A plague broke out in Fuzhong, and the Qinfang Building was sealed off.
Anyone who had come into contact with Chen Xianle was not allowed to move around freely.
The public kitchen boiled a large quantity of medicine to prevent and treat the plague, distributing it to the servants in the manor.
Xu Shi, who had experienced a similar epidemic in the past, was terrified and constantly took two bowls of medicine a day.
She complained incessantly, muttering angrily, “That Chen Wuniang is simply a disaster. She’s about to leave the manor and yet causes such trouble!”
Chen Jiao replied unhappily, “If she doesn’t make it through, the marriage to Jiaozhou will inevitably fall on me.”
Hearing this, Xu Shi became anxious.
“What can we do now?!”
Chen Jiao helplessly said, “Mother, think about it carefully. If she doesn’t survive, will I be next?”
Xu Shi immediately lost her temper.
“Heavens! This disaster isn’t over yet?!”
Chen Jiao fell silent.
Meanwhile, Chen Xianle in the Qinfang Building was suffering from a high fever and persistent coughing.
All the servants in the courtyard were wearing masks to prevent infection.
Unfortunately, the illness was severe, and even though the doctor had prescribed medicine and applied silver needles, there was no sign of improvement.
Zheng Shi was heartbroken but helpless.
The epidemic temporarily put the marriage aside, but within two days, a second servant from the public kitchen was infected.
Ma Chun, who worked in the public kitchen, also contracted the plague.
When Jiang Pozi found out her daughter was ill, she hurried to visit.
She had originally planned to seek help from Chen Jiao to ask a doctor to treat her, but the disease spread rapidly.
That evening, Jiang Pozi began to feel uncomfortable in her throat, and by the next day, she couldn’t get up.
Falling ill at such a critical moment was truly difficult to handle.
Fortunately, Chen Jiao, remembering her past assistance in arranging the meeting with Cui Jue, took the initiative as the mistress and invited a doctor to treat her.
For the past few days, Doctor You had been running around non-stop.
With the plague raging in the city, all doctors were overwhelmed with work.
At over seventy years of age, Doctor You was moving around the Wang family’s manor like a spinning top, and his old body couldn’t endure such strain.
Jiang Pozi’s symptoms of high fever and coughing were exactly like those of the plague.
Doctor You couldn’t cure it completely, so he could only use medicine to suppress it.
Chen Jiao, wearing a mask, stood outside.
After Doctor You came out, she saluted him from a distance.
Doctor You, bent over with his back hunched and his face covered with a cloth, looked too tired to see clearly, but his weary eyes were full of exhaustion.
Chen Jiao asked with concern, “Doctor You, how is Jiang Ma’s condition?”
Doctor You waved his hand helplessly and said,
“I’m sorry, but I am powerless. The plague is hard to treat.”
Chen Jiao was secretly alarmed.
If it couldn’t be cured, the blame for Chen Xianle’s situation would certainly fall on her.
She couldn’t help but become anxious and asked, “What kind of plague is this? Why is it so severe?”
Doctor You patiently replied, “This is lung abscess.”
Chen Jiao: “??”
Doctor You: “Lung abscess is most common in winter. Those who contract it initially show symptoms of chills, high fever, and a cough. Even if treated promptly with medicine, the results are often not ideal. However, strong and young people might survive.
After ten days, when external forces invade, the cough worsens, and chest pain and pressure occur. The heat toxins accumulate, causing thick phlegm and foul-smelling mucus to be coughed up.
By this time, the lung abscess is fully formed.If it continues to worsen, it will lead to blood poisoning, rotting flesh, and bloody sputum.
At this stage, the patient’s body temperature rises, their face becomes flushed, and they cannot sleep day or night. The elderly and young children are the most vulnerable and often succumb to death. For ordinary people who contract it, survival is unlikely.”
After his detailed explanation, Chen Jiao gained some understanding of lung abscess.
After Doctor You left, she returned to her room.
As Doctor You mentioned, the elderly and children were the most at risk for death.
Jiang Pozi clearly found it difficult to escape this disaster.
She was not a heartless person, but her strength was limited.
With the doctor unable to resolve the issue, her ability to care for Jiang Pozi had reached its limit.
However, Chen Xianle still made her uneasy.
If she didn’t make it through, she too would suffer the consequences.
Chen Jiao paced back and forth in the room, deeply worried.
From the moment she began her path of killing and burying bodies, every step she took had been incredibly difficult.
Previously, she had won the marriage by threatening Cui Jue, but now, facing the plague, she was no longer fighting against people but against fate itself.
To hell with fate!
What on earth was lung abscess?
If modern medicine existed, would it not be an insurmountable problem?
Chen Jiao was filled with complaints but had nowhere to vent them.
At noon, the public kitchen sent over the meals.
Due to the plague, every day there was a bowl of mustard greens soup, sent without fail.
Xu Shi, unaware of the reason, had grown tired of it and complained, “Why is it mustard greens soup again?”
The maid, Dingxiang, explained, “Madam may not know, but this dish is a staple in the manor, served in every household.”
Chen Jiao curiously asked, “Is there any particular significance to it?”
Dingxiang replied, “I heard from the kitchen mistress that Doctor You asked for it to be made. He said mustard greens clear the lungs, dispel phlegm, and aid digestion. Now, with the plague raging, mustard greens have medicinal benefits.”
Upon hearing this, Xu Shi quickly said, “If it’s such a good thing, why didn’t you say so earlier?”
The mustard greens soup won Xu Shi’s favor, and even though it was just boiled in water, both the soup and the greens were finished completely.
At the time, Chen Jiao didn’t think much of the mustard greens soup, after all, for the people of Huaguo, there were only two types of food.
What could be eaten was made into dishes, what couldn’t be eaten was made into medicine.
In the evening, there was still mustard greens, but it had been prepared differently—pickled mustard greens.
It was crisp and refreshing.
Xu Shi gave Chen Jiao a large portion, saying, “Eat more, my child. Dingxiang said this helps clear the lungs and dispel phlegm, we can’t afford to fall ill.”
Chen Jiao picked up her chopsticks, tasted it, and nodded, “It’s better than the soup.”
Xu Shi also thought it was quite good.
Halfway through their meal, Chen Jiao suddenly seemed to think of something and stared intently at the pickled mustard greens in her bowl.
Could the lung abscess that was so prevalent right now actually be the same as modern pneumonia?
Seeing her in a daze, Xu Shi asked curiously, “What’s the matter, Ah Ying?”
Chen Jiao snapped back to reality, glanced at her, and then looked at the pickled mustard greens.
If lung abscess was pneumonia, could antibiotics be used to treat it?
Thinking of antibiotics, she turned to look at the pickled mustard greens again.
For the first time in her life, she suddenly experienced the extraordinary significance of being a modern person in this backward era.
“Mother, I’m going to find Doctor You, I have some questions for him.”
Xu Shi was taken aback and puzzled, “Why not ask tomorrow?”
Chen Jiao suppressed her excitement, stood up, and said, “I can’t wait any longer!”
As night fell, she ignored Xu Shi’s attempts to stop her and insisted on going to find Doctor You.
Xu Shi had no choice but to send two servants to accompany her.
It was cold outside, and Chen Jiao wore a warm cloak with a hood and carried a warming pot, so Xu Shi was finally at ease with her leaving.
Dingxiang led the way with a lantern, while another maid helped Chen Jiao along.
They heard that Doctor You was at the Qiu Shui Study in the Eighth House, so she went there personally.
The two youngest sisters in the manor were raised in the Eighth House, one was four years old, and the other was only two.
At this moment, the two-year-old had unfortunately contracted the plague, and her condition was not optimistic.
When Chen Jiao arrived, Miao Cuiping’s eyes were red from crying.
She was only twenty-six, gentle and delicate in appearance, a typical Jiangnan woman, looking weak and fragile.
Seeing her daughter so ill and not knowing what to do, she could only weep.
Chen Jiao didn’t have time to care about the situation in the Eighth House.
After exchanging a few pleasantries with Miao Shi, she asked Doctor You about the symptoms and treatment of lung abscess.
Doctor You was extremely patient, explaining the related symptoms, treatment, and common situations in detail.
Chen Jiao listened attentively, increasingly convinced that lung abscess seemed to be quite similar to pneumonia.
Thinking of the mustard greens they used every day, she asked, “Since mustard greens are said to clear the lungs and dispel phlegm, can they be used as medicine?”
Doctor You replied, “It’s only an auxiliary remedy.”
Chen Jiao quietly responded with an “Oh.”
Suddenly, they heard the cries of Thirteenth Sister Chen Tian next door.
Doctor You got up to check the situation.
Chen Jiao didn’t linger, planning to visit the public kitchen.
Dingxiang, confused by her actions, couldn’t help but ask on the way to the public kitchen, “Why is the young lady going to the public kitchen at this hour?”
Chen Jiao answered, “The pickled mustard greens tonight were quite good. I’m going to see if there’s any left.”
Dingxiang: “???”
The night was deep, and someone was still on night duty in the public kitchen.
Even at night, the stove was still burning, with medicines being boiled and water being prepared, steam rising from the pots.
When Chen Jiao arrived, the kitchen manager was there.
Upon seeing the young mistress come in so late, the manager hurriedly welcomed her, bowing and saying:
“It’s a cold night, young lady, if there’s anything you need, just tell the servants. Why have you come here? Don’t catch a cold!”
Chen Jiao replied, “The pickled mustard greens you made are delicious. I came to take a look.”
The manager was confused and said, “??”
Chen Jiao ignored her bewilderment and asked, “Are there any more pickled mustard greens in jars?”
The manager quickly replied, “Yes, yes.”
Chen Jiao asked, “Where are they? I’ll go take a look.”
The manager hurriedly instructed someone to lead the master and servant to the cellar.
The cellar was warm in winter and cool in summer, storing quite a few items.
The group descended the stone steps, and in the corner, they indeed found several large jars, all containing preserved items.
The kitchen mistress introduced each jar one by one.
“This jar contains pickled radishes, that one has pickled bamboo shoots, and the two at the back contain pickled mustard greens.”
Chen Jiao asked her to open the jars for inspection.
The clay jars were so large that a short ladder was needed to open the lid.
The kitchen mistress climbed up to remove the lid, and Chen Jiao curiously went up to take a look at the mustard greens inside.
The manager reminded her, “Be careful where you step, don’t slip.”
Chen Jiao acknowledged and understood.
There was still half a jar of mustard greens inside, with a lot of brine that had come from the salt, giving off a fermented sour smell.
There were no signs of green mold.
“When were these pickled?”
The kitchen mistress answered, “They were pickled this year.”
“What about the previous years? Are there any left?”
“There’s one jar from last year, it hasn’t been touched.”
“Does it have mold in it, the green kind?”
Hearing this, the kitchen mistress couldn’t help but show a puzzled expression.
The manager at the bottom of the steps answered, “Young lady, you must be joking. This is something we eat, it can’t be spoiled.”
Chen Jiao felt somewhat disappointed and carefully descended.
The legendary Chen mustard greens brine only worked if it had green mold on it.
That green mold referred to the penicillium mold, the earliest form of penicillin discovered in Huaguo.
She vaguely remembered that the Chen mustard greens brine was created by monks from the Tianning Temple in the Ming Dynasty, and it was said to have miraculous effects in treating pneumonia.
She had come across this information in a TV drama some time ago.
At the time, she thought it was just a curious tale.
But now, it seemed that this epidemic might just be her opportunity.
If she could use the Chen mustard greens brine to cure the lung abscess and stop the plague, the Prince of Huai’an would surely look at her in a new light.
From then on, her path in the manor would undoubtedly be much smoother.
Weighing the pros and cons in her heart, Chen Jiao decisively went to the Prince of Huai’an’s Bihua Hall.
Even if it meant risking catching the disease, she had to take a chance for her future!
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