In the rainy season, the rain outside Jiankang City flooded, many villages on the outskirts of the city suffered from flooding, many fields and crops were destroyed, due to the rush of rain, some infectious diseases also began to spread, the villagers' poultry and livestock died inexplicably, and some villagers were infected for no reason.

Emperor Wu of Liang ordered Qin Xiang and Xiao Zhong, the servants of the household department, to go to the disaster area to statistically investigate the epidemic losses and other conditions. Emperor Wu of Liang even intended to train Xiao Zhong and add credit to him.

So Xiao Zhong decided to say goodbye to his mother and go out of the city to check.

Inside the Chunning Palace.

Xiao Mingyue and Amber were chatting with Concubine Hu, chatting about the things before and after their birth when they were young, how bizarre they were; He also talked about their family, how stubborn his father was, but how he obeyed his mother, how naughty his two brothers were, and so on.

Concubine Hu listened carefully to what Xiao Mingyue said, and said with a smile on her face: "Your family is really lively, it's not like your aunt is in the palace, and you often can't even find anyone to talk to." After speaking, he looked at Xiao Mingyue with envy.

Xiao Mingyue also smiled and said: "My aunt has the love of His Majesty, and her cousin Chenghuan is on her knees, she is already the happiest woman in the world!" ”

Concubine Hu laughed heartily after hearing this, and said: "Although Your Majesty is my husband, he is also the king of a country, and there are many opportunities for the day, not to mention that there are many concubines in the palace, Your Majesty will come to see me when he is free, Zhong'er is also a good child, but it is not as happy as ordinary people." ”

After Xiao Mingyue heard this, she took Concubine Hu's hand and said comfortingly: "When I was at home, my parents often thought about my aunt, but I was afraid that my aunt would worry about the past, so I told me to be sure to forgive my aunt, and my aunt must be relaxed." ”

Concubine Hu also held Xiao Mingyue's hand and said, "Good boy, now that you are here, I am happy every day." ”

After that, he pulled Xiao Mingyue into his arms.

At this time, the little palace maid outside reported and said, "Your Highness is here." ”

The two looked towards the door, only to see Xiao Zhong coming in from the outside.

I asked Concubine Hu for peace. Then he said: "The son will go out of the city for a few days, and now the villages outside the city have been affected by floods and epidemics, and the people have suffered heavy losses, and the father has sent his son to observe the people's feelings. The son came to bid farewell to his mother and hoped that his mother would take care of her health. ”

After hearing this, Concubine Hu and the others were very worried.

Concubine Hu said: "The flood is fierce, and the epidemic is even more contagious, but you must be more careful!" ”

Xiao Zhong listened and promised: "My son will be careful." ”

Xiao Mingyue listened, thought about it, and decided to go with her cousin Xiao Zhong to check.

Then he said: "Auntie, Yue'er is willing to go with my cousin, I have read some medical books since I was a child, and I am willing to help!" ”

When Concubine Hu heard this, she said even more worriedly: "This is too risky. The disaster area is in an unusual area, it is too dangerous for you to go as a girl, if there is any accident, how can my aunt explain it to your father. ”

Xiao Mingyue said to Concubine Hu with a smile: "Auntie, I was weak when I was young, and I don't know how much I ate those precious medicinal herbs. Besides, my cousin will protect me. Wouldn't it be a merit to be able to help those who were in trouble? ”

Concubine Hu heard this, and said angrily: "You kid, you really have an idea, and my aunt can't talk about you, but you must be careful, don't be strong!" ”

Xiao Mingyue heard this and said happily: "Aunt Xie's kindness, aunt rest assured, my cousin and I will definitely come back safely." ”

At that moment, Hu asked the two to prepare a number of changes of clothes to prevent them from being infected with the epidemic, and asked them to go to the Imperial Doctor's Office to get a lot of herbs, etc., and the two hurriedly set off to the severely affected villages outside the city.

on the carriage.

Amber asked, "Miss, wouldn't it be too risky for us to just go like this?" What if I get infected? ”

Xiao Mingyue put down the medical book in her hand, looked at Amber calmly and said, "You forget, when you first arrived at the barracks, there were a few soldiers in the camp who had the plague and couldn't even walk, but they were later cured by a Mongolian doctor!" ”

Amber thought for a moment, then said, "Oh, it seems that there is such a person, named Mu ...... What is the wood? ”

Xiao Mingyue listened, knocked on Amber's head with her hand, and said angrily: "It's Dr. Muren Damu, he later gave my father a prescription for the plague, I secretly read it." ”

Amber looked at Xiao Mingyue adoringly, and said: "Miss is really a fairy who goes down to earth, knows everything, reads poetry and books, is beautiful and kind, and now she also understands medical skills." ”

Xiao Mingyue continued to look at the medical book in her hand, and said, "I haven't seen the illness of the disaster victims, and I don't know if it can be cured." ”

The carriage procession went round and round out of the city, and traveled more than ten miles to a nearby village.

Xiao Zhong and Qin Shilang got out of the carriage and said to Xiao Mingyue, who was sitting in the carriage: "Cousin, we are here, Lord Qin and I will go to visit the condition first, for the sake of safety, you can stay in the car." ”

As soon as the words fell, Xiao Mingyue came out of the carriage and said to Xiao Zhong: "Cousin, I'll go with you, don't worry, I'll be careful." ”

So, Xiao Zhong, Xiao Mingyue, Amber, and Qin Shilang walked to the village together, followed by a dozen soldiers, and saw many crops destroyed along the way, and the carcasses of many animals and poultry were discarded on the side of the road. When they arrived at the entrance of the village, they saw the county lord waiting there, and when the county saw the person sent by the official, he took the initiative to come forward to greet and salute.

Qin Shilang hurriedly asked, "What is the current situation?" ”

The county replied respectfully: "Lord Hui, this Li Zhuang is the most severely affected by the epidemic in several nearby villages, and after the previous rainstorm, the poultry and livestock died for no reason; And then there are people, good people, who are sick when they say they are sick, and the doctor can't see what kind of disease they have, this disease is very contagious, as long as one person in the family has this disease, the whole family can't escape! ”

Xiao Zhong asked, "Where are the sick people?" What are the symptoms? ”

The county replied again: "The lower officials have isolated the sick people and placed them in the mountains behind the village. ”

When Xiao Mingyue heard this, she immediately said, "Can you take us over to have a look?" ”

The county Cheng listened and said worriedly: "The girl doesn't know, this disease is very evil, those who have been in contact with the patient have been infected, and the girl has golden branches and jade leaves, so don't go." ”

Xiao Mingyue listened and retorted: "Human life is at stake, adults should take us to take a look, maybe we can find the source of the epidemic and the way to cure it." ”

Xiao Zhong and Qin Shilang also agreed very much when they heard this, so they also said, "Lord Lao is tired to lead the way." ”

Although the county was afraid of the danger of the epidemic, he also had to consider the identities of several people, so he asked people to lead the way and go to the back mountain.

Lizhuang is surrounded by mountains, the scenery is beautiful, and there are many birds and animals, if it were not for this disaster, it would really be a paradise. The group passed through the dense woods and a few paths, and then saw a row of makeshift wooden houses, and several officers and soldiers looked like people holding their hands outside the door. The county said: "This is it, dozens of people who have been infected are locked up here." ”

"Have you separated them according to the severity of their illness?" Xiao Mingyue asked.

The county replied: "The illness happened suddenly, and the lower officials had to lock them all up together, send some meals every day, and the rest could only obey the fate of heaven." ”

After hearing this, Xiao Zhong said to the guard at the door, "Open the door and let us go in and have a look." ”

Qin Shilang hurriedly stopped: "Your Highness's daughter's body, you must not, if Your Highness has a mistake, I can't afford it!" ”

The county also followed the dissuasion in fear.

Xiao Mingyue continued: "My lord, please rest assured, if the epidemic is really so bad, it is very likely that we have been infected by standing here now, and there is no difference between inside and outside the house at all." Let's open the door and let us have a look, so that we can better understand the condition. ”

Lord Qin and the county Cheng couldn't help but open the door, so the county lord ordered the soldiers, lit the wormwood smoke house, and asked a few people to cover their mouths and noses with scarves. When a few people entered the house, they found that the infected men, women and children were lying in the house, some were dying and only had one breath left, and some looked like they had just been infected and had been struggling.

Xiao Mingyue walked up to a little boy who seemed to be very sick, touched his forehead with her hand, and looked at his eyeballs again. Frightened, the county man next to him was in a cold sweat and stopped him again and again.

Xiao Zhong looked at Xiao Mingyue and Qin Shilang and said, "Several young and strong men are all sick, it can be seen that this disease is fierce, let's go out and discuss it first." ”

So a few people walked out. After going out, Xiao Mingyue and Xiao Zhong said: "It should be the plague, those people are weak, they also have a high fever, and their eyes are red and swollen, it is indeed this disease." ”

When the county man on the side heard this, he shouted in panic: "It's terrible, the plague must be blamed by the gods." After saying that, he turned around and bowed around, and then said to Xiao Zhong, Qin Shilang and the others: "In order to prevent the plague from continuing to spread, it is better to burn the infected people to prevent future troubles." ”

After hearing this, Qin Shilang said disapprovingly: "How can Lord County Cheng be so ruthless, and he wants to give up and kill people without even trying to treat them?" ”

The county man explained in fear: "The lower official is also thinking about the safety of other people, but the lower official is stupid!" Stupid! ”

Xiao Mingyue thought for a while and said, "I have a plan, I have a chance to save those people inside, I wonder if you are willing to cooperate?" ”

Qin Shilang listened with interest and said, "Miss has a prescription, you might as well try it, and treat it as a 'dead horse as a live horse doctor'." ”

Xiao Zhong also agreed: "You can give it a try." ”

The county also replied: "The lower officials are willing to cooperate." ”

Xiao Mingyue said again: "You need a very important medicine!" ”

And they asked what it was.

"Five poisons." Xiao Mingyue added: "I want a six-inch-long centipede that has never seen the light, a green spotted snake by the stream, a scorpion that has just been born less than a month, a female gecko that has just given birth, and a male toad that is dying. ”

Although everyone was puzzled after hearing this, they also decided to go to these five medicine guides separately.