Shuncheon Mansion Yanai, the official residence of the Governor of the Mansion.

Yin Tuyi of Shuntianfu was in the study, holding a copy of "Mencius" and reading it at night. His wife had already sent twice to ask "whether the master had been settled", but he was reading it with pleasure and waved it away.

By the third time, distant footsteps sounded from the window, and Tu Yi was a little impatient. As soon as Chang Sui opened his mouth to call "Master ......", he interrupted sharply: "Don't come to call, Master, I'm reading!" If you are tired, you will go back! ”

However, Chang Sui did not leave there, but shouted eagerly: "Master! Prince Yong, Prince Yong has arrived!! ”

"Huh?!" Tu Yi hurriedly left the book, walked over and opened the door in three or two steps, and exclaimed, "Who?" Prince Yong? Official uniform!! Quickly get me the official uniform to wear! ”

Chang Sui hurriedly waved his hand, and responded without a word: "Don't worry, don't worry, master, Chen San'er has already ...... to get it."

Tu Yi stood in the courtyard looking at the sky, anxiously waiting for his official uniform. Because it was the first day of the new year, there was no moon in the sky, and it was pitch black all around. What time has it been? King Yong personally found it, I'm afraid it's not a good thing!

It was hot, there was no wind, and the sweat quickly soaked through his shirt, and he didn't know if it was a hot sweat or a cold sweat.

The little servant Chen San'er hurriedly ran over with his official uniform on his head, and because he saw that he was sweaty and wet his clothes, he hurriedly said: "Master, the little one will take you a towel to wipe your sweat......

Tu Yi snatched the official uniform, put it on by himself, and scolded: "Do you want the prince to wait?" Isn't this death?! Why don't you come and wait for the lord to dress!! ”

Tu Yi was dressed neatly, and was busy walking to the front hall, seeing the lights in the hall from a distance, he subconsciously paused, put on his official uniform, stabilized his mind, and then strode in to greet Prince Yong, who was sitting in the right seat.

Prince Yong got straight to the point and directly asked to see the register of the people who had died in the recent period, as well as the books of the same period in recent years.

Tu Yi was stunned and felt a little surprised, but at this time, he couldn't allow him to think too much, so he hurriedly led Prince Yong to the front office, went to the room where the archives were stored in the back hall, opened the cabinet, took out the books that Prince Yong wanted, and spread them on the desk one by one.

Prince Yong looked through the death records of the people in recent days and found that since April 27, the number of deaths has begun to exceed that of previous years. In previous years, only three to five people were reported dead in the whole city in April and May, but on April 27 this year, six people died in Nancheng alone. Because two of them are old people and four children, they are not too noticeable.

On the first day of the fifth month of the fifth month, 21 people died in the south of the city, many of whom were young and strong, and some people who had just died before died again.

A total of 49 people have died in several streets with dense households in the southern city!

Tu Yi, who was standing beside Prince Yong, was already drenched in cold sweat, and he felt that a huge crisis was approaching. And the master Wen Hong, who was accompanying him at the same time to check the book, also showed a look of fear on his face, and whispered in his ear, "My lord, this is not right...... Isn't it...... Isn't it ......."

The word "epidemic" was like a mountain, which made his tongue and teeth tremble, and he opened his mouth a few times, but he didn't say it.

Tu Yi naturally knew, he quietly raised his sleeve to wipe the sweat from the corner of his forehead, and peeked at Prince Yong.

If it is really an epidemic, if it is discovered by Shuntianfu, the above will naturally not blame, but will also praise; But if it was discovered by the above first, but Shuntianfu didn't know it, then there was a crime of negligence - if the epidemic could be controlled at that time, it would only atone for the sin; If you can't control it...... The group of people in Shuntianfu was the first batch of sacrifices used by the imperial court to appease the people.

Although Prince Yong's face was not abnormal, his heart was pinched, it seemed that it was indeed an epidemic, fortunately, Cao Hao came to report in time, and it should not be too late to ask people to start preparing now.

* The Dragon Boat Festival in the 50th year of Kangxi, many years later, still became a topic of conversation for the common people after tea and dinner.

In Nancheng, Zhao Erniu from Crooked Willow Hutong remembers clearly, it should have been since the second day of the fifth month, and he felt that something was wrong. He is a small trader, and there is a small oil and salt shop in front of the alley.

That said, he had breakfast, and asked his mother-in-law to send money to the neighbor's house that lost his son as a gift, and then walked to the front. When I arrived at the door of the shop, I was startled, and two big and three thick poor men were standing in front of the shop. Xu was impatient, the two of them saw Zhao Erniu coming over, looked up and down, and said loudly angrily: "This shop is yours?" ”

Zhao Erniu was bluffed, although he was frightened, he still had a smiling face, nodded and said: "It's a little bit of the villain's small production, the two poor masters are hard, this early morning ......" He groped in his sleeve for a long time, but only two coins of broken silver, and wanted to take it out to honor these two, but he was afraid that they would be too angry.

"It's good if it's yours, Lisuo opens the door, it's not yours, don't delay your work!" After the younger of the two finished speaking, he sighed and muttered: "I have been tossing since the middle of the night last year, his grandmother's!" ”

When Zhao Erniu heard that he had opened the shop, his legs were so weak that he almost knelt down for them. Who is this recruiting to provoke whom, to copy the shop in the morning?

The older one turned pale with fright when he saw him, and scolded with a smile: "The master is an official, not a bandit, are you afraid of a [***]?" Lord Futai asked us to buy vinegar, hurry up and open the door! ”

Zhao Erniu listened to it as just vinegar, put down his snack slightly, and said with a smile while unlocking the lock: "The official master is really joking, but it's just a little vinegar, and it's all a small filial piety." ”

"Alright, alright, what's the matter?" The young one was impatient, and when he saw him push open the door, he strode in: "What about vinegar, don't keep it, bring it all as much as you want!" ”

Although Zhao Erniu said that the meat hurt, he didn't dare to disobey, and slipped out of the two-foot-high jar on the counter: "Official, here, they are all thirty catties and one jar, and the goods just served yesterday, and the one that was opened was sold for three and a half catties." ”

The old messenger took out a piece of paper from his arms, took a pen on the counter, wrote on it, "Two jars of old vinegar, a total of fifty-six and a half catties", and handed it to Zhao Erniu: "Put it away, use this next month to go to Shuntianfu to pay silver!" ”

Seeing the two of them walking towards the mouth of the alley with the vinegar jar, Zhao Erniu spat on the ground hatefully: "Ya, I haven't heard that when the government has money, who can you coax?" As he spoke, he wanted to tear the piece of paper, but when he saw the red official seal, he was reluctant to put it away carefully, and he still wanted to have some hope in his heart.

At noon, Zhao Erniu's daughter-in-law came to bring him a meal, and said with a little panic: "The Qin family doesn't know what's wrong?" Not long after you left, an official came over! ”

Zhao Erniu thought about the two jars of vinegar that were taken away in the morning, and couldn't help muttering: "How can there be officials everywhere, this still makes us have no way to live!" Before he finished speaking, he saw a group of soldiers passing by the door, going into the alley, and busily stopped. Looking at this costume, it is the people of the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses, these soldiers and uncles have not been less cheap to the people, but I don't know which one they are eyeing today.

However, all those members of these family members who died of fever received a notice from the yamen that the corpses were not allowed to be buried, and that the yamen had to be responsible for burning them. In addition, the rest of these households are not allowed to go out, and the soldiers of the Shuntian Mansion and the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Division are sent outside the door, and some doctors come to briefly diagnose them, and those who are sick are isolated in the house, and those who are not sick must also drink medicine. In places where there is a relative concentration of deaths from fever, lime powder is sprinkled on the streets.

By the fourth day of the fifth month, not only the outer city, but also the inner city, the atmosphere was also weird. There are elders in the family, and those who have gone through the old events of the previous dynasty will naturally not forget the capital epidemic that ruined the Han people in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen. Although there are no rumors of epidemics yet, there are not a few people who think about it. Some families packed up and wanted to go out of Beijing to avoid it, but they couldn't even get out of the city gate.

Others have other arguments about martial law in the inner and outer cities. It is said that the nephew of someone's second uncle's brother-in-law is from the Nancheng Terracotta Division, so through some gossip, he knows the inside story of martial law in the capital. It turned out that there was a group of outlaws who roamed the capital and robbed and killed dozens of people in the southern city alone. This is a major case that has not been encountered in a century, whether it is the Shuntianfu or the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses, they are naturally arrested with the strength of milk, and under the guise of investigating the "fever", several alleys have been sealed, and they have been investigated door to door.

On the fifth day of the fifth month of May, the Dragon Boat Festival was held, and notices were posted in the streets and alleys, announcing the holy oracle: from the sixth day of the first month of this month, the third day is not to slaughter animals, pious prayers for rain, and to chant scriptures in various temples, and unanimously pray sincerely.

Every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, there are pomegranate flowers in the south and north of the city, and the people rush to watch the play, but this year there is nowhere to go. and then contact all kinds of gossip, which really makes the people panic. As soon as this oracle for rain was announced, it could be regarded as a temporary diversion of the people's attention.

Since the beginning of spring, there have only been two light rains, but the ground is not even very wet. This rain is not adjusted, it is God's warning to the superiors, the emperor...... Yes, this is thinking far ahead, everyone is still concerned about the "three days do not slaughter animals", and the wealthy families began to clean up the ducks and geese in advance.

Xicheng, Caofu.

When the Aoi Courtyard came out, Cao Hao and Chu Yu, who had been worried about Amethyst for several days, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps because of the early consumption of the medicine, although Amethyst vomited and diarrhea twice a few days ago, it stopped then, but the body was a little weak, and there were no other symptoms such as fever after that. After these two days of recuperation, she has gradually recovered, but for the sake of safety, she still has not left the house for the time being.

Amethyst is sick, Cao Hao and Chu Yu are unable to move, where is there still a festive atmosphere in the house? Cao Song was there, and Cao Hao also sent someone to Zongxue to ask for leave, and asked him to stay at home for a while. Cao Song gradually heard some rumors outside, and then thought of his own family, Amethyst was in Kwai Courtyard, and his brother and sister-in-law were in the study, all of them were avoiding people, so he was really worried.

Fortunately, Cao Hao only avoided in the study for a few days, and there were no symptoms that went wrong, which made Cao Song feel at ease.

Because the Bujun Yamen assisted Shuntianfu in the epidemic prevention in the inner city, the progress was not smooth, so King Yong temporarily transferred Cao Hao from the household department.

The inner city is not inhabited by the banner clan, or the official eunuchs and dignitaries, where do you put those soldiers in your eyes? If it is a subordinate who dies, there is naturally no reason for the master to be sealed for them; If it is a family member who dies, it is a big deal to be buried in the ground. After three or two days, King Yong understood that if no one was pressing here, I was afraid that the epidemic in the outer city would be prevented, and the inner city would not be able to prevent it.

The civil and military officials, the princes and ministers all lived in the inner city, and it would be terrible if there was a concentrated epidemic. Although the first two days said that the will to ask for rain arrived, but the epidemic had not yet arrived, and it is estimated that when this will was issued, the urgent letter from the capital had not yet reached Rehe.

Because of the will of Kangxi, only a few princes and ministers knew the word "epidemic". Where can these people follow the people from the Bujun Yamen to investigate the epidemic? Finally, he thought of Cao Hao. Cao Hao is an insider, although his official position is not high, he has the title of county lord.

No one is allowed to enter the Kwai Courtyard, and Gege is in the study in the front yard these days, and Mama Ye also feels that something is wrong. It's the Dragon Boat Festival again, and according to the rules, the daughter who gets married has to go back to her parents' house to visit her parents. I didn't want to, but Gege said that yesterday I had already sent someone to the palace to deliver the letter, saying that because there was something in the palace, there was no need to send a car to pick it up.

What could it be, but because of Amethyst's illness? Mama Ye was dissatisfied, and she couldn't see Chu Yu, so she complained to Xiyun a few times: "It's just for a servant, even if you have the affection for being a child, you don't have to be like this!" The two genuine aunts and grandmothers are not as hypocritical as her! Even if you treat your subordinates generously, it's really too much to treat a servant like this! In the end, it is not as atmospheric as other people's families! ”

Mama Ye took a bite of a "maid", and Xiyun was tired of listening to it, among which Xiyan was fast-mouthed, and sneered: "Listening to Mama's words, the maid's surname is irrelevant, no matter how many years she has been waiting for the master, it is only right to pull it out far away when she is sick?" ”

Mama Ye reacted that she was speechless, she shouldn't have said these things in front of them, and went out with a laugh.

* Ning Chun also came to Beijing during the Dragon Boat Festival, since he got the news that Qiu Niang was sick, he couldn't stay any longer, so he found a reason to ask Lang Zhong for leave, and galloped back to the capital all the way.

Because it happened to be a festival, Ning Chun still thought in his heart that if he met a new pattern of purse sachets on the road, he would buy a few for Qiu Niang, which would not only meet the festival scene, but also please her. She was so happy that she was half cured. He can just accompany her for a while, these days in Baoding can make him tired, and when he drags his tired body to the bed every day, he thinks more and more about Qiu Niang.

He thought it was good, but when he entered the city, he felt that the atmosphere was very wrong, far from the hustle and bustle of the Dragon Boat Festival in previous years, there were few pedestrians on the streets, some of the shops on both sides were closed, and the Yemen that was open was very gloomy.

Along the way, none of the usual merchants who walked the streets and alleys peddling small things were gone. After passing through a few alleys, he saw notices posted next to the doors of several houses from a distance, and there were officers and soldiers guarding the doors, Ning Chun was very surprised, but he was not in the mood to take care of other people's affairs at this time, so it was important to go to see Qiu Niang first.

When he arrived at the eggplant alley in the southwest of the city, Ning Chun once again saw those officers and soldiers wearing fifty percent of the uniforms of the soldiers and horses, there were eight of them, standing at the door of several adjacent households, and two of them were standing in front of their own doors!

Ning Chun was shocked, hurriedly turned over and dismounted, walked to the door, hugged his fist to the officers and soldiers at the door, and asked with a smile: "This eldest brother is hard, I don't know what happened to this family?" As he spoke, he covered his sleeves and stuffed a piece of broken silver into the hands of the officer and soldier.

The officer and soldier quietly pinched the silver, about a tael, quite satisfied, quietly stuffed it into his sleeve, looked Ning Chun up and down, and said, "Look at your dusty body, only come back after fighting outside?" But it's a little bit of a stretch to get out. Now in the Jingli fever check, anyone who has a fever and dies is not allowed to enter or leave the house. He said, gesturing to the sign on the wall next to him, "Look, that's it." ”

"Fever Dead ......" Ning Chun felt like someone had knocked him with a stick, his brain was buzzing, and his feet were also weak. In a hurry, he grabbed the sleeve of the officer and soldier, and stammered and asked, "This family, this family, dead people?" Who died? ”

Seeing that his face had changed drastically and his words and deeds were abnormal, the two officers and soldiers couldn't help but wonder: "What? Do you recognize this family? ”

Ning Chun was so anxious that he didn't wait for the two of them to answer, he pushed them open and was about to knock on the door. The two officers and soldiers hurriedly dragged him: "Hey, what are you doing?" This house is sealed, and no one is allowed to enter! ”

Ning Chun also had two blows on his body, and with a flick of his hand, he pushed down one, and smashed it on the door with his free hand, shouting while smashing: "Qiu Niang!" Qiu Niang! I am back! Qiu Niang! You answer, Qiu Niang! ”

The two officers and soldiers were busy rushing up and twisting his arm, but where could they subdue him, and they told him to break away twice. The officers and soldiers in front of other houses in the alley saw it and also came to help, and it took three or five people to drag Ning Chun out of the door. Ning Chun's arms were twisted, and he still shouted "Qiu Niang" in his mouth.

The people in the courtyard heard the movement, and they all ran to the door by the wall, because the officers and soldiers had been guarding for several days, everyone was afraid, and they did not dare to open the door, Chang Gui and his wife shouted through the door: "Third master, is it the third master?" ”

Ning Chun heard that it was the two of them, and became even more anxious: "What about Qiu Niang?" Qiu Niang! ”

Inside, Chang Gui and his wife cried and knelt down and kowtowed: "Third master, the minions didn't serve their good aunts and grandmothers...... Damn it, minions......" There was a sudden cry in the courtyard.

(To be continued)