Chapter 381: Chapter 369 Outbreak
"You dare hit me? Do you know who I am?" The man stood up furiously and shouted, "Even if Li Yong comes, he’ll kneel to speak to me. What do you think you’re worth?"
Fang Lingjun, the ever-resourceful one, was just as sharp in Yangzhou. "This is Princess Ying Lan and Duke Chen’s son, Young Master Chen."
"So, it’s them." Fengyu frowned in disgust. Yangzhou, prosperous and full of dignitaries, inevitably faced conflicts due to the unified allocation of resources by the State Mansion.
Duke Chen and Princess Ying Lan had come to Jiangnan for leisure but ended up trapped in the Yangzhou Mansion. When the State Mansion sent people to register, Princess Ying Lan, clearly infected with the epidemic, deliberately concealed her condition. Lacking a deep foundation in Yangzhou and being in a secondary residence with limited medicinal supplies, the princess’s illness progressively worsened. Now, this arrogant Young Master Chen seeks out Xie Xun, demanding to send two doctors to treat their entire family, insisting that the noble Duke and Princess cannot be placed in the isolation zone with common refugees.
Xie Xun, who since childhood was known for striking against authorities—he even dared to beat Prince Kang—didn’t give them any regard. He curtly replied, "Go if you want; if not, stay home and wait to die."
"This Young Master Chen struts like a tyrant in the Capital City—truly behaving like an overlord. Unlike your family’s Young Marquis, who specializes in fighting the aristocracy, Young Master Chen always dodged encounters with Marquis Zhenbei Mansion when in the Capital."
"Such a coward—bullying the weak, fearing the strong!"
"Princess Ying Lan likely won’t survive." When the princess was brought to the isolation zone, she couldn’t even rise from her bed. Fang Lingjun happened to be outside the area counting grain supplies and heard from two doctors that treating her would only waste precious medicine.
Young Master Chen refused to accept this. Using his privileged status to pressure others, he forced bowl after bowl of medicine down his mother’s throat, yet it had no effect.
"I’m the Young Master of Duke Chen Mansion. How dare you point your sword at me? Just wait! Once I’m out, I’ll deal with you!"
The Young Master caused a commotion, but onlookers treated him coldly. The citizens were furious and disdainful toward such nobles, who, even on the brink of death, sought to monopolize resources.
Xie Xun had always declared that everyone in the isolation zone would be treated equally—only patients and doctors had a place here.
The mansion guards maintained order outside the isolation zone. If anyone stirred trouble, they would immediately be quarantined alone and denied medicine. Most families that came were infected together, so they rarely dared to cause a scene.
This time, however, the Young Master’s disruption seemed to ignite something. Someone questioned the doctors: Were the medicinal supplies truly running out, leaving everyone in the isolation zone to die?
Originally, medicinal soup was provided three times daily, but it gradually decreased to once per day, and eventually only once every two days. Many were clinging to life with nothing but the hope of survival.
If it became known that the supplies had been exhausted, chaos in the isolation zone would be inevitable.
At the city gates.
The Deputy General informed Li Yong that the commander had sent an urgent dispatch, traveling 800 miles, to the Capital City for aid. "The court will surely send someone to save Yangzhou. Hang on with the citizens a little longer."
Li Yong murmured to Xie Xun, "Everyone can say grand words. The treasury is so drained that Lin Cheng is raiding Jiangnan’s wealthy merchants for funds; what can he possibly provide?"
"The treasury is empty, but the clans aren’t."
"Zhixu, disasters like this show that even the clans are human. The grain supply is limited and can’t materialize out of thin air. Mark my words—this winter will be hard for all twelve provinces, Jiangnan included. Even if the epidemic passes, many will perish."
Xie Xun furrowed his brow deeply. Indeed, this winter was unbearably difficult!
Yanyang seemed plagued by every imaginable disaster!
The stationed Jiangnan troops left grain and medicinal supplies outside the city gates. Once they had moved far enough away, Xie Xun ordered the items to be brought inside and carefully registered.
Fengyu oversaw the unified distribution of grain.
Only households untouched by robbery in Yangzhou City would be excluded from receiving distributions. Over the past few days, Fengyu had sent people to register city statuses entirely—most issues pertained to the isolation zone.
"Remember, under no circumstances should the city gates be opened!" Xie Xun instructed emphatically.
Li Yong commented, "Who isn’t afraid of dying? Even if someone intends to come to Yangzhou now, we open the gates, and they’d still dare not enter."
As Xie Xun prepared to join the station guards in transporting grain and medicine, a soldier rushed over breathlessly. "Prince, Prince...! Something’s happened; the isolation zone is in chaos, and the lady was swept inside!"
"What?" Xie Xun’s face instantly turned pale.
He hurried to the isolation zone. Disaster victims were on the verge of breaking through; mansion guards and station troops fiercely held their positions, ensuring no one crossed the boundary.
In front were eighty thousand infected citizens; behind them were hundreds of thousands of healthy ones. No one dared to allow the infected to leave the quarantine.
Leading the riot, a man shouted furiously, "Staying here is a death sentence! We push our way out for a chance to live—they want us trapped here to die. Break out, fight for survival!"
"Break out, fight for survival!"
The chants grew deafening; emotions ran high. Clearly, someone was inciting the crowd, furthering their loss of faith in the State Mansion. A mass of disease-stricken refugees congregating together only risked further spread.
Station troops, all wearing face coverings, guarded the line with long spears. They dared not harm anyone, adhering to orders from Xie Xun—a restraint that only emboldened the rioters.
But as chaos spiraled out of control, the soldiers themselves began fearing the mob of enraged, infected civilians. Xie Xun rode into the scene on horseback, his heart sinking when Fengyu was nowhere in sight.
"Stop!" Xie Xun roared, drawing his longsword in a dazzling arc before planting it firmly into the ground within the boundary, forcing the crowd back. "What are you rioting for?"
He dismounted anxiously, striding past the defense line without a face covering amidst hundreds threatening to overwhelm the boundary. The protesters were already brazen. "We’re running out of medicine and grain! Is the Prince planning to starve us to death here? There are eighty thousand of us—we want to live."
"You think breaking through will save you? How will it save you? If the medicine runs out, there’s none in the entire Yangzhou City. If the grain runs out, there’s no rice grain to be found in the whole city. Everyone will starve with you. Do you want everyone else buried alongside you?" Xie Xun pointed toward the station guards. "Behind them are hundreds of thousands of healthy citizens—you want to infect everyone else with your disease before you’re satisfied? I promised to do everything to save you. Haven’t you learned how to fight for yourselves?"
"Oh, such grand words! No medicine, no grain—how will you save us?"
"Running out of medicine will magically produce it if you break free? Running out of grain summons new supplies if you breach the gates?" Xie Xun snapped in anger. "You think resources will materialize out of thin air if you riot hard enough?"
"Then open the city gates! Let us leave!"
"Yes, open the gates! Let us out!"
Xie Xun was livid. "Yangzhou is the origin of the epidemic. Right now, outbreaks everywhere trace back here. You want to leave—as carriers—to spread it across Yanyang?"
"So, you expect us to die here?"
"If death is inevitable, then let’s die together. You won’t be alone, so what are you afraid of?" Xie Xun’s patience expired. Drawing his longsword, he declared coldly, "I swore never to harm unarmed civilians, but don’t forget—I’m a general who has killed countless men in battle. This sword has taken innumerable lives. If anyone dares incite chaos again, I will show no mercy. Return to your posts now—grain and medicine have arrived at the gates. Stop wasting your strength and save it to fight the disease."
Xie Xun’s commanding presence was unmatched. Those instigating trouble—descendants of Yangzhou nobility encouraged by Young Master Chen—were arrogant yet cowed by Xie Xun’s blade. To him, nobles, elites, and civilians were all just people.
He wasn’t like Li Yong, a sycophant with no real backbone to manage the State Mansion.
He spared no innocents but wouldn’t tolerate unchecked disruptions either.
The doctors felt indebted to Xie Xun; without his intervention, chaos and contagion would have spread uncontrollably in Yangzhou. Thanks to him, the daily infection rate and mortality, while still grave, were gradually declining.
Medicinal supplies were indeed running out.
Doctor Liu asked cautiously, "Prince, has medicine truly arrived?"
"It’s at the city gate. It’ll be transported here shortly. The twelve provinces will send additional supplies too—don’t worry. Meanwhile... treat patients based on severity. Medicine is limited."
The doctors grew solemn. "Understood."
Prioritizing treatment meant abandoning irredeemable severe cases in favor of children and pregnant women. The doctors understood; nevertheless, nobles like Young Master Chen would always stir trouble.
Xie Xun wasn’t interested in lingering with the doctors; he needed to find Fengyu. He hoped she’d only been swept up in the chaos without falling ill. Even if she were trapped in quarantine, he prayed she hadn’t succumbed to the disease.
Inside a tent in the isolation zone, Xie Xun finally found Fengyu.
She was with Fang Lingjun, who was clutching Fengyu, eyes red and swollen with tears. Seeing Xie Xun arrive, Fang Lingjun looked as if she’d seen a savior. Desperately, she pleaded, "Young Marquis, Ayu has a high fever and rash!"
Xie Xun felt his heart shatter and sink into an abyss.