Chapter 378: Chapter 366 Assistance from Four Sides_2
As soon as the news broke, the refugees gathered on the streets erupted into chaos once again. Thousands of able-bodied refugees congregated in the city, protesting, nearly clashing with the city guards.
"Don’t believe him! The State Mansion only craves merit—they won’t properly resettle us. They’ll just sort out the sick and slaughter them all. Once all the sick are killed, the epidemic will be contained. If you don’t want to die, don’t trust them."
"Yes, don’t trust them! Back then, we trusted the State Mansion when they promised to resettle us, so we came to Yangzhou. And what happened? They kept us locked outside the city gates—my sister and mother starved to death right in front of me."
"Every day, thousands die outside the city. Their bodies lie unburied, and rotting corpses over many miles have spawned this epidemic. I’ve caught the disease—I won’t survive. But I’ll drag you Yangzhou people down with me, buried together in death."
"That’s right, drag them down with us. We’ll make them pay!"
The crowd’s rage surged like fire. Every individual screamed their hatred hoarsely, their eyes bleeding with desperation. When faced with imminent death, no one could remain composed.
"Yes, the State Mansion was wrong—they shouldn’t have shut the gates. But where exactly is the fault? They’ve already taken in thirty thousand refugees seeking shelter in the city. They also made efforts out of goodwill to help the refugees. However, they overestimated Yangzhou’s material reserves and underestimated the severity of the crisis. They didn’t anticipate so many refugees flooding into Yangzhou. If they keep accepting more, then Yangzhou will overflow with people. What are we to eat? What are we to drink? How will we settle people? These are all monumental issues. The State Mansion erred, but the root cause of all this misery is the natural disaster that drowned your lands, destroyed your crops, and forced you to flee to Yangzhou," Xie Xun said solemnly. "Now, the epidemic is spreading—do you truly want to carry this plague to all other state regions? Yangzhou is home to hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians—do you wish to take them to the grave with you? You’ve lost your parents, your sisters; but it wasn’t their doing. Your hatred shouldn’t fall upon them. The State Mansion has made mistakes, but they are now working tirelessly to make amends. Please, everyone, trust us."
Xie Xun’s voice was resolute, akin to the oath he once made in the Ningzhou Iron Cavalry Army. Fengyu gazed at his towering figure, her smile tender.
A reborn Xie Xun!
Xie Xun declared, "The State Mansion’s establishment of boundary lines is to separate the healthy population from those infected, preventing the plague’s rampant spread. We have to survive this together. The epidemic is treatable—if you continue to riot and delay treatments, the situation will only worsen. Survival is the only way forward, and only by living can we hope for the future. Please trust the State Mansion; supplies, food, and medicine are en route from various regions. We will defeat this epidemic together."
"Don’t believe him! He’s lying. We don’t trust the State Mansion. They’ve slaughtered civilians and treated us like livestock. Why should we trust them?"
"That’s right! Why should we trust you?"
Xie Xun removed his veil, revealing a chiseled and strikingly handsome face. "I am Xie Xun, the young Marquis of the Marquis Zhenbei Mansion and Commander of the Ningzhou Iron Cavalry. I hail from the Twelve States. If you don’t trust me, you should at least trust the Marquis Mansion. Marquis Zhenbei Mansion has stood by the Yanyang people’s side for generations. Even after betraying the Capital City, we refuse to disregard the plight of our civilians."
For two days, Xie Xun had handled Yangzhou’s affairs under the name of the State Mansion, never exposing his identity. When his words fell, the civilians erupted in disbelief—everyone knew that Xie Xun had defected from the Capital City.
Yet Yanyang remains Yanyang, and the Twelve States still belong to Yanyang.
Xie Xun’s emotions were intricate—he had no choice but to invoke the name of Marquis Zhenbei Mansion.
He and Xie Jue had long abandoned the title bestowed by the Yuwen Royal Family, but now, to soothe the hearts of the people, he resurrected it. Marquis Zhenbei Mansion enjoyed a golden reputation—no matter how chaotic the scenario, it seemed that as long as someone from the Mansion was present, the civilians would feel reassured. For the people of Yanyang, Marquis Zhenbei Mansion had been their guardian deity for generations.
"Are you truly Prince Qin Xie Xun?"
"I am!" Xie Xun proclaimed. "Please, trust me. If I cannot cure the epidemic, I will live and die alongside you—I will never abandon you."
"The court ignores us, but it’s the defector Prince Qin who has come to Yangzhou to save us." Someone covered their face, sobbing uncontrollably. Days of panic, fear, despair, and the shadow of death had dragged them toward an abyss.
No one wished to kill or loot; no one sought chaos—they only wanted to survive. Now, a man stood up, intent on pulling them back from the brink.
"The epidemic can be cured! We can all survive!" Xie Xun said firmly. "There’s always hope. If we unite together, even if the epidemic spins out of control, at least we’ll know we’ve fought to the very end."
"Fine. Just because you’re Xie Xun, we’ll trust you!"
Xie Xun let out a heavy breath. Nuanyang, nervous like a cat on a hot tin roof, handed him a new veil to wear.
If the refugees cooperated, the solution could be gradually implemented. Though Li Yong lacked competence and had sent his kin away, the people left at Yangzhou Prefecture showed courage—all remained to help, and there were now many hands to assist. Xie Xun dispatched teams to register the infected population and separate the men, women, elderly, and children for resettlement.
Another group was responsible for handling the corpses. Fortunately, it was winter, so the decay process was slower. The bodies were uniformly transported outside the city to be incinerated.
Some residents had concealed the fact that they were ill. The State Mansion visited them household by household, educating them about how contagious the epidemic was and the necessity for isolation and treatment. All medicine was distributed exclusively to the quarantine zone in the western city.
If someone infected refused to enter the quarantine zone, they would inevitably spread the illness to their entire household, dooming everyone. Under such circumstances, even the sick dared not hide their conditions—all were sent to the quarantine zone.
It was fortunate that Fengyu was clever. While Xie Xun organized the quarantine efforts, she worked alongside Fang Lingjun and the city’s doctors to consolidate all medicine supplies. Though creating perfection was impossible, order was maintained.
Once the registration was complete, the results shocked everyone.
Nearly fifty thousand residents within the city were infected with the disease. Fengyu’s heart sank further: "Some people’s symptoms have yet to manifest—the confirmed cases will only continue to rise."
This meant that the medicine supply would soon run out.
Xie Xun had already instructed Li Yong to write letters to nearby state regions, urging them to send medicine. He personally penned letters requesting supplies from Jiaozhou and acquired reserves from Jinzhou and Dan State.
Both Dan State and Jinzhou were abundant in medicinal resources. With thorough preparation across the Twelve States, the medicine stockpile was sufficient.
The most critical shortage, however, was of doctors—their numbers were vastly inadequate for the massive refugee population.
Yangzhou City housed just over a hundred doctors, yet tens of thousands were infected. Treatment was practically impossible. Fengyu pondered and came up with an idea—she proposed recruiting elderly individuals who had overcome the epidemic and had relevant experience to assist.