Quickly, quickly, get the medicine for this gentleman..."

  Fu Bao quickly brought in the well-researched medicine, and Zhen Shi Niang borrowed Li Qi's pharmacy to refine the medicine into pills. She had someone give them to Liu Er Gui to hold in his mouth. After bustling about, it was almost noon. Since Er Gui hadn't woken up, Li Qi's wife sent someone to deliver a message to Xi Que, leaving Zhen Shi Niang to have lunch at the pharmacy. After lunch, she took a nap for a while in Li Qi's daughter's room. When she woke up, it was already late afternoon. Li Qi's wife came in with a smile on her face, "Liu Er Gui has woken up and can eat now!"

  "That's good." Zhen Shining secretly let out a breath of relief, "......take me to take a look."

  She had only heard of this disease but never treated it before. In the morning, facing everyone's doubts, she appeared calm on the surface but was actually very anxious inside.

  When Li Qizhen's wife arrived at the ward, Er Guiniang immediately knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, "You are truly a living Bodhisattva who saves the world!"

  Zhen Shining was really not used to the bad manners of ancient people who would kneel down at every turn, and she hurriedly stretched out her hand to help her up, "......Get up quickly, a doctor treating illnesses and saving lives is only natural, I'm just doing my duty."

  Jian Xiu Niang couldn't move, and Li Qizhen's wife pulled her up with one hand. "Get up quickly, Jian Dafu is not in good health, don't bother her, let her hurry to see the second noble and go back to rest." The tone was clearly tinged with a few parts of malice.

  It is said that this disease is contagious, and Li Qizhen's wife does not want to stay in the sickroom for a moment.

  Because of the distance, although separated by a layer of black gauze, Er Gui Niang could vaguely see Zhen Shi Niang's face was abnormally pale, especially the five fingers grasping her wrist, which had a kind of icy coldness like that of a dead person... Suddenly, Er Gui Niang's face turned deathly pale, and she retreated to one side with a frightened expression.

  "After drinking the medicine, if you can get out of bed and move around, then go home and take care of yourself slowly." After taking Liu Ergui's pulse, Zhen Shi Niang looked up at Er Guiniang, "I'll prescribe some medicine for you later, drink it for two days. This illness is contagious, and since you're always by his side to take care of him, it's better to be prepared."

  As soon as she entered the house, she found that Er Guiniang's face was flushed red. She had just taken advantage of her support to cut off a pulse and had already contracted the plague. It was in the early stages, and the symptoms were not yet obvious, but Zhen Shiniang believed that Er Guiniang must be suffering greatly. However, she was afraid of being blamed for her son contracting the plague, and the whole family would be driven out of town, so she endured it with difficulty.

  It wasn't until later that she realized that Zhen Shiniang's gesture of supporting her was actually a pulse diagnosis. Er Guiniang was so shocked that her face turned pale, and she was thinking anxiously about how to deny it, but unexpectedly, Zhen Shiniang didn't expose her. She was stunned for a long time before regaining consciousness, her lips trembling for half the day, finally saying, "Don't worry, Doctor Jian, when he comes back, we'll leave, and we'll pay all the silver for the bed and the medical expenses without missing a single coin." Earlier, she had torn up her relationship with Li Qifu couple, vowing to stay here without paying a single penny until Liu Ergui recovered from his illness. If the Li family couldn't save him, they would hold a funeral in their home.

  Otherwise, knowing it's a plague, Li Qi would not have let them stay.

  At this time, Zhen Shi Niang lightly drew a few words to drive away the plague god, and Li Qi's wife sincerely threw a grateful glance at Zhen Shi Niang.

  Zhen Shiniang smiled slightly.