Chapter Fifty-One: Lamenting the Sorrow of a Thousand Years

  In the 26th year of Shengwu, as the Spring Festival approached, officials from the Ministry of Rites had already drafted ceremonial procedures and submitted them to the Emperor for approval. In previous years, the Spring Festival was always a grand and lively occasion within and outside the Dazheng Palace. However, this year the Emperor set aside the Ministry's elaborate memorial and instead issued an edict: The Director of the Relief Agency was removed from office and investigated for dereliction of duty in providing disaster relief. The Princess of Qingping was temporarily appointed to lead the Relief Agency, assisted by Imperial Physicians Song Defang, He Ruyi, and Huang Wenshang, who were dispatched to the disaster-stricken area of Pingzhou to provide relief and assistance to the people.

  Immediately followed by an imperial decree: the fourth prince Ye Tianling was appointed as the observer of the capital, in charge of commanding troops, inspecting and banning the two areas of the capital, and having full power to handle disaster relief matters, and all local officials in Pingliang were ordered to follow his dispatch.

  Two days later at dusk, there was another decree: Qianning, the seventh imperial son, was appointed as a servant of the Imperial Censorate and put in charge of planning for the New Year's ceremonies.

  At this time, Qing Chen and Ye Tianling had gone to Ping Li, as soon as they left the capital, the Xuan Jia army was stationed at the city gate, and a card was set up from the suburbs of Beijing to seal off the border, drawing a tight defense line between the epidemic area and the non-epidemic area.

  The Xuanjia Army's strict governance is truly deserved, and the soldiers in the army are not like the previous relief agency. They do not fear the plague and take advantage of it to secretly release people who have bribed them. Everyone strictly follows orders, swiftly deploying to various places like a copper wall and iron fortress.

  Ming Yi Building, relying on the order of Qing Chen, expanded the Mu Yuan Tang to several branches, providing medical treatment and relief to disaster victims, which greatly helped many ordinary people. It soon became a well-known charity hall in the Beijing area. For convenience, Qing Chen changed into men's clothing when going out. Some villagers from the suburbs of Beijing who had gone to Mu Yuan Tang for medical treatment recognized her and spread the word that there was a great doctor at Mu Yuan Tang who could cure all diseases.

  You and your companions have been walking, sometimes stopping, all the way down to Pingli, where you see that almost every household in the city is hanging white flags, with many families having deaths, some even having entire households wiped out, and those who died on the road are too numerous to count. The surrounding counties also suffered greatly, with everyone fearing for their lives.

  As the Spring Festival approaches, Pingli is filled with sorrow and resentment that touches the sky. The dead are gone, the escaped have fled, and those left behind live in fear, not seeing the sun or moon. Qīng Chén cannot express what he feels, only that his heart is shaken to the core, wishing he could immediately dispel this plague, restore peace to the people, and bring tranquility back to heaven and earth.

  On a cold winter morning, the streets were almost empty, eerily quiet as if in a ghostly realm. A long gust of wind blew up, sending scraps of paper flying everywhere, and amidst the sound, there was a faint cry that added to the desolation. In the back hall of the Pingliang Prefecture, Song Defang had only slept for a few hours before getting up early, his old bones almost unable to bear the fatigue of several sleepless nights. When he arrived at the front hall, he saw Night Watch Commander Zhang waiting there, greeting him with: "Commander Wei is up early."

  Wei Changzhen smiled and said: "Song Yu physician is early, we have been fighting with the Fourth Highness for many years, you should rest more."

  Song Defang said: "As people get older, they become more aware of their mistakes, Your Highness has woken up?"

  Wei Changzhen said: "The princess and the county master have already left the mansion. The county master asked me to give you these few prescriptions to try."

  Song Defang took the prescription handed over to him, and looked at it carefully. In the past few days, the Princess of Qingping had gradually implemented preventive care measures, and this epidemic seemed to be under control. It was likely that Ling Wang and the princess were personally going out to inspect. The only worry was that the blood of the divine beast was limited after all, and not many people could be saved every day. He didn't dare to delay, so he immediately went to the pharmacy to test the medicine.

  At this time, Ye Tian Ling and Qing Chen came out of a house with several teams of fully armed guards behind them, carrying several white cloth-covered stretchers. This family was not spared, all five members, young and old, died from the plague, even the people who collected the bodies for burial had nowhere to go.

  Yè Tiān Líng saw Qīng Chén staring blankly ahead, worried that she couldn't take it, and asked in a low voice: "Are you tired?"

  "You're right, this is probably the last few houses."

  The night sky was dotted with stars, and Ling nodded: "The city has been walked through, and the suburbs should be about the same." In the past few days, the two of them personally visited the entire city, Qīng Chén went from door to door to diagnose patients, comforted the people, promoted preventive measures, and also persuaded those who survived to cremate their deceased relatives, cutting off the source of the disease. Even if there were those who were unwilling, they understood the pain of burying their loved ones, and with repeated consolation and guidance, most people still followed suit. A large area in the eastern suburbs was set up as a cremation site, where countless dead bodies were burned every day, and this had been going on for five days already.

  You raised your head to look at Ling Ye, who had been busy with epidemic prevention and control these days, and his eyebrows had not relaxed. The two of them were devoted to the epidemic, and even their alone time was scarce. But in the brief moments when they looked up and turned around, they could see each other, which made them feel at ease. Every move was coordinated, and their actions complemented each other seamlessly, making everything easier. It felt like this life had never been so comfortable, and the gloomy epidemic area even had a few more places that made people nostalgic.

  Ye Tianling saw her looking over, a faint wave in the clear and handsome eyes, Yan Yu asked beside: "Your Highness, are you going to the Dongjiao fire scene today?"

  "Go." The night sky was faintly lit, and it had been burning for five days. Hopefully today would be the last time.

  In the city and on the road to Dongjiao, mourners wailed along the way, their cries shaking the sky.

  Ascending to the high platform, a raging fire blazes ahead, devouring countless perished souls. Yan Yu has watched for several days, yet still finds it unbearable to witness this tragic scene, and cannot help but turn his head away in avoidance. Everyone lowers their heads and closes their eyes, unable to bear looking at each other, but the mournful wails of the dying people by their ears cannot be concealed.

  At the top of the platform, Ye Tian stood with his hands behind him, expressionless, gazing out at the raging inferno before him. The scorching heat waves couldn't melt the chill in his eyes, making it seem like he was unmoved by this hellish scene. Qing Chen stood quietly beside him, the hot air causing her white veil to flutter restlessly, only a pair of clear and beautiful eyes visible beneath, reflecting the intense flames like autumn water. The world around them twisted and rose into the air, surging straight up to the clouds. She stared unwaveringly at the death throes before her, as if she wanted to etch it into her heart, remembering forever.

  At this moment, it seems to have stripped away the heart of "Ning Wencheng", and also forgotten about "Feng Qingchen" as a person. A kind of indescribable emotion has sprouted from the bottom of her heart, slowly enveloping her entire being. The fierce flames of the past few days seem to have transformed her, and those worlds that she couldn't see before are now slowly unfolding before her eyes, as if reborn from Nirvana.

  The monks who survived in the city gathered on their own, reciting the Buddhist scriptures for the dead, and the Buddha's voice brought some calmness. Qing Dust tilted his head to listen for a while, and said in a low voice: "Fourth brother, we should have come earlier."

  "It's not too late now."

  Perhaps the heavens have a good life-giving virtue, and within ten days, the Heavenly Emperor received a memorial stating that the Princess of Qingping had extracted medicinal liquid from the highly toxic Papaver somniferum, combined it with Rhubarb, Saposhnikovia, Indigo, Platycodon, and a small amount of Aconitum uncinatum, to create a "Bitter-As-Bitter Pill" that was extremely effective against the plague in both Beijing and Henan. The Heavenly Emperor immediately allocated another 200,000 taels for disaster relief, and ordered the collection of medicinal materials from various places to rush production of this medicine, causing prices to skyrocket in the pharmaceutical market overnight.

  Muyuan Hall had long been hoarding a large amount of medicine and food under the instruction of Qingchen. As soon as the silver from the imperial court arrived, they immediately bought and sold it, earning more than 200,000 yuan in profit. On the one hand, they completely solved the urgent problem of Mingyi Building; on the other hand, they purchased more medicine and prepared "Kuruo Wan" according to the prescription, which was widely distributed. The number of patients taking refuge in Muyuan Hall gradually decreased, the outer city of Yige City had lifted its ban and reopened traffic, and Pingli was slowly returning to calm, but the people's livelihoods and economy were severely damaged and could not be restored for a while.

  After the epidemic, Tian Di exempted Ping Li area from paying taxes for two years and opened granaries to distribute grain.

  They stayed in Pingliang for nearly a month, and when they saw that the four sides were settled down, they decided to return to Beijing on December 22nd to report their duties and hand over their work, as it was just a few days before New Year's Day.

  When the carriage left Ping Li County Government, the people of Ping Li came out of the empty city and knelt down to see him off. Many people followed behind the carriage for more than ten miles before returning. Through the car window curtains, he looked at the people who were reluctant to bid farewell, feeling deeply moved, and suddenly felt that he was truly living here, a feeling that had never been so strong.

  A "tomb of ten thousand people" rose in the eastern suburbs of Pingli, with a two-zhang-high white stone stele standing in front of it. The inscription on the stele was written to commemorate the great plague of Shengwu 25th year. In the same year, the citizens of the city jointly raised funds to repair the "Pingchun Temple", where a statue of a barefoot woman stepping on a lotus flower was worshipped, revered by generations of doctors.

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