After Exile, I Married the Amnesiac General [Rebirth] Chapter 53

General Chen’s expression was also hesitant. If laborers were handled this way now, then if soldiers died later, wouldn’t they also have to be handled this way?

Border garrison soldiers lived the hardest lives. After serving for several years, even more than a decade, it was already bad enough that their remains might not return to their homeland, if they were then burned to ashes, it would be hard for everyone to accept.

Pei Er stood between the two, seeing Li Chanxiu’s urgency and General Chen’s hesitation.

Suddenly, he stepped forward and said in a deep voice, “General, if we deal with it now, the epidemic may not spread. But if it is not handled thoroughly, and the epidemic spreads, infecting the soldiers as well, the consequences would be unimaginable.”

Hearing this, the soldiers present all changed expressions, especially when they thought of the laborer who had just vomited blood and died, not a trace of worry and fear could be hidden on their faces.

Li Chanxiu knew the cause of that laborer’s death. Seeing this, he worried that panic would spread through the army and destabilize morale, so he quickly spoke the truth to reassure them: “At present, no one has died from the epidemic, so there is no need for everyone to panic.”

But after speaking, he still emphasized, “However, that laborer had indeed contracted the epidemic. If the body is not burned, it is very likely to infect others. To prevent the epidemic from spreading in the army, we still must be cautious where caution is needed.”

After speaking, he looked again at General Chen.

After hearing both him and Pei Er, General Chen finally clenched his teeth and decided, “Burn the body as well.”

What Pei Er and Miss Shen said was both correct. At present, no soldiers had died from the epidemic; what truly needed to be done was to quickly cut off transmission, not to worry about what might happen afterward.

After General Chen gave the order, no one dared disobey. Very quickly, that pot of mutton, the skinned hide, and the sheep that had not yet been touched were all piled onto dry firewood. The laborer who had died not long ago also had his body carried onto another pile of firewood.

Torches were lit, and the firelight illuminated faces filled with fear and worry.

General Chen also felt a heaviness in his heart, especially when he thought that if Li Chanxiu had not discovered this by chance, by the time it was truly noticed, the epidemic would likely already have spread throughout the army.

He could not help but feel a surge of lingering fear, and suddenly turned around and shouted sternly, “Who told you to pick up dead sheep and bring them back to eat?”

Those laborers were immediately so frightened that they knelt down, trembling continuously in panic and fear.

Li Chanxiu frowned. Because these laborers were convict prisoners, they were usually treated poorly and could not eat their fill. When they picked up the dead sheep to eat, they probably had not thought that much, but… it had indeed almost caused a great disaster.

However, the most urgent matter now was to prevent the epidemic from spreading, and also… where had these sheep come from?

“Miss Shen, do you have a method to treat this epidemic?” While thinking, General Chen turned back and asked him.

“This…” Li Chanxiu frowned.

He had experienced that epidemic in his dream and did know how to deal with an outbreak within the army, but as for a method of treatment… to be honest, even after the epidemic had lasted ten years, there had still been no prescription capable of completely curing it.

The only method was to use medicine to reduce the patient’s body temperature as quickly as possible. If the patient could endure this trial, they would recover. If not, they would die.

So previously, when Li Chanxiu prescribed remedies for wind-cold to reduce the fever of the sick laborers and soldiers, it had not been wrong. However, later in the dream, that traveling physician, after extensive journeys and treating countless infected patients, gradually accumulated experience and painstakingly worked out a prescription that made it easier to cure patients. In the end, while dying of illness, he entrusted someone to deliver the prescription to Li Chanxiu in the southwest.

Thinking of the moment in the dream when he received that prescription, Li Chanxiu could not help but feel a heaviness in his heart, and there seemed to be moisture in his eyes.

Fortunately, that old rascal should still be alive now, somewhere along the border between Great Zhou and Western Qiang.

He quickly pulled his thoughts back, steadied his emotions, and said, “Replying to General, this is also my first time encountering this kind of epidemic. There is no method that can guarantee a cure, but there is a prescription that may increase the chances of recovery. The General will need to send people to the county town first thing tomorrow morning to buy the medicine.”

Last time, he and Physician Hu had mainly bought medicine for treating wind-cold and external injuries; they did not have the medicinal materials needed to deal with an epidemic.

General Chen nodded immediately upon hearing this and said, “Alright. As soon as the county town gates open tomorrow morning, I will send people in to buy medicine.”

“In addition, the most important thing with an epidemic is to prevent transmission. Please have those who are already infected arranged in one place immediately, without contact with others; those who have had contact with them but have not eaten the diseased sheep should be arranged to stay in another place and observed for a few days to see whether they fall ill; lastly, those who have had contact with infected people but have not eaten the diseased sheep should also preferably be arranged separately and similarly observed for a few days, if they do not fall ill, then there is no problem…”

Li Chanxiu then continued to “arrange” matters in an orderly way.

He also told everyone to wash their hands frequently and pay attention to cleanliness. The rooms where the sick stayed should also be fumigated with mugwort, and vinegar and lime used to dispel the epidemic.

General Chen nodded at everything and said to a trusted subordinate beside him, “Write it all down and carry it out according to Miss Shen’s instructions.”

After saying all this, Li Chanxiu’s gaze grew heavy again, as if he wanted to speak but hesitated.

General Chen noticed his hesitation and could not help saying, “If you have something to say, just say it. There is no need to worry.”

Hearing this, Li Chanxiu let out a breath and said, “General, then may we speak aside?”

General Chen was slightly surprised, but still walked with him to a place off to the side, away from the crowd.

Seeing this, Pei Er followed as well. After taking a couple of steps, and seeing that Li Chanxiu did not tell him not to, he boldly continued following.

When they reached a secluded place, Li Chanxiu made a slight bow before speaking solemnly, “General, the origin of these sheep is strange. I think it is very likely that someone deliberately placed them there for the laborers to pick up.”

“You mean…” General Chen was doubtful, but suddenly thought of something, and his expression grew serious as he said, “You’re right. When I first heard of this, I also found it strange, how could it be such a coincidence that every few days there were sheep for them to pick up? Sheep don’t just fall from the sky… But if someone did it deliberately, and it was outside the frontier, could it be…”

“They are the Hu people,” Pei Er, standing beside the two, said calmly as he picked up the thought.

Li Chanxiu could not help but glance at him, not expecting that this person, who was usually not very sharp, would at this moment think the same as him.

In the dream, when the epidemic broke out, there had been one instance where, in order to capture a city, the Hu people threw infected sheep, and even the corpses of those who had died from illness, into the city, causing the people inside to also become infected and lose their ability to resist.

General Chen also felt that the greatest possibility was the Hu people, but there was still one point he did not understand, 

“Why would they go to such trouble, deliberately infecting sheep and then placing them there waiting for us to pick them up…”

“What if it wasn’t deliberate, but the sheep just happened to fall ill and die, and they simply made use of it?”

Li Chanxiu analyzed, and combining it with what happened in the dream, when the Hu people suddenly launched a large-scale attack and the northwest fell, he suddenly formed a conjecture, 

“The Hu people follow water and grass and live by herding. It is very likely that in the north, cattle and sheep are currently dying from disease on a large scale.”

Now it was the depths of winter. The grass had withered, water was scarce, and the cattle and sheep were dying from disease. The Hu people were in a difficult situation, which was why in the dream they launched that large-scale offensive. Perhaps at first they only intended to plunder, but they had not expected Great Zhou to be so easy to defeat, allowing them to easily take the northwest and nearly advance to Chang’an.

Moreover, at that time, Great Zhou was also plagued by uprisings. Many places had just been looted by refugees; when they saw the Hu people coming again, many local officials were so frightened that they simply did not resist and abandoned their cities. This allowed the Hu people to see the possibility of entering and ruling the Central Plains, which later led to even larger military campaigns.

And now, these diseased sheep were their way of testing the waters. If the border soldiers of Great Zhou or the laborers picked them up and ate them, allowing the epidemic to spread and weakening the city’s defenses, that would be ideal.

If they were not picked up, it would not be a loss for the Hu people, they surely also knew that these diseased sheep could not be eaten.

Thinking of this, cold sweat gradually broke out on Li Chanxiu’s back. If this line of reasoning was correct, then the Hu people’s attack would very likely… be within the next few days!

“General, the Hu people will very likely launch an attack in the coming days,” Li Chanxiu said at once.

“General, the Hu people may launch an attack in the coming days,” Pei Er said in a low voice, almost at the same time.

After speaking, the two could not help but look at each other.

Li Chanxiu had no time to dwell on the surprise and quickly added, “General Chen, you should immediately send people to Yongding and the other garrisons to inquire whether there is the same situation. If so, it proves that our earlier speculation is correct, the cattle and sheep in the north are dying in large numbers from disease. With nothing to eat, the Hu people will surely launch a large-scale attack. Other garrisons should be notified at once so they can prepare early. If there is also an epidemic in other garrisons, it is even more necessary to begin prevention and treatment as soon as possible.”

After hearing this, General Chen immediately felt it made sense. He had no time to be surprised that a woman exiled here could think of such things, and quickly ordered his subordinates to deliver the messages.

Because Li Chanxiu and the others had also come into contact with the sick, the three of them did not return to camp and remained on the city wall to wait for news.

As dawn was about to break, the soldiers who had gone to deliver messages returned one after another to report.

“Reporting to General, after receiving the message, General Zhao of Yongding conducted a night inspection and indeed found that laborers there had also picked up dead sheep.”

“Reporting to General, the Yong’an garrison has the same situation.”

“Reporting to General, the Yongsheng garrison also…”

After hearing the reports, General Chen’s expression grew increasingly grave, more serious than ever before.

Not only did other garrisons have the same situation, but in some places even soldiers had picked them up.

Everything Miss Shen had guessed was correct, and if the Hu people’s cattle and sheep were truly dying in large numbers, then the scale of this attack would certainly not be small.

General Chen immediately realized the seriousness of the situation and quickly rose to summon a trusted aide, saying, “Pass down the order, patrols in the coming days must be carried out with utmost vigilance, no slackening allowed. In addition, starting today, increase the number of scouting parties sent out each day by three times. Extend the reconnaissance further north if possible. The moment any trace of the Hu people is discovered, report immediately.”

“Yes!” The aide accepted the order at once and left.

After giving the orders, General Chen still did not feel at ease. Since he had taken charge of Yongfeng Town, this area had never experienced a major battle; most incidents were only small-scale border harassment.

But this time, the Hu people would likely not be merely harassing. They might not stop until they achieved their objective.

Thinking of this, General Chen quickly wrote letters to Prefect Yan and the commander of Wuding Pass.

The prefect oversaw the military affairs of the entire prefecture; such a major matter could not go unreported. And Wuding Pass was the largest pass in Yongzhou, where eighty thousand elite troops were stationed, it was the true northern gate and key stronghold of Yongzhou.

Once smaller passes like Yongfeng and Yongding could no longer hold, once the wolf smoke beacons were lit, Wuding Pass would certainly dispatch troops immediately to reinforce them.

Can’t wait until next week to see more? Want to show your support? Come to my Patreon where you can get 5 or more chapters of After Exile, I Married the Amnesiac General [Rebirth] right away ! Or go donate at Paypal or Ko-fi to show your appreciation! :)