maidservant

Chapter 141 The Plague Strikes
As expected, the plague suddenly broke out in Xizhou, swept through Yezhou, and headed straight for the capital.

The speed of its spread was even more ferocious than expected, catching people off guard.

Outside Kyoto, the once bustling villages are now eerily silent. Under the old tree at the village entrance, the once lively tea stall is deserted. The stall owner, Old Wang, sits slumped on the ground, staring at his cold stove, filled with despair.

"How are we supposed to live like this!" Old Wang roared mournfully at the heavens, his voice echoing through the empty village.

His daughter-in-law started having a fever a few days ago and is now unconscious. The family has spent all their savings to hire a doctor, but to no avail.

In the village, the able-bodied men either died or fled, the fields lay barren and uncultivated, leaving only the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled, barely surviving under the shadow of the epidemic.

"Dad, Er Ya has also started to have a fever, what should we do!" The son stumbled out of the house, his face covered in tears, his voice trembling with sobs.

Old Wang's legs went weak, and he almost collapsed. His lips trembled as he cried out, "Heavens, why won't you leave our family alone!"

In Kyoto, the once bustling markets were deserted. Li Er, the owner of a small roadside restaurant, sighed as he looked at several baskets of unsold steamed buns.

"Brother Li, this business is impossible to continue!" Manager Sun from the cloth shop next door walked over with his head hanging low and a bitter face.

Li Er shook his head with a wry smile: "Who says it isn't true? Usually at this time, the shop is so busy that it's impossible to keep up with demand, but now there's not a soul in sight. The day laborers have no work either, and they're almost starving."

Not far away, several day laborers were gathered in a corner, their faces pale and thin, their eyes filled with anxiety and confusion.

"I heard there's a kind person giving out porridge in the south of the city, shall we go and take a look?" a young day laborer suggested in a low voice.

"Don't go. There might be an epidemic there. If you go and get infected, you'll have no chance of survival."

An older day laborer quickly tried to dissuade them, and everyone fell silent, only letting out helpless sighs.

In the slums, the low houses were crammed together, making it an area where diseases spread exceptionally quickly.

"Ah Lan, hang in there!" In a dimly lit, damp room, a young mother held her feverish child tightly, sobbing uncontrollably.

Neighbor Aunt Zhang came in carrying a bowl of dark herbal soup: "Honey, force this medicine down the child's throat; there might still be hope. This is a prescription I managed to get from the old Chinese medicine doctor at the village entrance."

"Aunt Zhang, thank you so much, but will this medicine really work?" The young mother's face was streaked with tears, and her eyes were full of helplessness.

Aunt Zhang sighed, "Let's try anything, it's better than doing nothing." However, before the child could finish the medicine, a violent coughing fit occurred, spilling the medicine all over the floor. The child's condition worsened, and the young mother cried out in despair.

In stark contrast, the grand mansions in Kyoto's affluent neighborhoods kept their gates tightly shut. They had purchased plague-preventing pills months earlier and stored them in their homes.

But they were just afraid that the illness would strike like a landslide, and the pills were ultimately just a precaution. They dared not gamble their lives on the efficacy of the medicine, and were busy isolating themselves from the outside world.

The noblewomen hid inside their houses, while maids bustled in and out, burning incense and sprinkling medicine, trying to keep the plague out. Madam Zhang sat in a carved chair, her brow furrowed, constantly fiddling with her prayer beads.

"Madam, the mugwort spice in the storeroom is almost gone. Should we go and get some more?" the steward asked cautiously.

Madam Zhang's face darkened: "Who cares about spices now! Quickly send someone to inquire where there are any good medicinal herbs left, and bring back a lot. Put the shop business aside for now; saving the lives of our whole family is the most important thing."

“But Madam, the shop is almost going to go under because of the epidemic. It’s too much trouble to spend money on medicine…” The steward looked troubled.

"Foolish!" Madam Zhang slammed her hand on the table. "What use is money if we're dead? If you don't handle this properly, you'll be in big trouble!"

The imperial harem was also filled with unease. The emperor ordered the Imperial Medical Academy to do everything in its power to prevent and control the situation, but the palace servants remained fearful.

The palace was relatively safe, but palace servants always needed to go out to buy things. No one wanted to leave the palace, which made the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, Eunuch Gao, extremely anxious.

"Listen up, all of you! Someone has to go to the purchasing today!" Eunuch Gao shouted in a high-pitched voice, pacing back and forth in front of the group of eunuchs, his face twitching with excitement.

The newly arrived eunuch, Afu, huddled in a corner and muttered softly, "Sir, I've heard that there's a plague raging outside the palace. If we go, we might not come back. Please have mercy on us."

Upon hearing this, the other eunuchs chimed in, "Yes, Your Excellency, our families are counting on us."

Eunuch Gao glared at her and said fiercely, "Stop complaining to us! You bunch of good-for-nothings, if you don't go and buy supplies, what will the palace eat and use? You all better think about what will happen if you disobey an imperial decree!"

At this moment, the usually composed eunuch Liu Mi stepped forward: "Your Excellency, we do not intend to disobey orders, but this epidemic is truly dangerous. Why don't we plead with the higher-ups to allow us to go once the epidemic has subsided?"

"Hmph, easy for you to say!" Eunuch Gao sneered. "If the higher-ups blame you, who among you can bear the consequences? No one can escape this matter today. I think it's best to send Xiao Mizi. You're new here, so it's time for you to show your skills."

Upon hearing this, Ami knelt down with a thud, tears welling in her eyes: "Eunuch, my parents are old and my younger brother is still young. If anything happens to me, how will they live?" The other eunuchs also looked on with pity, but dared not utter another word.

Just as the situation reached a stalemate, Chef Zhang from the Imperial Kitchen rushed over: "Eunuch Gao, the procurement cannot be delayed! If no fresh ingredients are delivered to the palace today, and the Emperor blames you, then you, the head of the Imperial Household Department, will be in trouble!"

Grandpa Gao's face turned pale and then red. Although he was annoyed, he knew that what Chef Zhang said was true.

He pondered for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "How about this, anyone willing to take charge of the purchases during this period will be rewarded with thirty taels of silver after the plague subsides. If they unfortunately contract the disease, their families will be taken care of by the Imperial Household Department!"

Upon hearing this, the eunuchs exchanged glances, and some of them began to waver.

Finally, a young eunuch named Shunzi stepped forward: "Sir, I'll go!" Seeing this, Ami also made up her mind: "Sir, I'll go too!"

Eunuch Gao nodded in satisfaction: "You're smart to know what's good for you. Remember, be careful in everything you do. The palace is hoping for your safe return."

As the young eunuchs stepped out, the conflict temporarily came to an end, but the unknown danger of the epidemic outside the palace loomed over them and the entire palace like a heavy dark cloud.

The plague came too quickly. The antipyretic pills that were distributed needed to be taken two days in advance for better prevention, and some unfortunate people were infected first.

"I heard that Xiao Shunzi, who went out to buy supplies for the imperial kitchen, has contracted the plague and has been taken away." Several palace maids huddled in a corner, whispering among themselves. "We have to be careful not to get infected."

"Yes, if you catch the plague, you'll just have to fend for yourself," another palace maid said nervously. "Then, if you get infected with the plague, you'll just have to fend for yourself." Another palace maid's voice was trembling with tears.

"Don't say anything more. The higher-ups are afraid of causing panic, so they told us to keep this a secret. Only a few of us know about it, and we dare not let it out."

The amount of fever-reducing pills distributed to each palace was enough to last for two months, which played a very good role in preventing this plague. Apart from that poor man in the imperial kitchen, everything in the palace was safe.

At the order of the Imperial Household Department, all palaces immediately entered a state of isolation, with the palace gates tightly closed and only specific passages left open for the entry and exit of supplies.

Every morning, the palace maids would begin to brew wine for disinfection throughout the palace. The wafting aroma of wine permeated every corner of the palace, while the smoke from burning mugwort rose gently, adding a touch of solemnity and mystery to the palace.

"Your Excellency, the fever-reducing pills made by your Imperial Pharmacy are truly miraculous; not a single person in our palace has fallen ill."

Lin Yu was personally fumigating the bedding of the two princes with moxibustion, her face covered with thick cotton gauze.

"These secret recipes in the palace are all the wisdom of our predecessors. Your humble servant and the Imperial Pharmacy dare not take credit for them." The Imperial Attendant cupped his hands and respectfully presented the newly prepared golden mugwort.

After she left, Lin Yu stared blankly at the fever-reducing pills.

Looking at her expression, Yun Jin guessed that Lin Yu was thinking about Yun Shan.

"Your Majesty, that girl is very clever; she will be fine outside the palace."

Lin Yu nodded. "She should be fine." Then, thinking of the plague-avoiding pills outside the palace, she turned to Aunt Zhuang and asked, "How are the plague-avoiding pills being made in the capital? What's the situation outside these days?"

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid the problem outside the palace isn't with the medicine's effectiveness!" Aunt Zhuang recounted the news she had heard in detail.

The plague outside the palace loomed like a dark cloud. Although the court was extremely anxious, it issued antipyretic pills and sent urgent decrees to various places, striving to ensure that every citizen could receive this life-saving medicine.

However, there are always greedy people in the world. Although the government orders reach every citizen, some people secretly collude to try to monopolize the government.

In a secluded house in Kyoto, several merchants sat around a table piled high with accounts and gold and silver.

"We must seize this opportunity with the imperial court's antipyretic pills. As long as we control the supply, we won't have to worry about making a lot of money."

A fat merchant with a face full of scars squinted his eyes and said smugly.

Another merchant with a pointed face chimed in, "That's right. Those small-town pharmacies all have to get their supplies from us, and in the end, we get to decide the prices."

In this way, they managed to seize large quantities of antipyretic pills, turning what should have been a beneficial medicine for the common people into a tool for making huge profits.

Fortunately, there was still a glimmer of hope among the people. Many medical clinics and pharmacies, relying on their years of accumulated experience and compassion, developed their own plague-avoiding pills. In particular, the plague-avoiding pills sold at Yunshan's Xinglin Medical Clinic and various pharmacies in the pharmaceutical industry had excellent preventive effects.

Although this plague-avoiding pill is not as famous as the imperial court's fever-reducing pill, it still has a good effect in preventing disease.

The wealthy and powerful families in Kyoto, accustomed to a life of luxury and using rare medicinal herbs and imperial medicines, looked down on these folk medicines and did not try to steal them.

But amid the panic of this rampant epidemic, everyone wanted to hoard goods, fearing that the plague would not be over for a year or two.

Suddenly, the demand for plague-avoiding pills skyrocketed. In the pharmacies, the shop assistants were busy as bees, but the production speed could not keep up with people's enthusiasm for buying them.

The poor arrived early and lined up in front of the pharmacy, staring longingly at the closed door, hoping to buy a few plague-avoiding pills.

However, the appearance of unscrupulous merchants shattered the hopes of the poor once again. Seeing that the plague-avoiding pills were in short supply, they began to inflate prices.

The price of plague-preventing pills, which originally cost only a few coins each, skyrocketed. Those plague-preventing pills stamped with the seal of the Kyoto Pharmacy, which were considered to be of higher quality, became a cash cow in the eyes of merchants, and could even be sold for one or two taels of silver each.

"One tael of silver per pill? Isn't that going to kill someone?" An old man in tattered clothes clutched a few coins tightly in his hand, staring at the price sign hanging high above the entrance of the pharmacy, tears streaming down his face.

The poor people around also sighed and complained. They worked hard every day but only earned a few coins. Where would they get the money to buy this life-saving thing?

Lin Yu frowned as he listened to these things. "Human hearts are the hardest to control, so the law must be strict."

The emperor and his ministers were discussing policies in the imperial study. After a while, a loud order came from the study: "From this day forward, anyone who inflates medicine prices and profits from the national crisis will be flogged to death!"

With the issuance of the decree, the situation in Kyoto stabilized considerably. In addition to spraying disinfectant with alcohol daily, Yunshan and the shop assistants worked day and night to prepare plague-preventing pills.

However, this peace did not last long. One day, the eunuch on duty rushed into the imperial study, knelt down with a thud, and said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Minister Wang of the Ministry of Rites has reportedly contracted the plague!"

The emperor's hand, which was reviewing memorials, suddenly stopped, and his face instantly darkened. "What did you say? How could Minister Wang have contracted it? Wasn't he always in charge of the allocation of supplies in the capital and rarely went out?"

The eunuch trembled and dared not raise his head: "The specific situation is still unclear. I only heard that Lord Wang was discussing matters in the court yesterday, but today he has a high fever and is unconscious. The Imperial Hospital has sent people to treat him."

The news quickly spread throughout the palace. Upon hearing it, Consort Yang of Yonghe Palace paled, nearly dropping her teacup. "What are we to do? Even ministers have contracted it; is the epidemic getting worse?"

She gently patted her petite daughter in her arms, the poor little thing still in swaddling clothes, "Poor Second Princess, how could she have been born into this calamity of plague!"

Her personal maidservant quickly comforted her, "Your Highness, don't panic. The palace is under such tight security, nothing will happen. Perhaps Lord Wang was overworked and made a mistake, allowing the epidemic to take hold."

Consort Yang suddenly rose and issued an order forbidding any contact with people from other palaces. She also sent all the palace servants who had visited other palaces in the past two days to the Ye Ting (a type of palace inn). "Tell those people, don't come back until the plague is over!"

"But Your Highness, none of them are here." The old woman was about to plead for them, but seeing Consort Yang's angry glare, she dared not say anything more.

The plague outside the palace was like a ferocious beast. Although it was temporarily kept out of the palace gates, the news of the ministers falling ill plunged the entire palace into a tense atmosphere once again. Everyone understood that the battle against the plague was far from over.