Chen Gang strode out from the crowd, his hand on the treasure saber at his waist, leading two teams of men with imposing strides, his stern face devoid of any smiles.
He roughly pushed people aside, dispersing the crowd, and ascended the city wall. He shouted down, "Everyone, go home and take your families with you! His Majesty has ordered the capital sealed. Doctors will be arriving soon to examine you. Those who are not ill will be properly arranged, and those who are ill will be taken to be treated. His Majesty will not abandon you all. Go home now! If anyone disobeys and takes another step forward, do not blame me if my saber harms you."
Seeing that a few people were persuaded, Chen Gang felt powerless to resolve the situation and shouted again, "Smallpox is highly contagious. If even one of you falls ill and mingles with the crowd, then congratulations, you've been infected! Before you get infected, hurry home, close your doors and windows, and wait for the doctors to examine you. If you wish to die, stay. Smallpox won't take you away; I will send you to see King Yama!"
Damn it.
If he stayed, he'd be stabbed to death by Chen Gang; if he left, he might still survive!
His words swayed some. Seeing some leave, others wavered and followed suit.
An hour later, the streets of the capital were nearly deserted, even the shops had closed their doors. Chen Gang led his men on patrol. If anyone was found, he would personally escort them back, almost to the point of nailing their doors shut.
In less than a day, the once bustling capital had become a lifeless city.
With shops closed, obtaining food became a difficulty for households. To address this, Fan Zehao opened the granaries and distributed grain according to headcount, ensuring each person and family received a certain portion.
As for winter, there were already few fresh vegetables, and common people had stored some cabbage and potatoes at home. Now, with grain delivered to their homes for free, the public's panic somewhat subsided.
Three days passed in a flash.
Only a little over half of the capital's residents had been screened, yet among this portion, over thirty people were found infected, almost all of them with their entire families.
Fan Zehao contributed his own princely mansion to house the sick. In the rooms previously occupied by patients, the disinfection frequency was increased from thrice daily to six times daily.
During these three days, imperial physicians and capital doctors were swamped with work, but no remedy for smallpox had been developed.
Seeing their dejected spirits, Fan Zehao was anxious but had no way to help, pacing back and forth in his room.
Her husband's anxiety had caused blisters on his lips, and the imperial physicians had made no progress. If this continued, more people would fall ill, and it wouldn't be a sustainable situation.
Zhao Jiaqi felt troubled as she watched Junjun poring over ancient texts, searching for remedies. An idea struck her: why not use Junjun's help to offer the "San Wei Yin" prescription? Although it couldn't cure smallpox, it could alleviate symptoms.
Thus, she and Junjun studied ancient medical texts together, murmuring occasionally. Junjun, hearing about the effects of these herbs, thought that perhaps mixing them together might cure the illness.
Moreover, the herbs her mother had just mentioned were all beneficial, and drinking them even when not sick would cause no harm.
After discussing with her mother, they devised a prescription. They decided to let the sick try it first. To their surprise, those critically ill showed no signs of dying after two days and their spirits seemed to have improved compared to previous days.
Only then did Junjun dare to present the prescription to Fan Zehao, along with a description of her experimental patients. After consultation by imperial physicians and the court physicians, they agreed that while the prescription couldn't cure the disease, it could alleviate symptoms, which was considered good news.
Subsequently, Zhao Jiaqi guided Junjun toward the topic of cattle. She casually mentioned that cattle could get pox, which was a disease, but the cattle didn't die.
Junjun tilted her head and looked at her mother for a long while, pondering the meaning of her words.
Why did she say that sick people benefited from drinking milk, and why did she deliberately steer the conversation towards cowpox?
Zong Han suspected that Zhao Jiaqi knew how to treat smallpox.
However, on second thought, it seemed unlikely. This was a notoriously difficult disease, one that had been prevalent for many years. If she knew how to cure it, given her characteristic generosity, she would have offered it to help the people long ago, not delayed for days.
Did Zhao Jiaqi not want to tell the imperial physicians about variolation for cowpox, which could treat smallpox?
But if asked how she knew, how would she explain?
Would she just casually say she read it in a book of rural anecdotes?
If someone truly possessed a cure for this disease and reported it to the authorities, they would receive a substantial reward. How could it be found in some strange book?
In the following days, with Zhao Jiaqi's subtle guidance, little Junjun was also compliant and sharp-witted. Whenever she hinted at something, Junjun understood correctly.
There were challenging moments along the way. Zhao Jiaqi only knew about variolation but was genuinely unclear about the specific procedure.
Little Junjun, being persistent, actively sought out Qi Xuan when she encountered operational difficulties after having a direction.
Through this diversion, it turned out that the imperial physicians were not idle and finally found a solution. The only remaining step was practical application to test its efficacy.
Qi Xuan, representing all the imperial physicians, reported to Fan Zehao: "Your Majesty, based on the methods provided by Princess Jun, your humble servant has developed a treatment. However, this method has not yet been experimented with, and its effectiveness is unknown. Your humble servant requests Your Majesty's permission to treat critically ill patients."
Although it involved experimenting on living people, it was a last resort. If successful, lives could be saved.
If it failed, it would merely hasten their demise.
Experimenting on death row inmates would be a waste of time; if it failed, they would still face death.
Death was merely a matter of time.
Fan Zehao pondered for a moment. He could not deprive the patients of their lives.
"Inform the patients about the experimental nature of this treatment. Only after obtaining their consent can you proceed with the treatment!"
Qi Xuan bowed and said, "Your humble servant obeys Your Majesty's imperial decree. Your humble servant takes his leave!"
As long as His Majesty agreed, convincing the patients was something he felt quite confident about.
After half a month, all the residents of the capital had been screened twice, with no omissions, before the city was reopened. When the people learned that the epidemic had been brought under control, they were so happy they wanted to set off firecrackers to celebrate.
Their admiration and reverence for the current Emperor grew.
They had resigned themselves to death, yet after staying home for half a month, not only did they survive, but they also received free rations for that period. This was an unprecedented event in history.
In the former Zhenguo Prince's mansion, after over a hundred people infected with smallpox died, a turning point finally arrived.