The little girl was clearly terrified.
It made sense; anyone would be frightened out of their wits if a masked woman dressed in black suddenly snuck through the window in the middle of the night, dropped a letter, and vanished without a trace.
Shen Yu, however, was not surprised at all.
There was a high probability this person had been sent by her own mother, Su Lianyue.
Su Lianyue was the Saintess of the Evil Cult and commanded many death soldiers stationed in every corner of the Empire.
Their primary role was to gather intelligence for Qingfeng Village and transmit messages to the outside world.
A large part of the reason Qingfeng Village had been able to learn in advance that the Imperial Court’s heavenly might would soon come crashing down was thanks to these death soldiers risking their lives to deliver information.
“It’s fine, don’t be afraid. She’s a relative,” Shen Yu said, patting Yin Qiu’s small head to comfort her softly.
“A… a relative?”
Yin Qiu’s pretty face was filled with disbelief.
Shen Yu did not say anything else.
Instead, she turned and opened the wax-sealed envelope.
The contents were very simple—only a few words—but the information they conveyed was enough to make anyone’s jaw drop.
**[There are those with ill intentions within the Imperial Court. Beware of the Prince of Jin.]**
**[The smallpox epidemic you mentioned has indeed broken out. However, the vaccine you gave everyone ensures the border remains safe. Do not worry.]**
Shen Yu instinctively flipped the letter over.
There was a line of crooked, small characters at the bottom that looked like her father Shen Bashan’s handwriting.
It was as ugly as ever…
‘Your mother misses you very much, and I miss you too, but your mother won’t let me say it because she’s afraid you’ll worry. Take good care of yourself out there, daughter.’
“I won’t let myself suffer,” Shen Yu sighed softly.
She then used the flame from the oil lamp to burn the letter and the envelope into ashes.
‘But regarding the Prince of Jin Mother mentioned… is it that vassal king from Liuzhou? But Liuzhou is thousands of miles away from the Capital City. Is there really a need to be wary of him?’
Shen Yu did not know much about this Prince of Jin.
She only knew he was the third son of the late Emperor and had been a major obstacle back when her grandfather rebelled.
Furthermore, he had always maintained a defiant attitude toward the current Empress.
After all, having a woman as the current Emperor was something that truly overturned common sense.
‘However, I really do need to take extra precautions against smallpox.’
To any transmigrated doctor, diseases like smallpox, the plague, and malaria were common and troublesome ailments that had to be guarded against in advance.
Through her observations of those Barbarians at the border, Shen Yu had realized that these virulent infectious diseases would eventually sweep through the entire Empire, so she had begun her preparations early on.
Preparing the Cowpox Vaccine was quite simple given the background of this era, and Shen Yu did not lack experimental subjects either.
Consequently, now that smallpox had actually begun to break out on a large scale, she was not panicking.
However, it seemed that Yin Qiu had not been vaccinated yet…
This was something that needed to be prepared in advance, as the vaccine would be completely ineffective once someone was already infected with smallpox.
“Yin Qiu, come here for a moment. Take off your top and expose your shoulder.”
“Huh? Sister… this…”
Yin Qiu’s face flushed red instinctively.
Of course, she did not understand what a vaccine was or what it meant to be vaccinated.
But she understood people, and she knew what her only advantage was when facing Shen Yu.
She had to work hard for her sister during the day, warm the bed for her at night, and when necessary, even help her sister handle her… needs.
Otherwise, why would her sister use that fragrant soap to wash her so clean and make her smell so good?
Wasn’t it just so she could be thoroughly enjoyed after the lamp was blown out?
“Sister, can we blow out the lamp first? Yin Qiu… Yin Qiu is a bit shy. Also, I’m not very experienced. I’m afraid I might hurt you. Sister, why don’t you…”
“Blow out the lamp?”
Shen Yu had produced a cotton mask and thin leather gloves from somewhere and was busy putting them on.
On the medicine box in front of her sat two Scalpels and silk thread soaking in a strange, pale yellow liquid.
“I won’t be able to see anything if the lamp is blown out. How am I supposed to give you the Cowpox Vaccine then?”