Chapter 126: Silver and Jade
She skillfully took out a candle from the carriage and lit it. Using the light of the fire, she took out the white cloth with medicine and started to strip Fu Chen's clothes, acting like a female hooligan: "I don't know how many young ladies in Beijing have dreamed of doing what I am doing now."
"Don't come over here!" Fu Chen didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and quickly dodged to the side: "It's already late, and you're still coming near me. I've got smallpox, send me back quickly."
"Who said you had smallpox ?" She cornered him and quickly stripped Fu Chen naked. "You just had cowpox, not smallpox. It looks like smallpox, but the symptoms are much milder. Otherwise, you can't fool the doctor. Just take good care of yourself for a few days and you'll be fine."
"Cowpox?" He remembered that Tang Ying came to him in the middle of the night the day before, rubbed his body a few times with a rag, and muttered: "God bless, I hope it works." He wanted to ask at that time, but the patrolman came over and he missed the chance to ask.
Tang Ying worked non-stop and began to clean the wound quickly: "To put it simply, smallpox can also occur on cows. Your cellmates were infected with real smallpox, but you were infected with the cowpox I inoculated. After the fever and rash are over, you will recover and you should not get smallpox again. It was Baozi and the others who helped us find the clothes worn by smallpox patients and the cows infected with smallpox. You should thank them later."
Fu Chen was surprised when he heard it, but the little girl had a convincing power. No matter how absurd and bizarre what she said, as long as she said it, he would believe it.
"Sounds good." He still refused to give in and confirmed his guess again: "Did you cause the smallpox in the imperial prison? The purpose of your doing this is to take the opportunity to let me escape?" If she had known in the past that she could do this for him, she would definitely be overjoyed. However, the situation is very different now. The situation in the court is becoming more and more tense. The Emperor of Southern Qi is so suspicious that he is simply seeing snakes in the cup. The Forbidden Cavalry Division is in danger. It is not worth it for her to sacrifice her own life for his.
"I'm going to let you live, Master Fu, have you ever considered how much your life is worth?" Tang Ying lowered her head to treat the wound, cleaned her chest and sprinkled medicine powder, and urged with a light smile: "Turn around, there's still the back."
"It might have been worth a little money before, but now... it's probably worthless." Fu Chen knew that he did not have smallpox, so he no longer insisted on drawing a clear line between them. He turned around as she said, and her hair was lifted up by her and hastily fixed on top of her head. She began to treat the wound on his back.
"Sir, there is no need to belittle yourself like this. According to the market price of mutton, it is worth a lot of money." Tang Ying quickly treated the wound on his back and wrapped him with a white cloth. During this time, the two of them were very close. She smiled and said, "What's more, I sold Master Fu for a good price. You don't have to worry about me losing money."
Fu Chen understood that she had arranged everything and there must be someone to pick her up ahead.
"Yingying, I can't leave!" He could hear the tense nerves beneath those light-hearted jokes. His life had been on the line countless times in the past, and it was rare for him, who had always been taciturn, to become talkative.
"It's not up to you. I've already received the deposit." Tang Ying blinked her eyes: "It's thirty taels of gold."
She took out a clean undershirt from the car and threw it to him, then turned around and sat down cross-legged: "Can you put on your clothes by yourself?" She knocked on the wall of the car twice, seemingly casually.
While Fu Chen was getting dressed, the carriage set off again.
He was extremely anxious, and quickly put on his clothes, lifted the curtain and looked outside. It was pitch black at night, and there was no village in front or shop behind. He could only roughly guess that this was the way out of Beijing.
"Yingying, don't you know what you are doing in Beijing? You can't delay your own work just to save me. Besides... it's not worth it." Fu Chen knew his outcome from the first day he stepped into the Forbidden Cavalry Division, but he still climbed up without hesitation.
He has taken many lives, and many times he almost forgot his original intention until he met Tang Ying.
Tang Ying turned around and threw him a robe: "Put it on." She even threw him shoes and socks.
After Fu Chen put it on, he found that the robe was very torn and had many patches of different colors.
Tang Ying ruffled his hair and stuffed a stack of banknotes into his hand. "I have already made an appointment with His Royal Highness Prince Qing. You can take Xiong Yu Baozi and the others to Qingzhou. That is the territory of Uncle Yang and Prince Qing. As long as you are careful to hide your tracks, you can always survive this period of time."
Fu Chen held her wrist tightly. He could feel the strength in her wrist through the wrist guard. Thousands of words were stuck in his throat, and only two words were condensed: "Yingying——"
"You don't have to worry about me or Liu Zhong and the others."
The carriage was moving very fast, and she spoke very quickly: "Don't be a woman, just think of it as... just think of it as my repayment for your protection over the past year. You have helped me so many times, and I have never been long-winded with you. If you keep making excuses, be careful that I will knock you unconscious, and someone will naturally take you back to Qingzhou."
Resistance is futile.
Fu Chen knew that she would keep her word: "I'll listen to you." His eyes were filled with affection, and he stretched out his arms to hug her gently, and left as soon as he touched her.
He thought: He would probably never be able to fall in love with another woman in his entire life.
Only a sincere woman like Tang Ying could stumble through his numerous defenses and break into his heart. Only she could make light of life and death. She clearly risked her life to help him escape, but in her words it was just a piece of cake, as if it was not worth mentioning.
How could he let go?!
The carriage stopped quickly, and the driver tapped the wall of the carriage: "Girl, we're here."
It was Zhang Qing's voice.
Tang Ying was the first to jump off the carriage. More than a dozen people ran out from the woods on the side of the road. They were all dressed as beggars. The ones leading the way were Baozi and Xiong Yu. The others behind them were all familiar faces, including young beggars and Fu Chen's guards. They all surrounded them when they saw people coming.
"I'm coming--"
"grown ups--"
Before the carriage had even stopped, Xiong Yu grabbed his clothes and rushed to its side. He usually paid great attention to his appearance and had never worn tattered clothes. He just felt uncomfortable all over. It was not until Fu Chen slowly got off the carriage and saw that he was also dressed like a beggar that he felt much more at ease.
"My Lord, are you all right?"
After Fu Chen got into trouble, the servants of the Fu Mansion quickly fled according to the emergency plan he had formulated. Xiong Yu was unwilling to give up, and secretly went to Tang Ying to inquire about the news. She took him in, so he didn't have to ask around, and could only follow Tang Ying's arrangements with a few guards.
Xiong Yu and his companions carefully helped Fu Chen get out of the car. They hadn't seen their master for a long time and were all very excited, talking non-stop around him.
When they had almost finished talking, Tang Ying coughed and said, "We have plenty of time to talk while we are on the road. I only have two words to remind you before we leave. Since you are leaving with Prince Qing, you must follow the arrangements of Prince Qing and Princess Qing and don't cause any trouble. And Baozi--" The beggars came over quickly, showing their sadness of parting, "Second brother, will we never see each other again in the future?"
Tang Ying rubbed the boy's head and said, "How could that be? We will have many opportunities to meet in the future. You should live a good life in the future and stop doing sneaky things. You must be self-reliant and strong. Don't lose your second brother's face when you go out and let Princess Qing laugh at you!"
Baozi, Guzi and the others all agreed and kowtowed to her: "Second brother has given us a new life. We will never see each other again after today's farewell."
These words seemed to express Fu Chen's inner thoughts. As they were about to part, his gaze passed over the guards and fixed on her. Seeing her helping up several young men, she suddenly looked up and searched among the crowd. After meeting his gaze, she smiled, her eyes as bright as stars, as if to say: Everything will be fine.
At the time of parting, Fu Chen pushed through the crowd and stood in front of her. In front of everyone, it seemed that all intimate words were so inappropriate. However, he didn't know how many words he had accumulated in his heart that he wanted to whisper to her.
He thought: There is still a chance, there must be a chance.
He lowered his head and whispered in her ear, "Wait for me."
The little girl looked up at him, bravely and fearlessly for the first time, staring at him without dodging. Everything that had stood between them disappeared at this moment. She said, "Maybe... I can try."
Try to wait for someone instead of being stuck in the quagmire of hopelessness and sadness forever, without redemption.
Try to fall in love with someone again, bury the boy you love deeply in your heart, and move forward.
※※※
When Tang Ying arrived at the charity cemetery that night, it was already late at night.
Liu Zhong and his men had already separated the smallpox prisoners into different groups, based on whether they were seriously ill or not. Those who had already died had been dragged to the mass grave, waiting for her orders.
Seeing her coming in a carriage, Liu Zhong personally trotted over to the carriage to show his courtesy, helped her get off the carriage, and took the opportunity to ask in a low voice: "Have you sent her away?"
After Tang Ying arrived at the charity cemetery, he first inspected the surroundings, then went to the mass grave and burned the dead prisoners. He then stayed in the charity cemetery until seven or eight out of ten sick prisoners died, leaving only twenty percent alive. The informer Wang Ran was not among the survivors.
Liu Zhong had only two words to describe this man's death: "He deserved it!"
If you dare to come and bite Lord Fu, you deserve to die.
During this period, many kings left the capital to establish their own fiefdoms. The Imperial Medical Bureau cooperated with the remaining personnel of the Imperial Cavalry Division to thoroughly clean the imperial prison and the inner prisons, and disinfected the imperial prison with lime and herbs. They also investigated the cause of smallpox, but found nothing in the end.
Smallpox was still an unsolved problem in Southern Qi. The people in the Imperial Hospital could not give a clear reason. When they reported to the Emperor of Southern Qi, they were vague, saying that either a prisoner had contracted smallpox outside before entering prison, or someone brought smallpox into the prison, or a patient in the cell had smallpox. The reason was unknown. Fortunately, the case was handled in time and the sick prisoners were transferred out of the city, so there was no large-scale outbreak.
After the news that someone in the Imperial Cavalry Department had contracted smallpox spread, the people of Kyoto were in a panic, and rumors were rife. Some said that the Imperial Cavalry Department was ruthless and had brought down the smallpox virus from the gods. The Imperial Hospital could not give a more scientific explanation, so the people of Kyoto automatically classified the incident as a superstitious event. Many families with children began to pray to the gods, and some even worshipped the Goddess of Smallpox and asked her to protect their children. Various incidents occurred frequently.
Fortunately, apart from the Forbidden Cavalry Bureau, there has been no large-scale smallpox virus anywhere else in the capital, and the people gradually felt relieved.
Upon hearing this, the Emperor of Southern Qi highly praised the Imperial Cavalry Division and the imperial physicians for their handling of the smallpox epidemic, and waited until Tang Ying returned to the capital to receive further rewards.
Half a month later, Tang Ying returned from the charity cemetery and was quarantined at home for another half a month. An imperial physician came to check on her and confirmed that she was healthy and not sick. Only then did he enter the palace to meet the emperor and present the list of prisoners who had died in the smallpox epidemic.
The Southern Qi Emperor flipped through a few pages and saw Fu Chen's name. He asked suspiciously, "Did Fu Chen also get smallpox?"
Tang Ying knelt obediently, his eyebrows not moving. "When the sick prisoners were transferred, Lord Lin from the Imperial Hospital also checked them one by one. He did have a rash and fever at the time, and it was confirmed that he had smallpox. Even the Wang Juzi who was imprisoned next to him was infected with smallpox. It's a pity that he died of the disease before Your Majesty issued an edict to convict him. It's also my fault that when I tried the case... the means were a bit harsh, and he had whip wounds on his body, so he couldn't resist. Wang Juzi was also in a thin body, probably not very healthy on weekdays... These two brothers were mortal enemies when they were alive, but they were not lonely when they died, and they walked together to the underworld."
She raised her head slightly, met the gaze of the Southern Qi Emperor, and said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, why don't you ask Imperial Doctor Lin to come and ask about the situation at that time."
The death row prisoner was infected with smallpox, but the people in the Imperial Medical Bureau were not willing to treat him wholeheartedly. They just did a cursory check of the symptoms. All subsequent matters were handled by the people from the Forbidden Cavalry, who were only responsible for verbal instructions. After the prisoner was transferred to the charity cemetery, there was no doctor with him. There were only herbal medicines sent according to the symptoms and a medicine boy who boiled the medicine. If the Emperor of Southern Qi really wanted to call Doctor Lin to ask him, he would probably not be able to find out anything.
Imperial Physician Lin would only read out Tang Ying's instructions verbatim to avoid being charged with dereliction of duty by the Emperor of Southern Qi.
Emperor of Southern Qi: "That's not necessary. Since he is dead, let's just leave it at that." When a person dies, all debts are settled. Besides, it is not good to make the crime committed by Fu Chen known to the public, lest someone with ulterior motives find out that the son of King Min is still alive, which would cause another trouble.
"Your Majesty's orders will be obeyed." Tang Ying kowtowed, and his heart finally settled down.
Even if Fu Chen's death was revealed, Tang Ying was not concerned about how many people with old grudges secretly applauded after learning that he had died of smallpox, and how many versions of Fu Chen's death were circulated on the market.
Soon, the winter snow of the fourteenth year of Jiazheng fell heavily, and the capital city was covered in silver and jade overnight, covering up the suspicions and discords between the emperor, his ministers, and his sons, waiting for the day when spring comes and flowers bloom.
