Lu Tong paused in his actions.
Looking back, Duan Xiaoyan’s brightly smiling face was right before his eyes.
"I saw you at the city gate just now," the young man said as he sat down on the stone bench opposite her, "but there were too many people then, and it wasn’t convenient to greet you. After getting the horses and carts settled, I made a point of coming to find you first."
Lu Tong looked at him as Duan Xiaoyan took the initiative to explain, "Yun Ying and the Cai County Chief are together. The thieves who stole the dical supplies and food yesterday haven’t been dealt with yet, so they’re very busy today."
Lu Tong lowered his head, continuing with the task at hand, "I didn’t ask about him."
Duan Xiaoyan touched his nose.
Lu Tong picked two bunches of herbs, placed the cleaned dicinal herbs into the bamboo basket, fell silent for a mont, then asked, "Weren’t you all quelling the chaos in Qi Shui? How did you suddenly co to Su Nan?"
Duan Xiaoyan hesitated for a mont.
There was no one in the yard; all the dical officers had gone to the front to distribute Plague-Preventing Incense.
"You must know about the situation in Shengjing?"
"I’ve heard so of it in general."
"The Emperor sent Yun Ying to pacify the chaos in Qi Shui. The rebel soldiers in Qi Shui had been rampant for too long, and our n soon apprehended their leaders. We were about to return, but then we learned that Su Nan lacked supplies, with shortages in both dicine and food. With the possibility of a snow disaster this year, alongside famine and the plague, we feared Su Nan might not make it through, so Yun Ying requested the Emperor’s decree to bring people to assist with the epidemic here, and The Emperor granted his request."
Lu Tong paused.
It was he who had taken the initiative to ntion it.
"Deputy Envoy Xiao took the rest of the troops back to the capital to report, and Yun Ying and I ca to help, but the situation in Su Nan is worse than I thought." Duan Xiaoyan glanced at the somber sky in the distance, "On the way here, we even encountered the bandits who stole your supplies and took care of them on the spot. I’m not sure if there’s anyone else."
If you’re not afraid of thieves stealing, you’re afraid of them coveting. Before, there weren’t enough hands, and we weren’t their match. Now that the soldiers are here, it’s a perfect opportunity to eradicate these scoundrels and relieve a major worry for Su Nan.
Seeing Lu Tong silent, Duan Xiaoyan blinked and asked, "How about you, Doctor Lu? How have you been these days?"
"Alright," Lu Tong reminded him, "the dical officers will distribute dicated handkerchiefs to you. Rember to wear them at all tis to prevent infection."
"I’m not asking about that," Duan Xiaoyan leaned in closer and whispered, "Have you decided to make up with Yun Ying?"
The young man scratched his head, looking troubled, "Although I don’t know exactly what happened between you two, I still feel that sothing’s not right. Deputy Envoy Xiao said that you had an argunt. Why?"
"What did he do to anger you?"
Lu Tong bent over to pick up the bamboo basket filled with dicinal herbs and did not respond to his question, simply saying, "There are ready-made Plague-Preventing Incense pouches in the bucket at the door. Take enough for everyone. Go give them out yourself." After speaking, he left with the basket without further conversation.
Duan Xiaoyan sat in the yard, stunned for a mont, then touching his chin, he muttered to himself, "Why does it feel so strange."
...
The day passed in busyness.
In the following days, the workload for the dical officers suddenly increased.
Chang Jin confird the wells for the deploynt of the dicine bags and imdiately ordered the dical officers to speed up the production of the bags for deploynt. With the arrival of Pei Yunng bringing new dical supplies, the availability of herbs beca sowhat more plentiful. Cai Fang added a few more wells, with each requiring a considerable number of dicine bags, which needed constant replenishnt, often keeping the dical officers busy until midnight. It was common to see dical officers asleep on the spot, both in the Plague Hospital and their lodgings, exhausted.
Lu Tong and Lin Danqing were among them.
The weather in Su Nan grew colder with each passing day. Lu Tong dozed off and when she awoke, a faint light was already showing in the sky.
The winter days in Su Nan were always misty, as if the accumulated gloom lood over the head. Lu Tong sat up, and Lin Danqing was slumped over the desk, with a half-finished Plague-Preventing Incense pouch in front of him. Several dical officers were sprawled asleep around the room, with prescriptions half-written, apparently they had succumbed to extre fatigue in their sleep.
The lamp oil had burned out.
She got up quietly, straightened the quilt that had been pulled half off Lin Danqing, and stepped outside.
Just as she reached the yard, a drop of moist coldness fell on the tip of her nose. Lu Tong looked up, and through the expanse of sky, snowflakes danced lightly like willow blossoms.
Lu Tong was startled.
Unbeknownst to her, it had snowed in Su Nan during the night.
"You’re awake," a voice ca from behind her.
She turned, and Ji Xun was sitting in a corner under the eaves, tinkering with a charcoal brazier in front of her.
The brazier was burning Atractylodes Macrocephala among other dicinal herbs for preventing the plague, as the dical officers regularly replaced the burned out dicine braziers to keep the plague at bay.
"Doctor Ji is up early," she observed Ji Xun.
Ji Xun was wearing a grayish-blue cotton robe distributed by the dical Officer Institute, looking sowhat crumpled and unkempt, a far cry from the dashing Young Master appearance he had maintained back in Shengjing; she recalled that Zhu Ling had ntioned Ji Xun would change his clothes daily.
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