Chapter 1615: City Siege, Stroke of Luck
Chapter 1615: Chapter 1615: City Siege, Stroke of Luck
"Really?" Mrs. Kuang was somewhat incredulous. After hearing about the tragic situation at Scholar Zhao’s house, she was prepared for Niu Wujin’s early demise.
Gu Jinli smiled, "Of course it’s true. I’ll wake Niu Wujin up right away."
"No need, I can do it," Doctor Lu had already started with the needles and continued, "This child is poisoned by silk cocoon yellow powder and Tong Shuang Grass. Mrs. Qin, please prepare an antidote for him to take, otherwise he might suffer from the poison."
With that, he stopped speaking and focused on treating Niu Wujin with needles.
Gu Jinli nodded and immediately wrote a detoxification prescription and handed it to Ye Jingzi, "Make a lot of it, there are likely many patients who will need it."
In both of these separate yards, next door at Scholar Zhao’s house, and at the Lei Family Trading Team Mansion, people were suffering from poisonous insect disease. Silk cocoon yellow powder and Tong Shuang Grass were good medicines for attracting insects and would certainly be used in large quantities, so the antidote materials also needed to be prepared in large amounts.
She further instructed, "More batches of insect attractant should be made. Let Aunt Xiong and Old Bao’s wife crush the materials, and hurry, many people need medicine."
"Yes," Ye Jingzi took the prescription to prepare the medicine.
Aunt Xiong led Danian and other servants, as well as the relatives, waiting in the medicine storage yard. They were divided into three batches: one helped Ye Jingzi move materials and prepare medicine; another crushed the materials; and the third went to boil the medicine.
...
In the room, Niu Wujin had already awakened.
The first thing he said upon waking was, "How are Daying and Er Ying? They can’t be harmed, or the Lin Family will blame us."
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Kuang could no longer hold back and burst into tears, slapping herself twice, "Niu Wujin, you have suffered grievances. From now on, mother won’t let you yield to others!"
Niu Wujin was startled seeing Mrs. Kuang crying so miserably, "Mother, have you gone mad?"
Weren’t you the one who said that only by taking good care of the soldiers’ families would the soldiers listen to father’s orders, kill more enemies, and help father get promoted? That way, our family could live well. Why have you changed your mind now? Do you not want the life of calling servants anymore?
But seeing Mrs. Kuang crying so hard, Niu Wujin still comforted her with a few words.
Afterward, he quickly turned to Gu Jinli and pleaded, "Sister-in-law Qin, please save Daying and Er Ying, they can’t die, or I’ll feel guilty for life."
Although the sparrow was what Daying wanted to eat, it was ultimately human life, and he didn’t want to carry the burden of two innocent lives for the rest of his life.
"Are there other people suffering from poisonous insect disease?" Doctor Lu asked.
Gu Jinli nodded and described Daying and Er Ying’s situation, emphasizing, "Save Daying first. He had a seizure like epilepsy and three small red dots were found on his scalp, indicating at least three poisonous insects had entered, likely into his brain."
Doctor Lu frowned deeply upon hearing this. It seemed challenging, and even if the poisonous insects were drawn out, that child would probably need to take medication to treat his brain for a while. However, he promised, "Mrs. Qin, don’t worry, I will try my best to cure the child and make him normal."
Gu Jinli felt even more that Doctor Lu’s background was extraordinary.
She instructed Qing Hui, "Take the poisonous insects from the bowl... keep them for a few days and observe them closely, don’t let them harm people."
"Yes," Qing Hui immediately took the poisonous insects from the bowl.
Dr. Fang furrowed his brows, "Mrs. Qin, these are harmful things, why keep them?"
Gu Jinli replied, "Because they might lay eggs, or like leeches, directly produce small insects... if these poisonous insects reproduce in the bowl over the next few days, they will also reproduce in the human body. Even if we save those suffering from poisonous insect disease today, we will still need to use insect attractant on the patients later to draw out any remaining insects from the body, or else people will still die."
Her words almost made everyone present feel nauseous.
Dr. Fang, with a pale face, said, "Why are these poisonous creatures so difficult to deal with?"
Doctor Lu was more accepting, saying, "There are thousands of strange diseases in the world, and Mrs. Qin already has a method for dealing with the poisonous insects. We are lucky this time. If it were like in the past when the Rong people poisoned us, it would take us a month to develop the antidote, and many people would die."
He added, "Mrs. Qin, let’s not dwell on this. Quickly take me to treat the other two patients."
"Okay," Gu Jinli agreed and then turned to Ms. Gao Lei, instructing, "Granny Lei, these poisonous insects come from birds. The Rong people must have released birds into the city as poison carriers. Send someone to inform the government office and General Liang to be wary of the birds. If they see birds flying from outside into the city again, shoot and kill them immediately, then find the bird corpses and burn them thoroughly."
Ms. Gao Lei was startled, "San Lang’s wife is right, Gui Zhi, quickly send someone to notify everyone to beware of the birds!"
"Yes," Nanny Gui Zhi hurried to carry out the task.
Gu Jinli immediately took Doctor Lu to treat Daying and Er Ying.
Ms. Gao Lei, Dr. Fang, Qing Pu, Sanqing, and Siqing followed.
Lin Erzuo’s wife, seeing they had finally thought of her children, cried tears of joy and looked at Gu Jinli with pleading eyes.
"Don’t worry, we will save them, just don’t create trouble," Gu Jinli assured her and went to the next room.
Gu Jinli pointed to an older boy lying on the ground, "This is Daying."
Doctor Lu stepped forward immediately and examined Daying’s scalp, indeed seeing three small red dots.
"We’ll need to make an incision," Doctor Lu, experienced in treating external wounds, took out his own tools and made a small incision on Daying’s scalp, applying insect attractant to the wound, and instructed Qing Pu, "Place the insect attractant on his mouth and nose. These poisonous insects might crawl around, ideally emerging from the mouth or nose."
"Okay," Qing Pu quickly placed three doses of prepared insect attractant on Daying’s mouth and nose, called Siqing over to watch with her, "If any poisonous insects come out, immediately kill them."
"Alright," Siqing nodded and kept watch with Qing Pu.
Moments later, Doctor Lu shouted, "Dr. Fang, quickly come, the poisonous insect is crawling out of the scalp, hurry and put it into the cup."
Dr. Fang was prepared and upon hearing this, quickly used the long needle he held to stab the insect, piercing through it, and dropped it into the cup containing insect attractant.
Soon after, the second and third poisonous insects emerged as well.
Once all the poisonous insects were extracted, Doctor Lu handed Daying to Dr. Fang, "Please take care of the child’s wound; I will inspect the insects."
He picked up the cup and placed it on the table nearby, pointing at the insects and asked Gu Jinli, "They are very plump, is it because they have sucked too much blood or are they about to lay eggs?"
Gu Jinli shook her head, "I don’t know, should we dissect them to check?"
Doctor Lu, "I was thinking the same!"
Xiao Ji was on the verge of tears, pulling Gu Jinli away, "Madam, please step back a bit, don’t get so close."
These poisonous insects aren’t Silver. Young Master, please don’t cherish them like that. With Doctor Lu taking over, please step aside; it’s frightening.
Gu Jinli also didn’t want to lose her appetite today, so she stepped aside and waited.
Doctor Lu personally acted, using two long needles to pierce and open the three poisonous insects. Two were filled with blood, while one contained small insects, "Sure enough, these poisonous creatures reproduce, not by laying eggs, but by directly producing mature insects... The Rong people bastards want to wipe out all living creatures in Great Chu this time!"
Ms. Gao Lei also realized the severity of the situation, "Magistrate Hao must report to the Capital, lest these poisonous insects spread throughout Great Chu."
The Rong people used birds to release poisonous insects this time. Birds can fly far, and if this isn’t reported to the Capital to alert all of Great Chu, in a few months, both people and livestock of Great Chu may succumb to these poisonous insects.