From cute to empress

Chapter 157 Epidemic Outbreak

"Your Majesty, Queen, something bad has happened!" Li Defu's sharp voice pierced the night sky. My heart tightened, and the ominous premonition instantly spread throughout my body.

"What happened?" Zhen Youcai asked in a deep voice, with a serious look on his face.

"Your Majesty, many people infected with colds have appeared in the west of the city. The doctors from the Imperial Hospital have already rushed there, but..." Li Defu spoke in a panic and halting manner.

"Cold?" My heart skipped a beat. How could a cold suddenly appear in this early autumn weather? And judging from Li Defu's tone, it seemed that the situation was very serious.

"Let's go and take a look!" Zhen Youcai made a prompt decision, took my hand and walked quickly out of the palace.

The carriage sped through the night, my heart heaving with the jolt of the wheels. When we reached the west side of the city, the sight before me horrified me. The once silent streets were now ablaze with lights and bustling with people, yet filled with groans of pain and cries of despair.

"How could this happen..." I covered my mouth, staring at the horrific scene in disbelief. The open spaces on both sides of the street were littered with patients lying in disorder. Most of them were pale, breathing rapidly, and groaning in pain. Medical officers were treating the patients, but from their furrowed brows and anxious expressions, I could sense the seriousness of the situation.

"Doctor Sun, how's the situation?" Zhen Youcai walked quickly to a white-haired old man. He was Doctor Sun, the head of the Imperial Medical Bureau. He had superb medical skills and was highly respected.

"Your Majesty, I am incompetent..." Divine Doctor Sun said with a heavy face, shaking his head. "These patients aren't suffering from a common cold, but a disease we've never seen before. It's ferocious and spreads extremely quickly. I've tried many prescriptions, but none have been very effective..."

My heart sank, and an unprecedented sense of fear gripped me tightly. This sudden epidemic was like a sudden storm, instantly turning my once peaceful life upside down.

Over the next few days, the epidemic spread at an alarming rate throughout the capital and surrounding areas. Every day, scores of infected patients were admitted to the clinic, leaving the once spacious facility overcrowded and severely short of medical resources. Watching the agonized groans of patients and hearing the heartbreaking cries of their families, my heart ached.

"We must find a way to control the epidemic!" I summoned Dr. Sun and other medical experts, and we worked day and night to develop new prescriptions, hoping to find a cure for this disease. However, this disease was so strange, and we knew almost nothing about it. All our efforts seemed to be stuck in a fog, with no hope and no direction.

At this moment, a piece of news reached my ears, making my already anxious heart even heavier...

A gloomy haze enveloped the entire capital, a suffocating despair in the air. Since the outbreak, I've barely been able to eat or sleep, running daily between the Imperial Hospital and the infected areas, hoping to find a glimmer of hope in this devastating situation. However, events spiraled further and further out of my control.

"Your Majesty, please eat something. If you continue like this, your body will collapse." Xiao Tao, the personal maid, held a bowl of porridge and looked at me with concern.

I shook my head, looking out the window at the gloomy sky, feeling a sense of helplessness. "The people are suffering, how can I eat..."

"My queen, please take care of yourself! You are our pillar of support. If you fall, this world..."

Before Xiao Tao could finish her words, she was interrupted by a loud noise outside the hall. I was startled, and a bad premonition came over me.

"what happened?"

"Your Majesty, the people in the city have gathered outside the palace gates, saying they have something to report to the Emperor and Your Majesty." The voice of Li Yi, the commander of the guards, came from outside the palace.

"Let them in." I took a deep breath and tried to stay calm.

Soon, several ragged civilians were brought into the hall. They were pale and thin, their eyes filled with anger and despair.

"I bow to the Emperor and the Empress!"

"Stand up, do you have any grievances to complain about?" Zhen Youcai asked in a deep voice.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please help us!" an old man cried. "The pharmacies in this city have all raised their prices. A single bag of herbs costs ten taels of silver! How can we poor people afford it?"

"What?!" I was immediately furious. "How could such a thing happen?!"

"Yes, Madam!" another middle-aged woman cried, "My husband has been infected with the plague and is dying, but those unscrupulous drug dealers are taking advantage of the situation to drive up the price of medicine. How can we afford such a large sum of money?"

I suppressed my anger and asked, "Who are those drug dealers? Where is County Magistrate Li? Why aren't they being regulated?!"

"Your Majesty, the largest pharmacy in the city is owned by Wu's Pharmacy. The Wu pharmacist has a close relationship with County Magistrate Li. They..." The people hesitated to speak, but their eyes were full of resentment and accusations.

"How ridiculous!" I slammed the table, seething with rage. "As a caring official, Magistrate Li doesn't care about alleviating the people's worries. Instead, he colludes with profiteers and enriches himself. His crime is simply unforgivable!"

I immediately ordered a thorough investigation and summoned County Magistrate Li to the palace for questioning. However, at that moment, a eunuch rushed in, fell to his knees, and said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Outside the city... outside the city..."

"What did you find? Tell me quickly!" My heart tightened and a chill ran from the soles of my feet to my heart.

"Outside the city... the mass grave outside the city... there are many... many dead bodies..." "Many dead bodies?!" My eyes went dark and I almost fainted. Xiao Tao quickly supported me and shouted anxiously, "My Queen!"

Zhen Youcai grabbed the eunuch by the collar and demanded, "Tell me clearly! What's going on?"

The eunuch trembled and said, "Your Majesty, I have heard that many corpses have appeared in the mass grave outside the city. And... and those corpses have all taken on a strange blue-black color, and their deaths are horrific..."

My heart sank, a sense of foreboding gripping me. The large number of bodies found in the mass graves, and their deaths in strange circumstances, suggested the epidemic was even more severe than we imagined, perhaps even... out of control!

"Your Majesty," the previously silent Divine Doctor Sun suddenly spoke in a deep voice, "I implore you to immediately seal the city gates and prohibit anyone from entering or leaving. Otherwise, the consequences will be disastrous!"

I know what Dr. Sun said is right, but how easy is it to seal off the city? Once the city is sealed off, it means that the capital is isolated from the outside world, supplies cannot be transported in, and people's hearts will collapse. By then, I am afraid that even without the outbreak of an epidemic, the entire capital will be plunged into chaos!

However, the situation was urgent and could not be delayed. I took a deep breath, forced myself to calm down, and said to Zhen Youcai, "Pass the order down. Seal the city gates immediately. No one is allowed to enter or leave without my permission!"

"According to the order!"

Orders were issued from the palace one after another, and the entire capital was suddenly plunged into panic.

The shadow of the epidemic is like a thick dark cloud, shrouding the entire capital in despair.

I lay awake at night, the painful moans of the people constantly resurfacing in my mind, the desperate eyes piercing my heart like needles. I flipped through the epidemic reports collected from various places, and the shocking news was that the epidemic was spreading far beyond our expectations. The number of infections continued to climb, and the death toll had doubled.

"Is it... is there really no way?" I slumped weakly in the chair, feeling powerless.

"My Lady..." Xiao Tao looked at me distressedly, her eyes red. "You haven't slept for several days. Can you eat something?"

I shook my head, looking at the dark sky outside the window, my heart filled with confusion. Just then, a eunuch hurried in, knelt on the ground, and said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, this is bad! Taoist Zhou... Taoist Zhou..."

"What happened to Taoist Zhou?" My heart tightened and a bad premonition came to my mind.

"Master Zhou…he went out into the streets, saying this epidemic was a punishment from heaven, because…because of you, the Empress…"

"He's talking nonsense!" I stood up suddenly, seething with anger. "This guy is spreading rumors and misleading people!"

Taoist Zhou is a well-known Taoist priest near the capital. He usually likes to play tricks and deceive people. Now that the epidemic is raging, instead of praying for the people, he takes advantage of the public panic and spreads such absurd remarks. His heart is despicable!

"Someone!" I shouted angrily, "Catch this demon immediately and interrogate him strictly!"

However, the rumors about Taoist Zhou had already spread, spreading like a plague among the people. For a time, all kinds of rumors were rampant, and people were in panic. The entire capital seemed to be sitting on the crater of a volcano that could erupt at any time.

I know very well that if this continues, the entire country will be plunged into an abyss of no return. I must find a solution as soon as possible, otherwise...

Just when I was at my wit's end, a secret letter from the border was delivered to me. I couldn't wait to open it. It was from Zhen Youcai, who mentioned a potentially effective herbal remedy, but he needed me to go to the border in person to find it...

"Border?" I muttered to myself, a glimmer of hope ignited in my heart, but also filled with worry.

The border? War raged there, plague raged. A weak woman like me going there would be like walking into a tiger's mouth. But looking at the handwritten letter from Zhen Youcai in my hand, the anxiety and worry revealed between the lines, and the words "this is the only way," my heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand.

"Xiao Tao, what do you think... should I go?" I leaned weakly on the back of the chair, muttering to myself.

"Your Majesty, I dare not speak nonsense, but I know that you will not abandon the people." Xiao Tao looked at me with red eyes and heartache.

Yes, how could I leave the people alone? The epidemic is raging, and people are in panic. As the ruler of a country, how could I be so greedy for life and afraid of death that I would disregard the lives of thousands of people?

I took a deep breath, trying to calm the turmoil within me. I picked up the letter again and read it carefully. In it, Zhen Youcai described the herb's morphological characteristics and growing environment in detail, including a hand-drawn sketch. He also mentioned that the herb grew on a rarely visited cliff face on the border, perennially eroded by miasma, making it extremely difficult to find.

"The cliffs are steep and the miasma is eroding..." I repeated in a low voice, feeling a little worried.

"Your Majesty, how about...letting General Zhen bring back the herbs?" Xiao Tao suggested cautiously. "You are worth a fortune, how can you risk your life?"

"No!" I decisively rejected her proposal. "The border war is intense, and Youcai can't get away. Besides, that herb grows in a special environment. If you don't see it with your own eyes, it can easily be confused with other herbs. If we delay treatment, the consequences will be disastrous!"

I know that heading to the border to search for herbs is like embarking on an unknown road full of thorns, but I have no choice. For my country and my people, I must give it a try!

I stood up suddenly, my eyes gleaming with determination. I called the guards and asked them to summon Dr. Sun and several ministers to the palace for a meeting.

Soon, Dr. Sun and several ministers arrived. I handed them Zhen Youcai's letter and laid out my thoughts.

"This..." Several ministers looked at each other, all with expressions of shock and worry.

"Your Majesty, this is absolutely impossible!" An old minister was the first to stand up and object. "The border is raging with war and plague. It's too dangerous for you to go!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, you are worth a fortune, how can you take risks so easily?" Several other ministers also spoke out to dissuade him.

"I have made up my mind, there is no need to persuade me anymore!" I said in a firm tone, leaving no room for doubt.

"But……"

"No buts!" I interrupted them, "I have made up my mind!"