“Shen Yu, rest for a bit once we reach Qingzhou City. You’ve lost so much weight from all that exposure to the elements on the road.”
Yun Wei held the reins with one hand, constantly squeezing the horse’s flanks, urging her warhorse to go faster, even faster.
Shen Yu was currently sitting in her arms, hunched over with frail shoulders, looking utterly haggard.
Yun Wei had only rendezvoused with Shen Yu three days ago.
After receiving the secret order from the Capital, she left a thousand Fenglin Guards to continue searching for the sweet potato in South Pass and brought the remaining nearly two thousand Fenglin Guards here without stopping.
The moment she saw Shen Yu, travel-worn and having lost weight all over, Yun Wei’s tears immediately flowed.
Shen Yu hadn’t even taken a carriage in order to reach Qingzhou City earlier.
She wasn’t very good at riding a horse, stumbling along the way, changing horses but never resting herself.
Enduring physical discomfort, she galloped nonstop and arrived in Qingzhou around the seventeenth day of the journey.
Before even reaching the boundaries of Qingzhou City, she ran a high fever.
After treating herself, she continued traveling day and night, finally arriving outside Qingzhou City in about twenty days.
For Yun Wei, coming all the way from the distant Capital to here, Shen Yu still had many attendants and provisions with her.
Arriving at this speed was already a miracle.
But the cost was obvious: Shen Yu looked haggard, had lost weight, and appeared especially pitiable.
In Yun Wei’s past impressions, Shen Yu was a very optimistic, pretty girl who would instinctively smile whenever she saw her.
But this time, when they met for the first time after nearly two months apart, Shen Yu didn’t smile.
Her face only showed exhaustion and worry for Qingzhou City.
“I’m fine. Once we reach Qingzhou City, first distribute the medicine pills I brought to the people. Also, take a sealed sample of the vaccine the Imperial Court previously sent here and bring it to me for inspection.”
“Also, notify the accompanying Fenglin Guards: when contacting patients, make sure to cover your mouth and nose. The vaccine can ensure they won’t die from the Hundred-Year Sore, but mild symptoms are still unavoidable.”
Shen Yu looked at the city wall of Qingzhou City from afar, vaguely seeing a few figures standing on it.
“Raise the Dragon Banner, higher. Tell the entire city that His Majesty’s grace has arrived.”
The Fenglin Guard holding the flag was already somewhat exhausted, but upon hearing Shen Yu’s words, he still struggled to raise the Dragon Banner high.
The bright yellow Dragon Banner flapped loudly in the wind, accompanied by countless urgent hoofbeats and rolling dust, appearing magnificent.
Shen Yu stared at it for a long while, only thinking that if it were red, it would be even better.
But for now, the meaning was similar.
Shen Yu’s group had abandoned all unnecessary baggage for rapid march, carrying only a certain amount of food and necessary medicine using manpower and animal power.
They brought nothing else.
Even the accompanying Fenglin Guards had discarded their sabers to carry more dry provisions and medicinal herbs.
Most of the supplies followed with the rear carriage convoy.
Because they were slower, they would enter the city about ten to fifteen days after Shen Yu.
This time, Shen Yu didn’t bring Yin Qiu; she left her to watch the house.
She brought Cui Yuming and a few clever, quick-handed women from the Cui family.
As for Cui Yuming’s sister Cui Keyi and the other Cui family women whose injuries hadn’t fully healed, they were all left at Mu’en Hall to maintain its basic daily operations.
Of course, Shen Yu had used the authority of “As if the Emperor Himself Arrived” to remove the heavy fetters on their feet.
On the surface, it was for convenience, and they would be put back on after returning from Qingzhou City.
But in reality, Shen Yu didn’t plan to put them back on.
They were willing to follow her through life-and-death situations, traveling thousands of miles to arrive at this Qingzhou City—that had already proven their character.
After this great plague passed, Shen Yu would certainly petition the Empress to completely remove the Jianji that weighed on them.
“Everyone, we’re about to enter the city. I hope you will act cautiously as I taught you on the road. The vaccine is not a panacea; you must protect yourselves.”
“Yes!”
The epidemic inside the city was severe.
Even with the vaccine protecting them, it was hard to withstand ultra-high-intensity exposure and harsh conditions.
“What’s going on with those soldiers stationed outside the city?”
“Those soldiers… are garrison troops from the border. They are responsible for guarding the already-sealed Qingzhou City, preventing people from escaping.”
Yun Wei explained softly.
Those garrison troops had clearly noticed the Dragon Banner rapidly approaching Qingzhou City.
A troop began to gather, preparing to stop Shen Yu’s group for inspection.
But the Dragon Banner flapping in the wind made them hesitate about whether to block.
Shen Yu had no time to waste with them.
She directly pulled out the “As if the Emperor Himself Arrived” gold medal from her bosom and raised it high.
The gold medal shone dazzlingly in the sun.
Scouts with good eyesight in the army could see the brilliant gold medal in Shen Yu’s hand from far away.
The troop that had been preparing to stop Shen Yu immediately halted.
No one dared to think of intercepting her anymore.
The garrison troops outside the city, who had surrounded Qingzhou City tightly, also made way.
Shen Yu’s men entered the boundaries of Qingzhou City without obstruction.
The city gate slowly opened.
The people inside the city watched as the surviving officials changed into relatively clean official robes.
They knelt outside the city gate, tears streaming down their faces, welcoming the group holding the Dragon Banner outside the city.
The people were horrified to find that the one walking at the very front was not the Imperial Guard, not a eunuch bearing an edict, but a young woman.
The young woman looked somewhat travel-worn and disheveled, but her delicate, thin face was stunningly beautiful.
A strand of hair clung to her cheek, giving her an extremely poignant beauty.
Her refined eyes didn’t look at the kneeling officials.
Her gaze was full of the people huddled on the streets, the corpses being carried, and those fearful yet numb eyes.
Li Zhengyang lifted his robe and knelt down, his voice hoarse but clear: “Your subordinate, Li Zhengyang, Provincial Administration Commissioner of Qingzhou, respectfully welcomes the Imperial Envoy.”
Behind him, Zhou Peizhi, Subprefectural Magistrate of Qingzhou, also knelt.
He didn’t speak—but his eyes were already red, and he just kept kowtowing nonstop until blood flowed from his forehead.
Li Zhengyang, a high-ranking official of the second rank and Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince, addressing Shen Yu, a seventh-rank Imperial Physician, as “your subordinate” was not only because Shen Yu’s identity as Representative on Imperial Tour outranked officials by one grade.
In fact, “outranking officials by one grade” had always been a folk saying; the Imperial Court had never stipulated it.
At this moment, he placed himself very low—low into the dust, low enough that as long as he could see someone from the Imperial Court, rank didn’t matter.
They hadn’t seen anyone from the Imperial Court in twenty days.
In those twenty days, they had nearly collapsed, thinking they had been abandoned, thinking the Imperial Court had forgotten this city.
But now the Dragon Banner had arrived, the Imperial Envoy had arrived, representing imperial power, representing the Imperial Court, representing that they still belonged to this Empire.
Let alone Shen Yu, a seventh-rank Imperial Physician—at this moment in Qingzhou City, even if the Imperial Court sent a ninth-rank Capital Official, it would be enough to uplift the entire city.
Let alone the one who came now was an Imperial Envoy holding the Dragon Banner and the “As if the Emperor Himself Arrived” gold medal, exercising the power of Representative on Imperial Tour.
Li Zhengyang knelt in the very front.
Days of toil had made him so thin he was barely recognizable; his official robe hung on him like on a bamboo pole.
Shen Yu looked at this weathered old man who had fought to the death against the great plague, and for a moment, she was speechless.
“Lord Li, please rise quickly. There’s no need for pleasantries. The situation is urgent now; let’s save the people first.”
“I’ve just arrived here, and many things will require Lord Li’s cooperation to implement.”
As Shen Yu spoke, she took out some of the emergency dry provisions used for military campaigns and handed them to Li Zhengyang, signaling him to eat something first and not exhaust himself.
“That the Imperial Envoy could rush to Qingzhou City in such peril—the entire city is immensely grateful!”
“Whatever Your Excellency needs from me, I will do my utmost.”
Li Zhengyang, helped up by Shen Yu, looked at the bright yellow Dragon Banner with tears in his eyes, his heart surging with emotion.
“I can treat these people. Lord Li, first follow my plan and centrally manage the people. Be sure to distinguish the severity of their conditions.”
“Also, please send me a sample of the vaccine the Imperial Court delivered to Qingzhou City for inspection.”
Shen Yu commanded methodically.
Having arrived in Qingzhou City after enduring wind and dew, her first priority was not rest but directly plunging into the front line of epidemic control.
A few short words were like giving Li Zhengyang a reassurance pill, making him exclaim involuntarily.
Truly, different trades are separated by mountains.
Shen Yu’s understanding of the great plague was far superior to his, a literary man.
‘I can treat…’