Xiao Beishang's lips moved a few times, smacking as if drinking milk. Realizing the taste was wrong, she stopped sucking.
Ling Yao withdrew her finger and continued to rock the baby in her arms.
After a while, Xiao Beishang fell asleep.
"Princess, the little county princess has closed her mouth," Qu Linglong exclaimed in a low, excited voice.
She had started breathing through her nose!
Qu Linglong checked her pulse again, then leaned her ear to Xiao Beishang's chest. There were no more sounds in her airway. She was truly recovering!
It was miraculous!
Ling Yao let out a sigh of relief and put down Xiao Beishang. She then looked at the peacefully sleeping Xiao Beiyue and instructed the two wet nurses to constantly monitor the condition of both children.
This was the first time the two wet nurses had witnessed a divine maiden display her divine power. Their hearts were filled with awe, and they nodded vigorously.
"Princess, Ruan Ji, a scholar from the Lantai, requests an audience," a guard outside announced.
Ruan Ji, formerly the Minister of the Grand Court of Revision, had been mentioned to her by Xiao Shan. He was described as a man with sharp eyes and keen ears.
Could he have uncovered some news?
Ruan Ji was a handsome, mature young man with double eyelids and thin lips. His bright eyes, when looking at you, conveyed utter sincerity.
However, a man who ascended to the position of Minister of the Grand Court of Revision at such a young age could hardly be simple.
Ruan Ji did not disappoint, bringing news that even the secret agents of the Immortal King Sect had failed to uncover.
The individuals dispatched to investigate the source of the infection had reported that the first person to contract the plague was a street vendor who sold chaos.
Therefore, the investigation had focused on that food stall, examining where the pork was bought, where the vegetables came from, and the water used.
Predictably, there had been no significant breakthroughs.
However, Ruan Ji's intelligence revealed that the first person to contract the plague was actually a tomb robber.
A tomb robber in the wilderness.
Ling Yao almost immediately confirmed the veracity of this information.
"Where is that tomb robber? And whose tomb was he robbing?"
Ruan Ji intended to explain how he discovered this information and the relevant witnesses. To his surprise, the Princess, without even asking, believed him immediately, which made him feel quite honored.
It was as if he were someone the Princess trusted implicitly.
"That tomb robber has disappeared. The last person to see him was an antique shop owner, who also contracted the plague and died yesterday.
Apart from an inconspicuous oil seller, everyone who had seen the tomb robber has since died of the plague.
Given the rumors, I suspect someone deliberately covered up these clues."
The intention, naturally, was to prevent the Princess from finding the source and discovering a cure for the epidemic.
"Indeed. Even the woman who stopped the imperial carriage in the street that day was likely instigated by someone."
Unfortunately, everyone involved was dead, making verification impossible.
"Ruan Ji, I am entrusting this matter to you. Within two days, you must locate this tomb. If you succeed, your former position will be restored!"
"Thank you, Your Highness! I will not fail you!"
Ruan Ji departed filled with confidence.
After Ruan Ji left, Ling Yao summoned Qu Linglong.
Yu Shan's illness had progressed rapidly, and she was now coughing blood. She had called Qu Linglong over earlier, wanting to offer herself for research.
This was unacceptable. As long as there was hope, they could not give up. Ling Yao believed they would succeed in their experiments; she had recently discovered another herb that could curb the illness.
"Linglong, would you like to rest for a while?"
Qu Linglong had barely had any rest in the past few days. She had been tirelessly working with the Imperial Physicians to prepare medicines and had made several trips to the camps outside the capital to personally examine the patients' symptoms.
Now, dark circles had appeared under her eyes.
"If you collapse, I will have no one to rely on."
Qu Linglong replied nonchalantly, "Princess, you need not worry. I know what I am doing. The Emperor has sent people to select more individuals from various regions. The Imperial Hospital has plenty of staff, and I am merely assisting with the medication. I am not overexerting myself."
Seeing her determination, Ling Yao said no more. After the epidemic passed, she would ensure Qu Linglong returned to her residence for a proper rest.
"Linglong, Yu Shan's condition cannot be delayed any further. As for the others at Feng Que Lou, I have taken some blood. Use it as a medicinal catalyst to make pills for them. Without my intention, their recovery will depend on their fate."
"Does adding intention mean the divine incantation you chant, Princess? Will it harm your spirit?"
Ling Yao smiled. That was an interesting way of putting it.
"You could say that. I promised Xiao Shan that I would not do anything to harm myself."
"I understand, Princess. You have already done more than enough. I will go and prepare the medicine now." Qu Linglong carefully and preciously held the small bowl of blood and went to make the medicine.
To everyone's delight, the individuals at Feng Que Lou who had ingested the medicine with the added blood began to improve the next day. Those with milder symptoms had fully recovered by the third day.
The blood without intention also had an effect!
However, this matter must remain a secret.
They still needed to accelerate the production of effective medicine.
Ruan Ji, as expected, did not disappoint and located the robbed tomb within two days.
Concurrently, the news from Qing He arrived.
The sample contained many unknown viruses, and Qing He could not fully analyze them. However, it was confirmed that only one substance was lethal, a toxin called "Ruan," a highly poisonous substance produced from corpses.
The letter also mentioned that the Ruan toxin could be eliminated, but it required the Snow Lotus, which bloomed only once every sixty years on the peak of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in the Western Regions, as medicine.
Furthermore, one flower could only save one person.
Therefore, it was impossible to save such a large number of patients.
The corpse was exhumed. It was the tomb of an official from a thousand years ago. According to the inscription on the tombstone, he had died shielding the king from a poisoned arrow.
The same toxin found in the deceased patients was indeed detected on the thousand-year-old incorruptible corpse.
Ruan Ji had the corpse and the tomb burned together and returned to the palace to report.
The people hiding in the shadows likely realized that the source of the illness had been found and feared that the palace would develop an antidote. In the camps outside the capital, people who had been quietly recovering suddenly began to riot.
Having heard some unsubstantiated news, they claimed the court could not produce an antidote and intended to burn them all to prevent further spread.
"We want to see the Emperor! We want to see the Divine Maiden!"
"The Divine Maiden is here to save the world, not to take lives! She would never do such a thing!"
"That's right! We want to see the Divine Maiden!"
The Imperial Guards on the perimeter used their swords to maintain order, and over a dozen imperial physicians vouched for them, temporarily forcing the crowd to retreat.
However, this was likely only a temporary measure. Seeing the distrust and fear in the eyes of the common people, it was uncertain when they would erupt again.
"I think I'm better. I want to go out. I want to see my mother," a young man said, squatting in a corner, hugging himself.
"Me too. I was just coming here to get supplies for the shopkeeper. My wife is waiting for me at home! She's about to give birth, and I can't die here," a man in his thirties said with vacant eyes.
"Perhaps we'll wake up in the middle of the night to find a fire raging, and we'll die in our dreams," a sharp-featured woman gritted her teeth.
"They say the Emperor and the Divine Maiden will soon produce an antidote," a young girl said, her face filled with terror as she looked around, hoping for affirmation from others.
But no one responded.
This was what they had been told every day since they were confined here.
Yet, every day, people were carried out dead.
Their illnesses worsened with each passing day.
Perhaps tomorrow, they would be the ones carried out.