Chapter 71 - Bai Chongye changes
-Zhang Yi, may I say something to you?
-Feel free, your majesty.
-Thank you so much for keeping me warm and happy last night... You really exceeded my expectations.
-Getting so close to absolute unity with you was one of the most rewarding and intense experiences in my life... Yu Lexuan is so lucky that only he can get there... - Zhang Yi blushes.
-We may do it again another day... I love so much the way you caress me. It is a bit exotic... Your hands have a texture that feels so pleasant when touching my skin.
-Your majesty smells like a flower. - Zhang Yi smiles.
It didn't take long for them to reach a location where Zhang Yi can harvest the flowers. Feng Long helps him, personally choosing only the perfect ones.
Meanwhile, in Hefei, Bai Chongye finally starts to rise up by himself. Yu Qing gets closer to him:
-Your majesty is healing so fast!
-I... I feel bett...
Bai Chongye tries to speak, but he is still unable to do so. He feels almost no pain anymore.
A group of people from the health bureau arrives without notice. Yu Qing tries to block them, but Bai Chongye gets up, waving to Yu Qing to let them in. This time, no one bows to the emperor:
-Bai Chongye, we greet your majesty. From what we see, you are at risk of death from now. This disease appears to go out, then it restarts much worse and kills you in about a day. Unlike thousands, maybe millions of people outside the Palace will not have the same luck as you are having. You killed Mo Lan, fortunately, or even luckily, your highness Yu Qin spared Ding Qi. I said luckily because he has a cure and sent us only a single dose for us to test. Your life is all dependent on this tiny bottle. All your power, all your might... Everything you currently own, maybe even things you love, if it is even possible for someone who destroyed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Take it and wait a few hours. You may feel the need to throw up. This is normal.
The staff moves away from Bai Chongye. Yu Qing is possessed:
-Preposterous! You have to prostrate to the emperor!
Yu Qing takes his sword and blocks the way out. Bai Chongye gets up and waves to him:
-Let them go.
-But, majesty...
-LET THEM GO!
Bai Chongye is angry. He took the bottle, drank the content, and broke it afterward. The staff moves out of his room after Yu Qing gets out of the way. He moves closer to Yu Qing:
-Majesty, they must all be executed! This is not acceptable!
-No... There are ot(her) priori(ties)...
Bai Chongye slowly recovers his voice:
-From today, you must close the city.
-But your majesty, we will face a huge problem...
Bai Chongye slaps Yu Qing in his face:
-Damn it, I am the emperor! You will close the city until our caseload drops to single digits.
-But, your majesty... The disease is impossible to be contained...
-It will be contained inside our empire. No one is allowed to leave. No one is allowed to enter.
-Your majesty...
-Stop complaining and get it done before I kill you!
Bai Chongye takes his sword, touching Yu Qing in the neck. He freezes:
-Close everything, and kill anyone trying to resist, burn down their houses or businesses. Meanwhile, I'll order the health bureau to start producing the medicine in large quantities. Go!
Yu Qing, clearly not happy, bows to Bai Chongye and gets out of the room. Bai Chongye is furious, and no one is allowed to enter his room.
A person from the health bureau has witnessed this and brought this information to the bureau in minutes. They celebrate:
-Finally, FINALLY, Bai Chongye has heard us!!!
-I think it is still too early to celebrate!
-No, he's definitely going to do it! Our plan worked!
-So, let's wait for him. He's probably going to say it to the general public.
-He instructed the emperor to close the gates. This will bring some problems to us in terms of supplies... I doubt the city has enough supplies stockpiled for many days or even months. Bai Chongye wants the caseload to drop until we reach single digits.
-This is gonna take a very long time... There are literally millions of cases to be recorded if we close the city completely. Families will gather together and increase the risk!
-We can mitigate it by requiring face coverings. Mo Lan said this was effective in keeping the spread rate low.
-What??? It costs literally nothing!!! We could have avoided this mess!
-Yes, we could have, but Bai Chongye didn't allow us to enforce it.
-We should implement it immediately before the emperor changes his mind!
-There's not so much we can do. And we will have to relocate large families to places where they can be kept at a reasonable distance from each other. Ding Qi's medicine works but he simply cannot produce it fast enough for us.
-We have all the formulae, we must try to produce them ourselves. We have the capacity, until now, Bai Chongye prevented us from doing it.
-Yes, I know we have the infrastructures to produce it... But everything is about Bai Chongye accepting our requests. It will take a fortune to do.
The Health Bureau's plan seems to have worked. Bai Chongye changed his attitude abruptly, and may finally recognize he was wrong.
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