novelaction Chapter 225: A Sea of Corpses and Bones
Chapter 225: A Sea of Corpses and Bones
When Zhou Chang came out of the wooden house, Qin Shou had disappeared.
Looking up at the sky, the midday sun shines on my body, making my heart feel a lot brighter.
The group returned along the same route and passed the street corner again.
Suddenly a gust of wind blew, and thick smoke rushed straight into my mouth and nose.
"Ahem..." Zhou Chang turned around and looked west, "What's going on over there?"
Patrol Captain Cui Bian was patrolling the area the whole time. When he saw Zhou Chang, he came over and said, "Your Highness Prince Yi, those are the bodies that have been cleared out. The plague hospital said it would be better to deal with them as soon as possible."
"Why not bury it in the soil and use lime?" Zhou Chang said as he walked over subconsciously.
I just vented my anger on Qin Shou, and now I have to set an example myself.
Cui Bian stopped him: "Your Highness, you'd better not go over there."
"I remember that those seriously ill people on the street were also sent there?" Zhou Chang walked forward against the blowing smoke.
"Yes, but..." Cui Bian was embarrassed and stammered, "Your Highness Prince Yi, because the seriously ill person is also over there, Your Highness should stay and not get close. The people in the plague hospital will handle it together."
"What to do?" Zhou Chang was suspicious and continued to move forward.
Cui Bian was evasive: "Your Highness Prince Yi, many things need to be handled in a hurry. The epidemic is serious now, and neither the plague hospital nor the imperial hospital can take care of everything."
Zhou Chang suddenly thought of something, his heart skipped a beat, and he quickened his pace.
"Your Highness Prince Yi..." Cui Bian had no choice but to wave his hand and ask more people to follow and clear the way on both sides of the front.
Zhou Chang ran a few steps, turned around a dilapidated house, and suddenly became unable to move.
A small hill of corpses stood before my eyes in the distance. Some were dead, and some were not. They were piled together. All of them were naked and skinny. There was no blood, only skin and bones covered by flames and thick smoke.
Zhou Chang's mind went blank, and then his stomach seemed to be twisted by an invisible hand. His eyes turned black and his body fell down.
"Your Highness Prince Yi..."
"Your Majesty..."
Zhou Chang didn't know how he was carried away, nor did he know how he got on the carriage.
When he regained consciousness and opened his eyes, he was back in the carriage.
As soon as he lay down in the carriage, he opened his eyes again.
Prince Yi's consciousness must have collapsed just now, and at this moment, complex and indescribable emotions were surging in his body.
Zhong Yu was beside her, feeling her pulse the whole time, and said nervously, "I told you long ago that Your Majesty is not suitable for this kind of place, so you should go back first."
"No..." Zhou Chang was still confused, but Prince Yi's consciousness had already taken over.
"Your Highness didn't listen to advice, what happened?" The skinny monkey half-carried and half-hugged Zhou Chang from behind, "I still remember that was the first year that Your Highness left the palace. I saw a beggar fainted from hunger on the street, and I almost fainted myself. Now seeing that scene again, not to mention Your Highness, even I, the servant..."
"Where are we?" Zhou Chang struggled to get up.
Zhong Yu had no choice but to let go.
Zhou Chang lifted the curtain and found that Cui Bian and others were still standing beside the carriage, with their heads bowed.
It turns out that he is still in the epidemic area and has not left yet.
Zhou Chang got off the carriage, and as soon as his feet touched the ground, a cloud of thick smoke blew towards him.
My brain couldn't help but wonder where the smoke came from, and my stomach started churning: "Ugh..., ugh..."
"Your Highness, turn left and you will find our pharmacy. Where else would you like to go?" Zhong Yuyi knew that he could not persuade him, so he could only ask him to go to another place.
Zhou Chang was speechless and could only wave his hands.
"Not right, not right..." Zhong Yu shook his head. "Don't force yourself, Your Majesty. Once the prescription comes down and the herbs are ready, the Plague Hospital will, with the assistance of the government office, prepare the decoctions at several fixed locations and distribute them. Then the people in the area will be able to get treatment. As for those who are seriously ill and can't walk, we just need to arrange special people to deliver the medicine one by one. Epidemics happen every few years, and the court's rules are very clear. What should and shouldn't be done, what to do, and how to divide the work are all handled by someone. Your Majesty only needs to supervise from the side and ensure that everything is in place."
Zhou Chang vomited a lot. He didn't know how long it took before he could straighten up. After vomiting out the bitter bile, his mind became much clearer: "By the way, where is that person just now? Did you save him? Wasn't he thrown directly into...thrown into there?"
Cui Bian also knew what Prince Yi was up to, and hurriedly explained: "Don't worry, Your Highness Prince Yi, the man has just been examined by the doctor. It is also due to this epidemic. Whether he can be cured depends on the final prescription from the Imperial Hospital. However, I have already placed him in a nearby thatched hut, and I would never dare to deceive Your Highness."
"Really? Those..." Zhou Chang didn't dare to recall that scene, "Are they really all dead people?"
Cui Bian and the medical officer behind him assured in unison: "Yes, Your Highness Prince Yi, please rest assured that our subordinates dare not take human lives lightly."
Even though Zhou Chang didn't want to believe it, he had to force himself to believe it and could only comfort himself in his heart.
"Your Highness, let's go back." The skinny monkey had just been soothing Zhou Chang for a long time, and now he could feel his body trembling even as he supported her.
Zhou Chang also felt a little exhausted. Just as he was about to get back on the carriage, he suddenly remembered something: "By the way, how is the investigation going? Do the doctors at the pestilence hospital know how this epidemic was transmitted?"
"This..." Cui Bian hesitated and waved behind him, "Let the medical officer explain it to His Royal Highness Prince Yi."
The two medical officers behind him came forward together.
Zhou Chang waved his hand to stop the two from saluting, and asked again: "Thank you for your hard work, both medical officers, but do you know how this epidemic was spread?"
The older medical officer bowed and reported, "Your Highness Prince Yi, I am not sure yet. From what I have seen during my time on duty, the epidemic often occurs in places where people gather. However, there are many refugees and beggars here. They share pots and bowls. They also squeeze together to keep warm at night. Most of the food they eat is begged or picked up. There is no obvious pattern."
After hearing this, Zhou Chang was roughly certain that it was most likely airborne. He really feared what he feared, but he said no more and waved his hand: "Got it, thank you for your hard work, go ahead."
Glancing around again, Qin Shou was nowhere to be seen, and even Jin and Jiang were nowhere to be found.
After all the trouble, Zhou Chang was exhausted and could not afford to argue: "Let's go back."
"Hey, Your Majesty, why are you doing this?" The skinny monkey said as he helped Zhou Chang back into the carriage.
"Why bother?" Zhou Chang also smiled bitterly in his heart, and the long-buried memories of Prince Yi Fengming surfaced in his mind again.
The same lack of medical care and the same isolation and helplessness, the experience of Prince Yi's biological mother, Concubine Lan, made Prince Yi's growth path paved with sympathy and compassion.
And she, who was just an insignificant little person in her previous life, had also suffered from the epidemic. In this life, she was able to change to the identity of Prince Yi, which was also a blessing from heaven, so how could she not do her part.