The fragrance of rabbit legs wafted through the air, but Caiyu suddenly lost her appetite.
She stole a glance at Qingqing.
It was obvious that the girl had feelings for Brother Aili, but Aili had treated her like this right in front of Qingqing.
Qingqing must be heart - broken.
Sure enough, Qingqing's face darkened. She lowered her head and silently turned the roasted rabbit in her hand.
Drops of rabbit fat fell into the fire, sending up tongues of flame and making a sizzling sound.
Caiyu pushed away the rabbit leg Sheng Jiangli had prepared for her and pointed at the roasted rabbit in Qingqing's hand.
"Burnt... It's burnt..."
Only then did Qingqing wake up from her daze. She scrambled to pick up the roasted rabbit that had fallen into the fire from the rack and patted it back and forth.
It was a pity that it was too late. Half of the rabbit was blackened, looking like charcoal.
Qingqing looked on the verge of tears, but Caiyu secretly let out a sigh of relief.
At least she had managed to decline Sheng Jiangli's rabbit leg. Otherwise, if she had accepted it, Qingqing would have been even more heart - broken.
Sheng Jiangli looked at the rabbit in Qingqing's hand and said with a headache, "The wild game on this mountain has been almost hunted out by the people hiding from the plague... It took me a long time to catch a few."
"I'm sorry, Brother Sheng." Qingqing's voice was a bit choked, and there were suspicious tears in her eyes.
Sheng Jiangli shut up immediately. He looked at her in some panic, then at Caiyu, feeling a bit guilty.
He was usually much fiercer than this, but when had this girl ever been scolded to tears by him?
Why was she crying now when he hadn't even blamed her?
It made it seem as if he had been bullying her all the time!
And she was even acting in front of Caiyu.
Sheng Jiangli's eyebrows twitched violently, and he felt extremely uneasy.
Sure enough, Caiyu shot him a sideways look and said, "It's just a wild rabbit. She's just a young girl, and the fire was so strong. It's normal for her to accidentally over - roast it. General Sheng, your words make it seem like you're just worried about that wild rabbit..."
"You're a great general after all. Haven't you ever eaten a wild rabbit?"
For every word Caiyu said, Sheng Jiangli responded:
"No, I'm not worried."
"No, I'm not blaming anyone."
"Yes, I've eaten wild rabbits. It's my lack of knowledge."
"Sister Caiyu, I was wrong..."
Suobude was extremely speechless looking at his general's completely different behavior in front of Caiyu and Qingqing.
Qingqing tugged at the branch and said pitifully, "Sister Caiyu, don't scold Brother Sheng anymore. It's my poor cooking skills. I wasted his efforts."
"What a waste?" Caiyu snatched the charcoal - like rabbit from Qingqing's hand and stuffed it into Sheng Jiangli's hand. "Just pat off the ash and it's edible."
Sheng Jiangli lowered his eyes and looked at the blackened rabbit. There were still two red sparks in the eye sockets of the rabbit that had been burned through, as if mocking him.
When the wind blew, the red sparks went out, leaving only two small black holes smoking.
When Sheng Jiangli looked up again, he saw Qingqing making a face at him behind Suobude.
You little brat!
All you know is to act in front of Caiyu!
He angrily slapped the roasted rabbit in his hand and took a big bite.
The bitter taste spread in his mouth, making him ignore the lonely look on Qingqing's face after she made the face...
Caiyu and the others reinforced the wall they had built the previous night. They repaired the wall until it was almost the same as it was before the collapse. Only then did everyone feel elated.
Two more days had passed. When Caiyu passed by the Daxiong Baodian, she happened to run into Song Yinghuai and the others discussing matters.
Since there were too many patients on the mountain and they needed to be quarantined in an orderly manner, the Daxiong Baodian had become the temporary meeting hall for Song Yinghuai and the others.
The voices inside the hall were very loud. It seemed that they were arguing about something.
A soldier who had been patrolling back and forth from the mountain reported. His voice reached Caiyu's ears:
"The epidemic prevention effect at the foot of the mountain is better than that on the mountain. Three days ago, there were a total of twenty - seven villages infected with the plague at the foot of the mountain, and eighteen villages were not infected. In these three days, no one in those eighteen villages was infected again. Although the number of infected people in the plague - stricken villages is increasing, the situation is generally under control."
"Impossible!" Doctor Liu, with white hair and beard, firmly refused to believe it. "Our main anti - epidemic forces are on the mountain. All the imperial doctors and soldiers are guarding here. In these three days, we have been quarantining mild and severe patients as usual. Everyone is wearing anti - plague sachets and applying medicinal powder. General Sheng has also ordered people to disinfect every day with lime and sulfur. But the spread of the plague on the mountain is very fast!"
"The villages at the foot of the mountain only have a small number of medical officers and medicinal materials. The Wucheng Bingmasi is short - handed, and their disinfection measures are not as good as ours. But their infection rate is much slower than ours. This doesn't make sense!"
"Could it be that the plague at the foot of the mountain is not the same as the one on the mountain?"
However, the patrolling soldier insisted, "The symptoms of the infected people are the same, so it's the same plague. As for the reason, I don't know. Please give your instructions, my lords."
Song Yinghuai was sitting in the upper seat. He rubbed the Buddhist beads on his wrist. After pondering for a while, he suddenly asked:
"Are you sure that the epidemic prevention measures on the mountain and at the foot of the mountain are exactly the same? Have the villagers at the foot of the mountain come up with any other methods that we haven't implemented?"
The young soldier scratched his head in confusion, as if he couldn't remember anything.
It was Sheng Jiangli who suddenly remembered something and said, "Well, when I led the army through the villages along the way, we once dealt with a riot among the villagers. At that time, there was a young soldier in the army named Song Sigouzi..."
Hearing the name "Song Sigouzi", Song Yinghuai's eyebrows twitched. He reached out his hand to support his forehead, suppressing his indescribable anger.
Then, Sheng Jiangli said with a suppressed smile, "This Song Sigouzi suggested that we must pay attention to the water source. The water in the river along the way might be infected with the plague. He told the villagers in each village to dig deep wells and get water from underground to avoid water source infection. I wonder if it's because of this method that the plague at the foot of the mountain has been brought under control."
"Thinking about it now, Song Sigouzi's suggestion might be effective. We might as well try his method on the mountain too..."
Sheng Jiangli deliberately repeated the name "Sigouzi" again and again. Looking at Song Yinghuai's twitching forehead, he almost burst out laughing.
Song Yinghuai rubbed his forehead for a while, then raised his eyes. He gave a gloomy look at Sheng Jiangli, who was gloating, and gritted his teeth with a smile:
"In that case, General Sheng, call your subordinate here and discuss the countermeasures with her!"
"Alright! This subordinate obeys the order. I'll send someone to call Song Sigouzi right away!"
Caiyu had heard everything clearly while hiding outside the hall. When Sheng Jiangli mentioned the name she had casually made up that day, she was so scared that she wanted to run away. But she was stopped by a young soldier who had just come out to look for someone:
"Hey! What a coincidence, Song Sigouzi! His Highness the Prince and the other lords are just looking for you. Come in with me!"
Caiyu had no choice but to stop. She turned around and followed the soldier into the main hall.
Song Yinghuai stared at her with his black eyes. The anger in his eyes was burning brightly.
Caiyu's scalp went numb. Her legs went weak, and she immediately knelt on one knee to salute. "This subordinate pays respects to His Highness the Prince and all the lords."
Song Yinghuai didn't tell her to get up. He just said with a fake smile, "You heard everything outside the hall just now?"
Caiyu lowered her head and didn't dare to look into Song Yinghuai's eyes. She just replied, "Yes, I heard. Maybe my method was effective... But this subordinate thinks that this method won't work on the mountain."
As soon as Caiyu said this, Doctor Liu and the others couldn't sit still. "Why do you say so?"
Caiyu raised her head and said seriously, "The villages at the foot of the mountain are surrounded by the tributaries of the Huai River. So if there is an infection at the source, all the villages along the way will be affected. At this time, as long as we dig deep wells and get water from underground, avoiding drinking the water from the tributaries of the Huai River, we can prevent further infection."
"But the water source on the mountain is the mountain spring of Qixia Mountain. If the mountain spring is infected, we can't dig wells either. Because the well water dug on the mountain might still be the water from that mountain spring flowing into the underground cave. It's all the same water source, so it won't help."
Everyone looked at each other and suddenly understood.
It made sense.
Song Yinghuai was also attracted by Caiyu's words. The anger caused by the nickname was even dispelled.
He nodded in agreement and asked, "Then is there any other feasible method?"
"Yes!" Caiyu looked up at Song Yinghuai. Her eyes seemed to be shining. "As this subordinate knows, the mountain range of Qixia Mountain blocks the confluence of the Huai River and the Si River. Therefore, there might be two mountain springs with different sources on the mountain. We just need to find another spring that is completely different from the current one!"