"Ha, ha! Drive them out now? Sure!"
Su Pan’er smiled, nodding in assent.
"Whoever suggested removing these smallpox patients should do it themselves. But! If the disease spreads whilst escorting them, or if you inadvertently contract the disease, don’t bla , Su Pan’er, for not warning you beforehand!"
The crowd exchanged uneasy glances.
How did they forget that expelling those foreigners would entail a great risk?
"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you sothing else."
Su Pan’er said with a chuckle, "I, Su Pan’er, am dealing with them every day. Saving lives involves risk, doesn’t it? I may already be carrying the disease on my clothes. Aren’t you all scared of being infected, standing so close to ?"
As she spoke, she glanced around the crowd.
Whoosh!
Everyone automatically recoiled, squeezing tightly together and not daring to get any closer to Su Pan’er, leaving a large empty space in front of her.
"I walk back and forth in the Qin Mansion every day, touching this door many tis, not to ntion these stools and chairs..."
As her words rang out, the crowd’s faces turned pale.
The scene was far from the triumph they had been reveling in before.
Unable to suppress their rage, the crowd began to curse.
"Damn it! The village chief actually tricked us into coming...Cough, cough!"
The village chief?
Despite the murmuring being almost inaudible, Su Pan’er heard distinctly.
Had that sly devil been released already?
It seed plausible. The village chief was Su Sikong’s lapdog, Su Sikong would surely secure his release, else he would risk damaging the morale of his other lackeys.
"Fellow villagers, seems like so people with ulterior motives have deceived you!"
Qin Yi, who had been standing quietly beside Su Pan’er, spoke up leisurely.
"Ah! Let guess. Soone told you that the disease brought by these foreigners is contagious. But haven’t you thought about why he didn’t co himself? He sent you instead. It’s as if he wants you to risk your lives. Ah, human intentions are truly unfathomable..."
As Qin Yi spoke, he shook his head repeatedly, sighing endlessly.
His words rapidly changed everyone’s expressions. Everyone began to contemplate what he implied.
Many began to have second thoughts and were sneaking towards the exit.
"You all know the danger of the epidemic, don’t you think Pan’er, being a doctor, would also know the risks? But why did she choose to place the patients behind our house in Qin’s mansion, away from the village? Have any of you thought about this from her perspective?"
Qin Yi waved his large sleeve, and asked the crowd with piercing eyes.
People looked at each other, none able to form a coherent argunt.
Even a child would understand what Su Pan’er, a doctor, had done, but why? The answer was clear to see!
"Can any of you tell why Pan’er knowingly took such risks?"
"For whom! Who was she doing this for?"
"Speak up, weren’t you all so assertive just now? How co you’re all silent now, have you all suddenly beco mute?"
Qin Yi bombarded them with questions.
People could not raise their heads out of sha, not daring to retort as their initial bravado had evaporated.
"She did it for all of you! Regardless of which household the patients would have ended up in, it would have brought disaster upon their heads."
Qin Yi’s every word carried weight as he spoke, circling the crowd step by step.
"At present, my family, the Qins, is bearing the brunt of this pressure, isolating these few foreigners and treating them. And here you are! As soon as soone incites, you jump out! Aren’t we all fellow villagers? Where’s your conscience? Has it been devoured by dogs?"
His words made the crowd cringe in sha, effectively silencing them.
"Get out! Do you expect to beg for you to leave?"
Su Pan’er suddenly yelled.
Those people didn’t dare hesitate, and they fled in unison.
How embarrassing!
Occasionally, Su Pan’er would let them take the epidemic prevention soup for free, but they easily fell for other people’s instigations, indiscriminately making trouble at her doorstep. They felt too ashad to stay for another second.
Once everyone left, the remaining governnt employees and bailiffs also hastily made their exits.
"They are all ignorant fools, being manipulated without knowing it. Pan’er, don’t get hung up about it."
Seeing that Su Pan’er was still indignant, Qin Yi hurriedly comforted.
"It’s fine."
Su Pan’er gently shook her head: "I’m thinking, if we hadn’t ridden out on horseback and t them, I can’t bear to think about what could have happened had they encountered these people."
With that, she suddenly let out a giggle.
"That’s true. Luckily they ran into us."
Qin Yi smiled slightly: "However, I really didn’t expect that the village chief managed to escape the prison disaster so quickly and is now causing trouble again."
"I also didn’t expect him to be released so soon. It really is true that evil prevails."
Su Pan’er looked vexed.
"I did hear about it from Brother Zhang Li, who’s stationed at our house."
Qin Yi sighed: "After the village chief and his son were arrested, your uncle visited them in prison that night. What was discussed is unknown. All we know is that after a few days, the village chief was released. As for his son Jia Jing, even though he’s still locked up, he hasn’t faced trial and is being treated quite comfortably."
Su Pan’er imdiately laughed.
"This isn’t serving a jail term, it’s clearly enjoying a stay! A simple village chief’s son, having such power, it’s truly speechless!"
"We can’t bla the county lord, he should be pretty busy dealing with the epidemics. Human lives are at stake, he probably can’t deal with these matters for now."
"I understand. But I’m worried about you. After you go in, are you going to capitulate too?"
Su Pan’er looked worried.
"Don’t worry about this, I have a solution!"
Qin Yi made an assured statent.
It seems that Qin Yi’s words worked, as no one ca to cause trouble in the following days.
And the Qin family’s dicinal distribution did not stop because of that incident.
As the Qin mansion was too small, Su Pan’er moved the decoction preparation location to the outer enclosure of the newly constructed bridal chamber. Initially, Aunt Zhou and Zhou Ning were the ones preparing the dicine, but gradually, so won from the village joined in.
Every morning and evening, nearly the entire village ca to collect the decoction, rain or shine. Later on, even the people from nearby villages knew about it and would co early to queue up for dicine.
The dicine for the Su family was usually collected by her mother, Mrs. Su-Hua.
Watching the long line, Mrs. Su-Hua couldn’t help but smirk: "These people really have thick skins! Weren’t they the ones who ca to make trouble at your house the other night? Now they have the audacity to show their faces and collect dicine. If they are capable, they should gather their own herbs and boil their own dicine!"
"It’s just adding a couple more ladles of water, it’s no trouble!"
Su Pan’er tinkered with the things in her hands.
Mrs. Su-Hua wanted to say more, but two governnt employees ca rushing in from outside. As soon as they saw Su Pan’er, their faces brightened! They walked over briskly.
"Doctor Su! We found the sick cow you wanted!"
"You found it? That’s great! Mother, I have to go take care of this first. Co on, hurry up, show to the sick cow."
Without another thought, Su Pan’er hurriedly followed the two governnt employees out.
"Oh... This kid, why is she so rushed? What’s the rush?"
Mrs. Su-Hua looked curious.
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