Bai Qingyan’s figure was slender yet upright as she stood at the entrance, surveying the patients everywhere who were coughing incessantly with flushed faces. Her brows furrowed tightly.

“Please rise quickly! Everyone, please rise!” Seeing Physician Hong about to bow, Bai Qingyan hurriedly supported him. “Physician Hong, you are an elder of the Bai family. This time, having you work so hard… along with these physicians of noble righteousness and benevolent hearts to come to this plague-stricken city, I already feel very guilty about it. It should be me bowing to thank you all!”

With these words, Bai Qingyan stepped back and performed a deep bow to these physicians. This bow was sincere – they truly deserved the phrase “physicians with parental hearts.”

The physicians hurriedly avoided Bai Qingyan’s bow, standing respectfully to one side with lowered heads.

“I know you all have just arrived and are at your busiest now. Human lives hang in the balance, and treating patients is urgent – there’s no need to accompany me here. I’ll just look around with General Qian’s company!” Bai Qingyan said, turning to look at the physicians who had followed behind her. “Please go about your work. If you need anything at all, you can tell me. Though I cannot help with epidemic treatment, whatever you need, I will do my utmost to arrange it. I absolutely will not let these righteous men who risk danger for the people lack anything!”

“Thank you, Your Majesty!” The physicians following Bai Qingyan hurriedly bowed, feeling ashamed in their hearts.

Physician Hong glanced at those physicians, understanding his young lady’s meaning – she was pretending not to know these few had harbored fearful thoughts of leaving, wanting them to stay and treat these plague-infected people.

Naturally, they were indeed shorthanded now, and if these physicians could stay, it would truly be good news for Physician Hong and the others.

Physician Hong didn’t mind their previous thoughts of leaving, saying: “Now we need to divide these patients into three categories according to the three prescriptions we discussed and selected earlier, using different prescriptions respectively to test which one is most suitable. Physician Niu… please trouble yourself to explain in detail to these physicians. This old man will accompany His Majesty to look around!”

“Very well, leave this matter to me!” Physician Niu was good-natured, holding a register in his hands as he spoke to those physicians: “Before giving medicine each time, we must check the color of the cloth strips tied on the patients’ arms against the names on this register, confirming everything is correct before administering medicine…”

Physician Hong accompanied Bai Qingyan in touring the canopy area. The common people saw Bai Qingyan standing outside the canopy and hurriedly knelt down en masse. Even the severely ill struggled to roll down from their makeshift beds and knelt beside their beds, supporting themselves.

Bai Qingyan looked at this shelter that could block wind and rain – it was constructed with bamboo poles and covered with a layer of oiled cloth above, with a layer of dry grass below. The sides were not enclosed for ventilation…

While such shelters were more than adequate for blocking wind and rain, they would probably be difficult to support if they encountered heavy snow. With snow about to fall, these shelters would likely need reinforcement.

Bai Qingyan shook the posts supporting the shelter and turned to say to Qian Yongzhong: “These shelters probably need reinforcement, otherwise they’ll collapse in a heavy snowfall!”

“Yes, this subordinate has noted it! I’ll send people to reinforce them as soon as I return!” Qian Yongzhong clasped his fists.

“The charcoal fires for patients in these shelters cannot be allowed to go out…” Bai Qingyan thought for a moment and asked Physician Hong, “Could we use cotton felt to block the wind on these two sides? Having all four sides open to the wind is too cold – would leaving one side open work?”

“Leaving one side open would be feasible. We could place those with mild symptoms on the outside and severe cases inside, with daily ventilation and fumigation with mugwort.” Physician Hong responded.

“This subordinate has noted it!” Qian Yongzhong said.

Seeing the Emperor truly enter the shelter, the patients inside were all anxious and uneasy. They were citizens of Yan, and now they had contracted the plague… yet Great Zhou’s Emperor had come.

They had never heard of an emperor going to any city with an epidemic!

Early this morning, when Great Zhou’s army had escorted physicians and medicines here, they had thought it was Yan’s court taking pity on them as Yan citizens and sending people for disaster relief and treatment. Only later did they learn that the Great Zhou’s Emperor had personally led troops to escort physicians and medicinal herbs to Yan’s plague-stricken lands, wanting to join hands with them, the common people, to fight the epidemic together.

They hadn’t expected the Great Zhou to bring so many physicians. They had thought… it would be nothing more than sending a few physicians to put on a show, and as before, any commoners thrown into the medical station would face certain death. But they hadn’t expected that as soon as so many physicians arrived, they began working busily… and the soldiers also began bustling about.

Originally, some mothers couldn’t bear to part with their children and had come to the medical station together. After confirming they hadn’t yet contracted the plague, they were called over by the physicians, who told them that since they had already come to this medical station, even if they hadn’t caught the disease, they couldn’t return to the city. The physicians taught them methods to prevent infection.

That Physician Hong was kind and benevolent, saying they must wash their hands frequently, and every hour they should go to the newly constructed shelter to get a new face mask, with the old ones to be boiled in medicinal soup, dried, and then reused.

They were already infinitely grateful to Great Zhou in their hearts, but who would have thought… the Emperor would actually come to this medical station in person!

This was a medical station where nine out of ten would die!

Seeing more people who had contracted the plague, or family members who had accompanied their children here, kneeling and kowtowing tearfully in gratitude, Bai Qingyan hurriedly said: “Please all rise, there’s no need for this! All of you, please rise…”

“Your Majesty! Thank you for sending people to save us lowly commoners!” A scholar boldly looked toward Bai Qingyan with tears in his eyes. “This commoner knows that Great Zhou and Yan are currently at war, and the court does not allow medicinal herbs to be transported into Great Zhou’s cities within Yan territory! Your Majesty personally leading troops to escort medicinal supplies and physicians here – this commoner is infinitely grateful.”

“Now, you are all my Great Zhou citizens, my subjects! All citizens of my Great Zhou… receive Great Zhou’s protection. No matter how far, we will rescue! The Great Zhou will never abandon any citizen!” Bai Qingyan’s solemn and steady voice had an exceptional penetrating power within this shelter. “Physician Hong is elderly… but he is one of Great Zhou’s most accomplished medical practitioners. The other physicians are all outstanding medical talents of the Great Zhou! You must all be at ease and follow the physicians’ arrangements, cooperating with their treatments! From today onward, medicinal supplies will flow continuously from Great Zhou – you need not worry! As long as we, ruler and people, are united in heart, we will surely defeat this epidemic! I… am with you all!”

The patients in this medical station became emotionally stirred by Bai Qingyan’s words. Some began crying aloud, emotions spreading from one to another. The old, weak women and children couldn’t help but cry out, shouting “Long live Your Majesty!” Some patients kept kowtowing, somehow feeling an emotion of having no regrets about becoming Great Zhou citizens.

“Thank you for Your Majesty’s life-saving grace!”

“Your Majesty regards us as subjects, so we shall forever be Great Zhou citizens!”

“We shall forever be Great Zhou citizens!”

Qian Yongzhong, watching these commoners who were crying from hope… from gratitude, couldn’t help but cast an admiring gaze toward his own Emperor.