Manbao ultimately cradled a stack of morials in her arms and decided to stop moving, asking a servant to clear a table for her so she could bury her head in the readings beside them.
Returning to their physicians’ quarters would be lonely and require reigniting the fire pit, and it didn’t feel right for her to use too much of it alone.
Now, charcoal in Xiazhou is also quite expensive, isn’t it?
So staying in one room saves money.
It took Manbao two days to compile the data into a table, and on the third day, she first went to the city gate to see Zhou SiLang and the others off, before returning to start writing the morials.
The refreshing morning was perfect for ntal work.
In fact, writing the morial about the vaccination thod was not difficult; the most challenging part was writing the morial for Imperial Doctor Lu. If this morial was written well, then her morial, submitted together, would have a synergistic effect.
Therefore, Manbao was very attentive to this, slowly grinding ink while pondering.
Finally, she spread out a large sheet of white paper, thought for a long ti before putting pen to paper.
Manbao wrote for half a day with a flourish, and it was only after Bai Shan called her several tis that she snapped out of it to go eat with him.
The students from the Imperial Academy were also eating, and they said, "We’ve finished processing the docunts we needed to handle, and we should get ready to return to the capital. Bai Shan, will you return with us?"
Bai Shan replied, "I’m waiting for Zhou Man."
Manbao said, "There are still three patients in the other hospital. Once they’re all healed, we’ll return to the capital with Lord Yang."
The other students exchanged glances and said, "Alright, we’ll go ahead then."
Returning now, even at a slow pace, we should make it in ti for the Lantern Festival. This year’s New Year wouldn’t have been spent in vain, right?
Two days later, Feng Zongping and the other students bid farewell. Leaving with them were the doctors who ca to support Xiazhou; they ca together and were leaving together.
The Imperial Guards who escorted them here also accompanied them in large part back. Yang Heshu also represented Xiazhou City by dispatching a few officers to accompany them, gifting them so local specialties as they sent them out of the city with cheers.
These past two days, the city finally regained so vitality and even showed a hint of festivity. For so reason, news of these departures spread, and many people from the city ca to see them off.
Local doctors stroked their beards with satisfaction, not to ntion the students who had not yet entered officialdom. Seeing so many people along the way bidding them farewell, many students even had many eggs pressed into their hands, stirring their hearts enormously.
One student exclaid, "Gentlen, let today be our pride."
"In the future, if we govern a place and are equally beloved by the people, then life would have no regrets."
Soone else noticed keenly, "Look, there’s Scholarly Senior Brother Yang."
Everyone turned to look at Yang Heshu, witnessing him observing the scene with a calm expression, only his eyes brimming with tears.
Soone sighed, "This ti, hasn’t Scholarly Senior Brother Yang earned the most credit?"
"That’s not necessarily true. These people are grateful to us, but not all of them are grateful to Scholarly Senior Brother Yang."
"What do you an?"
"When I was registering households and counting the dead, many complained that if it weren’t for Scholarly Senior Brother Yang closing the city gates, perhaps not so many would have died inside Xiazhou City."
The group felt like a bucket of cold water was poured over them, instantly quelling much of their emotion. "What kind of talk is that? If the city gates weren’t closed, would they let smallpox spread south? The capital has millions of people."
"We are outsiders; this reasoning is easy for us to accept. But people inside Xiazhou City may feel it’s precisely because Lord Yang confined the smallpox patients that more people fell ill inside the city. Add to that the lack of dicine before the Imperial Hospital’s arrival; I heard many people waited all night outside pharmacies fighting for doctors, and ultimately, they didn’t die from smallpox but from the cold."
He said, "In this world, there are few who understand logic, even fewer who would sacrifice or think of others. Think about how Madam Yang contracted smallpox; wasn’t it because so people thought if soone in Scholarly Senior Brother Yang’s family also got smallpox, they’d send them out of the city for dical help..."
A student beca indignant, "This is outrageous. They don’t hate those who brought smallpox in but hate Scholarly Senior Brother Yang; it’s utterly unreasonable. Oh, who brought smallpox in again?"
"Did you forget? It was Governor Niu’s youngest son. He seized a foreign girl, and that foreign girl probably hadn’t been to the Central Plains and couldn’t adapt, thus triggering smallpox..."
This was the public’s guess.
"I heard Governor Niu will go to the capital afterward to accuse Scholarly Senior Brother Yang of overstepping his authority and confining his superior."
"That’s why people say Scholarly Senior Brother Yang is in danger. Never mind claiming credit; if he isn’t penalized, it’ll be fortunate enough. Overstepping is a grave taboo."
"But those were dire contingencies. If Governor Niu were sensible and controlled the epidemic, Scholarly Senior Brother Yang wouldn’t have done such a thing. Hmph, when we return to the capital, I must publicize this incident—faults are faults, but the rits are trendous."
"Exactly, think about the patients we saw upon arrival; despite so much preparation, so still got infected. Only because we from the Six Arts never neglected our duties and are young and healthy did we not get sick. If smallpox was allowed to spread out of the city, wouldn’t everything south of Xiazhou beco an inferno?"
"That’s right. After returning to the capital, I want to tell my father about it; we can’t let Scholarly Senior Brother Yang suffer unjustly."
"Indeed, I’ll tell my brother."
"Then I’ll tell my grandfather."
Feng Zongping quietly slipped back to Bai Shan’s side and extended his hand, "So, how did I do?"
Bai Shan placed a bag of dried at in his hand, admiring, "Indeed, this kind of thing suits you best."
Feng Zongping stashed the dried at into his bag and bluntly said, "Don’t think lightly of . Had you not been so close to Scholarly Senior Brother Yang, you probably could’ve done it too."
Bai Shan smiled slightly and said, "Upon returning to the capital, I hope you can help publicize this a bit more. No need to spread it among the court, just among the students."
"Why, wouldn’t striking while the iron is hot be better?"
Bai Shan shook his head, "Going too far would an pressuring His Majesty with public opinion. I actually just want the officials to understand that Scholarly Senior Brother Yang’s confinent of Governor Niu was an unavoidable choice."
He emphasized, "It was truly unavoidable, not just a professional risk, but a matter of life and death for millions. Hence, at that mont, laws and rules were not a consideration."
Feng Zongping pondered, "I understand. You want the officials to acknowledge Scholarly Senior Brother Yang’s choice, even if he gets punished in the end, but to prevent other implications."
For instance, soone might accuse, "Today, he dares confine his superior; who’s to say he won’t confine his superior or offend the emperor due to differing political views in the future."
Publicizing Yang Heshu’s dilemma among students neither pressures His Majesty nor prompts officials to assess Yang Heshu’s position, preventing them from making unfounded assumptions leading to more severe charges.
Once this small part is won, Yang Heshu wouldn’t be afraid.
Feng Zongping said, "That’s more than a bag of dried at’s worth."
"I’ll give you ten bags when we return."
"No," Feng Zongping said, "Dried at is valuable now; once we’re back in the capital, it won’t be worth much."
He wanted dried at because there’s little at in Xiazhou City, and what’s a mouthful of flavor without it? When back in the capital, would Young Master Feng lack at?
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