"My dear brother, donāt be foolish. Didnāt you hear the young master calling that gentleman in white Ye Ziāan just now? Ye Ziāan, the name of our newly appointed Lord Prefect, whom our Lord County Magistrate talks about every day."
The head bailiff finally came to his senses, "Yes, yes, Iāll go report to the County Magistrate right away!" Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he dashed in the direction of the county seat.
Meanwhile, Ye Ziāan and his companions returned to the inn.
Upon seeing Mu Shaoling and the others coming back, the innkeeper showed a schadenfreude smile, feeling a twisted satisfaction at having a few more people to join them in facing death.
Ignoring his petty thoughts, Yang Chuxia and the others proceeded upstairs.
"You must have seen this kind of sickness on the way here, right? Itās very similar to Auntie Hongās. Is there still a cure?" As soon as they sat down, Ye Ziāan got straight to the point.
"Iāve seen it, your son was scared into crying twice. How could I not have seen it?" Mu Shaoling said.
Hearing that Yangyang had also been scared into crying, Ye Ziāan looked down at his son who clung to him.
"My dear father, I didnāt mean to cry, I didnāt intend to appear unmanly." Sensing his gaze, Yangyang hurriedly explained.
"Dad knows you didnāt do it on purpose, you were just too scared."
"Mhm, exactly!" The little fellow nodded vigorously.
Yang Chuxia couldnāt help but smirk, recalling who it was that said they were angry and wouldnāt pay attention to their father for a long time?
Mu Shaoling shook his head, speechless, "I havenāt figured out how to treat this disease yet. The methods I used on the Hong Familyās wife were obviously not effective. Once people in the town catch this disease, they become thinner and thinner until they die." Just like living dead.
Hearing Mu Shaoling also had no confidence in a cure, Ye Ziāanās expression grew serious.
"There are three counties in Shandong where this sickness has appeared, with the most cases occurring in Liāan County. The doctors Iāve brought in say it is contagious, but I remember that Auntie Hong, from when she fell ill until her deathāa long timeāwas taken care of by Uncle Hong. If it were contagious, Uncle Hong would have been infected long ago."
"But if this disease isnāt contagious, why would so many people suddenly fall ill?"
This was also what Ye Ziāan couldnāt fathom.
"Letās do this, in the afternoon have some people come over for me to see. Talking about it now isnāt getting us anywhere."
After thinking for a moment, Mu Shaoling added, "However, I feel their sickness might be different from that of the Hong Familyās wife. By the later stages of her illness, she couldnāt even move, but these people are still walking around like skeletons. I heard they even scared an old lady to death."
Yang Chuxia also nodded, "Thatās right, Brother An, I think you need to find a way to gather all the sick people together, and have doctors treat them collectively. Otherwise, you really could scare people by going out!"
"That makes sense."
Having finished the serious discussions, Mu Shaoling and the Commandery Princess Dongyang left, taking Yangyang, the third wheel, and leaving space for the couple to be affectionate.
Ye Ziāan naturally wouldnāt waste Mu Shaolingās kindness. He embraced Yang Chuxia, rubbing his cheek against hers and said softly, "Xiaxia! Your husband has missed you so much!"
"With such problems happening in Shandong, you still find the time to miss me?"
"Of course, thereās time!" Recalling the conversation before he left, Ye Ziāan suddenly chuckled, "Every time I go to relieve myself, I think of my wife earnestly several times, from head to toe, inside and out!"