Xia Fuyang pointed to the blood dripping in the small wooden bucket.
Qu Dubian understood. "I had Physician Yang needle my sphenopalatine acupoint. I can't smell anything for now." It was a pity he couldn't do it often; too much needling could lead to permanent loss of smell. Otherwise, he would definitely have mastered this technique.
Xia Fuyang closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them. A surge of anger was pent up in his heart, yet he didn't dare to truly rage at the person. He could only suppress his voice, saying, "Do you ever take your own well-being seriously!"
"Testing medicine on yourself? Qu Xiaoqi, how many lives do you think you have!"
Qu Dubian tilted his head back.
"This is called... being the first to receive treatment. What do you know?" He pushed Xia Fuyang's face away. Although the plague simulated on him by the simulator wasn't contagious, he could still use it as a threat. "Stop fussing over me. Be careful getting too close, or you'll end up bedridden too."
Xia Fuyang said angrily, "Then I'd be testing it right alongside you."
"My constitution is different from yours," Qu Dubian leaned out to glance outside, then placed a finger to his lips. "Shh. Keep your voice down. Don't attract Ye Banban."
He poked the back of Xia Fuyang's hand. "Keep this matter confidential. Don't let others know, cough... cough... You understand, the situation in the capital isn't great."
Xia Fuyang looked at him for a long while.
Qu Dubian clasped his hands together. "Brother, please."
The filthy blood from his left wrist flowed down his arm toward his elbow.
Without a word, Xia Fuyang took a cloth from nearby and wiped him clean. Physician Yang said, "You can bandage it after wiping, but don't wrap it too tightly."
Xia Fuyang nodded. After cleaning off the filthy blood, he wrapped a bandage around it.
There was no need to drain more blood. After wiping his eye corners and ear shells with a warm, damp cloth, Qu Dubian returned to bed.
The moment he touched the bed, he couldn't help but yawn wearily.
Exhausted both physically and mentally.
Physician Yang began taking his pulse.
Xia Fuyang: "Can I test the medicine too?"
Physician Yang shook his head: "I'm afraid not, Young Master Xia. The Seventh Highness's constitution is indeed quite special compared to ordinary people. If we want to quickly observe the medicine's effects on the human body, it can only be him."
Xia Fuyang said, "A letter has arrived from Consort Xuan."
Qu Dubian opened his eyes.
Xia Fuyang: "What you don't want others to know, I won't speak of. But other circumstances I will report truthfully. If you don't want her to worry, then hold on."
He couldn't quite describe the turmoil in his heart right now—there was anger, frustration, and a bitter, aching tightness.
A mix of countless emotions, he finally said fiercely, "Someone like you didn't get enough spankings as a child!"
He should just tell Consort Xuan and let him have a good taste of bamboo cane stir-fried with pork.
After saying this, he turned and left the small room.
Qu Dubian muttered, "...At least let me see Consort Xuan's letter before you go. Really."
Outside the courtyard.
A guard unit of about a hundred men stood watch at the courtyard gate.
When Xia Fuyang entered earlier, he was too anxious to pay much attention. Now, looking closely, each of these hundred or so men had a large broadsword at their waist.
Forged from pig iron.
They were of uniform height, robust and powerful, disciplined in their movements.
Upon closer inspection, they seemed like a trained military unit.
Xia Fuyang asked quietly, "Uncle Xue, are these all your guards?"
Xue Letian, though disguised, wasn't surprised Xia Fuyang recognized him, and said, "Traveling outside, especially doing business on the border, one always needs to bring some serious hardware."
"How is he inside?"
Xia Fuyang: "His spirits are alright."
At least he still had the energy to act shamelessly with him. He just didn't know how much of it was an act to put him at ease.
He glanced back at the courtyard.
Plague was an acute illness, and the Seventh Highness had always been frail. He could only hope the truth was as he himself claimed—that the one testing the medicine would also be the first to receive treatment, and would pull through safely.
Xue Letian said worriedly, "I hope he recovers quickly. People from the capital are probably coming soon, and it's not good for me to stay here much longer."
He had used a false identity to transport this batch of supplies; it was best not to have too much contact with people from the capital.
Xia Fuyang: "Uncle Xue, you go ahead. I'll stay here to watch over him."
Xue Letian: "Aren't you supposed to return to the commandery seat to report?"
Xia Fuyang beckoned his lieutenant over. "Leave fifty men from the unit here. Lead the rest back to the commandery seat. Just explain the situation. Once the Seventh Prince's condition improves, we will return to the commandery."
The lieutenant pointed at himself. "Brother Xia, I'm leading the team?"
Xia Fuyang patted his shoulder. "It's not like you haven't carried out tasks alone before. Go on. If anyone asks, tell them everything truthfully."
"Alright."
"Leave now, don't delay."
"Yes, sir!"
The lieutenant selected fifty elite soldiers to stay, for Xia Fuyang to command.
Seeing this, Xue Letian said, "Fine. With you here, I'm reassured."
He had originally told Magistrate Hua that he would leave once the grain distribution was finished, and now it was about time. Despite his worries, Xue Letian still proceeded according to the plan he had previously agreed upon with Qu Dubian.
Before leaving, he went to see Magistrate Hua.
Magistrate Hua held him in high regard. Even though very busy, he escorted him quite a distance.
Xue Letian said, "I must ask Magistrate Hua not to mention my having been here. I am accustomed to a life of idle wandering and have no wish to step into the arena of fame and fortune. I came here this time at the Seventh Prince's request merely to repay a favor. Now that the matter is concluded, it is time for me to leave."
He didn't say he was Layman Biandou, but every sentence hinted at it.
Magistrate Hua understood. "Rest assured, I understand."
Xue Letian: "I hope Magistrate Hua keeps his word."
Magistrate Hua said solemnly, "I studied to become an official, and serve as an official for the people. Throughout my journey, I have held faith in the virtue of sincerity."
Xue Letian cupped his hands in farewell.
Magistrate Hua returned the gesture.
"Thank you for your help to the people of this county!"
Xue Letian's lips moved slightly, but he only waved his hand, signaling his men to pull the empty carts and set off.
He wanted to say that the one who deserved the most thanks was not him.
Only after Xue Letian left did Magistrate Hua, together with his advisor, head back towards the county office.
The advisor asked, "My lord, do you think he is Layman Biandou?"
Magistrate Hua: "Whether he is or isn't, for now, or for a considerable time to come, he must be."
The advisor was puzzled. "What do you mean?"
Magistrate Hua shook his head.
"It's better you don't know."
Commandery Seat.
The party led by the Minister of Works had finally reached their destination.
Upon arrival, the Minister of Works immediately sought out the Commandery Governor. With little time for formal courtesies—both being men of action—they went straight to arranging the transfer of grain from neighboring commanderies.
The three commanderies were now fully coordinated.
However, transferring grain required careful protocol. They needed to issue promissory notes to the adjacent commanderies, to be repaid with interest in a few years when this region had a surplus.
The first batch of disaster relief funds had also been allocated from the court.
The Minister of Works asked, "On the road, I heard a plague has appeared in the midstream area. I wonder what the situation is like now."
Although Xie Jingshan wanted to ask about Consort Xuan and the Seventh Prince, he restrained himself, waiting for official business to conclude first.
The Commandery Governor said, "The plague struck suddenly. Fortunately, however, the magistrates of Le'an County and neighboring counties used large nets to intercept the floating corpses. The plague has been contained in the midstream area and has not spread towards the downstream plains."
"However, due to the plague, the repair of the dikes has also been delayed. We can only wait until the rainy season passes. For the next half year, the people of the three prefectures will likely need grain allocations and seed distributions to reclaim their farmland."
Xie Jingshan sighed. "Although the national treasury's revenue has been a bit higher these past two years, the consumption for three prefectures, totaling over fifty counties combined... I'm afraid it will still be a devastating drain."
The Minister of Works said, "There's no other way. We can't just watch the people starve."
The Prefect nodded. "We must also give the people hope. Otherwise, if disorder breaks out, it would be even worse for our Great Zhou. For the next few years, we'll just have to endure being poorer."
"Actually, things could have been worse this time," the Prefect said, ushering them into the main hall. "A Layman Biandou came to Le'an County and presented a set of disaster management guidelines, which greatly helped to prevent civil unrest. The plague did not spread completely, being contained to the middle reaches. The credit goes to the zoning strategy for management."
He had many copies printed of the guidelines transcribed by Magistrate Hua and now distributed them to the Minister of Works, Xie Jingshan, and Xi Zixing, who was quietly following behind them.
Xie Jingshan remarked, "Layman Biandou... the name sounds like it was chosen by someone who enjoys farming."
Farming?
Xi Zixing's ears perked up slightly.
He flipped through the pages for a moment. The handwriting certainly revealed nothing, as this was Magistrate Hua's transcription, further reproduced by the Prefect's office.
However, the wording and phrasing habits between the lines gave him an inescapable, faint sense of familiarity.
In the past, Xi Zixing often obtained the other princes' classroom essays from Qu Dubian. Eager to curry favor, Qu Dubian was very obliging and would basically hand them over every time.
But ever since Xi Zixing started keeping a scorebook on Qu Dubian, he could no longer ask the Seventh Prince directly, nor could he get the examination papers from Grand Tutor Fang. So, he often secretly took the Seventh Prince's penal law answer scrolls from his father's study.
Although penal law answers followed formulaic content, different people's wording habits always had subtle differences.
Someone like Xi Zixing, who enjoyed observing others through details, was most sensitive to these minor habits.
For instance, after finishing a sentence, the Seventh Prince habitually added a small dot to indicate the end. Or, to save effort and write fewer characters, he would frequently omit auxiliary and modal particles, and replace difficult-to-write characters with other synonyms, making it awkward but still understandable.
While Xie Jingshan and the Minister of Works were praising the content of the guidelines, Xi Zixing pored over the wording within, reading it three or four times. The more he read, the tighter his frown became.
Why did he feel... that the lazy, cut-corner habits revealed in the details of these guidelines were so similar to the Seventh Prince's?
It must be an illusion.
Given the Seventh Prince's academic performance in the school, could he have written such a clear and orderly set of disaster management regulations? He remembered his father saying at home that the Seventh Prince even stumbled through reciting penal law, barely managing to finish after a long time.
Could it be that all lazy people share the same lazy habits?
Once official matters were temporarily concluded, Xie Jingshan finally found an opportunity to ask, "Are Consort Xuan and the Seventh and Sixth Princes at the prefectural office?"
The Prefect replied, "Consort Xuan was injured earlier. Because it was a head injury, she still experiences occasional dizziness after waking and needs quiet rest. But there is no major issue."
Xie Jingshan breathed a sigh of relief. "And the two princes?"
The Prefect said, "The Sixth Prince is perfectly healthy. The Seventh Prince is not at the prefectural office; he is currently in Le'an County. However, I have instructed Commandant Xia to bring him when he comes. You will be able to see him this evening."
Xie Jingshan said with concern, "But Le'an County is a plague area."
The Prefect affirmed, "No need to worry. With Commandant Xia there, he will surely return safely."
Xie Jingshan could only nod. He also went to Consort Xuan's courtyard.
Consort Xuan was physically robust, but this injury was to her forehead, forcing her to rest in bed. Upon seeing Xie Jingshan, her first reaction was to look behind him. Not seeing the person she hoped for, she was somewhat disappointed.
Xie Jingshan said, "The Seventh Prince will return this evening."
Consort Xuan said, "Brother, please sit. You've had a hard journey."
Xie Jingshan chatted with her about recent events to distract her. "Fortunately, the situation is somewhat better than imagined. It's a pity, though. Layman Biandou seems to have no interest in officialdom. Otherwise, the merit of offering this strategy would be enough for His Majesty to grant him an official title."
Consort Xuan said, "An official title is also a shackle. How can it compare to the freedom of living among the people?"
Xie Jingshan replied, "Indeed."
They conversed until evening, when Commandant Xia Fuyang's deputy commander hurried back.
The news he brought immediately jolted the several officials in charge at the prefectural office from their seats: The Seventh Prince had contracted the plague, and Commandant Xia had remained in the county to oversee his care.
Consort Xuan wanted to go to the plague area that very night but was stopped by both Xie Jingshan and the Sixth Prince.
Consort Xuan practically wished she could knock them both unconscious.
"Xiaoqi came here for my sake. If you don't let me go, don't blame me for being impolite!"
The Sixth Prince clung desperately to her sleeve. "But Consort Xuan, your injury isn't healed yet! I promised Xiaoqi I'd look after you. You can't go!"
He understood her feelings perfectly, wiping his tears as he said, "I know! Seventh Brother came for my sake too! I'm deeply moved and worried about him, but he's not lacking for people to care for him there!"
Consort Xuan: "..."
She resisted the dizziness but couldn't withstand the Sixth Prince's wailing, pushing his head away.
While Consort Xuan and the Sixth Prince had restrictions preventing them from going to Le'an County, Xi Zixing, who had tagged along unofficially, had no such concerns.
The moment he learned the news, he informed a member of the entourage, prepared a face covering himself, took a fast horse, and rushed to the destination overnight.
The news of the Seventh Prince falling ill reached the prefectural office and then swiftly spread to the capital.