Amid General Li's complaints, Zi'an was not willing to return to the ancestral hall until almost dusk.
She knew that if she didn't go back, General Li would explode.
He started out by just whispering to Su Qing, but later he just told her loudly so that Zi'an could hear.
When he returned to the ancestral hall, the stench of a rotting corpse rushed out. Zi'an hadn't eaten today, and his stomach was churning. He couldn't help but dry-heave.
Su Qing supported her, "Are you okay?"
"It's okay. Are you hungry?" Zi'an waved her hands. It wasn't that the smell made her feel uncomfortable, but she was hungry.
General Li looked away, feeling angry in his heart, knowing that a young lady had come, and if she was not cured, they would have to take care of her.
Sure enough, Su Qing turned around and said to General Li, "Go get some food. She hasn't eaten yet."
General Li turned around angrily and ordered his men, "The prince is really a fool. Why did he let such a person come? He also made a big fuss about it, saying that she could cure the epidemic. Now everyone in the epidemic area knows about it. If they were not stopped today, I'm afraid they would rush out to see this female Bodhisattva."
General Li was angry because Xia Zian disappointed everyone.
I've been here for so long, but I haven't seen any patients. I just know I need to eat.
Su Qing helped Zi'an into the ancestral hall.
The patients in the ancestral hall were tied to simple wooden beds. Several doctors were moving around among them. One of them was wearing green clothes and was actually a woman.
She was squatting beside a patient's bed, cleaning the bite wound. The patient was roaring and his throat was gurgling, looking very ferocious, but the woman seemed not to see it.
Hearing someone come in, she turned around and slowly stood up.
She saw Su Qing and Zi'an and frowned slightly.
She has an oval face, almond-shaped eyes, and a not-too-fair skin without makeup. Her hair is simply tied up in a bun. Her facial features are outstanding, and she has a fiery beauty.
This was the first time Zian saw someone who had such a fiery charm without relying on makeup.
"County Princess?" Su Qing was shocked and shouted.
Zi'an was alert. County Lady? Could it be that it was County Lady Rouyao
"Su Qing, why are you here?" The woman put down what she was holding and walked over, but her eyes were fixed on Zi'an's face, looking at him wantonly.
"I brought Doctor Xia here. When did you come back? Why didn't you tell us?" Su Qing seemed very happy and asked eagerly.
"I've been back for a few days. I heard there was an epidemic here, so I came to take a look." Princess Rouyao looked at Su Qing's hand, which was supporting Zi'an. "This Doctor Xia, is she your fiancée?"
Su Qing smiled and said, "How is that possible? She is the prince's fiancée."
"Prince? Which prince?" asked Princess Rouyao.
"Of course it's the Regent, your cousin." Su Qing introduced him without hesitation, but after the introduction, he seemed to remember something and quickly changed the subject, "Why did you come to the epidemic area? How dangerous is this?"
But Princess Rouyao obviously didn't intend to answer his question, but kept staring at Zi'an, "Cousin's fiancée? She doesn't look that good."
Her attitude was very insolent and obviously hostile. Even if he ignored her words, Zi'an could feel it clearly.
Su Qing quickly said, "No, don't get me wrong. Zi'an is the daughter of the Prime Minister's family. She is a very good person, has excellent medical skills and is kind-hearted."
Hearing Su Qing's praise, Rouyao County Lady was obviously even more displeased. She glanced at Zi'an coldly and said, "Working here is tiring and dirty, and there are life threats at any time. If a young lady like you can't stand it, leave quickly."
How could Zi'an be willing to show weakness to the provocation of her love rival? She looked directly at County Lady Rouyao, "The County Lady is a noble lady, but she can also serve the patients here. What can't I tolerate?"
General Li had never known the identity of Rouyao until he found out after hearing the conversation between Su Qing and her. He couldn't help but stand in awe of County Lady Rouyao.
After all, a county lady was willing to come to this dangerous epidemic area and do menial work as a servant. It was something that not everyone could do if they were ordinary people.
Because of his respect for Rouyao, when he heard Zi'an's seemingly provocative words, he said, "County Lady Rouyao has been here for three days. She only eats one meal a day and spends the rest of her time taking care of patients. This is the true heart of a bodhisattva."
Rouyao County Lady threw a pair of fish intestine gloves to Zi'an, "Since you are here, get to work."
Su Qing said: "Don't be in a hurry, she hasn't eaten yet, let her eat something first."
"Hmph!" Princess Rouyao glanced at Zi'an indifferently, "If you want to eat, eat here, if you can eat."
Zi'an put the Yuchang gloves aside and looked at the scene. There were about fifty patients here, which showed that people had been dying continuously in the past few days.
These people were in great pain. Although they were tied up, they kept trying to struggle. Their eyes were red and looked a little crazy, as if they had lost consciousness and were only driven by the virus.
The soldiers brought in a few steamed buns, which was instructed by General Li.
General Li said to Zi'an, "These are all we have. Miss, please make do with them. This is already very good."
Zi'an said, "You should improve the villagers' food."
General Li sneered, "Improvement? Miss, that sounds nice, but where will the money come from? The money from the court hasn't been allocated yet."
Zi'an asked Su Qing, "Doesn't the court have any money allocated?"
"The prince has already signed the approval document for the funds, and has ordered Lord Liang, the Jingzhao Yin, to purchase the supplies," Su Qing turned around and asked General Li, "Didn't the government send any supplies over?"
General Li said with a bitter face: "Where did you send it? I have urged you several times. Now the villagers have taken out the stored grain because not all villagers are farming. Some small businesses can't go out now. Even if they have money, they can't buy it. We don't have enough manpower and can't leave."
"The troops stationed outside were sent by the prince, right?" Su Qing asked.
"They were sent by the prince, but the prince issued a strict order not to let them leave. They must guard the defense line and not allow anyone to enter or leave. We can't leave easily either."
"This Lord Liang hasn't even delivered any supplies. It looks like his official career is over." Su Qing said coldly.
Upon hearing this, Princess Rouyao said calmly, "Lord Liang pretends to obey but secretly disobeys. There may be someone behind this."
Zi'an said to Su Qing, "Go to the Chen family's courtyard and ask Xiaosun to withdraw money. The Hu family said that all the expenses of Shitou Village will be paid by Dingfenghao. Dingfenghao also sent 1,000 taels of silver today. It is in Xiaosun's hands. Ask her to take people to buy food after withdrawing it. You must keep up with the food, and you can't just eat steamed buns."
Being under house arrest here, with no certainty of life or death, and feeling panic, it is really unacceptable if I can't even have a good meal.
Su Qing smiled and said, "Look what I said? Living Bodhisattva, right?"
Rouyao County Lady sneered, "It's so easy for this Bodhisattva to be generous with the money from the Hu family."
Zi'an turned around, chewed his bun, and said firmly in his heart: "I really don't like her."
(End of this chapter)