Chapter 225: Chapter 224: Pride"Ah Yan—"
He Ying nodded at Sang Yan, signalling her to continue speaking.
Encouraged, Sang Yan shared her thoughts aloud, "From what we know now, this disease is very dangerous and contagious; we must promptly identify its source. As for the treatment, we can gather the patients in one place for separate treatment, to prevent mutual contamination and worsening of the condition. And it would be best if family members of the patients also stay at home and avoid going out..."
At this point, she closed her eyes, trying hard to recall the methods to deal with such diseases from her previous life.
"To prevent panic among the people and them fleeing Yuexian, which could further spread the disease, it is necessary to quarantine the city. However, we must also do a good job at calming their fears. Oh, and we should focus on inspecting Xiquan Pier – that’s a key outbreak area."
After saying all this, Sang Yan took a deep breath and noticed the expressions of everyone present.
They were all looking at her with eyes filled with surprise, admiration, excitement, joy, and other emotions.
Especially He Ying, whose gaze held a deeply gentle warmth as he looked at her,
which made her particularly shy.
Feeling uncomfortable, she gave a light cough, "What is it?"
Though she asked, she knew that what she had just said was probably too revolutionary and had shocked them. Could it be?
Another thought struck her; explaining this kind of collective and separate treatment along with enforced home confinement to people from ancient times was likely to cause misunderstanding.
After all, locking people in their homes might easily be associated with imprisonment until death.
"Actually—"
She couldn’t finish her sentence—
He Ying interrupted with a smile, "Ah Yan, you always make me see you in a new light."
In such a short time, she had already come up with so many measures to deal with the problem.
The others had also regained their composure and were looking at her in disbelief.
Initially, they thought she wanted to plead for mercy on behalf of Gao Wenliang. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
Unexpectedly, she actually came up with methods to resolve the crisis.
"Lady Empress, this method seems feasible, but—" Pei Mu looked worried, "do you and the Emperor really have to remain in Quanzhou?"
With the situation in Quanzhou so perilous, he was extremely uneasy about the Emperor and Empress staying.
Ah, his servitude was truly worrisome.
"We must."
Sang Yan contemplated He Hongzhao’s mindset, "This disease is peculiar, and if it is the work of He Hongzhao, then there must be deeper schemes at play. For example, they might be fantasizing about using this to create a rift between the Emperor and the people. If the Emperor leaves, wouldn’t it just result in a reputation of not caring for the people, but only for his own safety? If both the Emperor and I stay, it will tell everyone that Emperor’s Heart is with the nation, that he cares for the people!"
She had already foreseen the disease’s implications for the Emperor’s reputation.
"He Hongzhao is doing this likely hoping that we will flee in panic. Therefore, we cannot flee, not only can we not flee, but we also need to use He Hongzhao’s move to strike back hard at her and Qi Wuya. The news that Qi Wuya killed his brother and his father must have spread in Beiqi already. At this time, if we reveal that Emperor Da He is truly concerned for his people, staying in Quanzhou despite the grave circumstances, to stand with the people, who do you think will win the hearts of the nation?"
No need to answer, it would be towards He Ying.
This was also what He Ying had thought—He Hongzhao’s actions unexpectedly brought him this unintended gain.
"Ah Yan is like me."
He Ying’s tone was full of pride.
Amid his pride, he was also overjoyed: this woman was his. So what if Qi Wuya had He Hongzhao? He had Sang Yan. His Sang Yan was the best woman in the world.
This feeling of pride made it hard for him to control himself, and, disregarding the company present, he scooped her into his arms to sit, while kissing her hair and saying, "Just follow what Ah Yan has said. Her words can’t be wrong."
Everyone: "..."
Certainly, she was right.
But, Emperor, please pay attention to the occasion!
They felt embarrassed, heads bowed, but from time to time they stole glances at the loving scene between the Emperor and the Empress, finding comfort in the display of affection during such times.
*
Quanzhou
At the city gates
"In another fifteen minutes, we’ll close the city gates. If anyone in your family has died from illness, hurry and take them to the suburbs to be burned."
The soldiers guarding the city shouted at the gate, their faces still covered with white cloth.
In the past few days, there had been an extremely large number of deaths from illness in the city, and with no place within the city to bury them, the bodies had to be burned clean, their ashes interred in the suburbs.
"My poor child—"
"My poor husband—"
Relatives of the deceased passed by, dragging carts.
On the carts were bodies covered with white cloths.
They wore coarse linen mourning clothes, scattered paper money, and wailed in agony.
Another cart passed by at that time.
Atop the cart was a coffin.
The soldiers guarding the city were just about to open the coffin to check the dead person’s identity—
A middle-aged man dressed in gray clothes, seeing this, knelt down in front of the soldiers without minding his rouge and powder stall, and started to cry out loud, "Why are you closing the city? Has the Emperor abandoned us in Quanzhou? Does he want to watch us perish on our own? The Emperor and the Empress have already left Quanzhou, haven’t they?"
His voice was so loud that his shout attracted the attention of many onlookers.
Seeing this, the peddler continued to cry out, "We’re the people of Da He; how can the Emperor ignore our lives and abandon the city to flee? We don’t want to die! The Emperor cannot trap us to die in Quanzhou—"
"Shut your mouth! You peddler!"
A furious shout came.
In the next moment, the peddler received a kick to the chest that sent him tumbling backward.
"Mr. Gao—"
The soldiers at the gate all knelt down.
At this time, unbeknownst to everyone, the cart pulling the coffin had already left the city gates.
The peddler breathed a sigh of relief, lying on the ground, looking up at the blue sky, crying and laughing.
Gao Wenliang looked down at the man who seemed nearly mad, frowning.
He happened to have been patrolling this area with the government soldiers and didn’t expect to hear such panic-inducing cries.
Clearly with ill-intentions!
One of the government soldiers, who had previously guarded the State Mansion gate, had heard the Emperor’s commands. Watching the crazed man on the ground, he softly said, "Sir, this man was causing trouble at the State Mansion gate before. The Emperor had someone keeping an eye on him."
Hearing this, Gao Wenliang’s eyes shifted, and then he ordered, "Arrest him!"
Then, turning to the panic-stricken people, he spoke sternly, "The Emperor and the Empress are currently at the State Mansion dealing with this matter. They will stand with the people of Quanzhou, share our fate, live or die together. This man has sinister intentions, disturbing people’s hearts, likely a spy. I shall investigate thoroughly! Take him away!"
The peddler was immediately hoisted up by the soldiers.
He had been kicked hard by Gao Wenliang, and now he spat out a mouthful of blood, laughing maniacally, "I’m not a spy! I am a citizen of Da He! I’m only telling the truth! If the Emperor is present, why doesn’t he show himself? Even if he hasn’t fled, he’s just holed up in the State Mansion, indulging in pleasures, uncaring about our lives!"
"Shut up!"
Gao Wenliang drew his sword, threatening, "Dare to spout nonsense again—"
He didn’t get to finish his sentence when the peddler suddenly lunged at him.
The bright blade pierced the body in an instant.
Blood gushed forth, covering the ground.