The most dissolute couple in the capital

Li Chengjing followed behind Elder Qi and the imperial physicians to the clinic area that Li Zhao had arranged earlier.

The clinic area was fairly clean, and the local doctors were busy, all wearing masks issued by Li Zhao, which contained some herbs for warding off disease.

The young apprentice behind him then distributed the various herbal decoctions that had been prepared in advance to the patients, as instructed.

If a difficult or complicated illness is encountered, another medicine will be prepared and administered.

No matter how orderly things are, when thousands of people are gathered together, chaos is inevitable.

Everyone took off their masks, put them on, and immediately began their work.

"The pulse is floating and tight, the patient has a headache and body aches, and no sweating. This is due to exposure to cold. Go over there and get a dose of Ephedra Decoction to induce sweating." The old physician Qi sat behind a simple wooden table, his fingers resting on the wrist of a withered old man, and gave the order without looking up.

Li Chengjing sat next to Elder Qi, with a long queue forming in front of him.

In front of Li Chengjing was a woman holding a child who was groaning in pain. The child had a scratch on its calf that was red, swollen, and shiny.

"The wound has become infected." Li Chengjing turned to the young apprentice and instructed, "Wash away the rotten flesh with medicinal wine, apply wound medicine, and bandage it."

The man behind him, his face ashen, clutched his stomach and wailed, "Doctor, my stomach hurts like it's being stabbed with knives! I'm vomiting and having diarrhea, I can't take it anymore..."

Li Chengjing quickly jotted down the symptoms on the pulse diagnosis table, his brows furrowing even deeper.

After a whole day of observation, the symptoms were incredibly varied. Some had simply caught a chill from being in the water for too long, some had broken legs from being hit by a log, resulting in festering wounds and fever, and others had simply collapsed from exhaustion after being starved for over ten days and suddenly ate too much food.

However, a group of people in particular have attracted everyone's attention.

These people had no external injuries, nor did they seem to have a simple headache; instead, they began to vomit and have diarrhea repeatedly, along with a persistent high fever, without any warning.

The most frightening thing is that the number of people with this symptom is gradually increasing.

"Elder Qi, please examine the pulses of these individuals." Taking advantage of a break, Li Chengjing handed over several pulse reports. "I don't think it's due to acclimatization issues."

The old physician Qi glanced at it, a trace of solemnity flashing in his cloudy eyes. He lowered his voice and said, "I am also worried about this matter. I am afraid it is some kind of foul poison, but we do not yet know where the source of the disease is."

Li Chengjing didn't say anything, but he picked out the cases of vomiting, diarrhea and fever separately, piled them up thickly, and pressed them under his elbow.

As night fell, only a small oil lamp was lit in a side tent next to the main command tent.

Li Chengjing rubbed his sore neck and stared blankly at the medical records covering the table.

"Liu Lu, go and fetch the list of refugee camps that the Prince of Yan gave me during the day."

Liu Lu quickly pulled out the booklet filled with circles and drawings in vermilion.

Li Chengjing spread out the thick stack of pulse records for "vomiting, diarrhea, and fever," holding the records in one hand and flipping through the roster with the other.

"Zhang San is from Lijia Gou, Jiangyuan County... and lives in Dingziying, west of the city."

"Zhao Si is from Xiaoliu Village, Qingyuan County... and lives in Dingziying, west of the city."

"Wang Mazi... was also from the Dingzi Camp."

He checked the residences of all one hundred-plus patients and found that 80% of those suffering from the most severe vomiting and diarrhea were concentrated in Dingziying and Wuziying in the west of the city. Both of these camps were located in the lowest-lying corner of the main camp.

"It shouldn't be the food." Li Chengjing paced back and forth in the tent. "They're all eating communal meals, so if there's a problem with the food, it should be the same for everyone. Why are only two battalions suffering from severe diarrhea?"

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Li Chengjing, without even having breakfast, led Liu Lu straight to Dingzi Camp.

The smell here was more pungent than elsewhere, and many groaning disaster victims lay sprawled out.

Li Chengjing casually grabbed an elderly woman and went straight to the point: "Grandma, tell me, where have you been getting the water you've been drinking these past few days?"

The old woman weakly pointed to the back of the camp: "Your Highness... there isn't enough water at the soup kitchens in front, and we're too far away to get any. Fortunately, there's an abandoned old well behind the camp. The water is a bit murky, but it's drinkable after settling. We've been drinking water from that well for the past few days."

Li Chengjing's heart skipped a beat. He quickly walked in the direction the old woman pointed, passing through layers of tents, and arrived at the old well.

The well platform was covered in mud from being trampled on, and a layer of suspicious oily sheen floated on the surface of the well water. Li Chengjing did not approach immediately, but instead circled the well, his gaze falling on a depression behind the well platform that was not yet completely dried up.

The floodwaters had just receded, and the depression was filled with debris that had been washed down from upstream.

Li Chengjing covered his nose and took a few steps closer, his pupils suddenly contracting.

Less than thirty paces from the well, in the mud, lay several half-buried, bloated, white-faced corpses of pigs and dogs, and even the remains of a few unidentified humans. Flies swarmed around them, and a stench filled the air. Meanwhile, the sewage from the depression seeped silently into the well, carried by the mud and sand beneath.

"Ugh—" Liu Lu, who had followed, immediately leaned against a tree and vomited.

No wonder only people in this camp were infected on such a large scale!

Li Chengjing turned to Liu Lu and asked, "Where is the Prince of Yan?"

Liu Lu raised his pale face and replied, "Your Highness, His Highness the Prince of Yan should be in the main tent at the moment."

Li Chengjing rushed over and found the relevant officials inside the tent, discussing matters with the Prince of Yan.

Li Chengjing then told the Prince of Yan about this matter, and then stated his demands:

"Seal the well! Immediately fill that well with stones! Anyone who dares to drink a single drop of water from it will be dealt with according to military law!"

Upon hearing this request, the magistrate of Jiangyuan County's legs went weak, and he knelt down again: "Absolutely not! Your Highness Prince Liang, this is absolutely forbidden!"

"What's wrong with that?" Li Chengjing glared at him. "Didn't you understand what's seeping into that well water? If you keep drinking it, more and more people will get sick!"

"I know, I understand Your Highness's compassionate heart as a physician!" The magistrate kowtowed anxiously. "But Your Highness, the Ding and Wu battalions together number over three thousand people! We've just recovered from a severe drought and are now facing another flood; clean water sources in the area are dwindling. If we seal that well, what will they drink?"

Li Chengjing impatiently interrupted him: "Am I the doctor or are you? How to supply water is a problem for you, the county magistrate, to solve. My solution is to cut off the source of the disease!"

"Alright."

Li Zhao, who had been sitting silently in the main seat, suddenly spoke up, "Uncle, he's right. Sealing the well is fine; I can even send a squad of armored soldiers to guard it and kill anyone who gets close. But what they'll drink after it's sealed is something we need to think about beforehand."

Li Chengjing was stunned: "What?"

Li Zhao's voice was not as gentle as it was in the capital: "Three thousand men need at least fifty shi of water every day. The river in front of the camp is murky and the current is rapid, making it easy to fall in while drawing water; the mountain spring in the distance has been destroyed by a mudslide, and the carriages can't get in at all. If we seal the wells directly, I'm afraid that before tomorrow is even over, these three thousand men will riot from thirst, go to seize water sources from other camps, and even fight and kill each other over a few mouthfuls of dirty water."

"As a doctor, it's good that you've found the source of the illness, Uncle. But sealing the well directly might turn the rescue into a murder. If you decide to seal the well simply because you say you don't care about the water source, can you really ignore all the other consequences?"

Li Chengjing opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

"Ah..." Li Chengjing subconsciously thought, "My brother is the Emperor," but in this moment and place, it seemed so pale and powerless. Even the Emperor's own brother couldn't conjure up a single drop of clean water.

He lowered his head dejectedly: "What should we do then?"

Li Zhao regained some of his amiable demeanor and said, "I understand about this matter. Uncle, please continue your medical consultations. I will have people gather supplies from other camps, collect the corpses near the water source, and look for a suitable place to dig a well or fetch water."

Lee Seung-kyung nodded.