Chapter 114 - Emergency action required!

The first rays of light get inside Ding Qi's room. By that time, Zhang Xiaofan was already compilating the fresh reports he got from the health centres across Huangshan. As expected, no new deaths and just a single case were reported. Ding Qi gets up, takes a quick shower, and moves outside. The day was very mild and staying under the sun was pleasing. Zhang Xiaofan leaves the lab and carries the final report to Ding Qi, finding him in a courtyard:

-Good morning, your majesty. I've just finished the epidemic control report. - Zhang Xiaofan bows. 

Ding Qi gets up and helps Zhang Xiaofan rise:

-Good morning, please, rise. 

Zhang Xiaofan hands off the report to Ding Qi, he smiles:

-This is nice, just a single case was reported. We're heading to the end of this plague very soon!

-Well, I hope so... 

Suddenly, a pigeon lands on Ding Qi's shoulder:

-What? - Ding Qi freezes.

-Must be something from Anhui.

Zhang Xiaofan takes the pigeon and opens the small compartment that holds the letter. He opens it and gives it to Ding Qi:

-"Dangerous disease spreading from Fuyang, immediate action required."

Zhang Xiaofan raises an eyebrow:

-That's quite a short message, who wrote it?

-Seems to me Bai Chongye has written this message. It must be something severe, otherwise, Bai Chongye wouldn't have sent it. 

-Fuyang is in the path of the busiest trade route passing through Anhui... They might have discovered it way too late!

Ding Qi thinks for a moment:

-Well, I think we are safe now. We don't know how old this information is, but had infected people gotten inside our city, a sharp increase in the death toll and caseload should've been observed. None of these metrics has gone up. 

-Maybe the medicines from Zhejiang are much more effective than we thought!

-That's possible, and also good news for us and for them too. 

Zhang Xiaofan bows slightly:

-Your majesty, I think we should inform Bai Chongye about the medicine developed in Zhejiang. 

-Yes, I fully agree. Of course, Zhejiang might not be able to produce it in large quantities, but maybe the recipe could be shared with Anhui. The Health Bureau has some very smart individuals working there, so they may figure out how to reproduce this medicine using locally-sourced components.

-Yes, this is a good point.

-So, let's send it. Maybe we can also send a small sample as usual. 

-I'll get it done, your majesty.

-Please...

Zhang Xiaofan rises and walks away. Ding Qi lies in the grass, looking at the clouds:

-This disease never ends... Each time we take a step forward, it seems to also accompany us like our own shadow...

In just a few minutes, Zhang Xiaofan packs the pigeon with the necessary components and a letter with the recipe, freeing the bird. It flies towards Anhui, reaching Hefei in a few hours.

Bai Chongye was again walking alone in the city. He ignored Yu Qing's advice once again, with no major consequences. His presence in the streets was seen as positive by most people, even though he was still very unpopular, and almost everyone looks down when he passes across. For the other emperors like Feng Long, Meng Zhang or Xia Chunyu, people usually smile, some even bow slightly to them, but not to Bai Chongye even after he had changed so much.

The pigeon sent by Zhang Xiaofan manages to find Bai Chongye, and he walked to the Health Bureau to personally deliver the medicine samples and recipe to them after reading the letter:

-Another one? How many medicines!? We're in the second round! - A worker from the health bureau is astonished.

-I think we should use maximum effort this time... The 60% fatality rate is too high. We must try to find out a way to replicate this medicine using locally-sourced components. 

A specialist comes in and analyses the recipe written by Zhang Xiaofan:

-Well, they have changed dramatically... There's no plant-based ingredient on it. This is potentially better for us, minerals are usually more widespread than plants. But looking for potential places to dig it out of the ground will take a long time. I suggest your majesty ask Zhejiang directly about it.

Bai Chongye smiles:

-Give me about two days and I'll ask Feng Long directly. I'll send a letter and wait for a reply.

-As your majesty wants. Meanwhile, we will try to find some of the minerals described in the recipe.

Bai Chongye leaves the health bureau's building, quickly reaching the palace. Once inside his room, he writes a letter for Feng Long, dispatching it using a pigeon. 

...

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