Chapter 1617: Siege and Grand Cleanup
Chapter 1617: Chapter 1617: Siege and Grand Cleanup
"Master Xiao Yu, leave Hu Er and the others to us." The patrolling government officials were polite to Master Xiao Yu, but glared angrily at Hu Er and the others: "You troublemakers, do you know what time it is? You still dare to cause trouble! Do you believe that we will take you to the city wall to be used as targets and let the Rong people shoot you into sieves?!"
Hu Er and the others, upon seeing the government officials actually arrive, started to speak nicely: "Lord, we were wrong, we really weren’t trying to cause trouble. It was this family’s daughter who seduced me first. I thought she liked me and wanted to marry me, so seeing the chaos in the city, I brought my brothers to protect her family."
This was a blatant lie, and Boss Fan immediately became furious, shouting: "Hu Er, you beast, slandering my sister’s reputation, I’ll fight you!"
He charged forward, intending to fight Hu Er.
Hu Er, being a gambling house thug, had good skills. He dodged Boss Fan’s fist with a swift movement, then kicked him, sending Boss Fan flying towards the threshold of the hall.
With a loud bang, he knocked out two teeth, his mouth bloodied and looking quite terrifying.
Master Xiao Yu did not expect Hu Er to be so brazen, realizing this person couldn’t be spared, or else he would become a disaster.
He charged forward with a knife, slicing from the back, severing one of Hu Er’s arms.
"Ah!" Hu Er was mocking Boss Fan when suddenly his right hand hurt. By the time he reacted, his right hand was gone. He was in pain and terrified, and directly fainted on the ground.
Hu Er’s group of thug brothers were scared to death, hurriedly kneeling to plead for their lives: "Have mercy, hero, we won’t dare anymore, truly won’t dare, don’t chop us!"
The government officials were also quite frightened, but this was the Guardian Master of Ms. Gao Lei’s house, who dared to curse even General Liang when angry, and they didn’t dare offend him.
Master Xiao Yu said, "Old Madam Gao detests these scoundrels who take advantage of chaos to harm a girl’s purity the most. According to Great Chu Criminal Law, they harm their own people during wartime and should be beheaded. Qi Vice Magistrate executed the field thief a few days ago to deter evil men in the city; I hope all the lords will not be lenient with these villains."
The government officials said, "You are right, Lord Vice Magistrate did instruct that heavy punishment must be applied inside the city during wartime; those who dare to cause trouble should be beheaded immediately."
The implication being they would not pursue accountability for Master Xiao Yu.
Master Xiao Yu, seeing the government officials wouldn’t side with these evil men, felt relieved. He bid farewell and left, catching up on horseback with Dr. Fang to escort her to the main residence.
Xu San’s symptoms were similar to Wujin’s; both had poisonous insects crawl into their windpipe, blocking one side of it, causing them to be unable to breathe. However, Xu San’s condition was more severe, with two insects inside him, and his face had turned blue and purple from being suffocated, almost suffocating to death.
Brother Lu cried inconsolably, kneeling down to apologize to Xu Da: "Brother Xu Da, it’s all my fault, I harmed Brother Xu San."
Xu Da, already upset and confused, shouted upon hearing this: "Enough! Get up now, saying such nonsense at a time like this, what good does it do?!"
Bang bang bang!
"Housekeeper Liu, quickly open the door, Dr. Fang is here to save Xu San!" The Protector squad leader was pounding on the door and shouting outside the courtyard gate.
Housekeeper Liu was delighted, personally opened the door, and upon seeing Dr. Fang, said: "Dr. Fang, you’re finally back; Xu San is on the brink, and Doctor Zhang doesn’t know what’s wrong with him!"
Dr. Fang had no time to respond to Housekeeper Liu, calling out to Doctor Zhang: "Young Zhang, quickly come and help."
He explained the situation with the poisonous insect to Doctor Zhang, then handed him a small cup, instructing him on how to poke the insect into the cup once it crawled out before starting to save Xu San.
A little over a quarter of an hour later, the two poisonous insects inside Xu San were lured out.
Doctor Zhang, upon seeing the poisonous insects, turned pale, but did not delay his work, using a long needle to poke the insects into the cup.
The cup contained Insect Attractant mixed with fresh blood; once the insects entered the cup, they did not crawl out again.
Xu Da was delighted upon seeing this, asking: "Dr. Fang, has my third brother greatly improved?"
Dr. Fang said: "We’ll still need to check. These creatures can produce larvae. If they’ve laid larvae inside your third brother, we’ll need to use the Insect Attractant again."
Xu Da heard this and turned pale.
And Xu San was unfortunate; the poisonous insects indeed laid larvae inside him.
A little over a quarter of an hour later, sesame-sized larvae crawled out of his nostrils and mouth.
Doctor Zhang watched, feeling deeply uncomfortable, afraid to move.
Dr. Fang was angry: "Young Zhang, why are you dazed? Quickly poke the insects!"
"Oh, yes." Doctor Zhang snapped back to reality, using the long needle to push those larvae into the cup, pushing over a dozen.
"Uncle Fang, is it done?" Doctor Zhang asked, his whole body drenched in sweat despite the chilly spring season.
Dr. Fang said: "Don’t know yet, prepare another Insect Attractant, observe for three-quarter hours to ensure none are still crawling out slowly."
"Yes." Doctor Zhang quickly prepared another batch of Insect Attractant, continuing to watch Xu San’s mouth and nose.
"Make a fire, burn those insects to death." Dr. Fang instructed, adding: "Everyone quickly go inside, remove your clothes, and check yourselves for any small red dots. If there are, it could mean insects have entered you."
Housekeeper Liu quickly complied, burning the insects to death first, then taking Brother Lu and the others inside, stripping off their clothes and checking each other for red dots.
Fortunately, everyone was okay.
"Dr. Fang, we’re all fine and in good condition." Housekeeper Liu came out to inform Dr. Fang.
Dr. Fang let out a sigh of relief, instructed Housekeeper Liu to watch Xu San’s mouth and nose, then pulled Doctor Zhang aside to teach him how to recognize poisonous insect disease, what to do with poisonous insects, and how to resolve silk cocoon yellow powder and Tong Shuang Grass poison.
"We’ve been very lucky this time, getting this Insect Attractant; otherwise, all living things in the city might have been doomed." Dr. Fang gave half of the Insect Attractant in his medicine box to Doctor Zhang: "Take it; use it at the main residence if anyone gets poisonous insect disease. The rest of the Insect Attractant, I need to use it at the city’s various wells."
The Rong people used sparrows to drop poisonous insects, Mrs. Qin said those dead sparrows might fall into the wells, making the city’s wells unsafe. We must use the Insect Attractant to bring out and burn the insects inside the wells, only then can everyone safely drink clean water.
"Yes, I remember." Doctor Zhang noted down all of Dr. Fang’s instructions, accepted the Insect Attractant, and escorted Dr. Fang out of the small courtyard.
Dr. Fang, upon leaving, still instructed: "Keep an eye on Xu San."
"Yes." Doctor Zhang responded, and after sending off Dr. Fang, he immediately returned to watch over Xu San, and fortunately, after three-quarter hours, no more poisonous insects crawled out of Xu San’s mouth and nose.
"Alright, it should be greatly improved." Doctor Zhang was quite pleased, giving Xu San the decoction of silk cocoon yellow powder, Tong Shuang Grass poison left by Dr. Fang, and pricking him with a few needles, waking Xu San up.
"Brother Xu San!" Brother Lu was so happy that he cried, afraid he had killed Xu San.
Xu Da slapped Xu San, scolding: "You insensible thing, making everyone worry about you like this!"