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“I’ll write a prescription first. You can take this and prepare the medicine for now. I can’t determine instantly which treatment can cure this disease. It will require some time for trial and observation,” Wei Ruo said.

As it differed from common pneumonia, Wei Ruo had to adopt a conservative approach in prescribing the medication, further observation and diagnosis would be needed for more precise treatment.

“Alright,” Qingyi nodded.

Wei Ruo carried on, “Once the medicine is ready, don’t deliver it directly inside. Either wait for Meimei or me, or place it by the door for those who are in better health inside to fetch it. Avoid direct contact.”

“But you two will be…” Qingyi was worried. Miss Wei was their Madam’s benefactor.

“Don’t worry about us for now. Our later interactions will also aim to avoid face-to-face meetings like this. We can pass any messages through the wall,” Wei Ruo instructed.

With a worried expression, Qingyi nodded.

Wei Ruo added, “Then, notify everyone about it. Those who show similar symptoms should stay inside their rooms like this family and avoid contact with others. For those whose conditions are not too severe, their families should only be responsible for delivering food and medicine to a designated spot. If their conditions are severe, one person should be assigned to care for them. This person shouldn’t have contact with anyone else, either.”

“Alright,” Qingyi nodded. She dared not slack off in carrying out Wei Ruo’s instructions.

After some thought, Wei Ruo added, “Also, find someone to send a message to Madam Yuan. Some medicinal herbs need to be purchased in large quantities in advance. I’ll make a list. Get these materials prepared.”

“Alright.”

Qingyi noted down everything and immediately arranged someone to get it done.

With the urgency of the situation, they couldn’t afford to delay.

Very quickly, people sent by Madam Yuan arranged everything according to Wei Ruo’s instructions. They promptly dispatched people to purchase the ingredients listed on Wei Ruo’s sheet.

Meanwhile, to prevent panic, Madam Yuan specifically ordered them not to publicize the contagious nature of the disease.

However, it was already too late. The news about the human-to-human transmission of the disease had spread before Madam Yuan’s order could be enforced.

It isn’t known how the information leaked, but word spread throughout Taizhou prefecture.

It quickly caused people to panic. Those who could afford to began scrambling to buy medicinal herbs and started to isolate at home.

Everyone had stocked up on food before the heavy snowfall began. Those who hadn’t managed to were mostly those who couldn’t afford to.

Those who couldn’t afford it felt helpless. They could neither afford to buy the medicinal herbs nor consider running away, as they would probably starve to death on the journey within a few days of leaving Taizhou prefecture.

With the harsh weather making it a struggle just for meals, they obviously couldn’t afford to think about anything else.

That night, Wei Ruo didn’t return to the Military Prefecture. Madam Yuan sent a message to the Wei Family saying she wanted to keep Wei Ruo at the Yuan Residence for the New Year.

Naturally, this was just an excuse. It was neither reasonable nor appropriate for her to leave her family to spend the New Year at the Yuan Residence, which had no familial or intimate ties with her.

Upon receiving the message, the Wei Family naturally had their conjectures.

That evening, several members of the Wei Family had dinner together. Apart from Wei Ruo, Wei Mingting didn’t make it back either, and Wei Jinyi had his meal in his own courtyard.

The expressions on their faces during dinner were not pleasant.

After dinner, Wei Qingwan was waiting for Yunshi to bring up the subject, but Yunshi kept quiet, her face somber.

Wei Qingwan then turned to Wei Yilin, who was seated nearby. Wei Yilin had always been straightforward and transparent; he couldn’t keep secrets and would inevitably speak out if anything bothered him.

Wei Yilin should have heard about the matter of Wei Ruo spending the New Year at the Yuan Residence. According to his nature, he would have definitely felt compelled to grumble about it at this moment.

But Wei Qingwan waited for a while, and still, Wei Yilin didn’t utter a word.

With a slightly furrowed brow, Wei Qingwan finally couldn’t help but bring up the topic herself.

“Mother, please don’t worry. Madam Yuan probably treasures my sister so much that she wants to keep her at the residence for the New Year,” Wei Qingwan said as she took the initiative to comfort Yunshi.

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Yunshi denied. “I’m worried about this plague. We can isolate ourselves within the house, but your father cannot.”

Wei Qingwan paused for a moment, then understood. Her mother’s mind was all occupied with worrying about her father. She didn’t have the spare attention to devote to the matter of Wei Ruo spending the New Year at someone else’s house.

The issue of Wei Ruo spending the New Year at the Yuan Residence was excessive, but at least it wouldn’t pose any danger to the Wei Family.

Plus, being liked by Princess Jingmin was advantageous for Wei Ruo herself and the Wei Family as well.

However, the plague was a different matter. Once it broke out, bodies would be strewn everywhere, posing a threat to the lives of the family.

Comparing the two, Yunshi could clearly tell which one was more critical.

Of course, this didn’t mean that Yunshi had absolutely no complaints about Wei Ruo’s actions. After all, this was Wei Ruo’s first New Year at home after returning, and she ended up spending it at someone else’s place, which was rather excessive.

Seeing Yunshi’s worry, Wei Yilin quickly said, “Mother, don’t worry about father. Father is a great hero, he’s strong. He won’t get sick!”

Hearing Wei Yilin’s innocent words, Yunshi could only hope that things would indeed turn out as he said, and nothing would go wrong.

Wei Yichen wore a serious expression. He couldn’t be as carefree as his younger brother.

Given the current situation, there wasn’t much he could do as a scholar.

Each person in the room had their own thoughts, and the atmosphere was uneasy.

###

Bamboo Welcoming Courtyard.

Unlike the others in the residence, Wei Jinyi suspected that Wei Ruo staying at the Yuan Residence for the New Year was just an excuse.

Given the ongoing epidemic in Taizhou Prefecture and Wei Ruo’s medical skills, it was possible that Madam Yuan had asked Wei Ruo to treat patients and control the spread of the disease, which could be the real reason why Wei Ruo was “spending the New Year” at the Yuan Residence.

However, if that were the case, Ruoruo’s predicament would be the most dangerous.

She herself might contract the disease too.

After pondering this, Wei Jinyi left Xiaobei at the Bamboo Welcoming Courtyard and quietly slipped past the guards of the Military Prefecture, crossing the fence to leave the Military Prefecture.

###

Aside from Wei Ruo, a few well-known doctors from the Government City were also participating in the treatment of this epidemic.

Madam Yuan provided them with a room for temporary rest and for discussing strategies for the epidemic.

At this moment, Wei Ruo had changed her attire, joining the discussion as Xu Heyou, the alias she was under.

Wei Ruo hadn’t initially intended to do so in such a critical situation. However, Madam Yuan reminded her.

Madam Yuan didn’t want this incident to tarnish Wei Ruo’s reputation or have her make any unnecessary contact with other men.

So Wei Ruo used her previous disguise and participated in the meeting as Xu Heyou. To assist Wei Ruo, Xiumei naturally followed suit and changed her attire as well.

Inside the room, Wei Ruo discussed the matter with the other doctors and expressed her views.

“Master Xu, do you think it’s pneumonia? But in my many years of practice, I have seen countless cases of pneumonia. The symptoms of this disease are slightly different from the usual ones,” said Doctor Cheng from Zheng Yutang, the oldest and most experienced among those present.