Chapter 32 - Yu Ying slaps Ding Qi

It is the second day after Yu Ying departed from Hefei. He's very close to the gates of Huangshan. His new horse is stronger than the previous, but he had to cross a mountain range, slowing down his progress, but not by much.

A couple of hours later, and he arrives at the city gate. He shows Hefei's official seal, and the gatekeepers move out of the way. He moves directly to the Palace.

There, Ding Qi was reading a book left by Zhang Yi. He enters the Palace, showing the seal, so no one dares to stop him. He finally makes it to Ding Qi, breaking into his room, without warning:

-Ding Qi, I need some pieces of information so our emperor will be better informed about what's going on here.

Ding Qi recognizes the Prince, and bows to him:

-Informations? What kind of information? Did you receive the letter I sent you last week?

-That's exactly what you must tell me. I have permission to force you to do so if necessary.

-Hey, I'll tell you what you want, stop pretending I'm a child. 

Yu Ying moves closer and slaps Ding Qi in his face, laughing at him:

-I will treat you the way I want. 

Ding Qi was furious but restrains himself. He knows that mistreating the Prince is a criminal offense that may result in death. He raises his right hand, and Wang enters his room:

-Wang, please, bring some tea for Your Highness.

-Right, Your Majesty, I'll take my leave.

Yu Ying is not even close to showing any respect for Ding Qi. While Wang does not arrive with the tea, he acts ruthlessly, sits wherever he wants, and does not talk about anything. While making the infusions, Ding Qi was so angry that he fails to do it correctly, and as soon as Yu Ying tries to drink it, he spits it out:

-This tea is absolute rubbish! Aren't you embarrassed with it? - Yu Yi complains

-I apologize for the tea not having the optimal taste... 

Yu Ying was angry:

-Well, never mind. I want to talk about a new disease, supposedly spreading in your region. I was ordered by the emperor to get there and gather all the information you have.

-Well, we're helped by Zhejiang. We only got to know this disease was spreading because their prince, Yu Lexuan, heard some rumors from travelers and commoners in Jiangxi that an unknown disease was present in Anhui. Then, their emperor sent him and their health minister, Zhang Yi, to investigate. Zhang Yi has developed new formulae to verify the presence of pathogens, he confirmed it in the river waters and in people, and he discovered that the disease is similar to the flu but deadlier and potentially more transmissible. They have also applied about a thousand tests on your population, 200 turned out to be infected.

-And where can you find the stuff to make these tests? I suppose you stole the recipe from Zhang Yi, didn't you?

-No, we can't make it because two critical components are made only in Zhejiang. We would have to buy it from them.

Yu Ying thinks for a while:

-Right... so you met with them. Have they already departed?

-Yes, about two days ago.

-And how about the lethality? How many have died from that? And how many have already been infected?

-As the number of tests is very low, I couldn't verify exactly how many have been infected, but about 20 percent of the tests returned positive. We have registered about ten deaths per day from it, and we estimated that the lethality is close to 3 percent.

-3 percent? This is nothing, you'd probably die first by falling from a horse than getting it. Not a big deal.

-Well, not really, the remaining 97 percent can develop other illnesses after they recover from this disease. We also can't find a treatment for it.

Yu Ying laughs:

-It is easy, just ask your people to put some zinc on their food! This will work, if the disease is so similar to the flu, as you described, we can use roughly the same treatment.

-I'm not so sure about that. Zhang Yi was very concerned about not being able to find a treatment.

-Who's Zhang Yi compared to me? I bet you I have much more practical experience than him!

-But...

-Shut up, I already worked out the solution for that. I'll send a letter to the emperor and return home... I want to keep a thousand li between me and your tea.

Yu Ying gets up and moves outside of Ding Qi's room. He bumps into Zhang Xiaofang, who was running to meet Ding Qi. He falls to the floor, and Yu Ying spits against him:

-Keep an eye open while running, bastard!

-You!

-Zhang Xiaofan, please... show respect! - Ding Qi rises 

He moves his head to Ding Qi and bows to him. Yu Ying snorts, and leaves the palace, mounted on his horse. After crossing the city gates, he writes a letter to the emperor and sends it using one of his pigeons.

Zhang Xiaofan moves closer to Ding Qi:

-Your Majesty, are you ok? Why is your face a bit reddish?

-I was... well, never mind... Tell me what you want.

Zhang Xiaofan kneels to him:

-Your Majesty, we are recording an increase of almost a third in the number of deaths. I ask you to take preventive measures if Your Majesty can...

Ding Qi freezes:

-This disease is getting out of control, we have to do something drastic while the tests are not there... Yu Lexuan promised the components would arrive shortly, maybe in two days... Zhang Xiaofan, I think we will have to close the city for a while, and order people they should not leave home. What do you think? 

-But, Your Majesty... I have such low status, I can't...

-I don't care about your status. I care about your educated opinion. You are a physician, and maybe you can tell me if keeping people far from each other may reduce the number of infections. 

-But I can't override the health counselor.

-Damn the health counselor, he's gonna tell me that this disease will burn itself out, when we are seeing, in practice, that it will not happen. Consider yourself as my health counselor, no, my health minister, from now. I need someone capable of thinking rationally, and you are the perfect fit.

Zhang Xiaofan raises an eyebrow. Ding Qi helps him to rise:

-Please, Zhang Xiaofan. Forget the counselors. You are ten times more capable than them.

After some time, he talks:

-Your majesty is wise and correct... we should keep as many people inside their homes as possible until we get the material from Zhejiang to make the tests. We should test everyone and we must isolate the sick as they appear.

-I have an idea: what do you think of building a temporary quarantine village to keep them away from the not infected?

-Your majesty can afford it? It would be ideal. 

-Right, that's exactly what I'm gonna do. Thank you so much, Zhang Xiaofan!

Ding Qi lets Zhang Xiaofan alone:

-His Majesty is so proactive... I hope the ingredients arrive soon, so I can make the tests.

...

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