Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1245: Chapter 1247 Major Trouble_1

Bai Ruozhu realized that Sun Jia was already addressing her as ”Doctor Bai,” signifying that he had acknowledged her.

However, at that moment, Sun Jia seemed somewhat distracted, when suddenly he slapped his head and said, ”You’re right; after the plague, some different symptoms do appear. These past days, as I observed, I thought all those were typical symptoms of the plague. It wasn’t until you reminded me that I realized not every patient has all of the symptoms—there are indeed some differences.”

Bai Ruozhu nodded, ”Generally speaking, contagious diseases may present similar symptoms, but we cannot rule out individual differences, so we must treat each case separately for a more accurate cure.”

Sun Jia felt somewhat ashamed at this moment. He had repeatedly claimed he volunteered to take care of the patients, but he had never considered this point. He had been simply boiling a large pot of medicine and giving everyone a bowl to drink, completely unable to provide targeted treatment.

Perhaps in his heart, he had no hope that these people could survive but was merely fulfilling his duty as a doctor or maybe he couldn’t bear to see them unattended in their final moments.

But Bai Ruozhu was different; her goal was very clear. She came here to heal, and her words ”a speedy recovery” might not be empty promises—perhaps they really could come true.

Sun Jia smiled bitterly and mumbled to himself, ”If only I had met her earlier.”

As Bai Ruozhu took the pulse of the next patient, her ears caught Sun Jia’s murmur. She sympathized with Sun Jia’s plight, but she couldn’t bear to remind him that if they had met earlier, she would have been just a child, not even born yet.

Actually, the biggest reason they were at a loss with the plague at this time was the lack of research. Look at how well you can treat a common cold—because there’s experience from predecessors or from one’s own extensive observations. But in Danliang Country, there were not many records of the plague, and doctors had little contact with patients; how could they find an effective treatment method?

Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but think of Sun Simiao—it was said that he, regardless of danger, went deep into the quarantined areas of the plague, came into contact with many sufferers, and finally found a treatment method.

By the time she had seen half of the patients, Jiang Yichun had returned with people.

Jianqi, Chufeng, Muyu, and the others were all dressed in oversized protective gear, their mouths and noses covered, carrying loads of herbal medicine and food ingredients. Zhou Shu, who had appeared before, also brought people with him, suddenly adding more than twenty people to the scene.

”You, why have all of you come?” Bai Ruozhu was shocked. If they were infected, the mission they had behind them wouldn’t be able to continue.

”If our lady of such high status can come, why not us? Besides, we believe our lady can cure the plague, so what do we have to fear?” Muyu interjected.

Bai Ruozhu looked at Jiang Yichun; he must have told everyone about the situation inside and surely had rallied them all, seeing how impassioned they looked.

Chufeng kicked Muyu’s leg, ”Sweet talker.”

Muyu cried out ’ow’ as he jumped aside, and then said earnestly, ”I speak the truth; we swear to follow our master and lady!”

With the two of them joking around, the atmosphere lightened up quite a bit; perhaps with the newfound hope, the moans and groans of the patients lessened as well.

Bai Ruozhu quickly assigned tasks to everyone and then divided them into two groups to take turns on duty, while she continued to take the patients’ pulses.

Some time had passed when the county magistrate brought two doctors over, suddenly making manpower sufficient.

Bai Ruozhu had special gloves and cotton swabs made, and he wrote Formulas for the two doctors to prepare medicine soup and ointment, assigning them the task of applying these externally to the patients’ wounds.

With everyone busy, nighttime quickly fell. Nearly every patient had drunk the newly prepared medicine and had their wounds washed with the medicine soup and treated with ointment, which greatly improved their condition by evening.

Bai Ruozhu and Jiang Yichun did not stay in the lodging arranged by Zhou Shu, but instead found a small room to live in within the sun-dried yard that had been designated as a Quarantine zone. Bai Ruozhu needed to monitor the patients’ condition, and since they had been in contact with the patients, they needed to be isolated, so they simply stayed in the Quarantine zone.

The Room was very simple, but neither of them was unaccustomed to hard work. After washing up and lying on the bed, they finally had the chance to talk intimately.

”Ruozhu, did you find out anything special today?” Jiang Yichun asked.

”I’ve been preoccupied with treating the illness, and only after stopping to think did I feel something was not right,” Bai Ruozhu said.

”Indeed, it’s too coincidental. Moreover, the Plague is mostly prevalent in the Southwest, so how did it suddenly appear here in the Northwest? It’s not that the Northwest is completely free of it, but why does it seem that wherever we make a feint, an actual outbreak occurs?” Jiang Yichun’s brows were tightly furrowed, ”Given the current situation, we cannot directly head to the Western Regions; we have to take care of the Epidemic Area. I believe even if the emperor gets the secret report, the decree he sends back will say the same.”

”But what about Diao Bin? She could be in danger at any moment. What if someone finds the holy maiden Fen Wan before us? If this epidemic was someone’s doing, it shows our plans have been completely exposed.” Bai Ruozhu said, grasping Jiang Yichun’s hand, ”Otherwise, let me stay here with a few people to manage the Epidemic Area while you lead some people into the Western Regions to find the holy maiden. Treating the Plague won’t be quick, and there might be further infections; we must continue to observe. I’ll have to wait here for you to bring back the holy maiden and meet up.”

As soon as he heard this, Jiang Yichun suddenly sat up, ”No! It’s too dangerous for you to stay here alone. If it was done on purpose, wouldn’t you be in danger once we leave? Besides, Chu Hai said his mother was deeply poisoned; who else could save her life if you don’t go?”

This was indeed a problem, and Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but worry.

”Let’s not think too much right now. Let’s first solve the issue with Guangqi Town; otherwise, if the Plague spreads, the whole Northwest region will be in trouble, resulting in utter devastation” Jiang Yichun lay back down, wrapping his arm around her waist, and continued, ”Maybe we can ask Chu Hai tomorrow to see if his Master has a way to safely bring the holy maiden here.”

”That seems to be the only option,” Bai Ruozhu sighed. They would discuss it further tomorrow. Right now, she was extremely tired and truly needed some good rest.

”The Plague usually doesn’t erupt immediately upon infection; there must be something wrong here. I’ve already sent people to search around the Town to see if there are any discoveries by tomorrow.” Jiang Yichun finished talking and realized Bai Ruozhu hadn’t responded, turning his head he saw she had already fallen into a deep sleep.

He tenderly adjusted her somewhat disheveled hair, feeling sorry for how tired she was today. She had rushed to Guangqi Town without stopping, then spent the entire day treating patients without even eating lunch, and barely swallowed a few bites for dinner.

If it weren’t for his official duties requiring him to quickly find the root cause, he really would have liked to assist her and alleviate her hard work.

The night passed without words. Early the next morning, Bai Ruozhu was up again checking on the patients, so busy that she even skipped breakfast. Only when the sun rose did she take a short break to drink a bowl of porridge.

But just as she caught her breath, Zhou Shu’s voice came from outside: ”Doctor Bai, quick, come out and see, there’s serious trouble!”