Chapter 188: Plague

"Sir, is there an accompanying imperial physician?"

"Imperial physicians cannot ride horses; they must travel by carriage, and they expect to take a day and a night, but…" Xie Yuwei was about to say that Chi Nan Yi knows some medical skills, only to discover that she was no longer here.

"Where is Miss Chi?"

Qing Zhuo pointed toward Chi Nan Yi's direction, and saw her standing beside a corpse already infected with the plague, watching.

"You! What are you doing...?" An official, covering his mouth and nose with a cloth, retreated a few steps in terror: "Quick! Quickly take her away and lock her up! Do not let her contact anyone else!"

"Stop!" Xie Yuwei snapped coldly: "I'll see who dares!"

"Sir, you are unaware: this disease is raging. The city physicians have already diagnosed it as smallpox; once contracted it is fatal. In Liangzhou City, more than twenty percent have already died." He said with a grim face: "Every day countless people lose their lives. If she truly has smallpox and is not locked up, who knows how many more will be infected."

"Smallpox? I recall that the Palace's imperial physicians previously devised a method to treat smallpox; although it cannot guarantee complete success, it should not be this severe!"

"The method from the Palace has already been tried, but it did not work."

"So you still insist it must be smallpox?" Chi Nan Yi rose slowly, took out Spirit Spring Water to wash her hands clean, and said in a slightly low tone: "It is not smallpox at all. Smallpox goes through maculopapular rash, papules, vesicles, and pustules; only after the pustules rupture does severe infection set in, leading to sepsis, which is the main cause of death. Yet I just examined those infected with the plague, and they show none of the smallpox signs."

"So, you mean this is definitely not smallpox?"

"How could that be?" an official shouted: "How could it not be smallpox? High fever, rash all over the body—if not smallpox, then what? Even the city doctors say it's smallpox; how can you conclude it's not? If it's not smallpox, then what do you say?"

"It's not smallpox; it resembles plague more." Chi Nan Yi looked at the man before her, curious: "I just said it's not smallpox—why are you so agitated? Could it be that you already know the city's epidemic is not smallpox but plague?"

"Nonsense. How could I know? I merely think you are so young, having studied medicine since birth, that you cannot be stronger than the seasoned city physicians. They all think it's smallpox, and only you dissent; the truth will be evident."

"Sir, do you think that because many people say it, it's correct? Today I'll teach you a lesson: truth lies in the hands of the few. You think my youth means my medical skill is low; have you ever considered why I, Xie Yuwei, brought you here for this relief effort?"

"But..."

"Plague also presents high fever, with rashes mainly at the extremities, purple‑black bruises that are hard to fade, and swollen, painfully enlarged lymph nodes—completely different from the layered vesicle eruptions of smallpox. You base your diagnosis solely on fever and rash, calling it smallpox, so your medication is completely misguided, which is why the treatment has been ineffective for so long. In plain terms, all this time you've been treating people in the city in vain, and those people have all died in vain."

The crowd, hearing this, were greatly startled.

"Is the treatment wrong?"

"Could it really not be smallpox?"

"Nonsense!"

"Silence!" Xie Yuwei stepped forward, his brows cold: "Lord Ge means the person I brought is a good‑for‑nothing waste? Can't even identify the disease?"

All the officials present knew Xie Yuwei had once been a minor local official and, by some means, had risen rapidly to a patron's favor; they appeared deferential, yet none truly respected him.

It was precisely because of this that they dared to treat Chi Nan Yi with such an attitude.

"I do not dare, I only wish to remind you, Sir, that tens of thousands of citizens in Liangzhou City are at stake. If you persist in the young brother's claim that the city's epidemic is plague and treat it as such, any mishap will bear heavy responsibility, and you cannot escape accountability!"

"Yes, Sir, perhaps we should stick to the previous diagnosis and treatment!"

One or two officials from Liangzhou City suggested treating it as smallpox; Lord Ge, standing at the front, scanned Chi Nan Yi with eyes full of caution and inquiry.

Xie Yuwei turned to Chi Nan Yi: "What do you say?"

Chi Nan Yi's expression was calm yet unequivocally confident: "I can conclude this is not smallpox, but plague."

"Good!" Xie Yuwei no longer hesitated; he trusted Chi Nan Yi's character and her medical skill: "Follow what Southern First Young Master says; there must be no mistake. If you deliberately obstruct, I will investigate according to law, and punish obstruction of relief and epidemic control. Understand?" Xie Yuwei's focus shifted to Lord Ge.

Sensing Xie Yuwei's gaze, Lord Ge watched silently, his eyes and heart observing, saying nothing.

"Since you say it's plague, do you have a cure?"

"Of course." She produced a pill: "This pill detoxifies; if it's plague, the pill will take effect quickly after ingestion. The treatments for smallpox and plague differ; after taking the medicine, the vesicles must go through the sequence I described before before improvement, which is also the fastest way to distinguish plague from smallpox."

Lord Ge, hearing this, furrowed his brows and shouted: "Impossible! This medicine's origin is unknown; it cannot be used rashly. If the citizens take it and it proves ineffective, delaying the disease, can you bear the consequences?"

"I can." Chi Nan Yi nodded without hesitation: "Lord Ge entrusts me, I bear the responsibility."

"You!" Lord Ge pointed at her nose, visibly irritated: "That still won't do! Lives are paramount, not a child's play. The names of tens of thousands of citizens in my city cannot be handed over to your hands."

"Ha, if Lord Ge truly considered the citizens, you should give them a chance of life, not let them suffer and die from the disease. Using the smallpox method for so long without effect, you stubbornly drive them into a dead end. This behavior seems as if you already knew they didn't have smallpox yet deliberately led them to death. Lord Ge, what is your intention?"

In the verbal duel, Lord Ge was naturally no match for Chi Nan Yi; he turned to Xie Yuwei: "Sir, think carefully!"

"Lord Ge, if you don't trust me, just have someone test the pill; then you'll know, won't you?"

At that moment, a physician carrying a medicine box hurried over, sweating profusely from the rush.

"Lord Ge, Lord Ge, it's bad!" The physician, panting, stopped before Lord Ge and said anxiously: "Lord Ai, Lord Ai has contracted the disease!"